It's all about hair

When I started college I really wasn't looking forward to the hair side of my course. I very rarely ever do my own hair so I wasn't expecting to enjoy doing other people's. I've been at college for a few months now and I've had the chance to do quite a lot of hair on sally heads,which I'm really enjoying.
This is some of the stuff I have done.

Barrel curls at the front, with pin curls at the back 

Off base, on base rollers

some tong curls.

No7 all the way !

Before I went to college I thought my makeup looked great! That was until I realised how much I was doing wrong.I never realised that you need certain foundations to suit certain skin types.
I never really thought about what type of skin I had. I just bought any foundation that I seen on tv and applied loads of pressed powder over the top. Not good!

Since starting Media makeup in West College Scotland, I have started to read a lot of blogs and reviews on different brands of makeup, and have learned a lot about skin types, and what's best for my skin. I have very sensitive skin that can be quite oily at times, so it's very hard for me to find a really good foundation, which covers my blemishes, without breaking me out further, as well as to help with the oilyness. I was previously using Rimmel match perfection foundation, which was quite good with my skin, except it wasn't enough coverage for me.I was looking at reviews on foundations and what was good for my type of skin. After reading a lot of good reviews about Revlon colourstay I was set on buying that and giving it a go.

I went to boots excited to pick up a bottle of colourstay(sad I know) and gave the tester a go on my jaw to match a colour. The lightest colour (ivory) was a little yellow on my skin and the next colour up was too dark, so I asked for help from the woman at the makeup counter.

She matched my skin colour with No7, Beautifully matte foundation in Calico, which is ideal for oily skin.I bought both the foundation and concealer in calico and haven't looked back since.

 

The foundation covers all my blemishes, reduces the oils in my t zone and looks flawless on my face! As well as being hypo-allergenic. Who could ask for more! 

The concealer is definitely a must have for me. It covers every blemish on my face even when I'm not wearing foundation. If I was only allowed one makeup product in the whole world, it would definitely be this. After buying this foundation and concealer, I haven't looked back. Absolutely amazing! 

Zombie controller!

We were given the task to dress a family of 3 for halloween, with a budget of £500.

My group decided to do something unusual and design our own costume for the family. We decided to make a costume which joined the family together. We decided on the mother and father being zombies, joined together by a pole,holding their child in a swing

This lovely picture was done by Amanda, to give the idea of what we wanted the costume to look like.

Halloween !!

How to create Zombie Makeup

Zombie costumes and makeup are extremely popular for Halloween. The makeup I would use to create this look is brown and grey greasepaint mixed together applying it with a stipple sponge to create the dirty look. I would then start to do some bruising under the eyes with a dark brown or black eyeshadow. Next I would apply fake blood all over the chin and down the neck with some on the head and cheeks for extra effect. Lastly I would put white contact lenses and do some scratches on the neck with a stipple sponge and a wine coloured greasepaint.

The costume costs £14 from Ebay and the makeup would cost around £25.

The history of makeup

Makeup was originally discovered by the Ancient Egyptians 12 thousands years ago. Almost everyone in Egypt used oils,  eyeliner and other products to enhance their looks and makeup became a huge part of their religion. When makeup made it It's way out of Egypt, it reached Greece and Rome where it became popular but for some people it was just thought of as useless and unnecessary.    

When cosmetics hit European countries in the dark ages, they almost disappeared completely, as it was not known as good to wear makeup. Only prostitutes were known to wear a lot of makeup to enhance their beauty. Not even King's and Queens liked the thought of people wearing makeup.They made speeches to the public about how makeup wasn't decent and churches believed that only satin worshipers wore cosmetics. For a long time only stage performers were allowed to wear makeup, but only when they were performing.
Thankfully change happened in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and cosmetiscs were accepted more by the public, but not fully.The real change happened in the Victorian times, where new styles arose in the 19th century which demanded that all Ladies must present themselves as beautiful and fragile,and so many products such as eyeshadows, lipsticks and nail polishes became popular.

 

In the 20th century the rise of the film and photography industry, was when makeup really took off and found it's place in this world.From then, makeup has grown and grown and everyone in this day and age owns at least 1 cosmetic product. Not only women wear makeup these days, even men wear a bit of guy liner and chapstick.

Wigs in Theatre

We have been studying wigs in college for a few weeks now and here are some wigs that are used in theatre shows.

 1. A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is on in London just now until the 16th of November. In college we have been doing a lot of things to do with wigs eg wig wraps and blocking and setting wigs. This is a show which uses a lot of different types of wigs.

 http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/a-midsummer-nights-dream/noel-coward-theatre/

2. We Will Rock You

We will rock you is on in Dominion Theatre in london at the moment, until april 2014. This show is a fantastic example of wigs used in theatre. The wigs in this show are all big and exaggarated to fit the theme of rock. Some of the wigs have different colours through them which looks fantastic.

http://www.dominiontheatre.com/theatre/whats-on/

Theatres Theatre Theatres!!

In college we study makeup and it's interesting to see all the types of makeup done, especially in theatre. Here are a few shows which are on around scotland.


