Testing

I did so much testing for the trend as I did not know how severe I wanted to make the make up. I do want the images to still represent true beauty so I do not want to detract from this. These are images which I have taken of test make up.

This was my first design. I wanted to apply black and grey to the face but not in the stereotypical way (smoky eye). The eye is the epicentre of the shatter so I needed to incorporate the eye into the make up. I decided to apply the blacks and greys underneath the eye. Using inspiration from the pink cheek I decided to apply it in a harsh line and blend out down the face. I kept all the rest of the make up very simple and just applied nude lips and contoured the face. I wanted to keep the eyes the only element as it was very intense. Once taking images I decided I did not like this, it highlighted the bags under the eyes and it also looked like a black eye. On the second image i had tried to drop some black eye shadow onto the eyes, but it did not look severe enough on camera so I decided to scrap this idea.

As I was washing the make up off I decided to capture the water running creating a dirty water mark down the face, this however did not show up very well on camera so I decided to continue with washing it off. I thought it would add to the grungy smudged look but it did not show, the water just reflected off the face with the flash.

This was the after effect with washing with water. I wanted it to have a worn look but I did not like it at all! It looks a mess and not beautiful. The water just reflects the flash and the make up does not look well executed. Scrap that idea !

This was another new design I created. I tried out the pink cheek and really liked the effect. One thing I would change if I was to do this look again was to use a different shade of blusher as this looks red and I would prefer to have a pink washed out colour.Red is too severe. I also tried out a spidery type lash on the eyes but decided to create a line and apply them further up the eyelid. I do like this affect as it is different but I do not think it is extreme enough for the look I want. 

As the look was not intense enough I decided to add a black lip. I decided to make it matt as my trend has a worn look so nothing is new and shiny any more. I do like the design of this look but I do think it needs some tweaking so I decided to continue altering the look. 

I did try a glossy black lip and although it made the lips look more intense I do not think it is right for my trend. 

I did try to add some blue into the make up to bring in the element of the cold sky but I do not like this look at all! It looks very drag like and am-mature which is the total opposite of what I want to portray. 

I worked a black eye shadow over the top of the blue to tone it down and create a deeper blue shade. I do like this colour but I still think the eye shadow wrecks the design. I worked the black up past the eyebrow and to the hair line and went over the red blusher with black but I think it is all too much, there are too many elements going on in one design. I also did not like the way the black went patchy on the skin especially when being worked over the top of another powder colour. I need to home it in, portray the theme but with a much simpler look. 

Lastly I tested out a more extreme approach to black on the face. I applied to make it look like it had been clawed on. I did like this affect but do not think it is relevant enough to my design. 

I wanted to try a subtler approach to the make up but still incorporate a bleeding colour. I created a nude lip and added a pink in the centre to blend out to the edges of the lip. The mouth being the epicentre of the shatter and the colours diffusing out.

 The mouth can come out with strong words which can create a crack in an emotion or feeling. 

The effect was not that noticeable so I decided to add gloss to the lips but I thought it did not enhance the colours instead it detracted from them. I like the idea of the lips bleeding but not in these soft tones, I needed something more striking. So I came up with this lip...

I created a bleeding in black lip. I really like this lip as it is strong with a sharp black edge but blends into a pink in the centre, where it is a fresher flesh. I created this with a black eye liner so Could draw a sharp black line and also blend out.  

I decided to carry on from this bleeding lip to create a overall make up. I kept the make up on the rest of the face quite simple as I wanted the emphasis to be on the lips. I did like this idea but I did not think the eyes had enough going on to make the make up interesting so I continued to experiment. 

I made the eyes a lot more dramatic by creating a black brow and joining up them to the eyes as well as blending black out. I do like this eye make up but I believe it is too much with the lips as well. I think for the design to work I would need to use either the eye make up or the lips, not both. 

I added more detail to the eyebrows. I want to incorporate the eyebrows into one of my designs as I believe they are a looked over element to make up.  

The eyebrows shelter the eyes so they need to have a unfinished look. They branch up towards the sky like tree branches. 

I then added the black cheek which really defines the cheek bone but again i think there is too much going on within the design. It needs to be simplified. 

I filled in the black lips so they were all over black I like the harshness of the black but I think I want to stick using just one element on the face to portray the dirty blackness of my trend. I think I want to use the lips as one of the black elements in one of my months. I think black eyes has been done quite a lot and is predictable. 

Lastly for this look I went to the extreme and thought where else could I use black on the face. I blended black down the forehead but I found that there were some elements that prevented this from looking how I wanted to: one it went patchy, I think in order to make it blend perfectly I would need to use an airbrush. The other issue was that it just stopped at the hair line and created a separated, disjointed look from the hair. I do not want this. I want the hair to be a continuation from the head like the hair is diffusing from the face.  

I went away and thought of other ways I could use the shattered diffusion element in my designs but without so much black. I came up with the idea of gold leaf. I like the way it has an unpredictable shatter look when it breaks. I do not want to use gold as this is the wrong tone, I want cooler harder looking colours. 

I found some gold leaf in silver. A metal tone which would be perfect for my trend. 

I used it alongside of the black but I think I need one or the other and I believe the gold leaf explains my trend better. I decided to apply the gold leaf to the ears and out down the neck as the ear is where sound is taken in. Sound can shatter glass and the ears are very delicate as sound can split the ear drum. This theory made it very appropriate to my trend. Once applying the gold leaf (which I found extremely fiddly!) I realised that the effect on the ear was not as beautiful as I thought it would be. Instead the ear looks bitty. I think I need to apply the gold leaf to a flat surface. I do like it going down the neck though. One problem that I did have with the gold leaf was that it kept lifting so if I was to use it again I would need to apply a lot more Vaseline in order for it to stick well. I am pleased with the effect and would like to use it in one of my designs. 

I decided that because the gold leaf offered a lot of detail, the rest of the make up needed to be stripped right back. I wanted to still incorporate the element of black so I decided to use the black brow. The brow provides a strong structure to the face but does not detract from the rest of the detail within the make up. 

I have definitely benefitted from testing for these looks. My designs have developed so much from the initial idea. I will continue to test for future looks as it has helped me massively. I believe that by investigating and  carrying testing it has demonstrated that I have shown innnovative and appropriate solutions to a brief.