Who are the New Elizabethans?

The Elizabethan era is in the past, however, there are many individuals in the modern day that represent the Elizabethans - from their styling, to their attitude and goals in life.

Examples: 

90s Madonna 

"Take a bow, the night is over" 

-Madonna 90s hit'Take a bow'

The 90s were Madonna's prime-time, she continuously tried out different styles, both fashion wise and music wise. 

The photos below show Madonna in the 90s,I feel that her styling in these photos are very contemporary Elizabethan. The hair is a very gingery blonde - a preference for Elizabethan women - and perfectly curled with some volume at the the top of the head. The makeup on the eyes are very light and is complimented by a beautiful and striking red lip, this is also another Elizabethan feature - light eyes and dark lip. The dark eyebrows make the look contemporary, giving some edge. Madonna looks very elegant and royal in these photos, giving her an upper class feel. 

Madonna has marked the music industry and many music artists now follow in her footsteps. Madonna was also a huge fashion icon across the decades, but one of her most memorable signature look was the cone bra that Jean Paul Gaultier designed for her blonde ambition tour in 1990. Like Queen Elizabeth, she still has an impact today.

Grace Kelly

"Few women have had as enduring an impact on fashion as Grace Kelly, the Hollywood actress who became a real-life princess. Almost three decades after her passing, her name is still synonymous with impeccable chic and effortless elegance."

- H Kristina Haugland 

Grace Kelly occupied a unique position in both Hollywood and fashion history. 

Alfred Hitchcock made the observation that it wasn't the make-up or clothes but because she plays a character from the inside out.

This observation reminds me of the role of Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth seemed to be a strong women, but it was her role and her duty to be a strong leader, she had no choice, like an actor she has to hide her own emotions to protect her people.

Hilary Clinton

"Years of applying herself to learn the job and perform well in it"

Hilary Clinton is a controversial figure, being the former United States Secretary of State, U.S Senator and former First lady of the United States, she puts herself up for a lot of criticism. 

Her attitude is similar to Queen Elizabeth's, when she was new to the throne, she had no other choice but to apply herself to the role and learn to be a great leader. Elizabeth was under a lot of pressure to do well - and she did. 

Paperself Lashes

“The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

- Marcel Proust

PAPERSELF is the world's leading wearable paper-art brand for lashes.  

PAPERSELF do a variety of different designs: 

For part of my course, I attended a lash deco workshop where I was gifted a pair to work with. 

The design I was gifted was the 'Antique Jewellery' set:

We had to use the lashes to create a look from the four face-charts that we created beforehand. I choose to add this lash with the 'neutral colour' face-chart: 

As you can see, the colours used on the face are very warm, complimenting the very pale complexion but the lashes really stand out, giving the look a lot of edge. 

I decided to experiment more with the lashes and created two more face-charts using the lashes: 

The facechart above is using complementary colour scheme, this time the use of the paperself lashes are on the bottom lash. 

This facechart again is created using neutral colours, with darker eyes and lips. 

I tried this look out on myself and this is the outcome: 

Practical session: Contour and Highlight

Contouring and highlighting is an important step to take after base application. By contouring and highlighting the face, you are giving the face more dimension and depth. It will emphasise existing features or create the illusion of features e.g high cheek bones or slimmer face. 

Image from: kats-kreation-world.blogspot.com / Last accessed: 4th Nov 2013

Tools needed for contouring and highlighting:

Contour cream/Foundation 3 shades darker than skin tone

Cream highlighter 

Powder Bronzer and Highlighter 

Flathead brush

Angled brush

Blush brush 

1.  Load brush with contour cream

2. Swirl on the back of your hand to take away some intensity, make sure that you do not apply too much at once - you can always build up. 

3. Start by outlining the hairline

4. Tell the model to suck in her cheeks and continue just under the cheekbones. 

5. Sweep the brush under the jawline 

6. Blend well, add more product if needed. 

7. Load flathead brush with highlight cream or foundation that is 2-3 shades lighter than the natural skin tone. 

8. Follow the natural high points on the face: nose bridge, forehead, eyebrow bone, chin, cupids bow and cheekbones. Again, make sure you do not use too much product at once as the face might look greasy. 

