The Artist Summit Experience – Part One

Note: I started this post almost a week ago and I have decided to just break it into pieces so that I can say all that I want to say without writing a huge post and to better spotlight the people, the events and the products.

To say that I like makeup would be an understatement.

What I feel is more along the lines of addiction but I rarely blog about it.

Weird huh?

Anyway, that is about to seriously change.

I remember being around 9 years old and spending hours upon hours with my childhood friend Rita indulging in the two obsessions of my life at the time, Janet Jackson and makeup.

Now, my mom has never been the kind of woman to wear a lot of makeup, and actually none of the women in my family are. So, I don’t know where my fascination with makeup came from.

But there was just something about it, from that early age, that pulled me in.

I loved the colors, the textures, the way you could essentially transform with just a few swipes of mascara, or a brush of blush on the cheek.

But a funny thing happened along the way.

As I grew older, life took hold and along with a few other passions, makeup took a backseat but it always loomed in the crevices.

I would still spend hours at Sephora or Ulta or Sally Beauty and even Walgreens and CVS scouring the makeup sections.

Being at The Artist Summit was such an inspirational experience for me. It was a reawakening.

But enough about me for the moment, on to the experience.

The Artist Summit is a three day educational summit created by The Powder Group that primarily focuses on all levels of makeup artistry for the professional makeup and beauty community.

There is also a retail environment dubbed “The Summit Shop” that features a small select group of brands.

There were two Summits held this month; one in Miami and the other here in Chicago.

I received an invite to attend the bloggers preview of The Artist Summit from Felicia Walker Benson of This That Beauty and I gladly accepted.

Side note: it might sound all groupie-ish to say, but i totally fell in love with these people. Like I would work for the guys from the Powder Group for free kinda love.

Now you know that’s serious, right? They left that great of an impression on me.

Anyway, I arrived at the River East Art Center where the Summit was taking place and was greeted by Felicia. This was my first time meeting with her and I must say that she is a total sweetheart. Really open and friendly. (Thanks Felicia!)

Since in my eagerness I had arrived a bit early, I took a stroll around the The Summit Shop while waiting for the other bloggers to arrive.

The first person I encountered was Danessa Myricks of I Make You Beautiful.

To say that Danessa does incredible things with makeup would almost be insulting.

She has a series of how to videos that showcase her artistry.

After spending a few minutes talking to her, I made a mental note to find out what else she was participating in during the weekend and to make sure that I witnessed her at work.

And lucky me, I got to do so on Sunday.

I sat in on her Eye Focus session and it was kind of funny because she actually didn’t get to work on the model that she was supposed to work with.

There was a young lady in the audience that Danessa used as an example instead because as she pointed out certain details about her makeup while she was talking about techniques in general, she eventually felt compelled to fix them.

She felt that the way her makeup was applied and the way that her brows were shaped were aging her and it was amazing what a difference Danessa made with just a few techniques.

And although my pic is a bit blurry, you can see the difference. The brow on the left is full and frames her face as opposed to the untouched eyebrow on the right.

Danessa was so detailed and interactive with the audience, highlighting tips and products and techniques. It was a real eye opening experience. One I am glad that I did not miss.

Anyway, stay tuned for part two: the blogger’s preview walk thru conducted by makeup artist extraordinaire, James Vincent.