In conclusion...

I found the project ‘New Elizabethans’ a really challenging, interesting and enjoyable start to our course. I found learning the history of cosmetics, style and hair trends really fascinating as a make-up student. I find it amazing how trends and the perception of beauty from such a long time ago still impacts the styles of today. I felt like the skills we learnt in class gave us the basics of what we needed to know to complete the brief however to do something really creative it required a lot of practise, which is why I am thankful for having such an organised partner for this project. I really enjoyed working from someone elses design as it was good practise for when we are working in the industry in the future. If I could do the project again I would have done a lot more historical research as I feel there is less compared to my contemporary research.  I also would like to work on keeping more up to date with the work we were set as then I feel like I could do even more of my own research, this is what I plan to work on next term. I really liked the idea of a ‘sketch blog’ that we have been introduced to, it is an easy and clear way to show our journey through the design process to the final outcome and look forward to using this again next term. After a lot of worrying and doubting myself I feel like I have learnt so much and come a long way during this project and look forward to building on my skills as a make-up artist and improving in all other areas throughout the course, for example; time management, writing skills, research methods and referencing correctly.

3 Brush Challenge

Our last task for this term was set by Kat to do a 3 brush challenge, which pretty much speaks for itself. We had to do a make-up look using only 3 brushes chosen by our self to create a full make-up look. I chose a foundation brush, a small angled brush and a small fluffy eyeshadow brush. I chose these brushes as I could use the foundation brush to apply the base and concealer, the angled brush for my eyebrows, eyeliner and lipstick and the eyeshadow brush for my eyeshadow. I chose to do my regular everyday make-up which includes Rimmel Stay Matte foundation, Dermacolor concealer for under my eyes, matte dark brown eyeshadow for my eyebrows, Maybelline gel eyeliner, Naked 3 palette on my eyes, black mascara and MAC Honeylove lipstick. I found this task easy using these 3 brushes as I had chosen them carefully and thought out what I would need for each application. Unfortunately I couldn't take very good photos as I did it at home I could only use my phone. The class Kat set the work in was the day before my make-up timed assessment so I practised my look instead.

Timed assessment in the role of the designer

Here are the photographs Sara took after she had finished our assessment:

 

Here are some photos I took on my phone after her assessment:

 

I found Sara really great to work with as she was really organised throughout the whole of our time working together. She attended every class and was always punctual and equipped with everything she needed to practise and complete our designs. Sara also made time outside class to meet up to practise our designs together and if she was worried about not being able to do a particular part of my design she would practise it until she felt confident in doing it even if I offered to modify the design slightly which shows how hard she worked. In the timed assessment she did a good job at following my design step by step and completed it true to the design using the notes I provided and in the time constraints that we had to work within, she even picked up a camera from the photography suite prior to our assessment so she was ready to shoot as soon as we finished. Considering she was really worried about the application of the eyelashes she applied them perfectly and I don't think she could have completed the look much better. The only thing that I think could have been slightly improved on are the veins as they are very difficult to make realistic and also don't show up so well with the gold aqua colour. I think we worked together really well and the fact that we practised a lot and were always really organised helped our final assessments go really smoothly.

Sara practising my design

When me and Sara practised my design she was quite nervous about applying the eyelashes and painting on the veins so we made sure to practise these techniques especially. After the make-up look was complete I decided I wanted the eyes to be heavier so Sara tried this out and I liked it, we decided to do this for the real timed assessment. The gold veins seemed to disappear when in different lights but I really liked them in gold so decided that despite this I would keep them as part of the look.

My design process

After I had done enough research and my head was filled with ideas I started to try and put it down onto a face chart to see what it looked like. Here is my first design idea:

 

I wasn't happy with this design as I felt that the 'veins' I had tried to paint onto the neck coming up onto the face didn't really look like veins at all and more like branches of a tree, they didn't look natural or real at all so I decided to look at loads of pictures of veins on Google and then some images of veins people had painted on using make-up, I made a blog post to show this research: http://fms406harrisonrnewelizabethans.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/veins.html

After this I re-did the face chart and used the images I found while looking at veins to help guide me when painting them onto the paper, after doing research on Queen Elizabeths death and the end of her life I wanted to portray this time by making the eye make-up a bit darker too, so I change the products I used for the eyeshadow and made it a bit heavier so a darker and more dramatic smokey look.

Here is my revised and final face chart:

This is my final design, I am really happy with it as I think the change in the final effect after the veins research has made a huge difference and as veins are quite a difficult thing to draw accurately I was very proud of the result.  I decided to use gold to paint on the veins as I think it gives a more regal look and gives the Golden Age vibe off a bit better than another colour, I also think it stands out and works well with all the other colours I am using in this look. I decided to use the gold also on the cupids bow and center of the lip to make it pop. I would like the skin to not be completely white, just very pale and to also have a illuminated and glowing look as this is a very fashionable make-up trend at the minute and think it will look really nice with this make-up. The coral blush I am using is from Kryolan and will be using this to create the Elizabethan inspired blush which is small circles of blush applied to the center of the cheeks, I think the shade of the blush will contrast well against the purple lips. I have chosen purple for the lips as its a very Autumn/Winter shade for lipsticks and a modern version of the rosy, rouged lips the Elizabethan women would have worn. I am using some of the base leftover on the brush from the face to whiten the lips so when the heart shape is applied it stands out more and then I would like Sara to use a cotton bud to drag excess lip product accross to the edges and corners of the lips so create a berry stained effect.

