layout

 Along side my images I will need to write 300 words minimum. I have chosen to use my main word count for a feature article so that the images can flow amongst the text. This will suit my images and themes much better than a trend or story image could

This is only the roughest sketch but has helped me visualise where things will go a bit more. I would like to have it all in one post under the blog so you can simply scroll down and read whats most recent, I know this isn't the most technical way of doing things. I would like my website to be like a beauty stream of products, whats in them, how to use them, similar products or how to recreate the product and an editorial image to end each post. 

The first shoot

For My first shoot Daniella Yordanova was my photographer and Chloe Hall was my model. I have a strong belief that communication is key. In the build up to this shoot I had frequent online and in person conversations with both Daniella and Chloe about the design and the outcome I would like. I think this helped a lot so we didn't waist time when we were there.

I do really like My final Images although I wish I had been more confident with my application of the make-up. I wanted Chloe's natural complexion to be the beauty of the shot but in retrospect I think I could have had more coverage around the eyes and been more dramatic with the eyebrows. I also had an unexpected complication with the product itself. As the bubblegum lip scrub is designed to be a scrub and not to leave on the lips the sugar crystals do in fact melt. This was the antithesis of ideal as the shoot is based on the texture and colour of the product and I don't feel I've achieved this to the standard I wanted. In an ideal world I would re-shoot this so its perfect unfortunately I don't have time but if by some miracle we suddenly have 27 hours in a day it will be on the top of my list. Well that all sounded very dramatic and like I'm not happy which it not the case at all. Im really happy with her overall complexion and with the colour pallet of the shoot. It has a crisp, clean and bright finish to each image which is what I've been aiming for since I gathered my original inspiration from
"Janica Compte for The Fashion Hunters by Rachel Marques" 

Bubblegum Lip Scrub - Lush

As I have chosen 'about the product' as my theme for my website I think it is important to understand the brand and product before using it. Lush is known for their natural products, often featuring organic ingredients. When looking at the website I noticed it states 'we do not test our finished products on animals. We also only purchase from ingredient suppliers who do not test on animals.' These are all qualities that ultimately make a product more desirable.

Lush bubble gum scrub is a vibrant exfoliant for you lips. Application and use is simple with a great final out come 

"Prep your lips with a buff and polish at the start of your make-up routine to ensure your lipstick glides on and stays put. Just apply with a clean finger, and let the exfoliating caster sugar and softening jojoba oil scrub away dead skin and infuse moisture to  rejuvenate your smile." - lush 

Sounds pretty fancy so far. So what makes up this pot of handmade, luminous pink, candy floss flavoured, organic lushness? excuse the awful pun. Turns out it's simply six ingredients. Caster sugar, Organic Jojoba oil, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Flavour, Colour 45410, Colour 45380. now the first two ingredients from this list are described as natural ingredients and the second half safe synthetics. but what are safe synthetics? 

Safe synthetics are not as black and white as you think. yes a lot of cosmetics include toxins even lush's but as you may have noticed a lot of things in life include toxins. The difference is cosmetics don't have to put a warning sign on like you would have to with any aerosol can or you know most things. By noticing things like this you can be referred to as chemical phobic, unable to believe something is safe just because they say it is. On the contrary I think it is healthy to question what is written on the products we use, why not the average woman applies foundation everyday. Within the beauty industry words like natural and organic are thrown around a lot and we just believe it but in reality very few products actually are, this is just packaging. So if you can't prove if anything is really natural and organic then it just might be a good idea to find out which has less toxins/ chemicals. Or even which chemicals are safer to use. On the other hand you have 'product proud people' who know that REACH (the organisation who regulate cosmetics) have a standard of safety and that the quality of the product is more important than how many chemicals are in there. On this side of the argument it is also known that organic and natural products find it difficult to produce matt and high pigmented products which as a make-up artist will affect your purchases. However no matter if your chemical phobic or product proud all consumer product manufacturers do have to pass a certain guidelines that say they are safe.

