Self Portrait

This is a Self Portrait of myself which describes me as a person.
Firstly I am going to start off talking about my styling head as this brings me back to childhood where all my dreams began. As I recall I had always longed to have a dolls head which I could style the hair and put make-up on and it was on my 9th birthday when this dream came true as this was my very special gift from my Grandma. I can honestly say from that day onwards was the beginning of my future. This is why I believe I am an optimist and not a Pessimist because I see the positive things in life and react upon them which then helps to motivate me and my self portrait reflects this as I am holding a glass of juice in my hand which in my opinion is 'half full' not 'half empty' as a Pessimist would see it.
I also have a great passion in the world of fashion whether it be clothes, hair or make-up which is where in my self portrait I am holding a Vogue magazine as this has many inspirational ideas for now and the future.
As you will also be able to see on my self portrait are some make-up palettes, I have used these as I feel they really reflect me as a person as I feel I have a natural flare for make-up and would love to progress further within the industry.
The candle in my portrait is a light of warmth, love and calmness which I feel not only do I need but it is within me as this is who I am.
A part from my passion and drive in life to fulfil my dreams I have a very special love and to me it is unique. This love is my cat Mimi, she is the centre of my world, she keeps me grounded because when things get tough she makes me feel relaxed, calm and most of all loved enabling me to progress with the more challenging things in my life. This is why the black cat is in my portrait as it reflects my beautiful Mimi.

A contemporary portrait

Princess Diana was Princess of Wales while married to Prince Charles and she was one of the most adored members of the British royal family, but unfortunately she died in a car crash back in 1997 which was shocking news to almost everyone - It was a very sad time.

Source information - http://www.fashot.com/fashot-blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Princess-Diana-20.jpg

I have chosen this Portrait of Princess Diana as I find it very interesting because Diana first started in the public eye as looking like a fairytale princess, always dressed in silk and pearls. However in time Diana started to become much more daring in her choices of clothing, she definitely found her fashion voice. When attending the Varity Fair benefit at the Serpentine Gallery, Diana showed up in the ultimate "little black dress", however it was later given the name "the revenge dress" but Diana confirmed she wasn't one to be pitied. This is because the day she decided to walk out the front door in this dress was the day Prince Charles had confessed to having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. The dress was originally designed three years prior to her wearing it, she was too nervous to wear it before as "she thought it was too daring".

Diana broke the boundaries of royal dressing and was known to be now a fashion icon as well as a princess in her own right. The dress Diana was wearing was a tight, figure hugging Christina Stambolian dress which was considered to be too "sexy" for a princess, it featured a low cut, off the shoulder neckline which she wore with a pearl choker.

Source information - http://www.fashot.com/fashot-blog/tag/princess-diana-history/
http://www.biography.com/people/princess-diana-9273782#synopsis
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/suzannah-ramsdale/543592/princess-diana-s-dresses-the-truth-behind-her-most-famous-fashion-moments.html

Extreme contouring

This week in class Kat and Sue taught us how to do extreme contouring. We were shown how to create a dramatic look which shows a change to the shape of the face, especially the bone structure.

When contouring it is vital that you make sure the skin can breathe by not covering the entire face as the skin texture must show.

Kat's demonstration 1

Kat's demonstration 2

Below are the steps I followed to create my extreme contouring look:

• Apply a small amount of primer to the face, neck and ears
• Apply a light base over the face, neck and ears
• Apply powder over the top to set the base
• Highlight the forehead, cheeks, nose and jaw using a lighter shade
• Again highlight the forehead, cheeks, nose and jaw but this time using a darker shade
• Highlight the forehead, brow bone, cheeks and cupids bow using a shimmery shade
• Bronze the face using a matte shade

Here is my look the before and after which I created on myself it isn't as extreme as it could have been but I didn't want to darken it too much on my first attempt encase it went wrong. However if you look closely you will be able to see the areas in which I have contoured. 

Before

After

I did some more research into extreme contouring where I came across this video of extreme contouring using creams which I found very useful and interesting.

