I knew I wanted to attend a makeup school in London so after weeks of researching all the different schools I finally decided on the London School of Makeup. The main reason I chose this school was due to the fact that you complete the International Makeup Artist (IMA) certificate, the IMA are an awarding body independent from the school. "This internationally recognised qualification is not an in house schools attendance certificate instead it is a completely independent from the school and is offered in many schools throughout the world from Spain to Dubai and the UK to Moscow".
The majority of the other schools I looked at offered the complete course in one go which would mean staying in London and attending school for anything between 8 and 12 weeks. However the at the LSM they either offer the course straight up for 8 weeks or allow you to complete two weeks at a time. This suited me perfectly as in the long run I couldn't quit my job to take this course so instead I can complete it bit by bit within two years.
So this time I completed the first of the 2 week course's which was the foundation IMA certificate. This covered all the basics including skin types, colour correcting, foundation matching, bronzing, blush, shading, highlighting, eyes and lips. We also created day, evening, vintage and bridal looks within the two weeks.
Each day at the school was different but followed the basic principle of a lesson/theory in the AM from the teaching Makeup artist and then the afternoon was where we paired up and got to try out the techniques learnt in the morning.
During my two weeks at the LSM my group had two different teachers - Amanda for the first four days then Ava for the remaining time. Each were so lovely and willing to answer any questions, I found their methods of teaching easy to understand and they made you feel so at ease throughout the course.
I learned some valuable tips and tricks whilst at the school and was able to play around and experiment with products I usually wouldn't have thought to try, there were various different brands to use including MAC, Bobbi Brown, Nars, Illamasqua, Ben Nye, Makeup forever, Sleek and MUA to name a few.
The exams were held over the last two days of the course. This was made up of a written multiple choice exam and then a practical exam where you had to create a day and evening look. I was thrilled that I passed both parts of the exams and even managed to score 100% in the written test!
Below are just a couple of pictures of the different looks created.
Bridal makeup:
Vintage makeup:
On the whole my experience at the school was amazing, I enjoyed all aspects of the course - I just wish I could have stayed for longer!
I made the most wonderful friend through the course who I know will be friends for life. We spent the whole two weeks trying all the different restaurants on the street for lunch and then spent most evenings enjoying a few cocktails or glasses of wine. We all wished we could have stayed forever!
Rocking our vintage looks:
The aftermath of a day at makeup school:
If you have any further questions about the course I'd love to answer them! I can't wait until I get the chance to go back and complete the next two weeks of the qualification which is the Creative course.
XOXO Sophie
