I know what it feels like to be a model. Well, almost. Just minus the parts where I travel the world, walk down fashion runways, appear in magazines and attend swanky events. Yup, I know what it’s like to be a model, sitting in a chair and be made to look pretty awesome.

Last week, Estée Lauder Chief Makeup Artist Joyce Lee gave me a taste of what models go through in the makeup chair, in conjunction with the Estée Lauder Model Search 2010, which is ongoing all over the country at the moment.

Me and Joyce

For this year’s contest, every competition hopeful will go through exactly what I went through on that makeup chair, but they’ll also get their hair done, picture taken and they’ll be given catwalk training.

“Makeup is about the pleasure of discovery and the adventure of creating individual looks,” said Joyce, an industry expert who has worked on the likes of Amber Chia, Chelsea Ng, Daphne Iking and heaps more. “For the makeup segment, we’re giving the participants the smoky-eyes, which is a very popular look.”

Achieving this look is not easy. After cleansing my face with cleansing milk, night repair serum and applying foundation with a foundation brush, Joyce explained why using a brush is important.

“Previously, the way to apply foundation was by making five dots on sections of your face and then using your fingers to blend the foundation, but to get better and more even coverage, you should go section by section, with downward strokes using a foundation brush,” she explained.

“Before applying foundation, use skin care products. Your foundation will go on smoother and it will stay on longer. ”

Her next step was applying face powder, with the ‘roll on’ method.

“Before, it was a norm to apply powder in a sweeping motion, but now the latest trend is to dab the powder brush on your skin and just roll it. This way, pressing the powder on your foundation helps it stay on longer.”

This is how we roll

“Apply cream blusher first with your foundation brush, and on top of that, apply powder blush,” she explained. “This is so that the powder blusher will stick to the cream and your blush will last longer.”

When applying eyeshadow, Joyce advised using the dabbing technique after mixing your eyeshadow colour with some foundation. This is so that the eyeshadow will stick to your eyelid and stay on longer.

Dabbing your eyeshadow helps to blend the colours and make it stay on longer

“If you have a warm skin tone, for a more natural look use warm colours like light brown, coral colours, natural colours. If you want to look more dramatic, change the whole set of colours to cool tones that are more purpleish, pinkish, blue.”

Then Joyce showed me how to give your brows a lift by applying a little bit of highlighter eyeshadow under the brow bone.

The next technique,what she calls  curve control, involves using a special vibrating mascara.

“Hold the mascara in place for five seconds for each section, and the vibrating motion will give it a curl without you even needing to use a curler,” she said.

Joyce let me in on a tip that will keep your eyeliner unsmudged for a longer period of time – and that’s by blending it with powder eyeshadow.

The finished look

“After applying eyeliner, cover it with another layer of eyeshadow of the same colour using a slanted brush. This will ‘lock’ the eyeliner.”

Some mascara, eyebrow shaping and a pair of fake eyelashes later, she finished off the look with a 3D lips effect, using lip gloss and lipstick.

“Apply a light shade of lip gloss all over the lips, and then apply lipstick only at the four corners of the lips. The gloss in the centre of the lips will give your lips a puffy effect.”

If you want to experience what its like to be a model, and maybe even end up being crowned a winner in the competition, the roadshows are happening at these places, on these dates:

* May 19 – 23 at Metrojaya Plaza Pelangi, Johor Bahru.
* May 26 – 30 at Parkson 1 Utama, Oval Court , Petaling Jaya.
* June 10 – 13 at Jusco Queensbay Mall, Penang.
* June 16 – 20 at Parkson Mahkota Parade, Melaka.
* June 17 – 20 at Parkson The Spring, Kuching.

* July 6 – 11 at Isetan KLCC Concourse, Kuala Lumpur.

To qualify, you need to purchase the RM280 Estee Lauder Model Search Makeover package, which includes a full makeover, professional hair-styling by Miko Studio and Academy, clothing by eclipse apparel, an instant A4 portrait photograph and a RM230 redemption voucher for Estee Lauder products.

The winners of this contest (there are two categories-Category A: age 29 and below, and Category B: 30 and above) will become brand ambassadors for Estee Lauder Malaysia, get to be in an all-expense-paid 6D/5N holiday photoshoot in Australia and will appear in a seven-page spread in Malaysia’s top fashion magazines.

For more details, call 019-2977 884/885.

*Oh, you’re interested to know about the contest? Click here 🙂