Monster Tutorials
2013
When I began working on a career in makeup, I had such a strong idea of what I wanted to do because I am so inspired by colorful imagery, and for me it was like a beginning of a series if I could take each shade of the spectrum and layout a list to complete. Youtube was a platform that had generic how-to tutorials from massive websites and there was no real reference points or iconography. It was peppered with people who wanted to do what was happening in the ‘right now,’' so you saw Kim Kardashian contour tutorials and how to create an 'arabic eye', which obviously was just such a silly generalization. I thought if I used the terms that were there and flipped the script, I could introduce ideas I loved to the mainstream. So I began to go through a rainbow of colors and for each primary/secondary shade, I created one wearable look, one lipstick look, one theatrical look that paid homage to my idols.
Most of the shades of lipstick available to buy in stores, were reds and nudes. There were no creative shades out there and I wanted to bring the first colourful tutorials that would breakdown ways of mixing your own products. I remember when I did the blue lipstick tutorial on my first channel JHCosmetics, it was like I was using actual collectables when I demonstrated how to use Peacocky by Mac, a blue lipglass they released over eyeshadow. This stuff wasn't there and I wanted to be the first to do it, and to also break down barriers around products, you can do what you want with any type of product. I began to create painterly looks, and then when I invested in a larger camera I was able to film properly and I just let loose. I created skulls like I'd paint a canvas, I created spooky looks around Halloween but instead of traditional scary images I'd become Tippi Hendren from the Birds, I'd become Grace Jones in Vamp.
As things progressed I wanted to share more resourceful makeup tutorials for people to use from household things, so I created a third eye tutorial from a contact lens holder, a cat from cutup sponges. I wanted to play with artistic looks and I created a pop art image, and I remember when Mathu Andersen commented about the stencil I had made from ring binder stickers and how clever it was. So I was pretty floored that people liked the content and I continued. The next process in my experiments was to play with artistic illusions and during 2016 I created a painted face and an optical illusion.
It was only in 2019 that I went back to revisit all the experiments I had created and fashioned them into final looks, so I reshot the images that go with the tutorials in HD, like my more accessible looks like an anime girl, the Grace Jones images and some work I did for Marie Claire over Halloween like the Game of Thrones and more. These were set out like pages in a sketchbook, this is how I started and I am so grateful that they've been such a varied insight into my inspirations.
Even though this is a finished series, I was able to take advantage of events to create more abstract pop culture references in the last colours I hadn’t played with yet, like the Green Girl from the original Star Trek and some optical illusions. I filmed mini videos to add into this playlist to showcase the full spectrum and you can find more of this work through my playlists.
