Week 1: Face Shapes, Skin types, cheeks and blush placement

September-Fundamentals

Face Shapes

What I tried:

I have only taken one art class, and it was about 8 years ago, so sometimes basic concepts like shape and shadows are difficult for me. I tried to determine my own face shape by eyeballing it, but couldn't decide if it was oval, round or heart shaped.After some time on-line, and at the bookstore, I settled on this face chart and diagram from Our Vanity.
My first idea was to trace my face in the mirror, using a sheet of saran wrap. Turns out that was a terrible idea. I had to close one eye to do it, and I kept moving. I don't know who this person is, but it isn't me. But I think the face shape is right.

Oval shaped is considered the ideal, and any other shape is a based on mathematical deviation from that. You'll see it sectioned in thirds in art books all the time. But since I can't copy my own face on paper yet, I decided to actually section off my face, on my face.















What I learned:

I am actually really glad I sectioned it off, because I saw things I never would have seen otherwise. I've always felt my face was not symmetrical at all and my left side was much smaller than my right. Turns out, it actually is pretty symmetrical. After sectioning it off this way, I realized my left side isn't really smaller, the curvature is just different, it falls away much closer to the center. I can see curvature on other peoples faces, because they are 3-dimensional. But with my own face, I can only ever see a 2-dimensional version. Adding the lines helped envision the 3-dimensional version.

Skin types

What I tried:

I'm kind of lucky because I have normal skin, it's not very oily and I almost never break out. Normal skin is great for practicing makeup because I can play with lots of product and not really worry about it. In fact, it's even gotten better since I've been practicing, mostly because I am so meticulous about washing it off now and taking care of it. I was a bit of slacker with my skin before. But it also meant I didn't spend much time really studying this topic this week.

What I learned:

But I did find this helpful article on All Women's Talk. I like that it included a tissue test to actually figure it out. So I slept in late and did the tissue test in the morning, yep...normal. I still need to do a little more research on products for different skin types.

Cheeks and Blush placement

What I tried:

Blush usually goes on after foundation, but I wanted to include it this week as an add on to face shape. I spent some time at the book store, copying what I needed to study out of books and watching a few YouTube videos. Why not try it all.


Goss Makeup Artist has some really great videos and I particularly like this one for finding cheekbones and creating a lifting look. I like his finger to ear method for finding cheekbone. Alternatively, you can place a pencil against you cheek to find the line as well. Because he is a male, its almost easier to understand what he is doing, because you can look past just the "pretty" and focus on the technique.


What I learned:

Along the cheekbone is great when I want a more polished or when I want to look my age. Slightly above the cheekbone will create lift, while slightly below cheekbone will create some depth and accentuate bone structure. Below the cheekbone wasn't a good look for me since my cheeks are pretty full, so there wasn't any structure to accentuate. I had to contour my face first to make it work.

I agree with Goss, that placing blush on the apples of your cheek is a very young look and will otherwise drag your face down. But I realized that since I still have a youthful appearance, it still works for me.

Planning Makeup Curriculum

I don’t know if you knew this or not, but the internet is kind of, well, vast. I could probably spend countless hours on-line researching makeup techniques, watching videos and reading product reviews. In fact, I have spent hours doing just that, only to walk away feeling overwhelmed by what I still need to learn and wondering why it is now 2 a.m.

But as with anything that is new, the key is to stay focused, take it one skill at a time, and fit in as much practice in between. You can’t really expect to learn in a few hours what has taken people years of experience to master. So it’s time to do what I do best: put all my academic skills to good use and study.

I like learning with a purpose, so I had to plan it out. I actually used to be a teacher, and every summer I would take out my calendar and tentatively fill in what I wanted my year to look like. I would then go back and fill in week to week, and eventually day to day as I became more familiar with the curriculum. Below is my projected curriculum:

Sep-Nov: Beauty Makeup (Fundamentals, Modern Looks, Techniques for various mediums)

Dec-Feb: Out of Kit Special Effects (blood and wounds, appliances, characters

March-May: Sketch Work (Faces, Costuming, Sets and Room Perspective,)

June-August: Sewing (Fundamentals, Period Fashion, Major Alterations)

Final Examination: 5 Test shots which combine all three skills. These will be based on character breakdowns from books, scripts, comic book images etc.)

This is obviously still a tentative schedule, but I like having a trajectory. I’ve actually worked out my entire workload week by week. I am sure this schedule will change, as I learn more about each of these mediums and start to see what I need more time on. But for now, I thought I’d show you a little closer look at what each week looks like for September.

Course 1: Beauty Makeup

September-Fundamentals:

Week 1: Face Shapes, Skin types, cheeks and blush placement.

Week 2: Color principles, the color wheel and color correction

Week 3: Foundations, powders, face contouring and highlighting

Week 4: Eye shape, eye lining and eye shadow, eye brows, false eyelashes, mascara

Each week, I will be scouring blogs, forums, books and magazines, researching each topic and then applying the best strategies. I will be sharing what I’ve learned and highlighting how I learned it, as well posting pictures of my progress. So check back often and happy studying!