As of yesterday (Friday 28th March 2014) I am now a qualified makeup artist!
For the past 5 weeks I have been attending a course at Davinia Fermi's Makeup Academy (DFMA) at Stanmer House in Brighton and I can honestly say it has been the best 5 weeks ever! The course I enrolled on at the end of February was the 'TV, Film and Theatre Makeup and Hair' course. It was a 5 week intense course covering a vast amount of information and practical work. One day we'd be learning how to create a flawless face and beautiful big smokey eyes, the next we'd be learning special effects makeup - bruising and burns, then we'd be learning how to do a one length cut. There was so much to learn and I really enjoyed it.
There were 6 of us in total on the course which I think was a perfect number as we weren't too crowded at our makeup stations. The girls were all so lovely and we were taught by Lisa, Jane and AJ who are all working makeup artists. You could tell that all three of them really love what they do! We also had Monica helping us out which was wonderful and I can't imagine doing the course without her! Monica had done the Fashion course with DFMA and was on our course as an intern and an extra pair of hands! She was so lovely and so helpful and I think having her on the course was the best thing DFMA could have done! Definitely an added bonus!
Special effects makeup, like that on the left was probably my favourite to learn. This was the day we learned how to do burns, which you see on TV programmes such as Holby City and Casualty. The final look is incredibly realistic and effective and is achieved by using only a handful of products. It was a really interesting process and I really enjoyed it, it was definitely my favourite day and I can't wait to recreate some of these burns using all the techniques we were taught!
We also learnt how to make and apply bald caps, how to make scars using special effects, how to make a moustache from scratch, (which involved hooking and tying one strand of hair at a time onto a piece of lace, over a template.. a very long process!)
We did several different hair styling techniques including a barrel curl, which is what I went on to do for my final photo shoot and we covered rollers and how to do period hair like that in the Victorian and Edwardian period. My younger sister was the only one in the house with long enough hair to practise on, so she became my little test model when I was preparing my chosen look for my 'finals' shoot.
I had such an incredible time at DFMA and learnt so much! I can't wait to get my final photos back from the photo shoot we had on our last day with Roger Charles photography. 5 weeks went by so quickly, I really wish it was longer but I'm so excited at the thought of a new start and a new journey as a makeup artist!
For more information on this course and all the other courses offered by DFMA, you can visit their site by clicking
*here!* There are currently makeup academies based in Brighton, London and Bournemouth.
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