Testing out Illamasqua for the Veins

I wanted to make sure that my idea to use Illamasqua for the veins in my design would look good on my skin. So I did a test in the studios. I used a thin brush to apply and get the shape of the veins. 

Below is my practise. 

The Illamasqua veins 

I'm so disappointed with how it looks on the skin! There is no definition of the colour at all and you can barely see the shape of the veins. If anything the colour makes my skin look dirty rather than gold. I even went over the colour numerous times to build it up and get a stronger colour, but it really doesn't look good on the skin. As I took this photo with the mirror light on in front of me, it shows how the colour doesn't stand out on the camera. 

As my plan was to use the Illamasqua for the veins, I will need to outsource other options of gold that I can use to create the veins. I think that I want to try and see if gold Face Paint or Gold Eyeliner would show up better on the skin. 

Although I am annoyed that my plan has fallen through, I'm glad that I did test out the Illamasqua before we started practising the final look as I probably would've been even more frustrated later on finding out that it doesn't look good. I am intrigued to now go and source other products to see what I will end up using in my final design. 

Veins

I needed to research the shape of veins to make sure that I could draw true to the shape of them on my face charts. 

no date) Available at: http://theveincarecentre.co.uk/assets/img/threadveinface.jpg
 (Accessed: 9 December 2015).

Beauty (2013) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/357121445422768616/
(Accessed: 9 December 2015).

Structure & form (2014) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/453456256202619435/
(Accessed: 9 December 2015).

I think that by looking into different types of veins and how they look under the skin I will be able to create a variety of veins on my designs that will look realistic. Hopefully through this my design will be good so that my partner can replicate the shape well and bring my design to life. 

Freckles

I wanted to research freckles and the placement of them on the face. I thought that by researching the freckles I would be able to create a more authentic look for my face chart. 

Prettiest faces (2014) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/334462709799285310/
(Accessed: 9 December 2015).

How to enhance your freckles: 7 tips and tricks (2015) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/196258496238797529/
(Accessed: 9 December 2015).

12 facts about the fabulous Kate Moss (2014) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/58195020158977887/ (Accessed: 9 December 2015).

As I wanted the freckles to be as a result of being out in the sun, I looked at how the sun causes freckles to appear on the skin.  Freckles are cells that contain pigment, which can be triggered by sunlight. Sunlight causes the skin to make more melanin which then causes the freckles to become darker. 

I think I want the freckles to be quite dark to show that my Lady in Waiting did spend a lot of her years as a poor citizen before rising in the ranks. I think that I also want the position of the freckles to be in a band across the nose, much like the images above. 

Now that I have researched the type of freckles that I want my Lady in Waiting to have and where I want them to be, I need to look into what products will best make the freckles show up on the skin. 

Bibliography
Cole, G. W. (2015) Freckles symptoms, causes, treatment - how do freckles develop?. Available at: http://www.medicinenet.com/freckles/page3.htm (Accessed: 9 December 2015).
Siddons, S. (2009) Freckles 101. Available at: http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/beauty/freckles1.htm (Accessed: 9 December 2015).

What causes freckles? (2015) Available at: http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-causes-freckles (Accessed: 9 December 2015).

Elizabethan makeup

We were working on blocking out the eyebrows and the lips to create an Elizabethan look.

Products Used

- Illamasqua Skin Base

- Illamasqua Pressed Powder

- Kryolan Supra Colour Palette

- Kryolan Blush Palette

The Face

- To create the white base, I used the Illamasqua skin base and buffed it into the skin.

- I then applied a lot of powder to create a very caked look, as it's what Elizabeth would've worn.

- Then I applied light pink blusher from the Kryolan palette onto the apples of the cheeks. Without taking it up onto the cheeks as seen in fashion make-up.

The white base

.

Brows

- For the brows I used the Kryolan Supra Colour palette, loaded into a disposable mascara wand.

- Get rid of any excess product onto the back of the hand.

- Brush the product onto the hair, going against the grain to get the product onto all of the hairs.

- Make sure that the product goes to the root so that you aren't left with any natural colour.

The white brows

Lashes

- I used the white Supra Colour again on the lashes. I loaded up the product onto the disposable mascara wand and brushed off any excess onto my hand.

- Have the model look down, brush down and wiggle the wand over the lashes, making sure to coat them all. 

- Have the model look straight ahead, and go upwards on the lashes so that the roots are coated. 

- Then use the same motion on the bottom lashes.  

The coated lashes

HEALTH AND SAFETY: 

- I always double checked with my model to see if she needed to blink and gave her time to so that I would avoid poking her in the eye

- Use separate mascara wands for each, you don't want to dip the mascara wand you have just used into the product, it's a cross-contamination. 

Lips

 - For the lips, I added on a small bit of the blush I used on the cheeks just to add a slight hint of colour. 

The whole finished face

What I found...

