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In 10 weeks time, the makeup team will be participating in a ‘Glow Up’ inspired, in-house competition. ‘Glow Up’ "is a British reality television competition on BBC Three devised to find new makeup artists. Originally hosted by Stacey Dooley, the first series premiered on 6 March 2019. The contestants take part in weekly challenges to progress through the competition, which are judged by industry professionals Dominic Skinner and Val Garland, as well as weekly guest stars." In this tv show, each week there is ten aspiring makeup artists who are judged on their creative skills and ability to perform under pressure.

In these weeks before the competition, a lot of collaboration needs to be done to execute a collaborative in-house makeup competition. This competition is for us to showcase our creativity and technical skills in makeup artistry. We also need to collaborate as a team with clear communication so that we can plan and schedule the event. As a team, we need to adhere to a specific theme, which we will have meetings on, then we need to set a time limit so we are aware of how much time we have to complete the look. We need to work in teams with clear communication to ensure we have all the resources we need, we are aware of the health and safety precautions and we are considering our models and take care of them on competition day.

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After our first meeting as a team talking about possible themes for the competition, (‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘Grimm’s Fairytales’) I had an idea of mythical creatures/ greek mythology. I started researching some mythical creatures such as Pheonix, Faeries/ Fairies, nymphs and Gorgons. After doing more research about each mythical creature, and with opinions from peers, I am leaning more towards Gorgons such as Medusa however I will research more about Medusa before i settle on a design.

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As a makeup team, we had a meeting about picking a theme, our first ideas were ‘Grimms Fairytales’ and ‘Once Upon a Time’ which lead to picking our specific theme ‘In a Land Far Far Away’. This opens up space for more unrestricted ideas and opportunities to show as much of our creativity as possible.

After deciding our theme, I went away to do more research on possible ideas for my final makeup look and dived deep into researching Medusa as her backstory is really interesting and as I research the greek mythology of Medusa and can see how doing a Medusa inspired makeup look can help me showcase my creativity.

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week 1 - pick a theme for final project

create padlet

week 2- deciding on title for a the brief

researching ideas

week 3- start forming ideas

deciding on an idea.

body painting session

week 4- develop ideas

research character and inspiration

research makeup techniques to incorporate into the makeup.

start practicing techniques.

week 5- practical work testing out techniques for design.

experiment with the different techniques

collaboration work.

week 6- try out accessories, outfits etc.

practical work - practicing more techniques

film tiktoks for collaboration work to promote competition.

week 7- practical work - develop any techniques, finalize the makeup look.

week 8- practice final look in full prior to the competition day.

week 9- do the makeup

week 10- evaluation

project deadline

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I was researching how to incorporate snakes into the hair when I found this TikTok by the creator Lottie Eliot. She used toy plastic snakes and spray painted them gold to make a head piece with them, to then put in the hair. I love this idea as snake hair plays a bit part in Medusa’s backstory and it is the main depiction of her. I definitely want to incorporate snakes into the hair and I love the idea of spray painted toy snakes.

Lottie Eliot is a small TikTok creator who posts creative makeup looks and makes a lot of props to use for her makeup look videos. She doesn’t post very often but when she does, her makeup looks always looks good with props, accessories, costumes etc. She has inspired me to make my own prop for the competition as the diy stands out and pulls the whole makeup look together. This will also push my creativity and show that I can do more than just makeup.

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Originally a beautiful woman with a positive role

cursed by Poseidon and transformed into an monstorous gorgon with snakes in her hair.

ability to turn people to stone with just a glance.

the only gorgon to be mortal hence Poseidon's ability to cut her head off.

"She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes; unlike the Gorgons, she was sometimes represented as very beautiful." ~ Medusa | Myth & Story | Britannica

"Either due to her boastfulness or because of an ill-fated love affair with Poseidon he transformed her into a vicious monster with snakes for hair"

Source: https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Medusa/medusa.html

Researching characters before a makeup look is important because it helps understand the character’s backstory and personality which helps create a look that feels true to the role. With historical or fantasy characters like Medusa, research ensures period-appropriate or lore-consistent designs. Researching characters beforehand enhances storytelling as it helps highlight the character’s journey, emotions and transformation. - researching Medusa helps me understand the important details in her life and her transformation which gives me ideas of how to incorporate these into my makeup look.

Researching Medusa gave me a base to work around and helped spark creative ideas. It gave me inspiration on things like colour, texture and application techniques.

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I found this tiktok of a creator called Molchanova who is using lace to create a reptile skin look. I like this better than using mesh to create reptile skin as the pattern is different and its not a basic technique like using mesh as it creates a different pattern. However i would love for the reptile skin to look 3D so I will do some research on sfx but using lace would be a good idea to create a pattern over it. This has inspired me to look into different ways of completing a reptile skin look which will fit with my concept as it ties in with the snakes’ skin and also the ugly deformities that Medusa developed after she was cursed by Poseidon. There is plenty techniques I could use to create this look; mesh, lace, stencils which I’m going to look into as its time efficient and creative.

Molchanova is also a TikTok creator who posts a lot of intricate character makeup designs and also shows the process of the makeup. She is a good artist to look at for my final project as I’m also doing character work and she inspires me to research the most about my character to tie in as much detail as possible about the background of the character and to really show the story of the character in my makeup. Molchanova is also a good inspiration as she uses unusual techniques which shows her creativity and inspires me to try crazy techniques to push my creativity as much as possible.