The Westmores

The Westmore's of Hollywood are a family of Hollywood make-up artists who introduced the art of make-up to the motion-picture industry. They have been doing make-up for four generations and is said that they are who created Hollywood beauty.

The Westmore's worked on a variety of actresses, such as, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Sandra Dee and Farrah Fawcett. The beasts from the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were also created by the famous westmore's.

It all started out with George Westmore who first started the studio make-up department at Selig Studios in 1917 and he was very well known for making house calls for rising stars who were searching for the flawless look.

Westmore's six sons who were Monte, Ern, Perc, Wally, Frank and Bud all followed into it. They then grew much bigger and opened more make-up departments in other studios.

Perc was in charge of disguises which would become Warner Bros, Wally was at Paramount, Ern was at 20th Century Fox and Bud was at Universal Studios.

Source: http://westmoremuseum.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/georgecrop.jpg?w=227&h=300

Source: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2510980608/tt1688059

Shown below is make-up work done by the Westmore's...

Source: http://makeupmag.com/images/1759_MA_01_Monty%20Westmore.jpg

Source: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3f/a2/ce/3fa2ce39b4c624838684efdfe0aab227.jpg

Source: http://www.local706.org/static/media/uploads/706_about.jpg

Quotes made by Sue Cabral Ebert - "Their artistic abilities were phenomenal".

"The beauty and the horror that you saw coming out of all of those different studios was directly because of their involvement".

Source Information: http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/02/21/30608/oscars-2013-westmore-family-continues-to-make-up-h/
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/641129/Westmore-Family

Colour theory and face charts

Colour theory - This is a body of practical guidance to colour mixing and the visual effects of a specific colour combination.

Colour scheme - This is the choice of colours used in design for a range of media. Colour schemes are used to create style and appeal.

Colour wheel - A colour wheel is based on red, yellow and blue. The circular diagram was first developed in 1666 by Sir Issac Newton.

There are three different categories of colours based on the colour wheel these are primary colours, secondary colours and tertiary colours.

Primary colours - These include red, yellow and blue and these three colours are the three pigment colours that cannot be mixed or created with any other colours.

Secondary colours - These include green, orange and purple which are the colours that are created by mixing the primary colours.

Tertiary colours - These include yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green. These colours are created by mixing a primary and a secondary colour together and this is the reason for tertiary colours being a two word name, e.g. red-purple.

Colour harmony - colour harmonies or colour chords are a number of colour combinations that are pleasing to the eye.

Colour context - This is how colours behave in relation to other colours and shapes.

Face Charts

Achromatic - This category only consists of black, white and grey and the definition of achromatic is "free from, or without colour". Together I used a variety of make-up products to create the look I desired. These included black pepper eye-shadow from Kryolan, black supracolor by Kryolan, the colour black in Illamasqua's neutral palette and a black mascara to define the lashes.

My Achromatic Face chart

Monochromatic - Monochromatic is using one colour but with a variety of different shades. The colour I chose was Pink and the make-up products I used were Annatto and Chive blossom eye-shadows by Kryolan, pink supracolor by kryolan, the pink powder blusher duo by Illamasqua, the Kryolan blusher palette and a black mascara to define the lashes.

In class my friend Antonella used my face chart as a guidance to create the same look on myself and I did the same back, I created the look she designed on her. 

My Monochromatic Face Chart

My Monochromatic design which Antonella created on me

My Monochromatic design which Antonella created on me

Antonella's Monochromatic Face Chart

Antonella's Monochromatic design which I created on her

Antonella's Monochromatic design which I created on her

Complementary - Complementary colours are colours which naturally complement each other. They are made of two colours which are opposite to each other on the colour wheel. The two complementary colours that I chose were Blue and Orange. The make-up products in which I used to create this look are turmeric eye-shadow from Kryolan, blue supracolor by Kryolan, my new blue coral eye-shadow by Kyrolan which I recently brought from Charles Fox and a black mascara to define the lashes.

