Elizabethan make up practice

This week we practiced a typical Elizabethan make up. This was a look that was similar to what women in the Elizabethan era would have done. The idea was to give us a few more ideas on how to create a look with the techniques given but not necessarily using them all.

Unfortunately, the look I had created in class originally the pictures didn't save and were lost! But I decided to recreate the exact same look on my own face at home because, why not?!

After a quick cleanse and tone, I applied Illamasqua matte primer. I used to matte to give it a rougher texture to the face as the Elizabethans tended to have a very well powdered face.

The next step was to apply the base, Illamasqua skin base in white. Using my foundation brush, I started from the nose and blended out to the hairline. I decided to try and fade the colour into the hairline rather than leave a harsh facepaint-like line around the forehead. Once this was done, I used a triangle powder puff to press Illamasqua loose white powder onto the face. Use a duo fiber brush to gently sweep away any excess.

The next step was getting a tint on the cheeks. I took my blusher brush and gradually built up colour on the apples of the cheeks with Kryolans blusher pallet in youth red.

On to the interesting part! Bleaching out the eyebrows and eyelashes. Using a disposable spatula, I scraped some Kryolan supracolour in white onto the back of my hand and then rolled a disposable mascara wand into the product. I then worked the wand through the hairs on my eyebrows followed by my eyelashes.

Moving onto the lips, I applied Kryolan LC002 to the full lip and then pursed my lips and dabbed on supracolour 081 and a little bit of gold. Pursing the lips gives a crinkle effect. This was the end result.

I am pleased with the outcome although I noticed a couple of things during the process. When practicing again at home, I noticed the base still looked rough and streaky after I had applied the powder. I realised this was because I had not buffed the base like I had previously done in the studio. I also noticed when I had done this look at home, I think it would be a good idea to dust some loose powder over the white eyelashes and brows again just to set it as I noticed the supracolour transferring to my skin from the hairs.

Other than this, I have really enjoyed this as it is also the first time I have applied product to someone elses eyelashes. Yes, it was absolutely terrifying but I did it and I feel more confident about it now. The techniques have also given me a few ideas that I could possibly change to my final design!

Experimenting

Being bored at home leads to doing some crazy things.
Me? I lost inspiration a little bit after realising none of my designs would be acceptable in my mind. So I played around with some makeup, keeping in flow with the Elizabethan theme.
I started off with the more traditional look...

I decided to try and exaggerate the white eyes as I noticed Queen Elizabeth I had bead-like eyes due to it being so white washed with make up. I put a contemporary twist on it by doing a white winged line.

I didn't like it being such a harsh line so I tried just blending it out with my finger which still left my eyes being much whiter. I also tried a different colour on the lips to see if it would alter the finishing look to the face.

I thought about what I did and didn't like about this experimenting session. I really liked the idea of my look being soft and gentle so I would like to ideally keep the pale base and very slight tint on the cheeks. Because my natural eyebrows are really fair, the product didn't look very neat when I tried to apply it to the hairs as it just transferred to the skin. I also liked the brighter coloured lips however I would like to keep in flow with the gentle and soft idea I have got going on! So maybe I will just stick to a paler colour that is softer. I then thought back to trying to add my Lady in Waiting character into my makeup design. As Lettice Knolleys supposedly had similar features to the Queen, I thought about what kind of symbolism I could add to the face to portray this.

My Design Practice

I decided to go with my 3rd choice from all my face charts as I felt like it had a good balance of contemporary and Elizabethan. Below is my facechart and the real life look that Katherine had done.

I actually really wasn't happy with how it turned out. This wasn't on the artist's fault at all, it was simply because it didn't work. The products I had chosen didn't show up like they did on the face chart. This could be to the fact that the base wasn't while enough, the eye shadow needing more build up or ever that my skin colour just doesn't make it look good. I came to the conclusion that it made me look just ill rather than Elizabethan or even contemporary. I could have possibly tried to make it work by changing the base or using a different product on the eye however if I'm honest, seeing my face like this put me off my idea altogether!

Back to planning I think!

Final Design Practice: my partner

This was Katherine's final design. I was actually a bit worried to start with as this is the first time someone has ever given me a picture of something they have drawn up and expected me to create it. Of course I'm going to struggle in the designer hasn't talked me through it first! And this is the reason for practicing.

I started off by creating a pale base using Kryolan foundation pallet FS 38 mixed with a bit of ivory and illamasqua skin base. After buffing it with the kabuki brush I applied illamasqua loose white powder with a triangle puff and lightly brushed away any excess powder with the duo fiber brush.

