Beauty Professional Ireland’s Editor Lucy Earley popped into one of Ireland’s Top Make-Up Artists Ken Boylan’s new make-up courses as fly on the wall and learnt a thing or two!

Zeba is perfectly located in South William Street, Dublin for Ken Boylan’s new make-up courses. The courses cater to both professionally trained therapists who want to upskill, and for individuals who want to learn more about how to apply make-up. After a humorous and warm introduction by both Ken and his colleague Gillian Rafferty, Ken asked each individual about their daily skincare and make-up choices.

Zeba is perfectly located in South William Street, Dublin for Ken Boylan’s new make-up courses. The courses cater to both professionally trained therapists who want to upskill, and for individuals who want to learn more about how to apply make-up. After a humorous and warm introduction by both Ken and his colleague Gillian Rafferty, Ken asked each individual about their daily skincare and make-up choices.

Both Ken and Gillian are very passionate about good products and not afraid to correct perceptions of what is a good and what is not necessarily the greatest product - including a rather dated “greasepaint” style make-up which I happened to be (ahem) wearing... well I was under the impression that it was good for the cold weather!

Five looks are covered in the professional course, the day-look, bridal, bronzing and highlighting which shows an in-depth look at receding less desirable features and contouring and developing others, the ever elusive smokey eye and the (what some find to be scarier) coloured eye.

What was quickly apparent from this important introduction part of the course was a serious “fear of eyeshadow”. Most of the ladies present did wear foundation and mascara during the day and perhaps a little eyeliner in the evening. However, nearly everyone present was scared of eyeshadow and had very little knowledge of how to use it.

If a beauty therapist is afraid of using eyeshadow on herself, how does she expect to have the confidence to use it correctly on a client? That is the challenge presented to Ken in the professional courses “What I have to get across to people is: ok great, they come in, we go through looks, they might get it completely right the first time, but, they have to go home and practice, otherwise what’s the point?” Ken tells me. “We do get great make-up artists who want to upskill, but most of the time they are afraid of new looks or colours, and there are also problems with skin colour matching”.

To help with colour matching Gillian ran through different types of foundation brands, consistencies and textures with the class. I was interested in the fact that Ken and Gillian did recommend a few budget brand’s individual products throughout the day. However, the majority of recommended products were at the more professional end of the market. The staying power of a professional, highly pigmented foundation will always win in the end. However, some expensive brands could learn a little about a certain budget brand’s eyeliner consistency for example.

Once assured that everyone was fully abreast with what’s new and improved on the market; Gillian then showed the class a groomed daytime look using a good base, proper use of concealer and three neutral eyeshadow colours. It was great fun to sit at our own mirrored station in the excellent lighting of the room and try the products and techniques ourselves.

I use minerals on clients who want a wholly natural look, but shied away from it slightly for myself. My reason being I thought it didn’t have a decent amount of coverage. I was very happy with the sheeny look on my skin using a mineral product I had not used before. When one of the girls on the course told me I looked a lot better (and younger) than that morning I was further convinced.

Ken went through the smokey eye in his masterful way and the class was very impressed with the results on a girl who had fantastic eyes but admitted to never daring to attempt such a look herself.

Both Ken and Gillian went above and beyond in helping anyone with concerns and it made it a very enjoyable and informative day. I was particularly impressed with their attention to one girl who had a recent serious skin breakout as they had a lot of advice and tips for her. You can really get a sense of their honesty, passion and care for their clients and it’s good to impart that to beauty therapists, it can only bring more strength to your own or your staff ’s makeup and customer care skills. At the end of the course each student is presented with a Ken Boylan Make-Up Certificate, a welcome addition to the front desk of any salon.