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snake skin lips #asmr #makeup #molchanovamua #weirdcore @molchanovamua

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I made these moodboards to show inspiration and how i want to create a medusa look. Left side moodboard shows what I would like to use in the look and want to try and test how each technique will look. Right side moodboard is all the inspiration ive got from researching Medusa, like patterns and colour ways. Mood boards help visualise the character's look and gives a clearer direction for the makeup design and keeps it consistent with the character's role. Creating a medusa moodboard sparked ideas of the gold and green colour theme and also gave me snake/reptile skin texture, it also gave my ideas of a snake headpiece and gold accessories. It also helps me understand the time period of Medusa and how she was pictured in greek mythology. This will be helpful for me in the upcoming coming weeks before the competition, to look back on and get inspiration whilst building a character look. This will help me with any experimental work I do as it gives me somewhere to start and I can look at it for inspiration or as a reference for texture and colours.

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This is a face chart I made to show how my initial ideas of how to create this makeup look. This is still unfinished as i may add more once ive researched more. I’ve incorporated reptile skin and stone skin into this design aswell as the gold and green colours throughout - green contour, gold highlight and golden skin, with green and gold sharp smokey eye to make the eyes look evil and stand out. Face charts are always important for a makeup look because it shows how you want the makeup to look and you can see the look in full before doing the makeup. This face chart gives me somewhere to start with developing the makeup look and to test what things work and what looks the best for my makeup look to be the best it can be, pushing all of my creativity. This is helpful for me whilst doing experimental work for the competition as it gives me something to follow and keeps me on track of the concept, as I can look back on it and experiment with different elements, trying to improve techniques before the competition, to push my creativity to the max.

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This is the inspiration and a base dress to work from.

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Ive been searching for costume inspiration, I had an ititial idea of a green dress with gold draped fabric. I also thought it would be a good idea to incorporate gold snakes into the costume. Researching greek goddess style clothes helped me create an image in my head on how I want the dress to look and Medusa costumes have given me ideas on how to create this dress. The dress on the right is the one Im going to order, then getting gold fabric and ribbon to create a belt and a sache on the dress. I will also incorporate gold snakes into the dress. The dress needs to fit the concept of Medusa and Greek mythology, which i think the gold and greens fit the character perfectly and the draped fabric fits the Greek goddess look. Costumes are important for a makeup look as it ties the look together and helps judges understand the character and gives it an overall better look.

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Im going to purchase toy snakes like this one and spray paint them with gold paint. Im going to make a headpiece with these by glueing them onto a headband so the snakes will dangle and sit in the hair. Im also thinking of waving the hair and to give it a lot of volume which will look nice with the snakes sat in the hair and will tie the whole Medusa look together. I think creating my own headpiece will show my creativity and that I can make my own props. This will show the judges that I am capable of doing more than just makeup and the headpiece will be significant to the look as it shows exactly how Medusa is depicted and it will help the judges understand the story of my character.

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I went back to the face chart to add hair. the orange streaks are the gold snakes i want to put in the hair, with curly voluminous hair.

This face chart will help me with experimental practical work as it gives me something to go off when trying different techniques and colour ways for my final look. This will also test my creativity as I work up to the competition day as I will keep pushing myself to elevate the makeup look and incorporate as many different techniques into it that I've learnt over the past year on the course.

I've also started to create a body chart with reptile skin and stone in the skin, however i need to think on how to elevate the body makeup more. So as i practice and experiment different techniques i will add to the face and body charts until I'm happy with the design and feel comfortable doing it in time, pushing my creativity to the max.

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I did a few body painting sessions to practice painting the body with water colour face paint. I copied from a photo of a flower, trying to get the right proportions and the shadows and highlights of the flower to look as realistic as possible. The pink flower was my first attempt which I did well painting the darks and the lights however the proportions were very off due to the position the model was sat in. The orange flower was a different attempt which i did better on proportions however the shape looks cartoon-ish. The shadows and highlights on the flower was done well though. This prepared me for any body painting i may want to do in my final design as painting on the body can be trickier than the face.

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I worked as a small team to put up social media accounts to promote the competition and post the process of the makeup everyone is doing. Me and another makeup artist sat together to create a tiktok account, creating a name to go with the theme of the project and created a profile picture on Canva to match the theme. Our plan with running the tiktok account is to make videos like timelapses, process videos etc, tagging makeup products used and using hashtags to promote the videos. Collaboration work is important because it shows how i can work in a team to benefit the whole makeup team. This shows my communication and team work skills.

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I looked at the Weeping Angels Doctor Who episode for inspiration on stone statues and how to create realistic looking stone on the skin for my makeup look. This helped me with what the texture of stone statues looks like and how to make stone sfx look realistic. This also gave me ideas on how to create the stone look in ways to look realistic and with stone texture. I am going to trial and error different sfx techniques until I get a technique that I am comfortable doing and that it looks like how I want it to look. Watching this helped me get the right texture as stone isn't just grey, it had spots of light and dark, shadows and potentially cracks in it. So when i experiment with sfx it will be easier for me to understand how to give it stone texture and look realistic as possible.

