Friday, 15 February 2013

Test shooting for Grecian Goddess theme

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Today I conducted a test shoot for the first look for the Grecian goddess theme; this theme will be part of the limited edition collection for summer. The look I have test shot is one the focuses on achieving a hot summer skin that is glossy, glowing and dewy. All contouring along the cheek bones and jawline will be done with shade of bronze and highlighting will be done with yellow and gold tones. Highlighting is the key element to this look to achieve the other worldly look of a goddess. In keeping the yellow and gold colour pallet which fits with the Grecian goddess theme the lips will be a coral/gold tone. Eyebrows will be kept clean and slicked back and nothing on the face will be matte. I want everything to be kept glossy to portray and ethereal and goddess like look. For this look the hair will be in a loose fishtail plait that sits to the side of the model. I have decided on this hairstyle because in historic depictions and paintings of Greek goddesses such as Aphrodite are shown with long wavy hair with some sort of plait or twist going through it. The loose fishtail plait will be a modern and on trend interpretation of this look. Below shows some images of inspiration for the hair and makeup for this look.

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These images are inspiration for this look. They show the glow and glossiness of the skin I aim to achieve and the subtle bronze and gold highlight along the cheekbones and on the eyes and lips. The third image shows how I plan to style the hair, whilst it is still in a plait I plan to have loose tendrils of hair coming away.

Below show two images from the test shoot I have done for this look.


















  I decided to test shoot this look on myself because I have a similar skin tone and colouring to the model I plan to use for this look. Therefore I can determine what colours work on skin with a yellow undertone and what will show up well on camera. For this look I mixed a foundation that matched my natural skin tone with one that was a couple shades darker, along with an illuminator that can be mixed with foundation or used on top of it. On reflection of this image I think using a darker tone foundation as well has made the skin look grubby and unnatural. This is something I discussed further with my tutors who agreed with this. Sue suggested I use a foundation to match the natural skin tone to start with, lightly powder the face to set the foundation and then start to build darker and lighter shades up and use the illuminator on top. This way it will ensure that everything doesn’t sink into the skin together and create a grubby look like it has done here. This technical feedback has been very helpful in allowing me to achieve the look I have in mind and this is something I will apply when I create this look on the photo shoot.

I feel that the eyes and lips blend in too much with the face in these images. Instead of looking ethereal and goddess like these the makeup makes me look worn and tired. After speaking to my tutors about what can be done to bring the eyes and lips outs it was suggested I use slightly different tones on the eyes and creating a different shape using dark and lighter tones. For example mixing black and brown eye shadow and applying it lightly to the out corners of the eyes, whilst using a brighter gold in the corner of the eyes. To make the lips stand out I will also use the same bright gold along the top lip line. 
 
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After speaking to Sue about this look and what I can do to improve it so the luminous dewy skin will show up on camera, she suggested I buy Topshop’s shimmer brick in gold. Below shows images taken after using the shimmer brick, on top of the makeup already done. Although these images were taken with the camera on my IPhone so they are not as good quality. It shows how using this product has brought out my features a lot more to achieve the dewy and glowing look.

 
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Overall this has been a successful test shoot, as I have identified what doesn’t work, which is mixing a darker foundation and not powdering before I build up other products on top. As well as what does work such as using a brighter gold than expected to highlight. Gaining feedback on this look before I do the photo shoot has allowed me to explain my vision for this shoot to my tutors and get feedback that allows me to develop and improve it for the shoot.

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