Day Look: Inspiration & Ideas

INSPIRATION:

Make-up & Hair Moodboard

Having been disappointed with my original day look test shoot, I have decided to go back to the beginning and look for more ideas.  In my moodboard you can see my inspiration for the day look, including plaits, dewy skin, pink lips and the Urban Decay Naked lip gloss that I would like to use.

For my Urban Decay inspired day look, I want to create a natural make-up look with a loose, effortless hairstyle.  I think that a dewy base with slight contour and blush, along with a pink tinted lip colour will make a nice make-up day style.  For the eyes I will use a bit of mascara, with either no eyeshadow, or a nude smokey eye.  With the hair, I'd like to create some loose plaits.  I will either style the hair into one big plait, or some smaller plaits going into a loose ponytail.


IDEAS:

Face Chart 1                                              Face Chart 2                                              Face Chart 3

Above are three face charts that I have designed for my Urban Decay inspired Day Look.  I have kept them all quite simple, with neutral tones running throughout.  Below is how you would create each look.

FACE CHART 1:
- Begin by applying Kryolan foundation and primer to the skin
- Contour using a darker shade of foundation and the powder around the nose creases to prevent any shine
- Darken the contour with a bronzing powder and apply Illamasqua's Ambition blusher to the cheeks
- Fill in the eyebrows using Sleek's Au Naturel eyeshadow palette
- Apply Naked eyeshadow from Urban Decay's Naked palette
- Coat the eyelashes with Rimmel London's Scandal Eyes mascara
- Finish by applying MAC's Creme in your Coffee lipstick and Urban Decay's Naked Sesso lipgloss

FACE CHART 2:
- Begin by applying Kryolan foundation and primer to the skin
- Contour using a darker shade of foundation and the powder around the nose creases to prevent any shine
- Darken the contour with a bronzing powder and apply Illamasqua's Ambition blusher to the cheeks
- Fill in the eyebrows using Sleek's Au Naturel eyeshadow palette
- Prep the eyelids with Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion
- Apply Dare eyeshadow across the eyelids and Stun in the creases; both from Urban Decay's Naked on the Run palette
- Coat the eyelashes with Rimmel London's Scandal Eyes mascara
- Finish by applying Urban Decay's Naked Sesso lipgloss

FACE CHART 3:
- Begin by applying Kryolan foundation and primer to the skin
- Contour using a darker shade of foundation and the powder around the nose creases to prevent any shine
- Darken the contour with a bronzing powder and apply Illamasqua's Tremble blusher to the cheeks
- Fill in the eyebrows using Sleek's Au Naturel eyeshadow palette
- Prep the eyelids with Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion and apply a small amount of translucent powder to them
- Coat the eyelashes with Rimmel London's Scandal Eyes mascara
- Finish by applying MAC's Twig lipstick

Hair Chart

Above is the hair chart that I have designed for my Urban Decay inspired Day Look.  I want to create a soft hairstyle to fit nicely with the soft make-up that I will create, so after researching and finding some inspiration from 'boho' styled hair I came up with the above.  It consists of a slightly off-centre parting with two small inverted fishtail plaits towards the front of the hairline on each side of the parting.  The rest of the hair will then be brought back, along with the plaits, into a low ponytail, kept together with a small hairband and some hair wrapped around and pinned in place.

Photo References:
- ALLISON BARBER (2012) The Truth About the “Dewy” Look [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: https://allisonbarberamakeup.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/the-truth-about-the-dewy-look/
- ANON (2014) Boho Braids [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://ohmaidarling.com/2014/04/18/boho-braids/
- ANON (N.D.) Bringing Back Boho [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://hair.allwomenstalk.com/beautiful-beach-ready-hairstyles/4
- ANON (N.D.) Loose Curl Hairstyle [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://globezhair.tk/loose-curls-hairstyle.html
- DANEEN (2014) Urban Decay Naked Lipgloss [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://spoiledpretty.com/2014/01/urban-decay-naked-lipgloss/
- MELANIE (2013) The Boho Braid [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://artzycreations.com/30-beautiful-braided-tutorials/
- TGL (2007) Who Invented Make-up? [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://www.theglamourouslife.com/articles/who-invented-make-up.html
- URBAN DECAY (N.D.) Naked3 Eyeshadow Palette [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/269582727668547382/
- URBAN DECAY (N.D.) Urban Decay Naked Advertisement [digital image] [viewed 7th March 2015]. Available from: http://www.justluxe.com/fine-living/health/feature-1825532.php

Colour Challenge #2

Following last weeks colour theory challenge, this week we were given the original coloured image and asked to recreate it.  Below is the original colour copy by Ayami Nishimura and my own attempt.

