Do what you love!!

This week is finals week. I love finals week!! The main reason is because I love my major. During finals week my finals all include makeup.I get to apply makeup and learn more things. I think this type of final is better than any other final. I get to use and practice my passion! I would rather apply makeup than have to memorize something.  How are your finals going? Are they fun? Well let me tell you about two of my finals. The first one was doing The Grinch from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The process took all semester long, but was totally worth the wait. The makeup application took four hours long. Here is what I did. I created a mask. The mask preparation took all semester long. I had to go through several processes from creating a life mask to learning how to make four-part foam. The foam is the mask piece. I made sure the mask was all prepared with paint and eyebrows. 

 I moved to the application to the face. I took my model, John, and prepared his skin. I cleaned his face with astringent. I put lotion on to help moisturize his face, so the products that would be put on his face would not dry out his face. I put on a product called "no sweat", which prepares the skin for any type of makeup. This will help the makeup to stay on and come off well. 

Applying the mask was the next step. I took Pros-Aide a product that glues the mask to the face. Then I took Bond to help me blend the mask into the face and create a nice edge, rather than having a harsh edge. 

 Then I moved to painting the face again. Used a variety of greens from bright green to dark green. I colored his face and then started to add a mix of green hair to his face. I styled the eyebrows and applied fake eyelashes. Once all the make up was completed I applied the wig.

The wig was styled by steaming and using curlers. I then backcombed all the curls out to get the hair to stand up and in the form of a Grinch look. Now that all everything was applied and ready to go, he got in his red suit applied some green gloves and went outside to take pictures.

As I took pictures, we did get quite a few looks. Oh well!! We had fun. We even ran into some kids that wanted pictures with him. They thought he was legit. What do you think? Do you like the Grinch? Would you do this project over any other final? I know I would! It was the best final I have ever done! Plus, I even did it with one of the best people I know.

My last makeup final was to do something creative. Well my creativity took me to candy. I looked up all sorts of candy themed ideas. My favorite idea was lollipops. I took the inspiration of a swirly lollipop and created a design. I started by making an extravagant wig. I made this wig with lots of braids. I weaved ribbon into the hair. I made the wig look like something you would find in munchkin land. I even made the hair accessories (the lollipop bow). I created a lollipop girl for the Lollipop Guild. What do you think? Does she look like she could be apart of the lollipop guild?

I love finals week, because I get to do creative and fun things!! I would rather take a test like this than a test that is in a room full of desks where students sit writing on paper. I love creating and doing what I love. I am so delighted that I have found the path of makeup artistry, as well as the hair industry. I am proud to be a makeup student! I am glad to be learning and doing what I love! Do you do what you love? I hope you do! Do what you love and you will be much happier in life. 

Training Saves Lives!

As part of the makeup industry I have the unique opportunity to help with mock disasters. A mock disaster is a made up situation that is created to help train emergency medical responders. The disaster includes situations from bombings, shootings, accidents (plane, car, bike, etc.), terrorist attacks, mother nature attacks (hurricanes, tsunamis, and tornadoes) and other disaster situations.

Now what the makeup people do is help the situation become real. We give the actors wounds that appear real. They become victims through makeup. We help the actors act the part, because they believe they are wounded. Today I had the privilege of helping create a mock disaster. The scenario was a mass shooting. We did this located in the gym of the old Raintree Apartments. People were playing gym, and a person decided to come and start shooting people. We had a variety of people that were wounded. I believe there was a total of 35 wounded. Some of the wounds were very big, and some not so big. Some lived, and some died, which is the case in all real life situations.

We did the disaster twice. The Emergency Medical Team came in and reacted. The first time all the EMT's came in and stood for a good 30 seconds before they actually did what they were supposed to do. The team was new to the mock disaster. They had not quite experienced one, so they did not know how to react quickly. They needed a few seconds to get going. However, in a real life situation some people do not have a few seconds. Those 30 seconds could have been spent saving a life. Instead they were spent trying to figure out what to do.

The second time the team came in and they were better at responding to the situation. We did end up changing a few characters, giving people more wounds, and telling the actors to be more the part of a wounded person (how they would feel, react in a situation like this, and what they would be doing). The second time we did the disaster even though the actors gave them more of a real performance, the EMT's were ready to handle the situation. They knew exactly what to do and who to treat first. They were able to save most everyone. Two people were dead upon arrival, and then only one person died on them.

The mock disaster training was very effective. People learned their jobs and  how to respond. If there was no training, people would never learn how to react, people would never learn how to get better, and people would die. I think training is mandatory in all situations. Training is and can be very effective, especially if it can save lives!

Actors can be difficult!

I have learned how to work with a variety of actors. There are actors that are really sweet and will do anything to help make your job easier. Then, there are the actors who think that they own the world. They think that everyone should worship them and the ground they walk on. They over exaggerate yell at you if you do something they do not like. 

I have learned how to respect each actor. I know that they can be different, sometimes difficult, but I love working with them. If they are sweet, I become great friends with them. I love and appreciate them. If they are difficult, I am glad that I get a new learning experience. I think there is always something to be learned with each actor, especially the hard ones. 

I have learned that if they are difficult to handle, then it is because they do not like something that has to be done or is being done. I have learned to talk with them and try to figure out what is making them difficult. About 90 percent of the time the reason why an actor is difficult is because they do not understand the concept or how makeup enhances their character or production. Once I explain everything to them they seem to understand and willing to do the makeup process. I start to see them change and learn not to be difficult. 

To help actors not be difficult communication is necessary! If we help them understand everything, then they will be less likely to feel like they own the world. Now, there still maybe some of them that act this way. However, I believe once communication starts they are not difficult to handle and everything runs smoothly.

I am grateful for communication! I am glad that we can all understand one another. What do you think? Do you like communication?

Technology

This past week, I learned that I am not tech savvy, nor do I like technology. I guess I am just not a master at knowing how to run computers or anything. I was working on a group project for my MCOM class. We decided to get together using technology.

We used Google Hangouts. Well, every time I have tried to do a Google hangout my computer decides to blue screen and boot me out. I think my computer may have a personality of its own. I am not entirely sure. I think sometimes that the computer likes to make things difficult for me, just to see me struggle!

I do not know why I thought this time would be different, but I did. I guess I tried to download something and thought it would work. I tried Google hangouts. Well that did not work. My computer worked for like a minute. Then, it died! Went to blue screen and shutdown. I tried for ten minutes to get it back up and going. I have no idea what caused the problem, but I was frustrated. I think technology does not like me.

Well I finally was put on the phone and I was able to communicate through the phone, while everyone else was on their computers. I think we were able to get a lot accomplished, but I do not really like technology. I think that it is not as reliable as a face to face conversation. A lot can be missed if we are not paying attention in a technological event, whereas if we are face to face we learn so much more. We also learn and understand better, in ways that we cannot be miss understood. I am so glad that we can have face to face conversations.

Now, do not get me wrong. I love technology. However, I do think that there is a time and place for it. That time and place is not always great in a business setting. Something is always bound to go wrong, at least in my opinion.