Overall, this meeting has highlighted a beneficial and constructive beginning, hopefully influencing the other collaborative tasks that will continue as the project progresses. However, when trying to develop ideas of theme titles individually, this challenged our creativity and imagination skills: our titles could have been more effective or had a wider range of possibilities.  Although, we will be developing our creativity further as we think about and discuss collaboratively how we can improve this title in the next meeting to appeal and inspire more makeup artists in the team. This progression of creativity will hopefully provide us with the imagination to create originality through individual designing and researching further into the project.

• Brief Breakdown

• Group Time Line

• Choosing theme

-Individual Work :

• Synopsis

• Individual Time Line

• Adding to Padlet

• Discussing Theme

-Group sessions:

• Body Painting

• Harvard Referencing

-Individual Work:

• Research Theme

• Context

• Begin Research Into Chosen Concept / Initial Ideas

• Compile Resources

• Adding to Padlet

• Begin Research into a Makeup Artist + their Techniques

• Sampling of Eyebrow Blocking Techniques

• Reflection on Sampling

• Research into Eyebrow Blocking Techniques as a result of Reflection

• Experience from the Makeup Competition

• Development of Concept

• Adding to Padlet

• Collaborative Tasks

• Sharing Design Ideas

-Individual Work:

• Sampling of Body Painting 3D effects

• Reflection of Body Painting

• 2nd Sampling of Eyebrow Blocking Wax Technique?

• Reflection of Wax Eyebrow Block / Am I considering prosthetics instead?

• 1st Face Chart

• Mindmap and Initial Moodboard

• Adding to Padlet

• Wider Reading into Colour Theories + Research into Don Jusko

• Wider Reading into Prosthetics + Research into Jessica Nagy

• 1st Attempt making Prosthetics + Reflection

• 2nd Attempt making Prosthetics + Reflection

• Making Initial Body Paint Charts

• Adding to Padlet

• Research into Adrien Morot + Establishing an idea for nails

• Getting bra and altering it

• Research into wigs

• Face Makeup Practice + Reflection

• Adding to Padlet

Collaborative Work:

• Making a Group-chat to talk about the Programme

• Going over progress

-Individual Work:

• Research into Body Paint Makeup Artist, Kate Monroe

• Practice Body Paint Chart + Reflection

• Practice Body Paint + Reflection

• Further alterations to bra

• Add to Padlet

-Collaborative Work

• Begin to make Programme

• Going over progress

-Individual Work:

• Budget

• Begin A2 Mood Board

• Costume drawings - ordering costume

• Adding gems to bra

• Research into Ben Nye Body Paint

• Practice Applying and Blending Silicone Prosthetics

• Practise Hand Body Paint and Extended Fingers + Reflection

• Practice Face Makeup + Reflection

• Practice Hairstyle

• Add to Padlet

-Group Work:

• Group Budget

• Programme Work

• Finish A2 Mood Board

• Practice Hairstyle + Reflection

• Practice 3D effects on Arm Body Paint

• Finish Bra

• Make new Body Paint Charts with the new details

• Make new Hair Design

• Development of Design write-up

• Add to Padlet

-Group Work:

• Programme Work

-Individual Work:

• Practising with Silicone Prosthetics again

• Trying Problem Solution between the Hair and Eye Piece

• Practising Makeup Look

• Bug Eye Bra Piece Alterations

• Add to Padlet

-Collaboration Work

• Supporting and Providing Feedback to Colleagues

• Programme Work

• Wider Reading into Professionalism, Health + Safety and Punctuality

• Practising Makeup Look

• Add to Padlet

-Individual Work:

• Making the Extended Fingers

• Add to Padlet

- Collaboration Work:

• Making the Programme

-Individual Work:

• Final Evaluation = June 13th

As a whole, this project will significantly challenge our creativity and imagination skills as we begin to consider concepts and gather together ideas. Additionally, as a team, our communication and organisation skills will be challenged the most as we decide and plan significant responsibilities that connect us to our project aims and help us to work towards a formulated and precise final application day. ‘It is very important to understand the significance of working effectively with others as part of a team.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.) Furthermore, ‘The crew work closely together, everyone relying on one another to work well.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg 12.) This describes how we will need to work successfully in a collaboration as makeup artists in order for our project aims to be completed effectively.

Following this decision on the theme, the team discussed what collaborative tasks could be completed over the next nine weeks in order to accomplish our project aims successfully. In small groups, we put gathered ideas into how we could promote and prepare for the upcoming application date. In my group we discussed the idea of creating posters to advertise the application date and putting them up in our makeup corridor. Additionally, we mentioned tasks surrounding the importance of performer care such as risk assessments and allergy tests to ensure our models’ safety when in the makeup room. After this, the whole team shared their ideas, talking through how they could be completed and highlighting any member on the team that wanted to work on that task specifically. This helped us to consider how we can accomplish these ideas through collaborating with each other and gave us the opportunity to also think independently about how we can individually contribute ideas that could further build up our teamwork. These ideas included: creating a collaborative instagram account in which we can all advertise the project by posting our progress, the creation of posters, ensuring risk assessments and allergy cards are completed in advance to the final application and agreeing that all of the makeup artists in the team should pitch in to provide water and food for the models on application day.

Concluding the discussion, colleagues individually mentioned whether they had any initial ideas for their design to the team. This was done so that we could discuss if we thought that the ideas would be effective and how they could be developed further down the line, helping each other to think outside of the box about their individual designs. Additionally, this could’ve helped to inspire anyone in the group that didn’t have any initial ideas and give them thoughts into what kind of effects that they might want to create for the project. Finally, we mentioned discussing in the future whether we would like our parents or friends to come and see our final pieces on the application day and therefore what time would be best to have our makeup done by to work in accordance with this idea. 

In conclusion, this referencing session was successful in teaching us how to reference successfully;  we will be able to note citations during our main piece and create a reference list of compiled resources based on the information we have learned. Additionally, it will prepare us for our future study and give us an insight into what will be needed of us during university study (if we choose to go after this course).

Improving the team’s ability to think individually creatively from last week, this will give us the challenge to use our imagination to its full potential, giving us the opportunity to work on these skills as we consider and research independent design ideas that correspond with the theme. ‘Creativity and imagination - your makeup ideas need to be imaginative and creative and should showcase your skills.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.)

After considering which creatures or inhuman beings I want to research into in order to gain inspiration for my design, I have chosen to look into the subject of: Aliens, Witches and Insects. This is due to the idea that I think I could be able to create something totally unique that surrounds either just one of these subjects or a mix of them all. These topics relate to the theme as they indicate a relation to inhuman and unnatural creatures: Aliens are beings said to come from another world beyond Earth, Witches are supernatural beings said to be controlled by dark forces and making a person seem to have Insect qualities is completely unnatural - ‘It is important to understand the type of production and the make-up requirements when creating authentic characters for a given design brief.’ (Braisdell, 2011, pg 58.) My aim is to create something both beautiful and abnormal, therefore I feel that these topics will assist me in constructing this intention as I work up to creating my design.

