Glitter Galore

 

I recently took part in another photoshoot which was based around a wintery, fashion editorial shoot. The makeup brief was to be dark and glittery so I used real glitter on the eyes, stuck on with vaseline. Here are some images I used for inspiration:

Vaseline is great to use with glitter because you can apply the vaseline with a cotton bud in the places or shape that you want it, and then by using a brush, stick glitter onto the face. I used a black and silver glitter and then blended them together around the eyes. There were two models so I inverted the colours to vary the look slightly. I then finished off with dark liner and lashes! I kept the foundation and lips natural in order to balance out the heavy eyes. The models provided all of the clothes and they found the location in Kings Langley of an old outhouse which allowed for an interesting composition. The photographer, Michelle Duckett gave direction and edited all of the photos. You can see her work at: http://www.modelmayhem.com/2101353. These were the final results:

The Roaring Twenties

It is interesting to look back at the makeup and fashion styles of years ago as not only does it demonstrate how and why makeup has changed, but it can also give you ideas and inspiration for new makeup looks. We researched about the 1920s and 30s to see how women applied their makeup and why. Women didn't have as much makeup available to them as we do now, so they had to make do with what they had. Whereas in previous decades makeup was seen as indecent, in the 1920s it started to come back into fashion and women began to experiment with it again, and this was helped with the rise of cosmetic counters in department stores.  Here are some traditional images of 1920s and 1930s makeup.

Famous actresses like Clara Bow and Greta Garbo showed off new makeup and women aspired to copy their styles. Essentially women wanted a pale complexion; dark and defined smokey eyes with heavy eyeliner; thinly plucked or drawn on arched eyebrows and cupid's bow lips. I recreated a traditional 1920s makeup but in order to make it more effective, styled it for a black and white photo. The best way to create shadows for black and white photography is to use greys and blacks to contour the face, which i have used on the hollows of the cheeks below. I also styled the look with a fingerwave in the hair and 1920s accessories.

The Big Day

Bridal makeup is supposed to enhance a woman's natural beauty, and there are many different ways of doing this. Indian bridal makeup is absolutely stunning and the makeup artists really know how to create dramatic but beautiful looks. They include alot more colour and detail in their makeup and the use of clothes, accessories and adornments really finish off the look. I have included some images below for you to see what I mean:

I attempted to recreate an indian bridal look in class. I kept the look quite natural using golden brown eyeshadows blended outwards and black eyeliner around the eyes. I added plain black but full lashes too. This accentuates the eyes and has the effect of enlarging them. I then neatened and defined the brows with a dark eyeshadow and used gold beads stuck on with eyelash glue around the eyebrows to add adornments and decoration in an indian style. Finally, I used a deep red to line the lips and then used a ruby red lipstick to plump them up. Unfortunately I didn't have much else with me to finish off the look in terms of costume and jewellery but I hope to have another practice at this at some point and perhaps use more colour in the makeup too. Here are the end results:

Snow Princess

After researching what to do for my fantasy assessment I settled on an icy, sparkling snow princess. The idea was to keep it looking quite fashion orientated so it was important to ensure the fantasy aspect enhanced the model's features. I found inspiration from these kinds of images, and designed my own snow princess look. 

 

I used cool blues around the eyes and redrew the eyebrows with a silver facepaint. I bought the eyelashes to finish off the eyes as I thought they gave a more dramatic look and enhanced the 'snowy' effect. I used handmade snowflake stencils to add the detail to the face, with a white facepaint and silver stippling effect over the top. I also added stick on gems to add a bit of sparkle. I kept the lips fairly simple with a light pink shimmer and plaited the hair to keep the hair looking neat. I think the overall look worked well and the accessories finished it off! 

Colour Queen

I really enjoy playing around with colours to get different effects and I have recently discovered the Barry M dazzle dusts which are AMAZING! I may just have to go out and buy the whole selection! I used a golden yellow and and punchy purple to create a funky 60's esque look on the eyes and then mirrored this in the lips. I finished off the look with some simple stick on gems from hobby craft which are create to add a bit of sparkle, and, naturally some eyelashes!

A wig always works wonders too!

Model: Sacha Anderson

The Alternative Bride... Continued!

I got the photos through!!! I was so excited I wanted to put them up straight away! I have used exactly the same techniques as I did for the practice run, but they look so much better thanks to the photographer Rachael-Emily and model Simona Square! You can see more of Rachael's work at: www.facebook.com/rachaelemilyphotography

The Alternative Bride

I was recently asked to help out on a photo shoot for an 'edgy bridal' look which incorporated an editorial style wedding dress and some funky accessories. I jumped at the chance and after discussing the themes, decided to branch out and make the make up stand out as much as the dress. I did some research online and immediately fell in love with these:

I decided to practice on myself seeing as it was my first photo shoot and after having an experiment decided to go for a leopard print based look. Combined with gold (to match the detail on the dress) I thought that this would look really edgy and finish off the alternative style dress well. Unfortunately I don't have the final images to show you yet but I will post them soon! In the meantime here are the photos that I took:

To get this effect I used a pale, natural foundation and powder, a rose pink blusher and mixed together a light brown and orange lipstick to create this beautiful light coral effect. For the eyes I blended golden browns across the eyelid and completed the leopard print detail with a black eyeliner and a steady hand! A dash of gold across the top took away the starkness of the black print. I then finished it off by licking black eyeliner around the eye and (of course!) black eyelashes on top. Obviously I made no effort with the outfit but I did backcomb my hair and add a hair accessory! You will see the finished result on the photo shoot itself soon! I can't wait!