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This was my first attempt at creating stone in the skin. I used Tissue and Latex straight on the skin to build up a solid lump with skin peeling around it. I then painted the middle grey stippling white and black to create stone texture - I used the Athena Palette to create a grey. Then I coloured in the skin around it and tried to create bruising around it, putting blood around the stone. Doing this i learnt that trying to create the peeling skin around it would be hard to get the right blend which would just cause stress on the day of the final look. I also dont like how the shape of the stone is circular and uniform, so in future i will make the shape less uniform so its ragged edges with different heights. I also learnt that doing it straight onto the skin is harder to get the blend, so Im going to create prosethics using a board to make them on and then stick them onto the skin.

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This is the process of creating a prosthetic for the stone using latex and tissue. I have already improved from the last practice as the shape is irregular which looks more realistic. I also found it easier to create this on a board instead of skin, which will also take up less time when doing the final look as the prosthetic is pre-made and i will only need to stick it on and add blood.

Whilst making this prosthetic, i did some research on making prosthetics with tissue and latex. I found this from

Easy SFX Prosthetics – Instructables ~

"Start by laying down a thin layer of liquid latex on your prop using a cosmetic sponge. Unroll your cotton ball and separate the fibers until you have a very thin layer of cotton. Lay down the cotton onto the wet latex, avoiding the edges of the latex, and then carefully apply another layer to the cotton to fully saturate the fibers.”

“Repeat... until you have reached your desired thickness. Face pieces will likely only need 1 or 2 layers, but body pieces can and should be thicker. The center of your prosthetic OR the edge of the wound should be the thickest point. The edge of your prosthetic should only be a very thin layer of latex.”

This was useful to read whilst making the prosthetic as i ensured i was doing everything correctly to make it look realistic as possible.

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After I created the stone prosthetic and painted it grey, then using white and black to create texture and shadows. Whilst painting this I looked at photos of stone texture to get the right texture on the prosthetic, this helped me get it to look realistic as possible.

I then stuck it onto the skin with latex to test how to apply it correctly and how it looks. I added the blood around the prosthetic without the peeling skin around it which looks way better than my first attempt.

I am happy with how this turned out and Im going to create a few prosthetics, creating different sizes and shapes for the body. This will make it easier when doing the final look as it will take less time trying to create prosthetics.

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I practiced the medusa face makeup (without the sfx) on my own face to experiment with products and see how it would look together. I did this to experiment with the colours and products I used to see if it would be efficient to use in my final look.

Products used:

-Graphtopian foundation

- Athena Palette

-UCANBE eyeshadow Palette

-RMCA powder

-Gold Highlighter

To create this makeup look I mixed my normal skin tone foundation with the gold from the athena palette to create a gold shimmery foundation. I then painted the eyebrows gold with the gold from the Athena palette, then concealed the eyelids before doing the eyeshadow. For the eyeshadow I created a green smoky eye winged look by starting with a light green and applying it on the eyelid in the orbital cavity but winging it out to where the eyebrow ends, I then added a darker green to the outer corner and in the crease to create a bit of dimension. I also added the smallest amount of green shimmer of the green eyeshadow because I want my makeup look to be shiny. I then added a brown eyeshadow to the outer corners and lash line then adding a black closer to the lash line to darken the eyes. I then used a black kohl eyeliner pencil to draw a small wing and line the eyelid to fit with my eye shape (drew a line up to the middle of my eye as my eyes are rounded). I then added gold shimmer to the corner of the eye to lighten it up, then adding a light gold shimmer eyeshadow on the brow bone to lighten it up. To finish the eyes, i used cake eyeliner to wing it out and then added a half lash to sharp the eyes.  For the contour I mixed a dark green using the Athena palette and used a piece of card to apply the contour in a straight sharp line right above the cheekbone. I then powder the whole face, so the greasepaint doesn't smudge. After that, I used a gold highlighter to highlight all the shiny areas and make the look very gold and shiny. Finally, I used the Athena palette’s green for the lips and then added a gold eyeshadow in the middle for an ombre look.

I like the colour palette I used as I really like the green and the gold look, i also like the sharpness of the eyeshadow and contour as it makes her look evil. I also like the half lashes because it makes her eyes look sharp. However, to improve the look, I need to find a better way to create a gold foundation as the Athena palette didn't mix well with the foundation. I also need to place the contour in a better place so it's right above the cheekbone. For the eyes, I need to blend better to see the contrast in colours and add darker colours to make the eyes sharp and stand out.

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Creating an order list as a small team is effective because we can ask all the other makeup artists what they need for their final makeup and as a small group putting together an order list with quantity, brand, where to order from and what the total is so that one person can order it all and be able to find it easily. team collaboration on this also ensures everyone knows what products are already available and what products are needed and it avoids unnecessary purchases, saving time and budget if those products are already available. Clear communication is needed for this collaboration task to ensure that nothing is forgotten about until too short notice when it can't be ordered in time. This shows that the makeup team is organised and everyone takes responsibility for ensuring they have what they need.

