The Art of shaping Eyebrows.

Eyebrows, in the opinion of many, make or break the face; it’s as simple as that, no sugar coating possible.

For those of you who have over plucked for years and are now left with a few sparse hairs, I will be talking about my favourite eyebrow pencil in just a bit.

However, if you happen to live Montréal (Canada), I can even go further than that - message me for the  contact info of an incredibly talented “permanent makeup tattoo artist” named Colombe. She will recreate strand by strand the impression of having eyebrows.

Back to my rant/tutorial:

If I were to get a quarter for every time I spotted a beautiful face ruined by what some like to call: "the sperm shaped brows" - I would be rich, not filthy rich but rich all the same. That is saying a lot people! So, the lesson to be learned here today is: If you do not know how to shape your eyebrows, either learn how or take an appointment with a professional that does. It's really quite that simple.

The "sperm shaped brows" - enough said.

Here is a picture depicting the general rules to follow when shaping your own eyebrows:

The "rules".

As you can see each point commences from the side of your nose.
These 3 lines represent where your:
-  eyebrow should commence
-  your arch should peak
-  eyebrow should end

Here's how:

Where the eyebrow should start: 

Use a ruler and place it vertically along the side of your nose reaching upwards passing through the inner corner of your eye.

The place where the ruler meets your eyebrow is where your eyebrow should start.

Where the arch should peak:

Use the ruler again, look straight ahead and from the corner of your nose, line up the ruler diagonally passing through where your pupil ends.  The place where the ruler meets the eyebrow is where your arch should peak.

Where they Eyebrow should end:

Hold the ruler at a diagonal from the corner of your nose again but this time passing through the outer corner of your eye.

The place where the ruler meets your eyebrow is where your brow should end.

This being said, we can only work with what we have. So, if you do not have enough to work with, my absolute favorite eyebrow pencil is from Christian Dior and it's called: DIOR SHOW BROW STYLER in Universal brown. Unless you have blond or ginger eyebrows, this will do to perfection. $30CAD It might seem a bit pricey to some, but it lasts a very long time.

Diorshow Brow Styler Ultra-Fine Precision Brow Pencil 

Makeup on dark skins

I had heard that lighter eyebrows look nicer on dark skins but i think this is a bit much.

Yesterday’s class was about make-up on dark skins. What an eye opener.

The first thing you’ll notice when applying makeup on dark skin is that the colors, once applied, seem to disappear into the skin leaving but a hint.

Of course, you have many shades to dark skin and I am talking more of a medium dark to a very dark for right now.

 To sum up the lessons learned yesterday:

1)      Use a lot of product & use it without fear -  you have a lot of play room, believe me.

2)      Use bright, vivid colors; they look beautiful on dark skin when well blended.

4)      Darker colors tend not to show as you’d expect them to, be ready to work them in.

4)      Try the colors on your model’s hand first; you’ll notice your palette will look quite different.

5)      Use matte products freely as darker skins tend to be normal to oily.

6)      Using too light a color may turn out grayish, a red primer would be a way to counteract this.

(I was going for a top ten but i came short :(  if you know of anymore tips, leave comments and help me out)

The forehead and chin tend to be darker than the rest of the face. Some Makeup Artists prefer to match the colour to the lighter of the two. Some prefer the opposite. I actually like the outcome of both.
But as anything else, the preference of the model/client takes precedence here.

An amazing powder our teacher introduced us to, was called:  “Cocoa powder". It's a type of coppery cocoa color that does wonders on dark skin, it is to be used as a loose powder of some sort, or perhaps even as a powder foundation with a brush. I'll get the exact details in my next class and if I get the "okay" from my teacher and classmates, I'll add some pictures we took in class that day.

Blog soon,

Sahar



Beauty Icons of the 1940s - Veronica Lake, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall

Veronica Lake





War has invaded Europe and has mobilized America in its entirety.
The men are off to war and money is scarce. 
In Europe, due to rations, makeup becomes a product of luxury.
In America, the women have replaced the men in the workforce.
Makeup, no longer affordable, beauty is now associated with a natural healthy glow.
The look has become more subtle, the face - less pale, the eyes and eyebrows subdued, only the red lips have remained.
Women are more implicated in society; they have become more active, they take care of their bodies.  It’s the end of the FEMMES FATALES. 



