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| Zeezee. Photo by Whiskey and Rye Photography |
Friday, 20 September 2013
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Adventures with Makeup
Last week I was lucky enough to be able to attend three full days of workshops with Jos Brands for Kryolan Professional Makeup.
Jos has been creating and teaching makeup artistry for many years and he is such an inspiration as he is so passionate about makeup and sharing his knowledge. You can see some of his work on his website.
First up, we saw a runway show demonstrating some of the different techniques and products available, then Jos gave us some demonstrations. In the afternoon we had a chance to play with the products on live models, which was a great opportunity to try out different techniques such as airbrushing and freehand painting. Kryolan have some amazing products including a new body paint which will not rub off onto fabric, so can be worn under clothes as you can see in the above picture of the model with the jacket.
This experience has inspired me to find out more about this artform as a creative medium, as the limits are really just your imagination!
Jos did a demonstration of airbrush makeup and shared a lot of useful information on the theory behind the latest high definition makeup.
Again we had an opportunity to experiment with the products, and here is a pic of me and my lovely model.
Day three was special effects makeup! The effects demonstrated on this day were amazing as you can see! So many different techniques and products are available to achieve theatrical and realistic looking wounds.
The highlight of the day was when I was a model for Jos for the demonstration of a blister. The effect was so real, even close up.
I wanted to try to create a bruise, and think it was not too bad for my first attempt!
With Halloween just around the corner, keep an eye out and you might spot some of these techniques in some upcoming photos! Do you have any suggestions for something you would like to see?
Jos has been creating and teaching makeup artistry for many years and he is such an inspiration as he is so passionate about makeup and sharing his knowledge. You can see some of his work on his website.
Day One
The first day was dedicated to bodypainting. This is something I have not done before but wanted to find out what was involved. I like to take an opportunity to learn something new, or at least try something out to see if I want to pursue it, as I recently discussed on my post about stretching.
First up, we saw a runway show demonstrating some of the different techniques and products available, then Jos gave us some demonstrations. In the afternoon we had a chance to play with the products on live models, which was a great opportunity to try out different techniques such as airbrushing and freehand painting. Kryolan have some amazing products including a new body paint which will not rub off onto fabric, so can be worn under clothes as you can see in the above picture of the model with the jacket.
This experience has inspired me to find out more about this artform as a creative medium, as the limits are really just your imagination!
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| Here I am with our model. |
Day Two
The focus of day two was Avante Garde and Editorial makeup. Again we were treated to a runway show illustrating different techniques and products.
Again we had an opportunity to experiment with the products, and here is a pic of me and my lovely model.
Day Three
The highlight of the day was when I was a model for Jos for the demonstration of a blister. The effect was so real, even close up.
I wanted to try to create a bruise, and think it was not too bad for my first attempt!
Friday, 13 September 2013
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Book Review - Million Dollar Mermaid
I recently decided to start reading biographies of vintage Hollywood stars and first on my list was Esther Williams!
I'm sure most of you have heard of Esther Williams - "America's mermaid" - the competitive swimmer turned MGM movie star of the 40s and 50s. She passed away on 6th June this year at the age of 91.
This wonderful autobiography was filled with personal stories right from her childhood to her fourth marriage to Edward Bell.
Esther began competitive swimming as a teen and missed out on going to the 1940 Olympics as they were cancelled due to the outbreak of war. Her first big break came when she starred in the Aquacade alongside Johnny Weismuller who would chase her around the pool at the end of the show sans swimming trunks! After that she reluctantly signed with MGM, and the rest is history!
She shared lots of behind the scenes stories that told so much of how Hollywood operated back then and of the stars that she worked and socialised with including Lucille Ball, Marlene Dietrich, Ricardo Montalban, Gene Kelly and Joan Crawford. My favourite chapters include how she met Clark Gable and how he was the first one to call her 'mermaid', and how she came back from having broken several vertabrae in a scene in Million Dollar Mermaid when she took a dive with a crown on her head.
It was really interesting to read how her childhood shaped her decisions as she looked back on her life with the benefit of hindsight. Unfortunately, as happened to so many Hollywood starlets, one of her husbands spent all of her money on gambling, alcohol and bad business decisions and all her years of moviemaking amounted to was a BIG tax bill!
I had trouble putting this book down and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the heyday of Hollywood.
I'm sure most of you have heard of Esther Williams - "America's mermaid" - the competitive swimmer turned MGM movie star of the 40s and 50s. She passed away on 6th June this year at the age of 91.
This wonderful autobiography was filled with personal stories right from her childhood to her fourth marriage to Edward Bell.
Esther began competitive swimming as a teen and missed out on going to the 1940 Olympics as they were cancelled due to the outbreak of war. Her first big break came when she starred in the Aquacade alongside Johnny Weismuller who would chase her around the pool at the end of the show sans swimming trunks! After that she reluctantly signed with MGM, and the rest is history!
She shared lots of behind the scenes stories that told so much of how Hollywood operated back then and of the stars that she worked and socialised with including Lucille Ball, Marlene Dietrich, Ricardo Montalban, Gene Kelly and Joan Crawford. My favourite chapters include how she met Clark Gable and how he was the first one to call her 'mermaid', and how she came back from having broken several vertabrae in a scene in Million Dollar Mermaid when she took a dive with a crown on her head.
It was really interesting to read how her childhood shaped her decisions as she looked back on her life with the benefit of hindsight. Unfortunately, as happened to so many Hollywood starlets, one of her husbands spent all of her money on gambling, alcohol and bad business decisions and all her years of moviemaking amounted to was a BIG tax bill!
I had trouble putting this book down and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the heyday of Hollywood.
Friday, 6 September 2013
Friday, 30 August 2013
Friday Photo
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Vintage Makeup - The Mystery of Rachel
Last week I wrote about my vintage purchases at a local market including some unopened face powders with my name on. Rachel was the name of a popular colour of face powder in the early to mid 20th century. But how did it come to be called that? I wanted to find out.
As is often the case with these sorts of things there are several possible stories!
The first I found in one of my makeup reference books - Retro Makeup.
This account came up a number of times in my research. But then I read about another Rachel - Sarah Rachel Russell (or Leverson), also known as ‘Madame Rachel’ (?1814 - 12 October 1880). It seems (as well as being involved in prostitution, fraud and blackmail) she sold cosmetics and toilet requisites in the 1860s, often making exaggerated or fraudulent claims. One product was a personal mixture of face powders.
Both interesting stories and I guess we will never be sure which is the true source of the name.
Anyway, as colour film and television came along, more shades of face powders were needed. Extra shades of Rachel were added such as Rachel No.1, Rachel No.2, Special Rachel and as seen here - Rose Rachel.
The first I found in one of my makeup reference books - Retro Makeup.
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| Excerpt from Retro Makeup by Lauren Rennells |
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| Elizabeth-Rachel Felix. Portrait by Joseph Kriehuber Source: Wikipedia |
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| Madame Rachel Source: The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography |
Anyway, as colour film and television came along, more shades of face powders were needed. Extra shades of Rachel were added such as Rachel No.1, Rachel No.2, Special Rachel and as seen here - Rose Rachel.
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