Face chart 3 for Editorial Shot!

Decision time..

Right, the final face chart I designed I am so happy to say went SO well!!!! And is my favourite by far!! I based it on the post I did of face experimentation! And I used the shapes from there which I found! Here's the chart..

 For this particular design I needed some feathers yay! Here's what I found.. and the bag of lots of mini feathers is for the face and the larger more detailed ones for the hair! Got them from Hobby Craft! Where else?! So happy with my buy as they fit my colour theme beautifully! Perfect if you ask me, this must be sign!!! Anyway I did think about the application of the feathers and I though Duo glue!

 I first practiced this look whilst I was at home, so I asked a friend of mine who has similar features to my editorial Model Saskia! Her name is Charlie and has great skin to work with! So I first put foundation on the face and concealed any blemishes. I then used my supra colour and a lip brush and mixed the red and brown to create this burgundy colour to get the cornered edges into place on the face. They were pretty easy to place as one was from the eyebrow corner, one from the top of the ear, the other from the bottom corner of the nose and finally one where the bottom of the cheek bone would be. Following the top line of each I made a sort of angle with the supra colour and started to flick out from the middle. The flicks are meant to represent a feathered base layer, so using dark and light brown, the burgundy and white I created different coloured flicks to emphasise the feathers which were going on top. I then painted a thick white line under the eye to stand out and bring focus to the eyes and away from the feathers a little. To add colour to the eyes even more I applied a burgundy/pink to the eye as an eye shadow. I extended the pink and white right out towards the edge of the hair line to create that 'winged' effect. 


I only thought to do one side incase I didn't like the design and wanted to try something else. So here's an image to show the progress of what was happening so far... And i'm liking it! I stuck the feathers on with duo glue onto each cornered pattern on the face, as though they we coming out from the centre of the angle. To carry on the white effect I was trying to achieve I first coloured the lips with the colour on the eyes, making it darker from the edge and lighter towards the middle. I left a gap in the middle of the lips and applied a thick white line which continued until under the chin! Still loving the design I thought to myself where the hell is the gold?! The gold worked so well before so I decided to use another technique from my practical lessons in uni! I use flat rice as a scar-like affect above the eyebrow. I used due glue again to stick them on in a single file row above the eyebrow, then painted them gold! This really finished the look and I was so happy with the result!

Here is a larger image of the end result of this face chart.

Oh and I nearly forgot to include my amazing necklace design!!! I used one of those foamy crown like head bands and used it as a template as a necklace! The image here might help with explaining more what it looked like. I used this plant pot to hold it in place whilst I created it. I layered the feathers from the bottom to the top to create a feathered necklace! It looked so good with the makeup design and really gave the animal related look I was going for! After all throughout my research of Wild Kingdom, tribal communities are so reliant on animals for their fashion and styling, so this created accessory was perfect!

So im not so great with designing hair ideas, and i'll admit that. So i'd much rather just have the head of hair in front of me and just let loose! So I first tried the typical french plaits, inverted and out, fish plaits you name it, but they just seemed to boring! Like hellooo it's been done so many times. So instead I did twists but with a twist.. haha. I added the string I bought when jewellery shopping and twisted that in with the hair! It came out so well and gave off this golden glow! I did about 6 twists over the top and front of the head and put the hair up in a ponytail. The string followed in the ponytail so I used that to add plaits and twists, then stuck the nice feathers at the bottom of the plaits to add the 'Native American' affect. I was very very happy with this look... Hello final!

Face Chart 2 for Editorial Shot!

Another face chart?

So I realistically need to practice this look on my model, especially as she has a slightly different face shape to my classmate I used before. I made 3 face charts the develop my first face chart because I was a tad unsure and wasn't completely satisfied with how the first practice went.. So here are my three face charts so you can see where i'm going, and I tried them all in a practice with my model for the editorial.. So you've seen this face chart before and i'm going to practice this again only this time on my model. This first picture below is the outcome of this face chart on my model!  I liked the look, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't enough for me! I need more excitement on the face! Well here's a few images of the stages which got me to that look..

I used liquid latex to go over the soap technique I used to block out the eyebrows, it gave the texture a smooth finish. The smooth finish helped so much when colouring over the eyebrows to visually block them out with concealer and foundation! Still not 100% with this look though so here is my next face chart, and edited version of this one..So as you can see this second version looks more like a band of colour across the eyes and face. I also removed the inner shading with the dark brown eye shadow. This gave the look a smoother transition across the face, much better and sleek. It was easy to edit the previous look, I simply removed the inner shading, applied the foundation then added the gold colour to bind the colours across. The rest of the face was the same, but the difference was amazing! I much preferred this look! Here is an image to show you the outcome of the design..     

