It’s time to announce the winners of our Festival Dreams Spring Makeup Contest!
But first, we would like to extend a huge “THANK YOU” to all our participants, the semi-finalists, finalists, and our judge!
This year, our wonderful judge, Azzi Williams, created a personalized scorecard for each finalist to determine the winner.
Judge: Azzi Williams
Here’s what Azzi was looking for:
- Effort: Beautiful detailed makeup that works seamlessly with the hair, costume styling and accessories, creating an overall visually springtime stunning look.
- Skill: Clean, neat and polished makeup skills, beautiful detailed work, killer contouring and gorgeous, high-pigmented products that capture your spring festive look. Of course I’m also expecting those false lashes to be totally on point.
- Photo Quality: Nice clean, crisp image that is of great quality—something you would see in a makeup artist’s portfolio. Nothing blurred, out of focus or with poorly thought-out backgrounds. (Certainly no bedroom clutter in the background. And less is more with skin retouching and Photoshop —- and yes, I will be able to tell!)
- Fun: I want to see joy, magic and dreamy, fantasy fun! Have fun every step of the way!
- Final note: Take time to really study this genre and see what models, makeup artists, celebrities and bloggers are creating to help fuel inspiration. Think of the details of color, texture, pigment and application. Look at the overall mood of your image—have you conveyed the character’s true springtime festive fantasy essence? All the best with your exciting creative makeup journey ahead and have loads of fun creating your look! Finally, GOOD LUCK!
Festival Dreams Scoring:
Artist: Karessa Johnson
- Effort: 5/5
- Skill: 4/5
- Photo Quality/ Overall Image: 4/5
- Fun: 5/5
- Total: 18/20
Comments: Stunning makeup with strong pigments and fine, beautifully executed detail. The lip accents are stunning and the eye makeup is beautifully executed. Accents above the brow could be enhanced with a little more metallic or gold to really bring the look to the next level. Also – to really enhance the makeup look, consider photographing against a plan black or white or spring-themed backdrop.
Artist: Phoebe Bell
- Effort: 4/5
- Skill: 5/5
- Photo Quality: 4/5
- Fun: 4/5
- Total: 17/20
Comments: A soft, romantic spring look that is very fashion forward and on trend. This look is more boho/whimsical in its finer elements than a dramatic festival look, but the metallic accents are sublime and the lips are beautifully finished. Would have liked to see a playful set of false lashes to add a bit more drama to the look.
Artist: Jade Williams
- Effort: 4/5
- Skill: 3/5
- Photo Quality: 4/5
- Fun: 4/5
- Total: 15/20
Comments: A pretty boho concept with lovely pretty accents. For a finish that photographs flawlessly, I recommend adding a more pigmented concealer and contoured base. The eye makeup colour palette selection is lovely, but please watch for the symmetry in eyeliner and shading application. Again, this look could be taken to the next level with a playfully dramatic false lash application or some more textured lip colour.
Artist: Wendy Beane
- Effort: 4/5
- Skill: 4/5
- Photo Quality: 4/5
- Fun: 4/5
- Total: 16/20
Comments: A very pretty makeup look that is beautifully applied and shows off a more delicate makeup application. The gold accents on the brows work in harmony with the strobed effect. Would have liked to see a bit more fun and drama and playfulness – especially with the intensity of the eye makeup.
Artist: Mehri Kazemi
- Effort: 5/5
- Skill: 4/5
- Photo Quality: 5/5
- Fun: 5/5
- Total: 19/20
Comments: Incredible concept fusing both a modern spring festival look with a beautiful cultural concept. Exquisite detailed work and beautiful colours and textures that work together to create a spectacular look. The image is cohesive and the eye makeup is beautifully executed. Would have liked to see the lips accented a little more with colour or gloss, but overall a very strong look.
Congratulations Mehri Kazemi for winning the 2017 Festival Dreams Spring Makeup Contest!
Mehri wins a Pinch Provisions “Festival Kit”, a Tarte Make Believe in Yourself: Eye & Cheek Palette, and a Bite Beauty “Love, Bite Lip Set”.
Congratulations Karessa Johnson for winning the 2017 Spring Makeup Contest First Runner-Up Prize!
Karessa wins a Pinch Provision “Festival Aid Kit”, a Stila “Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow” in Gold Goddess, and a QC 9-shade Contour and Highlight Palette!
Congratulations Phoebe Jade Bell for winning the 2017 Spring Makeup Contest Second Runner-Up Prize!
Phoebe wins a Kat Von D Everlasting Lip Duo: Lip Contour Edition and a QC 9-shade Contour and Highlight Palette!
Student Prize Winner
The lucky winner of our student prize is QC Makeup Academy student Emily Burns! Emily wins a Benefit Cosmetics’ “Sunday My Prince Will Come” Easy Weekender Makeup Kit!
