Recently we held a competition at CLMA to win a free scholarship on our Fashion Make-Up Course. The entries had to create a Christmas look and A1 mood board to show how they went from initial research to the final design that created this look. We had so many amazzzzing entries, it was so hard to pick a winner. We narrowed it down to 9 girls and invited them to CLMA for an interview and after a long day of questioning finally chose our winner! – COLLETTE THORPE!
Her mood board was amazing and her I am so excited to welcome her to CLMA next week to join our course!!! Well done Collette, we can’t wait to see you soon!
Collette jumped out at us from the moment we saw her moodboard. It was crammed with exciting images that clearly showed her thought pattern from start to finish. The end look was shown in steps of photos and a guide so it was easy to follow and I noticed that Collette had researched well as she used a lot of my favourite products to create the look. When we met Collette I instantly liked her! All the answers to our questions were honest and showed a real passion for success. We wish Collette the very best in her future career and are so pleased that we can give her the best start possible at CLMA!
Here is Collettes winning entry…
I always browse courses and try to work out how I could afford it (and basically dream about actually doing one!), I happened to notice the competition one day and that was it! It would make starting my career as a makeup artist so much more attainable. I was so happy that Cassie was offering this opportunity I knew I had to go for it!
How long have you wanted to do Make-Up for?
I have always played around and experimented with makeup from a young age, as most girls do. In college we could complete additional enrichment activities such as makeup application alongside our A-Levels. I then gained a weeks experience in the makeup department in Granada Studio’s in Manchester, I was seventeen at the time, this was my first experience of makeup as a profession and I knew it was my dream job! I was always encouraged to follow a more academic route despite my love of art and creativity and my advice to anyone who want to follow in this career path is not to wait ten years like me!!
Describe the thought process and how you came up with your final mood board
As the brief for the competition was such a broad topic, the first challenge was to narrow down my ideas! I wanted to stand out without going overthe top with the Christmas theme! I decided Christmas is really about the build-up and the parties which is why I began to collect images of party outfits, glitzy accessories, embellishment, colour, makeup looks I loved, and key words I wanted my look to express. As my collection built, I laid the images out on my board, switched pictures round (constantly!) and pieced everything together until I felt it really said ‘Christmas Party’ to anyone who looked at it.
Talk us through your research
Alongside creating my mood board, I researched current trends in fashion such as embellishment (seen everywhere from fully sequin and rhinestone encrusted dresses to glitter coated shoes and bags), colour, deep and striking – not your average LBD! And tone, even without the sequins, fabrics with muted metalics gave the same luxurious effect. These metalics were where my first really inspiration came from and I loved the idea of using gold leaf on the eyes over a smoky dark shadow….but as I
researched further I found it had already been done on Emma Watson at the Harry Potter premiere! I then looked at the idea of embellishment on the eyes and began to experiment with different colours, and ways of applying small rhinestones to the eyes, still keeping the smoky sexy party eye shadow before I decided on a deep, rich, purple. Although as a rule everyone knows you should usually keep the lips a little more subtle when creating such a dramatic eye, some of the images I collected showed theycan work together beautifully sometimes! After more experimentation, I went for a cranberry lipstick with a dark gloss…which doesn’t look as scary as it sounds I hope!
What do you think made you stand out from the rest of the contestants?
I hope my enthusiasm for makeup stood out firstly, I know from Cassie’s tweets that she had a hard decision to make, and I am so grateful that I was selected. I won’t just be a makeup artist who follows the trends; I love the research aspect of the business and creating a new look of my own. I’m not fixed in my ways and always want to try new things, and find the best products! But on a personal basis I like to think I’m someone people can trust…I wouldn’t want to leave anyone looking less than their best! I’m sure the judges realised that this really will change my whole life. I want to be someone that the Academy can be proud of.
What is your main aim from here on in?
This is an unbelievable opportunity and I don’t want to waste one minute of it! I’m hoping to gain as much experience as possible and start my new career as a freelance Make-up Artist as soon as the course has finished. I couldn’t be happier, but I won’t relax too much yet because I know that there is a lot of hard work ahead of me before I become as successful as Cassie!
