YSL : The Brand

product
The spring/summer collection for 2016 is called the Boho Stone collection. There is a range of products that consist of beautiful pastel colours in luxurious, seasonal packaging.

Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stains come in two colours for s/s 2016, Tangerine Boho and Rose Folk. These products are perfect for the warmer weather as they have a glossy finish but have the staying power or a stain/tint.

Rouge Volupte Shine are brand new lipsticks for the Boho Stone collection. The lipstick is lightweight and very moisturising as it contains six essential oils that nourish the lips.

Touche Éclat Neutralisers is a tinted version of the classic, highlighting Touche Éclat. The different tints colour correct the skin when used to combat the correct colour. The Violet corrects yellow dull skin for a healthy glow, the Green corrects blemishes, conceals redness for an even skintone and the Bisque corrects dark circles, dark spots and illuminates.

Face Palette Collector, Gypsy Opale corrects uneven squinting leaving an illuminating soft touch. Couture Palette Collector, Indie Jaspe is an eyeshadow palette inspired by the free-spirit of a bohemian lifestyle.

La Laque Couture Nail Paints are pearlescent, pastel coloured nail polishes that have a shimmer throughout to give nails a glow.

Fusion Ink Blush is a gel product for the cheeks. The product is dabbed on to the skin and can be blended with a finger or a blush brush to give a healthy colour to the cheeks.

Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils contains two new s/s 2016 shades of an eye-catching pink and green. This product can be worn on its own or on top of another mascara to give a pop of colour to the eye.

packaging

The packaging of the products has that classic, gold YSL look with accents of colour to compliment the theme of the collection. The marbled effect of the products and the packaging really adds to the collection as well as making it very eye catching.

YSL Beauté are well-known for the gold packaging but the collections all have a different theme alongside the gold to make sure it sticks to the signature look.

The packaging really gives a luxurious feel to the products as gold is seen as 'rich' and 'luxury'.

presentation
I feel that the brand chooses models with a specific 'girl next door' look to appeal to a normal woman and really catch their eye. The brand also tends to use well-known models to gain more publicity. During 2014/early 2015 Cara Delevigne was the model of the moment. By using her in their campaigns, they must have gained a lot more customers based on the choice of model. I feel that this was very smart of them as we have recently heard a lot about YSL as a beauty brand.

Fall 2015

Spring/Summer 2015

Spring/Summer 2016

By using girls that have that innocent, 'girl next door' look, the company gains more customers in terms of target audience. I feel that because the models look a certain way, customers feel that they could also look the same by buying the products. This is a smart tactic in terms of sales.

promotion
In terms of promotion, I feel that the brand itself is advertised by the choice of model. Because the products are priced more high-end, the use of the correct model/spokesperson promotes the brand itself.
Looking at promotion in terms of offers, at the minute the YSL beauty website has an exclusive offer which gives 'two complimentary deluxe samples' with every online purchase. This is a smart way to let customers try more products which may also encourage them to purchase full sized products of the samples.
There is also an offer of 'complimentary standard delivery' with online purchases. Speaking from a consumer's point-of-view, many people are willing to pay for the products but when websites don't offer free delivery, customers are often put off by the delivery charge as many see it as unnecessary when you could just go to the shop itself and buy it. By offering free delivery, especially when it has to be over a certain amount, this encourages customers to buy products and more products to get free delivery.

price point
YSL is quite an expensive brand. A typical foundation costs from £30-£40 and a typical lipstick costs around £20-£25.
However, I feel that when you receive the YSL product, you really pay for what you get with the heavy duty, luxurious packaging and the promising product.
I think many makeup lovers see it as an investment and an accessory as the packaging is so pleasing to the eye.
I feel that the target audience is more of the older, classic lover of YSL or a younger, makeup lover who is up-to-date with current trends and hyped products.

While researching into the brand and the tactics used to attract customers, I can see why the brand is so successful. By simply choosing something as simple as throwing in some sample products, the brand would be able to expand their customers in a second.

References:
The Beauty Look Book, (2016), Glossy Stains [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.thebeautylookbook.com/2016/01/ysl-rouge-pur-couture-glossy-stain.html [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Craig McDean, (2016), Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick [ONLINE]. Available at: http://chicprofile.com/ysl-rouge-volupte-shine-spring-2016-collection [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Unknown, (2016), Touche Eclat Neutralizers [ONLINE]. Available at: http://chicprofile.com/ysl-touche-eclat-neutralizers-spring-2016 [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Unknown, (2016), YSL Boho Stone Spring 2016 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://chicprofile.com/ysl-boho-stone-spring-2016-collection [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Unknown, (2016), YSL Boho Stone Spring 2016 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://chicprofile.com/ysl-spring-2016-boho-stone-visuals [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Craig McDean, (2015), Yves Saint Laurent Pretty Metal Fall 2015 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://mulpix.com/post/1030676585376498986.html [Accessed 16 February 2016].