I did not have the same colours as the original image so I created a similar version with the colours in my kit.  Again, I found it hard to create the right shape around the eyebrows, and I think it was harder this week because black is harder to correct.  I think that I blended the colours in the cheek area a lot better and overall I think that it is an improvement from the complementary look that I created before.  However there are ways in which I could make it a lot better.  For example I would make the colours  in the cheeks brighter, make the lip colour brighter and correct the eyebrow shape.

References:

- RANKIN (N.D.) Texture & Colour Play by Ayami Nishimura [digital image] [viewed 27th Feb 2015]. Available from:http://www.musebeautyproblog.com/tag/ayami-nishimura/

Studio: Hair Shapes and Silhouettes

The shapes and silhouettes that hairstyles create are important for a strong overall finish.  In class this week we were looking at creating sleek hairstyles with strong shapes, from prepping the hair to creating a ponytail and other hairstyles.

Equipment needed:

- Water spray

- Serum

- Hair dryer

- Paddle brush

- Hair straighteners

- Hair bands

- Pintail comb

- Hair grips

How to Prep the hair:

- Begin by wetting down your model's hair with a water spray and add a small amount of serum into the hair too.

- Blow dry the hair straight using a paddle brush.

NOTE: Do not create lift at the root.

- Hold the paddle brush under the section of hair with the nozzle of the hair dryer pointing down to make the hair lay flat as you blow-dry.

- Create a middle parting and work with the back section of hair first before working on the side sections.

- Straighten the hair once you have blow-dried it straight to create a perfectly flat finish.

Sleek hair.

How to create a Sleek Ponytail:

- Brush the hair through and then brush it back off of the face, taking a section of your model's hair to where you want the ponytail to sit.

NOTE: The ponytail should sit on the crown of the head.

- Hold it in place and work around the head, brushing the hair up and bringing more hair into the ponytail as you go.

- Change from a brush to a comb in order to get the hair extra flat and then tie in place.

NOTE: If you want extra height on the ponytail you can add another hair band a bit further up.

- Take a bit of serum in your hands and brush them over your model's hair to tidy and get rid of any baby hairs.

Sleek ponytail.

How to create a Softer Finish:

- Bring the front section of hair back (created from temple to temple), but pin it out of the way whilst you work with the sides.

- Bring side sections of hair around the head and pin with grips in a criss cross.

NOTE: Be sure to keep the sections flat.

- Bring the top section over the side sections and make sure that it is flat.

NOTE: You can create this same style with some lift by backcombing the underneath of the top section before bringing it over the side sections.

Sleek, soft finish.

Sleek, soft finish with added height.

Evaluation:

These hairstyles were  fairly simple to create and good techniques to learn in order to help me design my final looks for my chosen brand.  The ponytail was the trickiest to do, as I found it hard to keep the hair flat and in the right place.  Also, when I tried to tie it in place, the hair began to bunch in the hair band, making the hair bumpy.  I think that these simple hairstyles could be effective for some of my future looks that I will be creating.

Colour Challenge

RANKIN (N.D.) Texture & Colour Play by Ayami Nishimura [digital image] [viewed 27th Feb 2015]. Available from:http://www.musebeautyproblog.com/tag/ayami-nishimura/
(EDITED B&W BY ME)

In class, we were given this photo and a colour scheme to stick to.  The colour scheme that I was given was complementary, so I chose to work with the colours blue and orange.

I found the task fun but quite challenging.  It was interesting to depict the different areas of colour from the black and white picture that we were given, however I found it very difficult to recreate the shapes seen on the model's face with the same perfection.  The shape of the eyebrows proved to be especially difficult, as I couldn't get the right shape shown in the image and I couldn't get the two sides equal.

Below is my complementary colour version of the image.

I think that this was a good exercise and it really got me thinking about choosing the right colours and the shades within those colours in order to create an effective look.  I will transfer the skills that I have learnt here when designing the looks for my brand.

Studio: Textured/Natural Beach Hair

Equipment needed:

- Water spray

- Mousse

- Sea salt spray

- Hair dryer

- Hair dryer diffuser

How to create Natural/Textured Hair:

- Begin by dampening the hair with a water spray and put some mousse through your model's hair.

