Blog 3 – Make-up Breakdown
I’m currently on the hair, make-up and prosthetics pathway, when I was deciding on which better lives project to choose I was focused on which project I felt would assist my personal development in my chosen pathway the most and help me get a better understanding of the industry I am going into which is why I chose make-up for fashion. It is my understanding that the more well-rounded I am as a make-up artist, the more opportunities I will have in the future and the more knowledge I will be able to take into the industry with me. I have previously done a level three course in male-up artistry and a foundation degree, but I think sometimes the more advanced things get you start to forget the basics, which is one thing I felt this module helped me with. Lessons on skills such as contouring and smokey eyes really helped me develop my make-up technique and let me experiment on concepts I haven’t for a while, as well as theory including facial anatomy and colour theory.
Our project outcome was focused on imperfection and fashion mistake, which connected really well with the better lives themes that I found most influential, representation and diversity, which allowed me to explore these on a deeper level and see how my creative practise can contribute to these themes. The lectures I watched talked about how when the fashion industry is inclusive and represents true world vision, we change the worlds perspective on human difference. One of my peers did their final design on imperfection inspired by Vitiligo, she used colours in the formation similar to that seen in Vitiligo to represent the beauty and power within it, taking inspiration as well from model Winnie Harlow. This is such a beautiful example of how by representing the beauty in what others may see as imperfection can affect how the world perceives it and how individuals feel about themselves. This really made me see the bigger picture of what I can change and achieve in my industry by showing diversity, being inclusive and thoughtful of how I represent minorities.
I’ve done a little bit of work on fashion make-up in previous courses but not really got very into it and struggled a lot with conceptual designs, I work a lot better on literal concepts and character designs but I feel like this module aided my understanding of the process behind conceptual designs and where to get inspiration from a lot. We had to do a 5 slide powerpoint about the process behind our final projects, and I don’t feel like mine was great however I gained a lot personally from watching my peers present theirs and it gave me an insight into their thought processes which also then inspired mine. I’m happy I chose this project and really feel it aided my personal development both through my chosen pathway, my thought processes and understanding of impact of diversity and representation in the fashion industry.
10th May 2020 @ 9:48 pm
Ellie Short is studying the course ‘Hair, Make-Up and Prosthetics” and she reflected very well on her Make-Up For Fashion project. She portrayed her passion for Make-Up and underlined the fact that she has previous experience in the industry – a level three course in Make-Up Artistry and a foundation degree. Furthermore, she pointed out that being part of the project improved her practical skills. She said that she improved her skills contouring and creating smokey eyes. She also mentioned that she got to experiment on concepts she hasn’t worked on for a while and that she learned more about theories such as facial anatomy and colour. The project also helped her to get a deeper understanding of the theme diversity and how it is connected to her project. In her opinion, diversity was the most influential of the Better Lives themes and that it connected very well with the outcome of her project – which was focused on imperfection and fashion mistakes. She stated that she was able to realise that “the beauty in what others may see as imperfection can affect how the world perceives it and how individuals feel about themselves.” She vocalised that it helped her to see what she can change and achieve in her industry – “by showing diversity, being inclusive and thoughtful of how I represent minorities.” Therefore she portrayed the theme Diversity and inclusivity in a thoughtful way. She was very honest about her previous development in Fashion Make-Up courses and said that she struggled with conceptual designs before but that the project helped her to understand the process behind conceptual designs and she also got more sources of inspiration. She mentioned that the work of her peers inspired her a lot and that the project in general helped her personal development and improved her understanding of diversity and the representation of it in the fashion industry. Unfortunately, the only Better Lives themes she connected to her course was Diversity – she did not reflect on the themes Social Responsibility and Sustainability. She could have included how sustainable Make-Up is – from the products to the packaging. And she could have give voice to her position in the Make-Up industry connected to Social Responsibility – meaning in what way her practice as a Make-Up artist makes her socially responsible and influences the world around her. However, as someone who is not educated about Make-Up and the practices behind it, Ellie gave me a good insight into the industry and I could emphasise with her passion for Make-Up and her learning process. It was great that she mentioned her peers work as well. I was impressed that she has previous experience in the industry and studied other courses – but still decided to seek other forms of inspiration and study other courses to improve her skills and widen her horizon. I could tell that she has put a lot of thought into the theme diversity in connection with her project.