For 25-year-old insurance broker Ernestine Smith make-up is an entirely new part of her routine. She wore a little eyeshadow and mascara in high school and college, but admits she didn't experiment with foundation until this summer.

For others like student Mechelle Warner, 18, make-up is all about experimenting with bold colours and styles and having fun.

Both women joined three dozen others in a vacant building on Front Street last week to learn the latest trends and techniques from MAC's Enilde Rodriguez, senior trainer for the South-East United States, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, and Bart Stancil, who has worked with stars like Fergie and LeAnn Womack;.

The hands-on session called 'Studio Talk' allowed them to "play and get dirty" and experiment with dozens of MAC products, potions and tools.

According to Ms. Rodriguez, real beauty starts before a woman even applies her make-up.

She said: "If skin is not prepped underneath, you are putting great products on not so great skin and it won't look good."

She also urged women going to a high profile event, not to forget about the little parts like ears or the neck and keep those areas properly moisturised and make sure the colouring matches the rest of the body.

Other tips came from Mr. Stancil, who told women not to put foundation on like they were painting a house, which would only end up streaky. Instead he suggested using a good foundation brush to gently dab the skin, which will recreate the texture of your natural skin.

He also recommended women use two tones of foundation; a red tone for darker areas, like the jawline, and a gold tone for the lighter areas like the nose. This will give them that flawless look envied on stars like Beyonce.

Though some women are quick to use their fingers when smothering on lip gloss or filling in eyeshadow, Mr. Stancil urged women to invest in good brushes.

Ms Rodriguez said: "You can drive a Corvette or a Honda, you are still getting to the same place, but its how you get there."

Throughout the two-hour seminar, women were taught how to properly apply foundation, how to create a smoky eye look for the holiday season and how to accentuate their lips with corals for nights out on the town.

Make-up beginner Ms Smith said: "It's helped me a lot and encouraged me to play with colour and different application techniques. I will probably wear make-up more, like when I'm going out and possibly in the daytime for work and day looks."

Tiffany Heslop, 29, an insurance broker, said: "I think make-up is important. It creates a completely different look you can have jeans on and your eyes made up and it turns the look from everyday to an amusing night look.

Ms Heslop continued: "As little girls we all play with make-up and in some ways make-up is a way of playing with your look, expressing yourself and getting in touch with that inner child."