Level 4-

Week 2- 20/09/22

On this day we started off by discussing the benefits of knowing our kit and the stuff we have in it, this includes things such as making sure your kit is set up for the next job youre going to be on. We went through a list of things which we should have in our set which we NEED to have to be able to go into any job and be comfortable with doing pretty much any makeup look with your kit. We made sure to listen to our industry professional about the products in which they suggest us buying and which ones to stay clear of! When speaking about our kits we made sure to speak about hair kits as well to make sure we know how to use each product and which ones we should keep in there for most jobs. 

We then learnt about Top tips for creating a practical makeup kit, including products for our set bags as well as main makeup kits, this included things such as;

-buying pallets of products instead of them individually,

-buying mini travel size things to test out for your kit

-think of quality as most expensive things last longer and are worth the money

-making sure to have multiple sets of brushes in your kit for when you're going from one face to the other, so you don't have to keep washing one set of brushes

-save your back buy a makeup bag with wheels or trolley of sorts

-how heavy is your bag when its empty is it going to be too heavy to carry when full?

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We moved on from this and learnt about our set bags, how we should prep these for certain set jobs, and what we should bring on set to different shoots, films or events. 

They must be waterproof, easy to hold and carry and easy to access your kit from. The things you should really keep inside are small compact things such as pressed powders or small brushes, decanting makeup so you don't have to bring the full size thing on set with you. The last part of this day was to make sure we knew how to keep everything sanitized and how to keep our brushes clean in-between takes, for the brushes use some IPA and this can also be used on the products help to sanitize the surface of them. 

 

Week 3-  23/09/22

We then moved onto a Chanel brief for the 1920's, this was a challenge of ours to see if we remembered our period makeup knowledge, we made sure to research the types of makeup trend that were used back then such as skinny small thin brows and dark eyes with small lips. To create this I blocked out the brows, drew them on skinny again and then used some foundation on the lips to draw smaller ones over the top. I finished this off by using some rollers in the hair to create roller curls which they would've used back then. To top it all off I used some accessories around the neck and a hat to give it that 1920's feel.

 

Week 4  4/10/22-

To start of this week we went straight into research about drag and how this became a thing and how to complete the look of drag, we researched how this started from the Victorian era when females weren't allowed to perform in the theatres only men were so they had to dress up as the females in the theatres. We also made sure to research some famous drag queens and even watched some of Ru Paul drag race to get some inspiration to our looks. I made sure to do my research on the best way of gluing and blocking out brows, this is one of the biggest things in drag and something which is really difficult, I personally LOVE gluing down brows. So I was really excited to practice this in class. We made sure to have full knowledge of the contouring and how this can help the face to really evolve in the process of drag and really make someone look different to when you started the makeup. I had done quite a bit of drag before completing this look so was very confident with my work and went into this project just wanting to have fun and enjoy the look. I ended up going for a non traditional shape for the eyeliner and made sure to use my own ideas and make my look very unique to me. I finished the look off with a wig and some glitter ofc!

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6/10/22-

For this day we were given a brief of Avant Garde meaning we had all the freedom to create a unique look of our own and really get creative. We looked at where Avant Garde originated from, which was mainly 1920s France, Avant Garde films where extremely popular up until around the 1980s most of these were silent and each film was entirely different, they wanted to be as far away from normal films as possible and so most of these films didn't follow a narrative as such and it was entirely up to the audience to depict what they thought the film was about, they were sometimes purposeless and were used to show self-expression and freedom, some films were used to express radical reform against government. For my look I made sure to use more modern Avant Garde looks and use some colour and patterns to make mine as unique as possible. 

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10/10/22- For this day we spoke about the differences between TV & Film makeup and Theatre, as we had already touched on this the week before we didn't have to do as much research to do on the difference, so we went ahead and spoke about the prep for the skin. Such as for the theatre you are putting lots of greasepaint on the face which means the face will easily get really shiny under the hot lights so you want it to be matte, as any shine will look sweaty under the bright lights. Where as for TV & Film you wont be using grease paints necessarily, so there's no need for such intense powdering. 

