A Chat with Alyson from THAT'S NOT MY AGE!

After seeing Alyson's THAT'S NOT MY AGE blog dedicated to style in older women, I decided to contact her to see if she could give me some more of her insight into mature fashion, hoping that she could further inspire me with the message I want to send with my "Jewel" photo shoot based on older models.

She was nice enough to invite me to email her and ask her some questions. Below are her responses.

Me: I am currently doing a project for all walks and one if the issues I am basing it on is older models. After looking at your blog I was wondering if you could take a few minutes to give me a few words on the issue.

Me: For instance, do you see a future where older models like Daphne Selfe are being used in campaigns more frequently?

Alyson: I would like to think that this will happen and that it's not just another fashion fad.  Daphne Selfe told me recently that she was working more than ever - and we are definitely seeing more older models: the M&S Leading Ladies, Boots Tah Dah!, Daphne for TK Maxx -  so fingers crossed!

Me: What is the key to growing old and staying fashionable?

Alyson: Wearing what makes you happy, what you feel confident in. Grown-up style is not about chasing trends but about developing a signature look,  though it's important to stay looking modern by keeping an eye on fashion's bigger picture: shapes, silhouettes, colours. Regularly updating your wardrobe to avoid looking frumpy.

Me: What do you think older women bring to the fashion community?

Alyson:Beauty, wisdom, intelligence - and experience, of course!

 

 A HUGE credit and thank you to Alyson at thatsnotmyage.blogspot.co.uk

WHAT HAS ALYSON TAUGHT ME?

 Alyson said that the key to growing old and staying fashionable is about being happy and confident, which fits in with the tone that I have started to create with the "Unicorn Factor" feel. It has reinforced that my model should be confident and free and this has reconfirmed that I have made the right choice in choosing my mother to model for me.
Alyson also said that fashion in older age is all about finding a signature look and thinking about shapes, silhouettes, and colour. I am going to include this in my shoot as I think she right and it is very important. It has got me thinking about my image composition and my models positioning.
I'm SO happy that she mentioned colour because my age shoot is jewel themed and i had initially planned for it to be quite colourful and now, after speaking to her I feel as though I'm on the right track.

Timed Assessment - Cara's Direction

Cara took a while to perfect her initial design but when she did it was a brilliant design that I had fun doing.

 

Meeting one: In class, briefly discussed each others ideas and asked initial questions, showed material that linked to our ideas/first face charts.

Meeting two: In the Library, exchanged noted and went into more depth about our ideas, began to get a clearer idea of what we both needed to do.

Meeting Three: In class, exchanged final face charts and went over any loose ends.

The rest of the week was spent emailing each other and discussing products and kit.

Above is the face chart that Cara sent me but I didn't feel confident that I had enough information so I asked her to do me a product list and method as I had given her. Below are the notes she supplied me with and I felt a lot more confident after that.

Makeup you will need:

 

Foundation (a range so can apply right tone)

Illamasqua white foundation

A red Lip stick

Red eye shadows (two or three if possible different shades)

White eye Shadow

Black Eye shadow

Eye liner

Mascara

A darker brown eye shadow or blush (to contour)

Powder Blush

Dark brown pencil

Black acrylic paint ( I will bring that in)

 

Hair you will need.

 

Brushes

Pins

Clips

Hair band

Gel or water

 

Make up process:

 

Apply a base foundation matching skin tone, etc.

 

Powder base.

 

Start to contour the face with the brown

 

Contour down the nose

 

Contour the temple just about the outside of the eye brows

 

Contour the jaw line and underneath the cheek bones

 

Blush the cheeks,

 

Start to create a smokey eye with the red eye shadows, lightest colours first

( I would start with a white and then from the outside corner of the eye start to blend inwards with the lightest red and then with the darker red go into the crease more so and a little bit blended inwards and then with the black right in the corner going into the crease a little bit)

 

Underneath the lower lid at the out corner blend a small bit of red shadow under the eye into about the middle and then over the top  go over with a black but not as far into the eye (going from black in the outer corner to red)

 

Repeat on both eyes

 

Now do the eye liner (a thicker line) on both eyes and slightly underneath

 

Place mascara on top and lower lashes

 

Now draw on the eyebrows in the shape on the face chart (basically follow and fill my eyebrow shape) but blend in the middle without a harsh line so the look natural.

 

Highlight areas like the nose and above the cheek bones the chin and the lower lip, underneath the eyebrow with illamasqua white foundation

 

HAIR

 

Pull all hair from one side over and then back into a bun wet it down or gel down to help. Basically a slick look into a bun using clips if you need too.

 

Hand Mark

 

Paint your hand or someone with a small hand with the black acrylic

 

Make sure its really smothered don’t worry about painting all of the palm though just around the outside and slightly in.

 

Place on the side of the face so that your fingers are mostly flat and the palm is as flat as you can get it.

 

Press down firmly.

FINAL IMAGES:

PEER REVIEW:

Makeup Artist Name: Jenny Higson

Assessment of Designer: Cara Haywood

Initially it was quite hard to get hold of Cara but when we did she was always good at replying to my questions and request to meet. I felt it was a bit confusing getting it together at the beginning because Cara changed her design and only sent me the face chart the night before the assessment. The face chart was more of a drawing and although it was beautiful I found it quite hard to read. I also had to ask her for more information like a product list etc. that she was quick to supply. When I contacted her with any questions I had she was always quick to reply and very helpful.

