The final look that my partner created with reference to my design didn't turn out quite the way that I expected it to. We were only able to complete one practice right before the assessment, which is all I was able to do as well in all fairness. Despite this, I feel that this lack of practice did impact the final outcome of her assessment. She followed instruction really well and was very openly communicating with me however I feel that she panicked during the assessment under the pressure of a time limit and this is maybe what hindered her achieving the look the way that I wanted it. Everything was in the correct place and she understood what she needed to do however it wasn’t carried out the way that I intended it to be. The shadow wasn’t blended into the face it was more of a solid line around the heart shape. The Supra Colour I agree is difficult to work with, so it was smudged where it shouldn't have been. My lips were underlined quite roughly making then an uneven shape also. Despite this, she was lovely to work with and the work she did on the base was flawless as well as the way she had whitened the lashes I couldn't fault. I would work with her again without a doubt and maybe if I worked with her in the future I would feel more confident to give her constructive criticism.
Showing posts with label Outcome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Outcome. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 December 2015
Evaluation
I personally feel that the assignment went really well. Although I did feel quite stressed at times I do feel that I enjoyed most elements of the unit. I was successful in recreating my partners design in the time allocated and with results that I was more than pleased with, despite the fact that I had only managed to get once practice with my partner. During the exam I tried my best to look back on the practice that I did and the steps that I had taken in order for it turn out as well as it had during my trial. I thought the design that I was given to create was really well thought through and impressive. I did my best to make it look exactly like she wanted it to according to her face chart and notes and I hope she feels that I achieved that.
My partner was only able to practice my design once before she had her assessment. I feel that she did her best however its not how the design turned out when I did it on myself and not how I imagined it to look when I had done my face chart.
I feel that I have learnt a lot of very important skills during this unit which I will be able to apply to other units in the future as well as on design and artist jobs. Being able to create someone else's vision is something that will be probably the most valuable when working in the industry that I want to enter into. The communication side of this project has actually helped me a lot more than I thought it would, it has taught me to give constructive criticism with a solution and also to take criticism without being too sensitive about it. I think what I struggled with the most is was the organisation of my blog. Its not that I don't like writing, its just that I never feel motivated to do so, if I’m honest I quite enjoy it when I get into it. Next year I will be trying my best not to leave everything until the last minute as this was very stressful and I haven't performed as well as I feel that I could. Ultimately, I think that this topic was very interesting however I need to become more accustomed to this type of work in order to gain a better grade in future units.
Practice of my final design
I wanted to make sure I was using the correct products for my final design so I decided to practice on myself as I can almost alway rely on me to be there on time and on form. What I concluded having conducted this practice is that there was definitely an order in which it is best to do things.
Step 1 - Prep skin, apply primer and white base, buff out and apply translucent Illamasqua powder to set.
Step 2 - Use lightest shade of grey shadow to outline the heart shape on forehead and create the shading working into the darker shades of grey and black.
Step 3 - Use the supra colour to create the heart section on fore head and then fill in the brows.
Step 4 - Apply gold to the eyes and starting with the light grey shadow and graduating to the darker shades contour the nose and cheek bones where the heart section will be on the cheeks
Step 5 - Apply the white supra colour to the lashes.
Step 6 - Colour in the section in-between the grey shadow that you created for the black Supra colour.
Step 7 - Add the gold to the lips and then line with the black, smudging in before drying.
Step 8 - Contour the chin with the grey shadows and then highlight with the mac highlighter powder on all white areas.
Step 1 - Prep skin, apply primer and white base, buff out and apply translucent Illamasqua powder to set.
Step 2 - Use lightest shade of grey shadow to outline the heart shape on forehead and create the shading working into the darker shades of grey and black.
Step 3 - Use the supra colour to create the heart section on fore head and then fill in the brows.
Step 4 - Apply gold to the eyes and starting with the light grey shadow and graduating to the darker shades contour the nose and cheek bones where the heart section will be on the cheeks
Step 5 - Apply the white supra colour to the lashes.
Step 6 - Colour in the section in-between the grey shadow that you created for the black Supra colour.
Step 7 - Add the gold to the lips and then line with the black, smudging in before drying.
Step 8 - Contour the chin with the grey shadows and then highlight with the mac highlighter powder on all white areas.
Practice of my partners design
In order to recreate my partners design perfectly I felt that it would be appropriate to practice it at least once. We had planned to have a whole hour and ten minutes to practice the design in order to see if i could do it under the time constraint that I would have in the final assessment, however we ended up with a lot less time due to a fire alarm. Because of this I thought that it would be better to practice doing half of the face than not practicing at all. I really liked my partners design and I thought that it would be quite interesting seeing if I could achieve he vision.
This practice gave me a lot of confidence as I was able to create a step by set guide for myself to follow when recreating the design again to ensure high quality of the final look. I was happy with the control that I was able to keep when under a time limit as well, which made me even more relaxed in the actual assessment which I feel contributed to the way I performed ultimately.
This practice gave me a lot of confidence as I was able to create a step by set guide for myself to follow when recreating the design again to ensure high quality of the final look. I was happy with the control that I was able to keep when under a time limit as well, which made me even more relaxed in the actual assessment which I feel contributed to the way I performed ultimately.
Final Assessment Face Charts
These are the three face charts that I created for my final assessment.
