Makeup used to be a complex and exclusive world accessible to only models and fashionistas but now Youtube makeup gurus, instagram models and pintrestrest tutorials have been making the cosmetics industry accessible to everyone.

A recognized and influential cosmetic line in the industry is MAC, selling millions of cosmetics every year. Jennifer Fairchild, a former MAC counter worker of 17 years, shared what she has learned working for such an influential makeup company.

One thing she stressed was the importance of skin health and preparation. Before you put on the foundation a primer, moisturizer, or toner evens out the skin so the foundation can adhere better.

“Think of it like if you were a painter and you had really cheap canvas versus a canvas with a little higher quality.” Fairchild compared.

Most products have specific primers that they recommend. Priming is an important part of any basic makeup routine that helps the finished product look better and last longer, so whether its lipstick, eyeshadow or foundation make sure to prime first.

She then shared the inside scoop on how MAC employees get their eyeliner perfect every time. It’s a process called cheating with powder. First go in with powder (either foundation or eyeshadow) and outline where the eyeliner should go then apply the eyeliner following the outline as a guide.

Make sure to carve out a crease with, as the MAC employees call it, your best friend shade. Which is a shade that is one to three shades darker than your skin shade.

Don’t forget to dress up your eyes with some fun lashes, they happen to be Jen’s favorite part.

“Without lashes your eyes just look naked” Fairchild says.

Another form of makeup is stage and theatrical make up. Stage make up traditionally uses a lot of matte and dark colors to help the facial features become more distinct under the bright lights and includes gore and special effects.

Danny Healy, the Revelers Club president, and was able to detail some of the more artistic and abstract forms of makeup by discussing the intricacies of stage makeup.

In Healy’s opinion not having to worry about aesthetics is an empowering and freeing element that allows the makeup artist to be not only more artistic but creative as well.

He used an example of make that he had done for a character he portrayed in a play. The makeup artist had to be ingenuitive when creating the look because the character was a fox.

For example the makeup artist used a spray makeup to create a speckled effect for the foxes ears where spray makeup is not often used in the fashion industry.

“With stage makeup you’re not trying to distract and bring attention to the makeup it’s more to bring the audience into a state of disbelief,” Said Healy.

Differences between the styles of makeup include techniques, tools and purpose. For example Old age makeup and horror makeup both are unblended however, old age makeup is done this way to create a blotchy less youthful complexion where horror makeup is unblended to create in Healy’s words, “a sense of unease for the audience.”

Horror makeup that is specialized to injuries and extreme facial and body alterations is gore makeup. Gore makeup utilizes waxes and latex to form new pseudo skin and body parts to create everything from gashes and lacerations to warts and noses.

Necole Buhl-Flerchinger, manager at the Spokane valley mall Sephora, has a different view of makeup.

In fact she recommend to first time beauty goers looking to dabble in the make up trade these tips.

First and foremost take care of your skin, that means masks, creams, moisturizers, primers and toner. As emphasized by Fairchild

“If your skin isn’t healthy underneath then makeup won’t fix the underlying problem,” Said Buhl-Flerchinger.

So often we forget about skin care in our makeup routines, this is a cardinal sin and can really make it hard to complete the look you are trying to achieve.

The next piece of advice she gave was to invest in good quality foundation. There are a few products that can be substituted if their pricy competitors are a bit out of the budget however, foundation is not one of them.

Last but not least her advice was to ask for help. People often don’t ask for help when in reality it’s actually what they need.

The staff at most cosmetics stores are well trained and would love to answer all and any questions. Even if you don’t buy anything information is always free and they teach you on site how to use the product with the “brush in hand” technique.

This means they show you how to get the look and then have you try it out before you leave the store. That way you can leave feeling confident that you can recreate the look at home.