Event | Make-up Designory at Roseberry

Last week I was introduced to the fantastic world of Make-up Designory (MUD), a brand that is mainly aimed at professional makeup artists and is available in Malta thanks to Roseberry in Valletta.

The MUD brand is also very appealing to those who are avid makeup enthusiasts and those who specialize in special effects makeup. There is so much to say about this brand so here's a little word of warning that this will be a lengthy post. So make yourselves a cup of tea, kick back and relax for a few minutes while learning about the wonderful world of MUD!

First things first - the event was held at the newly opened Roseberry shop in Valletta on Republic Street, right next to Tommy Hilfiger and it was a blogger/makeup artist exclusive event. I made my way to the premises with my good friend Marija from Pocalocca where we met up with Fiona from Cruelty-Free Malta and we were curtly shown to Roseberry's Champagne Nail Bar downstairs. 

While we waited for other bloggers to join in for the exciting couple of hours ahead, we were treated to glasses of wine and tasty looking sweets and nibbles which I kept my hands off because of Lent. We were also handed a nice little gift pack courtesy of MUD as well as the Roseberry Loyalty Card.

The event was led by Ms. Elizaveta Kudryashova who is herself a fashion makeup artists and school director for MUD Europe, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She guided us enthusiastically through the process of how the brand came to be and also gave use very detailed descriptions of the brand’s range of products.

MUD first started out around 20 years ago in the US as a makeup school, specifically to offer courses for those intended to work in show business. Students at the school were being met with the lack of certain shades and products on the market and so the school started creating these products exclusively for use within the school to fill in this blank space in the industry.

Seeing that alumni kept being unsuccessful in finding certain products, MUD eventually expanded to the general market so that other makeup artists could make use of their products. An interesting point to note is that the majority of MUD School alumni make it through to become leading makeup artists to the stars and on reality television shows.

Therefore, MUD is a brand created by makeup artists for makeup artists and this is very evident in the way the products are manufactured and presented. For example, optimal hygiene practices are of utmost importance within makeup artistry, especially when one is working on different clients; hence, MUD has a full range of tools including a mixing palette and palette knife to help in this regard and to ensure a flawless makeup application. The brand even does a booklet with disposable paper-like palettes to facilitate things when applying makeup to a lot of clients at one go, say at a fashion show for example.

The mixing palette and palette knife are two indispensable tools which facilitate a makeup artist’s work and we could really see this duo at work during the event as Ms. Elizaveta kept mixing products on the palette to show us how versatile they are. This is exactly the second point that shows us that MUD has makeup artists in mind as just by mixing a little of their silicone based primer to any given product, the said products take on a whole new level – say an eyeshadow can be transformed into an eyeliner, hence saving up space and things to carry. It can also be mixed with foundation to give it a more liquid texture or make it lighter in colour.

Here a common misconception was addressed and I personally think it makes sense - we are always being told that silicon is not good for the skin because it inhibits it from breathing and that is true if you apply 10 layers of it onto your skin. A thin layer however, say a primer can actually prove to be beneficial as it still allows the skin to breathe while at the same time creating a barrier between the makeup and your skin, hence preventing it from absorbing makeup.

MUD also has an airbrush makeup system that is more suited for hot climates and high humidity levels so for Malta it is perfect! One thing to note is that all MUD products, except for the lip products are perfume free to make sure they suit even the most sensitive of skins.

What interested me the most are the palettes that come either fully assembled or empty to be filled according to one's needs. There is even an empty lipstick palette where you can depot your lipsticks in or mix them together to create new colours! There's a contouring palette, a foundation palette and a concealer palette, all of which are cream based and have a generous amount of product.

As for pricing, MUD is a little high up the ladder since it is a professional makeup brand but the products are guaranteed to last you for a long time so I guess that justifies the price. You can find the full MUD range at Roseberry Valletta.

Lastly, I would like to thank all involved in the organization of this event and I really look forward to using the beautiful products I was given to try out :) P.S. Isn't that makeup bag the cutest thing?!