Estella Practice

Today I completed my Estella design practice. I wanted a simple look which would look young, fresh and youthful. I'm pleased with the result of the makeup look and feel my model has the perfect image with the hair included for what I had in mind for Miss Haversham. the facechart design shows rosy cheeks, a yellowed base for a fresher look and soft lips.. The eyes have little definition using brown shadow and mascara. 

To complete this look: 

Prep the face by cleansing, toning and moisturising. Now use primer to smooth the skins fine lines etc. I then started by doing the eyes first. I started with painterly primer by MAC I used the 'smokey palette' by Illamasqua with the darkest brown shade underneath the eyes and on top of the eye lash line. I smudged and buffed this in with a small precise brush and then buffed away with a slightly thicker rounded tapered brush to spread the colour which came through nice and natural.  I added a slight touch of mascara to both sets of lashes but focused on the root more to darken the lashes in photos to define the eyes rather than having a thick contemporary mascara look. I wanted it to reflect of the Victorian age still where makeup wasn't really worn obviously.

For the skin, I used MAC c1 face and body foundation for a sheer dewy Finnish. I loved how it came out so natural on my model. I used a little Charles fox concealer in red areas such as cheeks and under eye circles. I then used Illamasqua setting powder on top of the look mattifying the skin out. I then used an Illamasqua blush in a pinky colour which was swirled on the cheeks directly in circular motions but up to the temples a little too. I then brushed up the eyebrows with a clean mascara wand. 

For lips I mixed Charles fox colours (all shades on facechart) and brushes and blotted the colour onto the lips for a natural look which was in defined. 

Overall I like the natural look I have created but will make sure to moisturise the lips next time as my models lips were a little dry today. I also want to keep the skin dewy in areas such as the nose and forehead so I will not powder these as much next time as I want my Estella to look very fresh and glory within her young skin. 

Dark Eyes

To go with the theme 'Gothic Horror' I took the challenge to create some day wear 'dark eyes'. I really enjoyed wearing this look and used quite a few products to complete this eye look.

Firstly I primed my eyes with 'Painterly' by MAC with quite a thick layer so the colours would appear stronger. I then applied Anastasia Beverly Hills shaddows from the light contour kit. These colours are bronzy/hazey so perfect for transition colours but really nice on the eyes too for a smokey effect. I used the three bronzey shades and buffed them in with 3 different blending brushes, one clean, one with the colour on and one with loose bristles for the outer blending edge of colour. I buffed away and when I was happy with my blending I then went in with a black from the Naked 3 palette. I used carbon by MAC on top of this also to give a strong effect.

I used a bananna powder on the brow bone to brighten that up also. I blended the black into the creace with a smaller blending brush ensuing the colour was across the entire lid. 

I added a brown on the bottom lash line to add to the smokey eye look. Then completed the look by adding brow colour and mascara thickly on the lashes. 

Futuristic

Today I got the chance to experiment with high fashion experimentation work. I used purely my supra colour palette using different abstract paint brush techniques.

For the base I used a white with a sponge. For the cheekbones and temples I used a mascara wand to create a flickered effect.

I wanted to create a blurred effect so I used the sponge to get the colours to bond with eachother to blend in evenly across forehead and cheeks. 

Close up of the mascara pattered work on the cheekbones and temples. 

The lips were contrasting reds and white. Which made pink as well. 

Here's the images I used inspiration from. 

Miss H Hair Practice

For my Miss H hair I wanted something that would reflect on her lifestyle. As she stopped living in time from when she got jilted at the alter I was picturing realistically how her hair would've appeared in Great Expectations. It would've been Georgian times when Miss H's wedding would've been so I've taken this into account when designing my look. The hair I created I wanted to be very fancy at the back with pin curls including a plait with hair coming down the face in a middle parting in big loose curls as if they'd dropped and been backcombed to give a rougher effect as the hair would not be perfect as Miss H hasn't washed it for years! It would've smelt old and possibly been very greasy to start with but now is dry and un nourished as I cant imagine Miss H having a nutritious diet!

As this was a first practice I took the time mainly to get the correct shape and correct sectioning of the style. It wasn't as rustic as I wanted but hope to show this through my development of design. I felt the pin curls were too tight and neat for a style which had been worn for years. I want to add dry shampoo next time to create the effect of dust/dry skin.

