Being Creative

A big thing happened today (17.06.14). The next step in my life has been confirmed. Everyone here probably now knows that having creativity as a part of my life is very important to me. So starting this September I have signed up to do a course in London: Hair and Makeup for TV, Film and Theatre (and there is a strong possibility of doing a similar course soon after but for Fashion!) There has been much talk on the matter over the last few months. There are so many routes into the makeup industry I have found it to be quite overwhelming, but my current job has prepared me well for my next step.  I am so excited to take my first step into this world and see where it leads me. I have realised that I do want to learn but not in the traditional academic sense. I have learnt so much about hair over the past 4 months, something I previously knew nothing about, and it astounds me how much my knowledge has grown. This course will take me up until December so I'm really looking forward to starting (and slightly nervous) and to enter the new year with some new skills and a known direction in life. 

What a difference a year can make.

Inspiration :: for those summer days

I started watching 'Skins' (a British TV series) the other day on Netflix and was immediately hooked. It is exactly the kind of show that sucks you in until before you know it you're halfway through the series without even realising. There are a variety of characters but the one that stood out to me personally is a girl named Cassie. And one of the thing that I first noticed about her character was the different makeup looks that she wore over the episodes. They ranged from an orange lip, to a smudgy darker eye and my favourite so far was a very basic, simple look. It didn't look like much on first glance but as the scene progressed and I noticed her makeup more and more I thought there and then, 'I'm going to have to try and recreate that'.

First, let me explain the look to you (as unfortunately I can't find a photo, but it's in season 1 episode 5). On her lids was a pretty pearly white colour with a light baby blue on the inner corners and slightly further down. She had a pretty shimmery pale pink lipgloss on, and there wasn't anything obvious on her face. To me it was her eye makeup that stood out the most. Immediately I thought of Urban Decays shadow in 'Virgin' to go all over the lid and up to the brow bone. I initially used a Max Factor eye pencil in a pale blue shade on the inner corners but it didn't look quite right. I was wearing minimal makeup at the time so it really emphasised my undereye bags, so some concealer is definitely needed if you want to try that look out! So instead I used 'Silver Ring' eyeshadow from MAC all the way underneath the lash line and on the outer corners of the top lash line. Once finished it turned into a look that I would happily and could easily wear on a day to day basis. Perfect for those summer days!

A further twist on the inspiration was adding a bit of depth to the eyes, for this I used 'Naked 2' from the Naked Basics palette (not pictured) as I didn't want any obvious definition but it subtly added an extra dimension to the look.