Virtual Makeup Classe Experience

“Adapt and overcome”.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Admittedly, it’s an expression I learned while serving in the military. But, it’s a phrase I think we can ALL relate to during the last few months as we’ve navigated and pivoted our lives and our businesses due to coronavirus.

For me, the best way to adapt to not being able to teach makeup in person (or apply makeup to faces in general) was to move to a completely virtual platform. I developed a series of eight online classes on a range of subjects I thought would be good for makeup lovers, beginners, or the makeup curious.

The feedback I received from the classes has been awesome. Rather than just post the feedback I received into a blog post, I reached out to one of my attendees to share her thoughts about the classes on my blog! Kari attended every single one of my eight classes, so I thought it would be good for you to read about her experience, especially because I am strongly considering doing more of these in the future.

If you have questions about my virtual makeup classes or anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always happy to chat. Now, I’ll step aside and let Kari take over the blog!

My Expectations Going Into The Classes

When I saw that Natalie was going to be doing virtual makeup classes during the coronavirus pandemic, I thought it was a great way for her to pivot but I was a little unsure how online makeup classes were going to work. I didn’t know if the people who attended would be applying makeup to themselves during the class and she would “critique” it after or if it would be more instructional in format.

I have been following Natalie and her work for a long time, so I knew it wouldn’t be just an excuse to sell products.

One of the reasons I love Natalie is that she doesn’t have any financial stake in offering her advice. If she recommends a product, it’s because she honestly loves it and uses it herself. That made the decision to sign up for the first class really easy for me. I figured I would see what it’s like and then decide if I wanted to take more of them!

Read more: The Top 10 Must-Have Makeup Books for Makeup Lovers

What I Learned From the Virtual Makeup Classes

The first class was the “Eyeliner Hacks” class and I think she chose to do this one first because she got a lot of requests for it from people on social media. I was honestly pumped because I am terrible at eyeliner. So much so that I can count the number of times I’ve worn it on one hand. And yet, I love the baby winged eyeliner looks that are super trendy right now.

I gotta say… I learned SO much in just 60 minutes. We got to see Natalie create a couple of different eyeliner looks on herself (of course, she made it look so easy) but she went slowly and explained exactly what she was doing. She showed us her favorite tools to use and even told us how to fix a mistake without messing up the whole look.

Before this class, I was really buying into the hype of all of those trendy new products that promise to make cat eyes foolproof (I even bought one and tried it… once… without success). After this class, I know the best way for me to approach it is with an angled brush and eyeshadow or a kohl pencil. Watching Natalie do it made me feel so much more confident to try it myself. AND THIS WAS JUST ONE CLASS.

Virtual Makeup Classes: A Few of My Biggest Takeaways

Since I attended all eight of her virtual makeup classes during COVID, I wanted to share some of my other big takeaways:

• Nude lipsticks are some of the most difficult to wear and match to your skin tone.
• Your smokey eye look can be any color you want, not just black.
• Contouring is not for everyone (it started out as a way to make drag makeup more dynamic) and you probably shouldn’t attempt it, especially if you’re a beginner.
• Everyone on earth is probably wearing too much concealer (thanks, YouTubers).
• False eyelashes need to be trimmed to fit your specific eye shape.
• Mascara, when applied properly, can look just as impactful as false lashes.
• People with dry skin (ahem, me) need a thick moisturizer to really plump up the skin before applying foundation.

There were so many takeaways from these classes, and these are just a few that came to the top of my head as I’m sitting here writing this post. 

I will also admit that I watch a fair amount of makeup tutorials online but I wouldn’t consider myself “very good” at makeup. Natalie’s classes took it beyond just a tutorial and she really explained the why and how behind makeup application in a way that was much more personal than just watching someone apply makeup to themselves in front of a ring light.

She even created PDFs for each class that she gave out with her tips and personal product recommendations (these are multiple page guides, not just little fluff pieces). I know I’ll be circling back to them whenever I need to replace a product in my makeup bag. 

If you’re on the fence about taking a virtual makeup class, I say do it. I know Natalie is talking about doing more of these in the future and I would definitely take more of them or even re-take some of the ones she’s already offered.