Blog post 3
As a Better Lives option, my first choice was ‘Make Up Break Down’. I have always been interested in how makeup can visually complete an outfit, being a Styling and Production student I felt like it could be beneficial for my future practice, to get to know the make-up world and tricks a little closer.
Overall, this unit has not only taught me the basics of a well-done makeup, which fits well to a certain type of beauty, it has also broadened my creativity and imagination, when it comes to creating a whole makeup look from scratch. This is something I can easily benefit from later on, for instance to communicate better with a makeup artist.
For my final outcome of the project I have decided to research on the theme of ‘Imperfection’ and develop a final look based on that. Even though my final outcome wasn’t based on personal experience, I feel like it was an important factor in developing my look. When I was younger I used to be bullied for my bushy eyebrows and acne. Growing up with social media so present in our lives, there is a desire to look perfect, almost like a doll with no imperfections on their face. My first concept, which we have developed through an online class was concentrated on my journey with my own flaws. Later on I decided to do more research on the theme of imperfections and moved on with my ideas for this project.
When doing my research I chose to explore the skin condition called vitiligo. I was thinking of how can I celebrate this condition through the makeup look. I was looking back at the lesson we had on the colour theory and marking our bones and flesh with various colours. And then, I felt that the best way to approach and beautifully represent this condition is by recreating the distinctive patches on the skin, but with a twist- using lots of colour. This way, I was able to represent it positively, wanting to show it is not a condition to be ashamed of, cover, but take pride in. My project is an homage and a celebration of vitiligo and any kind of difference and imperfection people may have.
This project has shown me how little we really need to create a defined look. Last few weeks of it had been done online due to the global pandemic of coronavirus. At first, I was really nervous and concerned of doing one with not many products, at home. But then, when I started to brainstorm and mix media throughout editing and creating my look I have become more confident. This taught me a valuable lesson, that sometimes, when doing a creative project all we need is simple household objects and a little brainstorming, and this is a lesson I want to carry out into my future in the fashion industry.
11th May 2020 @ 1:28 pm
Blog 4- Peer Review
Considering I did Fashion Activism and Creative Direction for this Better Lives unit, which I found to relate very much to my Public Relations and Communications course, I decided to read about a project undertaken within Make Up Break Down, specifically by Maja Majchrzak. She also is a student that hadn’t previously considered make up within the fashion industry so I was curious to see her approach and how she related the outcome of her project to the Better Lives themes.
After exploring imperfection, in terms of beauty, Maja settled on representing a particular skin condition. ’An homage and celebration of Vitiligo and any kind of difference and imperfection people may have’, is how she described her project. She used colours to replace the patches of skin pigmentation to depict the condition in a beautiful and positive way.
Although Maja doesn’t directly address the Better Lives themes, diversity is clearly implied by accepting those with a unique attribute. I feel that sustainability could have been easily touched upon if she mentioned the environmental consequences that makeup has and that she would make an effort to only use products that are environmentally friendly and/or cruelty-free.
In conclusion, I have found it interesting to think about how diversity can be represented through makeup by focussing on a barely mentioned skin defect. I usually only consider this theme in relation to models selected by brands that are of a variety of ethnicities.