The Tom Ford Male Grooming Masterclass at Delamar

We were delighted to host one of the most prestigious beauty brands of all, Tom Ford Beauty for a Male Grooming Master Class like no other.  Our graduates were spoiled by the brand as we invited them back to enjoy prosecco, become members of the Tom Ford Beauty pro-discount scheme and to be bestowed with a complimentary goody bag full of minis. It was luxury makeup and skincare heaven.

Our speaker and artist, Francesco Fabiani is the National Education manager for Tom Ford Beauty. He is passionate about coaching and inspiring people when it comes to their knowledge of Tom Ford products.  

Male grooming is an area of work within the industry that make-up artists have to be skilled at. A common misconception is that only women require makeup or makeup applied with skill, but as we know, almost every man you will see on TV, in a film or on on the red carpet will have had make-up applied and his facial hair groomed. Techniques and products for grooming men can differ to that for women, as Francesco explained: this is due to the thicker, oilier skin that men have, with different features such as facial hair and a heavier brow. Many male clients do not wish to look obviously made-up, so products like foundation must be used very sparingly, or replaced by gel textured bronzers, invisible concealers and translucent powders.

Our model for the evening, Diren Kartal is a fitness content creator, responsible for the #NEATUP247 movement and enjoys nothing more than to be groomed by his regular Turkish barber. What better model could we find than someone with a decent growth of facial hair, defined features and an enjoyment for being groomed.

We learnt many secrets and tips that we promised Francesco we would not publish, but the main takeaway from the evening was learning about the Tom Ford way to groom a man. Tom Ford himself developed this holistic approach from skincare to fragrance; he believes that you should always put your best foot forward, no matter what the occasion.

The demo started with a hot cloth cleanse, using the Tom Ford Cleansing Oil, followed by the black Clay Mask applied across the T-zone area. Francesco said that this step makes a huge difference to the complexion and is ideal to do before the male client has a shower. Make-up artists who work on press junkets will be familiar with their client’s hotel rooms, so this is not as strange a tip as it sounds.

Next, moisturiser and lip balm were applied. The importance of good skincare was stressed, as with the right oil-free products you can reduce the appearance of oily skin, typical to many men. Caffeine infused eye gel was used to bring life to the skin and reduce the appearance of tiredness and fatigue. The Tom Ford Beard Oil and several different brow products were demonstrated, as they made a world of difference to how groomed Diren looked.

Francesco made us all laugh when he described his leaving the house routine as:

“Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. Phone? Check. Eyebrow Gel? Check.”

Our model enjoyed a hand massage before we got into makeup… but it needed to look like no makeup. How is this magic achieved? One thing we can say is it requires far more skill and experience to make someone look flawless yet look like they are not wearing a stitch of makeup. Television make-up is very different to red carpet makeup where the most powerful stills cameras will capture every pore and hair on a person before the images are available online within moments. No pressure makeup artists!

The Tom Ford For Men concealers and bronzing gel were completely invisible on the skin, yet they created the most incredible effect. Even the model himself could not tell he was wearing makeup.

The finishing touches were a tiny amount of translucent powder followed by a generous spritz of Tom Ford Oud Wood. Francesco said that a man is not ready until he has a fragrance on. We all enjoyed the heady and sensual fragrance as bottles were passed around for a good sniff.

We want to thank Francesco, Rachel, Matt and the whole Tom Ford Covent Garden team. They were very generous to supply discounts, goodies and a wealth of knowledge that will help every guest with their next male client.

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