Overview of my first week of study

In my previous three blog posts, I wrote about three events that happened during my induction week at Southampton Solent University. These three, I feel were my favourite parts of the week. I described about them in detail and I found each one of them useful and interesting.

New Learning

I learnt a lot of new things during these three events, mostly from the makeup demos. The one I probably learnt the most from was the Kyrolan makeup demo as I had never used this brand before so I found it useful when the makeup artist came in and spoke about all of the products and how to use them. I learnt some different ways to apply makeup as well as which brushes to use to apply the products to the face. One technique I learnt from the Kryolan demo was how to create a nice eyeshadow base. To do this, the makeup artist used a light coloured concealer and placed it in the inner corner of the model's eyes and then used a small blending brush to blend it out over the eyelid and up to the eyebrow. One important tip I learnt from this demo was to always apply a powder over the concealer to set it otherwise it would crease when you apply the eyeshadow on top.

In the Illamasqua demo, I learnt of a new way to apply foundation using a certain makeup brush. The makeup artist used a foundation which was a colour similar to the model's skintone and buffed this all around the face with a buffing brush that I never would have thought of using. Normally, when I apply makeup on myself, I use a beauty blender and for other people I would use either a flat, pointed foundation brush or a stippling brush.

This was the brush that the makeup artist used on her model. She only used a small amount of product and used a rounded motion on the face to create a flawless look without lines.

Another tip I learned from the Illamasqua was a really nice way to create a high glam but also subtle highlight and contour face look. The makeup artist mixed a foundation which was similar to the model's skin and then used the skin base foundation from their collection in shade SB 01, which is a white foundation. After applying the skintone foundation colour in places on the face such as the chin, cheeks, forehead and nose, she then mixed the two foundations together to create a highlighted foundation with a glow to which she then applied under the eyes and along the cheekbones and also down the nose (the places where you would normally highlight - the places the sun would hit on your face to create a nice dewy glow.) 

For the black and white photography project, I didn't feel that I really learnt anything from this, as I studied photography before this course but I still found it really fun to go out and explore the city and photograph it.

I felt like I really learnt a lot during my induction week at university, especially in the makeup department. I have picked up many new useful tips that I can now use when I start doing makeup myself. I also learnt a lot about the makeup industry from the two demos as both makeup artists explained how it is hard to get in to the industry and you have to work hard and work your way up, start from the bottom and just get any job you can to start off with. I also learned that this career that I have chosen is not something that has a specific time for it, I couldn't tell someone I worked a 9-5 job as one day I could be working on a photo shoot from 7am-9pm, I could also not be home for weeks or even months on end because I could be travelling the world and working in different cities and meeting new people.

I feel that this week gave me more of an insight into what my career will hold. I had already done a lot of research before coming to university to make sure that this career path was the right one for me and if I would enjoy it and be happy with my choice. I wouldn't say that this week affected me emotionally, in fact it got me really excited to start learning and practising makeup and becoming the best I can potentially be.

We had a couple of lectures during our first week too and I really enjoyed these as well. One of them was with our whole group, all four classes, and Sharon was our lecturer and she explained everything that would happen during the year, including our timetables, how many points we would need to carry on to second year and she also went through the handbook and carefully explained everything. I found all of this very useful to know. I wouldn't say there was anything I disliked during my first week. I was so excited to start University and meet my new classmates and friends that I enjoyed every single moment of it. On one of the days, there was also a two hour break in between our activities, so this gave my two friends and I the opportunity to explore around campus. My friends and I also went to the SU bar for lunch, which we all agreed was lovely and reasonably priced.

On the last day of our Induction Week, we explored the other campus for the freshers fair. The day was enjoyable with us receiving free goodies including tickets for free entry into clubs and also food vouchers. We thoroughly enjoyed the Domino's tent and despite the queue, we waited patiently for our free slice of pizza. There was also a chance to win a free large pizza by spinning a wheel which to my delight, I won! 

(Freshers Fair at Southampton Solent University 2015)

(Some goodies and gifts from the fair)

They also had a photo booth, so me and my two friends went along and got a photo.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first week at Southampton Solent University and I can't wait to start University properly and start learning more about makeup and getting creative.