My Complementary Face Chart

Analogous - Analogous colours are colours which are next to each other on the colour wheel. One colour is used as the dominant colour and the others are used to develop the design. The colours I chose to use are Pink/Purple and Purple/Blue.

The make-up products in which I used to create my look are my blue coral Kryolan eye-shadow, blue Kryolan supracolor, Annatto and Lavender eye-shadow by Kryolan, Kryolan blusher palette, Illamasqua powder blusher duo and a black mascara to define the lashes. 

My Analogous Face Chart

Trip to London

On Friday 10th October we all took a fun trip to London to visit the National Portrait Gallery which I found extremely mind blowing, some of the portraits within the gallery were out of this world! They were so amazing and it was great to look at them to see how they used to dress and style themselves. I thought it was a great experience and very interesting.

We also went to some of the professional make-up stores whilst visiting London including mac, charles fox, smashbox and illamasqua this was also very exciting, I was completely in my element and absolutely loved being able to view all the different products within the make-up stores, there was so much to look at and I even had to purchase myself a few items as I just couldn't resist!

Elizabethan Film Research

I have done some research on Elizabethan films and I came across so many, however the three which caught my eye the most are Elizabeth (1998), Elizabeth I (2005) and The Virgin Queen (1955) which are the three films I have researched and have written about below.

Elizabeth (1998)

This film was made in 1998 and it is based on Elizabeth becoming the new queen after queen Mary died. Elizabeth is the protestant half-sister of Mary and although Queen Mary died she would never let a protestant rule England. When Elizabeth becomes queen she finds herself surrounded by advisor's, some of which are kind and helpful but others are plotting to reinstate the catholic line. The new queen is under a lot of pressure as her councils main focus is to marry her off, however they will not approve of Lord Robert Dudley who is Queen Elizabeth's romance. Therefore it has left Queen Elizabeth with a few things to think about although her main focus being who rules England.
This film was written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett who plays Queen Elizabeth I. The hair and make-up designer was Jenny Shircore and the costume designer was Alexandra Byrne.
Cate Blanchett won many awards for her representation of Elizabeth, remarkably a BAFTA and a Golden Globe in 1998. Also the film was named the 1998 BAFTA best British film. Elizabeth was nominated in 7 categories in the 71st academy awards, which included best picture, best actress and she received a prize for the best make-up.

Source information: www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/plotsummary            

Elizabeth I (2005)

This is a two-part British historical drama television miniseries and is directed by Tom Hooper, written by Nigel Williams and stars Helen Mirren who plays Elizabeth I.

Part 1 - In 1579 Elizabeth has reigned for 20 years and refused to marry, her chief and her spy-master try to marry her off to the Duke of Anjou (the brother to the king of France) in order to make alliance against Spain and cause a division through the catholic world. 

The Earl of Leicester who she once had a romance with strongly disagrees of the marriage due to his own love which he still holds for her. Eventually Elizabeth became very fond of the Duke of Anjou but despite this she is influenced by Burghley not to marry him as it will have a big affect on popular opinion towards the match.

The Duke suffers from a sudden death which then forms the Franco-Spanish alliance which they were dreading! England is safe after the Spanish armada is defeated although the queen is suffering from a huge loss.

Part 2 - In 1589 Elizabeth has found a new romance of Essex and he takes part in an English military expedition to Lisbon which Elizabeth is very angry about as he went against her wishes, however she does chose to forgive him. Elizabeth then grants Essex 10 percent of tax on sweet wines and a seat on the pivy council and Robert Cecil (Burghley's son) is also a member. Therefore this causes rivalry with Essex and Cecil. Elizabeth starts to suspect Essex of secretly communicating with James VI of Scotland because Essex's behaviour starts to become very unusual and he is showing no loyalty or commitment towards Elizabeth. Elizabeth then finds herself becoming very close to Cecil.

After Burghley died, Elizabeth sent Essex to Ireland to place down a rebellion, however he goes against this and makes a truce and goes back to England by himself. Elizabeth then put Essex under house arrest and him and his followers are captured. Essex was found guilty and then he was beheaded. A few weeks later Elizabeth feels extremely lethargic as she has gone weeks without eating. She makes her way to bed and asks for a priest as she is wanting to die.

