2 N D H A I R P R A C T I C E . . .

26th February
For this second style I practised, I wanted to create quite a structured hair design to represent the change of someone’s mood, to do this I just stuck to something simple as ‘waved hair’ – but in quite a literal way. My model who I practised on had incredibly thick, long hair and at first I thought she would be perfect to practise on as she has so much hair to work with but I soon realised that this became a disadvantage. Length wise, I wanted the waves to form around the hair line and to be ear length, to flow at an even level around the hair but as Alisya’s hair was so long this meant that the waves were larger and sat just on her shoulders.

From this I learnt if I want to do this design for one of my final shoots, I will need a model who has finer, shorter hair which will make this design a lot more achievable and to use a finer hairspray. To create a crisp, defined edge of the wave, I simply sprayed the hair and went over with my straighteners to really flatten the edge but with the hairspray I used, (a cheap one from Tesco), the hair became quite sticky and stuck to the blades. To avoid this I will invest in buying a better quality hairspray to avoid this, which will also allow me to create more of a defined edge.

1 S T H A I R P R A C T I C E . . .

25th February
As I have decided that for each sin I will be doing both beauty and avant-garde make-up, I thought as the hair will take much longer I should start planning and designing for my avant-garde shoots. I want the hair to be as much of a statement as the makeup, with the addition of different materials and colour, I hope to create not only beautifully applied makeup, but also 7 hair styles that really show my talent as a hair stylist. I don’t have the best knowledge of hair, but as I used to model for Toni&Guy and Saks for many years, I learnt many key secrets about creating different looks and how different brushes/combs can help do this also. So I aim to use all my intelligence about hair and my fine art background to combine and create unique hair designs.

From my first practise of this design, I was pleased with the outcome but learnt many things that I can change for when I practise next in preparation for my final shoot. Such as not spending so much time sectioning the hair as by the end with the finished design, you wont be able to see the individual sections as the hair will be styled as one. Also to make sure all equipment is ready for use, such as to make sure the straighteners heat up as I am still styling the hair to save time as this will help the overall look be quicker in the long term as I will be doing the makeup before hand. One thing that I am going to make sure I practise is to make sure I completely brush out the hair after I back comb and crimp each section, to make sure that I wont end up with the hair still with a crimped effect. Before I mould the hair into style, I want the hair to be thick and versatile for me to mould into shape but to look straight, by having the hair still slightly crimped then this will effect the still at the end when trying to straighten strips to create a webbed look. This is all do-able though so I am confident that the final look will come out well, I am just pleased that I am setting time aside from researching and design the make-up to practice the hair, as after all - practise makes perfect!! (hopefully)

H A I R S K E T C H E S / D E S I G N S . . .

22nd February

As well as doing the normal face charts for each of my looks for the shoots, I think designing hair is just as big as the make-up, especially both aspects are going to be playing the same role for the looks. Looking over my hair mood boards and my pinterest boards which I made collecting images that inspired me, I spent last night drawing up and painting these designs for the hair. I decided to water colour paints as the way the colour merges into the paper is something which I think works well when designing hair as apposed to it being to stiff. These are my initial designs and I will probably continue to have a play about and draw some more. I stuck to the colours of each sin as you can but I might change my mind nearer the time to see which looks will fit which sin. As you can see each design is quite creative and demonstrates avant garde hair, I want the hair to stand out and to make just as much of a statement as the make-up for each of the second looks.

I N I T I A L H A I R R E S E A R C H . . .

21st February 

One of the main reasons why I wanted to study hair and make-up was because of my background with hair, as during my college years I used to model for Toni&Guy and Saks which gave me more of an insight into hair design and the art behind it. As well as having my hair coloured, the variation of hairstyles I demonstrated when modelling opened my eyes to an industry that I wasn’t aware of beforehand. The technician behind the hair designs were something like a piece of art; with the planning and intricate details this is something that inspired me to study my course.

With that being said, when it came to thinking of ideas for my FMP and I came up with basing my book on the 7 deadly sins, I knew straight away that I wanted to really create not only stunning make-up, but also push my creativity through hair – for the hair to be just as a big part as the make-up.

For my initial research, I looked into different styles of hair and the techniques used, with the addition of colour and props and the outcomes, which other stylists have produced. By searching through Pinterest and Tumblr I gathered images that inspired me most for my project. As I started looking through my collected images I created these mood boards not only for the colour scheme but to show the sort of designs I shall be aiming to create for my shoots. Each one representing a combination of technique and mixed materials used to create the style with complimentary make-up designs. Each picture is vibrant in colour not just with the make-up and styling but within the hair which is something that I find inspirational and that I will definitely incorporate for my shoots.

B R A I N S T O R M . . .

