Kenza Seidlitz

During the better lives unit, we have thoroughly explored the themes of sustainability, social responsibility and diversity. On the Make-up Break Down course and in the making of my final project, I was keen on mainly focusing on the social responsibility theme as the main message behind my project, as well as including diversity and sustainability in its process. Our assignment was to create a makeup look based on imperfections and the fashion mistake. We were able to include items or materials found around the house in order to create our final look.

For my final makeup look, I was inspired to highlight skin imperfections though texturising the skin with natural elements and highlighting our human nature in a world where perfection is the new normal. I wanted my look to be diverse, made with sustainable products, with a message that is based on social responsibility. I started the look by applying a low coverage vegan based foundation, and creating depth in the eyes and cheeks with bronzer (also a vegan formula). This would let some of my own imperfections shine through, without covering them too much. I then used some avocado, cocoa powder and beetroot extract to create a texturised film on my face, mimicking damaged, scarred and imperfect skin. I topped of the look by applying lettuce leaves on my eyebrows to blend in the already green colour palette and enhance to natural focus of the look. Using fruits and vegetables in the project was important to me, because it can show that creativity can go beyond the normal and can be sustainable at the same time. The message of my project is that imperfections are beautiful, and should be normalised since we live in a world where the norm is perfect skin that can be easily edited or smoothed over by easily accessible technological tools. If you take one scroll through any social media app, perfect features and airbrushed skin is all you can see. For this project, I was really amazed how it put me out of my comfort zone and made me look at makeup in a different light: a tool of creativity and a boundary pushing practice. Trying to make a creative makeup look with the limited resources I had at home was definitely a challenge, but it was a lot of fun and I found a whole new element of inspiration by looking at everyday objects in creative light. As a stylist, I will always get to work with makeup artists, and having experienced their practice for this unit has definitely made me look at makeup artistry in a more creative way and has also made me more confident in my own make up application. 

We were all able to share our final looks on a padlet and seeing the other’s students different perspective on the better lives themes was very interesting. The whole unit has enforced my skills to think and work differently than before, being aware of the important issues it highlights.

When we were first introduced to the better lives unit, I was quite confused on it’s structure and purpose to our current course and in the development of our skills but I was quickly intrigued by all the different themes that the lectures explored and immediately understood the importance and beneficial gain we would draw from this unit. I was familiarised with important topics such as sustainability, technology, culture, power and inclusivity. I immediately gained a better understanding how these themes affect our perspectives on life, not only in connection to the fashion industry but also in other aspects of our lives, like social interaction and our way of thinking. All the themes that were explored are crucial in today’s way of thinking and will affect my perspective and my working ability in the future. For example, the sustainability lecture has not only made me more self-aware in my everyday choices in fashion but has also enabled me to inform others and make them aware of the environmental, cultural and economical impact sustainability can create. It has really inspired me to make a change in dome old habits of mine, and taking the knowledge I gained to make better choices in the future. 

With my BA course being fashion styling and production, we had already touched the importance of sustainability in that part of the industry, so when it was time to choose a new course for the better lives unit, I was very intrigued by Make Up Break Down, not just because of my love for make up but mainly because I was curious how that side of the industry could relate to the three main themes of the better lives unit: Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Diversity. During the course, we explored subjects such as fashion mistakes and imperfections. I found the imperfections theme quite interesting because we live in a world where perfection is the norm and it is rare to see flaws and imperfections being highlighted across social media or even in everyday life. With easy access technology and editing tools, imperfect skin and asymmetric features are quite retouched and erased, setting unrealistic beauty standards across every platform. As mentioned in the better lives lectures, technology has a very big impact on our society and in the scheme of social responsibility, it is important that we are reminded that imperfections are normal and people shouldn’t feel ashamed or insecure about them. And that is something that came hand in hand with the Makeup Break Down course and the better lives themes. But retouching and technology tools aren’t always used in a negative context. We had an activity during our course where we contoured our faces using contrasting colours using a professional color wheel, and then edited the photo in black and white to reshape the face and change our view on the different features our face had. In conclusion, in this course I was able to explore different themes of the better lives unit and how they relate to my chosen course for this unit, and how these themes changed my perspective and way to work.

What made me choose to attend Lorraine Gamman’s lecture on Empathy is that it’s an emotion that we feel and deal with everyday. I was very curious how she would connect it with fashion and the better lives unit, so that is what immediately drew me in to that subject. 

Just a few minutes in, she immediately connected empathy and the arts, saying that most artworks, like theatre, film, paintings, and other forms of art often make you change your perspective and put you in the other’s shoe, showing you their side of the story and point of view, where you can then relate and feel empathy towards them or their situation. 

She then explains the different ways to work with, “research” people in four ways: discovery, immersion, connection and detachment,. I thought this was quite interesting because I feel like people already do this instinctively out of curiosity when meeting someone new or trying to create a connection with someone- we ultimately want to put ourselves in their shoes to get to know them better. 

The lecturer actually has PHD in Shoplifting, and has worked with prisoners in the prison system before. She also set up her own Design Against Crime research centre, which I actually found fascinating because I’ve always been very curious about the psychology behind crime. They use special techniques to help create the habit of empathy there. One of those techniques was active listening, by repeating what you hear to the person so they feel heard and understood. It makes them feel like they are leading the discussion.

In the arts, there are multiple projects and exhibitions that were designed so that other people could find and feel empathy for other people’s stories and situations, the lecturer also did a prison exhibitions at central saint martins where students could listen to the prisoners stories and have a better understanding for their situations. I actually attended a blind exhibition a few years ago, where they make you go through a pitch black room, with everyday items and situations, so that you could get a better understanding how blind people navigate through life, and understand the challenges they face on the daily. This lecture reminded me of this experience and I was able to relate to these people’s situations a lot more, and feel empathy because I know knew what their daily life was like. Exhibitions like these, whether it’s in fashion or in another field are so important for people to change their perspectives and look at other people in a different lens.

I think that instinctively, when we hear or find out about a certain person’s situation, we sometimes don’t always react with empathy immediately, because we don’t always understand certain things and then to judge before we take the time to put ourselves in different people’s shoes. After this lecture, I do have more of an urge to try and understand somebody’s struggle, story or situation with more of an open mind and a different perspective.