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TV & Film-  The image to the right is my look for this category.

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Theatre-   The image to the right is my look for this category.

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11/10/22-

For this week we learnt the technique of airbrush, Michelle our industry professional trainer typically uses airbrush for all of her bases when doing makeup, she finds it easier ,quicker and better to work with for the skin. This is personal choice and you don't have to use airbrush but it is an option for us, Michelle showed off her air brush set and then gave us a tutorial on how to use the set. I really enjoyed this and am now thinking about getting an air brush for my kit. We then gave it a go for ourselves on the skin, and then ended the day with a makeup look using the airbrush. 

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Week 5-  18/10/22

For this week we went over the 1950's and were asked to create a brief on a character from Grease, this is one of my favorite films so I was super excited to get started on this! We went through some research first on the Social and fashion influencers in the 50's and the kind of makeup and clothes they wore which made everyone want to wear around them times. We were asked to research this and then create a look based on grease, I chose to do 'Bad Sandy' this I found super fun to complete, I played along with curling hair and then pinning it to the head to make sure I get tight small curls which held their shape. I made sure to bring in my own accessories, such as a neck scalf, hoop earrings and a leather jacket to add to the final look. 

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We decided to trial heated rollers for a 50's hairstyle and learnt which sizes to use and how to roll the hair correctly for the best curl, to do this we used dolls and worked on their hair. This will come in really handy for when we want to use rollers in the future, I found this really good to learn as didn't know how to do rollers before and now I am a lot more confident in using them!

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Term 2-

Week 1-  10/01/23-

For this week we had industry specialist Charlotte Allen come in and teach us about SFX, and show us how to apply prosthetics, use alcohol pallets and teach us about her time on sets and in the industry. She has been on alot of period dramas and spoke to us about her experiences, she started off with testing us to see if we knew about the hierarchy and the order in which the levels of management are in the industry. This really helped me to gain my knowledge on this as I wasn't too confident on this before she helped me. 

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She then moved onto teaching us how to apply and make a home made prosthetic, she showed us a professional prosthetic and let us play around with it to get a feel for it. She then let us make our own prosthetics with some glycerin, this was really helpful as we gained knowledge on if we want to make our own prosthetics without spending lots of money. After we had made them she helped us get used to painting with alcohol paints, these are activated by IPA, I actually had one as I used this on a previous shoot. But was super fun to play around with the colours and get a hang of it! 

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She also taught us how to make a quick and easy cut off finger with just some blood, foundation and some cotton wool. Things like this are a big help to know, as these can be used for quick and easy little jobs, these are also good to learn as we will always have these things in our kits. 

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Week 3- 24/01/23

Masterclass by @theblowdryartist, for this masterclass we learnt about how to work with textured and afro hair, also about the different types of curls in hair. I found this really useful and really made me happy learning this as we hadn't touched upon afro and textured hair before so this was brand new to me. I now have a wider knowledge of how to handle and what products to put in textures of hair. 

We did a practical of starting to blow dry some afro haired dolls we just got in to practice on, we learned the tension to put on the hair, to not blow dry dripping wet, always keep the blow dryer moving and practice!!

We learnt to difference in how a conditioner can really help hold moisture in the hair, how we use custard like creams for curls and coils and butter like cream for moisture in the hair.  We ended the day by braiding the hair and using custard like creams to create beautiful ringlet curls.

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Week 4-  30/01/23

For this week we had Bethany Alden in for a masterclass teaching us how to cut hair and do barbering. 

To start off this masterclass she helped us refresh ourselves on the importance of health and safety and how this also works the same for hair as it does makeup. Health and safety is such an important thing, so keeping up to date on it is key! 

When working around anyone you should make sure to keep yourself presentable and keep good personal hygiene. You should be able to gain trust with a client and make sure they feel comfortable in your chair, these are key things to being a great hairstylist or makeup artist! Make sure you to keep your knowledge of trends recent so that you can make sure your work is fitting in with the times, and ALWAYS make sure to be on time. Punctuality is so important in the industry as if your not on time it shows a bad first impression, and the first impression can help you get a job or lose a job. 

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When learning about cutting hair you need to have similar skills as makeup as when you do makeup you look at some ones face, eyes and lip shape and know from that what would look best for them. It's the same for hair you look at their growth of hair and their head shape and decide which hair style would look best on them. 

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Tools- When barbering your scissors are your best friend, scissors which can be maintained with oil and can be used for cutting wet and dry hair, they do need sharpening every so often to keep them in a good condition and need to be oiled up every so often. Thinning/Texturizing scissors are when one of the blades is serrated like a comb and is used to remove weight from the hair without removing length, for this reason they should not be used more than once in one place, Clippers are used for short hair to get a close to the skin cut but can be used in many different ways to create unique hairstyles.

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We all had a head with a full set of hair and a beard, these were ours to practice on and use for the week, we started off the cutting with a long cut.

Long cut- 

Bethany gave us a tutorial on how to cut long hair at the start, this was done with scissors and a comb, we learnt how to hold the scissors and comb together (which is actually quite difficult haha). Once we got the hang of combing whilst cutting and NOT putting our comb down whilst cutting we got onto the actual skill side of things. We started off step by step following her, start with 2 shampoos and then 1 condition, and rinsing this and towel drying this ready for the cut. We sectioned the hair down the middle and then from the top of the ears onto the top of the head to create 4 sections. Then slowly creating about 1 inch wide section along the bottom row of hair, and using my comb to grab a small section from the middle of this new section to create the first cut which we will use as our guide throughout. Slowly bringing down hair to the same point and cutting at the length I had just cut, then continuing this until the hair all comes to one length. Make sure to keep the hair wet with a spray bottle as hair will bounce up when starts to dry. 

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Beards-

For the beards this was a skill I really wanted to know as I haven't done any beard cutting, when cutting someone beard make sure to really study the shape of the face as you want to follow the natural curve of the face and jawline. We started using the scissors and comb for the beard and then moved onto using the trimmer to create the sharp lines for the beards shape. I learned here how to keep a steady hand and keep precision without keep cutting into it too much, the final step here was to use the scissors to create a mustache. We created this by using the comb and scissors and cutting just above the lip and curving this down following the shape of the mouth. 

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Using clippers on hair- 

This was fun for me as I've had some experience with clippers and enjoyed creating an actual whole new haircut with some clippers, we started with wet cutting the hair in sections like before but using an angle with our fingers to create the shape in the hair. This we used all around the head to create a short cut without the clippers, this we then followed through with clippers. The fun bit!  I started with number 5 which is quite a thick guard just to do the bottom of the hair without taking too much off the top, working in an upwards motion you go into the scalp and then up and out, I then repeated this going down guard numbers until I got down to a 2. When working with the 2 I made sure to flick away from the head a lot earlier than when I was using the bigger guards as I really wanted the bottom to be a lot shorter than the top of the head.  

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Week 5 -7/02/23

For our last part of the course we spoke about the reality's of the industry and how to freelance, in this we updated our Instagram accounts to make sure they were up to date, made sure we had emails for our makeup and setting up invoices. 

Invoices- When doing any paid work you must send an invoice out in order to get paid when working with larger companies you will usually be paid after the job so therefore send an invoice once it is completed, however when working with one on one clients or on smaller jobs you may be able to send the invoice prior, it's good to ask for a deposit beforehand to make sure they are serious about the job and then have the remainder paid on the date of the job or within 7 days. 

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When freelancing you work for yourself so you have to pay all your tax's and make sure you're paying all the insurance you need to, you need to register yourself self employed with HMRC, make sure you keep all your receipts for work related things so you can reclaim them with HMRC after. You can hire an accountant to do your taxes for you they are sometimes called a book-keeper as they keep record of all your expenses. 

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Whether you are getting paid to do Make-up/Hair, receiving minimum wage
as a trainee, expenses only or getting paid nothing at all You MUST have
public liability insurance to protect you & the people you will be doing
Make-up & Hair on. If you want to one for  your kit if it ever gets stolen or damaged this is a good idea.