My 3rd Practice at Charlotte's Design

We did this practice in the evening so unfortunately the lighting wasn't very good, but I am happy and feeling confident with the makeup look. I added more foundation onto any of Charlotte's blemishes to even out the skin tone. I also added foundation down the neck and on the ears so that everything was one colour. I brought the inner socket contouring slightly further down the nose as we had both discussed we preferred this look. I added a bit more of the plum colour in the lipstick and we both prefer the colouring of this. The eye shadow looks darker in this image but this is just down to the lighting. I am happy with the contouring on the cheeks, however I may make this a little darker in the assessment to make sure it shows up on camera. Overall I am really happy with the makeup look and I am feeling confident for the assessment.

My 2nd Practice at Charlotte's Design

This was my second attempt at Charlotte's final design. We went through the look and talked through every step once again so that I knew exactly what I was doing. 

Step by step:

1. I first mixed foundations 1 and 5 and the white skin base to get the right foundation colour to match her skin colour. I put this foundation all over her face with my foundation brush and then buffed it into the skin with a fluffy brush. I brought the foundation colour up under the eyes and on the eyelids so that all the face was one colour. I powdered underneath the eyes and on the eyelids well with a small flat brush. I then powdered the rest of the face with a big fluffy brush. 

2. I then used the grey toned bronzer from the bronzer palette with my contouring brush and contoured under the cheek bones, on the sides of the forehead and under the chin. I went in with some of the grey eyeshadow over these contours to make them more intense later on in the process. 

3. I then took a small flat brush and contoured the inner socket of each eye with the grey toned bronzer (left). I, again, didn't think this was intense enough, so I used the grey eye shadow to make it darker and I much prefer the result (right).

 4. I used a stiff blush brush and applied the pink Illamasqua blush to the apples of the cheeks and blended it up along the cheek bones.

5. I next brushed through the eyebrows with a mascara wand. I applied some eye shadow primer all over both the eye lids and then applied some white eye shadow all over the eyelid and up to the brow bone. I made sure that I packed on the colour on the lid and on the inner corner. 

6. I used a big fluffy brush to put some skin coloured eye shadow into the crease, then I used a smaller fluffy brush to put some grey into the crease. I made sure all the lines were blended and even.

7. I then intensified the grey by adding some black with a smaller blending brush and I brought some of this colour along the lower lash line, making sure to only bring it a third of the way in. I reapplied the white eye shadow in the brow bone to make sure it still looked white and on the lid if needed.

8. I asked my model to apply some mascara  to the top eyelashes and a bit on the bottom. I asked my model to do this because she could get closer to the lash line without making a mess! I also applied some lipstick to her lips with a small angled brush. The lipstick was a mixture of LC142, LC008 and LC002.

Before and After

I am really happy with how this look turned out. I really like how the rosy lips and rosy blush are the same colour because I think it ties the whole look together. I really like how long and full her eyes look because it works with the dark smokey eye in drawing lots of attention to them. I like how I contoured the inner sockets, however I think it would look better if I blended the contour down the nose slightly more, to give a more faded out look. I really like how perfected the skin looks, compared to the before picture, but I think I could have maybe used some more concealer of foundation over her blemishes to give a flawless look. I forgot to put some white skin base on the high points of the face before powdering so I need to make sure I don't forget this step again! I applied some white eye shadow on the high points of the face and my partner liked how it looked, so I will incorporate this into the look. When we were doing the look we thought the the lips looked too baby pink so we agreed we'd add more of the plum colour to make it more of a rosy pink. However after looking at these images we noticed that it looked more rosy in the image, so we decided not to change it, but just to keep an eye on it. 

My Partner's Final Design: Step by Step

Equipment:

- Skin base in 01

- Foundation palette

- Concealer palette

- Translucent powder

- Disposable mascara wands

- Full brush set

- Contour palette

- Illamasqa blush in Tremble

- Eye shadow palette

- Mascara

- Urban Decay primer potion

- Lip palette

Step by step:

1. I first applied a layer of foundation with my foundation brush. I matched the colour to her natural skin and used a mixture of the white skin base and foundation colours 1 and 5 from the foundation palette. I then used the fluffy brush to buff the foundation into the skin. I made sure that I concentrated more on the problem areas. I also put this colour under the eyes to make it the same colour as the rest of her face. 

2. I next applied some white skin base with my foundation brush along her cheekbones, in the middle of the forehead, down the nose, on the cupids bow and on the chin. I then blended these areas out with the same fluffy brush. I used the translucent powder to powder the whole face, focusing under the eyes and eyelids.
3. I used the grey toned bronzer from the bronzer palette and used it to contour under the cheek bones, on the temples, under the chin and on the inner sockets, not taking it far down the nose. I also added some white eye shadow on the high points of the face, where I applied the white skin base.

4. I brushed through the eyebrows with a disposable mascara wand and then added some Urban Decay primer to the eyelids. I next used a small flat brush to put white eye shadow all over the eyelid and up to the eyebrow. I then added some grey eye shadow in the crease and then some black eyeshadow more precisely in the crease to add more depth. I smudged some of the grey eye shadow along the lower lash line, but only a third of the way in. I added some white eye shadow on the inner corner to brighten.

5. I completed the other eye and then added mascara on the top and bottom lash line, trying to get as close to the lash line as possible. I added some pink blush on the apples of her cheeks and blended it up slightly.

 6. I made the lipstick out of a mixture of LC142, LC008 and LC002, all from the lipstick palette. I used a small angled brush to apply this all over the lips. Then the final look is complete.

I am happy with how the makeup turned out, but I am excited to practice to make it perfect. When I do the look again I will use concealer on parts of the skin where the blemishes are showing through. I have suggested to my partner that she brings in her Mac Prolong wear concealer as it matches her skin tone and is high coverage. I will also practice blending the eyeshadow out because I think it looks a bit blotchy in places. My partner is getting her eyelashes tinted to make them darker so that it will be easier to make the roots of the lashes look dark. I will make the contouring and blush look stronger because I noticed that when I took pictures of my work the makeup looked less intense and I don't want this to happen in front of the camera, especially as it has a flash.

Experimenting with My Partner's Design

My partner wasn't completely sure what she wanted her design to look like so we experimented with a different look to the previous one. She gave me the face chart below and talked me through the look step by step. 

Face Chart

Step by step:

1. I first blocked her eyebrows out using a prig stick and layered the glue to make her eyebrows as smooth and flat as possible. I used a spatular to do this. I then smoothed any extra bits of glue round the eyebrow with a cotton bud and water. 

2. I then took some pink/peach coloured concealer and covered the eyebrows with it. I did this to cover the colour of the eyebrows. 

 3. I next used a mixture of the white skin base and foundation number 1 and 6 to get the perfect colour. I made the foundation slightly lighter than her natural colour to make her look more pale. I used a foundation brush to apply the foundation and then buffed it out with a fluffy brush. I used a sponge to pack on the foundation over the eyebrows to concealer the colour. I powdered her face with translucent powder.

4. I used the grey toned bronzer from the bronzer palette to shade round the inner socket and slightly down the nose. I used a small flat brush to get the sharp line and I then blended the colour outwards. I also contoured the cheek bones, under the chin and on the temples with the same grey toned bronzer.

5. I used a smudged some grey eye shadow along the upper and lower lash line, making sure there were no harsh lines.

6. I next added some black eyeshadow very close to the upper and lower lash lines to make the look more intense. I added some pink blush to the cheeks, focusing on the apples and blending it back slightly.

7. I made a lipstick out of the lip palette, using colour LC142, LC008 and LC002, and used this colour for the centre of the lips. I then used the red lip mix for the outer corners.

8. I finally added mascara on the top and bottom lashes to complete the look.

My partner was not happy with how pale the skin looked and so wanted me to next time match the foundation to her natural skin colour. She also didn't like how she looked with her eyebrows blocked out and wanted to use her eyebrows more in the look. She didn't like how harsh the lips looked with the red going into the rosy pink. She was happy with the contouring and blush tho and so said she would keep that into her look. 

Comparing My Final Design with the Makeup in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

The film, Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), was visually beautiful. 34 people made up the make-up department and 58 people made up the costume department and you can see why! Cate Blanchett, who played Elizabeth I, had many outfit changes, but the makeup always stayed roughly the same, just more or less dramatic. Here I will compare my final makeup design with the makeup looks from the film.

My Modern Elizabethan Makeup Design.

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/08/article-233
7774-0D7E2F6100000578929_634x948.jpg

These makeup designs look very different, but you can see that I have taken inspiration from the Elizabethan makeup and given it a modern twist. The rosy lip colour is very similar in both makeup looks, but hers is slightly darker, more defined and glossier. I kept the skin around the eyes very white and smooth, just like Cate Blanchett's makeup in the film, but I gave the rest of the face more texture to show what I think the makeup would have actually looked like in person. In both makeup looks the eyebrows have not been blocked out, but just lightened in colour. She may have had her eyebrows bleached or they could have been naturally fair, but my eyebrows are very dark naturally, so I coated mine in white super colour. We both have very bare eyes, with no definition of colour added. Her eyelashes don't look as white as mine because they may have been her natural eyelashes or bleached; but I had to coat mine in white super colour because they were so dark, giving a much more dramatic look. Cate looks like she has got a strong contour in this image but that is just down to the lighting, not the makeup. She has a soft rosy coloured blush on the apples of her cheeks. I have used roughly the same colour, but have just positioned it differently. It was very popular to have a big forehead in the Elizabethan era, however I decided to contour my forehead because in today's society a lot of women contour their foreheads to make them look smaller. My look is a lot more dramatic and abstract than the makeup used in the film, but, as you can see, I have taken much of my inspiration from the Elizabethan era.

My Partner's Design

My partner, Charlotte, gave me a face chart of what she wanted the makeup to look like and we worked through creating the look together. She wanted the eyebrows to be blocked out, but unfortunately we did not have the right materials to do this, so we just added white super colour to them instead. Below is how we created the look.

Step by step:

1. I first mixed some foundation with some white skin base to get the right foundation shade. I then mixed some concealers together to get a light and brightening shade and put it under the eyes.
2. I next powdered the face with some translucent powder to set the base and get rid of any shine.
3. I contoured the cheekbones, sides of the forehead, under the chin and also down both sides of the nose with a light contour shade.

4. I put some eyelid primer, Urban Decay Primer Potion, on the eyelids and powdered them well.
5. I put some white eyeshadow, fennel, to the lids and blended it out with a light taupe, white pepper.
6. I next added some grey, caraway, into the crease and blended it up very close to the eyebrows.
7. I added some black eyeshadow, black pepper, to the crease and under the lash line to smoke the look out.
8. I deepened the black with the Urban Decay colour, creep, and took it up high up to the brows and under the lash line.

 9. I added a coat of black mascara to the top and bottom eyelashes.

10. I brushed some white super colour through her eyebrows to lighten them up and give them more of a blocked out effect.

11. I next applied a red lip using the red lip mix by Mac.

12. I finally added some jewels onto the centre of the lips with some eyelash glue.

The Final Look

My partner was happy with how the design came out and she said that this is how she envisioned it to look. It was a shame that we didn't get to block out her eyebrows, but I will make sure we do next time. I am happy with how blended the eyeshadow looks and I like the shape. I found it difficult to get right up to the lash line to cover up her fair eyelashes without getting mascara on the eyelid, but when I did I just wiped it off with a cotton bud. I personally think the look needs more of a contour or more colour of her cheeks because I think her face looks a bit flat. I did mention this to my partner, but she liked it how it was. I think I need to practice getting the outline of the red lip even and sharp because they look a bit wonky in these images. My partner said that she thought the red jewels looked too big, which I agree with, so she will look into getting some smaller ones. 

Thickness of Flour and Water Mixture

Below is an image and a video showing how thick I want the flour and water mixture to be.

My Partner Trying Out My Design

Attempt 1

This was my partner's, Charlotte Coles, try attempt at doing my makeup design and I am really happy with the results! She followed my instructions really well and when I asked her to change something, she would instantly. 

We were talking through the look in detail so she did not complete this look in 1hr 10 (time limit), however I think that this could be sped up if she was more confident with what she was doing. I love the cracking around the lips and chin because there is so much red colour showing through and there are so many tiny cracks. I prefer the cracking around the lips,  to the cracking on the forehead and cheeks because they haven't got as many visible cracks so it just looks like a thick paste has been applied. To create these cracks on the forehead and cheeks I will need to full different facial expressions to help crack the mixture more to avoid this happening again. I also don't think that the eyebrows are textured or white enough, so I will as Charlotte to add some translucent powder in layers with the white super colour to build up the colour and to make the eyebrows look more chunky and powdery. Charlotte noticed that she kept having to go in and touch up the eyebrows because she kept brushing them with doing other parts of the face, so she made a note to remember to keep checking and adjusting them. We noticed, when doing the lips, that she had applied the mixture over the lips, so next time she will try and avoid doing this. I will inform Charlotte and make sure that she makes these changes next time the makeup is applied.

Attempt 2

I am even happier with how Charlotte's second attempt came out! The fact that I pulled different facial expression really helped the mixture crack all over the face, and not just around the lips. We noticed that the white on top of the flour and water mixture was not white enough, so she added white super colour to any areas where she thought needed a bit of extra coverage. We noticed that the makeup under the chin stopped with quite a sharp line and I thought that it would look a lot better if it was blended out further down the neck. I have therefore let my partner know that I would like her to thin the product out as it goes down the neck. My partner did get some of the flour and water mixture on my lips, which I told her previously that I did not want, so she will try not to let that happen in the timed assessment. Charlotte felt very confident with this makeup look and feels prepared for the assessment. 

My Final Design: Step by Step

I wanted to create step by step instructions for my partner to follow in order to achieve my look exactly how I want it. I worked through this look with her so that I could explain every step and so that she could ask any questions if she was unsure of what to do. I took photos of my face along the way so that she can also have visual help.

Step by Step:

1. Apply an even layer of the red super colour all over the face, apart from where the white makeup will go around the eyes.
2. Powder all over the red super colour with the red powder blush from the blush palette.

3. Apply about 3 layers of the flour and water mixture all over the red base and take it down the neck. (Make sure that the layer is as even as possible, also make sure the mixture is blended over the red base to blend in with the clean skin.)

4. Whilst the mixture is drying, apply a thin, even layer of white skin base all around the eyes and where there is bare skin. (Leave a slight gap around the edges so that the red does not blend with the white.)

5. Take the white skin base all the way up to the lower lash line so no skin is showing through. Use a disposable mascara wand to brush white super colour through the eyebrows. Make sure you brush the eyebrows towards the middle and slightly upwards to give a very textured look. Coat the eyelashes in the white super colour.

6. Once the flour and water mixture has fully dried, apply a layer of white skin base all over the mixture, making sure to apply it on the neck and blend it out onto the chest. Apply white skin base all over and around the ears to blend them with the rest of the look. Use a big brush to do this to avoid getting too much white product in the cracks because you still want the red to be showing through. (Use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process if needed.)

7. Apply a second layer of white skin base to give a whiter finish and blend into the hair line and down the neck.

8. Contour the face with a mixture of the two pink colours in the blush palette. Contour under the cheekbones, either side of the forehead, under the chin and shade down either sides of the nose and blend into the bottom of the eyebrows. Apply this same powder colour to the lips. (Make sure all the contouring is of the same intensity.)

This is the final look!