Craig McDean, (2015), YSL Beauty Spring 2015 [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/search/yves%20saint%20laurent%20campaign [Accessed 16 February 2016].

YSL : The History

Yves Saint Laurent was born in 1936 and grew up in Algeria. At 17 he moved to Paris to begin his career in the fashion world. He achieved this by showing his drawings to the director of French Vogue, Michael de Brunhoff, who published a few of his drawings immediately. From here, he became successful.

Laurent went on to fashion school and managed to get a job at Christian Dior in which he worked there until Dior's death in 1957. He then took over at Dior as an art director until 1962, after completing his National Service, he opened his own company with Pierre Bergé, his life partner.

This was when he introduced his most iconic smoking suit in 1966, le smoking. He was famous for a number of other inventions to the fashion world, the reefer jacket of 1962, the sheer blouse of 1966 and the jumpsuit of 1968.

YSL Jumpsuit                                               Le Smoking

October of 1988 is when he showed his last ready-to-wear collection for the Rive Gauche label that he founded 30 years before, however, he carried on his haute couture until 2002.

In 1999 Tom Ford took control of the house and this is where the brand entered the peak of its existence, where it remains today, covering womenswear, menswear, accessories, cosmetics and perfumes.

Hedi Slimane was the menswear director at YSL in 1996 and then repositioned as the creative director in 2012, after he had left in 2000.
In June 2012, Slimane announced that he would be changing the name of Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris as part of his makeover of the brand. He is said to have done this to restore the house to its truth, purity and essence - and taking it into the new era while respecting the original principles and ideas. Although the name of the brand changed, the beauty products still remain branded as Yves Saint Laurent.

history of cosmetics
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté is the makeup, fragrance and skincare signature of the most subversive Parisian couture brand.

Ever since the first fragrance, Y, of 1964, more than 50 years ago, YSL Beauté has produced true fragrant statements of all time. In 1971, a diverse image appeared of Yves Saint Laurent himself, posing nude for the campaign of the first men's fragrance, L'Homme, by YSL. The brand is now well-known for the most sought-after fragrances such as L'Homme, La Nuit de l'Homme, for men, and Opium, Black Opium, Manifesto and Paris, for women.

The makeup products offers the highest technology, under the inspiration of Lloyd Simmonds, Creative Director of Makeup. He has created iconic products such as the Shocking Mascara and the infamous Touche Éclat. 

The skincare range is all about glamorous, radiant and youthful skin. YSL uses the most cutting-edge technology to create high-end, luxurious skincare products that claim to give a glow to your skin. The products were created purposefully to work well with the beauty products to give you a multitasking hybrid for pre and post-makeup solutions for all complexions.

Lloyd Simmonds at work

YSL Touche Éclat advertisent

Refernces:
Craven, J, 2012. Yves Saint Laurent. Vogue, [Online]. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/yves-saint-laurent-biography [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Helmut Newton, (1975), Le Smoking [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.stylexstyle.com/editorial/fashion/iconic-ysl’s-le-smoking#img-35291 [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Unknown, (1976), YSL Jumpsuit [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.costumedept.eu [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Milligan, L, 2012. Hedi Slimane. Vogue, [Online]. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/hedi-slimane-biography [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Alexander, E, 2012. Saint Laurent Paris. Vogue, [Online]. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2012/06/21/yves-saint-laurent-renamed---saint-laurent-paris [Accessed 16 February 2016].
L'ORÉAL. 2016. YVES SAINT LAURENT BEAUTÉ. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.loreal.com/brand/l’oréal-luxe/yves-saint-laurent-beauté. [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Niven, L, 2011. Lloyd Simmonds. Vogue, [Online].  Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/2011/11/14/lloyd-simmonds-ysl-beauty [Accessed 16 February 2016].
Terry Richardson, (2011), YSL Beauty S/S 11 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.popsugar.com.au/beauty/Jourdan-Dunn-Stars-New-YSL-Touche-Eclat-Advert-Shot-Terry-Richardson-13333882 [Accessed 16 February 2016].

ISADE-PIERRE BELHASSEN, (2011), Lloyd Simonds [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/tips/a9093/disco-inferno-572288/ [Accessed 16 February 2016].

YVES SAINT LAURENT

I have decided to choose Yves Saint Laurent as my beauty brand.

I feel that YSL is everything that I want in a brand as the spring/summer 2016 makeup collection is very different with the coloured mascaras and I feel that, that this gives me room to experiment.
However, the editorial and catwalk makeup is very minimal and focuses on the fashion side which I can experiment with as well and as fashion is something I want to consider, I think that this would give the opportunity to show off my eye for fashion.
I feel that I will be able to draw inspiration from previous catwalk looks, makeup wise, and create something relevant and in-trend to this year's spring/summer trends.

