Wynterflakes: Laneige K(orean)-Beautiful Blogger Challenge!

The Event

As luck would have it, I was chosen as one of the 10 finalists to participate in Laneige’s K-Beautiful Blogger Challenge! Really, really thrilled about this-- it’s my first experience to participate in such an event as a blogger. I actually felt elated for a week just remembering! The main goal of this workshop event is to teach and transform us into *Korean beauties*, but I think the other more important purpose is so that we could also spread the secret with you, our readers! Which will no longer be a secret after we write about it, though.^^

I honestly didn’t have big expectations that I’d be invited, I am a noob blogger, after all. And being a newbie, I was a bit clueless and forgot to ask the right questions when they informed me of the event, for example, Was I supposed to wear makeup upon arriving?

And so I didn’t. I assumed I didn’t have to, since we were doing a makeover workshop and they would ask me to remove it anyway. But that was a big mistake for me (Apparently, we were allowed to wear light makeup), because I forgot that we would of course be taking a lot of pictures upon arrival! So for the first few pictures, I look absolutely appalling. That is not to say that I look wonderful on the after photos, but I’d like to think that I could have looked a bit better. Lol.

In order to not dishearten you, I will have to cheat and show you the not so bad looking photos first before you see my no makeup face. LOL

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The welcome picture. Hello to a just-woke-up, sans-makeup horrid face. >.<

I look less confident standing beside Song Hye Kyo. Lol

With Gwen, fellow blogger. Isn’t she just gorgeous? I'm glad I became friends with her because I was really apprehensive and scared in the beginning! Sitting beside someone I can talk to made me feel more at ease!:D Thanks Gwen!:)

Call time was 10.30 but the event was to start at 11am. Upon arrival, it was intimidating to see that the girls were all so pretty! Kind of made me think if I really belonged. Lol. After the welcome photos were taken, we were shown towards the meeting room and henceforward, step-by-step, we were taught how to look like natural, flawless-looking Koreans!

Cupcakes for us! So sweet!

Our *workspace*. The best thing about this is we took home all these products with us! Are we lucky or what? :)

Our Laneige trainer, Tina, who patiently instructed us the methods that I’m about to share with you!

K-Beauty with Laneige: A Step by Step Guide.

The first step in applying makeup is not foundation, or primer, it’s to start with a clean face! As with painting, one should always start with a clear and clean canvass. If you’re familiar with Laneige products, you should know that they have a 5-step preparation for this. They gave us the whitening range but at home I am trying out the Water Bank range. To sum it down though their products should be used in this order, whichever range it is:

Skin Refiner
Emulsion
Essence
Eye Gel Cream
Gel Cream

We were also advised to not apply the facial products on the eye area. One must always use the eye gel for that sensitive part of our face, and nothing else!

So, once the face is clean, we can now start with makeup!

1. Lumi Volume Primer

Squeeze a pea sized amount and apply to face. Since this product is brightening, it would be best to apply it as highlight rather than apply it on your whole face. For example, you can apply it on the cheeks, forehead, chin and tip of your nose.

2. BB Cushion

In my previous post about Laneige, I’ve mentioned that this is my favorite product! Simply apply as you would like any BB cream!--except that it’s better because it comes with the sponge. It’s better to apply lightly at first, and afterwards reapply only on areas that require more attention such as scars and pimple marks.

3. Water Supreme Finishing Pact

Although our main goal is towards a more dewy complexion, we wouldn’t want our whole face to be shiny, do we? So using a powder brush, we applied this on areas where we don’t want shine, the T Zone, and in my case, I always apply powder at the area in between my nose and cheek area, because when I smile, the shine always inappropriately shows there.

4. Multi-shaping Eyeliner

This is one of the good tricks that I learned using this product: Tightlining! It’s very simple, apply the eyeliner on the upper water line of your eyes, just underneath the upper lashes. This makes your lashes more full and compact--naturally! Also, this is very useful for weirdos like me who don’t put eyeliner when using falsies (because I want them to look as natural as possible).

You can also apply underneath the bottom lashes, but remember to stop halfway and not put over the whole eye area, so you don’t end up looking like Marilyn Manson.

5. Multi-professional Shadow

As you can see from the above picture, there are a total of four shades. Use the darkest brown to line your eyes as you would with a liquid liner. Then, take the 2^nd darkest color and blend it with the darkest brown that you have just applied, tracing the shape of the crease of your eye. This may seem dark at the beginning but it actually looks more natural than having to put a dark eyeliner. Also, you can use this technique during daytime and then apply more to create a smoky effect when you have to go out at night.

6. Natural Brow Liner - Auto Pencil

Eyebrows are very important! They frame your eyes. For this look, we want to avoid appearing sharp and fierce. Thicker, straight eyebrows makes one look younger and more approachable. So the trick in applying this liner is to fill in your brows, make sure they’re not too thick, though, and try to straighten the eyebrows’ natural arch.

My eyebrows might have been to thick, LOL. Later on our trainer would correct Gwen’s eyebrows into a straighter, less arched form.

If you made a mistake and drew your brows too thick/dark, you can also use cotton buds to soften the line. We were told that Q-tips are our best friend when it comes to makeup, and that is so right! Always keep them handy when doing your makeup, especially if it’s your first time trying a look!

7. Volume Setting Mascara

I think this may have become my favorite makeup product of Laneige. I almost feel like I’m wearing falsies after applying! Also, we were reminded that it is best to apply it in zig zag motion to make sure they’re even and to avoid clumps, we don’t want them looking like spider legs!

8.~9. Moisture Lip Balm and Silk Intense Lipstick (Blonde Coral)

Lastly, for the lips! These products are so awesome! You must try their Moisture Lip Balm, it’s one of the best I’ve ever used. It’s not sticky, and it’s as if your lips were immediately plump and moisturized. The Laneige staff were also very sweet and thoughtful that they gave us their best lip color- Blonde Coral- it was sold out in Singapore and Korea but they managed to get 10 of them, 1 for each blogger.

So that’s it! Less than 10 steps, very easy, right? I tried applying it before going to work and it actually took me less than 10 minutes (next time it should only be 5 minutes!).

Aftermath

So I guess you would want to see the Before and After pictures as much as I would hate to show them to you! Oh well. Are you ready? I apologize if you’re eating or doing something pleasant, the following images might be disturbing to some audiences! >.<

HWAHAHAHA WTF. *cries in corner, facing wall* (I purposely made it small. heheh)

Erm, Do I resemble a human now?

Thanks to the makeover workshop, I came home looking more presentable and fresh! I also feel that it looks just right -- not too made up and just natural!;)

But I still haven’t told you the best experience for me in participating in such an event! It’s not just the freebies, or the knowledge gained, but getting to meet such sweet and lovely girls! They’re not just pretty faces, they have awesome personalities as well! It goes to show that you shouldn’t be concerned only with outward appearances, character and personality very much shows how beautiful one is.

I’m really glad to have joined and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Hopefully, there is a next time! Thank you so much Laneige for your generosity with your amazing products and Nuffnang for this awesome opportunity!!!