Makeup Studiolab: a battle to the last brushstroke

A contest. Six judges. Thirty-two make-up artists. Fifty minutes on the clock. A battle to the last brushstroke! The organiser of it all is Bruna Trebar, a make-up artist from Catania. A competition between her students, trained in recent months at her Instagrammable studio Makeup Studiolab, opened in May 2018. The competition was held on Sunday 2 February at the Centro Zo in Catania, in front of parents, curious onlookers and make-up enthusiasts, and was presented by Katia, a speaker at Radio Etna Espresso. A jury made up of six professionals very close to the world of the make-up artist: Alessia Cammarota, famous influencer and full-time mum of two beautiful children, who came with her husband Aldo Palmeri; Claudio di Mari, fashion designer; Alessandro Pardo, photographer; Giovanni Ventura, hairstylist; Alessandro Liccardi, videomaker and Francesca Santangelo (yes, that's me, xD) as journalist and blogger.

The make-up artists who climbed the podium

The make-up to reproduce was a photographic makeup, made up of a mix of techniques, with the classic gradient blend done in pinkish tones, combined with the cat crease technique. The judges' final assessment was based mainly on the execution of the make-up, but not only. An overall mark judged the choice of the whole look for the model proposed by the participants. Who made the podium? Third place was a tie between three girls: Giusi Russo from Adrano, Anthea Bruno from Piazza Armerina and Carmelinda Buccheri from Adrano , ahead of whom came Melania Miraldi from Catania, who took second place, and finally the winner Doriana D'Alessandro from Caltanissetta.

The first makeup contest in Catania

A contest never seen before here in Catania. “It's an event that is very much in fashion outside Italy: London, Russia… so I said to myself: why not here in Catania?” Bruna explained at the start of the competition. With the right drive, energy and passion, it has thus made its way to us.

I really appreciate people who put themselves into what they love doing every day, and Bruna is one of them. She told me about this project when I interviewed her for Paesi Etnei Oggi, a while ago. I saw a light in her eyes, a determination and a confidence, which made me realise straight away that this project would become reality. In the right ways and at the right time. And so it was. It was therefore doubly a pleasure to be part of this adventure. You know it, I'm not a make-up artist and doing my own makeup isn't exactly my forte either. But, working in the fashion industry, I have learned first-hand how much a well-done makeup can be worth.

The best thing is to look natural. But it takes a lot of makeup to look that way.

(Calvin Klein)