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Product

Quantity

Brand/shop

Price

Green midi dress

1

Amazon

£18.69

Animal print stencils

1

Amazon

£9.99

11pcs rubber snakes

1

Amazon

£9.99

12cs plastic snakes

1

Amazon

£9.99

Gold arm cuffs

1

Amazon

£6.78

Gold body shimmer oil

1

Amazon

£6.99

Gold hoop earrings

1

Primark

£2.99

Plastic headbands

1

Amazon

£3.59

Spray paint

2

Poundland

£2.50

£5

Eyelash extension kit (with glue)

1

TikTok

£7.65

Cat eye Strip lashes

1

Poundland

£1

Cosmopolitan triple wave curler

1

B&M

£36.99

Athena palette

1

Amazon

£12.74

UCANBE eyeshadow palette

1

Amazon

£15.29

Graphtopian foundation

1

Tilt

£35

Colour case

1

Made by Mitchell - boots

£20

Kryolan liquid latex

1

Tilt

£25.45

Ben nye stage blood

1

Tilt

£8

Ben nye black cake liner

1

Tilt

£12

Untamed eyeshadow palette

2

Primark

£3.50

£7

Black kohl eyeliner pencil

1

Bodycare

£2

Diamond shine highlighter

1

Collection

£5.99

=£264.11

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This was my first attempt at doing reptile skin body paint. I tried to free hand draw the reptile scales with greasepaint. I looked at reference photos of real snakeskin up close to try and get the right shape of the scales.

Products used:

-Athena palette

-RCMA powder

Apart from the colours I used, everything I did for this was a fail. Using greasepaint instead of water colour paint was a bad idea because it smudged easy and the colours mixed too much. My brush wasn’t thin enough, so the lines are too thick, no straight and not the right shape. Doing this in my final look would take up too much time trying to get the shape of the scales right.

In conclusion, I will not be using this in my final look, instead I will use water colour paint, and I will use a stencil. Doing this makeup has helped me learn though, and now I know how to improve it for the final look.

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After experimenting with the face makeup and not liking how the gold foundation didn't mix right, I researched how else i could make the face and body shiny and gold. I found gold body shimmer oil that would be easy to use all over the body to give a glowy look, and by mixing a tiny bit into the foundation would give the right amount of shimmer I want on the face.

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I practiced the eyeshadow of the makeup look again on a different model, so I was doing it on an eye shape other than mine which im already familiar with which made it easier.

Products used:

-UCANBE eyeshadow palette

-Ben Nye Cake eyeliner

-Loreal telescopic mascara

To create this look I concealed the eyelids before doing the eyeshadow so that it would stick. For the eyeshadow I created a green smoky eye winged look by starting with a light green and applying it on the eyelid in the orbital cavity but winging it out to where the eyebrow ends, I then added a darker green to the outer corner and in the crease to create a bit of dimension. I also added the smallest amount of green shimmer of the green eyeshadow because I want my makeup look to be shiny and shimmery. I then added a brown eyeshadow to the outer corners and lash line then adding a black closer to the lash line to darken the eyes. I then used a black kohl eyeliner pencil to draw a small wing and line the eyelid to fit with my eye shape (drew a line across the whole lash line to fit eye shape). I then added gold shimmer to the corner of the eye to lighten it up, then adding a light gold shimmer eyeshadow on the brow bone to lighten it up. To finish the eyes, i used cake eyeliner to wing it out then applied mascara to the lashes.

I like how big and bold the eyeshadow is as I want the eyes to stand out in the makeup as Medusa’s eyes are a big part of her story- being able to turn people into stone from a quick glance. I also love the colours of the eyeshadow and the green, brown, and gold blend very well. The shimmer and shine on the eye go well because I want my makeup look to be very shiny and glowy. The light gold eyeshadow on the brow bone works really well too to differentiate the eyeshadow and brow.

I would add half lashes to the look to accentuate the wing; I would also make the winged liner a little bit thicker so it can actually be seen. To make this look fit the eye shape even better, I would fill in the brows (with gold) and follow the shape of the eyeshadow with the tail of the brow so it all fits together. I also think it needs a bolder gold shimmer as this gold shimmer is not pigmented enough and won't be seen from afar.

In conclusion I’m very happy with this eyeshadow and I know what I need to add to make it the best on competition day as I didn’t have everything I would need when I practiced this eyeshadow again (half lashes). I really like the sharpness of this eyeshadow and doing it on a different model helped me get used to different eye shapes and how to do a sharp, winged, eyeshadow look on an eye shape I’m not used to- making it easier for me to do it on my model on competition day.

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Today I practiced mermaid waves in the hair using the cosmopolitan mermaid waver. To do this, I sectioned the hair into three even sections and started on the bottom layer, sectioning it and waving it from the top to bottom. I then hair sprayed the first layer and did the other two sections, hair spraying the other two sections.

I love the way this turned out as it really looks nice with the long hair, and my model on the day of the final project has long hair too. I think this will really suit the final look especially with the snake headband once that is finalised.

To make this look even better, it needs a bit more volume, so to do that I will back comb the roots in the bottom two sections to give it a bit of volume. I got advice from peers to make sure i section the hair evenly, so all strands are equal and there are no straight stragglers. This will make the hair style a bit neater. I also found waving the top section was trickiest because it's hard to get right up to the root, however hopefully with the snake head piece, it will cover up the majority of the roots.

When it comes to doing this for the final look, i feel confident enough to wave the hair and add the head piece as I’ve not chosen something too tricky to do which would get me stressed out, but I can still improve this to make sure I can get it sectioned perfectly.

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Plastic Snakes that I spray painted gold.

