Assessment - Final Makeup Design

This is my final design for my Elizabethan makeup look inspired by Elizabethan anti-beauty conventions and superstitions surrounding witchcraft. I wanted to create a design that didn't truly embody the aesthetics of Elizabethan beauty such as the rouged lips, cheeks and porcelain white skin but rather the opposite while maintaining certain elements that linked the design back to the period. The main link between Elizabethan regality and makeup is that of colour choice, for example the use of red is immediately associated with Renaissance youthful beauty and this was a connection that I wanted to avoid therefore I went for a colour similar to that but different enough to remove those connotations. Because of my desired link to witchcraft and superstition I opted for purple and grey tones which were close to red but not youthful looking, I wanted the look to appear darker and carry an illusion of age. The skin tone would be a normal colour to that of my own face which is a golden/yellow undertone, the direct opposite of the beauty standards of Elizabethan England. The facial structure would then be enhanced through contouring of the temples, jaw and cheeks using a mixture of deep purples, violets and grey browns to hollow out the face. This would also be used in the eye socket to hollow out and depend the eyes. I want the whole face to appear somewhat ghostly yet pretty to capture the sense of darkness and fear that took hold of so many women within the period accused of witchery. 

Although the whole purpose of my design is to break away from the conventions of Elizabethan beauty I felt that it was important to maintain some more versatile elements that reconnected the makeup look to the features of the period. This included the bleached eyebrows, white paste makeup on the face and small lip, by including bleached eyebrows instead of blocked ones I feel it creates a more authentic feel to the whole overall design. Blocked brows appear to theatrical for my liking. In addition to this I wanted to recreate the effects of white makeup that was used during the time and also featured within the portraits. I feel that by using white acrylic paint instead of supracolour will create a more authentic effect as it will cause the white to crack on the skin once dry, much like the makeup used within the period would have done. This was something I had also noticed within the portraiture upon close examination and was an element that I really wanted to include.