Inside my travel make up bag...

Before I went off on my travels exploring Thailand, I had the usual "What make up should i take?" dilemma which the majority of us girls get! I tried to slim down my contents of my existing make up bag but I didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Each time I took something out of the bag, I added something else to make up for what i took out. It was just organised chaos - A BIG FAT MESS!

I tend to leave the make up in the bathroom in the day and let my skin feel the fresh beach air and "glam" it up a little at night. As i don't tend to tan much taking one shade of a light coverage foundation doesn't prove troublesome.

My usual make up travel bags contains:

My usual option is the good old MAC Face & Body. I love this foundation as it gives me the option of a light coverage or I can build it up to a medium coverage. (For the "I look a mess today" days)

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips & Cheeks in shade Rose. I absolutely adore this product as it's a 2 in 1 product and it can be subtle or built up just like the foundation!

Illamasqua Complement Palette, a small compact eye shadow palette which allows me to create a whole range of looks.

A good old Super Cheap Rimmel Soft Black Khol Pencil, as sometimes we all need a little drama on a night out!

Last but by no means least the good old faithful Bare Minerals Lash Domination Mascara.

Having NEVER traveled an entire country in 4 weeks my main concern was the weight of my backpack! I knew I would be picking up clothes/ ornaments / gifts along the way and wanted to make sure I kept my belongings as light as possible! SO.... the above options of make up I wanted to simplify even more! First off, I booked in with my local mobile beautician for Eyelash Perming and tinting and eyebrow waxing and tinting to give the base and save a little extra room :)

I started to do some research into products ideal for holidays on the web, Facebook groups and asking friends that have previously traveled. This is where I was sent in the direction of multiple BB creams, I have tried a variety of BB creams in the past and wasn't all that keen on them!

 I researched a little more and these are the products I ended up taking on my travels....

The Body Shop All-in-one BB cream, this product is incredible (Yeah I said it!) Its a lightweight coverage (so not ideal if your prone to breakouts) However, as it transforms from a white cream to suit your skin tone for the entire 4 weeks I didn't need to worry about the colour. It matched PERFECT every single time!! 

5 out of 5 from me. 

My trusty Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips & Cheeks in shade Rose. (Previously mentioned) I just couldn't leave this beauty behind. 

 Last but not least... MAC Studio Sculpt Mascara. I only used this towards the end of my holiday as I had my eyelashes tinted and permed before we set off.  Fist time I had used this mascara and I loved the length and depth this mascara gave me!

Yes that's it! ONLY  3 products, I think its unheard of - A Make Up Artist travelling with only 3 make up products! To be honest I couldn't of been  happier I did it, It made me forget about make up for 4 weeks and just enjoy my time travelling an amazing and beautiful country! These are certainly products I will be re-using on my next adventure. 

Be interesting to hear whats inside you're travel make up bag... :)

Thanks for reading

Zoe 

x

*Please note all images were taken from the brands webpage and they are not my own*

Matrix Mould Making AKA Jacket Mould.

The past week I have been learning the process and steps of a Matrix Mould. I'm not going to sit here typing and pretend it's been an easy week. (I'm no liar!) The process is complicated and I struggled to get my head around it at first. It's a backwards process to everything I have learnt a year and a half into my SFX degree. BUT... it does eventually click I PROMISE! 

I'm not going to begin to start to explain the process as there are many websites / tutorials out there on the big wide web that would do a MUCH better job at it than me. I am merely going to explaining my experience with creating a matrix mould.

When our third year Mentor "Claire Minehane" told us what she would be teaching I went off and tried to do a little research into it. My first port of call for research is always my bible:

"Special effects make up for stage and screen "Second Edition" By Todd  Debreceni" If you haven't already purchased it and are interested in SFX! Get out and buy it..http://www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Makeup-Effects-Stage-Screen/dp/024081696X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422469419&sr=1-1


If I am completely honest the book gave me a little insight to what we would be doing however, I was still confused after reading. The main point I took from the book was the benefits of a Matrix Mould.

Here are a few:

• Most accurate moulds. 
• Alot of work goes into making them.
• The rigid outer shell is created first. 
• The softer more fluid material between the shell.
• The process is best used to complex shapes. 