Process:
Tools needed:
Hair tong (thin)
Hair grips
Hair pins
1 Hairband

Firstly i took the two front sections with a pin tale comb, ensuring each section were symmetrical. I took the sections from the crown towards the back of the ear. I clipped these away ready for later. I then made a horse shoe shaped line at the back of the head underneath to get a section for my pony tale. I popped this in and then began to curl the whole section including the hair at the end of my pony tale. By curling small sections it gave a better effect so I tried to keep the sections quite small so I had more curls to work with. I then left a section behind each ear free for the plaits later, I pinned these away from the back of the hair. I then started to pin curl up the pony tale hair around the pony tale, hiding the hair band. I twisted each curl in with other curls and placed them randomly on the head making sure the pins were hidden. I then used hair from outside the pony tale I created using the same effect. I carried this on until I had a desired look. I hair sprayed this and then started to pull out a few sections to give a messier effect. I then plaited two thin sections that I put away at the start in the direction of heading up to the parting of the hair. I then crossed each plait over trying to conceal the ends and pins. I think I will use an extension or hair piece for this next time as the hair wasn't thick or long enough to give the effect I wanted to create of a messy plait band. 

For the front I sectioned the hair into 4 pieces and curled each of these carefully ensuring none of the ends were left out untidily. I left these under the tong for a slight bit more as they were heavier/thicker sections of hair that I wanted them to hold. I then slowly unravelled each section and let it set. I then back combed the front parts to give more volume and a messier apperance. 

Estella Final Assesment

Some images of my Estella from my assessment taken on my phone in daylight.

Cuts, Bruises and Black Eyes

Cuts and bruises can be created through makeup. Blending and using the correct colours are key things to think about when creating this on a model. You want to make the cut/bruise as realistic as possible. This really related to my gothic horror themed assessments so I played around with using different shades to build up the 'perfect black eye'.

Products used:

Kryolan supra colour palette in pink/purple/black and yellow

How to:

For a black eye I started off by using the deeper colour on the eye first which was a mixed with purple pink and a tiny dab of black. I used a small brush to apply and a fluffier brush to blend the bruise out wards. I wanted to make the black eye look sore and swollen so I dabbed a little yellow on the outside of the darkness to make it look a little more realistic. Next time I want to use Vaseline ontop to make the black eye look swollen. I thoroughly blended the outer edges to make the bruise look less harsh and as if it's healing. You can use a moisturiser to make it less thick and more of a sheer cover to the eye. 

I created another dark circles eye here by using the same technique but making it less strong and more of an under eye darkness. I used the kryolan concealer pallette to create this with the redish/darker shades. 

For a cut I used the following:

Palette knife

Wax

Latex/sealer

Hairdryer

Pin-optional 

Gloss/Vaseline to make it look more shiny

How to: 

Place barrier cream onto the area

Work the wax up on the skin, work on the edges to make it smooth 

Slit this layer to where you want your cut to be

Use latex/sealer but do not pour sealer into a bowl

To make this dry, place over a cool hair dryer on a low power

You have to work fast with latex so ensure you are quick

Blend over this with latex

Use a pin carefully to manipulate the wax to make the cut look rougher at the edges

Apply wound filer first with a spatula and then pin

You only need a little of this and you can use a fine makeup brush to apply this 

Build up the texture 

Add the blood you can add redness over the top with kryolan supra palette 

Use a stipple sponge blend this randomly to look more realistic 

Add a gloss to make it look more 3D (vaseliene etc) around the area but not directly on the cut

This was my first attempt, I'm not completely happy with how the edges turned out so next time I'm going to work on building up the wax better. 

Collaboration Shoot

I recently collaborated for a high fashion project with a Fashion Photography student, Chloe Hensford. I completed the models makeup on model, Sophie Williams. 

The idea of the shoot was a 'dead doll' 'high fashion' project. The shoot used dramatic lighting and dark lingerie type clothing. My directions for the shoot were to make the model very pale, bruised and 'deadly' looking. I enjoyed the project and felt it brought gothic horror into the shoot.  

The photoshoot took place in the New Forest, Hampshire. I really liked the setting and felt it braught a deathly looking surrounding. The styling was created by Chloe, she wanted a sexy feel making the model appear dead at the same time. I really like how the photos turned out and enjoyed creating the make up design for the shoot too. The makeup reminded me of someone as a Vampire series as she had a big bruise on her neck created by supracolour. 

The setting with laying on the tree was one of my favourites as the pose shows her arm drooping over the edge of the tree as if she has lost all feeling. They shooted in twilight too which has flattering lighting which reflected on her body and chest. 

This image was definitely one of the creepiest. Showing a smile with teeth.

I very much enjoyed collaborating with the Fashion Styling students and hope to be collaborating again soon for different shoots.