The word ‘Alien’ is used to describe an extraterrestrial life-form or an inhuman being or creature from a different planet. It is argued amongst people whether this other life does exist somewhere in the universe, with people questioning whether there are other civilisations in addition to ours. When it comes to the appearance of aliens, nobody has seen one to report - adding to the mystery. Due to the range of lifeforms on our own planet from humans to plants to bacteria, the possibility of what aliens could look like is so unpredictable. Furthermore, because of the extreme environments of different planets in the universe and our lack of knowledge into the intelligence of any alien life forms, their possible appearances could range from being robotic, aquatic, bacterial, airborne, etc: the possibilities are endless. 

Because of this unknown subject to how aliens look, this opens up my choice into what I may want to create if I choose this topic.

As we begin our initial research into both the theme and some design ideas, this theme will be threaded through our planning process - reminding us of what intention we need to convey to our audience: ‘use the information that you have gathered to design and develop looks to communicate ideas to a chosen audience.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 57.) Adding to this, the brief of this project will ensure that we stay on track of our planning process and designing a character who fits into our theme. As practiced in previous productions on this course, the team has had the opportunity to work according to a brief more than once through two theatre productions and one film production. Therefore, this experience we have gained in designing makeup looks to successfully suit a brief could help us with our imagination and creatovyt skills as we begin to consider ideas for our character designs.

The appearance of witches, depicted in multiple sources of entertainment such as film, books and legends is the stereotypical look consisting of green skin, a black pointy hat, a long pointy nose and a broomstick. As a result, I would not like to go down this stereotypical route as I feel that it is too common and regularly used. Instead, I would like to create something more unique, for example - creating a witch character who has crossed the devil and is receiving the consequences through some sort of supernatural malformation or possession and a witch who has undergone punishments from her village. These are just some ideas that I would consider if I chose to go down this witch route or incorporate elements from it.

The particular element to this makeup that I might consider adding to my design, depending on how I develop my design, is the body painting of inscriptions as I feel that this is very unique but still suggests a supernatural element.

- Bobbly texture on the eyes and centre of the head.

- The hairs around the mouth area.

- Tusk-like structures on the second half of the face.

- Hairy texture across the face.

- Long feathery eyelashes.

- The art piece stuck onto the mouth area.

- The contrast between light and dark, creating tusk-like effects around the mouth.

When creating body paint effects freehand, there are multiple different tools and pieces of equipment that you can use to create different effects. Including:

• Sponges: often used to apply paint over a wider area, disposable 

• Medium-density sponges = can hold a lot of paint and can therefore cover a wide area in one go, good for creating texture and dimension through highlighting and shading.

• High-density sponges = have larger pores so can hold more paint, can be applied to the skin smoothly.

• Stippling sponge = is coarse and creates a stippling effect on the skin to create texture.

• Stencils and Templates: help to create a structure so that accurate shapes and angles can be created as well as to create repeat patterns

• Reusable plastic stencils which can be held or stuck to the skin using tape. 

• Disposable sticky-back stencils.

• Brushes: different brushes can be used for different purposes or effects, ‘the bigger the brush size the less control you will have-’ (Braisdell et al, 2011, pg 349.)

• Small bristles = fine lines 

• Large, thicker bristles = to cover a wider area

• Curved

• Angular 

• Liner

(Stokes at al, 2021, pg 201-202.)

• ‘Shading - this is using a darker colour to make areas recede or appear withdrawn.’ 

• ‘Highlighting - this can be achieved by using a lighter colour to highlight the area that is being worked on, emphasising the design.’ 

(Stokes et al, 2021, pg 207.)

Creating 3D effects - (Braisdell et al, 2011, pg 361.

In the future, I would like to practice creating 3D effects in order to help me establish how to successfully create areas of light and dark. This will help me to develop this skill and create a similar effect in my final design if I choose to include this technique. 

Following this decision, I will be researching makeup artists this week in order to expand on and develop my ideas to give me a wider view into the character that I want to make and to give myself options into different techniques that I could use to emphasise this concept. I plan to create an initial face chart next week to give myself something to work from, develop and apply my ideas to so that I can begin to put my ideas together and decipher what needs to be altered or changed - ‘be aware that looks may change. (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.)

 However, the makeup for Film and TV productions needs to hide all imperfections, unless they are intentional, due to the high quality of the cameras that are used. This is because these cameras detect any faults on the skin. ‘The clarity of high definition (HD) picture reception and larger television screens has resulted in domestic viewing more similar to the cinema experience, plus a raising of standards throughout the industry with more focus on design detail.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg 136.) Therefore, despite the fact that I won’t be doing basic beauty makeup, I still need to ensure that the finish of the makeup that I will be completing looks smooth and flawless on the skin. This will ensure that my makeup will correspond with the high definition cameras that would be used if my character was actually appearing in a Film/TV Production.

While watching this video, I was particularly inspired by the final two looks as they were insect characters. For the wasp character, she had applied a prosthetic piece that resembled an exposed exoskeleton as well as a hairpiece that she created to resemble antennae. Furthermore, her costume for this look consisted of a mixture of textures including netting and fur.

For her spider character, she had a prosthetic that gave the illusion that she had multiple eyes and protruding cheekbones. Additionally, she had a black beehive wig to replicate the structure of a spider and her dress included wire structures to give the appearance of multiple legs. 

As a result of watching this video, I have been inspired to include the technique of using prosthetics in my makeup look in order to make my character look more authentic and realistic. As shown through her designs in this project, I think that her use of prosthetics really made her unrecognisable as a model and brought the characters to life so effectively. Furthermore, I love how the hairstyles were created with the intention of matching the insect character, the beehive hairstyle for the spider character and the gelled hair to create antenna structures for the wasp character. Additionally, I am particularly influenced by the costume of the wasp due to the mix of textures used throughout to emphasise the relation to the bug. However, because I want my character to have a clear mix of being both insect and human - I still need to consider if I want to create these similar effects of making the costume and hair match the particular insect correspondingly. Therefore, I need to decide whether I want to show the character’s human qualities through its choice of hairstyle and costume or if I want to combine them.

Despite being under time pressure and within an unfamiliar environment, which won’t be a part of our application day, I was introduced to different elements through the process when in my competition. This involved: needing to be resilient by staying focused on the makeup that I was applying and trying to make it effective, and keeping concentration despite being in a room with many models and artists working near me. These are elements of the application process that may occur on the competition day - I have had the opportunity to experience them and challenge my key skills, helping me to be more prepared for the day. Furthermore, throughout the time leading up to the application and the application itself, I needed to upkeep a professional appearance and attitude in order to convey professionalism and preparation for my job as a makeup artist. I did this by coming to the event in all black, wearing my hair up and out of my face, ensuring that I had a positive attitude and ensuring that every product and brush were clean prior to applying the makeup. I plan to do some wider reading into the professionalism of a makeup artist sooner to the competition day in order to remind myself of how to present a professional appearance and attitude as a competition makeup artist.

