My college experience so far...

This is my second year at James Watt College studying make-up artistry.

All in all there are a lot of things I love about my course - I have learned a lot of new skills over the time I have been studying. I like the fact that I can be creative every day and have got a lot better at certain things, and even elements which I struggle with like hairdressing are areas I have improved on in the past year and a half.

 Everyone in our class gets along well which is also a good thing because it makes college more fun. I'm very happy with the progress I have made since I started studying make-up artistry, in areas such as face painting, nail art, hairdressing and HD makeup.

Here are a few photos of some of my work from 2010 onwards.



More Assessments!

Over the course of the last couple of weeks I have been working on more assessments and pre-assessments in the areas of wigs, face painting and more special effects. Here are some photos!

Skull Effect character from film "House Of 1000 Corpses".

Blocking up my first wig.

Cat-like character using face paint.

Car crash accident scenario!

The Curriculum For Excellence in Makeup Artistry

In all of our classes, there are some things we do that represent the CfE even if we are unaware of it. 

Successful Learners

The fact that we choose to come to college to study a profession that interests us gives us more motivation to work hard and makes us more enthusiastic about our course and wanting to do well. This particular course also challenges us to be creative and to come up with ideas and research on your own as well as bounce ideas off of colleagues. As a result of this, we are always learning new things.

Confident Individuals

There are aspects of our course which teach us to be self-aware and have self respect, even though it might be small things like how you dress and put yourself together and from this, think about what image you are projecting. On another note, applicants for most college courses in general don't all know each other and coming into a class which is potentially full of strangers is character and confidence building as it can help people overcome shyness or social insecurity. All these things build confidence.

Responsible Citizens

Working with products and materials that do not belong to us means that if we damage something we have to take full responsibility for it. This makes us a little more conscious and careful about how we handle college property.

Effective Contributors

Studying a particular profession means that we will get the exact skills we need to go out and get work in our field. Simple things like showing up for college on time also prepares us to be more reliable in the working world. In terms of coursework, if we spend a long time working on something it makes us more pleased with the finished result. All these things help to make us effective contributors.

1920s: The Great Gatsby

The 1920s Gatsby Era is probably my favourite era in terms of makeup and hair. 

In the 20's, makeup was just starting to be more widely worn by the average woman. However, the orange-toned tans of today were not well liked back then; pale skin was seen as a sign of beauty and wealth.
Complexions were matte, there was no glitter, sparkle or shimmer present. The only acceptable colour for lips was matte red - no shimmery or glossy textures or any other colours were worn. Eye make-up was often dark and dramatic. Nowadays we would see this as an almost gothic take on makeup. This is why I like this period so much.









The bob was the most fashionable hairstyle of the 20's! However, women who had long hair simply rolled their hair into a knot at the bottom of their neck. Hair was not voluminous - it was very flat to the head. This is an aspect of 1920's style that I don't really like - big long hair is more my thing!
The most popular hairstyle of the 20s by far was the pin curl. Pin curls basically look like sideways S-shaped waves going across the head. This looked especially good on short, cropped hair.




Another aspect of the 1920s that I loved was their unique Gatsby manicure, in which the lunula (half-moon shape) at the base of the nail is either painted white or left bare and the rest of the nail is painted from there on. It looks very edgy but elegant at the same time!

Fantasy Makeup

For fantasy makeup looks I would like to recreate, I have chosen characters from my favourite horror films.

The Nurses/"Silent Hill"

I think this look would be quite challenging and time-consuming to create! I'd begin by creating one severely bruised eye and then I would use layers of kitchen roll and latex to create the texture required for this look. I would do this all over the face including over the mouth but leaving a gap in front of the nose so that the model could breathe properly and the eye I haven't used any makeup on. I would add bandages to add to the "nurse" look and then colour the face and latex layers with grey, light green and blood splatters to add more authenticity.

 Captain Spaulding/"House Of 1000 Corpses"

I think it would be relatively easy to recreate this look. I would start by using white face paint all over the face and then thickly outlining the eyes in black, taking the black right over the eyebrows and around the eye socket. Next, I would fill in the lips  with black face paint and use yellow and black tooth enamel to create the illusion of rotten teeth. I would dot bright red blusher on the cheeks and  paint pale blue face paint in an oval shape above the brows. Finally, I would draw the thin eyebrow shape above the blue with black liquid liner.

Freddy Krueger/"Nightmare On Elm Street" 

I think this look would also be easy to recreate. I would attatch a prosthetic hooked nose and then simply cover the face with burns.

My 5 Favourite Makeup Products

This is a feature on my 5 favourite make-up products, all of which I use every day and couldn't live without.

1. Illamasqua Precision Ink - Liquid Eyeliner - £17.00

I prefer using liquid eyeliner to gel or pencil as it gives a much sharper look, however it's probably the most difficult to use. This is my go-to liner as it lasts all day (and all night) long, is waterproof, doesn't smudge and has a really fine tip for a more precise application.

2. Benefit Lemon Aid - Eye Primer - £16.50

I couldn't do my eye makeup properly without using this first ! I love it because as well as being an eyeshadow primer, it is also a colour-corrector and hides any redness, veins or discoloration on your eyelids. It makes any eyeshadow I use last longer, go on smoother, blend more easily, stops it from creasing and keeps the colour as fresh all through the day as when I first apply it.

3. Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Foundation - £29.00

I have tried and tested many foundations and found that this is the best for my skin. Since this foundation is oil-free my skin has actually improved since I started using it. It stops my face looking shiny throughout the day and has a nice, semi-matte finish. It has buildable coverage but even after I have used a few layers it doesn't look cakey, it looks really natural as if I haven't got any foundation on.

4. Eyelure False Lashes - from £3.00

If I'm going out I feel that no look is complete without fake eyelashes, big or small, natural or dramatic ! Eyelure have a vast range of different styles from their "Naturalites" to their dramatic double-layered lashes. They can be used over and over with the right care and the eyelash adhesive they come with performs well too, unlike most chemist-bought lash glues.

5. Tigi Bed Head Cyberoptics Eyeshadow in "Passion" - £4.95

I don't have a favourite eyeshadow colour or brand or whatever, but if I'm pressed for time this is my go-to eyeshadow. I've never seen a colour like it anywhere else. It goes on like a dark reddish-pink and is highly pigmented with glitter. Even without primer underneath it lasts all day, only the shimmer fades a little. I have been using this particular eyeshadow since I had my hair the same colour in 2006 and I always buy it again !

HD-TV Makeup

This was a simple straight TV makeup I did on my friend/model Robyn yesterday.

TV makeup basically has to be very neutral, just like day makeup, but the base needs to be heavier and everything needs to be really really perfect so that people still look good through the lens of an unforgiving high-definition camera !

SPFX

So far at college, my favourite aspect of the course is our Special Effects class ! At the moment we're focusing on burns ranging from first to third degree, house fires to chemical burns. I'm not that great at it just now but hope to improve as the course goes on ! Here are some pictures of the work I've done so far:

Style Icons

I don't really have a 'style icon' whose fashion I follow - if I like something, I'll wear it, but there are two (very different!) people who have attributes of style, hair, makeup and attitude that I really like for different reasons.


Amy Lee

Amy Lee is the singer of Evanescence who were my favourite band when I was younger. I'm not so much into their music now but she is still one of the closest things I have to a style icon. Most people would class her style as "gothic" or "alternative" if they had to put a label on it. I like how she would pair things that usually wouldn't work together, i.e. a delicate-looking lacy dress with fishnet tights and big boots. She always wears dark eye-makeup and has very long, voluminous hair. She has also always spoken out about how she doesn't care about her weight which has went up and down over the years) because she doesn't think it's right for women to worry about being thin: being healthy and happy with yourself is more important.

Sheri Moon

Sheri Moon is an actress and is married to one of my favourite metal musicians Rob Zombie. I particularly like her character 'Baby' in film "House Of 1000 Corpses" who she has said she's similar to fashion-wise herself. She often wears things like ripped jeans, short tops with holes in them and skin tight leggings. She has very long, voluminous blonde hair which is always slightly messy and tousled-looking which I really like. In interviews she comes across as a very friendly, yet no-nonsense type of person, who in her own words "won't take any ****".