The make-up and hairstylists for the film were Laura Kreivyte, Josh Weston, Fae Hammond, Sue Westwood, Jan Hope-Kavanagh and Gemma Richards. The costume designer was Mike O'Neill.

Source Information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1265373/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465326/fullcredits/

Elizabethan Book Research

I wanted to further my research in the Elizabethan era and to do this I thought getting a book out from the library will definitely help me to gain more knowledge within the Elizabethan times. There were a

huge variety of books to chose from in the library, however this book was the one that caught my eye the most!

The Elizabethan World

In this book it shows a clear picture of a fascinating and hugely important period in history. It speaks about how the Elizabethan world portrays a time of transformation and a world order in transition. Some of the things in which it includes are social hierarchies, women, the family and household, popular culture, commerce and consumption, urban and rural economies, theatre, art, intellectual developments, exploration and imperialism and the Elizabethan wars. The book shows a clear picture of how politics, religion, popular culture, the world of work and social practices all fit together in a thrilling world of change. 

I found this book extremely interesting and very helpful as it gave me a great understanding of the structures, patterns, conditions and experiences of the Elizabethan era and I would definitely recommend it!

Below are some portraits of Queen Elizabeth I which I came across whilst looking at the book.

Tudor Cosmetics

Source: tudorerafashion.weebly.com/perfume--make-up.html

Make-up was worn to show their social position, status and rank. The more wealthier women would have a very pale complexion where as the poor women were always expected to work outside and therefore used to catch a suntan. 

In the Tudor times they wore very subtle make-up as it wasn't popular to be wearing heavy make-up at all. Queen Elizabeth used white make-up as this is what all the upper class women would wear, it was extremely popular to be looking very pale. The white make-up in which they used is called ceruse and it is made out of white lead and vinegar which was very poisonous to them. Plant roots and leaves were also used for face paint, as well as cochineal and red ochre which stained their lips and cheeks and to darken their eyelashes they used kohl.

It was also very popular for the rich Tudor women to have very light hair. They used a dye which turned their hair yellow and this was made from saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil. A type of henna was also used to colour their hair and to also paint their nails. Queen Elizabeth I used a variety of wigs and hair pieces as well which also showed she had lighter hair, these were again very popular.

It was also important for the rich Tudor women to be wearing perfumes which were made out of roses, water lillies and violets. They also used creams and unguents made from honey, beeswax and sesame oil to help keep their skin looking soft.

Source: tudorerafashion.weebly.com/perfume--make-up.html

 

Source: themakeupgallery.info/age/1970s/elizabethr.htm

Information sourced: www.sixwives.info/tudor-make-up.htm

Introduction to project brief

My Selfie

I have always had a true passion for creating hair and make-up designs. I previously worked within the Beauty Industry where I learnt the basics of hair and make-up designs. It was something I really enjoyed so definitely confirmed my commitment in becoming a hair and make-up artist. Giving the current strength of the T.V, Film and Theatre industries, I felt this industry is incredibly important and the creative possibilities and job opportunities in which the industry can offer to me are extremely inspiring so would definitely like to become successful in this area of work.

I have a very creative mind and I always like to study people, it can be from what they're wearing, the shape of their face or their hair and make-up. I find when I do this that I develop amazing ideas of the different creations I can perform upon a range of people.

Elizabethan Era
I was extremely happy when I found out we would be studying the Elizabethan Era as I have always been very fond of the make-up and fashion used in these times. This is because fashion reflected the hierarchiel structure of society at that time as an individuals social position, status or rank showed his/her living arrangement, dress and diet.
The Elizabethan era is named after the greatest Queens of England. Queen Elizabeth I. It was one of the most captivating periods in the history of England and was a time related with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603).

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (Source: http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/eliz1.html)

My aspirations about the project brief are working alongside others and being able to gain new skills and techniques in creating a look that fits in with the Elizabethan era. Also I would love to gain more information about the Elizabethan era as I find it all very interesting and I am keen to learn more about their fashion in order to help me create an inspiring look myself.
My fears will be that I don't understand the project brief entirely and also I am worried that I may find it hard to create a desired look that fits in with the Elizabethan era. 

