3 Brush Challenge

We were given the challenge of creating  colour look using only three brushes for the whole look. As Megan already had her base done for a previous look, I had to start from contouring so chose a fluffy rounded brush for this. I also chose a fluffy eye brush that I could use to apply all of the colours and blend with. The finally brush I chose was an angled brush for under the eye and the lips. I also used disposable mascara wands so that I could apply mascara. 

The three brushes I chose

I decided on my analogous design for this. I thought that this would be the easiest of my ideas to do with only three brushes. 

The products I used were:

- Illamasqua pressed powder

- Kryolan glam glow contour palette 

- Kryolan eyeshadow palette 

- Kryolan lip palette

- Natural Collections black mascara

I'm really proud of how this look turned out, I think that considering I only had three brushes I was able to do the look pretty similarly to my face chart. In order to make sure that no darker colours ended up where the lighter colours should be I applied the lightest colour first gradually getting darker and I think that I was able to get the different colours on the eye blended nicely together on the lid. I did find it difficult to get the lip shape even at first, so I had to keep looking back in the mirror to make sure that I was evening up the line enough. I think that if Megan hadn't had her base done beforehand I would've found it a lot more difficult to do the entire look with only three brushes. 

Practising the gold ruff

After my tutorial with Sharon, she said that the gold needed to be brought up higher on the face so that it will show up better on camera. I wanted to test this out on my face so I could show my partner my progress in my design, and get her opinion on whether it looks good.

I started with the Illamasqua liquid metal palette in the gold as it was much better than the Supra Colour, I painted it on with a brush to get quite a thick coat so that it was quite bold. I found it quiet difficult to get a very precise line so that the ruff looked symmetrical- I don't think that I did very well on making it even as one side is higher up than the other. I think it would've been easier to do a precise line on someone else rather than myself so that I can properly see from all angles whether it is even. I think that it looks a lot better than having the gold only come up to the chin, as it brings the design even more together so that it flows better on the face. 

One element I did find difficult was getting into all the crevices on my ears so that it was properly covered, as I couldn't see into my ears fully I could only see if the outer part and slightly inside was covered. I think it will be easier for my partner to cover the ears as she will be able to see any patches that need to be covered. 

One thing I didn't like about the application, is that in some lights it does look dirty and isn't as bold so I wanted to try whether adding copper would make the colour bolder so it will show up better on camera. The lack of colour however could be due to not applying enough coats of the product, so I will consult with my partner on what she thinks looks best. 

After applying the gold, I then applied a layer of the copper from the liquid metal palette on the top mixing it in with the gold so see what effect it would add to the gold. I actually prefer the effect that the copper gave the skin, I think that the colour is a lot brighter & bolder. I also think that this will show up a lot better when we take the final images under the studio lights.

I did ask my dad what he thought of the effect that the two colours gave to the skin, and he said that he preferred the gold to the copper. He said that he preferred it because it made him think about James Bond Goldfinger and how it looked very similar to the painted lady in the film. However I did ask my partner what she preferred and she said she liked the effect the copper and gold mixed gave to the skin, she said that it gave a nice tone to the skin. We had used this colour previously in our practise, but I wanted to test out other options to see what would be the best on my skin. 

I do agree with my partner and I think that I will continue to have the gold and copper mixed together, so that I get the best of both colours as well as a bolder effect for the neck. 

Progress on Billie's design

I wanted to practise Billie's design one last time before the makeup assessment, so that I could perfect the technique and iron out any kinks that we may come across. I feel so much better after doing this practise for her makeup, and it has definitely calmed me down a lot as I was very panicky beforehand. We did practise this like the actual assessment, so that the products were set up properly and we tried to do the entire look in 1 hour 10 minutes.

I wanted to photograph the set up so I could reinforce to myself
exactly what products I need.

 Billie wanted to change her design slightly so that I pale out her brows slightly so that they aren't as dark and then filled them in with a light brown eyeshadow. However after just doing the technique of lightening the eyebrows I thought that they looked light enough and didn't need filling in any more. Billie did agree with my thoughts and she will adapt her design to fit this. I felt a lot more confident with this in comparison to her original design, where we completely blocked out her eyebrows, which to me did also take a lot away from the face. 

