A Work of Art It’s everywhere. Gorgeous faces turned into a work of art. Teen Vogue explore the new trend of media make up taking the world by storm.
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t’s difficult to resist the urge to copy online make up tutorials and turn your winged eyeliner into a unicorn’s horn. Or to turn your face into a Lichtenstein work of art. We’ve all watched them, let’s face it, but what is this trend and where did it come from? Media make up has been around just as long as what would be considered normal make up has. The art of transforming yourself into whatever character you wish has been used within theatre for centuries. Nowadays modern films such as avatar are heavily CGI based. Some see that this as the ‘death’ of the art of using make up to transform actors/ actresses into such stunning characters. Well I disagree. Thanks to the internet and the rise of the vlogger, us mere mortals can now turn our faces into whatever work of art we’d like. Transforming the world of make up into much more than making ourselves pretty. Now we can easily turn ourselves into a work of art. Make up has been apart of culture and fashion for centuries. Ancient Egyptian
women were the first to use kohl eyeliner to enhance their eyes, alongside a green paste that was made from copper minerals. Chinese and Japanese traditional make up is recognisable worldwide. Particularly the pale white faces (an old signal of wealth). To do this, they used rice powder. Queen Elizabeth I was famous for her bright red hair (alongside being Queen of England - no biggie) leading onto the fashion of dyed red hair in the Elizabethan age. She would also use white lead to create a pale complexion on her face, this trend carried on into the Georgian era. In the Victorian age, the next Queen of England was not as big an advocate of make up. In fact she declared it vulgar on anyone other than those in the acting profession. This extensive history of make up has led us up to those styles recognisable to us now. From the classic red lip of the twenties and thirties to the exaggerated eyes of the sixties to the bright, bold colours of the eighties.
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Many of the most iconic works of art involved the use of make up to enhance the face. With today’s vast range of affordable make up products it’s easy to recreate these iconic looks. So where do we learn these techniques for ourselves? Online, of course. Thanks to the abundance of make up gurus flocking to the web to share some of their best looks and lessons on easy make up techniques are just a few clicks away. Two of the most popular make up ‘vloggers’ are Sarah Ashcroft (ThatPommieGirl) and Tanya Burr. So what has made these women so popular on the internet? Their online reviews of new make up make it easier for us when choosing what make up to buy and how to use it. Including tutorials of looks for different times of the year; different seasons, christmas, new year and valentine’s day (to name a few). These are always fun and helpful in our ideas for looking our best when it counts. On the hunt for something much more artistic, it was incredibly refreshing to find something online that’s different to the rest. One girl that
particularly stood out to me, was Italian make up artist, Greta Agazzi’s page (greta_ag). Her page is full of interesting and extremely artistic ways of doing make up. In particular is her use of bright coloured eyeshadow and paint in order to create abstract looks around the eyes and on the lips (her most used features). Often she uses 3D accessories to enhance the abstract in her looks. Another striking account, this time on youtube, is Jordan Hanz’s channel. Full of spooky looks, there is something very different about Hanz’s make up style. Her use of special FX to completely transform her face till she’s unrecognisable is impressive. The look that I found most incredible was her Poinsettia Poison Ivy artwork. Whilst maybe these kind of looks may not be your choice of everyday make up, they’re definitely cool and who knows when your next fancy dress party will be? For those more serious than us, following these tutorials in our bedrooms, various degrees and diplomas in this art form are available. As well as many other courses.
“I enjoy creating something like art, but this is different from art as you can wipe it away after you’ve finished and create something new.” I was curious to speak to some training artists in the field of media make up. This is why I took a trip to visit the girls (and boys) at New College Stamford. Sat in a bustling salon, waiting to get my hair conditioning treatment, the only tell-tale sign these girls are students are the lanyards around their necks. The media make up students from new college Stamford are extremely talented and I’m sat in awe looking at the work going
on around me. I spoke to Eleanor, the lovely young lady doing wonderful things to my hair: What interests you the most about studying this subject? “I enjoy creating something like art, but this is different from art as you can wipe it away after you’ve finished and create something new.” What area of the make up industry are you most interested in going into after studying Media make up? “Bridal. Media make up isn’t just about creating make up looks for films/ theatre, it also follows fashion. This means that it is constantly following the trends and to me that is something that a bride would want, something current.” Speaking of what field you want to go into, what would you avoid? “Special FX. The equipments so expensive! It’s also time consuming and there’s not all
that much money in it. It’s just something that doesn’t interest me, I wouldn’t benefit much from going into that field.” Well in that case, are there any make up artists you look up to and would recommend to any aspiring make up enthusiasts? “Easy. Patrick Starr, Pixie Woo and Bobbi Brown. They’re ridiculously good at what creating looks that are striking. Kryolan even has a special FX make up range which is even better for those interested.” The rise in make up enthusiasts has been phenomenal. The sheer amount of videos on YouTube and blogs out there to advise you on what to and not to buy, make it incredibly easy for us. But now we live in a world of Kardashians, isn’t it a little bit more exciting to stand out from the crowd?