Induction Week

Orientation Exercise

For the first part of our exercise we all got into small groups and discussed all of our summer project mood boards to see where each of us would like to be in 5 years time. One of which I interviewed was Kerry Trott and her moodboard describes that in 5 years time she would be hoping to be living and working in Australia being a make-up artist for T.V, Film or Theatre. Kerry would also like to research and design make-up and hairstyles and create special effects for dramatic productions.

Kerry Trott with her Mood Board

For the second part of the exercise we all had to find three locations within Southampton these were West Quay shopping centre, the Mayflower theatre and Southampton city art gallery which I found all very quick and straight forward to find. When we found the locations we had to take a selfie in front of each of them which is shown below.

West Quay Shopping Centre

Mayflower Theatre

Southampton Art Gallery

Next we had to find five different make-up counters being Mac, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox and Benefit. We found out information on all these make-up brands and what their best selling product is.

Mac

The most selling products for Mac are the lipsticks especially the "ruby woo" shade. Also the studio fix fluid foundation is an excellent seller too! The foundation is a medium coverage and gives the skin a natural matte finish.

The age group that Mac make-up sells most to is people aged between 15-25.

Laura Mercier

The most selling product for Laura Mercier is the foundation primer (oil free) which will help to keep your make-up looking great all day.

The age group that Laura Mercier make-up sells most to is middle aged people, however their make-up range is aimed for all age groups. 

Bobbi Brown

The hero products for Bobbi Brown are the long wear gel liner and the ultra fine liner brush. The top ten best selling products are all shades of the lip colours, corrector & concealer, smokey eye mascara,  bronzing powder, skin foundation stick, vitamin enriched face base, pot rouge, shimmer brick and long wear cream shadow stick,

Smashbox

The most selling product for smashbox make-up is the photo finish foudnation primer, it has been on the market for 18 years and comes in 11 different shades. It was the award-winning product at the beauty awards 2014!

Benefit

 The most selling product for benefit make-up is the long-lasting they're real! mascara which is the number 1 selling mascara product in the UK and has been for the last 2 years! It gives a dramatic length and volume, a base to tip curl, a visible lift and long-wearing results. They also have they're real! push-up liner, the POREfessional primer which is the UK's number 1 best selling primer and their Hoola Bronzer which is also the UK's number 1 best selling bronzer. 

Mask Project

We all did a creative exercise in the class and had to create a mask out of a brown paper bag. We had many different materials which we used to help us to create our own personal bag heads. We then had to take photos of ourselves wearing the mask at different locations around the University. It was a very fun and exciting exercise and definitely helped everyone in the class to integrate with one another and have a laugh - It was great!

Illamasqua

Illamasqua very kindly came to the university to give us an insight into the company. I gained some great knowledge from this and some amazing tips on what to do when applying make-up. One of the greatest tips I took on board was to use different colour shades on different skin tones, for example, on lighter skins it's great to use pink shades where as on darker skin use colours such as greens and reds to neutralise the skin adding warmer colours over the top.

A make-up tutorial was also carried out by Charlotte from Illamasqua. She chose Beth as a model and created an amazing look on her. Charlotte used a mix of five different foundations to highlight and contour her face in the correct places. She was using her fingers as well as a brush to apply and blend the make-up as her aim was to make it look very soft. Charlotte also used a highlighter as she was highlighting straight down the middle of the Beth's face because if she was on the runway then this is where the light would hit.

Charles Fox/Kryolan

Charles Fox is based in Convent Gardens and is another professional make-up brand which kindly came to give us an inspirational talk. Gemma gave us some great knowledge on the background of the company and spoke to us about the variety of Kryolan products in which they use.

Charles Fox was first established in 1876 and Kryolan produced make-up specifically for T.V, Film and Theatre and have done this for over 6 decades in their headquarters in Berlin.