Pin ups are reborn for the men to dream whilst away at war.

Rita Hayworth



Rita Hayworth



Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Veronica Lake

Here's a Veronica lake Tutorial by pixiwoo.

Hope you found it as helpful as i did.
Blog to you soon,

Sahar

Beauty Icons of the 1930s - Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich



Greta Garbo



In America, the 1930s were marked by the economic crisis which led to the unemployment and financial ruin of many. In Europe, by fascism and Nazism. These were hard times, so you can imagine how more and more people turned towards the Cinema to momentarily escape reality.

Alas, the very young Jean Harlow enters the picture. She creates quite a stir as the very first Hollywood star to emerge with platinum blond hair.



Jean Harlow


Her admirers are delighted and attempt to copy her look to the peril of their own hair.
Her eyebrows are shaved and redrawn in a very fine semi-circular line that drags down at the end.
The eyes are enhanced by heavy false lashes and the lips completely redrawn in the shape of a heart and coloured in a very dark red.
The picture I've enclosed is black and white so you're going to have to take my word for it. ;)  (well mine, and wikipedia's anyway)

Jean Harlow - notice the shaved and redrawn eyebrows

Another very influential icon that emerges in this decade was Marlene Dietrich - her fans go as far as waxing their foreheads and pulling out their wisdom teeth to recreate the wide forehead and hollow cheeks of this beauty.

Marlene Dietrich



Marlene Dietrich


As you can see, this German beauty also had her eyebrows shaved and very thinly redrawn in the same semi-circular line. But what made Marlene Dietrich stand out, was the almost architectural facial bone structure that was unique to her.
These women were seductive, provocative, they became known as the FEMME FATALES.

I've also included a FANTASTIC Marlene Dietrich tutorial by Pixiwoo.
This look is important to know well because as Sam says in the video: "if you're a makeup artist, it will be referenced to you time and time again."

Applying false lashes

Pixiwoo - Who What Where

That's the Pixiwoo banner and web address.

If you’ve been following my blog, then you’ve surely stumbled upon videos I’ve posted by Pixiwoo.
I’m writing a post about them to avoid repeating how great they are on ever single post I use their videos on.

I’ll start off by telling you who they are, why I love their work so much as to have - thus far, solely used their tutorials. I’ll also tell you where to get more of them.

Pixiwoo:  A Make-up Artist duo (sisters) with their own make-up tutorial channel on www.youtube.com and website of the same name.

Nicola (Nic) of pixiwoo applying Make-up @ the Becca counter in Australia

As to why I love their videos/work - here are my reasons:

They are immensely talented, I don’t need to add anything to this - their videos speak for themselves.
They’re articulate & eloquent in their explanations.
They’re very versatile – just look at the wide variety of looks they’ve created or recreated.
They’re refreshingly professional – they stick to the subject at hand and their videos don’t drag.
They use all sorts of products ranging from ILA MASQUA to pharmacy brands.
They have an extensive stash to choose from and they truly do use them all.
They give you their real unbiased opinions about each product
They’re very up-to-date with looks and new make-up lines.
They each have fifteen years of experience in the field and it shows in their work.
They always tell you the name of each product or brush that they work with.
They tell you of their experiences so you gain from it. For example: because they‘ve used foundations from all the brands out there and they come out and say: “CHANEL is the best when it comes to consistently making amazing foundations”. Then I obviously will not waste tons of money trying out different foundations and go straight for CHANEL.
(By the way, they couldn’t be more right about CHANEL foundations)

Ok, I’ll stop here because I think I just managed to convince you to follow their blog instead of mine ;)

Samantha (Sam) of Pixiwoo after her Pam Anderson youtube tutorial.

Sculpting/Contouring: Lights and shadows

I once heard: “How you contour a face can either make you or break you as a makeup artist.”

