End of Year 1 - HND in Specialist Makeup - Evaluation

Having a bit of background in makeup was definitely a bonus when starting this year however knowing what I know now – I know how much more is possible! Starting the HND course has not only opened up whole new world in makeup and hair but in fashion, design and history!

I can’t imagine progressing into makeup design without this course. My tutor for level 3 queried how much more there could be to learn –  but it’s a huge amount!

Makeup:

I could produce a satisfactory makeup look when I started however some days went better than others meaning my skills were not consistently good enough. A better understanding of how to research different looks has meant that I have a good enough understanding of what needs to be achieved in order to know what needs to be perfected in order to achieve it – and that is so important!

I feel as though I have enough key skills in makeup now that with practice I can now get to the level I personally want to get to but that I need to put the time in to perfect certain areas.

One thing that still needs work is my eye lining but as with all things, knowing what products the look can be achieved with is half the battle and my product knowledge is much broader now.

I am much more knowledgeable in skin prep and base techniques including contouring and also a lot happier with lip shapes and blending and blocking brows. I now know the difference between what is needed for fashion, period and theatrical looks and I am really pleased with the new skills I have learned.

I've really enjoyed working as part of a team for our theatre studies assessment. It's nice to be able to share the workload and make use of everyone's best skills in order to produce the final look.

I would give myself a merit in makeup at this stage and hope that as my confidence grows I can be worthy of a distinction by the end of year two!

Hair: 

I feel as though hair is an area I shy away from a bit as I am not confident in my skills. I know so much more than I ever thought I would and I love some of the looks that can be achieved however it’s always the last thing on my list to get sorted. I do feel with proper planning I could design good hair looks to compliment my makeup and with practice, produce these looks. Better timed research is what is needed here. I know I can do it if I try as I was really happy with my results for the term 1 period hairstyling final which was quite complicated.

I can almost pull my newly acquired skills together but  I need to be inspired by the final look and things fell apart a bit this year as I was playing catch-up a lot.

I would give myself a pass with a small dash of merit for hair for this first year but knowing how important it is to finish a look, I will try to get design planning done earlier in order to practice a few times before a final next year. Whipping an unpractised look up is never going to get great results!

Contextual:

I can’t say enough how important knowing the context behind a look is! I love art and history and so to combine the two with period fashion and design has been so much more of an education than I could have expected from a makeup course. Knowing why people looked the way they did and who was who in a certain time period is invaluable to producing a genuine makeup and hair look.

I am confident in my historical knowledge to produce the correct look for a certain time in history and which sources to use in order to research further if needed.

This was one of my favourite classes and I would give myself a high merit in it. I will continually be topping up my knowledge from regular visits to museums and with further research on certain designers, models and high profile people throughout history – contextual studies was an education in itself.

Overall:

To get a distinction next year I feel as though I need to organise my time better and keep on top of my work as it is shown in the planned weekly layouts rather than knowing what I need to do but leaving things until the last minute.

The coursework is a lot to get through whilst maintaining a professional business however I know the quality of my practical assessments could improve once this issue is overcome. The experience I have gained this year has taught me many new skills which I want to put into practice with the best of my ability for my assessments next year. Planning and preparation is my main area for improvement.