As a working makeup artist, I am always thrilled when I get the opportunity to play around with a cosmetics brand I’m not familiar with AND when I get to work on faces of people I am familiar with and really like!!
Recently I had the pleasure of doing both of these things.
Mary Kay has been a loyal brand and sponsor of the 6th Annual Blog Societies conference that was held in Atlanta this year. I was honored when they hired me to be the makeup artist for the two co-founders, Cathy and Jessica. For 3 days of the conference, I got to create unique makeup looks for each of them using all Mary Kay products!
Not having had much prior experience with any of the Mary Kay products (except for the amazing Satin Hands collection!) I was PUMPED when I received their makeup artistry kit.
It was full of everything from skincare, to foundations, to a gazillion lip colors, right down to a makeup setting spray!! And it just made sense I got to work with Mary Kay because, well, my two makeup trunks are already their signature Cadillac pink 😉
I got the kit shipped to me a couple weeks before the actual conference. This was extremely helpful because I got to play around with everything they sent me so that I could become familiar with how each product and formula worked once I got in front of my clients/friends.
And spoiler alert, I was verrrry impressed with the products I was gifted.
As you can see, Cathy and Jessica couldn’t look more different so I had to be able to give them makeup looks that would make them individually feel confidently beautiful.
Luckily each gal had a clear vision of what type of “look” they wanted each day and with my slew of Mary Kay products, I was able to deliver those distinct looks. One day we did smokey rose gold eyes, the next a bold lip, another a sharp winged eye, the ladies were so open to switching it up each day!!
But of course you probably clicked on this post to find out which exact 5 products from Mary Kay were my faves!
So without further ado, here are the standout products from the line…
- The Under Eye Corrector & Perfecting Concealer. I was blown away by both of these concealers. I always say I’d rather have a good concealer than a foundation any day because you can always spot treat a face easily with it and thin it out with a moisturizer to cover a face. Both ladies were equally in love with its full coverage. The corrector was great for brightening dark brown under eye circles then I layered a skin toned perfecting concealer on top of it.
- The Mineral Cheek Color. Blush is a face game changer! Color on the cheeks makes a complexion really come alive. These blushes went on so smoothly and the pigments and color range were just awesome. My two personal faves were “Shy Blush” (very similar to a “Orgasm” by Nars) and “Juicy Guava” (a bright happy melon shade!).
- The Mineral Powder Foundation. I also used this in their translucent shade that I mixed with the colored shades and used it to set their liquid foundations + under eye concealer. They felt lightweight, finely milled and were a great final touch for skin perfecting! They’re not enough coverage when used alone in my opinion, but make for great setting powders.
- Satin Lips Set. OMG this lip set of sugar scrub + shea butter balm is glorious!!! I always prep clients by exfoliating their lips first then adding a hydrating balm to sit while I do their makeup. Nothing worse than applying lipstick or gloss on flaky lips – yikes!! So this duo will definitely be a staple in my makeup kit from now on.
- Ultimate Mascara. Y’all know I love a good mascara that lengthens, fattens, and defines lashes, and this one does all 3. I know mascara is similar to a perfume and performs a bit differently on different folks, but I have fallen in love with this one.
Thank you to Jessica and Cathy for being the most wonderful boss lady muses for me to work on. I can’t think of more fun women to start painting faces on at 6am every morning while sharing lattes and croissants with than you two! Your hard work and efforts to pull together this conference and turn it into such a success, was truly inspiring.
And of course thank you to Mary Kay for entrusting me with their products and to use them in a way that empowers confidence in women.
Have you ever used Mary Kay products and if so, which ones are your favorites??
*The beautiful photos in this post are thanks to XXIII Photo Studio! But not the selfies of course ;))*