Choosing this brand gives me a lot of options to choose from in terms of creativity. But the brand also has a 'signature' look which will give me some direction and won't be as challenging as choosing a brand which is more open and unexpected.

I am keen to start grouping my ideas together and to experiment with makeup to create some looks. I am looking forward to shooting my images and watching this unit come together as I create my final shots in the studio.

Image:

Mehnaz Khan, (2013), Yves-Saint-Laurent-Logo [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.mehnazkhan.com/in-my-kit/yves-saint-laurent-logo/ [Accessed 16 February 2016].

Decorating Hair

In order to decorate a hairdo, we started by creating a basic up-do called a chignon. This was achieved by leaving hair at the front of the head sectioned from ear to ear. Then I pulled back the rest of the hair to the back of the head to create a low ponytail. I then backcombed the upside of the ponytail and wrapped it around my fingers, towards the head from underneath. I secured the chignon with hair pins.

To finish off the hairstyle, I split the front section in half by creating a middle parting. I then twisted this backwards to pin on top of the chignon to finish off the up-do.

To decorate this hairstyle, I used a necklace to sit on top of the twisted hair. I think that this really compliments the hairstyle giving a bridal feel to the up-do.

The second up-do I created was achieved by creating two ponytails at the back of the head, one above another. I still left a section at the front of the head, however, I made this smaller as I created a small quiff by pulling it back into the rest of the hair. I also left sections at either side of the ponytails, to pull back and pin to the head to cover the sectioning. The rest of the up-do was created by curling bits of the ponytails and pinning them to the head, creating this flattering, intricate up-do down the head. This hairstyle looks very detailed and difficult to achieve, however, it was very easy to do and is all trial and error with the placing of the curls.

I added the same necklace that I used previously and experimented with positioning it on the hairstyle.

Firstly, I pinned the necklace into the back of the quiff which made the necklace fall on to her forehead. I really think this compliments the hairstyle and gives an exotic feel to the up-do. This is also very bridal and I could see this hairstyle on a lot of brides.

I then tried to add the necklace to the back of the hairstyle but I feel that there is already so much going on at the back, it didn't compliment it as well as the previous positioning. I think that different accessories would work well at the back, such as small, individual pins or clips placed in-between the curls.

Decorating the hair is all very trial and error. I feel that with the right accessories, a plain,simple hairstyle can be transformed into something creative and beautiful.

Looking at Brands : Nars

Nars is the only brand that I really wanted to look into as I don't know much about the actual brand however, it always pops up as many people are always talking about the products.

Nars was created by François Nars who launched the brand with 12 iconic lipsticks. The brand really focus' on self expression and the no-rules philosophy of beauty.

Looking into the brand, the makeup looks that appear in advertisements are very typical, beauty looks with very clean, perfect skin on beautiful women. However, the editorial work is very different and creative in terms of the concept of the shoot and the actual application of the makeup.

I feel that Nars is well known for the colour range of products and I feel that the looks that are produced really show this off.

I decided to look into this brand because I feel that it is a beauty related brand and I really like the spring/summer 2016 collection as the colours are very spring-like and the looks produced with the products are very much revolved around beauty.

Erdem Spring/Summer 2016 - backstage

References:
Unknown, (2016), Nars Cosmetics Spring 2016 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.narscosmetics.com/USA/new-essential-latest-collections/color-collections-spring-2016.html [Accessed 15 February 2016].
Unknown, (2016), NARS Backstage - Erdem SS16 [ONLINE]. Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/497225615088433828/?from_navigate=true [Accessed 15 February 2016].

JESSICA DESJARDINS, (2016), Nouvelle Vogue [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.beautezine.com/nars-nouvelle-vogue-spring-2016-collection-review/ [Accessed 15 February 2016].

Looking at Brands : Yves Saint Laurent

catwalk

I decided to look at a makeup brand that is considered more high-end. I wanted to see their interpretation of trends and their type of advertising comparing to other brands. I chose to look at Yves Saint Laurent because their products are considered more luxurious, for example, the packaging is more luxurious as they use gold as the main colour.

I really like the spring/summer collection as it contains all the pastel colours that relate to spring and the packaging of the products really stand out. I am really inspired by the coloured mascara and I feel that I could create something really beautiful incorporating the mascara.

I am also attracted to the editorial work produced by Saint Laurent as it is completely different to the advertising work as it is mainly black and white with a more edgy, minimal look that is very current. I feel that I am into that type of look and I think that I could really play with the black and white.