Cara had a fabulous design, which was exciting to recreate. It presented a wide selection of skills that challenged me but excited me at the same time. Cara was able to give me advice if I needed it and was happy to meet when we needed to.

Cara’s main strength was in her design and she went into detail when explaining method though out emails prior to the assessment. I feel this is good in a designer because it made up for the design being done quite last minute and prevented me from feeling as though I didn’t know what I was doing. I would improve her time management so I had longer to look over the notes and probably would have got her to make the face chart a bit simpler too. I think Cara has learnt to time manage too. From my point this was the only issue we had.

As a makeup artist I have learnt to communicate if I have any issues with the design or am unclear about anything. I think I was successful in adapting when there weren’t things specified on the face chart and made the look work and look complete. My strength was problem solving to make the look work; for example the hair was to be put in a side bun but the notes didn’t specify what type of bun or how high or low it should sit on the head so I problem solved by doing what I thought would work with the look best. My weakness was failing to spot these things before we went into the assessment to ask Cara about them.  To improve next time I would try the look out on myself before the assessment but this was down to time management on both our parts. All in all I am happy with the look and I think it looks good, although it is slightly different to what Cara had in mind but I think we made it work between us.

Timed Assesment - My Direction

For my timed assessment I wanted to have a modern androgynous look. Cara and I met an exchanged emails and below are the notes that I gave her on my design.

Meeting one: In class, briefly discussed each others ideas and asked initial questions, showed material that linked to our ideas/first face charts.

Meeting two: In the Library, exchanged noted and went into more depth about our ideas, began to get a clearer idea of what we both needed to do.

Meeting Three: In class, exchanged final face charts and went over any loose ends.

The rest of the week was spent emailing each other and discussing products and kit.

 Above is the face chart that I gave to Cara. I wanted it to be relatively simple so that it was easy to follow, but still portrayed my look correctly. That is why I used this particular type of face chart.

I gave her a product list so that we both had the same colours and textures in mind for the look. i thought by giving her a product list we would get the closest outcomes to each other if for example we were working on the same thing at different times in industry.
I also gave her a "key points" list to emphasise the most important parts of the look that demanded emphasis.

I gave her "method" notes of how I would've done the look because different methods can often make different outcomes and i wanted us to be on the same wavelength as much as possible.

I also supplied her with a very basic hair chart and method for visual help of my ideas.

FINAL OUTCOME

TIMED ASSESSMENT PEER REVIEW

Designers Name: Jenny Higson

Assessment of: Cara Haywood (Makeup Artist)

Cara and I discussed my design briefly in person and communicated a lot though email if she had any other questions. She was proactive in attempting to meet and we did so in the library to discuss. She was good in that she came to me to ask anything that she was unsure of and was happy to meet when it was convenient. I felt that she engaged with the face chart and I know that she took notice of my notes because she asks questions and showed that she was taking everything in. She readily accepted challenges such as using products that she wasn’t familiar with and approached this with eagerness happily. She was able to problem solve when one particular product gave her trouble and calmly kept working at it until it went right. When I was in the chair I felt relaxed and taken care of and she was chatty and gentle and I felt she had the correct demeanour as an artist. Technically she was aware of all basic skills and if I was a model I would definitely go back to her.

Cara was very good at the shape of contouring and creating the skin tone that I wanted. She was able to communicate any problems she felt she had with the design or anything she was unsure of. This was good because it showed how good she was at communication. Her application was good and I, as a model, felt she took good care of me when I was in the chair. She was happy and talkative, as well as being gentle throughout the application of the makeup and hair design.
The only thing that I would improve would be that I think she slightly underplayed the makeup. The face chart I gave her was a lot more dramatic and her final outcome was subtler, though all the necessary features were there. I think the makeup artist has learnt some more product knowledge, as there were some products on the product list that she was not familiar with. If I had to say what she needs to learn from this assessment it would be to tie everything together at the end with things like bonding lashes to false lashes with mascara and making sure contouring was visible from the front if that was the desired look.

As a designer I have learnt from this experience. I have learnt to go into extreme detail in my notes even when its something that I thought was well known as the artist might not think to include it, such as binding lashes to fake lashes with mascara or priming the face. From my successes I have learnt that simple drawings are key in translating ideas. I created a product list for Cara of what I would have used and I think this saved us and hindered us simultaneously. For example it meant that colours matched and the looks would’ve been the same if we were both doing the same look, but some of the products that I wrote down on the product list were unfamiliar to Cara which meant she didn’t have correct knowledge on how to use them. Although we corresponded to solve this story, it meant that the first time she got to experiment with these products was during the assessment.
As a designer my strengths in this assessment lay in giving thorough notes to the makeup artist, including a product list and method of how I would have gone about creating the look. I did this because different methods can lead to a different outcome and I wanted Cara’s work to be as close to my design as possible. My weakness was not considering to emphasise some steps that would bring the look together such as bonding lashes to fake lashes to round off the look. I didn’t think that the other makeup artist might not have considered doing this.
To improve my skills as a designer I will keep my strengths and work on my weaknesses. I will concentrate on the techniques that round off the look as well as the application of makeup. All in all I think Cara represented my look well but a few things were missing. Next time I will specify things like bonding lashes and how dark and deep the contouring should be.