   

My third and final attempt at experimenting with this look consisted with blocking the whole head with colour, basically expanding the band of colour I designed before.. I have seen a lot of forehead pattern's on tribal makeup whilst researching which is a good sign! It was so easy to use the gold over the forehead, maybe the gold was a bit much but I loved it! unfortunately this work STILL hasn't satisfied my look I am trying to design.. Really not quite there yet but I guess you don't find out until you actually experiment! So this was definitely a worth while experiment! I still have my love for the red and the brown though, so i'm definitely sticking with that colour choice! Here's the image of how this came out in the end anyway.. I also put some of the Illamasqua gold cream on the hair, right at the front on the roots, gave a nice subtle shine of gold.

Here is an image of the brushes I used...

Face Chart 1 for Editorial Shot!

So things are starting to get serious now! And I have my first face chart ready to show you all!!

First here's a mood board for inspiration so I can keep referring back..

 As you can see after deciding I wanted to use the red I have stuck to that decision! I did a practice run through too so here are images to show how it went with my description along the way!.. I used my classmate Lydia as my model as she has similar features to my selected models who unfortunately were unavailable that day, but a face is a face! I cloaked, cleansed, toned and moisturised like any start to a makeup session. I applied the foundation, Illamasqua's rich foundation numbers 320 and 200, and concealed any blemishes! I contoured with the Screenface foundation palette, highlighting and giving definition to the cheek bone. Once the foundation was smooth and buffed I wanted to see how a splash of colour went basically. So from the top edge of the ear I used the red supra colour and extended the line under and to the mid point of the eye, leaving a gap between the eye and the line. I wasn't sure whether to keep or block out the eye brow but as this was a test run I did one side with and one without! I found it quite challenging to fade the red, so I started with the red cream supra colour, then added the new red Illamasqua powder eye shadow to help fade it out at the edge. On the actual eye lid I used the gold Illamasqua cream eye shadow which gave a really nice smooth finish, blending well with the red also. To define the eyes and give them more colour I used the Naked palette; the gold 'baked' and 'darkhorse' dark brown! I set the gold on top of the Illamasqua's cream gold, it gave it more of a glow and brought out the colour more. The dark brown I then used to darken the edges of the eyes; linking the tear duct to the top corner of the eyebrow, or for where there was no eyebrow where it would be. I also used it on the corner of the eye's and faded it out into the red. This completely opened the eyes up, especially when I did a fine line underneath the eyes too which made the eye's stand out even more! To block out the eyebrow I used soap and a mascara wand, the wand's bristles worked well with brushing and smoothing the eye brow hairs out and up.

In the end I decided to go without the eye brows, just so I could add more colour if I wanted to! However this isn't the end and I may find I don't go with this look at all!

Models! Models! Models!

Who's that girl...

It has taken some time to choose what type of model I would like for each of my shoots, from the beginning I have felt as though using female's would allow me to experiment more with the hair etc. Not to be sexist but I feel more confident using a female model, and whilst looking through all the different tribes many of the women use more techniques to make their look more meaningful. Typically tribal women have a darker skin tone as they are exposed to the sun more often than not! It would be almost expected of me to use mixed race models, therefore I will NOT! After looking at the modern interpretations of tribalism through popular current designers, there models contrast to the typical tribal look and bring a fresh new take on the look of tribal culture! I want to bring my own British side out onto my tribal looks and create something of my own! I want my outcome of my final looks to be more of a more contemporary fashion sort, whilst at the same time bringing in elements of the original tribal life! Bring on 2013!!

Here is my first model, Sophie, she is white caucasian. She has beautifully clear skin with a good even tone. Her facial features are nice and symmetrical, and are in proportion. Sophie has very light blue eyes which is exactly what I was looking for as they will stand out and I feel the eyes within this project are a main focus! Sophie has long thick hair, however has recently dyed the bottom blonde to look like this -->, which is fine with me as it only adds more colour to the palette! I asked if she had any skin conditions, allergies etc and it turns out her skin is fine with anything which is perfect as I will be using a range of makeup to achieve the tribal look. I have never used Sophie as a model before, which was slightly worrying as to how she would be in front of the camera. however after meeting up a few times and going over what I would like her to do she became confident enough to say yes I would be happy to pose.