Inexperienced as I was, I didn’t quite comprehend the full meaning of this statement – that is until I witnessed my first “sculpted” face.

Hmmm… how could I explain? Imagine wearing non-name brand shapeless clothing all your life and then suddenly being dressed in DIOR.
It gives your face a sense of sophistication not duplicated by any other technique in Make-up.

In his book “Making Faces” Kevyn Aucoin has enclosed an image of a model’s torso where he’s emphasized with a dark concealer where the shadings should be applied and with a white concealer where the highlights should be applied.

Making Faces - Kevyn Aucoin

Beautifully and eloquently explained with much greater detail, I give you a video by Pixiwoo.

Beauty Icons of the 1950's

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner - these names ring a bell?
I bet they do.
Beauty, grace, elegance, sophistication and sex appeal - they had it all.
The men are back from war and the 'pin-ups' are no longer required.
Their wives are sporting shorter hairdos and longer skirts but are just as stunning.

Dressed to the nines, complete with white gloves, fashion hats and the "doe-eyed look" that becomes the signature look of this decade, these women became our beauty icons and, let's face it - the fantasy of men for decades to come.

Ava Gardner

Elizabeth Taylor

Jayne Mansfield

Audrey Hepburn

Hmm... anyone thinking Dita Von Tease? Yea, so am I.

Dita Von Tease

As mentioned in my first post, when a client books you and says: I want a Jayne Mansfield look, you have to know who Jayne Mansfield was and know that this chick really wants to look like Pamela Anderson but is too shy to say so. ;) Just kidding, but is it just me or did you also get a Pam Anderson vibe from Jayne Mansfield? I'm just saying.
But i digress, in short: you need to know what these beauty icons looked like so you can recreate the look.

There are some great make-up tutorials on www.youtube.com, one make-up artist duo in particular that i absolutely love are named: Pixiwoo. 

Here's their Elizabeth Taylor make-up tutorial:

Blog to you soon,

Sahar

Warm colours vs. Cold colours

I’ve been procrastinating, I know.
But it’s only because I am finding this warm colour vs. cold colour thing very vague.
Almost like learning French grammar: tons of ‘rules’ but then tons of “exceptions” to the said rule. So what was the purpose of the rule? Anyway, moving on - I give you:

Cold colours vs. Warm colours: 

The Chromatic circle can be divided in half separating the cold colours from the warm colours.

As you can see, the yellow and purple play for both sides. They are neutral in that way.

I guess we could call them the bi’s of the colour spectrum ;)

(Sigh) Here’s where it gets interesting {read: where it becomes a bitch}
Even though blue is a "cold" colour it can also be considered "warm" if in its composition there is a high concentration of red or yellow.

Another example is brown - normally a warm colour, but when composed with a high concentration of blue or purple hues, it becomes a cold colour.

It gets better, wait till we get into skin tones, then you’ll really love this. 

But the general idea is this:

Warm colours are typically composed of red and yellow derivatives.

Cold colours are typically composed of blue and yellow derivatives.

The more observant of you might have picked up on the fact that our aforementioned complimentary colours (described in previous posts) are a combination of one warm colour and one cold colour. With the exception of yellow and purple of course but that's only because, as mentioned above, yellow and purple are the neutral colours of the spectrum. Generally though, yellow warms up a colour and purple cools it off.

And voila! We're done with the lesson! Unless you want me to get into the psychology of warm and cold colours. It's simple enough, psychologically red reminds us of fire thus making it a warm colour and blue of course reminds us of ice therefore making it a cold color. Get the jest? Thought so. ;)


Blog to you soon, 


Sahar

The Chromatic circle

The Chromatic Circle:

The Chromatic circle of colours is a theory based on the mixture of colour substances.
For a Makeup Artist, the comprehension of this theory is KEY in order to create simple mixtures.
The better you understand this theory, the better the makeup artist you are.

The centre of this circle is composed of our three "primary colours". These are the purest of colours - pure because they have not gone through any mixes. Blue,  yellow and red. 
(I know i'm repeating myself here but bare with me, this is the important stuff)

Right outside the triangle of the three primary colours you will find the "secondary colours": green, orange and purple. These colours are the result of an equal mix of two primary colours.