Thank you to all the artists who submitted entries for the contest! And to the 5 finalists, you should all be very proud of your work. Once again, congratulations Mehri for winning the 2017 Festival Dreams Spring Makeup Contest!
Only 2 weeks left until the #QCGoesToNYC sweepstakes is over!
Are you wondering what you’ll win if you’re the lucky sweepstakes winner? You and one guest win a free trip to NYC, including roundtrip transportation for two, two nights of accommodations, $200 USD of spending money per person, and one full day with celebrity MUA Nathan Johnson for a private makeup lesson!
Your private lesson with Nathan Johnson is personalized just for you! Before your trip, we’ll work with you to develop a customized lesson plan for your time with Nathan. You’ll tell us what skills you want to learn or improve on, and you can even send us some of your work for Nathan to review so he can gauge your skill level.
Next, you’ll be asked to submit a face chart beforehand, and complete the actual application on the day of. Nathan will guide you through the steps to create your original makeup look!
So what happens when you win?
You and your guest will arrive in New York on May 9th, the day before the lesson, where you’ll have some free time to explore the city! Your private makeup lesson will start the next day (Saturday, May 10th), following the lesson plan we created together. Complete the face chart application on a professional model with Nathan’s guidance, plus tips and/or corrections to help improve your skills. At the end of the day, professional head shots will be taken of your model and the makeup look you created which you can use in your professional makeup portfolio!
Lunch and dinner will be provided on the day of your lesson! The day after your private lesson, you can choose to travel back home, or stay in NYC for a few extra days. We’ll help you organize your accommodations if you’re not ready to head home just yet!
Excited to go to New York City? Read our blog post on how to increase your odds of winning! Gain up to 28 entries for a chance to win Nathan’s private lesson!
Already a student? Enter the sweepstakes here!
If you’re not a student, enroll now and start collecting your entries!
In case you haven’t heard already, QC Makeup Academy has an awesome sweepstakes going on! All students, old and new, can enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a free trip to New York City. You’ll get to spend a few days in the Big Apple, AND you’ll attend a private makeup lesson with QC tutor and celebrity makeup artist Nathan Johnson!
Makeup artists of any skill level can enter to win! This trip will help build your makeup skills, wherever you need them! Perhaps you just started your journey in makeup artistry—Nathan will help you learn the fundamentals and give tips on how to grow as a successful MUA. Or if you’re an experienced makeup artist, Nathan will teach you advanced skills and tips he’s picked up over his 18 years in the makeup industry!
How to Enter the Sweepstakes
To enter the sweepstakes, fill out the entry form here with your name, student number, and email. To make it more fun, you’ll be asked to write a few sentences on why you want to win, and a link to a makeup look that inspires you!
How to Gain More Entry Points
There are many ways you can gain entries to increase your chance of winning this amazing sweepstakes! Gain up to 28 entries by completing the tasks below. Certain tasks– such as tweeting to us and tagging us in inspirational posts– can be completed daily, helping you gain additional points every day! So the sooner you enroll, the more time you have to gain extra sweepstakes entries.
- Refer Your Friends!
- Send a unique URL to your friends and encourage them to enroll and enter! When they enter the sweepstakes, you gain extra points!
- Complete an Assignment
- Complete an assignment in any of your makeup courses to gain five additional entries! Simply click “enter” once you’ve submitted your assignment on the Online Student Center.
- Tweet About the Giveaway
- Tweet about the Sweepstakes and you’ll receive one additional entry point. You can tweet to us every day until February 28th, and you’ll gain one entry point every day! You can choose to click the tweet button on the entry form, or copy and paste your own tweet into the form to submit.
- Leave a blog post comment
- Write a comment on Nathan’s blog “Nathan’s Guide to Working as a Celebrity Makeup Artist” to gain 4 entry points! Remember to check off “I Commented” on the entry form after!
- Show Us Your Inspiration
- Use the hashtag #QCGoesToNYC to tag us in makeup looks that inspire you, or looks that you’ve created on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You can tag us daily, and you’ll earn one additional point each day you do! Remember to click “Enter” on the entry form once you’ve tagged us!
- Pin our image on Pinterest
- Pin or re-pin this image on your Pinterest board to earn 3 entry points!
- Follow The Beauty Buzz on Pinterest
- You can earn two points by following us on Pinterest. Simply follow us here, and then tell us your Pinterest username!
- Visit QC Makeup Academy on Facebook
- Visit QC Makeup Academy’s Facebook page and to automatically gain one entry point. Simply click the “Visit Us” button on the entry form to activate the “I Visited!” button, and then check off the task!
Don’t forget—there are random weekly prize draws every Tuesday! Winners will be put back into the mix for future weekly draws AND the grand prize draw.
There’s no better time to start on the road to an exciting career! The odds of winning are high, so don’t wait—enroll to start collecting your points!