Days 2 thru 5.

The next few days flew by in a rush of pink cheeks and swishing brushes. Each day I find I am learning so much that my eyes feel they may pop from my grease paint laden skull. My brain hops, skips and flits around from one idea to the next, excercising its gazell like tendancies with free abandon. I feel a strange sense of relief, like im home, like ive found my neiche. Day 2 – Base make up. Learning to apply a basic foundation blend, conceal blemishes and under eye shadows, tame and fill eyebrows. Basically setting the base ready for the next step.

Day make up. Learning to apply a light day make up that can be used on men or women, making them basically ready for camera. Includes evening out the skin tone, covering blemishes and marks, a light eye shadow with basic shading, basic lip line and colour, taming and filling brows. Obviously this would depend on the actor actress and what they needed.

Day 3 – Evening make up. Applying base, then using heavier colours and heavier technique to shade the eyes. A heavier liner used around the eye, including false eye lashes and mascara. Blush to high light cheeks, staying rather neutral for the lip line and lip colour so as not to over do the look.

Day 4 – Contouring. Applying base, then using grease paint on one half of the face, and a mat bronzing powder on the other half to contour the face and create prominent cheek bones, jaw line. Can also slim line the nose, shorten the forehead etc. Note: Sofia, pictured here, did not need any contouring but for the sake of practice agreed to let me attack her with paint and powder…thanks Sofia!

Day 5 – Project. Our brief was to choose either Fire or Ice. We were then allowed to let loose with what we had learned so far, and our imaginations. Once I met my lovely model Sarah, I chose Ice. She has amazing red hair and pale complection, with piercing blue eyes. I went away and created a mood board, and then several ideas. I settled upon turning her into an snow Indian. I became fixated with the idea of snowball fights, and the way in which snow skitters along the ground, or down a window when thrown. I wanted to create this down her face. This then lead me to look at native Indian face markings which I fell in love with and created with grease paint. I also created a dreadlocked hair braid with blonde hair extensions, fabric, feathers and bells. I clipped this into the hair and then plaited it in. Eyebrows were combed upwards with hairspray to spike them, under the eye was heavily shaded with charcoal eyeshadow and then lined. No mascara was used. The lips were kept simple with a tiny touch of grease paint and Macs lethal lips gloss.I finished the make up and hair with my favourite fur lined hunting hat, and whipped up a whimsical outfit from an old African nighty, gloves and heaps of jewellery that I had made previously. This created an eclectic, wild woman sort of character, which i aimed to keep beautiful and sexy. A high fashion look. Many thanks to Sarah for letting me go for it, and not questioning the methods within my madness!