Getting Fancy...With an Airbrush

So the past week of class has been all about using airbrush. Its a really fun technique and I am finally starting to get the hang of it. It has taken me a while but it is slowly becoming easier. I am using it in every makeup I do from now on though because school is where you learn to do things... there are no room for mistakes when you are getting paid. Plus if we need any help Laetitia is really quick to help and show us how to fix problems once they happen. Also how to prevent them from happening in the first place. This is why I am doing something I don't feel I am strong at in every makeup, to force myself to practise in a safe space. 

Tuesday we had our airbrush final because it was only a week long course. We were just learning the basics of how to use, clean and care for our airbrush. It was really just beauty essentials all over again but using a new tool to do it. Everyone did a really great job and I got to do Sakuya's makeup again. She looked great, as per usual. I gave her just an easy, bronzey makeup. This is not my favorite photo but there is always one right. Our final looks had to be a natural looking makeup but we also got to go a little crazy for one makeup. We got to do whatever we wanted as long as we used some airbrush. Of course I went a little crazy and went with a Halloween grey scale makeup with blood and spiders. It's not exactly what I was planning but I am happy with how it turned out in the short time I had. I was really excited to bust out the blood for the first time in a long time. I did blood splatter and glued so many tiny spiders to her face... It was really just a mood for my Halloween makeup.

Laetitia also told us that we will have a free makeup after every exam from now on. I mean the exams are so short that we only spend about half the day to do the short written exam and the applications of our makeups. Each person has an hour and then we spend about 30 minutes taking photos and doing hair after each application. The whole thing takes maybe three hours. The past two times we have been finished by 1:30p so it is just really easy to give us a lunch break and then have us come back with time to do something creative for ourselves. 

I am so excited to come up with looks for our creative rounds. I have no idea what I am going to do for tomorrow's exam but I am really excited to think about it. After I post this I will probably be on Pinterest the rest of the night trying to feed my inspiration and find a mood. I am think it is likely there will be blood in my look tomorrow too... but we'll just have to wait and see, wont we.

*SIDE NOTE* Inspiration pictures can also be called moods. It's the general feeling (or mood) of the makeup you are going for. They are really useful to become inspired or show your client the intention of the makeup.

Wednesday we started bridal makeup. This is only a three day section because it is just applying what we have learned from the past two weeks and using it to please a client on their wedding day.

In this section we are learning a little bit more about the business side of things which is good. we had gotten tips on what to put on an invoice, what contributes to cost, when to get payments, and so on. We haven't gotten many details about these things but we did get the idea of getting out there hammered into us. We need to get pretty business cards which are clear and easy to read, with a personal logo, that stand out from the rest and once we have them we need to pass them out everywhere. I really do mean EVERYWHERE. I man if I were to get into the bridal makeup business I would need to find my niche within in and then go anywhere that deals with brides and talk to them. Bridal shows, wedding planners, cake shops, dress shops, the list goes on and on. There is no work for people who wait for it to find them. We also talked about websites and instagram pages as a professional portfolio of work. So now I have a professional instagram which is where I will be posting most of my makeup related pictures. @MUA.VictoriaStarr

We've been mostly practicing simple makeup looks (Like the one above on Nina) but today we were given a mood to try and replicate, with our own style of course. Then after lunch we were given a client. This client told us what they wanted for their look. Today I had a lovely model named Anna who will be attending in January. She had several facial piercings and no eyebrows. She was convinced I had to do a traditional bridal makeup which she was okay with but it was not what she would have worn at her wedding. She was so happy when I told her she could have whatever she wanted. She said she really liked blue and wanted it to be like a beautiful alien. she also told me to still keep it in my style of makeup. She is like me in that way, if I am having my makeup done I want to have it in the style the makeup artist thinks is best for me because if I was going to tell the makeup artist exactly what I wanted I could just do it myself. We ended up going for this sparkly blue eye makeup and kept it simple everywhere else. But because I am terrified of drawing on brows that are not there Laetitia came over and helped with the brows and they really rounded it out. She left really happy with her look and it was an awesome feeling making her feel good.

