Yihua Yao

In the better live unit, I chose makeup breakdown as my project. As a student of Hair, Makeup and Prosthetics for Performance, I have always been passionate about makeup. I chose this project because this project pays more attention to the practice and design of fashion makeup. I think that in each project, I can better improve my makeup technology. I am familiar with the basic theories and techniques of consolidating makeup. Later, he laid the foundation as a makeup artist. At the same time, I can also have more opportunities to practice my makeup techniques.

In the previous course, I learned some theoretical knowledge about make-up, such as skin color, trimming, etc. Although I have been exposed to some theoretical knowledge in my professional courses, I still learned a lot of new knowledge in this process. Every make-up artist has their
own custom-made make-up mode. During the communication with the lecturer, I learned a lot of makeup tips, which helped me a lot.
The topics in the following courses are about fashion mistake and imperfection. Around these two themes, we need to use some unconventional cosmetics to create 3d makeup. Unconventional cosmetics refers to all the items that can be used in life to create, which is very interesting. Fashion mistake and imperfection I think these two concepts are closely related to the diversity and tolerance mentioned in the previous lecture.
In the final design, I chose imperfection as my theme. I don’t think beauty should be defined. Everyone’s aesthetic is non-stop, and natural definition of perfection is also different. You cannot use the same judging criteria to evaluate beauty and limit beauty. Beauty should be a manifestation of many forms. I want to explain imperfection with a more positive attitude. Imperfection is special and unique. In my creative process, I use the combination of color blocks and lines to convey that beauty should not be restricted. Beauty is like flowers, releasing charm in a variety of poses, colors, and environments. At the same time, I hope that people can open their minds and tolerate the existence of different beauty. Receive your own ‘imperfection’.
In general, I enjoy this project very much. I not only improved my makeup skills, but also expressed the conceptual knowledge I learned before with my own creation. This project is a good summary of the better live unit, and it also has a positive impact on my future makeup studies.

In this unit of Better Live, three themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility are brought out by fashion. Understand the issues behind fashion that are easily overlooked. This unit is excellent for me to learn how to guide the development of fashion positively. Before this unit, my understanding of fashion was superficial. This unit gave me a more in-depth and deeper understanding of fashion, and also realized that fashion has a high impact on our lives. At the same time, I am also reflecting on my wrong consumption concept of fashion.

The concept of sustainability I will not associate it with fashion before this unit. After listening to lectures and doing some research, I realized that I have no idea of the impact on the environment of the fashion industry. Fast fashion, cheap clothes often attract me to buy, but many clothes will be thrown away by me a few times. This kind of non-environmental protection behaviour not only exists in me; it is universal. Many people actually do not understand how the fashion industry will affect the environment.Moreover, changing this situation requires the efforts of the whole society. It is necessary to use the power of the media to let people understand what sustainable fashion is, to fundamentally conceptualize people’s bad consumption habits. The fashion industry needs to seek how to use a more environmentally friendly production system. Whether using environmentally friendly fabrics or recycling clothes is a good measure. Changes have been made from the individual to the industry. I believe that fashion sustainability will become more and more perfect, and the earth’s ecological environment will become better and better.

Under the influence of the era of globalization, the diversity of the fashion industry has dramatically increased. The importance of diversity in the fashion industry in recent years can be seen not only from the racial level but also from the cultural level. I feel fortunate that I can learn in such an environment where people with different cultural backgrounds can be reached, which has given me much insight. As a future makeup artist, people with different skin tones and body shapes will be of great help to my makeup skills. I will be familiar with the future working environment in advance. The increase in diversity can also be said to increase people’s inclusiveness. Facing different cultures, people respond with tolerance and respect. In fact, I think that whether sustainability and diversity want to develop better is based on social responsibility. Only when the whole society realizes the importance of these and realizes that only the actions of each component of society can make the world change. Better.

In this unit, I learned a lot and reflected a lot and realized that everyone’s actions in daily life would affect the world. To enhance our responsibility to society and make changes in the core meaning of the better live unit.

In this unit, I watched a lot of online lectures, and I learned a concept that is relatively new to me, sustainability fashion. These two lectures, power and culture gave me a more comprehensive understanding of this concept.

Sustainability is a concept that is proposed to meet human survival needs and the pursuit of quality of life in a limited space and resources without destroying the ecological balance. I was shocked that the fashion industry would be one of the most polluting industries in the world. According to the lecture, 75% of our clothes will be wasted, and it takes a long time to degrade a piece of clothes. Such a situation can be analyzed from the change in consumer culture. Fashion is a part of the culture. Fashion provides a lot of creative industries for employment and is an important part of the cultural economy. In the past 20 years, there have been many fast fashion brands. Good quality and cheap products have attracted consumers to buy clothes frantically. Fast fashion companies have also seized this consumer psychology and increased mass production. The substantial economic benefits brought by fashion make people ignore the culture behind fashion.

I did some research. In fact, the fashion industry has paid more and more attention to sustainability in recent years. Francois Souchet, the head of the Make Fashion Circular project initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, analyzed sustainable fashion using the concept of the circular economy. He mentioned:

“There are three main principles in the circular economy. The first point is to avoid pollution and waste from the beginning of the design process; the second point is to increase the utilization rate of products, which can also bring higher profits; the third point is to carry out Continuous recycling, and the repeated use and recycling of natural resources. “After Gucci announced that it would no longer use animal fur fabrics and switched to sustainable and environmentally friendly artificial leather, many fashion companies have also begun to attach importance to the sustainability of fashion Sex effort. For example, fashion companies study more environmentally friendly and recyclable fabrics. Fashion companies are showing their attitudes towards sustainability in their way. Fashion companies are using their power to guide the public to change the current consumer culture.

This is the power of the company. People are also using their ways to support the development of sustainability fashion. For example, the newly-raised second-hand retro shops have been sought after by many young people, and the recycling of clothes is a manifestation of the circular economy. There are many stakeholders in the entire supply chain of the fashion industry, and in achieving sustainable fashion from individuals to companies to the government must make changes, while using the power of the media to make more people aware of sustainable fashion. The importance of a better life for human.

Rreferences

Lau, J. (2020) ‘ Cultural Sustainability’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion,18 February.

Julia Crew.(2020) ‘power’[Lecture].Better Lives, London College of Fashion,14 February

Ellenmacarthurfoundation.org. n.d. Circular Fibres Initiative. [online] Available at: <https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-work/activities/make-fashion-circular> [Accessed 8 May 2020].