Assessments

I'm currently preparing for a few assessments. On Monday I have my Halloween make-up assessment which I'm looking forward to getting done. I should have done this last week, but me being forgetful didn't bring in my pre-assessment which stopped me from doing my final assessment! Anyway it meant I got some more practice, so I am now extra prepared for it! I have been researching lots of different Halloween make-up and comparing them, I've been focusing a lot on highlighting and shading because you have to know the right points of the face to apply these. On top of researching these I have been practicing at home.

I then have an accident (bruise and cuts) scenario to do for SPX as an assessment. I've had my pre-assessment already and passes. However, my feedback warned me to ensure the colours are bold and bright! I'm making a conscious effort to improve on this and have been working hard at home to achieve the right standard of work. I'm going to find some more research as well as I don't feel I have a good enough variety or choices.

I have yet to find out about my Hairdressing assessments which I am aware are approaching. Next Wednesday we will be sitting down as a class and discussing these.
In wigs we are nearly ready for assessment, however I have not experienced washing a wig yet which I must do before carrying out my assessment.

Wish me luck!

The course so far

I am really enjoying the course, it's definitely for me. I am learning so much in each class and find I am taking a lot of the knowledge and skills I have gained already home with me to practise and develop. Character make-up is so much fun. I have a much better attention to detail since doing this class, and feel like it is really improving my abilities to apply make-up to achieve a specific look. I admit that some days I feel like "what have I done!" but our teachers remind us...it's only make-up and can easily be removed and re-applied, so I'm no longer letting mistakes get me down! I can only get better!

Wigs is such an unusual class, something I never really thought I would be doing, but I have realised it's so usual to have the knowledge of wigs. You wouldn't think there would be much to learn in this class but that's very wrong! I wouldn't say it is hard, so far I have found it easy enough, but it does involve a lot of concentration and time to wrap and apply wigs correctly. Can't wait to gain further knowledge in this class.

Hairdressing is one of my favourite classes. I adore the many different techniques used to style hair, I feel like I am learning so many useful techniques and love the challenge. So far I think I doing well in this class, I've yet to come across a problem! This class is making me consider taking hairdressing as well as make-up artistry.

SPX is a really interesting class, I think everyone is really fond of it. I enjoying finding lots of research and attempting to recreate it. It is a very challenging class, no doubt about it, but I'm continuing to pick up new methods and there is some fun in finding what works and what doesn't.

Still excited for what's yet to come in this course!

The Curriculum for excellence

The curriculum of excellence aims to make sure that young people in Scotland develop the attributes, knowledge and skills they will need to grow and adapt to life, learning new things and working. The benefits of curriculum of excellence allows young people to determine four key capacities.
The four capacities are-

•  to be successful learners
•  confident individuals
•  responsible citizens
•  effective contributors

In college we are always using these four capacities. All the different experiences we have in college develops an outcome which motivates and lengthens the depth of learning each day. The outcome symbolises what we must achieve and develops each capacity.

Each class links to CFE in many ways. We are being taught every aspect of the course to encourage us to yearn for success. We are often shown demonstrations by our teachers which represents the standard of work we must achieve, this encourages us to work efficiently and successfully to reach their standard of work.

Everyday we are given constructive criticism and praised when we achieve the best results this develops each persons individual confidence in their skills and thickens our skin so we can improve them. Each class is very practical and involves a lot of confidence to work on different people, sometimes we even have to go find a stranger to work on, which in the beginning is quite scary, but this is only giving us a taste of what the industry will be like. We have to develop the confidence to work with many different people as individuals.

We are well aware that we must always take responsibilities for our own actions, such as, setting up, using products correctly, following instructions correctly and being attentive to our models. We must clean up after ourselves, ensure we are looking out for other students and helping contribute to everything. We are required to be responsible for our equipment and keep everything in good condition.

We are currently organising a charity event for Children In Need which will involve all the students from the course, and we will work together to achieve the best possible service to gain money for charity. We have already contributed in face painting events for Halloween and work together to allow everyone to have the best experience of working together in a team and as individuals. Many students are also working hard to find experience outside college which will benefit a number of people in the course.

