Project Evaluation and Final Images

FINAL IMAGES


Natural Beauty 

 Smokey Eye
 
 
Strong Lip

Eyeliner/Brows/Lashes

Metallic/Pearlised

 

EVALUATION

Overall, this project was harder than I initially expected. This is because I found it hard to design a shoot inspired by a like UD which has such strong themes, without copying shoots the brand had done in the past. Urban Decay,had its pros and cons in that it uses a lot of colour as well as more natural ones that I could incorporate into my natural face shoots, this is a pro. A con was, for example, there is so much metallic in the brand that it was hard to differentiate between the actual metallic shoot and the others. I had to be creative and think on my feet once I saw that this was happening on camera. 

Because this is a beauty unit, I really had to make sure that the makeup was technically good as I couldn't rely on crazy colours and shapes to hide any flaws like I might do on a fashion or conceptual shoot, and i can tell already that that has greatly changed and improved my technical skills and eye for detail. The project forced me to become better at base application especially. 

I had a lot of ups and downs with this project - I was let down with photographers and models were often late once I'd managed to find them. However, this allowed me to put my problem solving skills into use to overcome the problems. Having to jump in and do my own photography, which I was so bad at before the project started, allowed me to improve my photography skills on the spot to the point where I am now relatively confident behind the camera.

The project and the research that I did surrounding the project really helped me understand the industry and how important it is to have a strong brand. It has helped me get an idea of what I need to do to brand and market myself through my career.

There are a few things that I could have done better - Although I did  lot of planning for my lip look I still think ideally I would've liked to have done a re-shoot because the shape of my models lips were harder to work with than i first thought. I also had some trouble getting my metallic look to show up on camera and found a lot of the metallic element was lost so if I were to re-shoot I would've done more research around capturing metallics in photographs. I had a few issues with hair because the brand isn't overly adventurous with its hair, and i find it harder to do plain hair looks rather that styles.
I was happy with my styling and think that overall I have captured the essence of Urban Decay. I feel the backgrounds that I photoshopped in really tied everything together, and I'm happy with the technical side of them makeup, there was very little that I had to photoshop - just a few blemishes and camera-tone correcting.

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Illamasqua Timed Assesment Design

 Concept

My concept has two aspects that have lead to my final design ideas. I wanted to build my main concept around the future of makeup, but also wanted to build the design around two Illamasqua products in particular. The products I chose to base the look around were Precision Ink in Scribe – a white liquid liner, and Sealing Gel – a clear liquid that turns any powder into a  waterproof liquid.

I used these products to create a concept that is inspired by the Ilamasqua brand DNA. Although being alternative, bright and extreme, I've noticed that Illmasaqua uses a lot of shape and lines in their makeup and this is really what I wanted to come through in my work. I thought scribe would be good to create some strong lines, and I also thought white would be a good colour to use as eyeliner, as usually we would use black. It would be in the Illamasqua identity to mix things up in this way.

A huge makeup trend at the moment is winged liner. My vision of the illamasqua identity for the future is that we will continue to have these trends that are common now, but we will enhance them, make them more extreme, colourful and layered. To do this I used the Illamasqua precision ink in scribe to create a strong, exaggerated eye line and built up layers of Apex with sealing gel to create a bright orange/red liquid line above this. Black lines seal everything together for more drama and impact.

I think makeup will be tonal with people matching tones of their eyes, lips and blusher and this is what I tried to do using the same products on the lips as the eyes, and toning some in through the contour colour. 

I wanted to play on the “bushy brow” trend by really exaggerating it and again, playing with shape and line.

The hair is also a trend cross-over. We are constantly switching between wanting perfectly neat or messy, textured hair styles. So why not have both these elements in one style? My hair styles starts off neat, strait and structured and flares out at ear level to create texture, volume and frizz.

 

Face Design

  Makeup is tonal, extreme and all about line and shape. Lips are defined. Liner is extreme and shaped. Brows are bushy and exaggerated with powder. Contouring between the eyes, under cheekbones and above the cupids bow contribute to face shape and depth.

Eye Chart shows direction of lines and shapes between liners gold shadow below the eye and messy brows.Eldora D154 lashes to give fluttery-winged effect and the subtle gold glitter on them tones in with the makeup and gold undertones under the eyes

Hair Chart:  

Hair will be smoothed out and strait on top, and neatened using a toothbrush and hairspray. Then it will flare out by the ears in a crimped, separated frizzy style.

PRODUCT LIST - FACE

 

•Screenface Crème Foundation Palette

•Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in Apex

•Illamasqua Sealing Gel

•Illamasqua Precision Ink in Scribe

•Illamasqua Gleam Highlighter in Aurora

•Illamasqua Bronzing Duo

•Illamasqua Reflection Palette

•Eldora False Eyelashes D154

PRODUCT LIST - HAIR

•Small plated crimpers 

•Hair Extension brush

 •Tail Comb 

•Hairspray 

•Toothbrush (for stay hairs)

 

Photo Backgrounds

After shooting my photos i noticed that, although I was happy with the outcome there was something missing from them. There is something about Urban Decay shoots that lets you know that it is Urban Decay strait away and it was something that wasn't just in the makeup or hair. After analysing some iconic UD images I noticed what this was - all UD photos have  jazzy background! Usually flowers or a pattern or a nice interior - they very rarely have  plain background like my photos. So I decided to include this and photo shop my photos onto  a jazzy background to give it more of a UD flavour.