Now tomorrow is the bridal makeup final so more pictures coming soon.

Chao

Back Again

I know it has been a while since I've posted but I have been so busy with MUD which is so amazing! I am loving every second of being at school. Every day seems long but it is doing something that I am passionate about and I am learning something new every day. This makes it worth it to me. Sometimes when I get home I lose track of what day it is. Something could happen in the morning and it would feel like yesterday. It's amazing how exhausting doing makeup all day is. We are both applying and sitting for 3-4 makeups a day. But at the end of the day we can go a little outside of the box from natural makeups and we can add some fun eyeshadow or lipstick colors.

*SIDE NOTE* For my birthday I had school all day and then I went out for dinner with my flatmate Betti. It was amazing food and great conversation. Everyone at the restaurant was so nice, they even brought me my dessert with a sparkler in it. I was also able to talk to my parents the morning of my birthday here in Berlin (the night before for them) it was so nice to speak to them.

In my class I really like everyone. I will say I am closest with Sakuya and Nina but everyone is really nice. I love our teacher Laetitia and Johannes (AKA Hungry) our resident sass-master/drag queen. Sakuya and I actually went to Hungry's drag show on Friday night. It was an experience to say the least. Everything was running on Drag Time... so 20 minutes late... We saw the final episode of Ru Paul's Drag Race All Stars. Then we waited. It was so crowded and when the drag show started I had to stand on this bench to the side to be able to see. Then these girls stood in front of me so I couldn't see. It was a bummer but it didn't bother me until it was Hungry's turn and I asked them if they can move in a way so I could see my friend perform... I got a nasty look and was ignored. It also didn't help that Sakuya's friend was being a buzz kill and made her leave literally right before Hungry went on. By the end of the show I was irritated and alone so I wanted to leave. I tried really hard to find Hungry before I left but with the amount of people in the bar it was impossible so I just left and texted him after. Over all I really did like the drag show and how different it was from what I am used to but next time I will be better prepared for the stupid people.

Lets jump back into makeup. I'm going to skip most of the boring beauty essentials talk and get right to it. We had to learn all the basics of makeup again in order to apply a natural looking and corrective beauty makeup. It was like relearning how to do makeup. Especially for me after learning how to do theatrical makeup and "painting for the stage." It was challenging to find a balance too, between what I think looks coon and a true corrective beauty makeup. Yesterday we had our final exam for the first course. It consisted of both a written exam and practical application. I am very happy to say that all 8 of us got full points on both portions of the test. After we applied the makeups we did a mini photo shoot to show off the makeup. It wasn't until I saw all of our pictures that I realized how beautiful our entire class is. Models in the making.

To the left is the makeup I did for my final on Sakuya and below is everyone's looks from the exam. These pictures were all taken by our teacher Laetitia Lemak (http://www.laetitialemak.com/)

First Day of School! First Day of School!

So Sunday I went to the open school day at MUD and I had a blast. There was a makeup demo and mini photoshoot before the look was changed on the model. Then there was a quick hair demo. With the Q & A session I got a lot of information about my teachers and the woman who started this MUD

Studio in Berlin. I am so happy I went because I got familiar with the school itself and I got to know the teachers. It really helped me to come in on my first day less stressed. Of course at the end of the day it started to rain and I had left my umbrella back at the flat. So I went next door and got a waffle and a coffee. Unfortunately since I couldn't read the menu I ordered a sweet waffle because the lady looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it with butter. I got this thing and it was so good. It tasted like a less sugary churro with some cinnamon flavor and it came covered in powdered sugar. It was so good but I would have loved some jam or something on it.

