A small introduction to myself and our first project brief - The Elizabethan era

I am a 20 year old aspiring make-up artist from London, now based in Southampton studying at Solent University on the BA Make-up and Hair Design programme. I have always had a keen interest in make-up from a young age and come from an art based background. Throughout high school and college I have always loved art, studying it at GCSE level, onto doing a BTEC level 3 diploma in Art & Design, specialising in Fashion Design during my second year. It was during my BTEC I first properly looked at the possibility of studying make-up and hair at a higher education level after attending a short course at the prestigious London College of Fashion called Find Your Fashion. In 2013 I began a VTCT level 3 diploma in Theatrical Media Make-up in which we touched briefly on all areas of make-up and hair design and this made me know that this was the creative industry I wanted to be apart of and gave me a hunger to learn more. Apart from the VTCT course and some volunteering for a dance company at a local theatre, I have no other experience in make-up and hair design which is why I am so excited to be studying on this programme at Solent, which I believe will give me the skills and knowledge to be a part of this amazing industry.

When we were told about our first project 'The New Elizabethans' I was very excited as I have always been interested in history, as well as the make-up, hair and fashion of the era's. I am by no means very educated on the Elizabethan era, my only knowledge is from TV documentaries and series, films and what we were taught at school as part of our compulsory education. I also chose historical make-up as a topic to study during my second year of my BTEC Art & Design course, so have looked only very briefly at the desired styles of make-up and hair and what cosmetics were used at the time which fascinates me a lot. What really interests me about historical make-up and hair is how drastically the fashions change over time, how looks come back and how it also plays a big part in inspiring beauty today, particularly shown in runway shows and imagery by huge designers. The Elizabethan era has a very recognisable look and will be very exciting to learn in more depth about. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the Elizabethan period is Queen Elizabeth I herself, the fashion muse and lady-to-be of the whole era. I am also very interested in learning about society at the time, class and what it was like to be alive then. Certain things about the era remind me of things that are still very prominent today; eg. very strong conflicts caused by religion and belief. As I love fashion make-up and hair I am looking forward to designing contemporary and exciting make-up and hair looks for this project, while learning improving my skills as a hair and make-up artist.