The tears close up

I was so happy with how the tears came out in this practise, as when I had previously done them they did have the resemblance of sunbeams and looked rather fake. In order to get a more 'authentic' look to the tears, I built up a small amount of the black aqua colour underneath the eye in the place where I wanted the tear to fall, then I dropped water onto the area so that it would naturally run. I think this looked so much better in comparison to the previous practise as the running tears did take off some of the base - much like a normal tear would do. I then repeated the same step with the gold aqua colour, although it isn't as bold as the black, it added a subtle shimmer to the face and gives the black more depth as if the tears have been freshly cried. Billie also wanted me to add the gold aqua colour onto the water line in the places where the tears fell, just to brighten up the waterline slightly, and also give the shimmering effect to the eyes to again  make it look like she had just been crying. I think this was a really good idea of hers and it does add that extra depth to the eye to make it look more realistic rather than 'sunbeams' coming from the eyes. 

The final look

All in all it took about an hour to do the full makeup look as well as cleansing,toning and moisturising. Using a timer made me feel so much more at ease so that I know I am keeping to the correct timings and I have enough time to do the whole look properly. I did realise after we practised that I never covered Billie's hands, as she wants them to be included in the final portrait, so I will need to remember to do so in the final assessment so that her hands are the same shade as her face.

I feel so much more at ease now, I think this definitely helped me mentally prepare for the final assessment, so that I don't panic and work myself up beforehand as I have been known to do so in the past. I know that I will probably be very nervous anyway but having done the this extra practise, it just gives me extra reinforcement that I can do the task and complete Billie's design in the time and to her liking. 

Testing out products for the freckles

As my original idea to use the gold Illamasqua from the Liquid Metal Palette didn't show up very well on camera, I wanted to test out what other products I could use that would do a better job. I chose the Urban Decay eyeshadow 'Buck' from the Naked Palette and the Copper from the Illamasqua Liquid Metal Palette.

Urban Decay

Urban Decay 'Buck'

I used a small pointed brush to apply the product across the nose and cheeks to get the typical shape of a freckle. I really liked how the freckles looked in real life, I thought they looked quite natural. One element that I thought looked good was the different strength of the colour in certain places, which is what natural freckles tend to have. However I think that they don't show up very well on the camera so I don't think this will be the best product to use in the assessment. 

Close Up of the Freckles

I think that the comparison between the close up and far away shot of my face shows that the eyeshadow does look good close up but not far away. 

The freckles seem to disappear far away.

Illamasqua

On top of the Urban Decay 'Buck' I applied the Illamasqua Copper. I think that this was the better option of the two that I had because it shows up so much more on camera. I think it does have a slightly harsher effect than the previous, but I think that with a flash and under studio lights it won't seem as harsh. I think that also because I will have a pale face in the assessment I will need the freckles to stand out, which the Urban Decay ones wouldn't do as well as these ones. 

Illamasqua on top of the Urban Decay

Furthermore I think that the use of the copper will relate back to the copper/gold mix that I will have applied to my neck in the assessment, and again the idea of high class with the use of the metallic colours. 

I think that now I have practised the freckles, I will be able to show my partner exactly what I want. I feel a lot happier now that I have done this, as I really want this element of the freckles to be visible in my final design especially because of the symbolic significance behind including them. I did feel slightly disheartened after seeing that the gold Liquid metal didn't show up on my skin very well, so I feel so much better knowing that I have done this practise and have confidence that they will show up in the final look. 

My design & First Practise with Billie

Products Used

- Illamasqua Skin Base

- Kryolan Foundation Palette

- Illamasqua Pressed Powder 

- MAC Cool Neutral Palette

- Naked Palette

- Maybelline Eyeliner

- Illamasqua Liquid Metal Palette

- Supra Colour Palette 

- Urban Decay Perversion Mascara Black

After trying out the gold veins on the neck previously and not liking the way they turned out, I changed my design slightly so that there is a gold base of Illamasqua liquid metal with white Supra Colour Veins drawn on the top. 

My Final Design

Below is the first practise with Billie of my final design. 

Billie's first practise of my design

I am really happy with how the base turned out, I think that it was the right amount of paled out skin and it went really well with the rest of the face. I am also so happy with how the brows turned out, I think they really frame the face well and add a contemporary edge to the look. Furthermore they add a messy edge to the whole look which is quite clean. 

I think that the line where the gold finishes looks so good and definitely replicates the 'ruff' look that I wanted to create through it. Furthermore I think that it also creates a contrast between the white face and the gold, making the face stand out a lot more. For the assessment the gold will branch further around the neck covering it all so that we aren't left with a line. I really like the colour that Billie mixed up, using both the gold and the copper from the Illamasqua Liquid Metal palette. I think that the copper creates more depth to the colour and actually makes the gold stand out even more. 