For the second technique, I began by applying a thin layer of synwax to the centre of the eyebrow. Following this, I blended out the edges using vaseline, keeping the wax layer as thin as I could to prevent the brow from looking too projected. After trying to create a seamless transition between the wax and skin through blending, I removed any excess vaseline by dabbing the area with some tissue. I then coloured over the wax with a matching foundation shade and set the brow with translucent powder. 

For the synwax technique, I found that this created a much more effective result. When blending the wax over the eyebrow, this created a smoother texture over the top of the hairs. However, as I was focusing more on blending towards the top of the eyebrow, I left behind some of the lower hairs - making them visibility stick out. Although, if I created a solid blend across the whole eyebrow, this would have created a completely blocked out eyebrow. Additionally, next time I could use some soap to stick the hairs down beforehand and provide myself with a clearer area of the space that I need to cover. Despite this, I discussed the wax technique with my tutor, following this application, and she reminded me that synwax isn’t meant to withstand long periods of time - meaning that it could begin to come away from the skin of my model as application day progresses.

Here is a video that I found on Youtube with a tutorial of blocking eyebrows using a glue stick from one of my favourite drag queens, seen on Rupaul's Drag Race - Plastique Tiara. Her process consists of:

• Cleaning the eyebrows with 90% rubbing alcohol 

• Applying a purple glue stick to the eyebrow and combing through the hairs with a lash brush

• Blow Dry on a cool setting, flattening the eyebrows to ensure all hairs are stuck down

• Repeat this process three times

• Set with powder

• Cover with foundation 

• Skincare

• Apply a purple glue stick against the natural growth of the eyebrows

• Brush up the eyebrow hairs using a lash brush/comb to flatten

• Wipe off excess glue around the perimeter of the eyebrow with a wet washcloth

• Let dry - (If the glue is still purple on the brows, then it isn’t dry yet)

• Repeat this process three times

• Set with powder

• Cover with foundation

• Clean the eyebrows

• Apply a purple glue stick against the natural growth of the eyebrows

• Comb through hairs in an upwards direction using a lash brush

• Wipe away excess glue from around the eyebrow

• Blow Dry on a cool setting, flattening the eyebrows to ensure that all the hairs are stuck down

• Repeat this process three times

• Set with powder

• Cover with foundation

Reflecting on this a second time, this provided me with something that I could change and develop as I went on - dividing my new ideas and old ideas to keep me on track.

Today the team showed great development and consistency in having effective communication through our ability to both confirm the tasks and successfully assign members of the team in accordance. Additionally, this attribute of the team was just as present when sharing our design ideas. However, despite this successful communication, the team initially struggled to establish confidence in presenting individual design ideas - leading to a slower session. Therefore, this is something that the team needs to work on in order to help meetings flow quicker, to result in a more productive meeting where everyone feels that they can comfortably assert their ideas. Furthermore, throughout this meeting, the team showed a clear progression through our ability to work in a team by supporting and encouraging one another to help develop ideas. This was a product of us providing clarity through trying to help each other to problem solve and create useful, thoughtful ideas to support in design developments. Furthermore, this was seen through our ability to work collaboratively and have mature discussions regarding decision making for the project.

Additionally, we discussed the topic of set design in further detail. We agreed on presenting our models to the visitors and judges in the main hall of the college near the entrance. We decided on this to give each of our artists their own area/placement where they could have more room to show their designs. Additionally, we highlighted the idea that we could each have our own boards at our station in the hall where we could provide some information about ourselves or the project/makeup to give further context to the visitors and judges. Finally, we discussed the idea of decorating our areas in accordance with our design ideas to create a further visual effect and push our presentation. Because of these different ideas, the leader of set design on the team will help us to confirm what we want through future meetings and help to organise our collaborative decisions.

Due to our position currently in Week 4, we decided it would be most responsible to focus on these particular tasks now and begin working on them from today. In contrast, we highlighted the fact that other collaborative tasks such as risk assessments, allergy tests and performer care should be organised further into the project, when competition day gets closer, as they are more suited to be completed near that time.

For this discussion, each member of the team took turns to explain their idea, ask for any suggestions if they wanted to and be provided with feedback and opportunities to encourage development within the design by other colleagues. Initially, most members of the team felt hesitant when needing to individually present their ideas, however as more people spoke, this helped to fuel more confidence into the team which led to more effective communication. 

When my turn came around to talk through my ideas to the team, I began by explaining my concept and interweaving my ambitions through it in order to give my colleagues a sort of vision and intention that I wanted to create. This helped to provide them with the purpose that I was aiming for, giving them more understanding when asking my questions or giving me suggestions to develop and problem solve. I then went into further detail about each element of the appearance such as makeup / body paint, costume and hair - emphasising that these ideas were initial and could be developed in the future. When explaining my idea of creating bug eyes on the face that project outwards, I highlighted the fact that I wasn’t sure how I was going to create this effect for my design. I mentioned how I might need to craft something that tied at the back of the head to make this result but in all, I didn’t have an exact idea of how I was going to do this. As a result of this, this is when a colleague suggested using a small sized bra and tying it at the back of the head, like under a wig to hide the back straps, to create this projected bug eye effect that I am aiming for. I loved this idea and I thought that this had the potential to match my intentions. Furthermore, we continued this conversation about the bug eyes into colour and texture in which the same colleague suggested using coloured plastic paper to give a glossy effect to the bra if I wanted this type of texture. To add, a different colleague suggested glueing black gems onto the bra to give that bobbly / beaded texture that bug eyes have when seen up close. Following this, I really liked this idea of applying gems as it could make a small hole in the bra look less visible in order to give my model a bit of vision when applied to ehr. Moving on from solving the bug eye problem, a colleague asked if I wanted to use a pair of platform shoes that she was going to give away as she grew out of them. This was asked after I mentioned the idea that I was thinking of including a platform shoe as a part of my costume to add to the trendy appearance of my character. I thanked her for this and told her that I would consider it: I asked if she could send me a photo of them later in the week. Excluding these suggestions and advice, the rest of the team agreed with my ideas and liked the concept that I had created. 

Moving on from my own design presentation, when other colleagues in the team were explaining their own ideas, I tried to come up with advice or opportunities for development but I struggled to do this today. To still provide support to my colleagues, I let them know if I particularly liked an idea that they had created or I asked questions regarding if elements such as costume had been considered yet to try and help them to begin to contemplate their character’s whole appearance. 

For the second technique, which included the application of skin-safe glue, this was the first time I was practising this method. Following the instructions that I gathered together from two tutorial videos, I began by cleaning the brow and applying the glue stick in the opposite direction of my hair growth. Next, I then used a lash brush/comb tool to push the hairs in an upwards direction, pressing them to ensure they were stuck down. After blow drying them on a low heat setting and pressing them in while drying, I repeated this process of applying the glue and then drying it another two times. Once the hairs were fully stuck down and the glue was dry, I set the eyebrow with a translucent powder and applied colour over the top. 

