Historical Elizabethan makeup

We have recently been learning about traditional Elizabethan makeup and I have researched this quite thoroughly. In Sue's lesson today, we put our knowledge of makeup into practice. Above are a few images with makeup similar to the style we practised in lesson. The aim today was to create a white base, using whichever base we preferred, powdering it, applying blush to the cheeks, whitening out the brows and lashes, and then adding a red lip. It was fun to do, and didn't take too long to achieve either.

These three images really interested me because when researching Elizabethan makeup, the young ladies always have pale features and very blatant rosy cheeks - in a circular motion, not the modern way of achieving blush! They would use various products to achieve this rosiness, including vermillion, which is a red pigment made from mercury sulphide. We recreated our own Elizabethan looks on a partner and these were the results:

Working on Tolly was good because she has lovely flawless skin, so it means the white base goes on beautifully. I used Illamasqua white base for this instead of the Kryolan sets because I prefer the finish of it. I mixed it with the matte illamasqua base so that it wasn't dewy, as this isn't the traditional Elizabethan look. Next, I used the Kryolan Supracolour to white out the brows and lashes. Tolly is quite dark, so it meant blocking out her eyebrows was a challenge and still didn't look perfect at the end. I used a disposable mascara want to apply this and to the eyelashes as well. For the rosy cheeks, I used circular motions with a powder brush, using the Kryolan Blusher palette. As for the lips, I used the dark burgundy colour in the Supracolour palette.

Products used:

• Illamasqua white base mixed with Illamasqua matte primer
• Illamasqua loose powder in translucent
• Kryolan Supracolour in white for brows and lashes
• Kryolan blush palette in 'R21'
• Kryolan supracolour in dark burgundy

Brushes used:

• Kryolan flat foundation brush
• Round puff for powder
• Disposable mascara wand
• Kryolan powder brush
• Unnamed lip brush

Health and safety for this technical lesson:

• Work surface area must be clean and tidy
• Use couch roll to cover the surface of your work space 
• Wash hands after preparing where you'll be working! Use antibacterial soap and a clean towel
• Always lay out your brushes on the couch roll - never a surface. Make sure your brushes are always clean before you arrive 
• Gown the model
• Always remember to ask whether the client is allergic to anything, if so, what?
• Does the client wear contact lenses or have sensitive eyes?
• Cleanse the face and follow on with toner and moisturiser before applying makeup
• Bin any dirty cotton pads, wash your hands again after this
• Use a mixing palette or the back of your hand to mix products. Do not double dip!
• Direct the model if necessary, looking upwards, moving their head etc

Bibliography (images):

https://40.media.tumblr.com/f68e1d2c76d292a242ea558f75de22df/tumblr_mtdajcVaA91rdb09to1_500.jpg

http://orig03.deviantart.net/33ce/f/2012/353/a/e/elizabethan_make_up_by_punkd_pyroshadow-d5oklx4.jpg

https://corsetsandcutlasses.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/portrait_elizabethan_lady_par_hi.jpg

http://www.shafe.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/anon_a_young_lady_aged_21_1569.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2e/c8/0b/2ec80b683e649e997ed2f2a69830b5a8.jpg