Make Up For Ever grand opening at the Garden State Plaza, NJ

Hello there! I hope you all are doing well. I’ve been recovering from a bad sinus infection for the past week, but have been so eager to write about my trip to the Make Up For Ever store grand opening at the Garden State Plaza mall 2 weeks ago!

For those of you unfamiliar with MUFE, it is a French makeup brand specializing in professional/theatrical products. I think it become better known to the masses most recently, with its best-selling HD foundation at Sephora. I would say its quality and color range is most comparable to MAC. The products are incredibly pigmented and long wearing. Previously the makeup could only be purchased at Sephora/Sephora.com, or at the 1 of very few MUFE stores in America. It just so happens that now NJ has its very own! I went there with my sister and niece, so you’ll see them making guest appearances throughout the pics. There’s Sanaa with Summar in the stroller!

Stepping into the store, you feel like you’ve walked into the backstage of a fashion show. The makeup stations and lighting make for a very dramatic environment. (There they are in the mirror again!)

The product displays aren’t overly ornate or decorative. If you’re looking for a Chanel type of luxury makeup experience, you won’t find it here. The displays are very minimal, and seem to be on top of makeup artist trunks. If you’re looking for makeup that are makeup artist staples and among the best in the industry, you’ve found it!

A very cool thing I liked about the store, and about the line in general, is how much of a focus they have on makeup education. With the way the makeup stations are set up, they want you looking in the mirror so you can see step by step how the makeup is being applied. It’s not like counters in a department store where you just sit back and have the makeup applied with your eyes closed (though I’m sure you could get that here if you wanted). Check out the studio with the red door! You can schedule one-on-one makeup lessons where they actually video record the whole thing for you to take home.

The makeup lesson is then given to you on the world’s cutest USB. Here, after showing me around the studio, Noah reveals the USB packaged inside a lipstick case. He was then kind enough to even give me one to take home! Hellooo world’s cutest USB!

The cutting edge technology didn’t end there. Check out the face charts they have displayed on an iPad at the register. I’m not really sure if it served any other purpose than just display, but don’t iPads make any store/business cooler?

All in all, this store had the friendliest and knowledgeable bunch of makeup artists you’ll ever meet. Noah was kind enough to give me a tour of the entire store space. Nadia, the artist educator at the store (who was also super great with my niece ) runs classes at the store, every Monday starting Sept 9th. For $25 you get the group makeup lesson, plus a 20% discount off of your entire purchase that day. It was so awesome to bump into an older coworker, Randy working there too! She showed me a great trick that uses the Mist & Fix. Will have to try it and show you!

Monica helped me and my sister on the sales floor. She let us know about her favorite product recommendations, and matched me up in the Matte Velvet foundation which was amazing! I hadn’t tried a new foundation in a long time (I’m all MAC prolong wear NC35 fo’ life!) and it really matched me to perfection. That Friday was during NJ’s heatwave, so all my previously applied makeup had basically sweated off. Aside from a little oiliness, I have an insane sweating problem on my face. I must say that after applying the Matte Velvet foundation, loose powder on top and then mist & fix to seal it – my makeup stayed put the rest of the night. I definitely have to do a little more detective work, isolating each product to see which was the miracle worker that allowed my normally grease-ball face shine free despite the 500% humidity outside. I’ll have to test it out some more and report back!

Monica was even kind enough to give me a huge sample of the foundation, so I can try it out again before I purchase. I definitely recommend asking for a sample of a new foundation before you buy – I feel like you can never really know if a product will work for you until you take it home and try it yourself!

So while I only walked out of the store with my sample, my sister actually made a purchase. The amazing setting powder I’d tried actually also comes in smaller sized stackables which are great for a makeup artist’s kit. And they also sell a small sized bottle of the mist & fix to see if she liked it better than Urban Decay’s all-nighter.