Formative practical assessment- MakeUp

Practical assessment: Recreating the Zac Posen SS15 Hair- and Makeup look:

After researching all four fashion shows for the formative assessment, I decided to go for the Zac Posen SS15 look. Simply because I think that a red lip is such a classic and timeless look. However you have to be very careful when applying red lipstick. It can definitely be a statement or it can ruin the whole look, if not applied carefully.

There are a few things that a make-up artist has to keep in mind when creating a red lip look:

• The skin has to be flawless
• Tone the rest of the makeup down
• The lines have to be very crisp
• Know what shade is good for you or for your model
• Always apply lip liner first
• Blot the first layer, apply translucent powder on top, and apply a second layer to make the lipstick last longer
• Don't let the lipstick end up on your teeth

This make-up look for Zac Posen's show also has a modern twist to it, thanks to the glossy eyes and the wet-looking hairstyle. It is simple, bold and sophisticated, just like the collection itself. Very ladylike in my opinion.

Mood board-Side 1

Mood board- Side 2

So let's see what products I've used on my model to recreate this elegant, classic, yet modern look:

Products used:

• Cleanser, toner, serum, moisturiser
• MAC Face and Body Foundation in shades C3, C4 and N7
• MAC Strobe Cream
• NYX Dark Circle Concealer in DCC02 (peachy shade)
• Dermacolor Camouflage Palette in shades D3, D4 and D5
• Ben Nye Translucent Powder in shade Fair
• Essence All about sunrise palette- Color No.5
• Vaseline
• MAC Ebony Eye Pencil
• MAC Haute& Naughty Too Black Lash Mascara
• MAC Ruby Woo Lip Pencil
• MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick
• MAC Lady Danger lipstick on top of Ruby Woo
• MAC Brow Set Clear eyebrow gel

Step-by-step application:

1. I started the make-up by prepping the skin. I cleansed my model's skin, using a cleansing milk. I than used a calming toner followed by a Vitamin E serum on the dry areas of my model's skin. I than massaged a generous amount of calming moisturiser into his skin, to increase the blood flow.
2. I decided to continue with the eyes before the skin, to avoid any fallouts underneath the eyes. I first applied a black eyeliner to the upper waterline to really intensify the lashes. 
3. I curled the lashes and applied two coats of black mascara, using a fan brush. This was really helpful as I was working with Vaseline on top of the eyeshadow and it would have been really difficult to lift the eyelids when applying mascara, with a sticky, slippery layer of Vaseline on the eyelids. So mascara went on first. 
4. I than decided to actually mix the eyeshadow with Vaseline and patting the mixture onto the eyelids, rather than applying the eyeshadow first, followed by Vaseline. I simply used my fingers to pat the eyeshadow-vaseline mixture onto the eyelids.
5. I than moved on to the skin. I used a peachy toned concealer underneath the eyes to counteract any blueness.
6. I than mixed three shades of MAC Face & Body (C3, C4 and N7) to create the perfect shade for my model's skin tone.
7. I mixed this with equal amount of MAC Strobe Cream and applied this mixture to the skin, using a flat foundation brush. To buff the foundation in, I used a Beauty Blender.
8. For this look it is very important to keep the skin fresh and dewy, therefore I did not want to add too much concealer, so I decided to pinpoint conceal any blemishes, using my Dermacolor Concealer palette and a small pointy brush. 
9. Once I was happy with his skin, I applied a translucent powder by Ben Nye but only to the T-Zone to keep the dewiness of the high points of the face. 
10. I also added some extra strobe cream to the cheekbones using my fingers.
11. After the skin, I went back to the eyebrows. I brushed them upwards and run some clear eyebrow gel through the brows. I did not use any other products on the eyebrows as my model has lovely thick and dark brows anyway.
12. After the face was done it was time to move on to the lips. I lined his lips first, using MAC's Ruby Woo lip pencil, and also filled in the lips with the same pencil.
13. I than applied a layer of MAC Ruby Woo lipstick, using a small angled lip brush.
14. I blot the first layer with a tissue, than separated the layers and placed it onto the lips.
15. I applied a small amount of translucent powder on top of the lipstick through the tissue.
16. I applied another layer of Ruby Woo lipstick and blot it again
17. This was followed by a layer of MAC Lady Danger lipstick to achieve the perfect shade of red

Some pictures of the makeup application:

With the lip pencil on, before lipstick application

Before adding lipstick

Before lipstick application

Timing of makeup application:

Prepping the skin: 

5 minutes- Cleanse, tone, moisturise- really work the moisturiser into the skin to boost the blood flow in the skin.

Eyes:

15 minutes- Eye liner on upper waterline, Curling the lashes, Applying thin coat of mascara, Mixing eyeshadow with Vaseline and patting onto the eyelids, Eyebrows: clear brow gel

Skin:

20 minutes- Color correcting, mixing strobe cream with foundation, applying and buffing in foundation, concealing and pin point concealing blemishes, more strobe cream, powder

Lips:

20 minutes- Line the lips- really precise, crisp line!, Ruby Woo, blot, Ruby Woo and Lady Danger on top

And the final result:

And of course: us posing:)

Before, after and together:)

Conclusion:

The two most important things that I've learnt doing this look were to make sure to perfect the skin and take time with your lip pencil and lipstick to achieve crisp lines on the lips. It is extremely important to use a sharp lip pencil and do not rush the application! Be patient and leave plenty of time for the lips, to avoid rushing. Stressing about things make everything 10 times worse! 
A small angled lip liner brush is also very useful in my opinion. I find it easier to use an angled brush, as it perfectly fits into the Cupid's bow making your life much easier.
I think I've done a pretty good job on the model's skin, because I made sure it's dewy but also concealed his blemishes. I could have used a bit more concealer underneath the eyes where he had some dark circles.
I did not worry too much about applying an eyeshadow base. The eyeshadow-vaseline mixture did crease a little bit on the eyelids, but because this is a catwalk look, it would be seen from a distance anyway.
If it was an editorial look, I probably would not use Vaseline. Overall I did enjoy creating this look, and perfecting the application of a red lipstick is a MUST for a make-up artist.
When Holly came around to check our work she pointed out that I did not apply the lipstick properly in one of the corners of the mouth, so I corrected that mistake straight away. She also advised me not to be afraid to really stretch out the skin in the corners of the lips, to smooth the tiny wrinkles when applying lip products.

Reference:

[Online] Available at: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/38/f9/62/38f962a40bc051df3d0661ee23beed2d.jpg
(Accessed: 29 November 2015)