 I was slightly worried that the white wouldn't show up very well on the gold, but I think that it looks really good and almost adds a translucent effect to the skin. I think Billie needs to practise the veins and add in some capillaries to make it look even more realistic so we avoid the look of tree branches.

When showing my design, some people in the class didn't like the use of a black lip as they thought that it made it too 'Gothic'. However I really like the addition of the black lip, to me it adds to the character and also creates a contrast between the lighter colours. 

Billie did have a slight bit of trouble getting the shape of the lip, as it wasn't completely even. However she did say that she would practise to get the lip the right shape and make it completely even for the assessment. 

One element that I need to rethink is the freckles, as the gold Illamasqua from the Liquid Metal Palette doesn't show up very well on my skin and on camera. I think I need to consider other products that could also be used to create the freckles and always consider how the product will show up on camera. I'm glad that we came across this problem early on in the practise because it gives me time to experiment and make sure that I get the products right so this important element of my design will show up on the final image. 

Beginning Billie's Design

We went through each others design and explained each step that we had to go through in order to get the look that we want. 

Initially Billie was showing me how she blocked out her eyebrows, as I have never done this before I was very apprehensive about this and the technique, but when we were asking Sue about her design she suggested that we leave the brows in for the look. Sue did also show us a quick method to block out eyebrows, by using; pritt stick, pink coloured concealer and foundation. I blocked out one of the eyebrows and filled in the other to see what the face would look like with both options. The eyebrow definitely looked better to me as it framed the face, and although it did add a modern edge to the design, you didn't lose the Elizabethan style of the look. 

For the eyes I subtly defined the crease with the purple from the MAC palette so that you didn't lose the features in the finished look.

I had difficulty getting the right shape for the eyeshadow
due to the lack of eyebrow

Then I moved on to the main part of Billie's design- creating the tears running down her face. I did line roughly underneath the eye with the black Supra Colour to create the effect like she had smudged her make-up from crying. Then I used the black Aqua colour to add the shape of tears onto the previous black, which I then added a droplet of water of each to make it run down the face and look like she has actually been crying. Billie did also want me to drop the water into her eye to create actual tears running down her face, when I did it however it didn't run down the face as well as she had done in her practises. I think I will need to practise this myself and just get the proper technique and make sure that I get an authentic look. As the tears didn't turn out as well as Billie wanted, I drew on some droplets which I added water onto so that they would run more down the face.

After I got some more droplets onto the face I added gold in between some of the tears and in the inner corner. Billie did say afterwards that I need to put less on the tears as it did look very drawn on- which is not the look that she is after. 

For the last part of the eyes I added on mascara, which I built up to make it look clumpy so that it did give the effect of just finished crying- which is what the lashes do naturally. I did have some trouble with the application and I did get some mascara on the eyelid which I had to go and clean up afterwards with a cotton bud. I will have to work on my technique so that this doesn't happen in the assessment.

Finally I drew the heart shape for the lip, creating a gradient effect on the lip by using two colours. I was very proud of how the lips turned out, I learnt from a previous experience of doing lips to always look back in the mirror to make sure that the line is even on both sides.

I only did one eye as the other one didn't look right with the
lack of eyebrow.

Supra Colour vs Illamasqua

As my original idea of having gold veins didn't work when I tested out the various gold colours I had available to me, I thought about how I could still incorporate in the gold into my design. I decided on having the gold as a base for the white veins, so that the veins create a translucent effect on the skin, with the gold adding in the element of high class. 

I wanted to see what product would be the best for creating the strongest gold colour between the Illamasqua liquid metal and the Kryolan Supra Colour. I also wanted to see what would be the best way to apply the product to the skin; either a sponge or a brush, and whether the white would show on top of the gold. 

Applying the products with a sponge

 I first applied the product with a sponge to see how it applied to the skin. The Illamasqua (right) was so easy to get out of the palette and apply with a sponge, however the Supra Colour had to be scraped out, mixed onto my hand and then applied onto the skin. Even though I  applied quite a lot of the Supra Colour (left), it barely shows up on the skin. The photo is also taken with mirror lights on so it will show what the skin will look like under studio lights. Although the Illamasqua did apply a lot better than the Supra Colour, it didn't show up on camera or on the skin to the effect that I wanted to create. Furthermore I found the sponge very difficult and messy to work with, I actually ended up with more product on my hand than I did on my neck! Therefore I don't think I will be using this method in my design as it is very time consuming and doesn't give the bold effect that I really want on the skin. 

