Reflection 3 – Final project
As my Better Lives choice, I decided to take part in the Make-up Breakdown project. My main motivation was the fact that I am a part-time luxury beauty assistant. Thus, I thought this choice would facilitate my competences in the work environment. Additionally, as I study Fashion Styling in Production, I found this project as beneficial in case if I needed make-up for my photoshoots and would not be able to find a suitable artist, I could potentially do one on my own.
However, Make-up Breakdown turned out to be much more than that. It not only fulfilled all of the functions mentioned above but also made me think about sustainability, diversity and social responsibility, all of which will be discussed in the analysis of my final outcome below.
Due to lockdown caused by COVID-19, the form of the project was changed from group work into an individual one. Even though I felt quite down about this fact (I enjoyed the workshops and collaboration with other students), I managed to stay motivated and come up with an original idea. While collecting initial inspiration, I had to consider what mediums I have available to use at home. It was caused mainly by the fact that, bearing in mind the concept of sustainability, I did not want to order items online, especially because it raises additional virus risk because of the delivery process.
Therefore, I got inspired by the self-adhesive pearls I once bought for another university project but eventually decided not to use them then. Those small ornaments reminded me of classic Chanel necklaces, which I used as a main source of inspiration. Bearing in mind the concept of fashion mistake which was covered during workshops, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and, instead of applying a few pearls here and there, create a design that would enable a more conceptual expression. Finally, I used the pearls as interchanging elements that would replace other cosmetics to come up with an aesthetic yet asymmetrical design.
Bearing in mind the concepts of social responsibility and diversity, it got me thinking who the statistical Chanel customer would be. I figured that a stereotypical image of such would be a higher class middle-aged white women. Then, I started analysing the tall and slender young models that Chanel would typically use, again noticing lack of range in there. This way, I started thinking that even though essentially I was not too enthusiastic about becoming my own model (as in quarantine I have no possibility of involving anyone else in the process), it is beneficial towards promoting both of those aspects.
Finally, I came up with a classy yet creative outcome which fully satisfies me. While creating, I incorporated other techniques learnt during the workshops such as colour matching and contouring. I noticed that even though the probability of error was big, considering no supervision and lack of face-to-face technical help, I enjoyed the process. I think that this observation is the most beneficial for me in my future practice as a stylist as it enabled me to fight with my biggest fear, which is a fear of mistake.