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For my final look, I wanted to incorporate the snakes in Medusa’s hair into my look. “She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes” ~https://www.britannica.com/topic/Medusa-Greek-mythology

With inspiration from Lottie Eliot’s TikTok that I previously linked, I bought some toy plastic snakes and spray painted them gold. I then bought a plain black plastic headband and once the spray paint dried, I hot glued them onto the headband. Doing this I faced a lot of problems, one being that some of the snakes were thicker at the head which made them heavier, however I wanted the snake heads to come down into the hair, but the tail of the snake was too thin and light to hold on. To fix this problem, I snapped the larger snakes in half to where the weight was distributed evenly to hold onto the headband. Doing this I faced a different problem with the way I glued the snakes on; I wanted majority of the snakes’ heads to go down the back of the head so they would sit nicely in the hair, however because I snapped the snakes in half, the white insides of the snakes were visible from the front of the headband and it looked tacky. To solve this, I attempted to paint any visible white plastic with gold paint, I also painted where the hot glue had dried to a white-Ish colour so that it blended and didn't look messy. This worked for the most part, however I still didn't like how the front of the headband looked, so I used some tinier snakes to glue down at the front of the headband, which made it look a lot better as from the front of the head you could see that there was snakes on the headband. One last problem I faced was that some of the snakes weren’t holding the best, and were coming lose or falling off from still being a bit heavy, and the hot glue wasn’t holding on, so I used super glue to ensure that they were definitely stuck on as the super glue was stronger.

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Overall, I am super happy with how this headband came out and I feel like it will bring the whole look together as a Medusa look isn’t Medusa without snakes in the hair. I’m also glad that I decided to make my own head piece instead of purchasing one online as I think that the Medusa head pieces that you can find online that fit in the budget are more for a glam Halloween look which is not what I want for my look. Although, I could have thought about the placement better as some of the snakes sat weirdly when I tried the headband on to get a full idea on how it looks on. Some snakes were long and sat at the back of the head nice, but some were placed too high up or intertwined with other snakes which looked a bit messy. However, this is my first time ever trying to make my own head piece and I enjoyed the process of it I’m excited to see how it’s going to look with the whole makeup look.

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The making of the costume was a fun experience, as I took textiles in school, I felt that I could use my skills from that to create my own Greek goddess inspired dress. I ordered this plain green midi dress, which was not what I was originally picturing: I wanted a strapless midi dress with a leg slit, however struggling to confirm whether my model could actually model for me on the day, it was hard for me to find a dress that was budget friendly that would be delivered in time for me to make the costume. I made this dress work as it was still a green midi dress, and I got my model to come round to try the dress on and then whilst she was wearing it, I cut a slit in the dress on the side of the right leg. I thought this would be a nice touch to the costume because of it being a knee length dress and I wanted to do body painting and applying prosthetics onto the legs, this would create more space for me to do so. I then went to Boyes as they sell a lot of nice fabrics, I found some gold ribbon which I wanted to create a belt out of, I also found some lacey gold ribbon which I thought would look beautiful on the hem of the dress, and then I found some gold mesh fabric which I wanted to sew on the dress like a sash. Once I bought these, I began sewing the lace gold ribbon onto the hem off the dress, also following it up into the slit on the leg. This looked good however in some parts I didn’t sew it tight enough because of the dress being quite flowy at the bottom making it hard for me to sew it tight enough without scrunching the dress together. With the other gold ribbon, I wanted to make the belt out of, I discovered whilst my model was wearing the dress, that the ribbon isn't stretchy enough to sew onto the dress as my model would have not been able to get the dress on and off over the shoulders, so I decided that I would cut the ribbon to the right measurement (to fit around the waist) and then I would pin the ribbon around the waist once my model is wearing it on the competition day. Finally, the gold mesh fabric that I created a sash with; I pinned it onto the dress whilst the model was wearing it, because as it went over the shoulder, I wanted to make sure the measurements were right so that it would sit nice and tight on the strap but not sew it too tight that it won’t fit when she puts it on. I sewed this one quite neatly and I was happy with how it turned out.

Overall, with all the difficulties of finding a base dress, I worked with it well and it still fit with how I pictured the dress to look. I think it is very Greek goddess style and I’m happy with everything I did to make the dress look less plain and to fit the style of my Medusa final look.

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Before the competition day, I need to make sure that I know what techniques I will be using for the makeup look. After trying to free-hand draw snakeskin with grease paint and using a photo reference, and failing with that technique, I ordered animal print stencils, which had two snakeskin options. Once these arrived, I had a little practice, so I knew how to use them. My main goal in this experiment was to figure out whether it worked better using a dark then light shade of green or a light then dark shade of green.

When using these stencils, I firstly mixed a dark green greasepaint and painted it onto the skin (I practiced on my own leg, so that I had both hands to hold the stencil and paint and had more surface area to practice on). Then I used the rcma powder to stop the paint from smudging or mixing with other colours. Then I placed the stencil over the green patch and used a lighter green on top of the stencil. To stop this from looking blocky, I went heavy in the middle then blended it out softly around the edge. I then powdered the paint and removed the stencil. I quickly discovered that using dark then light green paint didn’t really work because the light green didn’t really stand out, so you couldn’t really see the pattern. I did this method again but using the light green paint first then using the dark green on top of the stencil. Once powdered and removed the stencil, it revealed a good pattern, and I was happy with how it turned out. I then did this a few times to ensure that I could efficently work with the stencils.

Overall, this is a good technique for me to use in the final makeup look as when Medusa was cursed by Poseidon and turned into a monstruous gorgon, she was said to have reptile- like skin:

“Typical Medusa had scaly skins of either pale or earthy colour” ~ https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Medusa

My makeup look incorporates both the beautiful maiden she once was, and the hideous monster she then turned into. The scaly skin is a perfect way to incorporate the ugly depiction of Medusa.

