WORKING HARD

My new wardrobe as a make-up artist. Anyone notice a theme?

I've also developed a specific kit lay-out. I never thought that would happen!

 Recently I've been so lucky to be able to assist Rich Harvey, an amazing hair and make-up artist. We were shooting at a gym in Manchester, and couldn't resist getting involved.

Then to the Northern Quarter in Manchester, shooting all day with Didi's boutique. We switched between locations and studio. Our models were the beautiful Stacey McClean & Ariana, and make-up was smoked and glamorous. Photographer: Alexander Bather.

We had the bonus of an on-set puppy & prop: Wilbur the French Bulldog.

Wilbur decided to hang out with me & Sophie Williams! Clever dog.

Make-up by me. Gold smoked eyes with lime green accents. Model Ariana. 

FACEPAINTING

Just a quick update. Since leaving my make-up academy, I was at Edinburgh Fringe watching comedy and theatre. Then it was straight to Creamfields music festival to help out Love & Lacquered... giving everybody there cool facepaint, beautiful make-up and boho plaits.

Luckily I was working in Hospitality, and got REAL toilets!

Plaits were a must have.

I painted myself as a leopard, purely for advertising reasons obviously! 

And a tiger. Any excuse.

Beautiful glittery leopard print by me.

Even the men got involved!

Twisted Sixties

Hiya! If you're wondering why I've not blogged much recently, it's because I've started a course at the Cassie Lomas Make-up Academy in Manchester, and now I know the meaning of the word 'busy'. I'm absolutely loving it, so I thought I'd share my favourite bit so far: sixties.

We've been researching all the distinct decades of make-up, and how important they are. Vintage is a huge trend right now, and my personal favourite is the sixties. Home of the mods, the time when the youngsters had a huge influence on fashion, and the time of the 2nd wave of feminism, the sixties was a huge decade. The LGBT movement and gay pride gained more acceptance, and the first transgender riot occurred in '66 in San Francisco.

Make-up was super-matte, chalky, and especially bold. Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Shrimpton & Peggy Moffat were icons of the era, and rightly so. The drawn-on bottom lashes, massive cut-crease and thick liner was an ultra-cool statement, with pastel pink lips and minimal pale blusher. Brows were much more natural than the previous decades, and hair was huge.

So first I created a pretty true 60s look on myself.

White cream shadow base with Illamasqua Sex eyeshadow, Illamasqua gel liner and Illamasqua Obsidian shadow.

Then I quickly created a colourful version on Daisy, my model, using No7 liquid liner in Mermaid and a yellowy-orange MAC shadow.

Next I experimented with using different materials as false lashes, inspired by the artistry of Pablo Manzoni, a make-up artist from the sixties who used many different materials in place of bottom lashes. I was also inspired by Alex Box, Val Garland & Pat McGrath, fearless artists who regularly use paper, foam & craft materials on faces. These are made of paper from a brown envelope, cut out into long triangles and some I painted with black liner. I matched the light triangles with my NARS lid colour. I disliked the shadowing under the eye, so I decided to take a different approach.

My final look: jet black liner, pure white liquid highlights and harsh, geometric lines painted on. A grey-purple lipstick (Illamasqua's Posture) provides a twist on the traditional sixties pastels. To play up the matte face of the decade, I replicated it but used a sparkly blusher (NARS Super Orgasm) to add dimension.

Geometry features heavily on the catwalk this year; in Spring/Summer 14 there was a mod look at Missoni- a reversed cat eye by Lucia Pieroni. Tom Pecheux also created a floating stencilled triangle liner at Anthony Vaccarello.

Einat Dan, Lucia Pica, Linda Hallbergs and Stefanie Wilmann are all artists who inspire me with their geometric work.

And finally, this was my play on the flower power 1960s, using real petals as bottom lashes & bridging the divide between the early Mod movement and flower power natural look of the late sixties.

TWO NEW LOOKS

I created these looks for Lisa Eldridge's excellent competition on Facebook, to win a course at the DFMA in London. I wanted to show what make-up means to me, and it means two very contrasting things. The first? I can use it like I use paint, charcoal, pastels or pencils: to create abstract works on the face and body. I can sit with every colour of the rainbow, Google 'paint splatter' and 'dripping paint' and get to work with the teeniest of brushes.

The second? I use it to create something that's wearable, but different. Something that will make strangers stop me in the street and talk about make-up, or colour, or fashion. A cheeky nod to a different era, but with a twist. This is a sixties look, traditionally done with black and white. I used purple and yellow- two contrasting colours - to make each other 'pop'.  And the petals? They represent the 'drawn-on' bottom lashes that Twiggy famously sported, and Marina Diamandis reinvented for her 'Primadonna' video. They're dandelion and bluebell petals, picked from the garden and attached with eyelash glue. Not the easiest thing I've done with make-up, but extremely satisfying.

The thing I'm most proud of is the fact that I've managed to make my skin look good. Spots and acne scars aren't so visible, the skin looks even, but there isn't a heavy blanket of coverage.
(These images are taken with a brilliant camera that I borrowed, they are unedited, the colours have not been changed. It's me, in my bedroom, with the sunlight streaming through an open window.)

Funky brows

I had better start by saying that I love a good brow. For my everyday make-up, I tidy mine up by plucking, brush through with a clear brow gel and use a pencil (or powder and slanted brush) to define them. They've got to be symmetrical and I prefer it when hairs are visible, not just a block of colour.

This black & white photo shows my natural brow shape quite well. The outer ends of mine aren't very well defined, so that's where most of my attention is focussed. I create a point rather than letting them fade out like they do naturally.

