1920's Period Makeup

In order to create a period makeup, whether it be 1920’s, 50’s or even 80’s, I think it is important to first understand where the makeup styles of that era originate from.  Without knowing what influenced the makeup used, the ways in which it was applied, the fashions worn and the hairstyles of an era you wouldn’t be able to fully capture the essence of that period.

  

Throughout history, particularly after the First World War, fashion, hair, makeup and popular culture has been seen to change periodically in approximately 10 year intervals – usually following a very influential historical event.  With this, each decade lays claim to very different and individual fashion trends, hairstyles, makeup products and lip, eye and cheek shapes. 

The 1920’s arose following the end of WWI where woman had for too long endured a great deal of loss, hardship, and sadness and as a result the 20’s saw in a time where young woman wanted to live outrageously and feel alive.  This period in time gave birth to "The Flappers" and has since been known as the "Roaring Twenties". 

Young women decided to oppose all that had ever been expected of women in the past – they traded their tight corsets and long gowns in for straight cut, short dresses and cut their long hair off into short bobs.  Women in the 20’s took up smoking and partying, became promiscuous and even broke the Prohibition law by consuming alcohol in clubs.  Their attitudes was reflected in everything they did.

The makeup of this time also reflected the rebellion of young Flappers as their lipstick became a very intense, dark red, with dark smoky eyes and bold round blush.  The music of this time also influenced the makeup and hair of the era.  The birth of jazz and swing also ushered in cabaret dancers – which allowed for the makeup to be even more emphasised, bold and daring.  The hairstyles were also broadened from not only a straight cut bob but to also include the shingle and eton cuts – worn straight or styled in finger waves.  

Exploring this era in history I was fascinated by the rebellion and rawness of the women of this time - this being one of the reasons I have decided to create a 1920's influenced period makeup for my assessment next week in addition to a 1940's look. 

 Whilst I am planning a very standard 1940’s ‘working woman’ look, for my practice leading up to my assessment I took a more modern approach with my 1920’s makeup.  I incorporated the famous 1920’s thin, downward slanting eyebrows with the petite yet angular lips that the Twenties are known for.   However, instead of sticking with the plain black smoked eyes, I went to the extreme. 

I went for a smoked pink and black eye over a pale, almost white, base, with lips that shaded from black on the outer line to a shimmer mauve-pink in the centre.  I retained the circular pink blushed cheeks of the Twenties, which were further emphasised by the white foundation.  I highlighted my models beauty spot by pencilling in tiny black love heart – bringing an almost circus feel to the look. 

The final touch to my modernised 1920’s makeup was the inclusion of insanely and unrealistically large and flamboyant black eyelashes, which consisted of individual black feathers.  Once I placed the black bob-cut wig onto my model her transformation was complete.  I had myself a 1920’s doll-like character that hinted of the circus and something a little bit eerie and creepy.  

If I was going to critique my own work I'd admit that these are not the most spotless lips I've ever done, they were a little crooked and I'll make sure to concentrate more on creating a balanced perfect lip shape for my assessment.  Overall though, I was happy with the result, what I had envisioned in my mind was fairly close to what I’d ended up with – it’s always nice when that happens.

Cranial Makeup

The very first thing I learnt in my Cinemagraphic Makeup course was how to do a Cranial Makeup.  Little did I know that this skeletal style undercoat was the base makeup for all character makeup that has ever existed or ever will.  Even some beauty makeup, particularly photographic,   makes use of the Cranial base coat.

Cranial makeup is the basics of makeup – contouring and highlighting.  The idea is to contour the parts of the face you want to push back using darker tones and highlight the sections of the face you want to bring forward and emphasise using lighter tones.  The rule of thumb is 2-3 shades darker than the skin tone for contouring and 2-3 shades lighter for highlighting.  The key areas of the face that need attention are the eye sockets, temples, cheekbones, jawline and for added effect the muscles and tendons of the neck.  However, for beauty makeup the eye sockets are not contoured, rather highlighting is applied around the sockets area to bring the eyes forward and make them stand out.

Cranial makeup left as is with slight additions such as red around the nose and eyes can be used to create the illusion that a person is sick, ill, or with extreme contouring and highlighting, even dying or dead.  The other end of the cranial makeup scale is when the base is then used as the first layer to an elaborate character makeup that consists of several layers, effects and styles.

We had a bit of a play with applying a character makeup over the top and came with skeletons and skulls, evil witches and vampires.  We even ended up creating a decaying corpse look – with the skin looking like it had been rotting underwater for a month or so. 

From Analogholiday.blogspot.com.au

The character makeup used for Johnny Depp in almost all of the Tim Burton films he has starred in showcases the use of cranial makeup.  Depp has a very sharp and skeletal facial structure to begin with and by emphasising his natural contours and highlights his makeup artist has been able to create some very interesting effects.  

Characters such as Edward Scissorhands, Barnabus Collins, The Mad Hatter, and Willy Wonka are among some of the best examples of the transformation of Johnny Depp into Tim Burton characters using cranial makeup. 

The benefits of Cranial makeup is truly underestimated, and the use of this base coat within the makeup industry is clearly prominent. I hope that this post showcases this and the art of Cranial Makeup is appreciated.

Finding the World of SPFX Makeup

I am a 21 year old Aussie girl who, after having completed a Law degree at one of the most reputable Universities for Law in Australia, decided to quit my decently paying graduate program job with the Queensland government to pursue a career as a Special Effects Makeup Artist for the film and television industry. 

My whole life I’ve been fascinated and intrigued by the creative industries – the imagination and creativity that you find in art, film, theatre, costumes, and special effects.  Despite the obvious magnetic pull this world has had on me over the years I managed to somehow avoid entering the creative industries straight out of High School. 

At the end of grade 12, I entered the world wide eyed and did what I thought I had to – go to University and study something the world considered valuable and somewhat difficult.  Although being a lawyer was never really what I wanted to be and having a law degree won’t ever really help me be a better special effects makeup artist – I will never regret my time at Bond University or obtaining a Bachelor of Laws.  I feel as though the experiences I had, the knowledge and skills I obtained and the future prospects I will gain out of having a law degree made the time and effort I spent all worth it.

So there I was, 6 months out of university, working in the Brisbane CBD in a building with 37 floors, 24 elevators and security card access – and I just knew there had to be something else out there for me – something more.  It may have taken me 12 years of schooling, a law degree and 6 months in a graduate program to figure it out, but finally one day I stumbled across a career I’d never considered before – a career as a Special Effects Makeup Artist.

After ample research into the industry, the job itself and the various academies that offered Diplomas in SPFX Makeup, I found the place for me – the Australian Academy of Cinemagraphic Makeup.  With that, I put in my letter of resignation, completed my final two weeks’ notice at work, had one week off and began the journey that will hopefully lead me to the rest of my life…