Before I go on I should confirm this query is coming from a suitably unbiased perspective. I do have a lot of old classics in my make up bag but neither am I one to shy away from a new product. So with that neutral territory mapped out let us return to the question in hand. Or should I say on face. Where is make up heading?

At the moment it seems a little stationary. Although the brands and the packaging may have changed I think the majority of us cosmetically inclined women would agree that we still have the usual suspects lingering in our make up bags. Foundation with a touch of blusher, lashings of eyeliner, a couple of coats of mascara; this is what most of us wear everyday and have done for as long as we can remember. Of course technology is always improving and we upgrade accordingly but will this basic combination ever really change? The sixties were all about the enhanced bambi eyes with a feline flick, the Seventies splashed lids and lips with a rainbow of colour and the eighties saw a somewhat overzealous use of blusher and a strong brow. Despite the changes and adjustments in colour and amount the same basic instruments in our tool kits have remained the same.

But is there anything wrong with this? The fact is that women have honed in on what suits them best, the majority succeeding in following the simple rules of emphasising what is good and covering what is bad. So why change a winning formula?

Well, luckily for the future of make up there are brave people out there who encourage change, even if it isn’t quite as pretty. These people see further than make up’s ability to improve, they see its ability to differentiate one face from the next.

I am tempted to pretend that I came to the following conclusions in the light of some breathtaking and deeply cultural exhibition or after reading a psychologically enlightening piece of literature exploring the effect of cosmetics on the female psyche. In actual fact, I was watching the music channel in my pyjamas. It gets worse; the video that inspired me to think about this was Kesha’s We Are Who We Are (I refuse to include a $ sign in her name, I shall not endorse such flagrant disregard for grammar.) By way of apology for conjuring up such an image without warning, allow me to guide you past the rest of her unfortunate and dishevelled person and focus in only on the eyebrows, eyebrows lined with metal studs. Never have I said this before in reference to Kesha’s style choices and never will I say it again, but I actually liked it. I found I was similarly fond of Jesse J’s studded lips in the Do It Like A Dude video. Of course they disallow eating, drinking and indeed talking but if one is willing to sacrifice these trivial pursuits then this is an excellent look.

The reason I reference these two looks in particular is because this is where I think make up must turn next to find something new; facial hardware. Where else can we go but to stick stuff on our faces?

Thankfully my pop star-based observations were verified shortly after by an editorial I spied in a magazine which used 3D elements on the model’s faces. Lo and behold it turned out that Andrew Gallimore was the make up artist responsible, the same gentleman who created Jesse J’s studded lips.
All becomes clear in light of the fact that Gallimore studied fine art at university inspiring him to treat the face like a canvas. He uses homemade3D elements like thick silver metal eyebrows and spiky, triangular lower lashes, coining his creations ‘Facial Accessories’; a term which could become a firm favourite of mine. Afterall, I am always more than happy to welcome new accessory related terminology into my life and my vocabulary; more than happy
Gallimore uses brushes he would normally paint with in his make up kit, approaching the face with the eye of a painter. He has even made up Dita Von Teese and Marilyn Manson in the back of a caravan. Now not many people can say that.

Inspired by Alex Box, probably the major player where experimental make up is concerned, each artist still has a very different approach to make up as art, with Gallimore more precise and architectural in his work and Box more theatrical, as if preparing her faces for the stage.
So, for make up to move forward in a creative sense rather than purely scientific we need to let go of our comfortable perception of it as a saviour and a disguise. Gallimore exaggerates features, giving a girl four eyebrows or robotic lashes. Is the outcome always pretty? Well, no. But progressive? Most definitely.

Featured image © Rankin

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About the author

Loma-Ann Marks
Loma was a performer and freelance writer before becoming a journalist on the Daily Star Sunday, Daily Star and Express. She's the Founder and Editor of Culture Compass. North, South, East or West? I'll go anywhere. I like to think that I'm a pretty good map reader ( not everyone would agree ) but then I remind them that I navigated my way around the Paris one-way system with NO mistakes. High Class or Common or Garden? High class in the garden. Clothes or Culture? Culture in new clothes. My best night out ever made me feel....... That things would never be the same again. And they surely weren't the following day.