Green, which is composed of the blue and the yellow.        
Purple, which is composed of the red and blue.                   
Orange, which is composed of the red and the yellow         

And finally outside the secondary colours of the circle, you will find the "tertiary colours" (yes tertiary is a word, i double checked.)

These colours are the direct result of the mix between (in equal parts again) of one primary colour and one secondary colour.

Turquoise:   mix of blue and green. 
Indigo:         mix of blue and purple.
Plum:           mix of red and purple.
Vermilion:   mix of red and orange.
Copper:       mix of yellow &  orange.
Lime green: mix of yellow and green.



Ok, one more category and then we're done! Phew.

The Complementary Colours:

In the Chromatic Circle the "complementary colours" are pairs of colours that are of opposite hue.
Because they oppose each other, once placed alongside one another,  the contrast will compliment the opposing colour - hence the name "complimentary colour".
Perfect example: the red Christmas ornament which will appear all the more red once placed on the green Christmas tree.

Here's the interesting part, we just said that when they're placed alongside one another they compliment each other but what happens when mixed together? Well guess what, they NEUTRALIZE each other.
Hairdressers (colour technicians rather) use this trick all the time. For example, if you're a red head and you want to go blonde, the colour technician will mix in a little dollop of concentrated green pigment into the hair colour in order to cut the red.

So how can you tell what is a colour's complimenting opposite?
Easy, you just use the logic behind the theory.

If you're thinking "what logic?" then i'm doing a terrible job of explaining - my bad.
(in which case i would suggest looking at the image of the Chromatic Circle to spot the opposing colour.

Here are some examples that will hopefully make it more clear.

Take our secondary colours for instance:
Green is composed of blue and yellow so the colour that hasn't entered its composition is red, therefore making red its complimentary colour.
Purple is composed of blue and red and the colour not engaged in its composition is yellow, thus making yellow its complimentary colour.
Orange, being composed of red and yellow, having blue play no part in its composition, makes blue its complimentary colour.

Capisci? ;)

So knowing what we know, the following will now make total sense.
As a Makeup artist you will obviously come across faces with imperfections.
How will we correct them? By determining the colour of the imperfection and using its complimentary colour to neutralize it.
(How refreshing to actual learn something you will apply in real life @ all the b.s. classes i had to take along the years)

Red pimple/scar: green corrector
Blue circles under the eyes: peachy or orangish corrector
Purple circle under the eyes: yellow or golden corrector ...umm isn't a purple circle a black eye? :s :/
Green circle under they eyes: peachy or pinkish corrector.

Now, how do we highlight a colour. Comment le mettre en valeur?

Blue eyes   :golden or orangish eye shadow hues.
Green eyes : pinkish or mauve eye shadow hues.
Brown eyes: turquoise or blueish eyeshadow hues.

Now that we have the knowledge, it is essential to mix our own colours in order to adapt to each client. Don't forget - the client's hair colour, skin tone, outfit and even personal preference will also influence the choices you make as an artist. So don't be shy, it's your canvas.


Tomorrow i will cover the warm colours vs. the cold colours. Can't wait :/


Blog to you soon,

Sahar

Get to know your colours

Sunlight passing through a prism generating all the existing colours of the sunlight.  

So here's what I've understood of this lesson.

Sunlight passing through a prism of pure crystal separates the colours that the human eye cannot separate on its own.

The sum of these seven colours (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple) seen through the human eye is what gives us the impression of white light. 

Umm... so wait a minute - does that mean if it wasn't for our eyes then the world would be rainbow coloured ALL the time? Damn you eyeballs, damn you!


So yea, moving on.

Light is principally composed of three colours: red, yellow and blue.

These dominating colours are referred to as the primary colours. 

All objects that have light reflected upon them, absorb a certain amount of light radiations and diffuse the rest, which is the colour our eyes will perceive:

A red object, will absorb the yellow and blue radiations and diffuse the red, which is why it will appear to us as red. 