1. Tron Theatre - MacBeth (8Oct -19 Oct)

 http://www.tron.co.uk/whatson/

 

 

 

2. Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh - A Chistmas Carol (28nov-4Jan)

http://www.lyceum.org.uk/whats-on/production/christmascarol

 

 

3.Citizens Theatre - Dragon (11Oct-19Oct)

 

http://citz.co.uk/whatson/info/dragon/

 

 

4. Traverse theatre - Couldn't Care Less (17Oct-19Oct)

http://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event-detail/256/couldnt-care-less.aspx

 

 

5. Theatre Royal, Glagow - Scottish Opera's Don Giovanni (15Oct-26Oct)

 

http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/scottish-operas-don-giovanni/theatre-royal-glasgow/

 

 

6.Ghost (8Oct-19Oct)

 

http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/ghost/kings-theatre/

 



Special FX

MillenniumFX is a European company which supplies Special Fx makeup, such as Prosthetics and animatronics for the likes of television, films and theatre. Their work has been shown on lots of british televison shows suh as, Eastenders, Cornation Street, emmerdale, Doctor Who, Casualty and being human. They have also done work in some big movies like, The mummy, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator,The Wolf Man and Chernobyl Diaries.
Here are some pictures of work done by MillenniumFx

You can follow them on twitter @Millennium_FX

and can find them at

 

http://www.millenniumfx.co.uk/

 

My questions to Alexis Miller

This is a photograph of work done by Alexis, taken from her twitter.

Alexis Miller is a professional makeup and hair artist based in Glasgow,Scotland. Alexis has been in the industry for around 12 years, where she started off in the television industry and continued this for 6 years, 

   My class at college had the absolute pleasure of being able to ask Alexis some questions over twitter,about her time in the industry. 

As a girl, my first question, to Alexis was obviously, the most famous celebrity she has worked with. When she replied with Mila Kunis, I was immediately Jealous! 

Another question I asked Alexis was, what advice would she give to young aspiring makeup artists. Alexis gave me amazing advice about being truthful and never giving up. 

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to communicate with Alexis and will definetely follow the advice she has given me.Thank you so much Alexis for the advice,and for taking the time to answer my questions. 

It's all about Wigs!

Wigs are used in most films and tv shows these days. Whether it be lace/hard front wigs, hair extentions or hair pieces, most tv shows and films have some sort of hair added.

1. Hairspray

In this movie John Travolta was totally transformed into Edna Turnblad,Tracey's mother. The wigs in this movie are amazing! They are based on the 60's big volume hair look.One of the wig builders in this movie was Stacy Butterworth.

2. Alice in Wonderland 

In this Tim Burton movie, Anne Hathaway wore a white wig to suit her character as the white queen. I love the colour of this wig and also the fact that you can't even tell it's a wig! Alex Rouse was a wig maker for the movie, and I think he done a fantastic job.

3.Mean Girls

Rachel McAdam wore a wig in the movie as her role of Regina George. I can't believe I never knew this was a wig!

4. Twilight

In the movie, Taylor Lautner wore a long brown wig to fullfill his role as Jacob.

5.Pretty Little Liars

This all Amercian teen drama, is one of my favourite tv shows. One of the main Characters Hanna Marin , played by Ashley Benson, wears a blonde wig in the recent episodes, because Ashely decided to go brunette. 

Best Beauty Product!!

Nivea Creme  

Nivea Creme Moisturiser is the one product that I couldn't live without. I discovered this while on  holiday, this year with my family. As I was in the sun all day everyday, my face had started to dry out with the sun cream I was using, and because I didn't use moisturiser at the time, I didn't have any with me. I went to the supermarket and picked up the first moisturising cream I saw, which happened to be the Nivea Creme 200ml. When we got back to the hotel I used it straight away and the next morning my skin felt more mosturised and it didn't look so dry and horrible. I even applied it to sunburn and it stopped my skin from peeling,as well as cooling down the sunburn.

Since then I would never go without it and have used it every day, to keep my skin soft. It only costs £2.39 from boots and I would definetely give it 5/5.

After a class vote we decided that my product was the best.

Another product which I find really good is MAC lipstick. This lipstick comes in 140 shades and ranges from £13.50-£15.00 in Debenhams. I think this is a great product because lipstick is an essential when going on a night out,because in my opinion, it enhances the lips making them look more defined. This lipstick is a reasonable price and lasts forever! It's definetely a must buy and a great product to have in your makeup bag.

 .
 

Films Films Films!



1                                                                           Rec

Rec is a Spanish movie about a group of people who are trapped in an apartment building, where a virus, thought to be of a demonic possession, spreads quickly infected those who are bitten. David Ambit was one of the special effects makeup artists in all three rec films, where he has done a fantastic job of making everything look so real. I particularly like this makeup as its is very gory. The woman in the picture was the first woman to have the virus in the first movie.