Monday is a German holiday so I didn't start school until Tuesday. It was so nice walking there with the stress of it being the first day but not having anxiety about who would be my instructor, where the studio was, what the studio was like, and so on. Our first day we got our kits and did a lot of talking. We had to take a ton of notes and spent most of the day learning about makeup, undertone, shade, and basic color theory. We also did a few exercises about shade and undertone in our workbooks but nothing too crazy. It wasn't until the last hour of the day that we applied makeup. We learned to base match. We get an hour break for lunch and I went out to lunch with most of the girls in the class. I had a pasta with pumpkin in it. I thought I was ordering falafel but I was wrong. Instead I got farfalle which is apparently a type of Italian noodle. Other than our food taking forever and the girls at the table were speaking German unless they were engaging me, it was a nice lunch break. I got to know the girls a little bit and we all just got to chat. We were also assigned a lot of homework which took me most of my evening because it meant I had to go to the store. I had to find something to label my kit with. If I was at home I would use nail polish to mark the kit as mine and make distinguishing marks on my pallets. I could only find a MC Paper store which is a REALLY small office supply shop but it did the trick, but I will probably change it when I get back to the states. Who knows really. After I labeled every piece of my kit I had to read three chapters in my text book and answer twenty-five questions about makeup, professionalism, and sanitation. It took me forever. I mean it was 30 pages of dense reading and questions to go along with it. By the time I was done I was so tired I couldn't even sit here to write a paragraph for this blog.

Today was my second day and it was better than the first. We spent the whole day learning about skin care and base matching the rest of the girls in the class. Today there was also a lot more bonding happening. I got into conversations with the girls doing my makeup - and when I was sitting for them, I got to know the instructor better, and I had little conversations with individual girls on breaks or in between applications. I also had lunch with just one other girl today, we went back to the waffle house I went to on Sunday and this time she was my secret weapon... She speaks and reads German. I got a waffle with apple and it was like an apple pie waffle. It was SO GOOD. As a class though we pretty much decided we were going to go to the screening of the finale of Ru Paul's Drag Race and see the drag show after. The one and only guy in our class will be performing. I was looking at pictures of his drag and it is amazing and avant garde. He is not actually in the class fully, he will be taking airbrush with us and has to learn some of the MUD basics and standers before he can take that class. He will be popping in and out when he is not in his university classes. 

Honestly with the girls in this class, I can see myself become good friends with them. I'm glad that is the case because I have to spend three months with these girls and if I didn't like them I wouldn't know what to do! I think what I am going to do though is I am going to try to get the girls from the class to come out with me for my birthday on Monday. It should be fun. These girls are really interesting.

I also had a really nice talk with Betti, my flatmate, today when I got home. We talked about school, Halloween, Christmas time, and all kinds of fun stuff. We have decided we are going to get a small Christmas tree for the flat because she has never done that before. Also, because I like Berlin so much, she is going to help me learn German so I am not floundering anymore. She is going to teach me one phrase and one word a day. This way I have to use it that day and she will ask me about it at the end. Also if I ask the girls in my class and the instructor I could probably learn some of the German names for things, or phrases from them too. By the end I hope to at least have a small amount of German in my back pocket. 

Tschüss!

My Adventure Within an Adventure

After my first day in Edinburgh I honestly got really distracted and fed up with trying to post from my iPad... Without a keyboard. Also the apps I have to use to get it done were just frustrating. So... this post will be about everything else that happened... It's gonna be a long one. Sorry guys.

Buckle up... here goes... I guess... everything.


My second day in Edinburgh I went to the shops around town and for whatever reason I decided to get my eyebrows threaded.... Don't ask me why other than the fact that my eyebrows looked atrocious and I walked right by it... and it was cheap. After I spent my morning just walking around I went back to the hostel and ran into Cole. We decided to grab dinner and we met up with Jenna. Went to this burger place on the Royal Mile and let me tell you, the burger I had was hands down the best thing ever. It was like an Italian sandwich meets burger on a focaccia bun. Amazing! So that night we ended up going on the Edinburgh bar crawl. It was really fun. We met up with someone Cole met while backpacking, Emily, from Australia and her friend Josh. We had a blast going from bar to bar meeting cool people and drinking. This is also where I saw the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. I did talk to him by the end of the night but just my luck I completely lost track of him. I guess this will forever by missed connection. ALSO, sadly enough, that night I broke my puzzle ring. I was probably trying to show off to they guy I was talking too and it just snapped. I, of course, had the wherewithal to pick up the broken link so hopefully I can get it fixed but I am so bummed. But I did buy a new ring. Then I realized I have a ring from every country I've been too except Mexico. So I decided to keep the trend going. I bought a new puzzle ring in Edinburgh. 

When I got back to London I decided to go to the theatre district of London and buy myself some tickets to shows. I got my ticket for "The Book of Mormon" because how could I pass up the opportunity to see that amazing piece of genius again. I also went to buy tickets to "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time" but when I got there the lady in the box office told me that they release 10 £15 tickets for the front row at 10am the day of the show. Of course I was all over that opportunity. So, my plan was to go back on the Thursday, the morning of the show. Since I didn't get theatre tickets for that day I decided to walk myself down over to the National Portrait Museum and the National Gallery. I really loved what I saw in the Portrait Museum. They had the history of their country in portraits. I was so interested the entire time. The National Gallery was in Trafalger Square.

It was a really fun place to hang out while I waited for the rain to stop and to figure out my next destination. There were street performers everywhere. There were chalk artists, musicians, dancers, variety acts, and these weird guys who would dress like Star Wars characters and stand on a platform to make it look like they were floating in the air. I mean it's really just an old parlor trick, crappy magic. I can't tell you how many of them I saw around the city dressed as different things. I loved just standing on the steps of the National Gallery, looking out into the square and people watching. Once I was done there, I decided since I was in London I would have to go to Buckingham Palace and do some touristy things, which is a little out of character for me, when I got there I was so happy I went. The attention to detail on the gate alone in front of the palace was so intricate. It was also interesting that in every movie I have seen where they go to Buckingham Palace, they mess with the guards like they are in front of the gate... WRONG! They are behind the gate in front of the palace so there is no taking pictures with them or trying to distract them or anything. Not that I wanted to bother them of course but I picture next to them would have been really cool, don't you think. Instead I took this selfie in front of the palace. I really hate to admit this but a selfie stick would have been so handy while I was traveling

alone. I have almost no pictures of me in cool places because selfies are shit. Your arms can only reach so far you know. I really loved doing this one touristy thing. I mean you can't go to London, England and not see Buckingham Palace. Right?! It wasn't as crowded as I expected it to be since it is such a London landmark. I guess it would be the same as going to the White House (which I have never done by the way). It is visiting an important building where the leader of the country lives. It's really a powerful experience. I noticed walking around the shops the magnets say things like HRH (his/her royal highness), a thing we don't really know anything about because we live in a democracy and not a monarchy. It was interesting seeing the small cultural differences. I spent a good deal of time just hanging out at the palace and at the memorial out front. I had a snack and then went on my merry little way back to my hostel... but I did stop at a couple of shops on Kingston High Street before really going back.

For breakfast on my second day back in London I went to this bakery, probably a chain, but I was sold when I saw that everything was covered in sesame seeds. I had a lot of time so I got my coffee

and a sandwich to eat there. This bread was so good and everything looked so amazing. It took everything in me not to just buy everything in the case to eat. They had chocolate rolls, potato rolls, steak rolls, cakes, cookies, muffins, pretzels, I could just go on forever about the food in this place. Everything looked so good! Next I went to the matinee of "The Book of Mormon," It was so good. The part of the city that the theatres are in is actually a really nice part of the city. I felt really safe there. I walked around there, by myself, at night and I felt so comfortable.  The production was what I expected it to be but at a smaller theatre and honestly a nicer theatre than the Orpheum in San Fransisco. The three leads

