Contemporary Sally Bowles Test Images

Using the inspiration from Marilyn Minter and The Blitz Kids for the makeup, I have decided to produce something outrageous with colour and lots of jewels and glitter. My design below has kept contemporary elements, such as the thin eyebrows and small, dark lips, teamed with a slick side parting and bob. The bright colours have been influence by The Blitz Kids, as they would use unusual colours, in unusual places. I have used feminine pastel colours, something unusual for this era, and have added contrasting darker and mysterious colours to suggest Sally's split personality. I feel this use of feminine colour represents Sally's flirtatious and sexually confident character. For the hair, the top half is slick and pristine, like Sally's appearance on the surface, then messy and distressed underneath to represent her confused state. When I say confused state, I mean her confusion with her behaviour, acting like an older woman, and who she wants to be and what love is to her.  

The influence of Marilyn Minter has come from the use of glitter, jewels and glossy skin. This will reflect Sally's charming and 'showgirl' personality.

I was very pleased with how this look went, but I felt there wasn't something quite right with this look for Sally as it did not fully portray her personality as how I would have wished to. The combination of the turquoise and the gems gave a slight mermaid feel to this look, which is not something I was looking for at all. I felt that the makeup needed to be darker around the eyes, messier and more mysterious. The look appears too well put together, which I feel clashes with her spunky personality. I also was not a massive fan on the gems as they seemed too much, but not in a good way, but I would like to add more glitter as a substitute, and an influence of Marilyn Minter. 

Below, I have experimented with water colours to try and inspire me to create a different look with use of darker colours. I feel that focusing less on the products and more on the colour has helped to inspire me to produce something different and more creative. 

From this watercolour, I have experimented with eyeshadows in slightly darker shades to add more depth to the look. I have also added a dark lip, which is something very periodic for the 1920s. The glitter is from a white glitter pigment eyeshadow which I have dusted across the darker shades. This has produced a beautiful holographic effect on the skin, which I love! 

I also wanted to experiment with this pigment over the black on the lips. Again, it really lifts the dark colour and produces an unusual depth. 

I am very pleased with this design and I much prefer the glitter, rather than gaining the sparkle from the gems. I found Marilyn Minter's work incredible, but I feel that the actual concept of her images would be more appropriate for this particular look, rather than using obvious visual influence. I would like to use the model's poses in her work to influence and inspire my model to pose in a similar way. I am also very inspired by her Green Pink Caviar video, and would like to produce something with similar effect.