If you're a fan of editorial and fashion make-up, you've most probably realised that brows are often a pivotal point in shoots. Yes, they frame your face and create expressions, but in a high-fashion make-up shot they can be used to support a brilliant idea. Artists like Alex Box add beads and 'extras' to the brows and oftentimes they are the first feature that is sketched out.

A simple way to dip your toe into slightly more adventurous brows is by adding colour. I've got teal hair, so a bright brow doesn't seem too crazy. You could darken yours, or use Illamasqua sealing gel and a colourful eyeshadow to define them. Here I used bright colours to create an ombre effect. I wore it with a simple flicky eye, but (to be honest) if you're pushing the boat out you may as well go the whole hog and wear a bright shadow too.

Next, glitter. I used Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Navy (a great staple) which is fully matte and pretty dark. Using a slanted brush and not much product left me with very defined, straight brows. Then, using Collection 2000's cheap liquid eyeliner in gold I painted little sections of hair, following the natural direction of its growth. Next I sprinkled gold glitter over the top, creating an encrusted brow.

And finally, SEQUINS. Simply sequins from the craft shop, eyelash glue and a mohawk. Done.

ILLAMASQUA'S PARANORMAL PALETTE

This palette retails at £34.00, and I can see why.

First off, I'm not sure how to describe the texture of these eye shadows. They flit between cream and powder: you can squash them in the pan, but they appear powdery on the skin. Somehow Illamasqua have managed to gather the best of both worlds, ensuring high pigmentation and incredible staying power.

I've swatched each shadow on my arm, to show the intensity that you can get from just one swipe. Paranormal is a vivid pink/red, Aura is a beautiful iridescent copper, Trance is a lovely deep purple, and finally Possession is a green that's almost like a glittery Fledgling!

Every shadow has a gorgeous satiny look, and a wash of glitter running through. I'm normally a matte shadow kinda girl, but this has won me over. It's so versatile, and each shadow works perfectly on its own, as well as part of a colourful eye look. They're also water resistant, so great if you're an artist creating a wet face or doing a water shoot.


Here's some looks I created with the palette alone. No primers, no other shadows, just the palette, mascara and liner on the eyes. Each look took less than ten minutes to do, due to the pigmentation of the shadows, which are really easy to blend.

Above: I've used every single shadow in the palette, to show how they work together. The green really brings out the three warmer colours, and I especially like Paranormal & Possession alongside each other. 

Here's a copper look, created using Aura in the inner eye, and Paranormal over the lid, with a hint of Trance in the socket line.

All of this is the green shadow: Possession. It makes my eyes look bluer than they are, and looks great against black lashes. I know this colour would look incredible on black skin, too.

CON(S)
It may be due to the formula, but it does feel like you don't get much product in this palette. The other Illamasqua palettes seem to last me a lot longer.
As an MUA, the palette isn't perfect: pans often fall out of the casing, so I'm scared to travel with it. However, I've superglued every pan back down, and there's been no movement since.

You can buy the palette here.

ENGLISH ROSE

Today I made my own false eyelashes for the first time. I went shopping at The Range this weekend, and found a lovely set of pink paper roses for £1. I swear I wasn't thinking soppy Valentine's day thoughts at the time! I started off with a cheap pair of plain black false eyelashes, ripped off individual petals from the roses, and stuck them one-by-one onto the lash line. For an extra pop of colour, I attached a couple of paper leaves to the outer corners.

While waiting for the lashes to dry, I applied a simple base, with no powders. I used Illamasqua's Skin Base. This is the only foundation I've found that works as well for my oily skin as it does for other people's dry skin. It's truly versatile and they actually cater for olive & black skin, which is a must. I wanted the overall look to be young, pretty and girly, but with a bit of an edge. The skin is not going to be the focus here, so I played it down.

Eye make-up wise, I wanted a 'watercolour' effect, so I used MAC Miss Piggy Pink (unfortunately a limited edition) as an all-over wash, then used a shocking pink from the Crownbrush Pro88 Palette 01 (which is an absolutely amazing palette if you love make-up) to darken the socket line, creating more depth. I subtly mimicked the lash layout by working a forest green from the same palette into the 'V' in the outer corners of my eyes.

Lips are courtesy of Collection 2000's Cream Puff in 'Cotton Candy'. I can't sing enough praises for these matte lip creams. They're worth so much more than their £2.99 price tag. Cotton Candy is a lovely pink, but I love Fairy Cake almost as much- it has a slight pop of coral to it. Ignore the sickly-sweet innocent names, and they'll be a staple in your make-up bag.

Once I was happy with the rest of my make-up, I applied the lashes. They were pretty heavy, but there's something lovely about creating a breeze when you blink! I used the Miss Piggy Pink as a blush. Yes, it's strictly an eye-shadow, but who cares? It was the colour I needed, and on top of Illamasqua's powder blush in Nymph (a lovely, very pigmented, matte blusher), it made my cheeks look exactly the right shade of pink.

I clipped the left over paper roses into my hair, for a bit of embellishment and to tie the look together.

It was at this point that I decided to line my bottom waterline with black- Nars' longwear liner is perfect for this, and has incredible staying power. My reasons were that the face looked too innocent with nothing dark next to the pink, and that I needed something to balance out the height of the lashes, without dwarfing the eye. So you can decide for yourself, here's the face without the liner:

And with: 

Bonus shallow 'arty' shot:

Eye open, then closed:

Thank you for reading! Please let me know in the comments section if you liked today's look, or if you would've done anything differently.