The first design that I created I hadn't planned out before starting. I couldn't think of anything that was representative of the look I wanted to create for my lady in waiting so I just started with the base and created a design while I worked. I knew already that I wanted to use the colours black, green and gold as they all represent power and wealth, something the Bess of Hardwick strived for.
This first design turned out very understand because I didn't want to ruin it by doing something over the top and hating it because i hadn't planned and thought it through. Something that I didn't consider were the techniques that we had been shown during our practical lesson on elizabethan makeup, therefore it had next to no elements of elizabethan makeup within it, other than the colours. I wasn't impressed with this design, I though I was pleased with the overall finish of the chart itself.
That first face chart was a mistake and one that I apparently need to make as it influenced a lot of things that I did differently in this next one. I wanted to incorporate more classic elements of an elizabethan look while still making the whole design contemporary. I wanted to keep the base pale ut not white so i just created a very pale foundation and used the white base alone to contour around the eyes and on the cheek bones. I wanted the eyebrows to disappear so I used a royal maroon/plum colour shadow, continuing from the upper lid all the way onto the brow bone and covering the brow over so it looked as if the eye brows weren't there. I was then able to reposition where it looked like the eyebrow was entirely. I used the Illamasqua metal pallet to draw a line of gold in a lower position for the brow. I lined the eyes with white supra colour as well as whitening the lashes. I used MAC shimmer highlighter to add a dewey look to the cheeks bones and a pink blush to add colour to the apples of the cheeks. The lips I wanted to be an intense shade of gold lined with a sightly darker shade to create depth. I was really happy with the way this chart turned out, there is a better balance of both contemporary and classic elizabethan style within this design however it is not my final chosen design.
When planning this design I was really thinking about my lady in waiting and the story that I created for her. I wanted her to be pale as she is a cold hearted character in the end and because its a classic elizabethan style, therefore I used the Illamasqua white base for her face ears and neck. I wanted to incorporate the colour gold into the chart somewhere and thought that her eyes would be the appropriate place to use this shade representing wealth and power as thats all she saw and all she strived for. I wanted the supra colour heart shape on her face to show how she had been damaged by the ones she loved and this is why I used solid lines in black for this part of my design. I wanted it too look a little bit as though her face was sunken and dead and thats why I blended various shades of grey shadow around the edges of the heart shape in order create depth. I wanted her lips to be gold in the places that they would be highlighted normally, fading out into a black outline that meets the heart shape in the corners of her mouth. I wanted to keep the eyebrows large and contemporary, so I made them dark and thick using black supra colour as well as a black eye shadow. I finished the design off by contouring the face with MAC highlighter and a dark grey shadow from my Charles fox natural palette. I had thought through every little detail of this design and I was very pleased with the way it turned out in the end.
The first design that I created I hadn't planned out before starting. I couldn't think of anything that was representative of the look I wanted to create for my lady in waiting so I just started with the base and created a design while I worked. I knew already that I wanted to use the colours black, green and gold as they all represent power and wealth, something the Bess of Hardwick strived for.
This first design turned out very understand because I didn't want to ruin it by doing something over the top and hating it because i hadn't planned and thought it through. Something that I didn't consider were the techniques that we had been shown during our practical lesson on elizabethan makeup, therefore it had next to no elements of elizabethan makeup within it, other than the colours. I wasn't impressed with this design, I though I was pleased with the overall finish of the chart itself.
That first face chart was a mistake and one that I apparently need to make as it influenced a lot of things that I did differently in this next one. I wanted to incorporate more classic elements of an elizabethan look while still making the whole design contemporary. I wanted to keep the base pale ut not white so i just created a very pale foundation and used the white base alone to contour around the eyes and on the cheek bones. I wanted the eyebrows to disappear so I used a royal maroon/plum colour shadow, continuing from the upper lid all the way onto the brow bone and covering the brow over so it looked as if the eye brows weren't there. I was then able to reposition where it looked like the eyebrow was entirely. I used the Illamasqua metal pallet to draw a line of gold in a lower position for the brow. I lined the eyes with white supra colour as well as whitening the lashes. I used MAC shimmer highlighter to add a dewey look to the cheeks bones and a pink blush to add colour to the apples of the cheeks. The lips I wanted to be an intense shade of gold lined with a sightly darker shade to create depth. I was really happy with the way this chart turned out, there is a better balance of both contemporary and classic elizabethan style within this design however it is not my final chosen design.
When planning this design I was really thinking about my lady in waiting and the story that I created for her. I wanted her to be pale as she is a cold hearted character in the end and because its a classic elizabethan style, therefore I used the Illamasqua white base for her face ears and neck. I wanted to incorporate the colour gold into the chart somewhere and thought that her eyes would be the appropriate place to use this shade representing wealth and power as thats all she saw and all she strived for. I wanted the supra colour heart shape on her face to show how she had been damaged by the ones she loved and this is why I used solid lines in black for this part of my design. I wanted it too look a little bit as though her face was sunken and dead and thats why I blended various shades of grey shadow around the edges of the heart shape in order create depth. I wanted her lips to be gold in the places that they would be highlighted normally, fading out into a black outline that meets the heart shape in the corners of her mouth. I wanted to keep the eyebrows large and contemporary, so I made them dark and thick using black supra colour as well as a black eye shadow. I finished the design off by contouring the face with MAC highlighter and a dark grey shadow from my Charles fox natural palette. I had thought through every little detail of this design and I was very pleased with the way it turned out in the end.
Practical - Halloween
During this practical session we changed our topic completely. We were no longer studying Elizabethan makeup, instead we were looking at Day of the Dead makeup. We were asked to work in partners and create a sugar skull style halloween makeup design on one another. We didn't have enough time to both create a look on each other so I was the model during this lesson and took it upon myself to create my own design at home in order to perfect my own Halloween look.
The products that I used for these looks are:
- Charles Fox Supra Colour Palette
- Illamasqua Translucent Powder
- Charles Fox Bright Eye Shadow Palette
- Charles Fox Natural Eye Shadow Palette
The products that I used for these looks are:
- Charles Fox Supra Colour Palette
- Illamasqua Translucent Powder
- Charles Fox Bright Eye Shadow Palette
- Charles Fox Natural Eye Shadow Palette
Practical - Basic Elizabethan Makeup
For this practical lesson we were shown how to create a very basic Elizabethan look. This will help us to understand some of the techniques that we could use in our designs that we could alter to be more contemporary or keep as a classic element.
The products that I used:
-Illamasqua white base
-Charles Fox Blush Pallet
-Charles Fox Lip Pallet
-Illamasqua Translusent powder
-Charles Fox Supra Colour
The tools that I used for this look:
-Charles Fox Small Angled Brush
-Charles Fox Kabuki brush
-Disposable Mascara wand
-Charles Fox Large Powder Brush
-Charles Fox Stippling Brush
Like any other look that I have created and any that I will create in the future I started off by undertaking the necessary health and safety precautions which you will be able to see on any other practical post on my blog. I prepped the skin with cleanser, toner, moisturiser and a matte primer and then began applying the Illamasqua white base to my model. I applied it to the face, neck and ears using a stippling rush and then buffing it out, I find that the Illamasqua base looks best on the skin as well as being easier to apply. Before I applied the Illamasqua translucent base I used the white Supra colour to white out the eyebrows. I did this using a disposable mascara wand and brushing the hair against the grain first and then smoothing them out by brushing them in the correct direction. I then powdered the face and neck having covered the brows and skin white. I applied a bright pink blush from the Charles fox blush palette to the apples of the cheeks and as well as applying a small amount of lip colour from the Charles Fox lip palette to my mode lips. finally we used the white Charles Fox Supra colour and a disposable mascara wand to colour the top and bottom lashes white.
Once we had done this, we were allowed to play around with the look ourselves, trying out different things to see how they would turn out. I used the dark red and pink Supra colour on the brows to try and create an ombre brow. I think it looked quite effective however I don't think it is something that I will be using in my final design. I also used the supra colour on the cheeks, pivoting my brush over the blusher to make the cheeks more prominent. This did not look good at all, my model looked like the puppet form the SAW movies not like an elizabethan.
I enjoyed this session as it gave us some inspiration as well as an opportunity to play around with our makeup kits in order to understand the effects that certain products will have when on a real person and not just a face chart.
Practical - The Perfect Base
In our latest couple of practical session with Sue we were shown how to create the perfect base for a natural makeup look. I set up my work station by placing each roll over the mirror shelf and laying out all of the products and brushes that I would need for todays lesson and turning on the mirror lights. Once we had tied our models hair back and given them a gown to wear we washed our hands and began by cleansing, toning and moisturising the face and neck. I asked my model if she was wearing contact lenses or if she had any allergies and I was ready to go.
The products we used to create this look were:
-Illamasqua Matt Finish primer
-Charles Fox Foundation Palette
-Charles Fox Contour Powder Palette
-Illamasqua Translucent Powder
-Charles Fox Concealer Pallet
-Mac Shimmer Highlighter
-Illamasqua White Base
The brushes that I used were:
-Charles Fox stippling brush
-Charles fox Small Rounded Eyeshadow Brush (most small shadow brushes will work)
-Illamasqua Powered Puff
-Charles Fox Kabuki brush
Once the skin has been prepped properly, you should begin by applying the Illamasqua satin or matte primer. this depends on the skin the of your model as well as the look you are trying to achieve. If you model has naturally very oily skin then the matte primer is probably better to use as it wont add to the grease that will form on the face. The primer allows the foundation to set on the skin and it won’t allow it to move around during the day, making it last longer. You can apply the primer with your hands like you did with the moisturiser, however it is probably best to use a stippling brush to apply this to get more even coverage and to make your model feel more comfortable also. Not only this but the rush will be moist and will take the foundation a lot easier if it has been used to apply the foundation. Once the face and neck have been primed you will need to mix the correct colour of foundation for your model. Using a wooden spatula you should scrap a small amount of an appropriate foundation out of the palette and apply it to the back of your clean hand. If you need to add other colours or any of the Illamasqua white base then you can do so, mixing it again on the back of your hand. Test this colour by applying a single brush stroke onto your models jaw line and down her neck. If you need to make alterations then do so, if not then you will use the foundation that you mixed on your hand to cover the whole face.