- Spritz the hair with sea salt spray.

NOTE: If your model has naturally curly hair, just use the sea salt spray.

- Use a hair dryer with a diffuser and hold it under the ends of the hair to dry it and create texture.

- Thoroughly dry your model's hair and finish by bringing their hair back off of their face.

Textured/Natural beach hair.

Having created the natural hair look, we were then asked to create a chignon and plaits with this texture of hair.

A messy, textured chignon.

Waterfall plait on textured hair.

Evaluation:

I found the natural beach hair fairly easy to create, and I think it helped that my model had naturally curly hair.  Creating the messy chignon with this texture of hair was simple too, as I just pulled my model's hair back and pinned it in a rough chignon, finishing by bringing the front pieces of hair to twist around the chignon.  The waterfall plait I created to practice, and I found it a lot easier than the last time I tried.  This time I managed to get my head around where to drop and pick up the sections of hair.  This textured look would be good for my beach look.

Day Look: Test Shoot

The look above is the look that I created for my day look test shoot.  To create the look I began by mixing Illamasqua Satin Primer, Kryolan Foundation and Urban Decay Naked Foundation '0.5' and applied it to my model's face and neck.  I then slightly contoured her cheeks using Kryolan Foundation a shade darker than the foundation I used for the foundation.  I powdered the skin lightly to keep a dewy look, and then applied Illamasqua Powder Blush 'Ambition'.  After that I combed through the eyebrows, applied Urban Decay Eyeshadows 'Dare' and 'Stun' and applied Rimmel London Mascara to the eyelashes.  I finished off the look by applying Urban Decay Naked Lip Gloss 'Sesso' to my model's lips.

There are elements to this look that I like, however overall I do not think that it works for my brand ethos.  I like the base and lip colour, so I think that these are elements that I will consider for my final day look.  The eyeshadow is a bit darker than I originally thought and not quite right for the day look, so I will either not use eyeshadow or use lighter shades for my final look.

Studio: Plaiting

Wiggle plait.

Plaiting can be seen within a lot of catwalk hairstyles, and in this weeks hair session we were looking at different ways to plait the hair, and add plaits to enhance a hairstyle.

Equipment needed:

- Hair brush

- Pintail comb

- Hair bands

- Sectioning clips

How to create a Wiggle Plait:

- Begin by creating a 3 strand plait.

REMEMBER: A plait comes away from the head, and a braid is against the head.

- When you get to the end of the plait, hold one of the strands firmly and push the other two up to create the wiggle effect.

- Pull out the plait so that it is not too bunched up at the top.

How to create a Waterfall Plait:

- Begin by sectioning off a square piece of hair at the front of your model's head.

- Split the section of hair into three and begin to plait normally.  When you go to plait from the strand above, drop it and pick up another strand of hair from above the plait.

REMEMBER: The rhythm of plaiting = plait - plait - drop

NOTE: Creating another plait underneath with the strands dropped will create a ladder effect.

Waterfall plait.                                                                                   Ladder plait.

How to create a Five Strand Plait:

- Separate the section of hair that you are plaiting into five strands.

NOTE: Crimping the hair will help if it is your first attempt.

- Take the section on the right and bring it over and under the two strands next to it.

- Take the section on the left and bring it over and under the two strands next to it.

- Repeat this method, always bringing the outside pieces of hair over and under the other sections.

NOTE: Be careful not to bunch your hands together.

Five strand plait.

How to create a Slip Knot Plait:

- Begin by creating a clean section along the hair line.

- Split the section into two, tie a knot with the hair and ask your model to hold the strands.

- Create the next section cleanly from the temple and tie another knot, asking your model to hold these strands too.

- Create another section, split it into two and join with the first knot sections and create another knot.

- Continue to work like this until you have created knots in your chosen sections of hair.

- To finish off the plait, twist the last two sections together.

Slip knot plait.

Slip knot plait.

Evaluation:
Learning these different plaits was interesting and some were easier than others.  The wiggle plait was the simplest to achieve as it was very straight forward.  The five strand plait was also quite easy to create.  It was fiddly to begin with, but once I got into the rhythm of the plait it was fine.  Creating the slip knot plait was fairly simple as well, but a bit fiddly with all the different sections.  I found the waterfall plait the hardest to get my head around, as I couldn't understand when to drop the hair and pick up the next piece to replace the dropped section.  Overall I think I created the different plaits quite successfully, and they are designs that I will take forward to consider for my final brand looks.