Most recent work

Firstly, I have completed my burns assessment! The assessment had to be related to a house fire. So I decided to do one which is pretty common and that is the burns you can get from grabbing onto a burning hot door handle. I wanted to make it pretty horrific, so I chose to make it look as though the handle had burnt through some layers of skin and the fingers are basically frazzled! I'm getting so much more used to using all the products now, it's great fun. Hope yous like it :)

In Hairdressing I experimented with heated rollers. I like using them they are so easy to use and achieve a beautiful curl. I took a photo of the rollers in and the set results.

I've have completed my Theatrical Make-up assessment. Still think I have to master those flicks to widen the eye. But I did well enough to pass woo!

Practising bruises, not bad I think. I have the right colours and on the right parts of the eye...but I have to build up the courage to go bold and brighter!

Got some work experience already! I was asked by a friends mum to do her Cat woman make-up for Halloween, so I did some research and asked her to describe as best she could the look she wanted. She went for smokey eyes with flicks and bold red lips. I was a little nervous at first, but then I got in the zone! Ha! She was really pleased with the results and even decided to pay me for it. I'm a very happy girl as she has asked me to come back again sometime to do her make-up. Which means more experience and I'll become more confident in my skills.

We were practising some Halloween make-up. John was my model, and I chose to do a zombie. I like what I've done I just want to achieve brighter colours. So I decided to edit the photo to show me exactly how much brighter I could have went to achieve a better look. Greasepaint can be so annoying to work with but it's great for blending! 

In Hairdressing we have been learning Finger-waving. It's tricky but I love it. It leaves such a glamorous effect! I finger waved the front then set rollers in the rest of the hair.

After the hair had dried I took the clips and rollers out. I then brushed out the curls all the way to the bottom of the hair then I flicked the hair up at the bottom. I secured the bottom of the hair with hair grips and that was it.

 I adored the results, I was expecting to be awful at this but I think I proved myself wrong! I can't wait to do a full head of finger-waving.

Accident scenario was fun to do, mines what based on abuse and a glass bottle being thrown. The arm is cut and bruised as she was trying to protect her face from the bottle, however I wanted to show that a bit of glass escaped and caught her eye. Although I think this wasn't bad as a first attempt, I'm well aware of the fact that the cuts and bruises have to be more effective, to achieve this I will have to use stronger colours so every scratch stands out!

Halloween Characters

"IT" by Stephen King is so scary looking, I would love the opportunity to recreate him!

If I was to recreate this character I would first of all make a prosthetic face piece to develop the texture, wrinkles and damage done to one side of his face, the lower lip and also the round bumpy nose. Once I achieve that I would use white greasepaint on the face to create the white base and then black greasepaint to contour and make his cheek bones more prominent. Then i would compress it down with powder so it stays put!

I would then use darker shades of purple, brown and black to create the eerie shadows around one of his eyes and take it thinly through each wrinkle and crease to give the prosthetic piece on the face  for more depth. For the other eye I would use black eye liner around the other eye. I would also use eyeliner (preferably liquid) to draw on the sharp black eyebrow.

To achieve the red nose I would simply paint the prosthetic piece before applying it onto the face.

The mouth is quite smudged and messy looking, so I would paint on red greasepaint and smudge it with my finger over the lip line and into the creases round the mouth. I would then set this with powder and complete the mouth with a mouth piece to present the sharp stained teeth.

I would then use a lace front wig so it looks like IT's real hair and finish the character with red/yellow contact lenses to make it appear more scary!

"The Wizard Of Oz" is one of my favourite movies! I like the simplicity of the make-up for the "Witch of the West" it's easy to recreate, anyone could really do it.

I would use greasepaint for the entire face, it's good for shading and highlighting as it blends together easily. I would start with a green base then mix green with black to get a darker green to contour the cheeks this will make her features sharper and narrower her face.