After questioning and researching wether or not Lush's products are quite as organic and animal friendly as they say it turns out they really are putting in their best efforts but to create an effective product it can't be 100% organic as it simply won't do its job swell. I do think that as a product they have considered both the quality of the product and the quality of the ingredients and come to a fair middle ground. So to my next question, is 25g of this stuff worth £5.50, when you can get a bag of sugar and a jar of coconut oil for under £10 and make at least a kilogram of an equivalent product. This is of course is only one woman's opinion and making it this way will not leave your lips tasting of candy floss but instead coconuts. I am going to use this product to shoot with as the texture and vibrance of it is perfect for my idea.

Lip art

In Sarahs lesson we learnt about lip art this is a perfect example of how I can highlight an area of the face. I worked on Emma as my model it was really just playing around with techneques and practicing attention to detail. For the look below I bored her lips from a dark blue/ purple M.A.C lip liner and blend into a bright pink M.A.C lipstick then added gems to the bow of her upper lip and the centre of her bottom lip.

My response to lip art:

At the beginning of this lesson A light bulb turned on above my head. Why not use a product that helps create perfect lip art as lip art? Im talking about a lip scrub. One of my favourite items in my make-up kit that not many people use regularly. I find it peculiar that it isn't trending more especially as plump lips are so in fashion. I personally make my own lip scrub with sugar and coconut oil, but it will be interesting to use a product by a company and possibly compare the results from a home remedy. The other thing about a lip scrub is it has a beautiful crystallised texture that could make beautiful lip art if applied as a form of make-up.

Editorial Images - Inspiration

Janica Compte for The Fashion Hunters by Rachel Marques

Our first task for this project was to find editorial images that we liked and could inspire our work. When I found these images I looked no further, there is nothing I can fault. The colours, composition and precision is immaculate. This has given me more of an idea what I would like to do for my first shoot. I already knew that I would like to use a product that is used for a specific area of the face and have a basic make-up around it. This has made me think I would like to use something to highlight the shape of the lips or eyes. Looking at this editorial I am really trying to understand what is it that makes it stand out to me above other editorials I have looked at. I think that the model herself, Janica Compte, brings a lot to these images her dark skin tone means the make-up appears much brighter in contrast to her rich skin. Having the background as a flat bright primary colour is an unusual approach to editorial but it finishes the look. I need to consider my background colour when shooting as it won't necessarily co-inside or suit my images.

Project Brief: Beauty is now

'With the boom in online media, now more than ever, freelance make-up artists are contributing to online magazines or even developing their own online magazines and blogs in the effort to better promote themselves as a brand. Equally, make-up artists working for cosmetics brands are now expected to maintain the blogs for that brand and often the responsibility extends to the written word for all online media platforms.' - mycourse

'Beauty is now' is my optional unit this year and in our first lesson we were briefed on our project. As explained in the quote above it is of growing importance that as make-up artists we are able to present our ideas, designs and thoughts on social media. It may not have been before but this is now seen as vital element of being successful within our industry. To complete The brief we must create a website similarly to the way we will when we begin our careers. This website can be interpreted as a online portfolio, a large online article or more of a how to page. The Brief is largely up for interpretation. A big part of how we each individually interpret the brief will be based on which of the themes we choose from.

We have Five themes to choose from:

·      Skin

·      Organic beauty

·      Its all about the product

·      Structure and form

·      Beauty is boring

Reflecting on the Brief:

Initially when responding to a brief there is always a lot of ideas floating about, excitement and nerves all at once. I always want to start shooting immediately, however like anything in life you need to start with the basics. In this circumstance the basics being what theme am I going to choose and what am I going to name my blog.

I have chosen 'It's all about the product'. To start with I considered 'organic beauty' but I quickly realised that my interest in organic beauty is for organic products so I can explore this theme more specifically with 'about the product'. Once I had chosen my theme i found the name for my blog came quite naturally. The name of my blog is going to be called 'making it up' this is my fun little spin on words. The meaning of the words being that the blog will be talking about make-up and weather or not they make up the facts they use to sell the product.