9. Blend well, make sure there is no harsh lines. 

10. Load a large angled brush with bronzer and apply to where you applied contour cream. 

11. Load a clean angled brush with highlight powder, and retrace where you applied highlight cream. 

Note: You can use a small fluffy eyeshadow brush to reach into the corners of the eyes to give eyes more light and on the eyebrow bone, you will have more control this way.

By using both contour and highlight creams and powder, you are ensured to have a longer lasting effect.

I find the following image helpful in showing you the areas of contour and highlight: 

From: http://leadingladymakeup.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/contouring-diagram.jpg?w=540
Last Accessed: 8th November 2013

Recently, I have been very inspired by Rupaul's Drag Race: Season 5. 

Q. What is Rupaul's Drag Race? 

A. RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality competition television series produced by   World of Wonder for Logo. RuPaul plays the roles of host, mentor, and source of inspiration for this series, which details RuPaul's search for "America's next drag superstar. 

In this show you will witness amazing transformations, as men transform into women using make-up, wigs and clothes and battle it out in a series of performing acts. 

My favourite Drag Queen from the show has to be Vivienne Pinay. 

 Drag makeup is all about contouring and highlighting, the perfect Drag Queen is able to completely change the shape of their face and create new features. 

In this case - feminine features. 

The amount of contouring and highlighting is extreme and looks amazing on camera. 

You can see the huge difference between the photo on the right and the photo below, trust me - its the same guy. 

>Images from Vivienne Pinay Facebook Page

I decided to challenge myself and have a go at extreme contouring: 

As you can see from the before and after pictures, I have attempted to slim down the face and nose and create a more profound cheekbone. I have also practiced covering the brows with the glue stick method. I feel that I should have blended better as there are prominent streaks on the side of his face which makes the overall image look more editorial. However, I feel that I have created a good base to work on top of, with the addition of eye makeup, eyebrows and wig, this could work!

Colour Theory and Contour

'Colour is the perceptual characteristic of light described by a colour name. Specifically, colour is light, and light is composed of many colours—those we can see are the colours of the visual spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

Objects absorb certain wavelengths and reflect others back to the viewer. We perceive these reflected wavelengths as colour.'

My objectives this week are: 

1. TO SHOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC COLOUR THEORY IN RELATION TO MAKE UP ARTISTRY
2. TO DEMONSTRATE AN ABILITY IN THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF CONTOURING AND HIGHLIGHTING

During class, we focused on the use of complementary colours for colour contouring. complementary colours are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel:

For example: 

Purple & Yellow

Red & Green

Orange & Blue

During the practical, I used the colours blue and orange to contour the face: 

I used the Kryolan Aquacolour palette, for the first time. I did not like the consistency of the colours, it is very hard to blend. I would much rather have used powder makeup. When I tried blending the colours it would appear as a murky brown colour and was not attractive at all. I think the shapes that I have created are far too bold and abstract they don't do with the flow of her natural face structure and there is little gradient. Unfortunately, I also didn't have time to complete the look

As a result, I went home and practiced on myself, this time with powder makeup, something I am more experienced with. Here is the outcome: 

Sleek Palette Ultra Matte V1 730
Mac lipmix

I am happy with the outcome, I feel like the colours blend in well and the bold accents work by emphasising certain features like the eyes and cheekbones, adding more definition and dimension. I also feel that the asymmetrical aspects work and gives the overall look more edge. However, I would still like to improve on the blending on the eyes and nose and give it more of a clean feel. I need to learn to stop rushing and pay more attention to detail, for example, making sure the lines are crisp and clear. I feel like a pair of white eyelashes would further more complete the look, I could also extend the use of colours down the neck and onto my collar bone. 

When creating makeup looks, we need to consider four major colour spectrums: 

1.COMPLIMENTARY COLOUR

2.MONOCHROMATIC COLOUR

3.ANALOGOUS COLOUR

4.NEUTRAL COLOUR 

I have created four face charts representing each of these:

Note: I have drawn the faces freehand so excuse the asymmetrical-ness!

Neutral Colour

This look is a very romantic and soft look. The colour palette consists of warm nudes, browns and reds. There are no harsh edges to this look, the eyeshadow is very blended and subtle, keeping the eyes very light whilst the dark red lips gives a pop of colour, making it the main attraction. This look is inspired by the Elizabethans as this look is made up of very pale complexion, dark lips and light eyes. 