For the second technique, which included the application of skin-safe glue, this was the first time I was practising this method. Following the instructions that I gathered together from two tutorial videos, I began by cleaning the brow and applying the glue stick in the opposite direction of my hair growth. Next, I then used a lash brush/comb tool to push the hairs in an upwards direction, pressing them to ensure they were stuck down. After blow drying them on a low heat setting and pressing them in while drying, I repeated this process of applying the glue and then drying it another two times. Once the hairs were fully stuck down and the glue was dry, I set the eyebrow with a translucent powder and applied colour over the top. 

My intentions for this practice weren’t to find a definite type of pattern or structure for my design, but rather to play around with different effects and tools that could help me to make ideas come into being. 

• Teal base colour

• Symmetrical pattern on the back of the limbs only and in a more spaced out pattern

• White diffusing colour in the centre of inner limbs 

• Elongated index and ring finger?

• No white fingertips

Reflecting on this for a second time, I created this symmetrical pattern on my arm in this practice because I knew that I wanted to include it in my design in some way. Because of this practice, I was able to acknowledge how I could develop this idea in order to make it look more effective for my character in a later developed application.

Additionally, in preparation for if my back-up model has to step in, I had also prepared an image of her face shape too. Doing this prepared me for if I need to work on my second model in the future if plans change and assured me that I would still be ready to apply my makeup to her face by understanding her face shape too. Studying the head shot of her face, I realised that she has a different face shape: a round face shape - ‘Round Face: No strong angle, widest at the cheekbones.’ (Davis et al, 2017, pg 11). Moreover, in case I need to add areas of shadows and highlights: ‘This face has a soft shape with no angles. Contouring at the sides of the face, under the cheekbones, will add light and shade for a more interesting shape for the camera.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg 13).

‘Do not be tempted to use too many bright colours in one look, as the result can be discordant. Using one or two pure colours can help to create a focal point…, more than that will be confusing.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg. 20). To ensure that the makeup look won’t become visually busy in relation to using too many colours, my aim is to stick to the teal and orange/red colour as the only bright colours. Additionally, when creating the body paint effects, I will be using only black and white which will also help to bring balance to the bright colours and help the final look to appear more structured.

Furthermore, in relation to the tone of colours, this links to the 3D effects I have been practising in my body painting. When creating these effects, I found that due to the different areas that the light would hit the area if the effect was real, there are three different tones of the colour needed: the mass tone as the shape (‘colour right out of the tube’), the highlight as a top tone (‘adding white to a colour’) on the areas of the shape that the light would focus on and the shadowing (adding black to a colour) underneath the shape that opposes the direction of light. Getting these colour tones correct in future practice will assist me in creating a 3D effect that looks accurate.

This information about the RCW colour wheel and neutral darks were sourced from Don Jusko. Donald A. Jusko is an artist from Maui who has been a painter for the past 30 years. He created the Real Colour Wheel which matches nature’s way of making crystals dark and shows the crystal colour oppositions clearly. Furthermore, on his website he discusses multiple different descriptions into neutral darks and how these can create a natural dark colour between two opposing colours. 

The creation of silicone prosthetics technique - (Davis et al, 2017, pg 214-218.)

Main materials used:

• Clay

• Kyrolan crystal clear spray

• Sculpt gel (A,B and C)

• Epoxy Parfilm / Mold Release

• 99% Alcohol 

• StaColour Liquid (colouring)

• Translucent powder

Summary of technique:

• With cling film, trace out the shape on the model’s face of where you want the prosthetic to be placed - this will help with positioning for the application

• Trace this shape onto a surface / countertop

• Sculpt the caly into the desired shape of your prosthetic 

• Lightly pray the sculpting with a coat of Kyrolan crystal clear spray

• Build a flashing wall around the sculpting with clay

• Spray both the sculpture and wall with another light coat of kryolan crystal clear spray 

• Once dry, mix equal portions of the A and B silicone components thoroughly in a cup, stir 15 drops of StaColour liquid into this mixture (if wanting to add colour to prosthetic)

• Paint this mixture onto the clay sculpture, getting the product into all of the details - let cure for 30 minutes. After mixing another larger batch of the sculpt gel products, spread this over both the sculpture and flashing wall. More sculpt gel can be mixed and added if the top of the mold needs to be levelled off. 

• Before the last layer of sculpt gel is set, spray some cling film with a light spray of Epoxy Parfilm and place the sprayed side down onto the wet sculpt gel. Press down lightly onto the sculpture with a piece of cardboard to create a flat surface. Let cure for 60 minutes.

• Take off the cardboard, clingfilm and then peel the sculpt gel mold off from the clay sculpture. 

• Clean this new mold if necessary with 99% alcohol.

• Spray a thick layer of Epoxy Parfilm and message this into the mold. Then, spray an additional layer onto the mold.

• Mix together a batch of sculpt gel using equal measure of the A, B and C components.

• Spread this product into the impressions of the mold, making sure the edges of the prosthetic are very thin and there are no trapped air bubbles. Let set for a minimum of 30 minutes.

• Powder the prosthetic using translucent powder.

• Carefully peel the prosthetic out of the mold. 

Summary of applying technique - (Delamar, 2016, pg 242-243.)

Including information to help with positioning:

• Clean the skin. Once dry, powder the area and dust off any excess.

• Position the prosthetic on the model’s skin in the place that you want it to sit and powder around it to create an outline.

• Take the piece and apply a thin layer of Pros-Aide, Telesis or Spirit Gum (Telesis and Spirit Gum are more suited to silicone appliances) on the base of the piece in the middle only.

• Position the piece to sit in the outline correctly. Once dry and secure, apply more glue under the prosthetic, lifting areas as you gradually glue closer to the edges. A sponge or brush can be used for this (as my prosthetics will be smaller, a brush will be better). If you accidentally fold an edge, you can use some alcohol on a brush to reposition it. 

• Stick the edges down last. 

Further details into the instructions on how to prevent glue from spilling onto the flashing when applying the prosthetic (Delamar, 2016, pg 243.):

• With the prosthetic resting in the mold, apply a thin layer of Spirit Gum or Telesis over all of the back - just going up to the thin edges but avoiding the flashing.

• When the adhesive becomes tacky, dust with powder and dust off any excess.

• Clean the model’s skin, apply a barrier cream and powder lightly once dry, removing any excess afterwards. 

• Place the prosthetic on the skin, lift one half of the appliance and apply a little 99% alcohol to the skin all over the area where it will be glued. Lower the prosthetic and repeat on the other side. 

• Press down the appliance with a powder puff to remove any trapped air bubbles.

Using the IPA reactivates the stickiness of the adhesive to ensure that the glue only goes in the exact position that you want it. 

Summary of blending technique - (Delamar, 2016, pg 243.)

• Use acetone to remove the flashing around the prosthetic piece.

• Blend the edges gently as too much product can cause the product to become weak or destroyed. Dry and powder lightly. Any excess powder can be removed with a damp cotton wool ball.

• Using a stipple sponge, apply Pros-Aide around the edges where the prosthetic meets the surface of the skin. ‘This will help to seal the appliance and secure it firmly.’