were from The States but the rest, from what I could tell, were from the UK. The American dialects were laughable to me. I'm sure they were great for everyone else but, as someone from the US it was a muddled mess of Southern, Cali surfer, New York, and like super mid-west. I thought this was so funny because all of the Mormons would just slip between them. The guy who played Elder Price was fine but he really just felt like a cardboard cutout of Andrew Rannells who was amazing when he originated the role. This guy, I felt, was committing the two cardinal sins of acting. He was not 100% invested in what was happening on stage and worst of all he was committing the sin of "Bullshit. Bullshit. My line." It felt like he was just waiting for his turn to talk. The guy who played Elder Cunningham was hysterically weird and incredibly awkward. I loved him. He carried the show. He made it feel like his story was being told not Elder Price's story. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was lucky enough to be sitting with an Australian couple who had never seen the show before nor had they known anything about it. I explained to them what they were about to see and you could just see their faces light up. We had a lot to talk about both before the show and after because they had just visited San Fransisco in July. We talked about that and I was a little offended that they had clam chowder WITHOUT the sourdough bread bowl. I mean, it is not the same without it! But they really enjoyed their time in San Fransisco and I enjoyed watching this show with them.

After "The Book of Mormon" I got an early dinner at a diner, I had me some chicken strips and a

Baileys malt. It came with fries, onion rings, and the tiniest side of coleslaw I have ever seen. I do have to rave a little about the jalapeño jelly they had to dip the chicken strips in. Seriously, this stuff was amazing, way better than the barbecue sauce I was given. Other than the chicken and the jalapeño jelly the food was really mediocre. I'm noticing a pattern with the British food... it's very bland for the most part. Let me tell you... salt is your friend. After dinner I found myself walking around the West End looking at the city at dusk. It was really pretty cool. This is of course fate took hold and I walked by a theatre. I asked the box office about tickets and I got a £20 ticket for that night. It was a new show written by a group that came out of LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art). This play was

just what I needed. It was "A Play About a Bank Robbery" and it was hilarious! It reminded me of something my friend Katie Ruppert would write. Remember this name guys, she is going to write some serious comedy one day. Anyway, it was a farce complete with mistaken identity, puns, and jokes that were beaten until they were dead. No joke was too little for these guys to make and let me tell you, they took EVERY opportunity to make a joke. It reminded me a lot of the "Who's On First" vaudeville routine. It was set in 1960's Minneapolis. It was really a lot of fun. I was laughing the entire time and I was kept on my toes. As soon as you thought you knew where they were going to take a joke they slapped you with a misdirection. I don't think the people around me laughed as hard as I did. I'm just really sad that in October they open a show called "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" and I would love to see what they do with it. I will be in classes then and it would be hard for me to get there to see it. Actually a lot of the theatre I wanted to see in London was either really expensive or it didn't open until October. But that is okay, what I did experience is what I needed to experience.

The next morning I left my hostel early in the morning to get in line for my £15 ticket to "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time." I made it just in time to get my seat for the front row. Of

course it started to rain on my way there so I got wet because I didn't have my umbrella. Little did I know... I did have my umbrella in my bag. I walked in the rain for no reason. I'm glad it rained though, I feel like it would be a poor trip to London if I didn't experience the rain at all. After I got my ticket for the matinee I had some time to kill so I headed on over to Camden Town to look for another ring for my collection (I told you, it's a thing now). Its very much the artsy part of London but it felt like every store had the same things. I found a bunch of rings that I liked but almost none of them fit my middle finger (which is the finger I was shopping for). I was about to give up when I found this one. Simple but detailed. 

I also had a coffee and a breakfast sandwich at a small coffee shop in town (probably a chain). It was called Costa Coffee. I got a medium coffee and this thing was huge! It was so good though. There is something so creamy about the coffee in Europe. It is thick and flavorful. you almost need no milk or sugar in it. I personally just like the consistency milk gives it. I don't know if I could go back to coffee in The States after this. I also noticed that every time I get a coffee they ask if I want milk in it and it is more of a latte. You need to experience it, there is nothing like it.

Also, I just have to put this in, there was a first date going on behind me at the cafe. It was so incredibly cute. These two guys were just getting to know each other in the coffee shop and then decided to go out and get food. But they were bonding and sharing things about their lives. It was so cute I couldn't stand it. After my mini trip to Camden Town, which was a bit of a let down, it was back to the West End for more theatre!