With these pointers in mind, I'll show you our process of a matrix mould of a plaster arm cast. 

Here is the first side of the mould. We covered the plaster arm cast with WED clay and added 3 pour holes, and many keys to ensure we had the precision we needed. 

Leaving the plaster arm cast in place, we cleaned up the outer plaster shell and prepped it ready for the next side to be moulded.

 Here is the mould with the other side prepped ready to be poured. We had a slight dilemma at this point we didnt make the clay walls strong enough which caused the plaster to start leaking a little. BUT...with a bit of patience and arm strength we gained back control :)!

 A lesson learnt and one to remember for sure! :)

Being so focused on the next steps I never took any photographs (Silly me!) At this point we filled the outer casts with PS28 Silicone to create the soft center which would collect all the detail :).

We then filled the center of the mould with Flesh tone Pigmented Pro Gel 10, we brushed the silicone into the mould to ensure all areas were covered. (As it's too heavy and big to slush). Once the Silicone was setting we poured in a Brown Pigmented Soft foam. The pigments were used to get a base colour to save time and products when painted.

The arm prosthetic isn't quite complete yet. It still has to be painted, which is my job to do on Friday. So keep posted to see the end result = A severed arm found in the rubble!

Thanks for reading

Zoe x

Multi Year Prosthetics

Before I headed off I had a final assessment for my 2nd year, 1st Semester modules. Yawn....you're thinking? Try again.... This is what I got the free reign to create!







For this module the 2nd years and 3rd years from both SFX & VFX work together to create some epic shots. There's not beating around the bush with this module it's intense, stressful and designed to push us all to the limit!

Each team is given the same briefing from the lecturers but we have a fairly wide range in choices of what we create. This yer the briefing was "Futuristic Drone War Zone". My team immediately decided we wanted to sit around the 20 year mark and chose 2031for our team shots.

Keeping in theme the SFX side of our team decided to keep the prosthetics small, simple and subtle! Yet, the prosthetics are designed to assist the Medic Characters in their day to day duties.

--It was all about a clean flush application--



















The prosthetics shown in the images were sculpted by myself using MonsterClay

They were then moulded by myself in the beautifully coloured Ad-Sil 20. If you haven't yet used it, give a try! Not only because it's a fabulous product for prosthetics but the colour is just stunning!

They were run in Pro Gel 10 silicone by my fantastically talented team members :)

The prosthetics were applied with good ol' pros aide and I painted them using Krystian Mallets signature Illustrator palette

**These photos were taken on my IPhone and have not been edited!**


Let me know your thoughts, would love some feedback from you :)...


X


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thailand Adventures..

The past few weeks have been crazy for me, University deadlines rapidly creeping up on me and almost biting off a large chunk of my ass!

In the mist of all that I had to work this all out during the final stages of planning my 4 week your of Thailand. - Of which I am 2 weeks into, hence the reason for the blog being so quiet and will continue to be until I return and spam you all with my pictures and endless stories....


But for now I just want to wish you all A Very Happy New Year & I hope your Christmas was magical!



Enjoying the sights of Chiang Rai. Koh Korn Waterfall & The White Temple.


How I now think all Christmas Days should be spent. At The Elephant Sanctuaryin Chiang Mai, feeding them, playing in mud and finished with a bath in the waterfall!


The famous Full Moon Party in Koh Phagnan for New Years Eve!

Thanks for reading...until next time.

Zoe
X

Thailand Adventures..

The past few weeks have been crazy for me, University deadlines rapidly creeping up on me and almost biting off a large chunk of my ass!

In the mist of all that I had to work this all out during the final stages of planning my 4 week your of Thailand. - Of which I am 2 weeks into, hence the reason for the blog being so quiet and will continue to be until I return and spam you all with my pictures and endless stories....


But for now I just want to wish you all A Very Happy New Year & I hope your Christmas was magical!



Enjoying the sights of Chiang Rai. Koh Korn Waterfall & The White Temple.


How I now think all Christmas Days should be spent. At The Elephant Sanctuaryin Chiang Mai, feeding them, playing in mud and finished with a bath in the waterfall!


The famous Full Moon Party in Koh Phagnan for New Years Eve!

Thanks for reading...until next time.

Zoe
X