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Last weekend was ace! It was the United Make-Up Artists Expo over two days and took place in London’s Business Design Centre in Islington. It was every pro make-up artist’s dream – the best brands, the finest products and it was civilised!
I’m sure a lot have never heard of United Make-Up Artists Expo. Well it’s a European event born in the UK and based in London to support the make-up industry and aspiring make-up artists. Following support from prominent individuals in the make-up business and with expertise accrued over the years, this make-up show made a return to London once again.
Arm-in-arm with Leanne from Do Not Refreeze, we went straight for London Brush Company‘s stall where to my delight, founder Siân Richards was holding fort. When I first met her two years ago at IMATS, she had a humble collection of make-up brushes. Fast forward to the present day and her vision has become a reality with an extensive range of new brushes, a cosmetics line and a brush shampoo. She was also Halle Berry’s personal make-up artist on the set of Cloud Atlas. Her chatty persona is infectious so to hear Siân talk passionately about what she’s been working on was refreshing and excited me a lot.
LBC’s brushes are Helen and mine’s favourites so to see Siân has redesigned her range with shorter handles is brilliant but what’s more exciting is her new vegan collection called NouVeau.
These are distinctive by the teal coloured handles but also, the range includes 2 amazing looking brushes – the pyramid shaped foundation brushes. I think myself and Frootibeauty let out a little scream when we saw these. I’ve tried flat foundation brushes and stipple ones but a pyramid shaped brush looks like it will be brilliant to use around delicate and difficult areas like around the eyes.
Quality made make-up brushes are hard to find. The craftmanship on these brushes is phenomenal and the hairs are so soft. They’re a dream to use for application and blending – you can tell they’re good when you touch them. While other big brands which once made quality tools have sold out for cheaper production lines, Siân won’t sell her soul to the devil for a quick buck.
The other thing that got us feeling dizzy is her brush shampoo (I will be posting a review of this separately this week). It’s a pot of solid shampoo that shampoos, conditions and sanitises make-up brushes. After all, we look after our own hair, why aren’t we taking the same level of care with brushes that touch our skin?
I also bumped in Daniel Sandler who spontaneously decided to do smoky eyes on me (something Daniel’s been dying to do). He used his brilliant eyeshadow Scandal At Midnight eyeshadow quad.
With talks and demos going on by guests like Glenn Hetrick, I found time to peruse various stalls at my leisure and bought some beautiful things from Make-Up Forever, Lime Crime, MAC and NYX and conveniently at a nice discount. I also bagged a couple of large bottles of Bioderma so that should keep me going for the next 5 years. All in all, I think I behaved quite well!
I had anticipated that I would be free after a couple of hours. I left when the event closed for the day. It wasn’t a show on a huge scale but focused and I think that’s why United Make-Up Artist Expo was so enjoyable. A brilliant, relaxed atmosphere I was able to wander around, swatch products without being elbowed, chat to make-up artists and take it all in. I forgot to eat – that’s how intoxicated I was with all that make-up.
If you missed out this year, you may want to make sure you don’t next time. Check http://www.umae.co.uk/ for more information. UMAe, you were amazing – see you next year!
