Key Health and Safety:

·      Wash your hands thoroughly!!

·      Assess the artistes before application with questions relating to allergies, illness, infections or contact lenses.

·      In cases of illness, infections or allergies, assess whether it is safe for you to go ahead with application. Consider the safest way to apply the make up. Possibly use disposible brushes etc.

·      Make-up brushes, sponges and puffs must be cleaned and disinfected between uses.

·      Make up tools must be used hygienically and should not be shared.

·      Princible artists should have their own separate make up sets.

·      Removal of make up from its container/palette should be done with a disposable spatula and placed onto a clean palette to avoid contamination.

Skin Care Products:

I have been doing a little bit of research into cleansing, toning and moisturising products that are available on the market today. I’m interested in the information about the products and their quality in relation to the price. Being a student, price is a major factor!

Dermalogica:

UltraCalming Cleanser (£26.30)

This product is aimed at people with sensitive skinbecause of its gentle cleansing. Yet, the reviews of this product are very mixed. Some reviews show bad reactions to the product which provides evidence that it may not suitable for sensitive skin afterall. Others say the new formula isnt as good as the original. Yet some people say that this product is a must have. Personally, my skin is quite sensitive so I wouldn’t want to risk using this product.

“After one or two uses of this product, my whole face broke out in small, itchy bumps.”

“The "new" formula which is now a few years old did sting a little for a couple of weeks, but then my skin got used to it.”

“I'm now well into my second bottle and I am recommending it to anyone who asks.”

Liz Earle :

Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (£14.75)

Instant Boost Skin Tonic (£13.25)

Skin Repair Moisturiser (£19.25)

According to the customer reviews, they average on 5/5 stars. I personally haven’t tried the products myself but I’ve heard nothing but positivity. I have been recommended Liz Earle products by many people and that they’re a great investment. These will definitely be on my Christmas list!

“If you only have one product in your skin care routine. This HAS TO BE THE ONE.”

“I cannot speak highly enough about it”

Proactiv Solution 3 Step System:

(£39.99 as a set)

This product is targetted at acne-prone skin to deep clense, sooth and smooth. Reviews are again mixed with these products but the majority appears to be fairly negative. I don't think I will be investing in these products any time soon based on the reviews. Maybe its worth testing it myself some day.

"It DRIED out my skin like NEVER BEFORE"

"I started using it once a day, for about a week and my skin got severely inflamed"

"Worked wonders by reducing the spots and making my face clear"

Recently, we have been looking into the history of Elizabethan make-up with the techniques they used and the trends they followed. Some of which are completely bizarre!

The idea of beauty during this period was based upon ‘The Virgin Queen’, Elizabeth I. The fashion was to have fair hair, pale complexion and red lips. This look was used to portray wealth, power and status, but at the same time delicasy, purity and virginity.

Women who wore make up were often accused of being whores as their make up was accused of hiding their natural beauty and tricking men into falling in love with them. The cosmetics hid blushing so men could not read his effect upon the lady.

Further into the project we have studied symbolism in portraits. Below is an image which i researched into and considered the symbolic meaning displayed.

Typically Elizabethan make-up and hair:

·      Porcelain skin – used ceruse to achieve look. A pale complexion was an upper-class achievement. Gave Elizabeth’s image as the virgin and eternally young queen as this make up was used to hide aging.

·      Fair, curly hair – women dedicated hours to bleaching and dying their hair. For the extremely wealthy, cutting their hair and purchasing elaborate wigs to closely mimic their wigged monarch.

·      Jewels in hair – head pieces and jewels signified vast wealth as only rich people could afford the costly accessories.

·      Rogue cheeks – to avoid the white looking too ghostly.

·      Red lips – emphasised the pale skin.

·      Thin brows – create the effect of a fashionably large forehead.

·      Eyes – Belladonna was used to make them look larger and sparkly.

Pearls:

·      Resemblance of the moon. Used to present Elizabeth as the goddess of the Moon, Cynthia, who was a virgin and therefore pure.

·      Symbolise wealth and power.

·      Represent chastity, purity.

Colours:

·      Black and white clothing suggests that this woman is of highest nobility.