• Allow the adhesive to dry and then powder over it with a translucent powder. Any excess powder can be removed with a damp cotton wool ball before putting on makeup.

Her technique:

• Press the centre of the prosthetic down onto the skin once the adhesive has been applied. 

• Once the adhesive at the centre is dry and the prosthetic is secure, begin to apply the adhesive to the leftover area (the area between the main prosthetic and the flashing). You do this by lifting up the edge of the prosthetic and applying the adhesive to both the inside of the appliance and the skin, waiting for the adhesive to get tacky, pulling at the edges to prevent any wrinkles and pressing down on the end of the prosthetic to stick it to your skin. 

• Continue this method around the whole prosthetic.

• Using a very small amount of acetone on a cotton bud, gently pull at the flashing and blend the edges near it to remove the flashing. 

• The remaining edges that need to be blended can be rolled out and seamlessly blended into the skin using any excess acetone on the cotton bud. 

• Seal the piece by dabbing Pros-Aide over the whole prosthetic with a stipple sponge. This prevents the edges from peeling. 

• Heavily powder and remove excess. 

I came across her work on social media in which she also posts videos on tutorials and techniques that she uses for particular makeup looks. This is when I found a technique that she uses that involves the materials of foam clay, latex and tissue to create her own personalised prosthetics.

Notes from tutorial:

Materials: 

• Foam clay

• Latex

• Tissues

Technique:

• Apply vaseline to a mannequin head (this will be the base that you will work on)

• Mold the foam clay over the area or areas that you want them to be placed.

• Smooth out the edges, giving it the intended shape.

• Add the details to the clay. (Add more than intended as the clay will expand when drying and they won’t be as noticeable).

• Leave to dry overnight.

• Apply liquid latex to the whole piece of clay and to the edges, make sure it gets into the details. (I will be focusing on making a rounded shape at the base edges of my prosthetic to give it an application area.)

• Once dry, repeat.

• Cut up a tissue to separate it into its thin layers. (Avoid using a paper towel as the usual print on it will make a texture.)

• Apply liquid latex to the clay, place the pieces of tissue over it and seal this with some more liquid latex. Let it dry.

• Repeat until you reach your desired thickness.

• Peel the prosthetic off of the mannequin head. 

Applying technique:

• Apply Pros-Aide to the edges of the prosthetic. Allow to dry and get tacky.

• Apply the prosthetic to the face and press down to ensure that it is secure. 

• Apply liquid latex to the edges, place a piece of tissue over it and go over it again with some more liquid latex. Let it dry.

• Repeat until the prosthetic is firmly in place. 

As a result, I have chosen to try the foam clay, latex and tissue prosthetic technique for the creation of my prosthetics as I will be able to create a structure that is similar to a silicone prosthetic in which I can blend into the skin. Furthermore, because the materials are cheap and accessible, I will be able to get them soon and start practicing. If I am able to make these prosthetics work effectively in accordance with my intention of them being seamless, I may change my idea of materials from silicone to latex for my final design. Silicone is more popular for its success in the film industry, as referenced to at the beginning of this prosthetic research, however if I can make the latex smooth on the clay and make it smoothly applied into the skin, I could be able to make the same effect to match my intention. 

Furthermore, Morot has worked on so many horror movies that I love such as Mother! (2017), Martyrs (2008) and my favourite movie - Warm Bodies (2013).

After looking through many different sources online, I have been unable to find any information about how Morot created the effects. However, studying the image of the effects, there is a clear attachment that has been put on each finger, probably glued into place and they may be made from a rubber material. They have been detailed to make them look as if the hands have exposing bones and flesh (I would not want to create this effect in my makeup). 

Recently, I have bought foam clay to create the insect pincers for my character’s face design. This material is initially moldable and then will dry over time to become solid clay. I may be able to create the insect claw effect with this material in a similar technique that I used to create my insect pincers, which also included liquid latex to attach an area that can be applied to the skin. Therefore, I plan to test out this idea and determine if it could work in accordance with creating the insect claw effect on my model.

When I got home, I completed the main adjustments to the bra that resulted in it looking less structured like a bra and more adapted to fit around a head and suit my intention of making them into a base for bug eyes. This included: cutting off the ribbon bow in the centre, removing half of the material off of the back straps to make them thinner and smaller to hide them more, removing the excess material under the wiring of the cups and removing the shoulder straps.

Changes/improvements:

• Research into how to blend latex effectively into the skin.

• Make the prosthetics / insect pincers bigger.

• Blend the face paint with a beauty blender + blend out the white into the blue with a beauty blender first before using the fan brush.

• Work backwards in the body painting technique: do the line down the centre first, then the white around it and then the blue skin tone. This can help to get the more accurate and precise details done first with the ability of easily correcting and removing them in case of mistakes on a bare face. 

• Bra cups need to be altered to be smaller using the mark lines.

Confirmations:

• Needs an eyebrow block + doesn’t need colour correcting.

• I like the pattern.

• Established the face paint colour and can identify which wig will suit / complement the colour more.

Moving onto the explanation of my own current design progress, I talked about how their suggestions of getting a bra for the bug eyes has proven effective so far in my first face makeup practice. Additionally, I highlighted how I had made my first body charts based off of the first body paint practice I did before the half term. One element of my design that I was worried about and explained to my team was about the prosthetics. I mentioned how my plan is to use temporary foam clay and latex prosthetics at the moment, and that I will be buying a set of silicone prosthetics for the final piece. My main concern about this was that I wouldn't be able to gain technical practice on the application and blending process of the silicone prosthetics before the final application. This was when my tutor suggested that she could bring in some spare silicone prosthetic pieces that she has in her studio into college so that multiple different colleagues with my concern could practice with these in order to give us some experience with the process. Because of this, it is most likely that I will definitely use silicone prosthetics for my final piece as this will provide me with the opportunity to practice with this material ahead of time. Apart from this worry, I didn’t have any other current problems to ask for advice on or need suggestions for any particular element of my design, therefore, besides their agreement in what I have completed so far, they didn’t have any other feedback for my design. 

Furthermore, as we went through each person to discuss their progress, we all underlined where we each were with our collaborative tasks. Alongside the other two colleagues who will be making the programme, I talked about how we have been discussing our initial ideas for the programme in a private group chat. I highlighted particular ideas that involve the whole team such as getting a photo of everyone to include as well as collecting some information from each colleague in order to help us to make everyone an individual bio too. This helped to ensure that our team was informed on the ideas for the programme and that we will most likely be asking for these resources from them in the next few weeks. Additionally, we mentioned how we will be creating a design and layout for the programme soon in order to give us a starting point. 

In context to what I learned from my previous practice using these paints for my first face makeup practice, I learned that applying the colours in the opposite order could help me to improve the blending and precision. However, by the time that I remembered this, I had already applied the teal base colour in multiple layers. Therefore, I decided that this would help me to establish whether this idea should be used across multiple different areas of the body and not just the face. Additionally, if the blending of this didn’t meet my intentions, I would know that a different method would definitely be needed.