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Before the competition day, I created a mood board on an A1 foam board. Creating a mood board like this is super helpful when it comes to the day of doing a makeup look as it is large, so it stands out and is easy to look at to help you in the process of the makeup. It’s important to include reference images on the mood board such as close ups of the makeup (for example: I put photos of my eyeshadow experiments on there) as well as a colour palette, different textures, hairstyles, outfits and accessories. This will help me stay consistent with the makeup look and follow the design and keep the overall aesthetic. In a competition style project, having a large mood board near you shows the judges my inspiration and vision, and how well I executed. This helps the judges assess how successfully my makeup look matches the concept. Having this mood board near me will help me focus under pressure and ensures that any techniques, colours etc align with my concept.

Making this mood board was a fun experience to release my creativity. To make this mood board fit my vision, I used the left-over gold spray paint from the snakes to spray on the background of the board. I then printed out photos of inspiration, textures, colours, makeup close-ups and hair and costume designs. I also annotated the pictures so that the judges and I could understand why the photos are on there and how it shows my vision. Before sticking these on, I glued then down onto coloured card, I thought this would be a nice touch as the colours matched my colour palette and it helped bring my concept together onto the board.

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To fully prepare myself for the competition, I created another face and body chart which would help me with my design and keep me in line with my vision. This time, I annotated the face chart with the steps and products that I will use so I know which order it would be easier for me to apply the makeup and to cause less stress on the day. Creating a face and body chart will help me understand the placement of colour and special effects/ body art, as well as eye and lip detail and contour and highlight areas. This will also reduce mistakes when it comes to competition day as having a face chart in front of me will guide me which will ultimately save time during the competition with a certain time frame. Having face and body charts near you whilst doing makeup in a competition shows preparation so the judges can follow the vision. Doing this helped me feel prepared and relieved stress as I knew that with these charts, I was 100% sure of what I was doing.

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As a makeup team, preparing for the competition together is important. We had already decided on a specific time where all models need to be ready to be judged; judging is to start at half 5, meaning models should necessarily be ready for 5 so photos of the look can be taken in time with there being a lot of people in one room. With this information we decided individually what time we wanted to come in and start the makeup. I decided on coming in at 10 which would leave me 7 hours to do the makeup. Collaborating with the team about time frames is important because all the models needed to ready at the same time, and we needed to make sure we were giving ourselves plenty of time to finish the look.

Before the day of the competition, we spoke about how to take care of our models as they would be sat still for a long time. As a team, we put money together to go out and buy bottles of water and plenty of snacks like crisps and chocolate. We want to ensure our models are comfortable and that they are our priority as they are going out of their way to model for us. Acknowledging our model’s comfort avoids impact of the makeup outcome; if the model is uncomfortable or not properly prepared, the makeup won’t go on right and effect the final look.

The day prior to the competition, we made sure the makeup room was suitable, tables and chairs neatly out of the way, and all the makeup bays cleaned. As a team, we pushed all the tables in the room into the middle, which we then put water and snacks in the middle of, leaving space for any of the models' belongings. Each makeup artist then set up their own bay, which we had collaborated and communicated over where each makeup artist would be working for the day. Setting up our makeup bays prior to the competition showed organisation and preparation skills and ensured we were all ready to start the makeup as soon as possible when we all arrive competition day.

Collaboration in the makeup team was very necessary to ensure the workspace is clean, safe, organised and functional. This helps to avoid chaos and leads to a professional, calm working environment. It also shows teamwork and respect for each other, building trust and a healthy work dynamic between the team, ultimately leading to a calm, smooth-sailing day with reduced stress and overcrowding. This collaboration between the team also avoids running over time or any rushing that will cause stress amongst everyone.

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For the hair, I used the cosmopolitan triple wave curler to create waves in the hair. To do this, I sectioned the hair into three even pieces and then sectioned the smaller sections into equal strands which I then waved. After the first section, I hair sprayed the hair so that it would stay in place. I then back combed the root of the hair to give it volume before curling the next section. I did the same steps for the second section, keeping each stand equal to create equal waves. After hair spraying and back combing this section, I did the same to the top section, but taking precaution at the top of the head as I wanted to get close to the root without burning the head of my model. I improved the hair from the last practice I did as the strands I waved were kept more equal than I could do before, and I got closer to the root so that it didn’t create a weird kink in the hair at the top. Hair has never been my strong point but sticking with a hairstyle I'm familiar with reduced stress on the competition day as I could manage well enough and wouldn’t take up too much time.

Although this took quite a bit of time due to my model having beautiful, long, thick hair, I'm happy with how this turned out as it was exactly how I envisioned it to look, and I improved from last time. I did the hair first for the reason of making sure I wouldn’t run over time doing the makeup, and the heat from the wave curler wouldn’t melt any makeup off or disrupt it. Even though the hair did take up some time, I still managed my timing for the makeup well and I had finished the whole look with time to spare for touch ups and to take photos.

