Final Images/Project Evaluation

MUA Day Time Look:

This look consists of soft neutral tones for the makeup to enhance the wearer's natural beauty, and a loose side fishtail plait. The makeup was created designed to enhance the natural shaping of the model's features and to add a softness and femininity. The hair was swept over to the side and styled into a fishtail plait to create a soft textured detail to the image. The foundation of my inspiration was the Valentines Inspiration Pinterest board that MUA posted, which displayed soft, feminine makeup and romantic braided hairstyles.

Whilst creating this look, it was important to perfectly match the foundation to the skin tone for a very natural look and to create the correct balance of contouring to look flattering in the photographs. After the testing process and test images, I decided to create a fishtail plait rather than a regular three stranded plait because the finish looked better looser and messier. This was then created in my final image which really complimented the relaxed concept I was after.

This look would have suited any model, yet I believed that a model with a warm skin tone and natural hair colour would be ideal. The hair also looks more flattering on a model with hair this length to produce a looser fishtail plait. To create the correct atmosphere for this look, I asked the model to be relaxed in her posing so she looks comfortable and at ease. The grey colour of the background isn't harsh and compliments the shoot's notion.

I am extremely pleased with the outcome of this shoot, and I believe it represents MUA as a brand. The shoot displays a femininity yet still looks youthful and natural, which is what is often portrayed in MUA's images on their social media sites and website.  

MUA Evening Look:

For the Evening look, I created a bold deep berry lip and paired it with a smokey eye and gold glitter. The hair is on trend with the sharp slicked back, wet look hair. The simplicity of the hair compliments the bold makeup to create an ideal evening look to represent MUA. This makeup look has been inspired by a combination of trends from the catwalk that MUA has featured on their blog, which also show the models wearing their hair in similar styles. This look has also been inspired by Balmain collections which show evening glamour in similar colours.

When choosing the model, I considered how a heavy makeup would sit on different skin tones and whether the colour of hair would compliment it. I chose a model with a Greek background who has dark features and an olive skin tone. Her skin tone and texture pulled off a strongly contoured look and heavy eye and lip makeup. Her hair was in a good condition which helped to create a natural shine under the studio lighting. 

The images show the model with a confident posture as I wanted to create the idea of the makeup generating a high self esteem and female power. The lighting works beautifully with her skin tone, but I would possibly have preferred some lighting on the background to create a better contrast with the hair so that the structure could be more visible. I attempted changing the background to various other colours, yet the black background was the most suitable for this shoot.

This look was created with two particular MUA products in mind; Matte Lipstick in Wild Berry and the 12 Shade Heaven and Earth Eyeshadow Palette. Therefore I believe is represents the brand well. Also, as previously shown in my design development, the MUA makeup artist sports a very similar look to this one.

MUA Spring/Summer Look:

For this MUA Spring/Summer look, I created my look based on the pastel eye trends as seen on the catwalk and transfer it into the perfect look for this brand. As seen in my design development, MUA created a Spring collection and Look Book which shows the model sporting a fresh, rosy cheeked makeup. With this skin finish, I created a soft purple eye using one of MUA's eyeshadows, which was blended into a pale shimmer using another MUA eyeshadow from the Undress Me Too Palette. These colours were inspired by some of the materials in Monique Lhuillier's SS15 collection. This look was paired with a braided crown hairstyle, infused with white blossoms. The blossoms are symbolic of Spring; white being pure, and blossom being perfectly seasonal. The hair has been kept wispy for an effortless and innocent look.

For this look, I chose a model with fair hair and skin as it shows up the pink tones beautifully on the cheeks and compliments the purple shades on the eyes. The blonde hair, which is coloured naturally, contrasts the rich purple background and is flattering with the white blossom. I asked the model to create a softness in her eyes for a serene final outcome. The studio lighting beautifully reflects the highlight on the skin and looks almost like natural lighting. If I could change anything about this final image, I would have liked to have used a paler background, but I think the purple really brings out the colour on the eyes.

I believe that this look would be very suitable for MUA, and can imagine it being a part of their Spring Collection on their website. The look is youthful and fresh, which suits the customer profile well, and I am very pleased with the final outcome and the story the look creates.

MUA High Summer/Beach Look:

This look for High Summer/Beach, I based my idea around some of MUA's most recent inspiration with the use of bright primary colours. The choice of colour and positioning of the eye makeup has been inspired by Lela Rose Spring 2013 as it reminds be of the artwork as seen on MUA's Pinterest. The colours of the eyes and lips are vibrant and the skin tone is warm and glossy to create the effect of a Summery sun-kissed skin. To compliment this look, I created a high shine, wet-look plait with a gold accessory and paired it with a bright coral nail colour.

When creating this makeup look, I wanted to make sure the skin had a beautiful dewy glow. The skin products I use do not create this skin texture naturally, so I had to improvise with different cosmetics such as liquid highlighter, moisturiser, oil, water spray and high shimmer eyeshadows. The final images show the extreme highlighting of the skin under the studio lighting, which I am extremely satisfied with. The finish of the hair could potentially be cleaner, but the hair separation creates the illusion of wetter hair, rather than a dry yet sleek look.

The model for this look has a very defined bone structure which works wonderfully with the hair being scraped back. Her features stand out well under the lighting and carry the dewy makeup very well. I also asked my model to apply tan in advance to create a natural warm glow to her skin, which I then perfected with foundation to match the texture of the skin on her face. The colour of the background compliments the yellow eye makeup and is fitting with the colour of the lips and nails.

This look really suits MUA as they state on their website that they are "inspired by playing with colour". I feel that I have portrayed this statement well within this look, yet have kept the young and energetic idea of the customer profile.

Muastore.co.uk, (2015). MUA Store | MUA Make up Academy. [online] Available at: http://www.muastore.co.uk/ [Accessed 28 Apr. 2015]

MUA Nails Look:

Inspired by the colours of catwalk trends and the nail art posted on MUA's website and blog, I chose to use turquoise, gold and peach/pink and my base colours. MUA posted on their blog a nail art design based on the fabric patterns from Holly Fulton SS15 collection, which also showed a primary colour of turquoise. Whilst creating the makeup and hair designs for this look, it was important to ensure that the nails were the key point of focus of the shoot, with the makeup and hair to compliment rather than over power. The hair is back off the face and structured into unique little buns, which look fun and edgy. The makeup has been kept fresh and young with splashes of glitter and pink/peach for a complimentary look for the nails. I was extremely lucky enough to find the perfect nail design for this look, with the colours fitting magnificently with my design development.

For this look, I was initially looking to scout a model with a different ethnicity to show diversity, yet the model I ended up choosing really suited the colour these of this look. The lighting was kept bright and on a white background to suit the small white detail on the nail designs. I asked the model to pose in different positions using her hands cleverly to ensure they were the main focus. The aim was to create a playful final image, and the model did this perfectly when instructed.

Based on the fact that the nail design is very similar to previous designs posted by MUA, I feel that this look represents MUA successfully and shows off the nails as the main focus. The colours on the nails are all available from MUA and the hair and makeup designs fit well within the brand also. 

In all of the above images, I chose to shoot my looks in the studio with studio lighting. This is because MUA have produced their looks within a studio, and I wanted to replicate a similar outcome. I also styled all the models without clothing over their shoulder to be certain that the hair and makeup was not distracted from and kept the main focus of the image.