Chieh-Lin Wu

My chosen lecture is makeup breakdown. The reason why I made this decision was that I wanted to learn some makeup techniques. I personally had never done any makeup on my own for either myself or someone else, so I thought learning some makeup skills would be quite useful for both my personal life and uni projects. After all these weeks of sessions, I would say I did gain very helpful and useful tips and knowledge that can benefit my future work.

For my final project, I chose Imperfection as the theme. I looked into the meaning of the word and immediately thought of my friend, Albee. She always complains about her freckles on both of chicks. She thinks the freckles are the defects on her face. Not like in the western countries, Asian people don’t really like their freckles. They think freckles are the sign of aging. On the contrary, westerners appreciate the beauty of freckles and even see them as the character of a person. Due to this appreciation, about five years ago, the freckles makeup started to become a trend. Even till now, fake freckles can still be seen in fashion magazines frequently. Therefore, this concept became the starting point of my final project.

Another idea that I found it related to Imperfection was cracks. A crack on any object can often be seen as a blemish. However, sometimes, this kind of blemish is possibly seen as art or a kind of beauty. Some art pieces like vases and ceramics came to my thought. They might not be perfect, but their imperfections are still being appreciated. Thus, I wanted to combine the concepts of freckles and cracks to create my final look.

My chosen lecture is makeup breakdown. The reason why I made this decision was that I wanted to learn some makeup techniques. I personally had never done any makeup on my own for either myself or someone else, so I thought learning some makeup skills would be quite useful for both my personal life and uni projects. After all these weeks of sessions, I would say I did gain very helpful and useful tips and knowledge that can benefit my future work.

For my final project, I chose Imperfection as the theme. I looked into the meaning of the word and immediately thought of my friend, Albee. She always complains about her freckles on both of chicks. She thinks the freckles are the defects on her face. Not like in the western countries, Asian people don’t really like their freckles. They think freckles are the sign of aging. On the contrary, westerners appreciate the beauty of freckles and even see them as the character of a person. Due to this appreciation, about five years ago, the freckles makeup started to become a trend. Even till now, fake freckles can still be seen in fashion magazines frequently. Therefore, this concept became the starting point of my final project.

Another idea that I found it related to Imperfection was cracks. A crack on any object can often be seen as a blemish. However, sometimes, this kind of blemish is possibly seen as art or a kind of beauty. Some art pieces like vases and ceramics came to my thought. They might not be perfect, but their imperfections are still being appreciated. Thus, I wanted to combine the concepts of freckles and cracks to create my final look.

When I was testing the makeup look, something went wrong. I used a blue eyeliner pencil for the freckles because that was what I could get from home. However, due to my poor skill, the freckles were too big and in weird shapes. Eventually, they turned out to look like the dots on blue cheese, rather than tiny cute freckles. I was disappointed at first, but then I thought this could be a part of Imperfection. This is exactly a good example for imperfection, isn’t it? So, those imperfect blue dots became my new design for the look. As for the cracks, I used some Vaseline to attach a few strings on the face. The strings lying on the blue dots looked like the cracks on a vase. I think they worked out better than I expected.

Within the whole process, the biggest reward for myself is to gain from unexpected happening. I think part of the credit should be taken by the theme I’ve chosen because it is a topic that can be express unlimitedly. What I learned from this is don’t deny your mistake at once. Take a step back and look it from another angle, then you might see it differently. Also, I am really glad that I was able to use the skills I learned from the makeup breakdown sessions for my final look. I would never think of using strings with Vaseline as the kits if I didn’t join the class. Using unconventional objects to create a makeup look is the most interesting knowledge I’ve learned from this Better Lives unit.

Through the makeup break down sessions, I’ve obtained some useful and basic techniques of makeup application. I am a person who never do makeup on myself and not to mentioned on anybody else. Thankfully, through the sessions, I finally got the chances to practice and the outcomes were better than I expected.

The first session we had was to remove makeup of others correctly. Before that, the tutor delivered a presentation about the relation between skin types and skincare products. It felt really weird to touch another person’s skin. The skin was softer than I thought. It might sound easy to just remove makeup from one’s face, but for someone who had never done makeup it is not that simple. Especially I did not want to damage the face that didn’t belong to me, so I had to be extra careful. To know the skin type of the model and how to clean up different areas of the face are things that need to be taken note.

Another week we had the session of how to do smoky eyes. To be honest, I was a bit nervous before this class because I knew we were going to do on each other’s face and I was very worried about I might make my partner’s face look like a ghost. However, or I should say fortunately, the smoky eyes I created didn’t turn out that bad! Well, I was lucky because my partner was a makeup student, so she gave me some instructions when I was doing it. I think the biggest thing I learned on that day was not simply how to do smoky eyes, but how important it is to let your model feel comfortable. It was because when another person was coloring my eyelids, she poked my eyes so hard that I felt quite uncomfortable. Therefore, from this experience, I told myself always ask how the model feel.

In summer term, due to Covid-19, everyone could only do their works from home. We were asked to use daily objects we could get at home to creative two looks with the themes ‘Imperfection’ and ‘Fashion Mistake’. It was a fun process to create these looks. The process did make me think outside the box. I tried hard to look for things I could potentially put on the face. I got some stickers, masking tape and some kits borrowed from my mom. This activity totally made me look at makeup differently. I wouldn’t think of using objects as makeup to create a look before this session. I found this can be a very useful tip for any creative projects. After all the makeup breakdown sessions, I can’t say I am an expert in makeup now. However, with the information I’ve received, I am sure I can take the knowledge to go further. As a photography student, it is always good to know how to do some makeup to in case there will be any situations that a makeup artist is missing.

Through the lecture, it really made me have a think of the power within the industry and how it has affected the people from varied fields in different positions. First of all, the lecture started with the power of fashion. Fashion is what I approach daily and maybe I am so used to it that I almost oversee the meaning that it brings and the language behind it. Clothing itself is a silent but very powerful visual mark of identity. It can visually represent our status, position, ethnicity and specialty. Thus, what we wear stand for who we are.

Moving on to the power of money. There are 75 billion human beings on Earth. Within the 75 billion people, the property of 64 people is equal to 3.5 billion people’s estate. A CEO simply needs 4 days to earn the same amount of money that a worker earns for his whole life. In the industry, the rich gets richer but those from the bottom of the production line are still in a poor condition. Apparently, the earning money is not being shared equally. I would say the companies should reconsider the pay of the workers. However, the politicians and manufacturers say to raise the wage of the workers will have great impact on the economic system of a country. Even though I still think there must be a way to solve the problem if those who have the power can try to put humility in the first place instead of profit.

The power of media is extremely influential to the society nowadays. Advertisements can be seen everywhere. On social media, there are not only advertisements but also influencers who make their audience want to purchase products they show in their posts. This situation results in the massive consumption of clothing. I suggest the influencers should use their influential power to disseminate better options of consuming.

Power does not only come from the head leaders of the industry. Customers can also make their voice through the product they purchase. Each product a customer buys will decide the trend. The companies listen to their customers so we should be more thoughtful when we buy things since that is the chance for us to use our power. Consumer boycott is another way for consumers to use their power. When there are any inappropriate conditions of a brand, the consumers can say no to it through a boycott in order to let the brand face the problem improve itself. Protests is a more extreme way to amply thoughts. Through protests, people push pressure on the government and the industry to oversee their moves. Throughout all, it all starts with personal act. One might seem small but never neglect the power of an individual. As a student of fashion photography, I should be aware of the meaning expressed through the images. Changing consumer’s buying behavior and their attitudes toward fashion consumerism will be key factors to consider about.