I decided eventually to go with flowers because they gave a good girly contrast to the edgy makeup, which matches UD's "beauty with an edge" mantra perfectly. I chose a different background for each look to compliment it. I got the images from a royalty free wallpaper downloading site, flashrolls.com.

MOODBOARD OF BACKGROUNDS

Above is a moodboard of the sort of backgrounds that I'm thinking of using and the type of thing that I think will go well with the UD look. I want them to be busy, girly and colourful because that's what UD is all about. They will add a lot more interest and colour to the look and it is the sort of concept that can easily be used by a UD campaign in reality.

Urban Decay Models and Choosing My Models

I want to use models in my Urban Decay designs that are similar to the brand. A t a glance, I can see that Urban Decay always use similar models in their campaigns. They are typically:

• White females
• Strong jaws
• High cheekbones
• Thick brows

They have used models of different races but only, so far, for the NAKED skin range. 

Because Urban Decay models have a very distinct look I am going to try and find models that have the same look about them. 

MODELS I'M CONSIDERING

I really want good models because I've learnt before that the right model can make the photograph and a bad model can have an effect on the outcome. Carly is a friend that I've used before so I know shes a good model and able to take direction from me.

This is Carly, and when compared to the Urban Decay Models she shares a lot of similarities - thick brows, high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Her hair will also be good to work with as the majority of Urban Decay Models have long hair (and Brunette seems to be favoured by the brand.) I would like to use her for the majority of my shoots but I think it'll be nice to have some diversity in there so I will continue my model search for the rest of the shoots.

Hair Tests

From researching the hairstyles that are used within the Urban Decay photoshoots and campaigns I can see that hair isnt a huge part of their styling - there is a definate focus on makeup and hair seems to be styled to look nice and compliment the makeup, rather than for any specific concept. (See UD hair research post)

I like the plaiting that tey use because its a bit more intricate and will allow me to show what I can do more than the other styles that UD use (typically down and waved) so I did some tests to see how to go about. I wanted a braid headband.

TEST ONE

I was not happy with my first attempt. The braids didnt make enough of an impact from the front and looked a bit lack-lustre. There was also an awkward crossover at the front that I wanted to get rid of.

TEST TWO

I tried the same look but used a one-sided french plait across the head to give the illusion of a plait headband, and while I liked the overall look and it was a lot neater, it still didnt give enough emphasis from the front and I really wanted it to appear on camera.

TEST THREE

I reviewed my models hair to see how I can make the most of it in this style and its so long and thick that this really helped me think of a new way of creating this style. I used the whole hair from the back of her head to make the plaits extra thick - this wont matter from the back as the photos will be taken from the front - and brought them round to the front. They looked a lot more enhanced and clipped nicely. I tried the look up and down, and I love it more down so my plan is to take to thick sections out from the sides and curl them using rollers.

Urban Decay Hair Research

Urban Decay has a basic hair template which seems to be:

Softer Makeup Looks:

• Soft waves/curls
• Either down and long or elegant up-dos with a sweeping side fringe

Stronger Makeup Looks 

• Slicked back hair
• Bouffants

NAKED Range Looks

• Soft and tousled
• Plaits and braids incorporated (messy/soft)

I created a hair moodboard (below) to demonstrate the most common hair dos that seem to spread throughout the brand.

NAKED RANGE

Metallic/ Pearlised Face Charts and Tests

My metallic look has to be quite dramatic. Ive also found it hard picking up metallic pigment on camera so I'm going to use a lot of pigment to try to counteract this. My plan is to do a strong silver and black metallic eye, natural lip and drop metallic pigment down my models face which I'm hoping will catch the light in the photos and increase the metallic look.

Metallics/Pearlised - Inital Thoughts

UD use metallic in almost all of their products so the hard thing for me is going to be allowing this to be distinguished from the others in the project, because they use metallic too. UD us lots of colour in their metallic looks and they're probably the most extreme looks they do so my look will have to be extreme to make it pop out from all the others.

Eyeliner and Brow - Incorperating Lashes Tests and Charts

I love the idea of using a really strong electric blue for my eyeliner look, the release of the new ACID palette has allowed to run with this. I know i want a dramatic wing because that's very UD. Below are my initial sketches of my ideas. I know I want it to be electric jewel colours, bold, and sharp. I want the brows to be bold, shaped and arched.

 

 I started some initial tests. I found an electric blue pigment which i thought would be the perfect colour and tried mixing it with MAC mixing medium, assuming it would have a liquid liner effect. The effect was horrible though,and the end product was crackly and hard to work with. I'm really glad i did this test because in the past this has worked for me, so by testing these particular products I've avoided having to re-shoot because product knowledge wasn't in place.

