Space Rock : Having a go at blending/making colours

So it's been a while since I've done any makeup apart from on band members, so I thought I'd have a go at creating some colours and seeing how blending needs to work. This was a test of blending a paler face into normal skin tones, creating purples and fading colours using brushes instead of sponges. Based on an image found on Pinterest. Apologies for the changes in light/angles, I had a room invasion (ahh housemates 💓) about half way through and had been using a lamp on its side to blast enough light out for me to work in.

1. No makeup (for comparison).

2. Base layer of Snazaroo thin white foundation, blended into neck/normal skin tone.

3. Snazaroo blending to nose in yellow. One side rubbed some white off, the other didn't 😝 *sigh*

4. Dark Grey 'garage doors' just past eyebrow end but mimicking same angles.

5. Harder to see here but I added paler grey paint underneath the eye and to the edge of the eyebrows and to the inner corners of my eye.

6. After adding the crazy black eyebrow bits that remind me of antlers or beetle antennae. The hardest part here is trying to mimic the symmetry. I can see now the right 'brow' does not end with enough of a curved flick. As well as lining the eye and adding a false 'crease'. 

7. Creating purple tones from pink and mid blue, I swapped a pink for a red to continue. A bit too lilac/pastel to be fair but I was happy with the blend, I can see its placement makes a big difference to the result though (I like the right-hand one better). Close up to show fade is slightly filtered to show how it really appeared (my iPad had no flash function) but it makes my hair look weird..

8. Minor disaster- I smudged black to the top and had to wipe it off!  Added in some purplish mix to the sides and to the lips. By this time, the gossip was in full swing and being distracted I've not done a very good job in mirroring the shape on each side, was quite a nice easy squidgy line ending with a sharpe point, but not entirely unforgiving. I like the flow of the line to create a higher cheekbone effect.

9. Judging by my reference image I thought it would look quite 'spacey' but in adding the lilac wig and in wearing a black vest it ended up looking very 'rock opera'! Not really what I was going for to be honest..

10. With my own hair looks slightly better but it's all a bit Japanese Noh Theatre. I'd added in a little bit of gold glitter to balance the yellow nose too. And a filter for the final image of course!

All-in-all it was nice to be back on the facepaint train but this was a bit of a half-arsed effort and it shows! As an experiment in colour fading/changing it was interesting to see what I could/struggled to make. Seems easy enough with brushes, the detail comes through at the point it changes though. Not my best but it's been a while and worth a shot. 

Lessons Learned: a big fat squiggly line always looks best brought to a thin point. Use your skull contour to flatter your face shape. Symmetrical painting is hard!

Why I wear makeup.

So I wear makeup almost every day, and whilst I make no judgements as to whether you do or don't, I thought I'd show you the difference it makes to my face. This is pretty much my standard daily routine broken down into each step. It probably takes about 7-8 mins to do this without having to stop to take pics obviously.

1: Liquid foundation base. I use Rimmel Match Perfection in 100 Ivory as I'm rather pale naturally.

2: Concealer and Highlighter. I use Rimmel Match Perfection in 010 Ivory under my eyes, around the darker tones around my mouth and nose, such as my fulcrum.

3: Pressed Powder. I use Rimmel Stay Matte in 001 Transparent, applied everywhere (especially under my eyes) with a thickish brush. I don't mind the 'made up' look, for me, I'm happy for people to know I wear makeup. 

4: Blusher. I'm using Boots Natural Collection in Rosey Glow, applied with the fattest brush I have to just under my cheekbones and under the edge of my jaw, tapering down onto my neck. 

5: Highlighting eyeshadow.  I'm using my Lumier Eyes Shadow Compact in its palest shade. Kind of hard to see on this pic but it's on my brow bone under my eyebrows and in the inner corner of my eye near the tear duct.  It's a pale, shimmery cream colour.

6: Eyeshadow. I'm using the same compact as before. Colours applied with my finger are a russet and a darker chocolate brown, mostly to the outer edge of my eyelid. 

7: Liquid Eyeliner. I'm using YSL's Shocking Eyeliner Effet Faux Oils in 1 Black. For me, more than anything else, is where you need to invest in a good one. Mostly I can use anything on my skin, but this has great staying power and precision of application.

8: Mascara. I'm using Rimmel's 100% Waterproof in 002 Brown Black. Personally I like to interchange the colour of my eyeliner with brown too, it just slightly softens the look, knocking it back a little. 

9: Lip Stuff. This is a daytime look for me so I'm wearing a very subtle dab of Maybelline Super Stay 14hr Lipstick in 560 Continuous Cranberry, applied lightly and smudged with a finger with a top of Maybelline's Super Stay 24hr Conditioning Gloss on the top for a little softness, as the lippy can feel a bit dry.

10. The finished look. Or rather, half of it! I can appreciate my personal style is quite doll-like at times, but for me, makeup reflects how I either feel I look, or improves how I feel. Not wearing makeup for me, is like having forgotten to brush my hear or my teeth, it's not the end of the world if you don't do it, but you feel better for it. 

Over time, I've come to realise I have a bit of rosacia on my cheeks and chin, so I'd prefer my face to match the paleness of the rest of my body, though obviously working outside has slightly altered my level of care to the time I take on it. I've had to ensure I wear waterproof mascara being out in downpours all day at times. I probably wear less or paler eye shadows these days and as my skin is getting older, moisturising beforehand is fairly essential, and how I apply eyeliner has adjusted as my eyelids loose elasticity.

Cheap eyeshadows are getting less forgiving and are starting to crease and my skins pores are more obvious. But this is how I see myself, so for me, makeup will always be a big part of my life. I find the application mostly soothing and transformative in a positive way. Some days I wish I had different features or better skin, but ultimately I enjoy being in my skin and the things I can do to it. 

Halloween 2015 Treetops Facepainting

Just a little post to list a few pics I snapped of my work colleagues as we appeared to the general public last Halloween (I realise I'm only posting this in February..). 

Apologies for my delay in posting on time, and no time for pics as I went, so here are some of this finished results - all of this was boshed out in about 90mins I think.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a close up snap of Stu as a pirate and Jack's overly wide bloody grin. May update if I find any at a later time. Still lots of fun freestyling to be had!

Halloween 2015 makeup commission

So I was asked by a handsome local DJ to do his makeup for his Halloween night gig like this image he'd found:

Having looked into this extremely detailed piece I discovered it was a makeup test photo, designed to show what spectacular things it can do. 

Clearly I was very intimidated given this was done by professionals, with a vast array of fancy makeup and time on their side...

I (an amateur) had to replicate it as much as possible in about 45mins, on a busy man, with Snazaroo facepaints...

So this is how Dave normally looks:

A rather happy chap who is painted very seriously, stern skull face biz.

Needless to say, I'm still quite pleased overall, given those factors. It's very much a humble nod to. There was no time or assistance to take pics as I painted and as he had to rush off, there was no time to snap any then, but I managed to find the following pics of him throughout the night, taken by various people I'm afraid I don't know (I claim no copyright, I just wanted to show my painting efforts):

Obviously by the time these were taken, more than a few hours eating, drinking and dancing have taken its toll, but the overall effect is there. Unfortunately I couldn't find any pics in colour that showed the washes/tones that got whiter in bonier places. 

Deatbeats Gig Make-up: House of Vans Party, London

So this project was born out of need to produce gig makeup for my samba punk drumming band for a comic-book themed private party we'd been booked to play at the House of Vans venue in London.

Concept: Sin City/comic 2D/Frank Miller/Greyscale

So the closest source image I wanted to base it on was this:

But a little bit less Roy Lichtenstein..

So I'd had to freestyle a last minute template for the dot work, so it would appear more uniform, from some back-to-backed coloured stationary stickers (or rather, their edges, not the dots themselves.) swiped from work due to forgetting the one I'd made earlier...as I'm a doofus.

Also in another dramatic turn of events, our coach driver, it transpired much later, had suffered a heart attack on his way to get us, so in waiting for so long, we managed to rustle a couple of vans up and drove ourselves, but that meant significantly less time in doing everyone's makeup. Therefore the method had to be adjusted and simplified to be done in half the time so it's a little slapdash - but all things considered I managed to turn out a few good ones with the help of a team I bullied into helping (the stars!!).

Here's the results: (There was NO time to snap picks in the frantic rush to get the paint on ASAP)

I did Janes makeup (below, on the left)

Would like to revisit this one again with the band, but with significantly more time of course! I do think the concept was achieved nonetheless, though not to a standard I was happy with. Still, it's all a learning curve!

 

Floral gig/festival make up / spot/partial facepainting

So I was simply in the mood to facepaint one night a while back and my housemate Lou expressed an interest in being my volunteer, so we cracked a bottle of wine, put some tunes on and faffed about with some facepaint.

My starting concept was simply "Paisley" (the print, not the town)

I wanted to make sure it was colourful- complementary tones but with highlights, so I picked out a bunch of colours I thought I might use, which on retrospect were a tad too many, but it was fun and open still at this point, I didn't have a clear idea of what it would end up looking like, just a rough starting point; a curved teardrop shape around the eye.

So I began free-styling on my model and housemate Louise. Presented here in all her bare-faced glory (pretty much)

I had to keep tilting her head up as my light source was ceiling spotlights - rather than trying to affect a classic flattering pose, but still, win win I guess..

So the free-styling began:

It was interesting to see where the lines I painted lay on her face, particularly above or below the eyebrow, it looks re-contoured.

It helped a lot that Lou's eyebrows were so pale and fine when it comes to painting over them, I really will have to get a better method of covering thicker ones down!

At this point I couldn't help feel that it was missing some stronger tones but wanted to be car full with how much black I introduced. 

The answer was re-lining Lou's eyes.

And as she's a performer and partygoer that meant the finishing touch: glitter. Glitter Everywhere!

Think she was pretty chuffed with the overall result!

Given the talking, drinking wine and music-listening casual tone of this facepainting episode, I have to say it must've taken a good 45mins to do, but I think if I went back to do it again, could probably bosh it out in half the time?