Furthermore, through this practice of creating my own budget, this will help to prepare me for any future careers or experience opportunities in which I might need to make a budget for a makeup team. Additionally, in context to this project, this will help me to establish what could be purchased through the group budget with the rest of my makeup team that could be used by all of us in our designs. 

Through our team’s communication, we were able to understand what had been added to the budget that would support multiple people for our design applications. As a result of this budget creation, we have been able to put in an order for our tutor so that we can ensure that we have the products that we need for our applications - preparing us for our competition day.

Moving onto the content inside the programme, we already knew that we wanted to include a small section on each person on the course - as established in the conversation that we had in our private group chat in the Easter Half Term, including: a photo of them, their name, a bio into who they are, their favourite subjects in makeup and their next steps after the course as well as a small description into the character that they have created for the competition. We decided that in the next couple of weeks, we would gather this information and these resources from our colleagues so that we could add it to our programme and get this completed at an appropriate time on our timeline. A different colleague in our group heard us talking about this idea about involving small biographies in our programme and she said that her collaborative group is also wanting to collect photos and bios from everyone as they are working on the makeup team’s project instagram page. Because of this, we decided that we could collaborate with this separate group in order to help both of our groups collect information on everyone that could then be shared across both the instagram page and our programme. 

Furthermore, we talked about how we could design each person’s section according to the colours and concepts of their characters in order to make each section individual and unique. We collected this information today: we went to each person, making notes on their characters and if they would like us to use a particular colour scheme or theme for their design to make it more suited to them and their design topic. We have taken a photo of these notes to ensure that we do not lose this information when it comes round to making our programme. In terms of the layout for this, we mentioned how this would depend on the size of the programme - for example, if we are doing an A5 sized programme, we would do one person per page, however if we are doing an A4 sized programme, we would do two people per page. For the size, we were going to determine this once we completed the programme and could print off both sizes to establish what would be better. Doing this would provide us with physical copies of both, giving us the opportunity to make a more effective decision. 

After deciding on who would be assigned to what task for the programme: Kelly said that she would be happy to create the design and layout, therefore Sophie and I agreed that we would create all of the information. However, even though we have made these roles, we agreed that if any one of us is needing help in their task that the rest of us would undeniably give them support to ensure that their task gets completed. 

Finally, in our discussion, we conversed about what order we should put our makeup team in for the programme. I came up with the idea that we should make the order match the order that we will be seen in the hall. For context, our makeup team’s set designer has established the order that we will be in for the competition day - we can use this to decipher our order too. My two other colleagues agreed with this idea as I also mentioned the fact that this will help the audience have a clear understanding of who everyone is: for example, Neve is placed first in the hall so placing her first in the programme will help the audience and judges to understand who she is.

The programme plan:

• Design of the front page

• Design of the photos and biographies (need to gather these resources and information - collaborating with the social media group)

• The order of the makeup team

• Still need to establish sizing

• Kelly = in charge of design and layout

• Sophie and me = in charge of information

Due to the fact that the brand states that they are ‘ideal’ for special effects and body painting makeup artists in particular, this helps me to believe that they will be able to provide me with much more effectiveness and accuracy. However, as this information is from the company’s website, it is most likely to be biased. Therefore, I want to find another source that will help me to acquire a more honest opinion.

• The products are powder based, can be used dry but become thicker when used wet 

• Good to use in hot weather as they are less likely to melt

• Matte finish = good for film projects (suits my intentions)

• Very vibrant 

• Can achieve solid strokes and base work 

Overall, her review highlights the body/face paints as being very effective and precise. Due to the fact that they are powder based and activated with water, this helps to achieve thick and vibrant applications that can withstand warm weather conditions. Furthermore, as they have a matte finish, she stated how they would be appropriate for film projects - this suits my intentions as my character has been created with the context of being in a film production. 

As a result, I have established that these paints may be the way forward for my makeup design as they will be able to help me achieve my intentions effectively. Therefore, I am going to buy both a white and teal colour for my design. 

In order to give my other colleagues and I a method to follow, my tutor gave us a demonstration of the process. After watching this, I made notes on the method in order to remind myself of the steps for when I would practice this method myself. Additionally, in preparation for this practical today, I read over the research I did into silicone prosthetic applying and blending from the Easter Half Term prior to this, so that I could hold some additional information that would ensure that I understood the method in detail.

As a result, this shows my ability to problem solve and consider new options through feedback. Additionally, it shows my ability to stay determined and resilient with an idea when problems arise. ‘Here are some attributes that are key to long-term success: Grit - perseverance in finishing what you start.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg 7.) As stated here, having resilience as a makeup artist is a valuable attribute to have as it gives you the determination to be able to finish and accomplish ideas. Because I have this attribute and this project is making me practice it more, I have recognised its importance as it prevents me from giving up when problems arise. This will act as a valuable attribute in any future careers I may work in as a makeup artist.

The wig arrived today, allowing me to check it to see if it would work successfully with my design. As my mohawk spikes and skull plaits hair design would make areas of the scalp visible, I was worried that this wig would show the lace structure underneath when I lifted the hair up in sections as it was a cheaper wig. When checking for this, the black lace under the wig was becoming clearly exposed meaning that it wouldn't comply with the intentions of my design. This was when I realised that I will need to come up with a new idea and solve this problem. 

Due to the fact that the scalp will be visible, I think that it would be best to use my model’s real hair so that the character will look more realistic. Furthermore, I could just use an orange coloured hairspray in order to make it correspond with the complementary colour theory in my design. However, my model’s hair is at a long length and therefore if I stick with the mohawk spikes idea, this will make the hairstyle look very extreme and excessive, distracting from the effect of the makeup. Therefore, I want to come up with a new idea that keeps the plan of the skull plaits at the sides of the head while involving a hairstyle for the centre section that is more appropriate to the length of my model's hair.  In order to receive some inspiration I am going to research Professional Hairstylist Paul Jones and some of the unique hairstyles that he has created.

Looking through Jones’ Instagram page, he has created many elegant hairstyles recently for celebrities attending award events. However, as these hairstyles are more smart and sophisticated as they are for professional events, these hairstyles don’t meet with my intentions. Additionally, I am looking for something that I could use to replace a mohawk, therefore I am looking for something more unique in order for it to match the uniqueness of my character’s makeup design. Scrolling through the different hairstyles on his page, I came across this knotted mohawk hairstyle that could work in accordance with my model’s long hair: as seen in the video, multiple buns are made down the head in order to create a mohawk-like effect. I plan to use this video as guidance when trying out this hairstyle tomorrow in addition to the skull plaits to help me establish if this hairstyle could work successfully.

• Starting with the hair knotting technique to create a mohawk look, this consisted of sectioning the hair into rectangle-like shapes all down the head. Then, taking the first section, I wrapped the majority of the hair around my finger, as if I was creating a bun hairstyle. Following this, I then used the leftover end of the hair and knotted this through the bun, leaving a sticking up piece coming out from the centre of the bun to create a mohawk-spike effect.