As now one model is blonde, and I wanted to keep the same skin tone I chose my second model Saskia who is a beautiful brunette! I have used Saskia as a model before, she is slim, great facial features and I just love her rich, dark, long hair. By previously using Saskia as a model I know she is good in front of the camera and know's how to pose. What I love about Saskia is her strong bone structure in her face, and generally everywhere to be honest! Her slim figure really gives off the model look!

Face shape experimentation

..does it? Am I nerdy? YES this means more experiments people!

Here is an amazing image I found on google I call it my 'bible' to tribal facial patterns! It seems all these face pattern templates quite simply highlight each section of the face, it also looks as though there is a common reoccurrence of bright primary colours too.

Obviously I don't want to copy one of these exactly, but it has helped my mind explore all the options there are to creating the patterns on the face. So from looking at this template image I decided to do a few experiments on myself, I personally find simply spontaneously going for it and designing on my own face has always worked for me.

So i started by simply painting lines on my face with a fine makeup brush and used supra colour's burgundy red.I found by outlining the different areas on the face like the cheek bone etc it gave some good definition lines. The lines made the pattern on the face very 'blocked', and from the face templates above a lot of the colour involved is blocked too so i decided to throw in some colours and play around with what colours complimented others etc.

I specifically liked the bold white, green and red on the tribal look's I have researched so far. Especially as I feel the green represents earth and the red human (human blood). So due to the fact that so many tribal cultures praise this earth I think these colours give some meaning rather than just being a colour I liked. I tested a few shades of the green and started to block in the shapes i'd created through the lines, the block colour I really liked but the shapes were too simple, especially for editorial I thought they could definitely be more creative than that!

Thinking about what I have been researching recently, especially for my editorial tribal look, the Native American tribe is looking more and more intriguing. Something to consider with the Native American look is their excessive use of the colour red! I find red to be a raw, edgy colour, the type of colour I need to give many tribal factors justice (like scarring etc). One major factor to consider when relating this look to Native American's is feathers! Feathers are key when representing this tribal look, feather's were mainly used for the headdresses many Native American's wore, also used in the hair and as many other accessories. Feathers were collected by people within the tribe to give a spiritual significance.

So the lines started to become boring and (however unflattering these pictures are) by simply breaking them up i found that the lines could highlight the bone structure of the face; from the bone surrounding the eye to outlining the cheek bone. Using the corners of the face I simply flicked out the edges to add something else to the look, rather than just fading out the red. As I continued to enhance this pattern the feather idea came to mind, and instead of just using feathers on accessories they could be put onto the face. To me the link for these feathers for Native American's is from human to animal, so to include this in my makeup look would enhance the 'tribal' factor even more!

A bit of Tina Turner!

Alo T.T!

Who know Tina Tuner and Tribal?! I guess thats what a day with your parents does to you! Her styling in this video is so tribal!! I adore her over sized shoulder pads! Her earrings are huge, and we all know how much tribal women love their jewellery! Even her hair is styled brilliantly with the white blonde colour and the back combed style! Love love love <3

Tribal Summer Shoot!

oh the benefits of personal shoots...

In may this year I was asked to design and apply the make-up for my friend who is studying fashion styling. The theme was like 'urban tribe' which included clothes from current trends, mixed in with bright and 'tribal' like make-up!

There were two models so I had to design the looks slightly differently, but at the same time have some sort of link. The colour scheme was bright and contrasting to the skin, I decided to use blue, yellow, green, red and white. These colour's are common within cultures who are tribal as they are basic. The bright colours also add the element of it being basic yet eye catching, giving the it the raw edge that tribes are renowned for.

The hair was rough and not too over the top, it was simply ruffled. One of the models had her hair put up messily in a bun. The other had her long hair down and had light dreadlocks created to clump up the hair yet keep it simple.

The shoot had a fantastic outcome and I believe it was the bright streak throughout the make-up, styling and setting.

Wigs! The next big thing! Seema Chopra!

Wig wig wiggle...

A little while ago we had a guest into the uni, Seema Chopra! She is a well known wig specialist/stylist who has created wigs for adverts such as the puppet diet coke advert! She gave us tips on using fake hair, which I will go into detail more later.

In part of her visit she taught us how to prep and put the wigs onto people. The hair has to be done so it is as flat and close to the head as possible. To do this you section the hair into three parts, side's and top middle. To get all the hair from around the face tucked away you do a french plait, making sure its quite tight and close to the head. Clip the top middle section out of the way for now. Once both the plaits on each side have been completed (shown in the image above) you follow the plait round onto the opposite side of the head and clip it into the other french plait on the head.

