18th Century Fashion Editorial Assessment

For my Media Makeup semester 2 fashion assessment I decided to go with period makeup obviously with a fashion twist. I didn't think Id end up choosing this era however I loved the whole thought of the masquerade balls that aristocrats would go to in the French Revolution.

Heres a few bullet points to set the 18th century vibe:

·       In the 18^th century hair and makeup were used as a symbol of aristocracy during the French Revolution.

·       France and England influenced hair, makeup and fashion trends.

·       In the 18^th century the toilette or dressing was a daily ritual where upper class people had their hair styled, makeup done and were dressed. This ritual was created by Louis XIV and is associated with royalty, aristocracy and even members of the bourgeois classes held their own morning dressing ceremonies before limited audiences.

·       Black, brown, blonde or chestnut hair was the trend. Red hair was considered unfashionable and would usually be dyed.

·       King Louis XIII of France started using wigs in the 17^th century as he was prematurely going bald. Wigs were used in the 18^th Century and were primarily worn by men.

·       Some women wore wigs however it was more popular to hire a coiffeur (professional hairdresser) who would apply false hair to their natural hair, use padding, powder and ornaments.

·       Ornaments such as small ribbons, pearls, jewels, flowers, or decorative pins styled together and called a pompom (so called after Mme de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV).

·       Hair was nearly always curled, waved, or frizzed before styling, in order to create texture.  Styling was accomplished with combs and curling irons, held with pins, and dressed with pomade.  When height was desired, it was raised over pads made of wool, tow, hemp, cut hair, or wire.

·       In the 18th century, both men and women in England and France wore makeup.  Gender differences were less important than class differences. Makeup marked one as aristocratic and à la mode, and were adopted as well by those who were trying to rise in social status or become fashionable.

·       Makeup was worn heavily and not just for beauty. It was used to hide the effects of aging, blemishes, disease or sun.

·       French aristocratic women wore thick layers of white paint, large streaks of rouge, and beauty patches.

·       Beauty patches were worn in different sizes and shapes, worn in various positions with supposed meanings. They were used to cover up blemishes and disease scars.

FINAL ASSESSMENT

I was pretty happy with my assessment until I got my feedback... my tutor and woman who had replaced Louise had told me this would not be used in runway fashion and told me I am usually more creative. Which i'm not gunna lie I was like okaaayyyy. However they have more experience than me but the amount of fashion shows I have watched and images I have seen not every fashion show has a dramatic, crazy bold runway look, the most of them I have seen have little to no makeup and are natural. I thought our assessment was on fashion editorial but then the woman who replaced Louise told me it was Fashion Runway so tbh I don't know and I'm just classing this assessment as a big fat fail. 

This was my face chart during my assessment I decided not to stick to it as I thought it was a little too drag.

Special Effects Extreme Contouring! Halloween Makeup Ideas...

As its the Easter hols I've got plenty of time on my hands & I've been playing around with cuts using soft putty. Contouring is something everyone seems to do now so I ended up doing this extreme contour but... with cuts! lol... could be a good halloween idea. 

Products Used:

SFX: Kryolan Soft Putty, Bruise Wheel, Wound Filler & Blood.

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown

Eyes: Urban Decay Spectrum Palette & Natural Palette

Face: Too Faced Born This Way Foundation in Warm Beige & Benefits Watts Up Highlighter
Lashes: Lily Lashes in Mykonos

TOO FACED CHOCOLATE BAR & SEMI SWEET BAR DUPE & SWEET HEARTS PERFECT FLUSH BLUSH DUPE!

So as I was just casually internet winding shopping I couldn't help but notice that Makeup Revolutions I Heart Chocolate Eye Shadow Palette and I Heart Salted Caramel is literally a dupe of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette and Semi Sweet Palette. They're literally both in the chocolate bar theme but obvs I bet the quality will be better in the Too Faced Palettes however the price gap is pretty big. Makeup Revolutions is £7.99 and Too Faced is £37.00.

