Bobbi Brown stands at the front of her studio, glossy dark hair tied back, and three makeup brushes tucked into the front pocket of her slim-fitting, dark denim jeans. A giant board leans against the exposed brickwork of the wall behind her. The board is a riot of pink - raspberry to be precise - which Brown informs us will be the colour of summer 2008.

Over the next few days the assembled makeup artists, best described as Brown's elite corps, will spend hours discussing cosmetics in painstaking detail. They will devote half a day to consideration of how to achieve the perfect concealer, longer than you would ever have thought possible debating the merits of lengthening versus thickening mascara and hours creating the smoky eye look. There won't be any blood, but there will be sweat and tears. Welcome to beauty boot camp.

Bobbi Brown's makeup range occupies a very specific place in the fashion world. Brown's USP is "real beauty" for "real women". The range, like Brown herself, is both stylish and sensible. You won't find outrageous colours or masses of glitter; nor will you wonder what the hell you were thinking after a visit to one of her counters.

Twice a year Brown picks her best makeup artists from across the globe and summons them to camp. There they learn directly from Brown what the key looks will be for the coming season. They also go right back to basics, hence the need to spend two hours on concealer. And to make things even more competitive, those who perform best at camp are selected to accompany Brown to the next round of fashion shows.

Beauty boot camp is usually a closed shop, but the Guardian has been invited to come for two days, on one strict condition: I must blend in. So, no skulking at the back, hiding behind the security of a journalist's notepad and, most frighteningly, when the makeup artists pick up their brushes, I must do the