Hair Trials - Crimping & Styling

Crimping & Styling

Crimping Irons (Large, Medium or Small)

Kerby Pins

Hairpins

Pintail Comb

Brush out the hair to ensure there are no knots or hairspray left.

Section the hair off into smaller parts, incorporating the model’s

natural parting and hairlines.

Always start crimping from the bottom of the hair upwards, with the

un-styled hair clipped forward.

Section off hair at the bottom of the head, making sure the sections

isn’t too large and the sectioned line is tidy.

Hold the crimping irons towards the top of the scalp, and hold for 

few seconds before releasing.

Place the crimping irons directly underneath the previous crimp and

repeat steps until the entire head is crimped.

Once finished crimping, roll the bottom part and top part inwards on

the crown of the head and pin securely.

Loop the side section rolling up the hair and secure with pins, repeat

on the other side.

Backcomb the front section of hair lightly, loop into a quiff style on

the top of the head and secure with pins.

Never use hairspray.

Whilst the hair is still hot, it can be manipulated easier.

Never backcomb the top of the hair

Make-Up Artist Research

Alex Box with Nick Knight 

i-D Magazine September 2010

Pat McGrath for i-D Magazine

This portrait of Make-Up artist Pat McGrath was featured in i-D Magazine's 30th Birthday issue titled "Portraits" photographed by Nick Knight. Alex Box, creative director of leading make-up brand Illamasqua and world-renowned make-up artist was the artist for this shoot with fellow make-up artist Pat McGrath as the model and vice-versa. I was attracted to this particular portrait  because of the innocence it conveys, McGrath is looking quite youthful and pure. The hair softly billowing creates the soft, natural look and her make-up is quite minimalistic but still flawless. The lips have been lightly glossed to look as natural as possible, emphasising the bareness of this image. This image is very stripped back and the focal point is indeed the shapes the hair is creating, showing that it is not all about make-up. This image reminded me of the character of 'The Babysitter', as she is a young, innocent girl and I am trying to portray that whilst still keeping it attractive and sexy which is what I feel Knight's shot captures. 

Hair Trials - Gothic Updo

Gothic Updo

Single barrel curling tongs

Bobby pins

Hair pins

Pintail Comb

Hairspray

Hairband

1. Section the hair into a T at the front, and tie the crown of the hair into a     tight low bun.

2. Take the ponytail and section it onto four pieces.

3. With one section of hair, backcomb and then barrel turn it into the scalp       outwards. 

    4. Secure the turn with two bobby pins on either side.

    5. Continue this with the remaining three sections.

    6. Bring the four barrel turns together by using a pin to manipulate the hair to blend into the bun.

    7. If desired, take a few strands from the T-section and plait into the bun.

    8. With the remaining hair in the T-section, use the single barrel curling tongs.

    9. Take a piece of hair and clamp into the tongs, roll upwards towards the scalp, and hold for 10-12 seconds, place the comb beneath the tongs and the hair to prevent burning.

    10. Remove the comb and release the curl, then pin the curl until the hair cools so the curl holds.

    11. Repeat this with the rest of the hair, according to the parting.

    12. Once all the hair has been curled and pinned, release the curls and style accordingly

Photographer Research - Nick Knight

i-D Magazine - Portraits by Nick Knight

September 2010 i-D Magazine's 30th Birthday Issue

For the 30th Birthday issue (pre-fall 2010), he shot 200 portraits of fashion and make-up and 21st century's most influential personalities in a studio at Somerset House. The photographer shot stars such as Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, Pixie Geldof and many others. The designers bought a high reputation to the portraits with names such as Christopher Kane, Riccardo Tisci and Vivienne Westwood on the editorial. The shots themselves are quite gothic as they are all shot black and white, with heavy use of shadows and highlights. Only a few portraits have a surreal abstract element that intensifies the gothic feel. For example, the shot of Alex Box reminds me of a clash between Cruella De Ville and Medusa. The strong black contrasts the pale complexion, creating that gothic element. 

Alex Box's Portrait by Nick Knight

'The Babysitter' Story Board

With the character of 'The Babysitter', although they don't mention her actual age, it says "A married couple were going out for the evening and called in a teenage babysitter", it also mentions she has a boyfriend so I am basing my character around the age of 17, so that she is young enough that she evokes empathy but old enough to make the character sexy and attractive. As a young girl, it is clear she is being mentally tortured by the killer and this is key to remember when styling and shooting the character. Mental angst can be portrayed through make-up by distressing the skin, adding tear stains and stress lines to make the character look visibly distraught. I chose to use stills from horror movies involving telephones and young girls because that is exactly what happens in the myth. The killer threatens her through the phone, so the use of those shots helps me to visualise the fear and how it is portrayed in different films. The colour scheme with the hair and skin tone are all accurate to my chosen model, helping me to reference when styling. 

'The Man Upstairs' Story Board

With the character of 'The Man Upstairs', I wanted to make him more mysterious than terrifying. Although he is a child murderer and portrayed as almost psycho, as his character is from an urban legend, his visual portrayal is left to the reader's imagination, allowing me to take any route when styling and shooting this character. As it is for a music video, I wanted to modernize the character and make it more appealing to a suited target market of the late teenage, young adult age. 

I thought about characters in existing TV shows and movies that resemble the works and traits of the man from the myth, and came across a few examples to be used as reference points. The top right-hand corner is Zachary Quinto who plays Sylar from Heroes, a very sick, twisted character that reminds me of 'The Man Upstairs'. His dark hair works well for him as it casts natural dark shadows, instantly providing the mysterious look. As you can see, the story board follows the theme of of the tall, dark and handsome mysterious stranger. I want to portray the character as a young, good-looking male, turning the gothic horror slightly sexual. 

Make-Up Trials - Scratches

Scratches

Kryolan supracolor palette

Ben Nye bruise wheel

Stipple sponge

Stipple the sponge into the red colour from the supracolor palette.

Add some of the purple onto the sponge aswell. (optional)

Press firmly on the skin and swipe lightly upwards.

Add yellow around the scratch to create an aged scratch and discolouration.

Add purple to make the scratch look deeper then intended.