 

Horrible product application aside, I continued testing to see what shapes would compliment the colour and work with the shape of the brow. Below is a thicker, more square line rather than the fluid thinner one above.

 

UPDATE

 Below is my final face chart and hair design. I have since found a perfect product, a GOSH liquid liner in metallic electric blue. I will create deep wings with that, and add a subtle black liquid line to the upper lash line to give the whole thing more depth.  Hair will be tousled, back combed and pushed away from the face to give as much emphasis to the brows and eyes as possible. Lips will be lightly stained pink and glossy. I will use natural, feathery lashes to complete the look in the way that UD do.

Eyebrow/Eyeliner/Eyelashes - Initial thoughts

UD eyeliner is always fun, slick and often colourful. It is often metallic, and is paired with natural lips. I want to work this into my look, using jewel colours and fun shapes. Sometimes they use multi-tonal liner and hair is usually natural, soft and not specifically styled. Brows are always full and usually arched. Lashes are often used but they're always quite subtle and realistic.

Natural Look - Tests and face Charts

For my natural look I plan to concentrate on nice, flawless skin, a clear glossy lip and natural shadows. This will be done using the NAKED palette. I will also tight line the bottom waterline and the upper lash line, because this is trademark of UD's "natural" looks.

The hair will be placed in heated rollers before the makeup application starts to create gentle waves. I will make a braided hair band out of the models hair and clip into position as this plaiting and braiding is something that UD use a lot in their natural looks.

I did some tests and from looking at the photos I need to use a lot more gloss on the lip less shadow in the corner of the eyes. When I do my final look I will make sure I do these changes, and restrict shadow to the creases.

Natural Look - Initial Thoughts

Below are a few examples of the Urban Decay NAKED range, which is a more natural side of UD and focuses on champaign, gold and metal tones to create a natural look. They're "natural" look involves a perfect base and contouring, thick brows and near natural, glossy lips. Eyes are still quite made up, but with natural colours that compliment skin tone. Something that sets the natural side of UD from other brands is that they usually, but not always, tight line the bottom waterline with a black pencil. this would usually be considered too heavy for a natural look but it is something almost typical of the UD natural face.

  

 

As you can see from above they've even adapted their bridal makeup to reflect their grungier side, but everything still looks peasant and natural. This is what I am going to try and achieve with my natural look. I am going to use metallic eyeshadows that compliment skin tone and rely on minimal black kohl liner, rather than liquid or gel for that smudgy, softer look. I will keep lips natural and glossy. 

Smokey Eye Tests and Face Chart

The colours that I have in mind for my UD smokey eye are quite metallic and really pretty, so I really want them to pop. To so this, I am planning to apply the shadows over a cream pigment, to bring out the colour and give everything a lot more impact. The different between doing this, and using a primer is that a coloured base can often help pigment come out a lot more than a primer, which is mainly for staying power. 

Below are the swathes of the cream pigments that I will be testing to see what gives the most impact when shadow is applied over the top. The products range from ELF Cream Shadow sticks (bottom) to supra colour (middle) to Illamasqua liquid Metal (top) I wanted to try a range of colours and finishes to see what brings out the metallic finish of the eyeshadow I will be using the best.

I applied the shadow over each cream pigment and they all looked different. The metallic creams didn't work very well (which surprised me because I assumed they would work well with the metallic of the shadow) because the shadow didn't take well to the metallic texture and you could see the pigment underneath (see last two swatches)

Red and white supra colour worked quite well and allowed the shadow to look vibrant. But I really needed to see how the colours worked together when blended. This is because I want the shadow to flare around the eye, and so I will need to so a lot of blending. I need to test how the products reacted to this to ensure there was seamless blending and no disturbance of the underlying cream product.

I took a large blending brush and blended out and smudged all of the swatches to see how they reacted. I was only really looking at the red and white supra colour because they worked best with the pigment. However when smudged, the red came through stronger than I wanted it too and the white was picking up a lot of the dark pigment and taking the shine out of the eyeshadow. The green ELF cream eyeshadow however (see bottom swatch) stayed in place and blended nicely without losing any of the eyeshadow's natural pigment. Therefore I plan to use this for my final look

I'm really happy with the tests that I did because it really showed how different products react with each other and I think I've enabled myself to make my smokey eye what I really want it to be. Below is another test I did on my own eye. I added liquid metals in bronze and gold to the centre for extra dimension. I really like how it turned out but I think in my final image I will flare it out some more to make it more extreme.

My final face and hair chart is below. I have paired the eyes that I have tested out with a natural, glossy lip (as UD usually show strong lips or eyes, not both in the same photo) And big, shaped brows because this is typical of the UD brow.

For hair, I will use heated medium rollers to create gentle waves and then I will create a plaited crossover band with the models hair. I will accessorise the hair with a gunmetal, thorned tiara that I have. UD is ALL about gunmetal and the thorns give it a slightly darker edge which I think will capture the "beauty with an edge" mantra perfectly and contrast well with the girly hairstyle.