·      The background material colour is red, symbolising wealth and status.

The lace embroidery suggests that this woman belonged to the higher strata of society.

Ruffled collar was very fashionable and dictated the fashion of short hair.

The parrot may symbolise eloquence, suggesting the woman was a good talker. It could also suggest status.

This summer we were assigned a project based upon researching a Make Up Artist that inspired us and had to identify key looks that we would use to transform ourselves. We were then asked to provide images created by the artist and explain how these looks are reflective of our personalities and aspirations, then suggest a destination or an event where we would wish to wear this look.

My chosen artist was Charlotte Tilbury. I personally love her feminine, flirty looks she creates. Charlotte is fantastic at enhancing a woman’s natural beauty, but I feel she manages to create a party girl/bohemian vibe in each look. I instantly felt an attraction to her work after further research and felt so inspired that I even recreated my own versions of some of her looks.

So, my chosen look that I felt reflected my personality the most was Charlotte Tilbury’s metallic, glam-rock look from Dsquared2 show. I felt a real summery party/festival vibe from it, which is everything I love. I love the idea of heat, music, glitter and chilling with friends. There is a hint of Ibiza and Glastonbury in this look and it really reminds me of some special memories.




Read and Review: 'Lobster Dress'

The Lobster dress, “an exhibition in itself”, designed by influencial Italian designer and artist Elsa Schiaperelli, was famously worn by Wallis Simpson in a series of photographs by Cecil Beaton. Schiaparelli is regarded one of the most famed figures in fashion between both World Wars, alongside her greatest rival, Coco Chanel, who described Schiaparelli as 'that Italian artist who makes clothes'. Schiaparelli’s work was heavily influenced by Surrealists, including collaborator, Salvador Dali. Dali incorperated lobsters in a lot of his work during 1934, inlcuding ‘New York Dream-Man Finds Loster in Place of Phone’. The dress itself, created in 1937, was a simple silk evening dress with a crimson waistband featuring a large lobster painted onto the front of the skirt. The placement of the lobster is among parsley sprigs on the front of the skirt of the dress. The lobster’s sexual connotation possibly represented an aphrodesiac among many other suggestions of erotic symbolism. The placement of the lobster charged the design with erotic tension, defeating the idea of the romantic looking photos. It has been said that Dali was apparently disappointed when Schiaparelli would not allow him to spread mayonaise on the finished gown.

The photos were taken at the Château de Candé by Cecil Beaton shortly before Wallis Simpson’s marriage to Edward VIII. With regards to the photos, the general feel for the image is serene and romantic, with the beautiful floral garden setting. My initial reaction is that the woman looks rather elegant and poised. The white dress creates a sense of purity and enhances the female figure with the detail at the waist. The pose is effortless as if the woman is taking a casual stroll in a garden. The flowers add to the femanitity and purity of the photo, yet don’t overpower the dress, still allowing it to be the main focus of the image. With further inspection of the image, you notice the lobster on the front of the skirt, changing the message portrayal. The photo originally appears to be an image of bridal innocence, but the lobster design creates a contrasting message with the controvesial implications of the crustacean. The photo creates speculation with the outlandish dress design, something that Dali often did. This may have been the intention for this shoot as the model was a famous individual and may have been chosen deliberately to increase recognition.

The composition of the image is quite delightful. The detail of the background is slightly blurred to create emphasis on the foreground. The main focus is placed on the dress with it being in the centre. With Wallis Simpson’s head turned to the side she is not drawing attention to herself and letting the dress take centre stage.

I sense that there may have been contrasting ideas from each artist with the message portrayal, working in its favour. Cecil Beaton’s intentions for the shoot were to photograph Wallis Simpson in a more flattering light with an idealistic portrayal. The dress’s general shape and material coincide with this theme: the purity of the white, the elegant shaping of material and the detailed waist. Yet the message portrayal of the lobster covering the women’s genitalia flaunts a surrealist symbol of sexual acts and reproductive organs. This gesture portrays an expression of sexual desires and interests, converting an innocently themed image to something quite symbolically provocative. The general idea of the photo is very clever as the artists have created a much talked about final product, with Vogue publishing the photos as an eight page spread.