Blog 2 – Creative Practice Refelction
After watching the Better Lives lectures, it has inspired my way of thinking even more when it comes to how I want to pursue work in hair, makeup and prosthetics.
Even before watching the lectures, diversity has been something of interest to me but now, my interest has become even stronger. Diversity has been a strong topic in the fashion industry in the recent years and has come a long way from where it began, yet there is still so much to do and improve upon. Having worked as a supporting artist, I have seen how some hair and makeup artists have struggled with working on people of colour (unless they themselves are poc). Moreover, in one of the lectures, it was shown how for one fashion show, a model showed how they avoided styling her as no one knew how to work with her hair type. This has sparked me even more to want to learn how to work with Afro-Caribbean hair as it’s often something people without this hair type struggle immensely with. I think it’s important to make everyone feel included and not to feel as if their being is something that’s difficult to work with.
Similarly, this is the case with skin colour too as people will tend to be comfortable and know how to work within a certain range of tones and then struggle with shades lighter or darker. In the recent years, makeup brands have been making more foundation shades to suit a wider audience as those on the ends of the scale – whether it be extremely light or extremely dark – struggle to find makeup that matches their colour well. This has already gained so much positivity as brands work towards creating products to be more inclusive.
Many industries, including the fashion industry, are also working towards becoming more and more sustainable in the way products are made, used and recycled. As a makeup artist, I want as many of the products to be vegan and not tested on animals but there are some things that aren’t vegan that could be considered more sustainable. For example, using gelatin for prosthetics as they give a closer to realistic finish, it can be frozen to last longer, it’s a cheaper option and it can also be remelted down and used again. This material could be considered to be more sustainable because of its ability to be used again and again, whilst products such as silicon cannot be reused.
In aims to be more sustainable in my practice, I think it’s very important to be conscious of the products I choose and how I use them so I don’t have large amounts of unnecessary waste. Before the Easter break, in Jeanette’s wig making classes, she mentioned how over time and practice, you’ll learn how to cut terylene in a way to produce less and less waste with the product. Small things like this can go a long way to make the way you use things more sustainable.