Applying the products with a brush

 This method was so much better! Both products looked much better on the skin when it was applied with a brush and definitely show up better on camera. I still had trouble with the Supra Colour (far right) as it kept clumping on the back of my hand so it didn't load up into the brush as well as the Illamasqua (middle). I loved the way the Illamasqua looks on the skin, it definitely is bold enough to use for a gold base for the 'ruff'. When I was testing, Nikki suggested that I apply the Supra Colour on top of the Illamasqua to see what effect it gives the skin ( the swatch on the far left), and although it looked really nice in person it didn't show up on camera as well. Furthermore it almost has a hint of dirt to it on the camera picture, which is definitely not the look that I'm going for in my design. Again the Illamasqua is the clear winner, and I think that applying with a brush will be so much easier for my partner as well as giving the best effect to the skin. 

Illamasqua on the left, Supra Colour on the right

I finally wanted to double check that the white Supra Colour I want to use for the white veins shows up on the gold, and I tested both products to see how they look with it. The gold above was applied using a brush as was the white. I think although the gold Supra Colour didn't show up very well previously on the skin, by drawing in the white it almost makes the white brighter and creates a nice contrast between the two. I also really liked the Illamasqua and how it looked very metallic against the white and the Supra Colour which had a slight iridescence to it. 

For my final look I think that the Illamasqua will be the best for creating a bold colour for the 'ruff' as it will look good from all angles and will show up well on camera. I would like to test out whether adding in copper from the Illamasqua palette will add even more depth to the colour- I will do even more tests on myself to see what looks best on my skin. 

I'm so glad that I tested out the colour on myself, as it shows exactly what it will look like on my skin and how it will look on camera. I think testing this out has also given me a sense of relief after my last product test didn't turn out very well and I had to change my design as a result. I also really think that this will look quite effective as a part of a whole look. 

Testing out Products

     As my design incorporates gold veins drawn onto the neck, I wanted to see what products I could get that would help achieve my desired look. I did already try the gold from the Supra Colour palette and it didn't look how I wanted it. 

                         

Maybelline

       

          Maybelline eyeliner

Although it does look like it shows up well on camera, in real life it is very shiny and I don't think we will be able to get my desired effect from this as it will disappear at certain angles. 

Maybelline eyeliner on top of a white base

I did try it on top of a white Supra Colour base to see if it would show up any more, and although you can see it more, it becomes more of an indent in the white rather than sitting nicely on top. 

Gold Face Paint

Gold Face Paint

 I was so disappointed with how this product looked! I thought that this would be the best one out of the bunch for colour and being able to see it on the skin. However you can barely see it on the skin, it almost looks like I have applied a patch of foundation in the wrong colour. 

Gold Face Paint on top of a white base

Just to see what it would do, I did apply it on top of the Supra Colour. Again you could barely see it and it just ended up causing the white to be wiped away.

Barry M Gold Eyeliner

Barry M eyeliner

 This was my favourite out of the whole bunch, but it still didn't turn out the effect I was after. I think in shadow it looked really good, but once the light hit it, you lost the effect of the product.

Barry M on top of a white base

I again tested it on the Supra Colour, and I think it did turn out well. It definitely looks brighter than the other two in comparison, however it is still not the look that I am after with my design. 

If I was to choose a product out of the three, I would choose the Barry M eyeliner. I did however test out what other colours would look like as the colour for the veins, and see whether I will need to change my design. 

I used the Supra Colour palette to see what other colours I could use to create the veins in my design.

I thought that white would go quite well with my design so that I wouldn't need to change my colour scheme too much. Furthermore I think that this would look nice, if it had a gold base either painted or sponged onto the skin, so that there is still an element of gold in the look.

I mixed the blue, purple and black together to create a dark blue colour. I think blue would be quite symbolic of the 'royal blood', however if I went with this colour I think my entire colour scheme would need to change.

Although the black does stand out well on the skin, it does have a 'Gothic' effect to it which I think would be too much for my design. Keeping this in mind I don't think I will go with this as my choice.

Now I need to do some more face charts taking my new ideas into consideration and seeing how I can adapt my design.