• For the second technique, I began my sectioning a front piece and leaving this out while I worked on the rest of the hair. Using small sections one at a time, I backcombed the hair right down to the scalp, using hairspray to create a texture that I could backcomb easily. As I moved further down the back of the head, I backcombed each section a bit more as I travelled downwards to ensure that the height remained a similar level to the rest of the hair. After backcombing all of these sections, I used the sectioned front piece that I left out to smooth this over the top of all the backcombing. I then finished the hairstyle by backcombing the leftover hair from the braids to tie the hair all together.

Although, despite its accuracy in meeting my intentions and vision for the character, I realised that there is a new problem. Due to the fact that I am now going to be using my model’s real hair for the hairstyle, this means that the bra back strap can’t be hidden under the hair (which was the original plan with the wig). Thinking about a way to hide the back straps in the moment, I thought of a new idea: I might be able to cut the back straps so that they are just long enough to go past the ears and then pin this leftover material into the skull plaits of my hair design. Additionally, to ensure security, some spirit gum may need to be applied to the face where the cups meet the skin in order to make sure that the piece will stay stuck on. However, as I am unsure as to how this will turn out, I want to practice this idea with my spare bra soon to see if I would be able to achieve this successfully. If not, I will need to consider a new possibility in which I could make the bug eye piece stay on the face without clipping the straps at the back of the head.

When creating my moodboard, I used these tips in order to help me to create an effective and detailed moodboard for my design.

‘Moodboards should include the following elements.

• A title or a theme

• Visual images

• Text and annotations

• Textures, accessories and materials

• Sketches

• Face, body and hair charts

• Techniques and products’

(Stokes et al, 2021, pg 62.)

Through this feedback, I have shown teamwork and communication skills by providing my honest opinions about technique on a colleague's design work -  ‘Be aware that looks may change and that the make-up look will be discussed as a team and worked out together. Make sure that you contribute to these discussions.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.) Furthermore, giving my feedback, alongside other peers, provided this colleague with multiple opinions that could lead her in coming closer to solving this problem that she is having in her design.

Overall, this teamwork shows my ability to provide support and ideas to a colleague in order to help to spark inspiration - ‘Professional make-up artists use feedback to improve their skill level and ensure they are delivering the expected or desired looks.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 41.) Furthermore, it indicates my creativity and imagination skills as I was able to come up with an idea that would match the intentions that she had for the character.

Overall, providing this feedback to my colleague highlights my reliability when being asked to give honest opinions on someone’s work - ‘one of the main qualities of being a successful make-up artist is having reliability.’ (Braisdell et al, 2011, pg 395.) Additionally, it shows my team work by being a supportive and helpful collaborator towards others in my group. 

As a result of this small meeting, we have been able to recognise the importance of catering for the competition day and been able to organise how we would achieve this. We now have a plan put into place so that we can prioritise the needs of our team and models on competition day; this will help to ensure everyone’s well being is looked after during long hours. 

When asking each colleague for the details of their design, if they were struggling to give me a lot of material I would try and push them by questioning them on certain elements of their design - for example: what will the hair look like, what will be included in the costume and are any props being made? Doing this helped them to think about their characters in more detail so that they could provide me with a more specific summary of the designs. 

As a result, I was able to gather the information for the programme from everyone successfully apart from two colleagues who were absent today. I plan to collect the information from these two members when we arrive back at college after the Half Term so that I will have all of the details I need when adding to the programme.

I separated this practice over two days, completing the hairstyle and body paint (excluding the face) on one day and completing the hand special effects and painting on another day. Furthermore, I used the same techniques that I have used previously for these makeup looks.

Furthermore, when adding the information and photos from each person, we remembered how we still needed to collect these resources from two remaining colleagues in our team. As everyone in the team was focusing on their own work today, people were in different places within the college, therefore we would need to go find them to get the information from them. We managed to collect the information from just one of these colleagues throughout the day; I have privately messaged the other one after coming back from college so that I can get the information from her too.

• Professionalism: appearance, attitude, how we would handle mistakes, prioritising individual needs

• Health and Safety / Hygiene: arriving with brushes and products clean, washing hands regularly, cleaning down the bay before and after the application

• How well our designs matched the chosen theme 

• The Techniques used and how well they were executed

In my overall evaluation, I will be considering how well I achieved and completed these aims.

Overall, this shows my understanding of upholding a professional appearance as a makeup artist as it can display preparation for and commitment to the role.

As a result of successfully arriving at my intended time, this allowed me to work in accordance with the plans of my time management so that I could ensure that my application would be completed in time at the end of the day. This required attribute of being punctual will assist me greatly if I ever have early starts within a future job - ‘Punctuality - arrive at work early enough to set up and be ready for the day. Never rush in exactly on time or late.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.)

Evaluating my choice to alter the hair design and application of the extended fingers, I think the main reason why I finished my application earlier than planned was because of these adjustments. Creating only two braids on each side of the head instead of three helped to reduce how long the hairstyle took to complete by about 40 minutes. Additionally, doing only two allowed me to put more accuracy and precision into these braids instead of rushing them due to time pressure. Furthermore, the choice to prepare the tin foil and latex fingers the night before was so successful and beneficial as I was able to just slide them onto her fingers after finishing the painting on the hands. If I didn’t prepare these the night before, this would’ve extended the time of my application by about two hours, which would have led me to not be able to get this element complete in time. 

Overall, my time management for the competition day was planned out very well, leading to a less stressful and rushed application. This shows my developing ability to manage my time effectively: I prepared myself by completing a practice of the application beforehand so that I could determine the timings I would need to stick to. Additionally, I have shown my ability to successfully apply creative solutions to aspects of my design in order to manage my time to fit within the given time frame. ‘This is a very demanding industry… you are often working under pressure with tight deadlines and timings.’ (Braisdell et al, 2011, pg 2.) Furthermore, ‘time management - It is important to work to a schedule.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.) Therefore, working as an aspiring makeup artist, it is important to ensure that I am as prepared as I can be regarding the creation of schedules or making notes of my desired timings for applications that are needed for similar time-pressuring events such as this competition. This is so that the completion of makeup looks can be guaranteed.

Additionally, evaluating the team’s communication and organisation into catering food and drink for our models and artists, this was a very effective idea. By placing the products in the centre of the main table in the makeup room, this allowed anyone in the room to help themselves at any time. Both my model and myself used resources from the catering table when feeling thirsty or hungry, and I noticed the majority of the others in the room helping themselves too when they were in need of anything. This highlights the decision of catering as having the intended results of being helpful and beneficial to people in the room. As a result, I have learned that by providing catering as makeup artists for a long day event, such as this competition, can be very useful and valuable as it ensures that there are resources available to ensure the well being of both the models and the artists involved. When preparing for any similar events like this in the future, I will consider suggesting this as it has proved itself very beneficial. 

Finally, at the end of the day, I provided makeup removing products such as wipes and face wash to my model. This was done so that she would have the products available to take off any makeup, if she wanted to, before leaving the college. After the competition, she did want to take her makeup off and take her hair out so I assisted her when doing this. This highlights how the preparation of and the thought that went into my kit was effective as I was able to supply these products despite not being asked by my model to bring them prior.