Once my base was done, I started on the cheeks using two orange tones from Kryolan bright pallet. Next I moved onto the eyes, using a round tip brush I applied illamasqua sex all over the lid and a bit underneath. Next were the lips, and I dabbed a tiny bit of skin base on the lips and then applied a pink colour from the bright pallet. Using supra colour in red I asked Katherine to purse her lips as I dabbed the red on with my fingers.

The next mission was the eyebrows which I was really excited about. I used a pritt stick to work it through the brow. I then used a disposable mascara wand to apply gold leaf to the brow.

As my first attempt, I am actually really pleased with the outcome. I really like how gentle it looks and seems to compliment Katherine's facial features however there are a couple of things to take note for next time. The shadow on the eyes seemed a bit light so Katherine said to put Illamasqua skin base on first around the eyes and then the shadow on top. With the lips, I noticed I had not put the red crinkle effect on the whole lip and had missed a part out. This can be easily fixed but I should take note to pay more attention to detail next time. 

Finally, the eyebrows... I had a frustrating time with this! Katherine has naturally very full and thick and beautiful eyebrows which is great but not so great when your are trying to work a pritt stick through them! Then to apply dust-like gold leaf that just keeps flying away makes it near enough mission impossible. What I had done in this practice session was okay but Katherine and more myself would like it to be a bit better placed.

I though that if I were to wet the glue a bit first, it would delay the drying time to let me spend a bit more time applying the gold leaf. This was an idea to keep in mind for the next practice session.

Final 3 designs

These are 3 designs I done to try and get an idea of what kind of look I am trying to go for for my final design.

With this design, I tried to create a look that dramatically shows Lettice's crazy side. The dramatic smudged black on the eyes was to look as if she had been crying. Having a pale base would make the eyes stand out more. I'm not really keen on this design as I think it is a bit too contemporary. I would like to add more elements of the Elizabethan era in to it.

I decided to try the more traditional look with this one but with a slight contemporary twist. There is still the traditional white base however I have made the blush of the cheeks more elongated across the cheekbones rather than dabs on the apples. The lipstick would be a perfectly lined vibrant colour. Again, I am not too sure with this as I feel I have gone in the opposite direction to the previous design. I would like to try and add something to it that will make it different!

This design I liked the most as I though the colours worked really well. I liked the rustic bronze/gold and I thought it would work really well as a monochromatic design on a pale of even white base. When researching elizabethan makeup I always thought the eyes looked quite beady due to there being no eyelashes or eyebrows. I think if I was to create a bleached out brow and exaggerate the eyes, I could recreate the typical Elizabethan look in a different way.

Consultation Form

Before doing anything on a model or client it is highly advised to carry out a consultation form. This is to not only cover your own back but also to protect the person you are working with. It always nice to get a model like I have with no problems with the skin, no allergies and a normal skin type but everyone is different and we have to learn how to alter our method. Some pimers and foundations work better on different skin types or may have ingredients in that could cause a reaction to the skin if there is a know allergy.

You must always ask if your model is wearing contacts as this can irritate the eyes whilst make up is being applied. The big question is usually if there is any problems with the skin as we have do not want to cross contaminate brushes or products. We as makeup artists have to be careful too so that we do not come into contact with any kind of contagious infection or disease.

Lady in Waiting

To find our own response to the brief we can't just replicate the Elizabethans, we need to be able to take elements from the era and create a whole new design. How? Well we started off by introducing ourselves to Queen Elizabeth I's Lady in Waiting. A Lady in Waiting was not allowed to marry without the consent of the Queen herself. She was to accompany the Queen and was to wear only what was governed by Sumtuary Laws allowed. The women were typically from noble and high class families however Queen Elizabeth I was a very loyal person and had women she trusted, regardless of their status.

• Katherine Swynford
• Anne Russell
• Kat Ashley
• Lettice Knolleys
• Elizabeth Throckmorton
• Elizabeth Brydges
• Blanche Parry
• Anne Vavasour
• Bess of Hardwick

Out of these women, I chose Lettice Knolleys. I then made a mind map after researching her, however I went on to exaggerate this to create a altered character. 

I decided to take the facts about her previous relationships and also loss of children to turn Lettice into a bitter touble maker. I noticed she had very similar features to Queen Elizabeth so I wanted to try and give Lettice a calm and pretty exterior with a hint of crazy.

I really like the idea of taking my made up Lettice back story and trying putting it into the make up.