2                                                                       Ugly Betty 

Ugly Betty is one of my all time favourite tv shows. I especially like the makeup in this show as the actress America Ferrera, has been given a major makeover to look like Betty Suarez, the smart sweet and hard working woman. I like the way they have given Betty braces,Freckles and big eyebrows, to give the effect that she doesn't care about her apperance. Kate Best was one of the makeup artists on the show, who done a fantastic 85 episodes between 2006 and 2010, when the show ended.

3                                                                   Vampire Diaries

The makeup in this show makes all the Vampires look flawless. They all have flawless skin and beautiful eyes. Even at there worst, when they are feeding on a victim or in a fight, they still look beautiful. There is also quite a lot of Special effects makeup involved in this show ,such as the wounds on the vampires victims, as well as the werewolf bites. Essie Cha is the head Makeup artists who has been involved in 36 episodes from 2010-2012.

4                                                              Alice in Wonderland 

The makeup in this film was done by many different artists. I particularly like the Mad Hatter makeup because its bright and really stands out from the rest. The makeup in this film is very in your face and big, which i think makes it quite interesting.

5                                                                      The Grinch 

The Grinch is my all time favourite Christmas movie, I love the way they have created the turned up noses and how they have completely transformed Jim Carey into this creature.You can't even tell it's him! There were many makeup artists involved in this movie and amongst them was Lance Anderson, who recently done the special effects makeup in Cabin in the woods. 

My time at College

When I signed up for this course, I didn't really think about what would be involved in the course and I never really had any expectations, as I applied very late. When choosing this course, it wasn't because I wanted to do it as a career, it was because I enjoy doing it as a hobby.I had never really thought about having it as a job because I never expected that it could happen. Now that i've started the course, my opinon has changed and I now realise that if it's something I want to do I need to work hard.

Since starting the Media Make-up course, my opinion on make-up has changed. When I thought about Make-up, I never really thought about the SFX side to it. I always thought of it as making people look pretty. I have really enjoyed this course so far, especially the SFX part, which I wasn't expecting. I think WCS is a fantastic College and I am really enjoying my time here.
So far I have had a few funny moments in all my classes, but the best has got to be when Donald put us into groups and gave us topics to research.He gave my group the topic of Folic Acid, which was interesting...
The most interesting thing I have learned to do so far is probably how to do cuts and wounds.

I really like the work of Beverly Jo Pryor, who has done the make-up of some of the Vampire Diaries cast, such as Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. She has also done the Make-up of stars such as Will Smith and Orpah Winfrey. Pryor has been a Make-up for around 30 years and her big break came when she was hired by MAC Cosmetics. She started off in TV shows such as "Family Matters" and "Keenan and Kel", eventually moving up to films, doing work on "Big Momma's House" and a few others. Her recent work has been shown on the likes of "Ugly Betty" and "Vampire Diaries"

After spending the last Month at WCS, I have Realised that I would really like to persue a career in the Make-up industry.

Beautylish

Beautylish is an app on all things beauty for Android and the Iphone, which is free to download. It's easy to download and you can sign in using Facebook or Google. When signing up for this, you need to create a profile, giving your eye colour, complextion etc. Once I signed up, I linked the app with my Google account, which makes it really easy to sign in, as you don't need to enter a password or email address when going on to the app.

This app offers a variety of things to see and explore. This app has many features including; photos, editorial,reviews,videos,discussions as well as shopping.
  You can buy a variety of products such as foundations and concealers from different brands. The only downside to this amazing feature is that all the prices are in Dollars($).

I particularly like the photo section, as it shows lots of looks from Halloween to everyday looks, as well as nail art and smokey eyes. With Halloween coming soon, I have found this very helpful for ideas and tips.

I think this app is very useful for all things beauty,and I would recommend anyone interested in make-up to have a look.

Tom Pecheux

Tom Pecheux is a french makeup artists, known as the runway makeup guru,for his flawless looks, started out his career as an assistant for makeup artist Linda Cantello. Pecheux originally wanted to be a chef, but after moving to Paris and discovering it's nightlife, he then enrolled at the Ecole de Christian Chauveau to train as a make-up artist.
 Pecheux has done the makeup of many celebrities and stars,such as Julia Roberts and Princess Diana. He is also known for his work on runways for the likes of Givenchy,Prada, Yves Saint Laurent and Jean Paul Gaultier.
 In October 2009, Tom Pecheux was named as Creative makeup director of Estée Lauder to determine the artistic direction of the new generation of Estée Lauder cosmetics.

Artdeco Make-Up

NASMAH is the national association of screen makeup artists and hairdressers.This is a professional,social and educational organisation, which encourages the highest standards of media hair and make-up.

Artdeco is a supplier for nasmah,whose make-up is on soaps such as; Emmerdale ,Cornation Street, Hollyoaks and Dancing on ice. They aim to "create the most amazing cosmetics to grace todays modern woman."

Artdeco is a high selling brand, who outsells other big cosmetic companies, such as Channel,Givenchy and MAC,across Europe.

This big brand company have a Youtube channel, where you can see how they do make up, as well as they also post links on their website of other artists doing tutorials using Artdeco products.
      This is the Tropical Sunset Tutorial posted on their website, using all their products.

     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=222yJnH7wqA&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1

Special Effects Make Up