Additionally, I washed my hands frequently throughout the day such as before and after applying makeup as well as before and after touching hair. This was done in order to prioritise my own health, safety and hygiene along with my model’s as well.

Health and safety is an important feature to uphold as a makeup artist and my ability to maintain this key skill shows my development within the role: ‘The makeup artist should maintain a safe, healthy and hygienic working environment to safeguard actors and colleagues from accident and cross-infection.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg 9.) Furthermore, ‘observe a high standard of hygiene, health and safety at all times… this will help you build a good reputation.’ (Braisdell et al, 2011, pg 16.)

Moving onto the first practice of applying and blending silicone prosthetics, this helped me to understand the areas of the technique that I struggled with the most, giving me the opportunity to improve on them in a later practice. Furthermore, keeping these improvements in mind, I knew what to focus on when applying the prosthetics on the competition day to prevent myself from making similar mistakes. Additionally, completing individual research into how to apply and blend these prosthetics as well as attending a technique demonstration by my tutor in college massively provided me with the support and guidance I needed to understand the technique. I believe that my research and the notes I made from my tutor’s demonstration were vital in helping me to create a successful application of silicone prosthetics on competition day.  Moreover, through the practices of the hairstyle for my character, these gradually progressed in technical ability as I began to receive a clearer understanding into the particular style I wanted to create. These evaluations of the hairstyles led me to be able to create a successful hairstyle that suited the length and style of my model’s hair while meeting my intentions for the character. The research into a hairstylist and my ability to recall a separate competition I attended allowed me to determine the idea for my hairstyle after needing to adjust my original idea. 

Furthermore, the practices of altering a spare bra allowed me to evaluate and learn how I could prevent making mistakes when altering the actual bug eyes bra piece. Additionally, trying it on with face makeup and hairstyle practices made me recognise ways that it needed adjusting in order to coordinate with my model and to ensure it’s security when placed on the face. 

Additionally, by creating the extended fingers for my character the night before, this allowed me to complete my whole application within the given time frame. Doing this helped to quicken up the time of my application, stopping me from needing to rush which would have resulted in something less detailed. 

Finally, when creating a costume design, my research led me to consider multiple options for my character. After choosing the one I thought suited my character more, I was able to establish the costume as a finished element after trying it on my model with the body paint design. Doing this helped me make sure that the whole costume fit my model and that it created the intentions I hoped for alongside the rest of the design before using it for the competition. 

Overall, my preparation and research skills throughout the 9 weeks leading up to competition day have provided me with having a lack of problems during my application - ‘Forward-planning: make sure everything is planned before the job starts.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 24.) Furthermore, from using my flexibility and problem solving skills prior to the competition, I was able to prevent many mistakes from occurring on the day - ‘Make-up artists need to be versatile and flexible.’ (Stokes et al, 2021, pg 2.)  From using these skills, I have learned that by ensuring that you are fully prepared before a pressured application such as this competition, it leads to having less mistakes and feeling less stressed during it - helping the application to flow much smoother and be done in a relaxed atmosphere. 

 I first began with the hairstyle as the hair would be able to stay in its style for a long period of time. Additionally, it would be easy to make some final touch-ups at the end of the application if the back combing slightly fell and lost some height over time. Starting with the hairstyle, I began by sectioning the hair and doing the braids first. Because I was now only doing two braids on each side of the head, this allowed me to take a few extra minutes to create more accuracy and precision. As a result, I thought that the braids turned out neat and were placed in an even placement on each side, matching my intentions. After this was when I moved onto backcombing the hair in sections. After each section, I flipped them other towards my models face so that the hairspray could set, leading to more volume once flipped back. After I completed the body paint on the back, this was when I put all of the hair back and smoothed hair over the top. At the very end of my whole application, I went back to the hairstyle as the backcombing had lost some height. This was when I went back through each section to do some further backcombing as well as ensuring that the smoothed hair over the top covered the underneath backcombing and was set into place afterwards. This backcombing section matched my vision as it turned out successfully: it created volume down the middle section of the head and created the punk-rock style effect that I was aiming to achieve. 

As a result of this preparation, knowledge and practical skills I learned over these 10 weeks, I achieved 2nd place at the competition, being just 1 point away from 1st place. 

• The importance of doing research to develop ideas and understand techniques in depth.

• Being prepared through creating face, body and hair charts throughout. Despite these often changing regularly after doing practices and more research, it helps to keep track of developments. Additionally, having these with you for applications can help to keep you on track and prevent you from forgetting steps in your makeup look.

• The importance of team work and working collaboratively. This helps ideas to develop through feedback and improvements to form. Furthermore, it lets collaborative ideas be made through communication - for example, the collaborative idea to cater for our team and our models was such a beneficial idea for us on competition day. I have learned that catering for a competition can provide reassurance to yourself, as an artist, and to your model that your well being will be cared for during long hours. 

• The importance of time management and timing practice applications to prepare for the real thing. Doing this can also lead to you being able to detect timing issues beforehand.

As a result of this project and competition, I feel more confident to be able to attend makeup competitions outside of college: I have learned how I would prepare myself to be able to execute a detailed design to be judged. Furthermore, referring to the project as a whole, I have enjoyed this journey of collaborative and individual preparation that resulted in an exciting competition day.

- Stokes, K., Gaines, T., Purchase, N. (2021) Theatrical, Special Effects and Media Make-Up Artistry. London: Hodder Education.

- Kehoe, V. (1995) The Technique Of The Professional Make-up Artist. Woburn: Butterworth-Heinemann.

- Davis, G., Hall, M. (2017) The Makeup Artist Handbook: Techniques for Film, Television, Photography, and Theatre. 3rd edn. New York: Routledge. 

- Langer, A. (2016) Make-Up Manual. 8th edn. Berlin: Kryolan GMBH. 

- Braisdell, B., Lenard, J. (2011) The Hair and Make-Up Artist’s Handbook: A complete guide for professional qualifications. London: Hodder Education.

I finished off the body paint by moving onto the stomach area. As done with the arms and chest, I started with the blending and then progressed to colour in the rest of the area with the teal paint. This application turned out very smoothly and quickly and matched with the placements of the chest, as intended. 

Finally, I placed the bug eyes bra piece to her face, pinning the material on each side into the hair securely. This element acted as the main piece that really made the look emphasise my character. I loved how this looked with the rest of the design and I was able to pin it in securely enough to last through photos and the judging. 

Moreover, one of the main attributes that provided me with the focus and determination, to not just finish the whole look but make it detailed too, was my resilience: ‘Some attributes that are key to long-term success: Grit - perseverance in finishing what you start.’ (Delamar, 2016, pg 7.) Applying my makeup design for almost 8 hours shows my dedication to my role and my persistence to put effort into the whole application. Following this, my ability to stick to the timings that I had prepared beforehand worked successfully, apart from some elements where I was working quicker from being in the pressure of the environment. This led me to be able to finish the application earlier than expected, giving me more time to check over everything.