Makeup Designory Products Overview and Swatches

One Thursday afternoon, I met up with my makeup artist friend Kris in order for me to check out some of the makeups she's selling. Kris is a makeup artist who specializes in weddings and bridals. She studied basic makeup in CAS and after a year, she went to New York to study at the prestigious Makeup Designory school (otherwise known as MUD). She's one of the most sought-after makeup artists having editorials, tv commercials, and bridals tucked under her belt. Aside from doing makeup, she also blogs and I found out that she's selling makeup from MUD through her blog.

Aside from their courses, MUD also has makeup tools and supplies for sale and they're the brand Kris uses most of the time. Kris swears by MUD products and absolutely loves them. "They're very pigmented but very affordable," she would say. A lot of her clients and colleagues ask her what brand she uses. Unfortunately though, these babies were not available locally until now. And so I tripped over to Greenhills to meet up with her so I could check them out.

I met up with Kris at the 7-11 store near Caltex. She was with a makeup artist friend named Ria and she introduced me to her. She had with her her makeup kit with all her MUD products for us to test, swatch, and try.

First up, I went to the foundation colors. Kris has two palettes for foundation, one for yellow undertones (usually Asians) and one for pink undertones (for Caucassians usually). The one above is what she uses mostly, which is the yellow undertone palette. The foundation is in a cream formulaton instead of liquid. The coverage could be controlled depending upon the application. It's quite small in size, a little bigger than MAC eyeshadows and almost as big as Elianto eyeshadow refills. However, they're quite pigmented and a little smidgen could go a long way.

Here are the swatches. Usually, they're sold in compacts individually or you could purchase refills and fit them in to empty palettes, just like Kris did with her own. She arranged them from dark to light and kept a separate palette for pink undertones. If you want to save though, just purchase refills or compacts of one very light shade, two medium shades, and one dark shade and just mix.

To use, just scoop up a teensy bit of foundation using a spatula and then use a brush to apply to face. A flat paddle brush such as a MAC 190 or 191 would be most apt for this or a flat-top round foundation brush.

Correctors are sold in half-circle shaped refills. think of the foundation compact split in half. Correctors are different from foundation since they're denser and their purpose is to cancel out skin discoloration before foundation so the skin really looks flawless. Depending on the discoloration color, there are different colors to be used to address different needs.

The yellow or greenish-tinged correctors could be used to counteract redness from pimples, broken blood vessels, or rosacea. Ideally, a peach-toned or salmon color corrector should be used to cancel out the bluish or greenish tinge of dark circles since a yellow-toned concealer could cause a reverse racoon effect (unless of course though, that the dark circles are purplish). You could use the darker correctors also to contour. The orange or red correctors can be used to correct extremely dark undereye circles or to perfect really dark skin.


Here's Kris's eyeshadow palette featuring the neutral colors. Just like the foundations and correctors, they could come in compacts or refills and just place the refills on the palettes. Kris has two palettes: one for neutral (shown), which she uses for bridal work and one for colorful, which are brought out for the fashion shoots. The neutral palette is a wonderful combination of mostly matte and satin shades. For a natural bridal look, matte is still the best.


Kris recommends the colors dulce de leche, cashmere, and taupe as her personal choices when creating a natural look. They're not very shimmery and they fit almost anyone. Dulce de leche is almost like a matte version of MAC's Ricepaper with a bit of Shroom mixed in.




Kris's blush palette is pure love. The almost empty pan on the center top part holds Kris's favorite shade, Glow. "It's like a less shimmery version of NARS Orgasm," she told me. The peach-pink shade is universal so anyone could wear it. Since it's not super shimmery, this is perfect for editorials and photoshoots since too much shimmer could reflect light and make the skin look oily rather than radiant. The yellow shade on the bottom right is great for highlighting the tops of the brows, bridge of the nose, or the corners of the mouth.


If you're wondering about the palettes, they are available in various sizes. For personal use, there's the four-pan palette but makeup artists could use a lot more colors than that. Refills and eyeshadow pans fit snuggly in them (they're magnetic by the way) so rest assured that the pans won't dislodge or break into smithereens when dropped. Kris has dropped her palettes a whole lot of times and apparently, her stuff are still alive. These palettes are also up for sale. MAC eyeshadows could also fit into the eyeshadow palettes so they go very well together. Now I just have to know how to depot...


Anyway, of course I would check out the lipsticks. Kris showed me four lipsticks and they're all very moist in formulation as seen in the swatches. Spotlight too on the very red lipstick named Ladybug which is a bright red that doesn't dry our kissers.

The best weapon to apply the lipstick is this lipstick brush.



The pointed tip allows a much more precise application should you want to create a more defined cupid's bow. It's also wide enough to apply lipstick with precision when you're pressed for time . This lipstick brush is priced at Php 800. Not bad!




One of my up-for grabs product is Kris's personal favorite, the MUD face primer. She just uses a little amount after skincare and before corrector and foundation to prep the skin up to be the perfect and smooth canvas for makeup.

That's all you need

Primer blended in.

As you could see, the primer does not reflect light hence it saves us from a very ugly ghost effect. The skin feels much more smoother and velvety to the touch. Primers also make the makeup last longer. That's perfect for weddings when makeup has to stay from start to finish.

After our meeting and chika, I purchased a corrector and foundation in a fair tone so I could test-drive the products more myself. I was able to use both in two of my shoots just last weekend and I really wasn't disappointed. The corrector instantly erased my undereye circles and the high coverage of the foundation was instant skin smoothness. I also like that it wasn't that cakey. The two refills cost me a little over Php1000 only.

If you want to order MUD products, you could contact Kris Bacani at 0917 629 3303 or email her at makeupbykrisbacani@yahoo.com should you want to know the prices in Philippine pesos. Feel free to browse at http://www.mudshop.com/ for more products that could get your fancy.