When I got back I had some extra time on my hands so I went to M&M Wold. It is this huge four floor store just filled with M&Ms the candy and merchandise for M&Ms. They had everything you could think of to do with the candy. Star Wars, PJs, design your own, school supplies, mugs (my weakness... but I was good), and so much more. I didn't buy anything because I was so overwhelmed with how big the store was, and honestly I went in so I could use the restroom. I waisted so much time in there but it was really fun. The entire place was probably a kid's dream. M&Ms as far as the eye can see. You could also figure out what color M&M you would be... of course I didn't do this

because there was a line... Lame. Also ALL over the store there were the M&M characters dressed or posing. There was a knight, spy, driving a Union Jack car, and my favorite the Abby Road. This one was on the bottom floor next to the restrooms and I was so excited to see this. These figures are as tall as you are. It was really fun turning corners in the store and having no idea which figure you would see next. 

Then it was time to see "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time." This is hands down the best thing I saw while I was here. It was so creative and engaging. They way they did the production it really took you into the world and headspace of this 15 year-old boy with aspergers. This story follows him while he is trying to figure out who killed his neighbor's dog. The way the stage is set up is just beautifully simple but so

effective. As an audience member you are taken on an intelectual ride. The way all the actors are on stage and engaged the entire time, the way they help the main boy negotiate the space, and the way they slipped in small gags to keep the show light and to keep you on your toes. The blocking was just so intricate there was no room for mistakes. Everyone hit their mark every time. The guy who played the main character was so incredible. He portrayed this boy with aspergers so honestly that as an audience member you believed every second of what he was doing and saying on stage. I couldn't imagine anyone doing a better job than this kid. After the show I find out that he was the understudy. What they probably do is have the understudy go on frequently because his character is incredibly physical and on stage the ENTIRE show. All two and a half hours of it. The main character must be on a schedule where the understudy takes like a show a week or does one of the shows on the days they have two shows. I can imagine doing that role twice in one day. That takes some incredible strength. This play is also a book which is now on my list to read. But seriously if you EVER have the opportunity to see "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time" DO IT!!!! Oh... and stick around after bows... 

After the show I hopped back on the Tube and I headed over to where The New Globe Theatre is. I
wasn't able to go inside but I got to see the back side. It is this big, beautiful Elizabethan Theatre. It is

on my list of things I HAVE to do when I go back to London... and I will make it back. I'm
determined. Since I went all the way out there I decided to have dinner at the restaurant nextdoor. It was this cute, communal table place. They had a long table in the middle where small groups shared the table with others. For someone eating alone, I was in fact, not alone. I got my self the Globe Ale and a sausage roll. This thing was go good. I also ordered mushy peas but they really sucked. They were nothing like the peas I had at the Princess Victoria Pub. Anyway they brought out my food on a wooden board. It was a really cute place.

On my way back is where the bullshit began. I get to Heathrow airport no problem and then while I am going through security they didn't like my dry shampoo (even though I was allowed to bring it in my carryon while leaving Berlin) which is fine but then instead of taking it out of my suitcase he proceeds to take everything out of my bag. I get that he was doing his job and he has to be thorough but he didn't need to take everything out and unfold it. I was so irritated because the night before I spent a long time trying to tetris my bag just right so I could carry my ten days worth of belongings in a carry on. After he unpacked my bag I couldn't get it packed as tight. Then my flight was delayed so I didn't get home until an almost two hours after I was supposed to. It also was frustrating how rude the flight staff was and that they took my bag from me after I was on the airplane to put it in as a checked bag. This made me so angry because if I knew my bag was "too big" to be a carryon (even though it was no problem on the 4 flights I took previous to this on) I would have checked it and I would have been able to keep my dry shampoo. 

Over all though I loved my mini UK adventure. I met some really awesome people and saw some really awesome things. I really want to make it back to both locations and explore more. I almost want to go back for a longer trip and travel to more countries. The people I met while staying in the hostels really inspired me to embrace my sense of adventure. 

Congratulations! You made it to the end of THE BEAST.