Makeup Revolutions I Heart Chocolate Eye Shadow Palette

VS Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar

Makeup Revolutions I Heart Chocolate Palette & Death By Chocolate

VS Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

Another dupe from the same two brands is Makeup Revolutions I Heart Blushers and Too Faced SweetHearts Blush. I dunno who copied who haha but they're so similar right down to the packaging. 

Makeup Revolution's Blusher

VS Too Faced Blusher

2016 Going out makeup look

This is a dramatic going out makeup look I did on Naomi Toon... Its great for Birthdays, Nights out and Special Occasions.

Products used:

Primer - L'Oreal Magic Blur followed by a spritz of the Skindinaivia oil control primer spray

Foundation - Mehron Celebre HD Foundation using a Beauty Blender

Contour - LA Girl Pro Conceal in Beautiful Bronze 

To set the contour - Mac skin finish in Give Me Sun

Highlight - Becca Shimmering Skin Perfecter in Opal

Brows - Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade

Eye Primer - Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour in Creme De Nude

Eyeshadow - Urban decay Basics Pallet using Foxy on the brow bone, W.O.S all over the lid & Faint in the crease and then MAC Pigment in Naked on the lid

Eyelashes - Vegas Nay Grand Glamour

Lips - Maybelline Color Sensation Matte Lipstick in Nude Embrace
Setting powder - Laura Mercier & a spritz of Skindinavia oil control setting spray

Special Effects Final Assessment!

Special effects was a whole different ball game for me. I had never done it before and our first module was on creating prosthetic Fairy ears & applying them. 

The Royal Shakespeare company would see our designs too with the possibility of them using our design which was pretty exciting. I loved how much freedom we got to be creative but was also daunting at the same time. We had around 3 hours to do makeup and ear application and I think it went alright, it was fun to work under the pressure and work on my bestie. Looking back on it I would have done a couple things different to do with my ear shape but the application and colouring went good. As for the makeup because of her head shape and working under pressure it was exactly like my face chart but they were both symmetrical however Im happy with it, I had a good model ;) 

When I was designing my fairy I was inspired by leaves that would be in the forest where my fairy would live and I gave her a leaf eye mask as a camouflage thing because you know they need to not be discovered by humans. In the end she kind of looked like a leaf super hero lol. I used a chromatic colour scheme of different hues of green and below is my finished look! I haven't been sent the proper photography pictures of it yet which is annoying but as soon as I get them i shall post them :)

These are a few photos from when I was developing my idea...

2015 Worst Skincare Buys!

To follow up on my post of skincare products that worked amaze for me, I wanted to do a post on products that did not work so well. Just because they didn't work for me doesn't mean they wont work for you, they just didn't for me.

1. Estee Lauder Take It Away

This is a cleanser to remove all makeup. When I say all makeup the lady on the counter stressed said ALL makeup even water resistant makeup. At the time I was using Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation and the lady said it will get it off with two pumps. This did not work for me, maybe it was just my skin type I don't know but I had to use a ridiculous amount. Even when it looked like I had got everything off when I toned with a cotton pad makeup would still come off onto the pad. This didn't easily take my makeup off or cleanse my face and after my skin didn't feel fresh or clean. It has good reviews on the Estee Lauder website so who knows but sadly its a no from me.  

2. Estee Lauder Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum 

Ok so this is gunna seem like i'm bashing Estee Lauder but I bought a load of their skincare stuff and a few things just didn't work on me and I do love a lot of the products they have. I used this product for 6/7 months using up two bottles that cost around £60 each. When I first started using this the first 3 months I thought wow this is amazing it's really helping and i'm not sure if that was just because I wanted it to work so bad. It has a primer texture and is super silky on the skin. It claims to reduce blemishes, breakouts, prevent new ones and stop the breakout cycle. It only contains 0.5 salicylic acid which basically isn't gunna do shit for people with more than moderate acne. I didn't see a difference in my skin and for me it wasn't worth how much it is. 

3. Estee Lauder Clear Difference Advanced Targeted Blemish Treatment

The targeted blemish treatment did work pretty well on my spots but it's £26 for 4ml thats right... 4ml I was going through one a week. It contains alcohol which irritated my skin a little also alcohol should not be in your skincare products because it impairs the skin's ability to heal.

3. Origins Super Spot Remover

This is a targeted treatment for spots, it didn't completely do nothing but it just irritated my skin more than it helped my spots. Also It comes in a tiny 10ml bottle for £15 which is pricey for how much you get. 

Everyone hates wasting money on products that just didn't do the job so one thing I love to do now before I buy a product is to ask for samples most places will happily do it. When I went to Origins the sales assistant was more than happy to give me a few and she gave me enough that would last me a week so I could see if they worked for me, so don't be afraid to ask for samples. 

Another thing I like to do is look the product on http://www.paulaschoice.com/beautypedia this website will tell you if the product actually works and has all the research and information to back it up. It'll have a product rating, info on ingredients, whether its tested on animals, pro's and cons and lots more.  

xo

2015 Best Skincare Buys!

As 2015 is coming to an end I thought I'd write a post on skincare products that have really worked for me in 2015.

1. Clarisonic Skin Cleanser 

This by far is the best thing i've got in 2015. It has completely up'd my skincare game and my skin has never been better. Though its pricey it's 100% worth it. I got mine from boots for £155 but if you look online theres bound to be somewhere doing £££ off. My friend even bought hers off depop or something for cheaper of something off a girl who'd only used it twice so don't let the price tag make you run a mile. There is the maintenance of replacing the head every 3 months & these are around £20 so just think of sacrificing a top or whatever you wanna buy every 3 months!

As someone who's always struggled with problematic skin i'm always on the hunt to find products to help clear it. Within 3 months it had cleared up nearly all my spots and even helped reduce my acne scaring.

2. Dermalogica Clearing Skin Wash

Unfortunately this is another pricey one but in the past 3 years this is the best acne clearing product i've used yet. I've always heard things about dermalogica just never thought to give it a go and this is something il repurchase again and again. It's really cleared my skin up, Il pump a lil pea size onto my clarisonic a little does go along way so it can last you a long time. If you're unsure they do great mini kits for specific skin types which i'm pretty sure have all the products you'll need like a cleanser, toner, moisteriser, exfoliator and targeted products. I haven't personally tried the starter kits but I know someone who has and she says it lasts her 3 months.

3. Acnecide Gel

When I got the face wash from Dermalogica I bought their Overnight Clearing Gel which was about £40. £40 for some gel makes me feel a little sick but I thought hey ho if it works however it was mediocre compared to the acnecide gel my mum brought home. This is only £10! My mum got mine from the pharmacy in boots. I'd put this on my spots within a day or two they would go down in size and be gone within the week. It dried my skin out a fair bit when i first used it but my skins used to it now. If you put too much on it can make your skin dry & flakey almost burns your skin so don't think piling more on will make it work faster.  

4. E45 Moisturising Lotion

This is quite a weird one to think to use on your face. I was using ESPA's balancing moisteriser, I got discount off ESPA products when I worked in a spa so it wasn't too bad I loved it but when it ran out I just couldn't see myself spending £40 on a moisteriser. In the midst of searching for a new moisteriser I used E45 morning and night not like slathering it on just a little amount and to my surprise it doesn't break me out, sits well under my makeup and hydrates my skin (which I need from all the acne treating products i'm using). I'm pretty sure this is under a fiver too which is a bonus, why spend more if I have to!

Having a skincare routine, keeping at it and never sleeping in makeup. Also changing my pillow case more than usual and cleaning my makeup brushes on the regs to make sure theres no bacteria build up have helped my skin so much this year. 
Next year I wanna start using SPF religiously it's so important to protect your skin from free radicals and I'd also like to try out facial oils. Apparently the facial oils from the body shop are nice so Il have to give them a go :) 

I haven't come across a face mask this year that I love *sad face* please comment if theres any you're loving atm or any skincare products that you've been loving in 2015! xo