I can’t say enough about what a great experience I had at the Makeup Symposium that I attended for three days at Bennett Career Institute in Washington, DC. I was interested in going a year ago but this year I made it!

What I liked about the course was that it was divided up by skill level and there was so much essential information to soak up regardless of what you currently knew about makeup. Each day we had several two-hour class periods devoted to topics like Eyes, Bridal Makeup, Airbrushing, Foundations, and Contouring. I can’t tell you how much I learned and how much fun I had learning it!

In addition to that we had a few hours at the end of the day that was set aside for the business side of beauty. How to make money off of your talent/skill set and the right ways to go about getting an agent or work on the type of clients that you want to go after. So much valuable information for everyone that loves makeup but wants to make a business out of it.

One of my favorite classes was with the amazing Frederick Sanders on Contouring. Besides working with several amazing celebrities Fred (we were together two hours so I’ll call him Fred like we are buddies) had a heart-felt personal story. While growing up and achieving an unbelievable amount of success as an educator he still went after his dream in the beauty industry. That takes guts. So many times we are taught to believe that there is one way to be successful. I’ve always believed there are a BILLION ways. One for every person at least! So besides learning how to CONTOUR like nobody’s business we all got some serious inspiration. Here are some pictures of what Fred did with the class model using Black Opal Creme Foundation sticks.

There were people from all over the country attending the Makeup Symposium. They have the Symposium every year. We learned from so many talented people like Danessa Myricks, Kim Gray, Clark Vincent, Tanna Jackson, and James Vincent who has done Lady Gaga’s makeup! One of the DC Housewives Lynda Erkiletian also came to talk to us about how to get into an agency since she owns one:)

Besides walking away from this experience with a lot of notes and a lot of Danessa Myricks videos I  can truly say this is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. If you are in the Washington, DC area check Bennett out. They have a cosmetology school too. The website is www.bennettcareerinstitute.org.