I would also contour the temples and down either side of the nose to sharpen and elongate it. It's important to remember to shade below the jawline as well, this creates an edge and gives the character a very pointy chin. next to shading you should really have highlights to make it appear more realistic. In this case I'd say you don't really need to go to town with it as the make-up for this character is generally really basic. However, I would want to use yellow and create a stronger highlight on the apples of the cheek and down the centre of the nose.

If I still wasn't happy about the length of the nose and chin...I would want to use prosthetics for the nose and chin. I know this characters chin is pointy, I would still want it to be long and pointy but I would make it a bum chin. Don't ask me why!

I would compress everything down with powder and complete the look by painting in her bushy black eyebrows with gel eye liner.

The Corpse Bride is a cartoon but I would love to recreate the "Corpse Bride!" As someone already has below

First of all I would use body paint to paint any visible part of the body ( including the face) a pale blue. Once that has dried I would dust the entire body with white powder just to give a dusty appearance. I would then use and eyeshadow palette with various shades of blue, so I can mix to achieve a slightly darker shade of blue to contour the face, focusing mainly on the cheek bones (she is a corpse so must look gaunt).

For the eyes I would use white eyeliner in the water line and below the lower lash line to make the eyes larger. To achieve the sunken appearance of the eyes I would define the socket by using dark blue below and slightly above the brow bone.

For the eye brows I would use blue liquid eye liner, because the eye brows are quite defined to show her sadness.

I would apply separate lash extensions only on the lid to open up her eyes and exaggerate her femininity.

I would finish it off with a dark blue wig and touch up the lips very lightly with pale pink lipstick and dust it off with pale pink dust.

History of Wigs

Wigs date thousands of years back and have many uses. Some wigs are used to disguise baldness or visible illnesses, some are used as an inexpensive way of producing the appearance of hair, and some as an accessory, fashion statement, or even religious matters.

The Ancient Egyptians wore wigs to protect their heads from the sun. To keep the wigs in place they used  beeswax and resin.

In Japan and china some ancient entertainers used wigs as part of their costume and this tradition has carried on to the present day.

In the 16th and 17th Century wigs were actually used as a means to prevent head lice. Although they were still open to catch lice despite the wigs, it was a much easier way to get rid of them.

During the 18th century men began to wear powdered wigs and powdered natural hair and woman would wear supplemental hairpieces as it became an essential for full dress occasions.

Current uses for wigs are as follows, fancy dress, civil officials, film/theatre and television productions, cross dressers and some religious reasons.

Spot Control for Sensitive Skin

Nobody likes getting spots! But in some cases they just won't go away, this could be down to hormones, unclean skin, oily skin and sometimes even stress.

I suffered from a bad case of spots a while ago and it had been down to stress and tension. I was finishing my Highers in my last year at school and began stressing about my exams, so much so that my skin began to break out in bumpy spots that wouldn't come to a head and wouldn't go away. It made me so embarrassed and self conscious. I didn't have a clue how to get them away. I decided to try a product aimed at spots caused by stress, it  was called Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Hydrating Spot Treatment by "Neutrogena". However after 2 weeks I still wasn't seeing any improvement and my skin did not feel hydrated in fact it began to get flaky and very dried out. I realised this was not a great product for my skin and knew I had to find something moisturising as well as to get rid of my spots.

My mum and I have similar skin, it's quite sensitive and needs a lot of moisturising. My mum told me about "Simple" which is a variety of products developed to improve and care for people with sensitive skin. I had a look and found the perfect products to improve and maintain my skin. I am currently still using these products and intend to continue as my skin has been a lot better since. These products are Simple Spotless Skin Anti-blemish Moisturiser which shows results straight away clearing up my spots and caring for my dry skin.

I also use their Simple Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes, that are great! I use these wipes as I'm cleaning my face before applying the Moisturiser. They contain spot fighting ingredients such as Zinc and Chamomile and antibacterial goodness such as phytosphingosine  to  remove make-up and impurities within the skin. They also last long as the packet seals after every use so the other wipes won't dry out!

And the best thing about all their products is that they don't contain perfume or colour, therefore won't irritate the skin!

People with sensitive skin should use make-up that is gentle on the skin and contain healing properties for people who suffer from breakouts or blemishes. I'd say the most suitable would probably be Mineral cosmetics, that produce mineral foundations and mineral powders. There are loads of brands of mineral make-up that can be considered. These products contain Zinc oxides which are considered as healing properties for sensitive skin. Mineral make-up guarantees a natural glow and healthy skin.

I hope yous found my advice useful!

Fantasy Make-up

As an aspiring make-up artist I admire the imaginations behind the make-up used in Fantasy Movies. The creative imagination could go as far as it need be in order to produce a very extraordinary character.

In the recreation of Alice in Wonderland I love the make-up used to create the character of "The Mad Hatter"!

 The definition of the face and madness of the eyes is endearing and oozes the character personality at sight. If I was to recreate this character's make-up I would use greasepaint's to add the white and purple shades to the characters face. Greasepaint's are easy to blend together and I would then set this with powder.

For the green eyes I would use contact lenses and to open the eyes as above I would use white eyeliner to widen the eye, I would also use white mascara to open the eyes more, where as black mascara would close the eyes up slightly more.

For the eyebrows I would use pastiche and then to make make them stand up I would use clear mascara.

In order to achieve the hair I would add a wig appropriately.

Avatar is a wonderful movie, it's very magical and enticing! If I was to recreate an "Avatar" I would use Aqua colour, this is used for body painting and would achieve the all over blue tone and also add the detail, such as the darker blue stripes.

I would use prosthetics to create the shape of face and large pointy ears. I would paint over the ears with aqua colour to blend in with the character body painting, to make it appear realistic.

To widen the eyes, again I would use white eyeliner and apply it below the lower lash line to widen the eyes.

To achieve the sparkly, glowing dots on the skin I would use a glow in the dark body paint, and simply apply it over the aqua colour.

The Joker from "The Dark Knight" is another great character I would love to recreate.

To achieve the scaring on the cheeks I would use latex prosthetics and apply them to the cheeks. I would then use grease paints to apply the make-up he is wearing.

To achieve the deep wrinkles and creases in the skin I would make the character frown as I applied darker shades of greasepaint's into the creases to give them depth.

Finally, to create the long, dirty green hair I would use a wig and apply it appropriately.

History of Make-up

Make-up dates back thousands of years ago back to the Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greeks and Romans. According to archaeological evidence the Egyptians and Romans began creating cosmetic products using dangerous matter like mercury and white lead. Egyptians had many ideas in order to produce make-up, such as kohl, which was used as an eyeliner.

It is made up of lead, copper, burned almonds, soot, and other ingredients.Egyptians thought that eye make-up could ward off evil spirits and even improve their eye sight. Poor people even went out their way to ensure they could wear eye make-up.

Furthermore, Chinese people began to produce some sort of make-up in order to represent social class. They used gum Arabic, gelatin, egg and beeswax to create a stain to put onto their finger nails. People with coloured nails represented a higher social class, while the lower class were forbidden to colour-stain their nails.

In Japan geisha made lipstick out of crushed safflower petals to define their lips, eyebrows and eyes. Bintsuke wax was also used by geisha as a makeup base.

So you see make-up dates back over as much as 6000 years ago, where many parts of the world began to create products and utensils in order to produce make-up for mythical, cultural reasons and even for identification!

First work experience

On Thursday myself and 4 other students from my course went to my old school (Rosshall Academy) to do the make-up for their fashion show. It wasn't themed so we were able to chose what make-up we wanted to do to compliment what the models were wearing! It was so nerve-racking but I enjoyed every minute of it, and to top it all off we got a little present afterwards as a thank you from the school's Parent Council.

Keeping in mind this was my first attempt at improvising make-up for a little fashion show, hope yous like it.

