This seemed like a fun exercise! I wrote about using Perla as a Beauty Blender soap and linking the related articles helped me realize that four years ago, I published a quarterly schedule of cleaning makeup brushes and had absolutely no shame about it.

Times have changed, please, please, please believe me.

That's the obvious #1": I learned to wash my personal brushes weekly, and sponges after each use. Not only do I use lots of eyeshadow colors and more liquid makeup nowadays, I've just had better education about makeup hygiene and sanitation. There really is nothing like getting an eye infection from a disgusting classmate who starts working on you with caked up brushes. Or realising that what you thought were normal bumps from dryness turned out to be mild irritation from using dirty brushes.

I mean, TMI, but there were times (4 years ago!!!) when I'd wash my brushes and they released a hard-boiled egg smell :| :| :| :| :|

And yet here I was thinking that my bumps were part and parcel of this crusty life.

:| :| :| :| :|

Habit #2: Trimming lashes. Full strip lashes can be obviously fake to the trained eye. The way a strip is built means that there is a full, uninterrupted band of plastic reflecting light and this can make the strip stand out. You may paint over it with gel liner, or cut a strip into clusters for a more realistic effect - cutting also makes lashes more comfortable as it is able to more fully bend along the shape of your eyelid.

As much as I'd love to use cut up lashes on myself every time, it's so fucking hard to see anything when I'm doing it on my own lashline. What has conceivably changed my personal makeup life is cutting the inner corner when too chunky, and cutting the outer corner to shorten the strip and prevent poking. There is a science to cutting your falsies without the lashes falling apart!

Habit #3: pounding my face. Yep, it's that violent. The most amazing base I've had entailed me painting thin stripes of foundation and beating it down with a stiff sponge, like the one that comes with Club Clio Conceal-dation. Definitely not a Beauty Blender as that is too porous and soft.

So when I modelled in the academy, I was in for major culture shock. They started with all those super polite chit chat, made sure I was comfy, gave me food and drinks.... and proceeded to violently assault my face with foundation. It was super duper hard pressure?! And her sponge, it was a joke to call it a sponge because it was more like a brick. But I was so #blessed to be invited for that promotion, because that's like observing a master class. And I'm talking a real master class, facilitated by a working professional with over 10 years experience. I was just taking in everything she did on the sly, while keeping up small talk.

It's amazing because, no working MUA would do that to any paying client. I feel like I wouldn't have had any other opportunity to learn that technique anywhere else, but once I stiffened my neck and did it to myself, GAME CHANGED.

Habit #4: using sponges. I have always been searching for good face brushes. My old reasons were for flawless foundation application. My "post-grad" reasons are for the luxury experience - that's it!

Better brushes leave less streaks, and using brushes means you never touch foundation with your hands. But I don't believe I'll find a brush that goes streak-free without needing a million motions. Quick and perfect foundation application is only achieved (by me) using sponges. And you know what, you don't even need a Beauty Blender if you can't afford it. True, it feels like a cherub's ass bouncing on your cheeks, but the finish is exactly the same with any cheap wedge.

Habit #5: setting my foundation. This feels dumb, and it isn't even a pro habit, but I have notoriously crusty skin and have always thought that I needed all the extra moisture I can get? So I just left liquid foundation on my skin... to slide around all day. And revel at my newfound oiliness?

That was super uncomfortable, and I'm never doing it again unless the liquid foundation has powder finish. Plus, geeking out about setting powder has made this setting journey so much more enjoyable ^_^

So those are the 5 cool new things I've adapted since attending makeup academy. If anyone has anything they learned since taking makeup ~seriously~ let's chat about it!