Here is a picture of the example of how I would like my make-up to look, as I don't have very good lighting in the accommodation I am living in it was hard to make all the detail show up:

As well as the image and the face chart, I also provided Sara with a page of written step-by-step instructions, a list of the equipment she will need to bring in to complete the look and then a list of extra things I will be bringing in that she might not have that I want to be used.

Base:

- Start with clean skin

- Moisturise with MAC strobe cream for an illuminated, dewy look and then spray fix+ spray onto the skin

- Mix Kryolan foundation in 'Alabaster' with white greasepaint for a very pale shade and apply all over the face, taking it down the neck and onto the ears. Buff into skin well and right into the hairline

- Apply Illamasqua loose powder all over with a powder puff

-  Contour with 'Caraway' and 'White pepper' from the Kryolan eyeshadow paletter for a hollow effect

- Apply 'Coral' blush from Kryolan to the center of the cheeks for an Elizabethan rouged look.

- Use a fine brush and gold aqua colour to paint the veins starting on the neck and flowing up onto the face and forehead.

Eyes:

- Use Illamasqua Neutral palette, taking the brown, black and gold shade mixed together on the brush and heavily contour the crease of the eyelid for a dark and dramatic look. Take the eyeshadow down from the outer corner and take underneath the eye for a tired and grungy look.

- Glue a natural pair of false eyelashes to the top lid for a soft and feminine look to contrast against the eyeshadow.

- Apply black mascara to the bottom lashes.

Eyebrows:

- Defined with a matte mid brown eyeshadow and angled brush

Lips:

- Define cupids bow to and only fill in the center of the lip (same area on bottom lip) to imply a heart shape to the lips.

- Mix red and black MAC lip mix with matte mixing medium and fill in all the areas where the lip liner is marked.

- Take a cotton bud and drag excess product from center of lips and out to the outer corners of the lips to create a berry stained look

- Use gold aqua colour and a fine brush to over line the cupids bow to highlight it and take a small amount and brush it over the center of the bottom lip to give it a tarnished look.

Equipment:

- Kryolan foundation palette

- Supracolor palette

- Aqua color palette 

- Illamasqua loose powder

- Viva brilliant color medley palette

- Purple lip liner (I will bring)

- Illamasqua Neutral palette

- MAC lip mix in red and black with the matte mixing medium

- Eyelashes (I will bring)

- MAC strobe cream (I will bring)

- MAC fix+ spray (I will bring)

- Black mascara

- Make-up brushes

Timed assessment in the role of the make-up artist

Here are the images I took on the camera I rented from the photography suite after my make-up assessment. I was really worried about the timed assessment, like my hair assessment I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to complete the whole look within the time we had to do it and to the standard I wanted to achieve. I found the blocking out the eyebrows the most difficult part of this look as I found it really hard to achieve a smooth surface that I could work on top of, however after I had applied the eye make-up I didn't think this really showed or effected the make-up at all. I thought the pearls Sara bought really finished off the look perfectly and gave it that Elizabethan vibe she was going for. I am not very confident with the accurate and precise application of lipstick and lip liner so when I found out I had to neatly apply an implied heart shape in a dark shade to Sara's lips I was worried but was really pleased with how they came out considering I was slightly rushed when I did them as we had a few minutes left to complete our look!I brought in a ruler to help me draw the straight lines onto the eye lids when appying the black to the center. I really enjoyed creating this look and loved the design Sara created, she made it very easy to follow as she made time to go through it with me and let me practise and also provided a face chart and step-by-step instructions for me to follow during application. She also provided me with an image of the make-up she did on herself to show me how she would like it to look in the end so I had an idea to go by, a list of the equipment I would need to complete the look and a list of extra things she would bring in that she required me to use. She was always organised, present and punctual from when we swapped design and during the whole process leading up to the completion of our timed assessments, I also think this was a large factor in how successful and smoothly I felt our timed assessments went.

Here are some extra photo's I took on my phone after our assessment:

Practising Sara's design

I didn’t have time to finish practising the complete look which would involve applying white greasepaint with a disposable mascara wand to the eyelashes and apply the strips of pearls beneath the eyes with the duo adhesive to finish the look. 

I really like Sara's design as it takes loads of aspects of Elizabethan beauty but a really modern Fashion take on the theme. For example, the lips are one of the first things that stand out to me as Elizbethan inspired but also the pale skin and very finely drawn on eyebrows. It challenges me which I enjoy as I find blocking out eyebrows with glue or soap very difficult, as I have only learnt before using wax which I find a lot easier and a lot more effective. I also find the eye make-up really tricky as it is hard using the cream Illamasqua eyeshadow from the reflection palette with the gold greasepaint and creating perfectly straight lines on the eye lids and evenly on each side.