I found it quite difficult to get a nice finish with the Illamasqua white base, as it didn't bland well into Billie's skin. I think for her project we will be mixing it with her foundation of choice to make it paler, so I think by combining the two we will be able to get a nicer finish on the skin. 

I'm quite proud of how the blocked out brows turned out, as I think I was able to get the hairs as whitened out as I possibly could. I think it would be interesting to use this technique in Billie's make-up design to block out her thicker brows and draw on a thinner line to go with her character. She did also suggest that we use pritt stick to slick down her brows to go with this technique, I think this will be interesting to see how the two go together. 

I did find it slightly tricky to get all the lashes coated in the white colour, especially getting it all into the root. I think it will get easier as I do the technique more and more, I just found it very difficult as I missed the lesson previously on eyes and lips. However I did find it easy to get the bottom lashes coated all the way to the root. 

Eyes and Lips

As I was absent from the lesson on Eyes and Lips I had to get notes from my friends, so I could catch up.

Eyes

- Use a rounded brush, and hold it quite close as if holding a paintbrush

- Powder over the eyelids and a lot underneath

- Use a powder puff to gently pull up the skin to get to the lash line

- Put the colour onto the back of the hand and build it up there

- To find the socket have the model open their eyes, and add a darker colour into the crease

- To do Eyebrows: Use an angled brush and a colour to go with the natural colour of the hair

- To do Mascara: Have the model look down, go down and across the lashes with the mascara wand several times. Then have the model look up and repeat. To do the bottom lashes, have the model open their eyes wide and repeat the motion.

Lips

- Use an angled brush

- Draw colour onto the side and on the edges, making sure to get into the corners

- Have the model stretch their mouth to draw on the colour, and apply back and forth

- On the cupid's bow, angle the brush towards the shape of the lips. Apply the colour and blend.

- For a softer look, powder over the top of the first application and add another layer.

HEALTH AND SAFETY
- Use multiple mascara wands to prevent putting used ones back into the product. This will also prevent cross contamination.

Practise

Products used

- MAC Cool Neutral Palette 

- Natural Collections Black Mascara

- Kryolan Lip Palette

When I did Justine's makeup we were looking at her eye shape and what eye shape we think she has. We decided that she has even eyes, so I shaded the edge of the crease and brought it slightly up. As I was doing a 'natural' make-up look I shaded with a light brown and then went over lightly with a darker brown to give the eye some depth. Then I added some dark brown blended onto the upper lash line and some mascara. 

I was quite proud of how it turned out, and I thought that it looked really nice with her eye shape. It added a slight definition to the eye without overpowering it which is exactly the look I was after. 

Feedback on my designs

I was very surprised at what look everyone liked the best, as my favourite was the third design with the jewelled lips. However the resounding favourite with everyone was the veined ruff look, they thought that it was the best and the most original. Sharon did also say that the 'caviar lip' had been done before and she was more interested by the veined ruff.

In the feedback, one of the things that was recurring was that I needed to make the eye make-up a lot heavier in the veined design, so that I don't loose the features and keep the 'vixen' look. Another concern was the use of the black lip- some thought it looked too Gothic- so an alternative which was suggested was bringing the veins up even higher on the face and up to the lip so there would be no need for the black lip. I think I will need to practise this and try both looks to see which one looks better, I think with a heavier eye there will be no need for the black lip. One idea that was suggested was to incorporate the idea of the serpent into the hair itself to make it a more subtle symbol. To do this I would have one strand of hair, waved into the shape of a serpent and placed going down the forehead. I think this is a really good idea and will save me sourcing a piece of jewellery shaped like a serpent.

A positive note I did get was the brushed up very strong brows, they thought that it went really well with the character. I really like the brows and do add that extra definition to the face and make it a lot bolder instantly. Another positive was the inclusion of the freckles and the reasoning behind them, but I do need to look into the placement of them on the face to get an authentic look. 

Face Charts

My designs

I do have some recurring elements in my designs; the base will be white/pale- as typically worn in Elizabethan times, I wanted the contouring to be very harsh to make the look very bold, the golden freckles, and finally the brushed up and bold brows. 

My First Design

For my first design, I chose to use the idea of Elizabeth drawing veins onto the skin, and take it to an extreme by having them drawn onto the neck like a Tudor ruff, Initially I had the idea of drawing the veins on in black, however on further reflection I thought that this would look too Gothic for the look I was trying to achieve. I wanted to keep the make-up simple on the eyes as I didn't want the rest of the face to detract from the detailing on the neck. I did also try the look with plain lips, however it did look too plain so I thought the black lips would add that 'vampy' feel to the look and make it more dramatic.

My First Design

For my second design I decided to go very modern with it, making the eyes a lot more dramatic. Furthermore the brows are a lot more dramatic and bold. This is not my favourite of all the designs as I don't think that it shows much Elizabethan influence.

My First Design

This was my favourite of all the designs, as I thought it was very different from the other two in the placement of the gold and black. I also wanted to stick jewels on the lips, much like the caviar manicures that were seen a few years ago, to show the character's wealth and status.