The head piece put the whole hair style together, I put on the headband once the whole makeup look was done and was ready for photos and to be judged, so that the weight of the headband wouldn’t irritate my model and so it wouldn’t get in the way of the makeup. I placed the headband in the middle of the head, without pushing back the front of the hair, as leaving the front pieces out created a more chaotic look that fit well with the story behind Medusa and all the tragedies she was put through. With the head piece and the weight of the snakes, one snake caused a problem and was hanging on a weird angle, which was tangling the hair and sitting in front of the special effects makeup. To stop this from covering parts of my makeup in photos and whilst being judged, I had to move the snake out of the hair and sit it in the hair so that it would hold in place long enough to get a good photo without it covering the makeup and so the judges could see the makeup clearly. This worked for a while however it would slip back down occasionally which meant I had to keep moving it.

Overall, I loved the way the hair and head piece brought the look together, as the snakes were a staple for a Medusa look. The wavy hair also fit in nice with the snakes and the small volume and frizz created a chaotic but elegant look. I think the hair could have done with a bit more volume however I think with the heavy head piece it pushed the hair down. With doing the hair first it meant that some of the waves’ volume dropped even though I did touch ups to the hair once the rest of the look was done, just to freshen it up.

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For the face makeup, I wanted to capture Medusa’s initial beauty, as well as the hideous qualities that Medusa developed after her curse by Poseidon. The face makeup included: a green, sharp, winged, smoky eye with sharp black eyeliner and half lashes to really capture the sharpness. For the eyes I wanted them to be very sharp and bold so that they would stand out, as Medusa’s eyes would turn people into stone with one glance, and it is a very big part in Medusa’s backstory and how she was depicted. For this I used green eyeshadow to create a winged eyeshadow shape, and I then smoked it out and darkened it firstly using a darker green, then a brown and black closer to the eyeline. I then used a kohl black eyeliner to create a dramatic wing which I then blended out and used black cake eyeliner to create a defined, sharp wing. I then added a bright gold shimmer to the eyelid before applying eyelash clusters on the outer half of the lash, then using mascara to blend it in. I also added gold tears below the eye, which I created by using gold greasepaint to draw a line under the eye which I then smudged out to create a gold tear to give the look of crying after Medusa was cursed and raped by Poseidon. The eyebrows were darkened with a brown pigment due to the model having lighter eyebrows, which I then brushed gold paint through them. The base was a warm, glowy skin tone which was created with the warm graphtopian foundation as I wanted a glowy finish. It had obscure, chiselling green contour on the cheekbones and nose, with a softer green contour on the forehead, which I created with green greasepaint to draw a sharp contour line on the cheekbones, using a piece of card to get it straight and as sharp as possible, which I then blended in with green eyeshadow to make it bolder. I used a gold highlighter above the cheekbones and on the T-zone to create a really glowy look, with a lot of glitter highlighter to make the face glisten. For the lips I created an ombre lip with a brown lip liner, then using green paint for the lipstick, adding a gold paint in the middle. To finish the look, I painted on a patch of reptile skin onto the forehead and added a stone prosthetic piece to the jaw, with blood around it.

I successfully executed my design into the face makeup as the eyes stood out and looked sharp, the finish was glowy and gold like how I wanted it, and the contour and reptile skin created obscure snake- like look. The gold tears were something I added impulsively as I felt something on the face was missing, and adding the tears was a perfect addition to the makeup as it filled in the empty spaces and fit the concept of Medusa’s tragedies that were incorporated into the look. However, the lips didn’t match the look as they were too brown and not enough green, which was a problem from using the greasepaint as it didn’t stick to the lips that great and wasn’t bold enough. I definitely should have added a green pigment instead to make the green look bolder.

This face makeup was successful as I was prepared and organised with having a mood board and a face chart next to me whilst doing the makeup. These guided me and kept me on track of the concept of the makeup and kept me in line with techniques, colours etc. I also managed my time well as I finished the face makeup with around 2 and a half hours left to do the body makeup and touch ups, accessories etc, whilst taking a half hour break in between the face makeup to get lunch. I felt that being prepared for this with having my bay set up prior to competition day, and having mood board and face chart boosted my confidence in myself to be able to get the whole look done in time and to perfection.

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For the body, I created patches of snakeskin, applied stone-like prosthetics, and sprayed gold shimmer body oil all over the body. To create the snakeskin patches, I used a light green greasepaint to make a patch where I wanted the pattern to go. I applied it in irregular shapes and blended it out into the skin around the edges, then powdering it to stop it from smudging or mixing into the other shade. I then used a snakeskin patterned stencil to create a pattern with a darker green coloured greasepaint. I put the stencil over the light green patch and applied the dark green on top, blending it out softly the same way I blended the first colour, then powdering before I take the stencil off. I did this in multiple areas of the body; neck, arms and legs and forehead. A problem that I encountered with using the stencils was that it was hard to keep the stencil hard and still on the skin, causing a few smudges or merged lines, however to fix this I got my model to help hold down the stencil tight enough, as an extra pair of hands so that I could paint it on neatly. Using a stencil was very time efficient as it would have been quicker and easier for me to do it this way rather than trying to free hand paint the lines, meaning I managed my time well and did not run over. The snakeskin was a perfect touch to the body as it showed the transformation of Medusa turning into an ugly gorgon from a beautiful maiden.