To flatten the hair on the top middle part of the head you pull the hair into one long line and wrap it round in a circular motion to make a flat ball on top of the head. Pin the hair as you go to ensure maximum flatness. 

Once the hair is flat you need a cap to cover the hair, here I used a circular hat with the material you use for tights. Ensuring you're coving every section of hair on the head you are then ready for wig application!

I added a completely different coloured wig to the original colour hair my model had, the result was astonishing! As long as you make sure the wig is set on the head properly you can make any wig look real!

Seema Chopra also gave us helpful tips on the difference between Human and Acrylic hair pieces:

Human Hair:
-More natural
-Better for films and close ups!
-Can do heat styling
-Harder to structure
-Restricted on colour but can be dyed!

Acrylic Hair:
-Can create to be more striking
-Only steam heat style
-Easy to structure to any shape!
-Dye it ANY colour

Tattoo Prints!

Is that a REAL tattoo?.. no.

A real tattoo isn't textured, it is flat and smooth like your skin. A perfect way to create this it to use any picture from a magazine (paper magazine NOT shiny), hold the selected image down onto the part of the skin you choose and dab a cotton pad soaked in nail varnish remover over the back of the image. Once every part of the image is wet slowly peal back the image, and there will be the printed version on the skin. As you can see I have two versions above, the first image is purely the printed outcome, the second is where i enhanced the print with screen face cream palette. Sticking to the same colours as the print I literally enhanced the brightness and boldness of the image. The outcome is very realistic!

Here is another way to print patterns onto the skin, specific wallpaper has it's patterns enhanced and raised. Use any cream based make-up to paint over the top of the pattern you wish to print. The only flaw with this technique is it is easily smudged, therefore you must be extra careful and when it's drying also! 

BRAIDING!!

Nothing like a good bit of old braidy braidy...

Rodarte's Spring/Summer collection in 2010 was extremely tribal inspired, this included body art (tattoo designs) and a lot of hair braiding! 

The hair stylist for the Rodarte collection was Odile Gilbert, many articles describing this collection mentioned that Odile Gilbert prepped the hair with styling foam and then scrunched the hair to add volume this added stiffness. Here are two of my own experiments for hair styling. For the first image instead of the typical simple braids, I sectioned the top part of the hair from the bottom and did some serious back-combing to add volume to the crown of the head. I did small and big twists in the hair, fish plaits, and even weaved through a separate green piece of crimped hair. I sectioned the parts of the hair surrounding the forehead to be pulled over the back combed hair to start my thick braid. I then pulled each plait, twist and piece of material and plaited the hair to become one big braid. The different textures gave it thickness and made it more interesting, to add even more length and volume I am definitely considering using hair extensions, maybe even a contrasting natural colour such as blonde.the style a fixed shape. The second image is a lot more simple, but I added a random makeup design, literally whatever came to my head, I then styled the hair. To get that long sausage shape on the head I used a filler which i made by stuffing tissue into a leg of tights and tying it up! Then as my models hair is so long i wrapped the hair around it and pinned it! Below is an image of a crazy hair design I found when searching on the web, whoever did this a truely well done is needed! This just shows how extreme you can go with shapes in the hair!

Bridgewater Carnival!

Brigdewater carnival, what do you have in store for us this year?

Not long ago I went to visit my family in Somerset to go to the Bridgewater Carnival! This Carnival consists of chains of floats made by the locals in teams. It is a competition for the best float and it is amazing what they come up with! Many of the floats had a jungle/tribal theme, also many of them expressing the life of other cultures around the world! I managed to get some shots of one I thought best represented 'Wild Kingdom'. This one included many animals and tribal patterns, it reminded me of the the famous tribals statue's you see within the islands of Polynesia, and the ever famous 'gum gum' statue you see in the film 'Night at the Museum'.
Despite the fact that these floats were quite typically designed, you did get the image they were trying to portray and the hard work that went into them was more than obvious!


At the end of the carnival they perform an act called 'squibbing', it consists of people stood in a long line on either side of the road holding a 'squib' each, squibs are hand held fireworks. At the same time they light their squibs and like a huge sparkler they all come alight and shoot sparks out. The people hold their squibs above their head and perform a huge finale! It reminds me of a 'fire celebration' and i've noticed many tribes celebrate with fire, so maybe this is the British way? Anyway decide that for yourself and incase my description was rubbish here is a video!!!