20th February

The main reason why I felt that the 7 deadly sins would be a good theme is because there is so many different ways that I can create each sin through the art of hair and make-up. I feel that it is something that hasn’t been done before and especially within my course mates, I don’t know anyone else doing anything using the same theme so I really want to make this my own. Showing my adaptation of each sin not the predicted way, slightly changing it to create something that hasn’t been seen before. For example, Lust – instead of making lust seem like a sin, I will design my look around the base of the celebration of lust.

To help my train of thought, I compressed descriptions of each sin to keep it specific, as this will help me when I come to design each make-up look. Also with colour as well, I want to really emphasize the colour scheme of each look to make each page of my book be really elaborate.

envy- coveting of something that someone else has 
sloth- laziness 
wrath- rage 
lust- sexual desire 
greed- desire to possess,

envy, lust and gluttony could all be more specific manifestations 
gluttony- excessive indulgence normally in ones physical appetite/hunger 
pride- inflated sense of self worth, arrogance 

Colors 

Envy - Green (green eyed monster of jealousy) 
Sloth - Light Blue 
Gluttony- Orange 
Pride- Purple 
Wrath- Red (red with rage) 
Lust- Blue\Pink
Greed- Yellow 

Seven holy virtues: 
chastity - not engaging in sexual relations 
temperance - moderation 
charity - giving to others without expectation of a reward 
diligence - discipline, perseverance 
patience - tolerating adverse conditions or people 
kindness - showing compassion 
humility- an attitude that states you are willing to learn and do not believe you already have all the answers, a realistic and open perception of oneself 

7 D E A D L Y S I N S . . .

19th February

When speaking to my mentor Flavia, apart from feeling quite distant she seemed to really like the overall idea for my book, but like previously stated I needed to narrow down my idea and think of a theme. Now I am a strong believer that ‘great things come to those who wait’, as I thought of the deadly sin idea at about 1.30am as I was trying to sleep – my mind is never turning off at the minute it seems!!

So now that I have a theme for my FMP, which I am confident and comfortable with, I am going to start researching the true meaning of the 7 deadly sins and where they originated from. By doing this I hope to gain more of an understanding, which will help me with developing the sins into separate make-up looks. As seen in my FMP proposal, I plan on creating a coffee-table, photography book that will consist of around 30-40 pages - this resulting that for each of the 7 sins, I am aiming to have 6 images in my book from each shoot which will mean I will have 42 pages in my book.

As I very much enjoy pushing my creativity to new levels and trying things that I haven't really done during my time at university, I am planning on creating 7 avant-garde looks and 7 beauty looks of each sin to demonstrate my makeup skills as I want to keep my books focus on the makeup and hair. By doing this, I feel that this will help create an eye-catching book that will demonstrate my make-up artistry skills clearly.

I was seriously struggling with trying to think of a running theme for my book that I would be confident with, so when the idea of basing it on the 7 deadly sins, I felt positive that I could create something visually stunning and that I'd be proud of. As part of the course we have to create our portfolio which I am doing through a website, in the long term I would love to have a hard copy of my work to show at interviews and I think this book would be a brilliant plus to take with me. 

V I M E O F I L M R E S E A R C H . . .

13th February

Though my end product will be a photography book, I have tried looking into different forms of inspiration to help me gain an understanding of lighting and the different effects this can create for the focal points of the face and body. To help me I have been looking into various Vimeo’s by searching key words such as ‘dark lighting’, ‘colour lighting’, ‘make-up lighting’ to see what other artists have created.

This film called, ‘Light up the dark’ from the Loyal Family Studio demonstrates how a combination of different lighting effects can emphasize the body and draw the attention onto the important features of the body all with a black backdrop, this is something that I am to do. After my dissertation, my first idea for my FMP was to create a fashion film linked in with my dissertation but as I had never made a film before, I thought it would be best to stick with something that I had more confidence in which was photography, although some of the films that I have looked at are stunning!!

https://vimeo.com/61366486

The 2^nd film, which has inspired me is from SHOWstudio called ‘Gareth Pugh for M.A.C by Ruth Hogben which is incredible! Half way through the film it shows the combination of lighting and projected images onto the skin, which merge into one another, which is something that I love. Once again the lighting is dark, quite sinister in a way, which brings a brilliant concept to the film.

https://vimeo.com/32711548

To try and expand my knowledge, I have looking into different forms of art to gain inspiration for my project. Searching through Vimeo I came across this next video by searching ‘colour lighting fashion’, called Burble London. This is a massive carbon-fibre structure reaching up towards the sky, composed of approximately 1000 extra-large helium balloons each of which contain LED lights that create incredible patterns of light across the surface of the structure. The reason why I have decided to include this video as part of my research considering it has no reference to fashion or make-up, is simply the way the combination of lighting and movement work together to create something visually stunning. This has inspired me to experiment with lighting for my final shoots and to see the different effects when projecting altered coloured lighting onto the face, and how this works with the make-up.

https://vimeo.com/662988