This week's work

This week I passed my assessment for Straight T.V Make-up. Was quite nervous as it's the first assessment I've done, but I'm happy with what I achieved. Next week I will be doing Straight Theatrical Make-up.

I also did a pre-assessment for Wigs. Nicolle was my model and she has short hair, I did find it a little harder working with short hair but got the hang of it eventually. It went well and I'm now ready to do the real assessment next week.

I also did a pre-assessment in Hairdressing for wash and blow-dry. Shona was my model and she was happy with the results. I was told to bring in a model next week to do my real assessment for wash, blow-dry and straighten and I'm looking forward to it as I really enjoy this class.

Last but not least, I did my pre-assessment on 3rd degree burns. I'm now ready for the assessment but I know I need to be careful when judging the colours I'm mixing, and test it before I apply it to the skin.

My five favourite products

My five favourite products are the things I tend to use for everyday make-up, they all have a lovely finish and the prices aren't too high! First of all I have invisible eyebrows! So I'm drawing them in every day, which i love because i can change my eyebrows to suit what I'm wearing. To do my eyebrows I always use Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in shade Dark Brown. It's great to fill in any spots with less hair and makes your eyebrows look fuller.

After using the Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil I ALWAYS go over it lightly with Avons matte brown eyeshadow palette. It has a good variety of shades and is great at softening the appearance of your eyebrows if you want to stop them looking too harsh. Be sure to use an small angled brush to apply the eyeshadow onto your brow it is easy to control and will help you create the desired shape.

I use Maxfactor Liquid Illusion Foundation (in shade Golden) it works great on my skin. I totally love it. It's a compressed foundation and is creamy, so it is easy to move around on the skin before it drys. It gives off a really natural appearance and a smooth lightweight feel with good coverage.

I have another small Avon brown eyeshadow palette which I also really like. It's great for natural eyes and the shades make your eyes pop, especially if your eyes are blue! And it has a very pretty subtle shimmer to it. 

For my lashes my favourite mascara is Max-factor Masterpiece Max Mascara. Its great for volume, you don't have to apply many layers to achieve thick lashes. And the wand separates each lash evenly, fanning out the lashes.

Go have a try of these products and see for yourselves, I'm sure you'll like them as much as I do!

My Style Icons

Lady Gaga's bold fashion statements through her outfits, hair and make-up demonstrate what can be achieved when being more adventurous. I like how she pushes the boundaries of fashion, creating her own iconic looks which inspire many. I admire her courage for example when she wore the controversial meat dress at the MTV Music Awards. I like how she doesn't style herself on comfort or practicality but instead it's purely about the fashion statement she is making.

My other fashion icon is Twiggy. I loved the heavy eye make-up of the early sixties. I like the bold black eye liner, painting lower lashes onto the cheeks, while the rest of the make-up is very natural and minimal. The short cropped bob is also admirable, and along with the make-up this led to an era where hair and make-up became just as an important expression of style as the clothes!

Special Effects

I am really enjoying Special Effects. We have been working on recreating different types of Burns and getting used to using the different products. I have had an off day were one of my more advanced burns didn't achieve the look I was going for, however I'll just keep practising and finding where I am going wrong. I have also created some bruises and cuts, which I am quite pleased with. Here are some examples of my work. Enjoy!

Wigs

So far I have been taught how to pin curl the hair properly in preparation for applying wigs. First of all I found it a little fidgety, however I have improved and can now do it with no problem at all. I have also wrapped the hair and taken measurements of the head in order to request the correct size of wig.

Hairdressing

In Hairdressing I have already learned quite a few styling methods. So far I'm finding the different styling techniques easy enough. I have done Pin Curling, Wash and Dry, Roller Setting, Barrel Curling. Here is the results of my attempt at Barrel Curling.

Character Make-up

In Character Make-up classes we have been focusing on straight t.v / theatrical make-up. This is just basic make-up giving a very polished look. So far I've had a shot of both and feel like I'm improving.

Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am currently studying Media Make-up at James Watt College. I'll be updating my blog with the work I'll be doing each week, so feel free to take a look. Enjoy.