For the stone prosthetic that I had prepared ahead of the competition, I did the same concept of applying these in random places on the body such as the arms, chest, legs and on the jaw. To apply these already made and painted prosthetics, I lathered latex onto the back of the prosthetic, and once it went tacky, I placed it onto the skin, adding more latex if needed. After I placed the first one, I added stage blood around the special effects, to cover the unblended outside and to create a gory, tragic look. However, I encountered a problem with the latex not holding the prosthetics down properly, after I started applying the other prosthetics, I noticed the first one on the chest starting to slip and unstick, meaning I had to re-apply more latex to stick it down yet it wasn’t fully doing its job. Because I created these prosthetics on a flat board, they were struggling to bend and fit onto the skin, meaning I would have to apply a lot more latex. To fix this problem, my model held down the prosthetics tightly for a long time whilst I prepared the next one. This saved time as I wasn’t trying to hold the prosthetic on myself when I could be applying the others. Teamwork helped me get the prosthetics on and reduced any stress of not getting it done on time. Even though it took a lot of latex for them to stick down fully, they eventually held on meaning I could apply the stage blood around the rest of the prosthetics. I waited until the latex had fully dried and stuck down to avoid the blood mixing into the latex and not letting it stick. I did this with enough time to finish the whole look.

Finally, I sprayed a gold shimmer oil all over the body, blending it in with a thick, dense brush. As the body oil was a dark bronze shade, it tanned the skin and gave it a glowy look. I also used the collection white glitter highlighter and brushed that all over the body, especially on the snakeskin pattern, just to give the whole body that extra shimmer.

I really love the way the stone prosthetics stand out as they are bold and textured like stone. This created a gory look that showed the tragic events Medusa went through. Making these prosthetics beforehand was very time efficient as it would have taken a long time to create this look straight on to the skin. Regardless of the difficulties I faced with the latex not sticking the prosthetics down fully, I still used my time wisely and got everything done in time. With the snakeskin, the stencils worked well and looked good up closely, as you could tell what it was meant to be, however from a distance, the pattern couldn’t really be seen, making it look like a green blob on the skin as the paint wasn’t bold enough. I should have used an eyeshadow or water-based paint to make the colours bolder. The shimmer body oil and highlighter were a nice touch to the look as it bronzed up the skin and gave it a glow, however it was also hard to read from afar, which was probably not a good brand, or it needed a lot more product on to not look as subtle.

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The costume was executed perfectly and was exactly how I envisioned it, yet it was a bit messy looking with the way I sewed the fabric on, especially the lace ribbon along the hem and up the slit. However, the costume definitely executed the Greek goddess look like how I imagined it. The gold mesh sash was a perfect touch to the Greek goddess vibes and there wasn’t too much going on, on the dress. Although the costume would have been brought together with snakes incorporated into it, however with low resources I couldn’t make it work, and I rushed to make the dress due to ordering it too late. The gold accessories went perfect with the outfit; the gold arm cuffs, gold bangles and the hoop earrings. The arm cuffs fit the Greek goddess look and the gold earrings and bangles matched the colours of the makeup look perfectly. I think the whole look could have looked better with more gold jewellery, yet I didn’t want to go overboard and make it look tacky. I would also think more about shoes, as I couldn’t find any sandals that would fit the look that I could get in time, yet my model wasn’t comfortable going barefoot hence the black socks. I don’t think this ruined the makeup look yet I could have enhanced it by getting nice shoes for it.

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My makeup look turned out pretty much how I envisioned and wanted it to look, however it could have been bolder in some parts like hair volume, and body art. I felt prepared for this as I had set up the day before and made sure to have a mood board and face and body chart with me in case of any second guessing or falling behind of schedule happened. These helped me focus on the makeup and keep in line with what i was doing, avoiding mistakes.

I managed my time for the competition well, however my time management with preparation beforehand wasn’t the best as I struggled to find a dress and shoes in time meaning it could have looked better if I did it earlier. However, I still managed to push my creativity with the time I left myself and I still executed the Greek goddess turned ugly monster concept pretty well and the makeup look was obviously Medusa inspired look.

Without collaboration on model care, and preparing the room with the rest of the makeup team, it would have caused a stressful work environment which would have then distracted me and made me lose focus, meaning that I potentially wouldn’t have finished in time, or that I didn’t push myself to the best I could. My collaboration that I did making an order list that I did earlier on in the prep also helped the competition because without creating an order list, a lot of products will not have been at hand for me and the team which could have caused havoc in the room and not being able to all excel our creativity, meaning our final looks wouldn’t have turned out how we wanted them to due to not having certain products that were needed.

I can clearly see an improvement of my makeup skills developing from all the experimental practices I did in preparation for this, and especially how my makeup skills have developed since the beginning of the year. My special effects skills have improved since September as I’ve learnt how to make special effects look neater, and I also followed a reference photo for texture to make sure they’re as accurate as can be. The body painting sessions we had to prepare us for this clearly helped me develop my skills on precision and working on parts of the body that I don't usually work on. My skills in hair have definitely improved as I’ve learnt how to keep a curl/wave in the hair, however I feel like I could have pushed the boat out more and practiced hair a little more to enhance the makeup and do something more intricate. I also feel like throughout the year, I’ve learnt how to work on different eye shapes and how to do eyeliner based on the eye shape, as well as knowing where to blend eyeshadow, leaving the brow bone for bronzer or highlighter.

Overall, I am so happy with the result of my makeup look, and all my work paid off even though I probably could have pushed myself a little more. I felt I was prepared as I could be on the day of the competition, and I had everything I needed which reduced any stress and anxiety I might have felt if not.