Mirijana Vasoic - Special Guest Talk

We were very lucky to have makeup artist Mirijana asoic come in to give us a talk and demonstration, sharing her tips and tricks and her story of her career so far. She has worked with high profile clients such as Jimmy Choo, Alexander McQueen, Relon and Toni & Guy, and celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Kelly Brook and Camilla Macintosh. She has previously worked closely with Val Garland and is now world-renowned Lucia Pieroni's first assistant, traveling all round the world and working on huge projects including Vogue and Fashoin Week. I found her talk so helpful and inspiring so I thought I would right down the tips that I learned and the adice I will cherish.

Advice on Applying for work experience:
- Learn the top names in the industry for makeup, hair and photography so you know what you're talking about!
-Make sure you have an agent so you are not completely freelance.
-Start your emails with a pleasantry, such as 'morning' or 'afternoon'
-Continue the email with 'Hope you are well' or 'Hope you enjoyed your Easter' etc..
-If you do not hear back then send a follow up email in a month
-If you do another shoot, then send this shoot through to give another excuse to contact them.
-Give your contact details at the end of the email so it is easily accessible.
-Email different agents with your work.
-Keep the emails very formal and professional, they are not your friends!
-Don't waffle in the email, keep it short and sweet!
-You don't need to include all your experience, that is what your CV is for!

Tips on applying makeup:
-The foundation is the base for the makeup so make sure it is of high quality. This is the product she suggested spending that much more on for the quality.
-Bioderma is great for cleansing the skin with a cotton pad. It is so important to not have any residue of makeup or dirt on the face before makeup application.
-Don't use a highly fragranced or oily moisturiser on the face. Nivea moisturiser is one she suggested.

NIVEA, 2016. Rich Moisturising Day Cream [viewed 24th March 2016]. 
Available from: http://www.nivea.co.uk/products/face-care/essentials
/dry-skin/Rich-Moisturising-Day-Cream

-She suggested learning the lymphatic draining facial massage to use on the clients when moisturising their face to stimulate the client's skin, but also to relax the client. I looked up some videos on this and found Lisa Eldridge's tutorial on facial massage particularly helpful and I will some of her techniques on my clients.

ELDRDGE, L., 2014. My Facial Massage Rountine [viewed 24th March 2016]. 

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdkgqXBXprY

-She suggested getting the Mac Face & Body foundation as it is a light to medium coverage with a very natural satin finish. She says that she only has five shades that she likes to mix together to get her perfect shade. She has C1, C6, N1, N9 and white, so she has the lightest and darkest shade in the pink tone and yellow tone foundation and then a white to lighten any of the foundation colours.
-You can purchase Mac Match Master foundation which claims to match the skin colour if you use it within a couple shades of the skin to get a very personalised shade.
-Use a small stippling brush that isn't too dense and use a light touch on the skin to give the most natural and even coverage. It also feels very soft and relaxing on the model's skin.
-Don't use a yellow toned concealer under the eyes because it will accentuate the dark circles, instead use a slightly pink toned concealer to cancel out the blue tones under the eyes. Use a soft, flexible brush to lightly sweep this under the eyes to give a natural finish.
-The Zoeva 317 brush is perfect for the eye brows because it is an angled brush and it is very thin to create hair like strokes and precision.

ZOEVA, 2016. 317 Wing Liner [viewed 24th March 2016]. 
Available from: https://www.zoeva-shop.de/317-wing-liner/a-8000141/

-Use Mac Mixing Medium in Shine or Mac Cream Colour Base in Pearl as cream highlighters to give a beautiful sheen. 

-Clean makeup brushed with Fairy Liquid 

-Use alcohol to clean brushes when on set

-Try to only clean the part of the brush that is dirty so don't clean right in the root of the brush if only the tip has been used as it will disturb the glue holding the brush together over time. 

-Use the Zoeva 233 brush as a lip brush because it covers more surface area and is the perfect shape to draw on the cupids bow. 

ZOEVA, 2016. 233 Cream Shader [viewed 24th March 2016]. 
Available from: https://www.zoeva-shop.de/233-cream-shader/a-8000133/

-When doing lips, make sure you ask your model to open her mouth and draw two lines connecting the top and bottom lip so that if your model opens her mouth you won't see a gap. Then draw a line in the centre of the bottom lip and a dot in the centre of the top lip to get your four points. 

-Try to correct the shape of the model's lips as much as possible so they look completely even and full.
-The model should tilt her head to the left when doing the right side of her upper lip because it makes the angle so much easier to work with.
-Mirijana suggested only using Mac Lip Mixes for lipsticks because they are so easy to apply, you can mix them to make any colour and you can influence the finish easily by mixing Mac Mixing Medium in either Shine or Matte.

Resources:
VASOVIS, M., 2015. Bibliography [viewed 24th March 2016]. Available from: http://www.mirijanavasovic.com/biography/