Complementary Colour

This is the complimentary colour look that I have come up with. It consists of very warm reds and oranges which collides with cool blues and greens. The Elizabethan aspects of this look would be the very rosy cheeks and dark lip. I feel that the warm reds reflect royalty and richness, whist the cool tones reflect the cruel aspect of the elizabethan age. It has an almost angry attitude.

Analogous Colour

This is the analogous colour look, I have used very cool tones. The eyebrows are fierce and I have chosen cool purples and pinks because those colours represented status in the Elizabethan Era because only those with a very high stature could wear these colours. I have also used cool tones to represent Queen Elizabeth's cold harsh appearance in order to be seen as a powerful leader who holds no mercy. 

Monochromatic colour 

This look is once again very soft, I have used warm red and pinks. The eyebrows are thick and droop a little, creating a sad emotion. The eyes are kept subtle and warm and paired with bold lips feathered out to create a softer gradient look. I feel this look will work with very pale almost white skin. The Elizabethan aspects originate from the very pale skin and overall rosy-ness of the look representing Queen Elizabeths weak feminine romantic side. The thick eyebrows and cheeks also represent youth.

The monochromatic colour is my favourite look, so I chose to recreate it: 

I feel that the look worked, it looks like a contemporary Elizabethan look, however, it also looks a little space-agey. I feel that the main improvement is the lips: the rest of the face is made up of cool pinks but the lips are more of a red, and does not match the intended ombre look. I feel that the lips should be a darker raspberry red, with the colour focused on the centre of the lips. 

Practical Session: Applying Base

Applying base is the most important part of makeup application, doing it correctly will provide you with a good canvas to work on. The trick is to create the illusion of perfect flawless skin, through using the right concealers and foundations. 

Before you start applying base, always do a quick consultation to check the skin type e.g dry, oily or combination. Decide if the skin tone is cool or warm as this will help you with finding the right foundation later. Whilst doing the consultation always also check for skin diseases and ask the model if they are taking any medication as this might affect your makeup application. Also ask if the model is wearing contact lenses, if they are you need to pay extra attention to the eyes. 

This is the procedure I followed when applying base: 

1) Wash hands. Make sure any brushes or sponges that you are about to use are clean, sponges and brushes retain bacteria so make sure they are throughly clean. Wrap model up to prevent spillage on their clothes.

From: beautyeditor.ca
last accessed: 30th oct 2013 

2) Cleanse, tone and moisturise the face. This will give you a smoother surface to work on and acts as a barrier between the skin and the makeup. 

3) Match the foundation. On the back of your hand, mix different tones of foundation to achieve the perfect colour. Then smudge a little on the models jaw line, blend it out slightly, if you can't see it, you have the perfect colour. If not, keep mixing. 

4) Apply primer all over the face, use primer according to the finish you would like e.g matte or satin. 

5) Apply foundation with flat foundation brush all over the face. Make sure you do not apply heavily, you can always build up when needed. Don't forget the neck and the ears. 

6) Buff the foundation with a dense round top brush. This will blend the foundation in perfectly, getting rid of any fine lines or edges. again, don't forget the neck and ears, all skin exposed must be covered.

Techniques expert face brush
photo: 10amakeup.com
last accessed 30th Oct 2013

7) Conceal, make sure you conceal all imperfections as any exposed imperfections will show up excessively on camera. Again, mix the right colour and start applying to the needed areas with a small concealer brush. Pay close attention to the eyes, you want to apply concealer right up to the lashes. Also apply concealer to any red spots such as around the nose and corners of the mouth. 

8) Using a powder brush or sponge, set the base with translucent powder. Pay attention to the eyes again, as they need to be powdered well for any eyeshadow application. Once you think you have powdered enough, place the back of your hand against the cheek, if if is not sticky, you have powered enough. 

As you see below I have documented before and after pictures of applying base. As you can see this model already has beautiful skin already. Sandra has combination skin, like a lot of other girls and myself, she has an oily T-zone. Therefore I have used a matte primer on the centre of her forehead, nose and chin. She also has a couple of breakouts so I have made sure to conceal well in those areas with care. 

I feel that I could've payed more attention to the area under the eyes to cover the dark circles better and powered a little bit better to prevent some of the shine that is peeking through. 

AFTER

BEFORE

This base is created with Kryolan cosmetics:

Dermacolour Camouflage mini palette 16

HD micro cream foundation 8 shade palette