Fresh new face!

For Christmas, Steve really knocked one out of the park with my gift - he arranged for a one-on-one class with the fabulous Sonia Roselli. I'd heard great things in the past about Sonia's classes, but always thought it was more of a frivolous fun activity vs. a necessity. After taking the class, I can vouch for it being an absolute necessity for me! Why, you ask?

Well, this just wasn't any old class. It was Sonia's "Makeup Bag Makeover." Which meant I had to bring in all of my makeup odds and ends and have Sonia evaluate what I had before any makeup was actually applied to my face. After moving everything into a pile that was 2+ years old, it was revealed that 90% of my makeup was ancient. I'm embarrassed to say that in that pile was the eye shadow I bought for my junior prom. In, umm, 1999. Who carries around makeup not from this decade?! Me.

Turning to what was left in the "new-ish" pile, Sonia let me know how it was. She kindly told me that the blush I was wearing every day was what you'd typically put on a little old lady (doh!) and some of the eye shadow colors I thought were perfect would look great on Hally Berry, not moi. Crap. Not only was this a class, it was really an intervention. On Sonia's encouragement, almost all of my makeup went into the trash.

After the ancient eye shadows, the rancid foundation (which, for the record, I never wore), and the granny blush were gone, we were able to salvage the following: a few eye shadows, some lip glosses, concealer, and mascara. And then, we went to the makeup chair.

I learned a lot from Sonia. I now know how to mix and apply a tinted moisturizer using the most AMAZING makeup brush in the world (I think Sonia compared it to bunnies hitting you in the face, it's so soft). I know what colors to buy and how to use the "fun" colors - purples, greens, etc - to create a great evening look. Sonia taught me to apply powder liner (I was doing a sad job of applying liquid liner), gel liner to give me an evening look, and she showed me the perfect shade of blush.

I know that Sonia kept it simple for me, because I definitely needed to master the basics. I walked out of the class feeling confident that I could do a decent job of replicating some of the tips and tricks Sonia taught me. I distinctly remember getting ready for my engagement shoot two years ago and having a complete emotional breakdown because I didn't know how to apply eyeliner well and I felt like a female failure. I wish I had taken this class years ago.

Just for fun, Sonia also threw some lashes on me. LOVE me some lashes! I like how fresh and clean my look is, and how Sonia played up my eyes.


I really just made Steve take this shot so that I could study specifically what Sonia did on my lids. Yes, I'm a nerd like that.


At the end of the class, I of course needed to replace all of the makeup that we had thrown out. Since Sonia offers 20% off of her products after taking a class, I was able to stock up. I walked away with: foundation, powder, cream blush, powder blush, eyebrow powder/wax, an eyelid primer (keeps shadow from creasing - love it!), and the amazing stipple brush that I mentioned above - I can use it to apply my foundation, blush, powder, etc. I definitely learned that less is more, and I'd rather have a few fabulous products over a drawer full of products that are just wrong for me.

Now I'm gearing up for another class - Sonia offers a brush class where not only do you get to learn how to use all of your brushes, you actually get a 12-piece brush set as a part of the class. I'm so there! Check out Sonia's blog for details on all of her 2011 classes.

I really wanted to make a lot of positive changes in 2011, and gaining a fresh new face was a fabulous start!