By Jasmine Long
The beauty of makeup is that it is experimental, futuristic, and creative. As an art form, it is something to be heavily celebrated and praised for those who can appreciate it for what it is: an escape from reality into a world where you can be anything.
Like art, the canvas needs to be clean and well-looked-after before the artists begins their work, so ensuring that one’s skin is healthy and prepped correctly is extremely beneficial to the way in which makeup sits on the skin.
Freelance fashion and beauty editor for magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue Business, Lauren Cunningham gave me her biggest beauty tip for the summer: “Keeping healthy summer skin is making sure you wear SPF and regularly re-applying it. Some brands recommend doing it every two hours!” Because when your skin feels good, you feel good. Good skin is the biggest contributor to a good makeup look.
I have always been fascinated with the different aspects the makeup industry has to offer and am especially interested in the many ways that it can be used to enhance features and even create something entirely new.
Body art is an incredible way to exhibit one’s creativity. In this way, the artist is subjected to their most inner thoughts and soul with their very own human canvas.
United Makeup Artists Expo (UMAe) is a makeup show that showcases work by various makeup and body artists, as well as providing educational seminars and hands on workshops. With an aim to educate on using makeup as an art form, as well as give inspiring artists the chance to display their creations, I felt that the experience as a whole was worth sharing.
I got to see the beauty of using makeup alongside body paint and what it means. It means for a clean slate, one in which the model is able to enter a world of endless possibilities, and the artist can produce a work of art with complete originality. I got to see these visions come to life in real time.
It’s clear that it expresses so much more than fancy colours and swirls; the reality of the concept is so much more emotional and personal. In this way, a community of talented individuals are able to come together and share their work with the world.
Although both makeup and body art are inspirational within their own right, SFX and prosthetics are also something to be heavily celebrated and can also be an art in a literal sense.
In order to learn more on how different products and techniques can be used to create something new entirely, I attended the masterclass in the UMAe event hosted by freelance prosthetic and makeup SFX professional Stuart Bray. In doing so, I entered the world of movie makeup and endless possibilities.
The room was filled with inspiration and expressiveness, as I was able to watch a professional artist do what he does best.
He focused on the art of using makeup in addition to SFX products to showcase his skills in crafting, model, Oliver Sharp, a different nose. In doing so, he gave watchers his best and executive ways of prosthetics.
A small snippet of a professional at work: Stuart Bray’s masterclass on prosthetics at the UMAe event. – Video by Jasmine Long
Catch more of Stuart Bray’s expertise down below.
The implications and perfecting a prosthetic nose by Stuart Bray. – Audio Edited by Jasmine Long
I also had the pleasure of attending the creative makeup masterclass taught by multi award winning MUA, Victoria Louise, who gave very informative ideas on how to perfect the ultimate makeup look.
She ensures that her makeup looks are an art, focusing on presentation and colour scheme.
During her masterclass, she focused on the eyes – the main centrepiece of her artwork, ensuring that they were correctly prepped with an eye base.
“With an eye base you’re going to get less staining to the lid, your colours are going to pop more, and I find that they do last a lot longer as well. It gives you a blank canvas to work on.”
When starting the eye makeup, she mixed some dark greens and begins to press that on the lid.
“At this stage now, we aren’t trying to blend the colour out or anything. So, the quicker we get the colour on, the better. When working on shoots and things like that, you’ll learn that quickness is key.”
She then blends in with a lighter green, saying that using 50% on colour and 50% off colour is an ideal way to perfect eyeshadow looks and ensures that the eye makeup doesn’t blend any further up.
Victoria continues to cut the create with a dark purple, blended with burgundy.
“I apply that inside the eyeshadow. Because the brush is so small, it’s easier to control the colour.”
She continues to blend with orange tones, and after applying eyeliner eye gems, and false eye lashes, the finished product is one that truly exhibits great talent.
As a whole, those who craft pieces of artwork on human canvases expose the beauty behind the talent. To understand the true depth of the industry, I spoke to influencer and SFX/Body art MUA, Paris Makeup, about her journey.
Paris has various makeup and body art looks across multiple social media platforms, with the usage of both makeup and SFX, each look varies from a timestamp of 1 hour to even over ten.
“I’ve always been into beauty makeup, ever since I was like ten years old watching Zoella, James Charles and Nikkie Tutorials. Just watching creators do their makeup inspired me to start doing it too, now here I am, twenty-one years old now and doing paid content for massive makeup brands like ‘Makeup Revolution!’”
“I started SFX when I was twelve after watching the movie ‘Saw’ on YouTube. I then watched some tutorials from Pinkstylistand had a go myself… I haven’t stopped doing SFX since!”
Paris uses Kryolan liquid latex and fake blood to create her intriguing and also fearful looks. She said that by adding fake blood to any SFX look, it is immediately ten times better.
“Also lashes. Big lashes, small lashes… I wear false eyelashes every day! I love the B802XL lashes for character makeup and any type of Tatti lashes for beauty makeup. I wouldn’t say I have any sort of technique; I just love going with the flow. I try not to be too much of a perfectionist when it comes to the majority of my makeup, I just try and have fun with it.”
“By far one of my favourite makeup looks is a simple look I did where I just covered my mouth. It’s such a simple yet effective look!”
Makeup, body art and SFX are more than what they appear to be. To those who appreciate it, the overall aesthetic of the art opens doors and offers endless possibilities, allowing for experiences and imagination out of the ordinary.
By Jasmine Long