Apply the foundation using the same stippling brush you used to apply the primer, working from the middle of the face and pulling the foundation out. This brush will not create completely streak free finish, so don’t worry about lines in your foundation just yet. You ill need to remember to keep checking you application in the mirror as well as looking at it yourself to avoid any uneveness. Taking the Kabuki brush, you will brush the whole face in small circular motions buff the foundation into the skin. I found that I had lines in my foundation despite me taking a long time trying to get this perfect, but once I had buffed the face my application was flawless and I was very happy with the result. Something that I feel I should add, is that when buffing the face, you are supposed to buff the foundation on the eyelids however you should take into consideration that you will need to be a more careful around this area. When I was being used as a model, during this part of the application, I had a lot of my lashes torn out as they got caught in the brush and this is something that i am very aware of now when working on my models.
When you have perfected your foundation, you will need to start mixing the correct colour of concealer for your models skin tone. It will need to be 1-2 shades lighter than their foundation in order to have the desired effect. I used numerous colours from the Charles Fox concealer palette in oder to create a match with my models skin, again mixing it on the back of had but applying it with a small shadow brush rather than the stippler brush. I applied it to any blemishes that I was able to see and also underneath the eyes. I again took the Kabuki brush and blended the concealer into the skin to avoid having any tide lined been your foundation and concealer. To set all of this grease base product, you will need to use a powder all over your models face and neck. The product that I used was the Illamasqua translucent powder because it is colourless and won’t have any visual effect on what I have done so far. I applied it using a power puff, dipping it into the powder and applying it to the face, pressing and rolling the sponge on the skin.
Finally, we need to contour the face and this means finding the correct places to contour. Ask your model to suck her cheeks inwards so that you’re able to see her cheek bones, gentle feel for the underneath of her bone and draw a faint line to mark this out using the Charles Fox Contour Powder Palette and a small shadow brush. This are needs to be slightly darer than the rest of the face, and so does the tip of the nose, underneath the bottom lip, around the hair line on the forehead and just before the temple on the bone. This needs to be very subtle and blended well, a tip for doing good contouring is to try and make it look like you haven't contoured at all. I finished my look off by applying my favourite highlighter by MAC to the top of the cheek bones and the under neath of the eye socket as well as adding a small amount on the bridge of the nose.
I was surprised at how much difference expensive products, tool and professional lighting can make to the finish of a look and was pleased with my work today. there was nothing that I really struggled with other than finding he correct colour of foundation for my model, which I managed to do in the end.
Colour Theory Facecharts
Having had a session with Kat about colour theory and the colour wheel I have created three different colour theory looks on face charts below.
Anagulous and Monochromatic:
Complimentary:
In a lesson that we had with Sue we were given the opportunity to practice an anagulous, monochromatic or complimentary look on a model of our choice. At this point in time I had created both my my monochromatic and complimentary face charts but I hadn't yet done designed a look using anagulous colours, so I decided to challenge myself to come up with an anagulous look when put under pressure. I created a base using the Illamasqua white base and set it with the Illamasqua transparent powder. I then moved onto her eyes and by this point I had decided that I wanted to use greens and yellows to make up this look. I started at the inner corner of the eye using the yellow from the Kryolan Bright eye shadow palette and worked it out to the outer corner. I then took the lighter shades of green and worked them out starting from a reference point that was further from the inner corner of the eye each time. This created an ombre look on my models eyes, starting with the lighter shades at the inner corner of the eye and gradually becoming a different shade in the out corner of the eye. I was happy with the design itself but my execution wasn't perfect. I felt that I wanted to add something to this design and thought it might be effective to contour the face using colours that matched the eyes as normal colours for contour being pace on top of the white would have created a more complimentary look. I used yellows again to begin with on the cheeks, working darker shades under the cheek bones to create depth. I took various shades of green from the hairline down onto the forehead fading out and blending into the base. Finally I took the gold from the Kryolan Supra Colour palette and lined the eyes with this to add some sparkle and vibrancy. I was happy with the way that I applied these final touches as well as the over all look, I feel that I rushed the eyes as I didn't want to run out of time and have only half of my models makeup finished which left me with a lot of time.
Anagulous and Monochromatic:
Complimentary:
In a lesson that we had with Sue we were given the opportunity to practice an anagulous, monochromatic or complimentary look on a model of our choice. At this point in time I had created both my my monochromatic and complimentary face charts but I hadn't yet done designed a look using anagulous colours, so I decided to challenge myself to come up with an anagulous look when put under pressure. I created a base using the Illamasqua white base and set it with the Illamasqua transparent powder. I then moved onto her eyes and by this point I had decided that I wanted to use greens and yellows to make up this look. I started at the inner corner of the eye using the yellow from the Kryolan Bright eye shadow palette and worked it out to the outer corner. I then took the lighter shades of green and worked them out starting from a reference point that was further from the inner corner of the eye each time. This created an ombre look on my models eyes, starting with the lighter shades at the inner corner of the eye and gradually becoming a different shade in the out corner of the eye. I was happy with the design itself but my execution wasn't perfect. I felt that I wanted to add something to this design and thought it might be effective to contour the face using colours that matched the eyes as normal colours for contour being pace on top of the white would have created a more complimentary look. I used yellows again to begin with on the cheeks, working darker shades under the cheek bones to create depth. I took various shades of green from the hairline down onto the forehead fading out and blending into the base. Finally I took the gold from the Kryolan Supra Colour palette and lined the eyes with this to add some sparkle and vibrancy. I was happy with the way that I applied these final touches as well as the over all look, I feel that I rushed the eyes as I didn't want to run out of time and have only half of my models makeup finished which left me with a lot of time.
Friday, 11 December 2015
My Self Portrait
Having done research looking into Elizabethan symbolism and how we still use said symbols in the 21st century we were set the task of creating our own self portrait. I found that colours, places and objects all represented different things and they continue to do so today and within our portraits we were to include objects that represent who we are.
Surprisingly I found it quite difficult at first to think of things that would show who I am and what I hold dear. Its like when you join a new club or class and you’re put on the spot to tell everyone something about yourself and you begin to question everything you’ve ever done because you haven't got a straight answer. I started thinking about what I like to do and my hobbies. A big part of my life has been competitive cheerleading. I had been part of the same team for 9 year before coming here and also competed with the all star UK team at the world championships in 2012. This was something that I felt I wanted to incorporate into my image as my uniform shows that I am an athlete and that I am loyal and dedicated to my team. My uniform is purple and black and gold, colours that represent power, wealth and ambition.
I made a lot of friends through joining my team and they are like a second family to me. I have various items of jewellery that have been given to me by some of my closest friends which I rarely ever take off in fear of losing something that means so much. I wanted to include these in my image as although they aren’t symbolic in the same way that jewellery usually would be they hold a lot of meaning to me. I also wanted to incorporate something to do with my love for makeup and hair design despite it being quite obvious due to the course I’m on and thats why I have included my favourite Mac brush into the picture.
Surprisingly I found it quite difficult at first to think of things that would show who I am and what I hold dear. Its like when you join a new club or class and you’re put on the spot to tell everyone something about yourself and you begin to question everything you’ve ever done because you haven't got a straight answer. I started thinking about what I like to do and my hobbies. A big part of my life has been competitive cheerleading. I had been part of the same team for 9 year before coming here and also competed with the all star UK team at the world championships in 2012. This was something that I felt I wanted to incorporate into my image as my uniform shows that I am an athlete and that I am loyal and dedicated to my team. My uniform is purple and black and gold, colours that represent power, wealth and ambition.
I made a lot of friends through joining my team and they are like a second family to me. I have various items of jewellery that have been given to me by some of my closest friends which I rarely ever take off in fear of losing something that means so much. I wanted to include these in my image as although they aren’t symbolic in the same way that jewellery usually would be they hold a lot of meaning to me. I also wanted to incorporate something to do with my love for makeup and hair design despite it being quite obvious due to the course I’m on and thats why I have included my favourite Mac brush into the picture.
Elizabethan Makeup Ingredients
Elizabethans considered a pale complexion to be be not only a sign of wealth but also a sign of good health. This is because poor women would be tanned from working outdoors doing manual labour, whereas the richer women who didn't have to work would have very pale skin as they often stayed indoors or under shelter when in a situation that they would have to be in the sun. If richer women were not blessed with a pale skin tone then they would use various different things to make their skin look white. One of the most common ingredients used to achieve this look was Ceruse, which is a foundation type makeup that was make up of a mixture of poisonous white lead and vinegar. Some women preferred to use sulphur, tin ash or alum. Mother of pearl were used by the richest of the rich, ground up to give a luminescence and shimmer. White eggs were also used to achieve this paler complexion but mostly as a method of hiding wrinkles. Its not only today that we see wrinkles and blemishes an issue, this is something the stretches all the way to Elizabethan times meaning both women and men during the tudor period used various different concoctions to prevent these problems form occurring.
Quite like today, the amount of makeup we wear contributes to the amount of blemishes that we get, however in Elizabethan times this was taken to a different extreme. All of the makeup men and women used in order to achieve a perfect white complexion, would often be the root of all types of skin problems. The ingredients wouldn't just leave the skin dry and covered in blemishes it would often burn the skin causing lesions that were itchy and flaky which would only take more and more makeup to cover. To remove blemishes, wrinkles, spots and freckles the Elizabethans would use ingredients such as rosewater, lemon juice or mixtures of eggshells, alum, mercury and honey. The wealthy would also bathe in goats and donkeys milk.
Women used black kohl to rim their eyes and make them look darker as well as Belladonna, which enlarges pupils so that eyes look larger and sparkly. Belladonna is often called the devils berry or deadly nightshade due to the fact that Belladonna’s so toxic even eating a small quantity of its leaves or berries can be fatal to humans, particularly children, and some animals. Simply touching the leaves can irritate your skin. No pain no gain I suppose.
Eyebrows were trimmed to be thin and highly arched creating the illusion of a higher forehead. Some women wold pluck their eyebrows completely out in order to achieve this look. Cheek and lips were often altered to look rosy rouge and to achieve this women would use various plants and animal dyes. It was common for women to use madder; an Asian plant with red roots to tint the lips and crushed cochineal beetle on the cheeks. There were various other ways of achieving this look, one using a mixture of egg whites and ochres; a natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide. All of the ingredients used above could be reddened further by using vermillion which is a red pigment obtained from mercury sulphide.
Having been given the task of finding and making my own Elizabethan makeup using the same ingredients that would have been used during the Tudors, I had decided after doing this research that even if I did manage to get hold of all of the ingredients to create one of my own, I definitely wouldn't be applying it. My skin is in poor enough condition on its own without me slapping white lead and vinegar all over it. I had considered for a small time bathing in goats milk, however I don't have a goat nor do I have a bath so it was out of the question, the best I could have done is semi skimmed cows milk in the shower and I didn't think it would have had the same effect. However, I have actually tried one of the Elizabethan skin care recipes before now even prior to doing this research. Egg whites are still an ingredient that is considered helpful when trying to improve the clarity of skin. Obviously we now have a lot more information that has lead to the introduction of genuinely helpful products, however they are rather a lot more expensive than a box of six free range eggs.
The ingredients I used to try and help clear my skin where egg whites, lemon juice and sugar. The original Elizabethan recipe uses egg shells rather than sugar but at the time I didn't know about this, nor am I willing to try it again with eggs shells as I don’t want to cut my face off in order to see how the Elizabethans lived. As you can imagine the mixture had a very strange consistency, its was what I imagine it would feel like if you tried to apply really watery unset jelly to your face. The sugar was for exfoliating purposes and it actually felt no different to using a store bought exfoliant. I left the mixture to set on my face and it was quite refreshing at first, not to mention it tasted delightful, however nearing the end of the time i was instructed to leave it on for the mask began to become very very sticky making my face feel quite taut.
The results of the mask never really became apparent which makes me think that it doesn't really work and that its a method that should be left in Elizabethan times. I only did this once a day for a week so maybe it works with more constant use but from what I could tell, it wasn't really having any effect on my complexion and if it was then the results were that minor that it wasn't worth the time, effort and stickiness.
Quite like today, the amount of makeup we wear contributes to the amount of blemishes that we get, however in Elizabethan times this was taken to a different extreme. All of the makeup men and women used in order to achieve a perfect white complexion, would often be the root of all types of skin problems. The ingredients wouldn't just leave the skin dry and covered in blemishes it would often burn the skin causing lesions that were itchy and flaky which would only take more and more makeup to cover. To remove blemishes, wrinkles, spots and freckles the Elizabethans would use ingredients such as rosewater, lemon juice or mixtures of eggshells, alum, mercury and honey. The wealthy would also bathe in goats and donkeys milk.
Women used black kohl to rim their eyes and make them look darker as well as Belladonna, which enlarges pupils so that eyes look larger and sparkly. Belladonna is often called the devils berry or deadly nightshade due to the fact that Belladonna’s so toxic even eating a small quantity of its leaves or berries can be fatal to humans, particularly children, and some animals. Simply touching the leaves can irritate your skin. No pain no gain I suppose.
Eyebrows were trimmed to be thin and highly arched creating the illusion of a higher forehead. Some women wold pluck their eyebrows completely out in order to achieve this look. Cheek and lips were often altered to look rosy rouge and to achieve this women would use various plants and animal dyes. It was common for women to use madder; an Asian plant with red roots to tint the lips and crushed cochineal beetle on the cheeks. There were various other ways of achieving this look, one using a mixture of egg whites and ochres; a natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide. All of the ingredients used above could be reddened further by using vermillion which is a red pigment obtained from mercury sulphide.
Having been given the task of finding and making my own Elizabethan makeup using the same ingredients that would have been used during the Tudors, I had decided after doing this research that even if I did manage to get hold of all of the ingredients to create one of my own, I definitely wouldn't be applying it. My skin is in poor enough condition on its own without me slapping white lead and vinegar all over it. I had considered for a small time bathing in goats milk, however I don't have a goat nor do I have a bath so it was out of the question, the best I could have done is semi skimmed cows milk in the shower and I didn't think it would have had the same effect. However, I have actually tried one of the Elizabethan skin care recipes before now even prior to doing this research. Egg whites are still an ingredient that is considered helpful when trying to improve the clarity of skin. Obviously we now have a lot more information that has lead to the introduction of genuinely helpful products, however they are rather a lot more expensive than a box of six free range eggs.
The ingredients I used to try and help clear my skin where egg whites, lemon juice and sugar. The original Elizabethan recipe uses egg shells rather than sugar but at the time I didn't know about this, nor am I willing to try it again with eggs shells as I don’t want to cut my face off in order to see how the Elizabethans lived. As you can imagine the mixture had a very strange consistency, its was what I imagine it would feel like if you tried to apply really watery unset jelly to your face. The sugar was for exfoliating purposes and it actually felt no different to using a store bought exfoliant. I left the mixture to set on my face and it was quite refreshing at first, not to mention it tasted delightful, however nearing the end of the time i was instructed to leave it on for the mask began to become very very sticky making my face feel quite taut.
The results of the mask never really became apparent which makes me think that it doesn't really work and that its a method that should be left in Elizabethan times. I only did this once a day for a week so maybe it works with more constant use but from what I could tell, it wasn't really having any effect on my complexion and if it was then the results were that minor that it wasn't worth the time, effort and stickiness.
Thursday, 24 September 2015
My Freshers Week
My first week down in Southampton was quite the adventure, almost every task I was undertaking was challenging me on various different mediums. During this week I was very rarely in a position where I considered myself within my comfort zone, consistently being pushed to be innovative and independent in areas that are mostly alien to me personally. Despite the fact that I was surround by people in exactly the same situation as me, I cant say that it made things a whole lot less intimidating, especially when presented with an independent task with little to no time for preparation. Planning ahead is something that I have realised I took for granted in my lower levels of study during this first week and that over this short time I have come to the conclusion that working with out preparation is not playing to my strengths. However, I still think that I gave this first weeks tasks my best shot and provided impressive outcomes under the circumstances.
Mood Board
The first task that I completed for induction week was done over the last few weeks of summer. This obviously gave me time to plan what I was hoping to achieve as well as the time necessary to carry it out, which allowed me to produce a piece that I was confident in portraying what I intended it to. We were set the task of creating a mood board that represented where we wanted to be in 5 years time. We shared these mood boards within our groups in one of the first sessions, and I found it interesting to see what different people were aiming to achieve from their time at university and how much it varied from person to person.
My mood board shows my current indecisiveness towards my future career. There are numerous different aspects of media hair and makeup styling that I currently would like to explore and find my likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses in. I like the idea of doing beauty work in editorial magazines or behind the scenes on runways, as well as having a strong interest in film and theatre makeup and hair design. I also aspire to maybe have my own make up line one day in the future and be an independent business owner. Until I have experienced working in all of these aspects of hair and makeup then I don't feel I will know for sure which of these career paths I would like to take, which is exactly why I'm here and what I'm aiming to learn.
I drew an image for this mood board as its something that I enjoy doing and that I feel is a strength of mine, also its something that I can manipulate to be specific to my portrayal. Each aspect of the drawing represents an area in which I would like to work in the future. The prosthetic ear in the piece represents film and theatre work, the big hair and her makeup represent my aspirations to work in these two fields whether it be as an artist and designer or a business owner. The other pictures I compiled were all related to the career paths that I intend to explore in the future, I found these in magazines such as Elle and Vogue and others I gathered from the internet.
Having taken a small trip to the library in the first few days of my arrival, I found that the it is most likely going to be one of my major sources of knowledge from this point onwards. Its a lot more reliable than I find the internet to be and it held a surprisingly large amount of information on various different areas of the topic at study and I intend to utilise these resources.
Style Review
As well as our mood boards we were asked to analyse the styling of one iconic film from a long list provided. The film that I chose to review was The Great Gatsby (2013). It was only a few months prior to writing this review that I had seen the film and fallen in love with the aesthetic of it. Yet I found this task quite difficult to carry out, as writing is not one of my strong points as I am sure you will come to learn from my blog. One of my biggest weaknesses being that I tend to concentrate on issues that aren't always particularly important, for example I feel as though I didn't pay enough attention to the impact of the styling of the hair and makeup for this review, which was the main focus of the brief. However, being capped at 300 words for this review was overall helpful to me although it being quite a challenge. It forced me to cut out some of the information that wasn't specific to the point that I intended to make. I feel that continuing to analyse books, films and images in future, as well as reading other peoples reviews, I will develop my writing skills and become more precise, as this is something that I feel I need to focus on.
Review by Kate Hall
Alter Ego
One of the first tasks we were set during induction week was to create a mask that acted as an interpretation of what we considered to be our own personal alter ego's, using nothing other than magazines, some crepe paper, pipe cleaners and a brown paper bag.
We had no more than half an hour to produce our masks which instantly made my brain shut down. For the first 10 minutes I was rapidly flicking through magazines, tearing out anything aesthetically pleasing in the hopes that an idea of who my alter ego might be would just come to me like an epiphany. To my surprise, it did. I noticed that everything I was ripping out was brightly coloured, it was bold and glittery and shiny and eye catching. However, personally I present myself in a way that's almost the opposite of this. The colours in my wardrobe range from black to grey, occasionally some white or navy if I'm feeling adventurous but never much colour. This is where the idea for my alter ego came from. My alter ego is the part of me that confident enough to wear the glitter and bright colours that I like but feel that I couldn't ever pull off. She's loud, bold, and glam and I think I did a reasonably good job at portraying this with my mask, especially considering the time frame given to consider this project. The standard at which I was still able to work in this small period of time made me realise my abilities are greater than I think, as well as helping me to understand the way that my mind works through accepting and changing ideas and looking for alternative inspirations.
Three Photos
Kryolan Demonstration
Probably my favourite part of this induction week was when we were given a Seminar by Kryolan makeup artists. We were talked through different techniques that we could use with different products, given general tips on how to achieve particular looks and also given a demonstration on how to create an editorial look using some of the Kryolan products that we had in our kits. We were also spoken to about achieving the job that we wanted in the competitive industry that we are trying to imprint on. I have come to realise that I won't instantly fall out of university and into the career that I want to have, when I finally make up my mind what it is that I want to be doing. Through hard grafting and creating opportunity's for myself I may be able to get my foot in to the door and get to where I want to be but that may mean I'll be sweeping up dust in a makeup shop for a few years before I begin to move up the business ladder.
The notes that I made during this seminar I will definitely be referring to when I come to create my own designs as well as attempting to apply some of the techniques demonstrated.
Despite it not being what I'm used to and feeling thrown in at the deep end, it doesn't mean that I didn't have fun, I actually had an incredible first week at Solent.
Mood Board
The first task that I completed for induction week was done over the last few weeks of summer. This obviously gave me time to plan what I was hoping to achieve as well as the time necessary to carry it out, which allowed me to produce a piece that I was confident in portraying what I intended it to. We were set the task of creating a mood board that represented where we wanted to be in 5 years time. We shared these mood boards within our groups in one of the first sessions, and I found it interesting to see what different people were aiming to achieve from their time at university and how much it varied from person to person.
My mood board shows my current indecisiveness towards my future career. There are numerous different aspects of media hair and makeup styling that I currently would like to explore and find my likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses in. I like the idea of doing beauty work in editorial magazines or behind the scenes on runways, as well as having a strong interest in film and theatre makeup and hair design. I also aspire to maybe have my own make up line one day in the future and be an independent business owner. Until I have experienced working in all of these aspects of hair and makeup then I don't feel I will know for sure which of these career paths I would like to take, which is exactly why I'm here and what I'm aiming to learn.  |
| My mood board drawing |
Having taken a small trip to the library in the first few days of my arrival, I found that the it is most likely going to be one of my major sources of knowledge from this point onwards. Its a lot more reliable than I find the internet to be and it held a surprisingly large amount of information on various different areas of the topic at study and I intend to utilise these resources.
Style Review
As well as our mood boards we were asked to analyse the styling of one iconic film from a long list provided. The film that I chose to review was The Great Gatsby (2013). It was only a few months prior to writing this review that I had seen the film and fallen in love with the aesthetic of it. Yet I found this task quite difficult to carry out, as writing is not one of my strong points as I am sure you will come to learn from my blog. One of my biggest weaknesses being that I tend to concentrate on issues that aren't always particularly important, for example I feel as though I didn't pay enough attention to the impact of the styling of the hair and makeup for this review, which was the main focus of the brief. However, being capped at 300 words for this review was overall helpful to me although it being quite a challenge. It forced me to cut out some of the information that wasn't specific to the point that I intended to make. I feel that continuing to analyse books, films and images in future, as well as reading other peoples reviews, I will develop my writing skills and become more precise, as this is something that I feel I need to focus on.
The Great Gatsby – 2013
The plot of ‘The Great Gatsby’ portrays both drama and romance, making it fall
under both genres in my opinion. After numerous
failed attempts of portraying the book through film in 1926, 1949, 1974 and
2002, the 2013 depiction was the first to do so successfully, winning various
awards and making this film so iconic. Catherine Martin was the costume
designer for ‘The Great Gatsby’ who won awards for her work on the production, alongside
Maurizio Silivi and Kerry Warn; hair and makeup artists who won BAFTA’s for
being best in their fields.
The heavily beaded, nude flapper dress that Adelaide Clemens
(Catherine) wear’s, is what defines the style of this film for me, as well as
the ruby red lipstick, black smoky eye and finger waves worn by most women in
the film. This particular adaptation of ‘The Great
Gatsby’ was released in 2013, almost 90 years after the book was written and
based in 1925, meaning that the styles and fashions shown in the film are not reflective
of the styles that are most popular today. However, over the past two years the
styles worn in the 20’s have made a comeback prior to the film being released. Drop
waist dresses, decorative head bands and T-band shoes are all worn in the movie
and these can be seen worn with a modern twist on catwalks and sold on the high
street currently, making this film iconic in terms of style and fashion in my
opinion.
Leading man Leonardo DiCaprio was very likely
chosen for the role due to his already pre-existing classic style and look,
however, his role in ‘The Great Gatsby’ has been noted as one of his most
iconic, alongside his work in the movie ‘Titanic’, bringing him back into the
eye of the media and putting his personal style back into high demand. Review by Kate Hall
Alter Ego
One of the first tasks we were set during induction week was to create a mask that acted as an interpretation of what we considered to be our own personal alter ego's, using nothing other than magazines, some crepe paper, pipe cleaners and a brown paper bag.
 |
| My Alter-Ego |
Three Photos
 |
| Photo 1 |
 |
| Photo 2 |
This task was one of my favourites. We were essentially given the day to explore Southampton having been asked to take photos in black and white of places or parts of Southampton that we thought were picturesque, artistic or that just appealed to us. We were to pick three out of the how ever many pictures that we took and post them to Facebook, tagging another member of our group, aiming to post an image a day for the next three days to come. I didn't travel too far from what I already knew due to the fact that I'm very inclined to getting lost and terrible at following directions, however I still discovered a lot. Having only arrived in Southampton the day before, I hadn't yet had the pleasure of looking around the place that I was planning on living for the next three years of my life, so it was nice to begin familiarising myself with the area. I'm not the best photographer but I tried my best and I think they all look pretty good considering they were all taken on an iPhone with no retouching.
Kryolan Demonstration
Probably my favourite part of this induction week was when we were given a Seminar by Kryolan makeup artists. We were talked through different techniques that we could use with different products, given general tips on how to achieve particular looks and also given a demonstration on how to create an editorial look using some of the Kryolan products that we had in our kits. We were also spoken to about achieving the job that we wanted in the competitive industry that we are trying to imprint on. I have come to realise that I won't instantly fall out of university and into the career that I want to have, when I finally make up my mind what it is that I want to be doing. Through hard grafting and creating opportunity's for myself I may be able to get my foot in to the door and get to where I want to be but that may mean I'll be sweeping up dust in a makeup shop for a few years before I begin to move up the business ladder. 
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)