The catwalk looks are also very minimal but I think that I could combine the beauty trends with the products of spring/summer 2016 and use inspiration from old catwalk looks to create a new look that could be used on s/s 2016 catwalk.

advertising

editorial

References:
Indigital, (2015), Saint Laurent SS16 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2016/ready-to-wear/saint-laurent/close-up-photos/gallery/1498938 [Accessed 15 February 2016].
Unknown, (2015), YSL Spring 2016 Boho Stone Visuals [ONLINE]. Available at: http://chicprofile.com/ysl-spring-2016-boho-stone-visuals [Accessed 15 February 2016].
Craig McDean, (2015), Printemps/Spring Look 2016 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.yslbeautyus.com/collections/spring-look-2016 [Accessed 15 February 2016].

Hedi Slimane, (2015), Saint Laurent S/S 2016 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.photos-demode.com/blog/2015/12/29/signe-lund-steffi-soede-for-saint-laurent-springsummer-2016-ad-campaign [Accessed 15 February 2016].

Looking at Brands : Ellis Faas

I have decided to look into a couple of brands that I am considering focusing on for this project. I am struggling on deciding on a final brand so I thought that research would help me make a decision.

Ellis Faas was born and raised in the Netherlands. She has always had an eye for fashion from an early age. She left school focusing on photography but while she was pursuing her career in photography, she used herself as a model and created different looks by transforming herself with make-up. Through this she found her passion for make-up and the rest is history.

Faas' work consists of very creative, art-like looks that show off her skill as an artist and her amazing ability to create different looks. Her work is quite unusual which also comes across in her products as they are very different in terms of packaging, consistency of the actual makeup and the way she advertises the products.

"THE ONLY RED IS ELLIS RED"
The signature colour of Ellis Faas is red. It is based on the concept of blood, as she says that it is in all of us, so therefore does not clash with anyone's skin tone. She has three lip textures; creamy lips which is more of a traditional lipstick consistency, milky lips which is a lighter texture and glazed lips which is a high-pigment, lightweight lipgloss.

This concept of Ellis Red is very unusual for a makeup brand as many would not feel that relating makeup to blood as 'normal'. I really like how she has thought out of the box and that she pushes the boundaries of a typical makeup brand.

I am considering this brand because I feel that it is very different which will give me room to explore and be as creative as I wish to be.

References:
Ellis Faas. 2007. Ellis Faas Cosmetics B.V. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ellisfaas.com/collection. [Accessed 15 February 2016].

Introduction

Throughout this unit I am exploring the understanding of how make-up and hair design concepts for fashion and beauty are developed from idea conception through to realisation.

Through this, by the end of this unit I should have produced an advertising campaign for a desired beauty brand. I should also produce a beauty editorial piece and create catwalk looks that mimic the trends of Spring/Summer 2016.

Through an employability-focused approach, I will be introduced into diverse roles of a make-up and hair designer across editorial, advertising and fashion areas of the industry.

There will be a number of areas of study that I will be focusing on throughout this unit and they include; the role of a photographer, stylist, fashion designer and make-up and hair designer. I will be producing the idea from initial concept to final execution.

I am most excited to start this project, out of all the units we have previously done, as I feel that it is more current and I feel that I will be more interested in the practical side. I am looking forward in seeing how my ideas grow and how I will produce my final outcomes. I can see this unit being quite challenging in terms of the amount of work, however, I feel that once all the background work is completed and I get into the creative mindset, I will be able to work quickly and hopefully things will just flow.

Creating Volume with Hair : Blow-drying

There are two different ways to blow-dry the hair; a voluminous, curly blow-dry and a sleek, straight blow-dry.

To prep the freshly-washed hair, I combed through the hair with a Tangle Teezer to ensure there were no knots. I then added some heat protectant to protect the hair from heat, as my model requested a straight blow dry. I then added some sea salt spray to add more texture to avoid a very sleek look.

straight blow-dry

Firstly, I sectioned the hair at the crown of the head, coming into a point at the back of the head to guide the direction of the blow-dry. I then took the bottom section and just blow dried it straight down with my Denman brush. After I completed all of the lower section, I then moved on to the crown of the head. I followed the direction of the parting, however, for the very back of the crown, I took a wide section to blow-dry it backwards to give a bit of a lift. Lastly, for the front of the hair, I took a round brush and blow-dried the hair backwards, away from the face to frame the face.

curly (more voluminous) blow-dry

I sectioned the hair the exact same way by splitting it just below the crown of the head. I worked from the bottom of the head to the top, this time using a big, round ceramic brush to create volume at the root. To obtain a natural curl/wave to the hair, I wrapped the hair around the brush after I had made sure it was dry. I then blasted it with heat and this held the wave. To make the wave/curl last longer I could have pinned the hair to let it cool and set, however, my model requested a more messy, wave. I was pleased with the outcome of the hair and I think I achieved a voluminous blow-dry.