Perfect Liner

Perfect Liner skills are essential for creating a successful editorial look. From a basic winged liner to more graphic styles, these are some tips to help in creating a really crisp, perfect finish.

Step 1. Decide what product you are going to use e.g Liquid, Pencil, Gel?

Step 2. If creating a more graphic look you may want to add markers in a white liner so you know where to place the line. You can also use tape to get a sharp line.

Step 3. Choose which brush to use. I like a flat angled brush for a normal wing but a precision lining brush may work better for a graphic liner.

Step 4. Clean up any mistakes with a cotton bud.

Not everyone suits the same type of liner. Get to know what works best for each eye shape as liner can be very unflattering if the wrong shape is chosen.

Lip Art

Lip Art is used frequently in Beauty Editorial and can be used to create a huge variety of unique looks. Painting, embellishment and stencilling are all techniques often used in Lip Art. This look that I created in class uses lipliner, beads and a fabric rose.

Step 1. Use a lip liner to define the shape of the lips.

Step 2. Using a Lip Brush, paint the lips with a purple matte lipstick. I used a liquid lipstick that has a texture thats very easy to move around the lips, before setting in place and lasting for hours.

Step 3. Using Eyelash Glue and a pair of tweezers, apply the beads one at a time, starting from the corners of the mouth. It is best to wait until the glue is very tacky to do this. Bring the beads about a third of the way across the lips.

Step 4. Using the lash glue again, apply the fabric rose to the lips. You will need more glue for this as it is a heavier item, but ensure no glue is visible on the lips.

Step 5. Taking a liner brush or a lip brush, clean up the edges of the mouth with a concealer to give a really sharp look to the mouth.

Beauty Illustration

To complete the brief for this project we have to produce two beauty illustrations to accompany our final images. I had a look at some beauty illustrations that are commonly used in magazines and found examples of the type of thing I would like to create. 

I really like the bottom left image as it combines photography and illustration. I love the pretty simplicity that placing the product over the illustrated background gives, this is something I will definitely attempt when playing around with product photography! 

Chanel nail polishes - watercolor make-up illustration (no date) Available at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/168241222/chanel-nail-polishes-watercolor-make-up?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Items similar to Chanel make up set, nail polish, powder, Labial stick, Download digital image art, no. 22 on Etsy (no date) Available at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/105348764/chanel-make-up-set-nail-polish-powder (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

OnionEye (2016) Doll memories - when art meets fashion. Available at: http://www.doll-memories.com/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Society6 | affordable art prints, iPhone cases and t-shirts (2015) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/436778863836392205/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

sisi (2014) Coole Bilder zum Zeichnen – tolle Gesichtsbilder als Herausforderung. Available at: http://www.alleideen.com/do-it-yourself-diy/12/coole-bilder-zum-zeichnen.html (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Trend Features

Found in most magazines such as Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Elle & Vogue, trend features take current trends from the catwalks and show the reader a way to wear it themselves and/or the products they need to recreate that trend. Sometimes the look is quite toned down or only steals one element from the catwalk instead of recreating the whole look. From what I found from looking at different magazines is that some trend features show the models wearing that look at the shows, and then give a list of products to recreate it, while some just take inspiration from the catwalks & current trends and create a feature that shows some different ways to wear the look. Occasionally they will do a feature and show which products they have used.

For my trend feature, I want to create three make up and hair looks inspired by the catwalks but not necessarily recreating the exact look. I will write a caption for each of the looks that recommends one key product used to create the look, but does not list all the products used. For example with a bold lip look, I will include the name and brand of the lipstick used. 

My Theme: Skin

When introduced to our project brief we were told to choose between a list of themes: Skin, Natural Beauty, All about the Product, Structure and Form and Beauty is Boring. I have chosen to do skin as I liked the versatility of the theme and Skin is the first thing I focus on when looking at Beauty shots or creating a look.

I particularly love dewy, almost wet look finishes to the skin which I hope to look into on this blog, along with tone and texture, looking into freckles and pigmentation, matte vs sheeny and textures of different products on the skin. Here are some images that initially inspire me.

       

This first set of images shows some examples of beauty looks featuring freckles. I love this heavily freckled look, particularly on asian or darker skins as I feel it is really unique. I really like the use of the orange lip in the second image, as although you would expect it to be the defining feature, I find the freckles are still the focus of the look. The bottom images show the kind of perfect, dewy base that I like creating. The bottom left image really reminds me of the strobing trend, as instead of just focusing the highlight on the traditional parts of the face (cheekbones, bridge of nose etc) you can see the make up artist has highlighted everywhere that the light would hit including the upper lip and eyelid. The artist that created the bottom right image has used a contour too, but kept the skin really fresh and glowy. 

For my project I really want to explore using metallics in different textures as a more original take on the 'wet look' skin idea. I love the heavily contoured and metallic finish to the skin in the top right look, I think it would be fun to play with different lighting techniques to accentuate the different finishes on the skin. The picture on the bottom left hand side is really interesting as the placement of the glitter is the opposite of where you would expect it to be. I like the contrast this creates as the under eye area is usually a very smooth area of skin and the glitter creates a really gritty texture and an undone look, as if her make up has run. 

Booth, A. (2013) Silvery-gold makeup editorials. Available at: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/golden-beauty (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Carroll, M. (2013) 8 makeup looks that make freckles look amazing. Available at: http://stylecaster.com/beauty-high/makeup-for-freckles/?medium=social&campaign=onsitesharebutton&term=standaloneShareButton&content=http://beautyhigh.com/makeup-for-freckles/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Carroll, M. (2013) 8 makeup looks that make freckles look amazing. Available at: http://stylecaster.com/beauty-high/makeup-for-freckles/?medium=social&campaign=onsitesharebutton&term=standaloneShareButton&content=http://beautyhigh.com/makeup-for-freckles/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Into the GlossBeauty, in real life (2015) Available at: http://intothegloss.com/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Kitching, A. (2014) 20 things I Love Saturday. Available at: http://www.buzznet.com/2014/03/sea-glass-chimes/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

Thegiftsoflife (no date) Available at: http://thegiftsoflife.tumblr.com/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).

(no date) Available at: http://anitanorrismodels.com/editorial-2/alice-ma-speckledchloe-magazine/ (Accessed: 2 December 2015).