A blue object, will absorb the yellow and red radiations and diffuse the blue, making it appear to us as blue. 

A yellow object, (and i'm sure you've figured it out by now, but i'll continue (no, not to annoy you) but for consistency's sake) will absorb the red and blue radiations and diffuse the yellow, which will make it appear to us as purple :D just checking if you were paying attention, you guessed it - as yellow.

So where do the colours white, black and grey fit into all of this? Apparently, they simply, don't.

They're called: the "non colours" due to them not reacting to light in the same way the others do. 

Here's how they DO react:

White: The colour white has the distinction of not absorbing any light radiation.

Instead, this bad boy rejects all the colours, and by doing so, sends off the colour white (the sum of all the colours resulting in white, eyeballs ripping us off, remember?)

Black:  The colour black, being the opposite of white, will do just that - the opposite.

It will absorb all the light and reject none of it. This is where the absence of colour happens.

That's why they say not to wear black in summer. It absorbs all the light hence the heat making it even hotter. A white t-shirt however, will absorb no light, thus no added heat.  

Grey: Wanting to be fair, grey will go in 50/50. Meaning it will take in half the light and reject the other half, making it appear as grey. 

So far, i'm liking the white but it's not gonna make me look any thinner. :/




Colour in the form of light vs. colour in the form of substance.


To resume, simply know this: if you were to mix three beams of colour each reflecting one of the primary colours (red, yellow and blue) it will indeed result as a beam of white but if you did so by using a tangible substance such as paint, it will result in a greyish/brownish/taupe-ish colour, or as my teacher puts it: caca brown. :)




I don't want to overwhelm you with info (read: bore you to death) so "to be continued" tomorrow with the Chromatic Circle. Yay! right? ;)

Blog to you soon, 

Sahar                                                 

Get to know your Beauty Icons

First assignment as Make-up Artists-to-be (as per my teacher) is to get to know the
beauty icons of past and present so that when used as reference points,  you don't fall into panic mode and excuse yourself to the nearest bathroom stall to secretly google/wiki said reference on your smartphone-du-jour.
Makes sense right? But, like everything else of great value, easier said than done.
At first i thought to myself: piece of cake. I mean, there can't be that many icons I don't know about and plus, time flies when you learn interesting things. But then I opened the book and guess where it begins?

- The 1950s you say?
- Try again.
- The 20s?
- Nope.
- The Medieval times?
- You're getting warmer
- Eve?
- The same Eve that took a bite out of the apple? I'm impressed you would go that far back but NO!
- You are now thinking to yourself: "Surely not B.C."?
- As in BEFORE CHRIST? And right you would be! In fact, try 4000 years B.C..

Eh oui, that's how far my teacher wants us to venture out and venture we will.
I promise I'll cover them all in more detail but here's a sneak peak in case you wanted to search for them yourself:

Egypt 4000 B.C
Cleopatra



Cleopatra (ok so they had no cameras back then, sue me)

 

Geece 300 - 100 B.C.
Venus DE Milo

Venus DE Milo

Rome 100 B.C. - 100 A.C. 
N/A

Medieval Times 1000 - 1453
Mary and Eve

Italian Renaissance
Botticelli's Venus



Botticelli's Venus

 

XV and XVI century
Queen Elizabeth I - The shaved hairline and no eyebrow look? :/



Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I

 

XVIII Century
Josephine
Madame de Recamier
Marie-Antoinette (oh, i know her, the "let them eat cake queen ;)
Madame DE Pompadour

Madame DE Pompadour

Mid-XIX 
Sissi
Madame Moitessier
Princesse De Broglie



Princesse De Broglie

 

Victorian Times - end of the 19th Century
Queen Victoria I



Emily Blunt as Queen victoria

 

1900s
Colette
Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt

1910s
Thedra Bara
Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford

1920s
Louise Brook
Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker

1930s 
(finally, names i recognize)
Greta Garbo
Marlene Dietrich
Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow

1940s

Lauren Bacall

Veronica Lake
Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth