Editorial: Creating the accessories

To reference the Surma and Mursi tribe, I wanted to create a headdress for my model to wear which included natural materials such as grasses, twigs and wooden sticks and flowers/other greenery. 

Surma and Mursi tribe (as previously referenced):

I began by gathering different materials that I thought may work within the look, I made sure that the materials were not too heavy as I needed to ensure that these were comfortable on my models head, however I still kept in mind that this was for my Editorial shoot. This means that I will not need to think about it's mobility and security on the models head, it will only need to be safe and steady during the shoot.

The below image shows the materials that I gathered, a selection of different dried grasses, flowers and wooden materials. I made sure that the wooden items were flexible enough to create a crown like piece and that everything that I bought was easy to disassemble and create something new would not require me to cut it all up.

I began by bending a selection of the twigs together and tied them with some fine wire. The curl of the twigs actually helped me because this meant that the crown would sit on the models head rather than act as a headband. I then began entwining grasses and parts of the flowers which I had collected. These were not fastened in but woven into the wood, as I did not want any fastenings to show on camera during the shoot.

I kept trying on the headdress as I did not want it to be too uncomfortable or loose for my models head. I also made sure that no parts were actually sticking into the inner part of the crown stopping it from sitting properly. 

I continued to add the grasses, small flowers and more twigs to the headdress until I was happy with the look. I also used my moodboard for references through this process and ensured that I looked at the images I had found from the Surma and Mursi tribe photographed by Hans Silvester. 

This image below shows the final look of the headdress on myself to check the positioning and security of the piece. 

Catwalk: Describing the look

I wanted to post about my catwalk look before I talk about the Editorial any further. I need to link to technical lessons that I have been involved in and use the methods that I have learned within the sessions. These are listed below and how I have used the skills:

- Creating structure within the hair (using hair extensions & hair pieces within the plait, backcombing and creating texture within the hair)

- Plaiting the hair (within my whole hair design, learning different plaits and teaching myself new techniques too)

- Tattooing and freehand drawing (with the eyebrows within my look, levelling them out and making sure that they are symmetrical even when drawing freehand)

If I were to create a list of 10 keywords describing this look, I would say:

cold, fresh, dewy, striking, harsh, detailed, textured, flawless, glossy and crisp. 

These words may remind me in my shoot with the direction that I am headed, also having copies of my facechart and moodboard will really help to keep me on track with my look. 

Catwalk: My final design

Final Inuit facechart design: Catwalk

Because of all of the instruction written onto the facechart, it will be perfect for me to give to my 'buddy'. This will be for our timed assessments where we are given a facechart of someone else's look and have to recreate their look. Giving Hannah (my 'buddy') as much information as possible will really help her and meeting her before will also answer any questions that we both may have.

Listed below are details of the look for my own reference:

Skin: Dewy, cold looking, cold tones, use satin primer and minimal amounts of powder for the dewy, fresh, athletic look.

Cheeks: Flushed with pink on the apples of the cheeks, as though the model has just come inside from very cold weather. The cheeks are contoured underneath with a fine silver powder, and the whole face is highlighted with a Topshop highlighter powder in 'Crescent Moon'.

Lips: I will attempt to place crushed sugar on the lips as experimented in my next post, however I am unsure if this will work and will be using just vaseline on the lips if this does not. 

Eyes: Vaseline is placed on the eyelids lightly for a glistening effect emphasising the dewy effect. Eyelashes are coated in MAC Lipmix in White with a disposable mascara wand. This will give a frozen effect as previously researched.

Eyebrows: The eyebrows are the main focus of this look, alongside the hair. The eyebrows will be lined and coloured with an eyeliner pencil in an aquamarine-blue colour. From the previous trial of the makeup where I used aquacolours, I have learned that it will be difficult to get the eyebrows completely even and may take me some time. I will need to ensure that I have plenty of time left and maybe take a template for a backup that I can draw onto the eyebrows.

Hair: The hair will consist of 3 plaits going around the head in the same direction as a crown on the head. The first plait will begin as a 'dutch braid' where the french plait is reversed and the plait is on the outside of the head. I have posted some videos that I watched to practice for this as it can be very tricky especially when doing it on another person.

Styling: The styling will reflect the inuit inspiration and the model will wear a faux fur stole with a fox like colouring and a long haired texture. I thought about a white fur however I did not want the look to seem cheap and I thought that white fur would do this. 

Catwalk: Experimenting with sugar

I wanted to experiment making a frosty look on my lips, and to see whether it would work on camera/as a catwalk look. I decided to use the flat squared cake decorating sugar and wanted to create an effect similar to this: 

I began with a sprinkling of the sugar, some vaseline and the sugar pot. I rolled the pot over the sugar which began to crush and make the sugar finer and more like that of the image above. 

I used the chunky sugar first and coated my lips with vaseline and then pressed my lips into the sugar creating this effect. The sugar is too chunky and it was not sticking because of the heaviness. I would not feel confident in using this on my model as she would have to keep so still and this would not work well in a catwalk situation anyway. 

I then used the finer sugar and placed this on my lips in the same way. This looks much better in my opinion although it was still not as effective as I had wanted and I was worried that the look would be too full on with the eyebrows being blue and other ideas I had had. I will try this on my shoot as it was fairly easy to clean off and will not effect my time too much. 

Catwalk: Hair Inspiration: Learning the dutch plait (Catwalk)

As you can see from previous posts, my moodboard reflects that I will be using plaiting within my final catwalk look. After an unsuccessful trial, I am glad that I have decided to try something more complex and I am excited to learn a new technique.I have looked at video tutorials to teach me how to start the dutch braid, and I have been practicing very much to get it right! Other images/videos that have helped me are shown below:

 

Depending on the length and thickness of my model's hair, I will need to use hair extensions and added hair pieces to create the full thickness and volume that satisfies my design ideas. I think that it will be important to use a blonde haired model, because of the tones that I will be able to see within the hair, and think that the plaits will show up more in lighter hair rather than dark. 

Editorial: Final design

Below shows my final makeup design for my look, I think that using the different colours from Illamasqua will blend well and create a very warm look. I need to ensure that the colours blend well and don't jump from one to the other easily. The white highlights under the eyebrows and white block on the lips reference to other tribes and I think that these will stand out on camera. 

I wanted to show my designs for the neck and chest, with scarification on the neck with a design that I have drawn below and fullers earth/face mask on the chest of my model. I think that using a face mask will be much more gentler on my models skin, as from previous experience of using fullers earth it can leave a large red mark and irritation. If I can use a face mask that gives off the same effect when dried then I will definitely use this. I will document these experiments as I go along. 

Editorial: facecharts

I have begun designing my facecharts for my editorial look after some research that I have done, including my moodboard and gathering other images together for inspiration.

I really like the idea of using an ombre effect within my look, reflecting the images of the sky that I saw in the landscape images from the Tribal Asia book. Using the white block across the mouth also references my moodboard with the fashion image that was used, also the image of the Wodaabe men with their white face paint. Underlining the eyebrows is also a concept that I have not tried before, I think that it will give an interesting look referencing the tribes too.

This image also uses a lot of fading and contouring the face using colour in the shades of the sky that I wanted to reference. I think that this image has too much shading within the lips, then the cheeks, even some under the brows. I think that this would be too overpowering and would not work well.

I really like this facechart, the block on the lips would look effective on camera and I like the shape of the contouring on the face, also the idea of having white highlighting and detailing the face.  

This image uses the shape of the contouring above but I also included the black lips within the look to reference the Wodaabe men again, as I did in my moodboard.

The images that I have referenced within my description of the facecharts are shown below: