S11.E04: Snow Queens

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

In the second elimination challenge, the All-Star teams work to create beautiful snow queens inspired by a series of unique snowflakes.

Clip:

[starri]

So, a Special Snowflake challenge, eh?

[hincandenza]

On 2/8/2017 at 6:13 AM, starri said:

So, a Special Snowflake challenge, eh?

I couldn't help it, but I laughed out loud. :)

This looks like a cool idea: Emily was totally losing her shit about Narnia, but the two-day wrinkle ought to be interesting, and possible work well for teams that need that push to keep it simple and streamlined.  It basically means if you don't finish your idea and sculpt on day one for molding, you're dead in the water.  Given that they are snow queens- and not snow monsters- the smart move would be a minimum of face appliances and more props, costumes, and beauty makeup that aren't depending on mold setting time... which is why I'd bet money we'll see at least one makeup where the face is a literal sculpt of a snowflake.

[Primetimer]

The teams make snow queens in case the country isn't sick of winter yet.

View the full article

[Frozendiva]

One of my favourite fairy tales is the Snow Queen. Most of our snow here is melting this week with temps in the 10C range. However, it is mid-February and winter is not over by a longshot. We don't get the major dumps of snow, but we do get the cold. I think we've had about 60 cm of snow since October. Not like the east coast getting that amount in one day. Do wonder if the snow used in the first few minutes was real/manufactured snow or the fake movie kind.

It was a toss-up between the top two very good looks. The win was well-deserved.  Beautiful work, well-done, great beauty makeup and perfectly chosen colour palette. The look was a bit more polished, although the stencil work in the runner-up was also very good. I saw Cat and Nico leaving, although I am surprised that the evergreen/green queen was not one of the bottom looks.  The blue ladies' makeup really needed a bit of a facial hoik. The model looked like a snow drag queen. Guess they couldn't have three bottom looks just yet. The obvious thing with the All Stars premise is that most of the contestants lost for a reason during their competition. Some got better with time and got more more practise/experience, but some are still the same and will not improve. What they were in Year X is what they are now.

Glenn looked nice and clean, and McKenzie had good wardrobe.

[annewithaneee]

Since this is my first season I can't really make a ton of judgment calls about whether or not the edit is telegraphing a win/loss for specific contestants, and I'm still getting a feeling for good vs bad end products. Really enjoying it, though. I was a little surprise at the elimination, as to me it seems like there's still a couple filler teams left, but theirs was the one look I absolutely disliked.

Emily is my people. That entire segment about her not having seen most movies spoke to me. There's been at least one work happy hour where my teammates just grilled me about the myriad of things I've never seen (Star Wars, Goonies, Terminator, etc) and it led to a lot of punch-drunk gigglefits.

[mjc570]

I liked this episode - i liked the challenge (although there didn't seem much tie in to the actual snowflake shapes), because to me it's more interesting when the contestants are given the same basics to deal with.  It's a lot easier for me as a pretty unsophisticated viewer to make comparisons, and especially see who was creative and who was not. 

I thought this was one challenge where the models made a difference - you could really see the difference between the ones working it, and the ones who didn't.  I thought the judging was spot on. 

I realize that it's important for the contestants to make themselves stand out, but i think a number of them (well, really most of them) look ridiculous.  Others really do look like they know their way around makeup, hair, style etc. 

I know this has been said before, but I LOVE Mr. Westmore - I really wish they showed more of his always excellent advice.  Also love (1) the judges; and (2) how the contestants are relaxed and helpful with each other. 

[Maelstrom]

Another interesting challenge that forces them to focus on beauty rather than monsters. At first it made me think of the challenge a few years back that Cig won with an ice fairy creature. It was the first makeup he did that really impressed me. Here's the link to Syfy's page for that ep, if anyone's interested.

Emily and Tyler's look was fantastic - I figured that, barring a complete meltdown, Emily would nail it, and she didn't disappoint. This is right up her alley. Kudos to her and Tyler both! And Adam and Logan had a beautiful makeup as well, that could've easily won if the other top look hadn't been so outstanding. They were lucky to get Nayeli, they really made the design emphasize and work with her features. And I appreciated the slightly different touch of having her be a warrior to give the look a little something different from everyone else.

I don't know how Team Blue managed to make Megan look unattractive, but they sure did. I found the judges' critiques of the makeup quite interesting. Emily and Tyler also put the crown part of their makeup relatively low on their model's forehead, but they did so successfully (due to better sculpting, better paint job, and a better beauty makeup on the rest of the face). Methinks Blue are going to have to step it up to  stick around.

I'm sorry to see Niko and his hair go. I've always appreciated his good attitude, dedication, and gravity-defying hair. This is the first time I can remember Ve tearing up saying goodbye! Best wishes to both Cat and Niko, and I hope they get to have their wedding sooner rather than later.

The snowball fight at the beginning was fun, and it made me chuckle to watch and guess who had grown up in cold weather states and who hadn't, lol. And I loved Emily's excitement when Mackenzie mentioned Chronicles of Narnia. (I may have squeeed at that too).

I'm glad that we get to see more of Michael Westmore's walk through and more of their work time now that there aren't as many contestants to show.

[Quilt Fairy]

I was not impressed by any of the looks. Some were worse than others, and I think the right team went home, but the winning look that Ve was squee-ing over? Meh. 

I worry when they start shortening the time on the challenges, based on Project Runway going to shit when all of a sudden every challenge was a one day challenge. FaceOff has been really good about giving the contestants realistic timeframes to do their work.

And apparently the whole "the judges will consider your work over the course of 2 challenges" went out the window because I didn't hear anyone mention last week's challenge at all.  

[GaT]

I didn't hear a "for the first time" tonight, so I guess that's over. I thought they were all fairly good, except for maybe the green lady. I like that it was more on the side of beauty than monster makeup. 

[starri]

How were Evan and Ben not Bottom Looks?  I know they probably got points for originality, but even so, the makeup was terrible.  Not only did it look like she had a goatee, but they didn't appear to have done any beauty makeup.  I don't think Team Smurf was great, but I thought it was better than that.  Especially with Megan continue to act it out even when the judges finished and started to walk away.

While I think Logan and Adam clearly belonged in Top Looks, part of the reason it worked so well was choosing Nayeli.  She really has the perfect face for this type of challenge.  Megan is very cute, but Nayeli has this regal look that few of the models do.  They were smart to focus the beauty makeup on her eyes.

5 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I worry when they start shortening the time on the challenges, based on Project Runway going to shit when all of a sudden every challenge was a one day challenge. FaceOff has been really good about giving the contestants realistic timeframes to do their work.

I don't think that was a terrible choice here.  They have two contestants working on a single make-up, and these are supposed to be the cream of the crop anyway.  Time management should be a big part of the artists' skill set.

I love the way Tyler finds Emily's enthusiasm and energy infectious.  And also that the judges said they would have known the makeup was theirs automatically because there's no way anyone other than Emily would have put out hair that good.

Also, the way Mr. Westmore's face lit up when Gage and Rachael (?) said they were thinking of using silver contacts.  His memoir comes out in a few weeks, and I've been reading more about his history in the business.  His entire family has been involved in the makeup business going back to the silent movie era.  McKenzie is like the only member of her family who isn't primarily doing make-ups, and I think I would love to have a challenge with guest judges that are just a panel of Westmores.

Edited February 15, 2017 by starri

[Thog]

I know judges are supposed to be making decisions based on two weeks' worth of work, but I'm giving them a pass this week because they weren't around last week to judge. We were given no indication that they saw footage of the Monster High creations or talked to the focus group, so maybe they just had a week off. In any case, it would have been hard to justify sending anyone else home after seeing that statue of liberty thing. Sad, though - I did love Niko and Cat for their sweetness and positive energy, and also because I used to have a cat named Niko.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was so excited to see a challenge that was both no-monster AND beauty makeup! So of course, one team had to go for an evil look. I'm not a fan of shorter challenges, but at least they had two people to work on each look. It was also interesting to hear their various time management decisions.

I did not like Cat and Niko's Statue of Liberty looking snow queen.

I liked the idea of Gage and Rachael wrapping stuff around aquarium tubing to create some sort of headpiece, but combined with the ridges on her head it ended up looking kind of industrial.

I liked the techniques that Cig and George's used, but their snow queen ended up having a monster/alien kind of vibe, which was disappointing.

I hated the green outfit that Ben and Evan put their snow queen in. I thought their headpiece and chest piece were just okay. I really disliked that their model's face just seemed painted white. If they were only going to sculpt two pieces, I want more beauty makeup or something on the face.

Tyler and Emily's snow queen looked really great. The piece on the forehead was applied so seamlessly. I also liked that instead of going totally icy with their colors, they used browns and dark greys. I loved the restrained use of glitter.

Logan and Adam's snow queen was middle of the road for me. The black eyes definitely lent to the evil look. I thought the big piece they did looked a little stiff and clunky but I appreciate the effort.

I liked that Keaghlan and Melissa used purple on their snow queen instead of blue. The headpiece reminded me of King Triton's crown in The Little Mermaid. I agree with Ve that raising it a few inches would have improved the look.

[enoughcats]

5 hours ago, starri said:

I think I would love to have a challenge with guest judges that are just a panel of Westmores.

Great idea, and maybe have a panel of Newmans do the music.

[Eliza422]

Frankly I thought all the makeups except the dark green one looked essentially identical. When they showed the shot from the judges table it was just a see of white and blue.

[Canada]

The first thing I thought to myself when I saw Nico and Cat's creation was "that's the Statue of Liberty with really stupid 'hair'".  Not surprised they went home.

I was disappointed that all the looks were pretty similar this week - light icy blue, with a flowy gown, and some type of icy headpiece framing the face.  Yawn.

I can't wait for Ben to go.  I found him depressing and negative on his original season and he hasn't changed at all.  If anything, he manages to look even more miserable this season.  That man is the opposite of joy and I feel sorry for him.

[Chyromaniac]

Quote

How were Evan and Ben not Bottom Looks?  I know they probably got points for originality, but even so, the makeup was terrible.  Not only did it look like she had a goatee, but they didn't appear to have done any beauty makeup.  I don't think Team Smurf was great, but I thought it was better than that.  Especially with Megan continue to act it out even when the judges finished and started to walk away.

I don't have any proof of this, so get your salt shaker ready - but I've always figured that the judges pretty much have their minds made up during their inspections, and that the rest of the judging is more for our benefit (and to pad out the show).  At that point, determining who came in 2nd to last is kind of academic.

Quote

Frankly I thought all the makeups except the dark green one looked essentially identical. When they showed the shot from the judges table it was just a see of white and blue.

Agreed.  This is a challenge that, on the surface, sounded promising- but the challenge parameters wound up leading pretty much everyone in the same direction: white-blue color palate, icy forehead crown, etc...

[Kaoteek]

19 hours ago, mjc570 said:

I thought this was one challenge where the models made a difference - you could really see the difference between the ones working it, and the ones who didn't.  I thought the judging was spot on.

Same here. Bottom one was obvious, top two were obvious, so no big surprise this week. And indeed, the models can make it or break it. The Statue of Liberty one was just there, whereas others were into it, and made their character work (aside from the regular ones, I kind of like Gage/Rachael's model, who kinda was trying to catch pretend snowflakes with her tongue, and last week, was the vampire character).

Edited February 15, 2017 by Kaoteek

[Mabinogia]

49 minutes ago, Kaoteek said:

The Statue of Liberty one was just there

Worse than just there, she was doing a kind of statue of liberty pose, which just made the similarity even stronger.

The models certainly make or break a look. The ones who get into character can help overcome some design issues while the ones who just stand there really don't highlight a great design.

I'm semi-new to the show, last season was my first, and I haven't noticed it in the show. How are the models chosen? And, because I have a terrible sense of recall, do they change models each challenge? Given how much influence the models have, it doesn't seem fair if the models stay with one team through the whole season.

[Canada]

I don't know if we can blame the actors.  I'm pretty sure they're told how to act by the contestants.  Nico and Cat may have told their model to act like a statue, since 'statue' is the look they were going for.  We can't blame the poor actor if she was just doing what she was told to do.

[Mabinogia]

3 minutes ago, Canada said:

We can't blame the poor actor if she was just doing what she was told to do.

I actually wondered about that, if she was told to do that. Either way, the right pair went home. Snow Queen does not equal Statue of Liberty. And when one of them made a comment about how they were doing something so different than anyone else I realized that they were goners.

[Canada]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

I actually wondered about that, if she was told to do that. Either way, the right pair went home. Snow Queen does not equal Statue of Liberty. And when one of them made a comment about how they were doing something so different than anyone else I realized that they were goners.

I initially couldn't decide about that comment.  I figured they were either going home or they were going to win the challenge.  As soon as I saw their creation, I knew they were going home!

[Maelstrom]

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

How are the models chosen? And, because I have a terrible sense of recall, do they change models each challenge? Given how much influence the models have, it doesn't seem fair if the models stay with one team through the whole season.

In the earliest seasons they would show the contestants picking their models. Someone would get first pick - either due to winning a foundation (preliminary) challenge or by being arbitrarily chosen to pick first - and everyone else would get a turn after that, with the inevitable "the model I wanted was already taken! Oh noes!" But after probably the second or third season they stopped showing the model choosing process on air.

They do pick different models with each challenge, though some contestants develop favorite models they like to work with (Megan is often a favorite for obvious reasons!). There are maybe ten or twelve "regulars" that we see consistently, with some that they bring in from time to time when more models are needed.

When there is a specific physicality or ability needed in the models they bring in different models - for a challenge to create giants, they brought in big burly bodybuilding guys, and for the season four finale, they brought in acrobats, etc etc.

Hope this answers some of your questions!

[mlp]

I liked Cat and Nico and was sorry to see them go but they were clearly bested by the blue-haired duo I'm sick of looking at and didn't like during their first seasons.  Too bad it was the right decision.

The costume department must have been clearing out inventory.  Those skirts and drapes all looked like they came from the clearance rack at Goodwill.

[MarquisDeCarabas]

They tend to use the same group of models because they already have the face and body models for them, and they know the models don't have any allergies to the make up. A couple of times when they'd gone out of their way for new models there have been some reactions. I'm pretty sure they order in which they pick models is randomized. But yes Megan is really good at selling her character 

[hincandenza]

I enjoyed the episode- and there weren't any direct snowflake face sculps, so a big "whew" there! This show is just so positive and likable, how can you not watch?  I also might have put Ben & Evan and their black ice queen in the bottom, because I agreed with Ve that the chin piece totally read as goatee from a distance, but I think we all agree it was an academic point over the ouster of Statue of LowestLooks.  And Emily & Tyler were clear winners for that excellent makeup.

Totally shallow observation, but Rachael looked amazing in her judging section outfit, with that big white (presumably faux) fur.  Adam cracked me up with some kind of low-key pimp outfit as well.  I've never noticed them change their outfits between last looks and judging, but most of them were in totally different clothes; does that always happen and I've just missed it?

By the way, do we know for sure if this season will remain teams the whole way?  Unless they're going to split the grand prize (or they are each getting $100K plus a car, which would actually be kind of cool), at some point we'll have to move to individual competition, at top 3 or at most top 4.  I believe they are moving to a once-a-year format with this season, so a top 4 teams becoming top 8 individuals would mean four more team episodes after this to winnow down to top 8 people, then 4-5 episodes after that to get a top 3 finale of 1-2 weeks.  That's a total of 13-14 episodes, which isn't remotely excessive on an annual schedule.  If they however stick with teams and have a two-week finale, they'd have a 10 episode season.  This show is obviously reliable for them in terms of viewers, so I can't see why they wouldn't want to milk this one for the extra ~month of easy time slot filling.

 

On 2/14/2017 at 7:58 PM, annewithaneee said:

Emily is my people. That entire segment about her not having seen most movies spoke to me. There's been at least one work happy hour where my teammates just grilled me about the myriad of things I've never seen (Star Wars, Goonies, Terminator, etc) and it led to a lot of punch-drunk gigglefits.

Whaaaaaaaa...?!?!?

I keed, I keed.  :)  But yeah, it's easy to forget how young Emily still is because her work is so polished; she was kind of a prodigy in her season.  She and Tyler are a very strong team this year, and I think they as well as Cig & George seem to be the most likely to make it to the finale.  It's still surprising that she's in this industry and hasn't absorbed so many iconic films; I suspect she's not really "in" the film industry right now because I thought it mentioned in the first episode that she's still working as a hair stylist in Miami.  Ve's reaction sounded like she was almost begging her to move to LA and get it going.

 

On 2/14/2017 at 8:48 PM, Maelstrom said:

Another interesting challenge that forces them to focus on beauty rather than monsters. At first it made me think of the challenge a few years back that Cig won with an ice fairy creature. It was the first makeup he did that really impressed me. Here's the link to Syfy's page for that ep, if anyone's interested.

Emily and Tyler's look was fantastic - I figured that, barring a complete meltdown, Emily would nail it, and she didn't disappoint. This is right up her alley. Kudos to her and Tyler both! And Adam and Logan had a beautiful makeup as well, that could've easily won if the other top look hadn't been so outstanding. They were lucky to get Nayeli, they really made the design emphasize and work with her features. And I appreciated the slightly different touch of having her be a warrior to give the look a little something different from everyone else.

I don't know how Team Blue managed to make Megan look unattractive, but they sure did. I found the judges' critiques of the makeup quite interesting. Emily and Tyler also put the crown part of their makeup relatively low on their model's forehead, but they did so successfully (due to better sculpting, better paint job, and a better beauty makeup on the rest of the face). Methinks Blue are going to have to step it up to  stick around.

Oh, looking at the pictures I do remember Cig's ice fairy thing too! Yeah, I can't remember if it was here or TWoP, but I think there were a lot of people commenting that he finally showed a different side and he ended up being very strong for the rest of the season.

Yep, I'm an utterly shameless Emily fan so I agree and loved the "snow on pines" quiet feel of E&T's sculpt; it really did feel like you could drop her in as a spirit of the snowy forest in some fantasy film and be ready to roll film.  But I also liked the warrior queen- and Nigel's absurd "quiver" pun- and agree that Nayeli has the features to make that work so well.  She's regal, and statuesque, and they did a great job of using the lips and eye makeup to turn her eyes into these inhuman black pools. (cue X-Files theme)

Given that she's a stunningly beautiful woman, if the challenge had been "Make Megan look unattractive", it would probably would have been one of their most difficult challenge ideas ever devised- so in that respect, Keaghan & Melissa accomplished something quite extraordinary! :)  But yeah, the neanderthal brow of that sculpt should have been obvious when it was still on the sculpting dummy. I'm curious if they realized themselves that it was the brow that made it masculine, because there was a snippet during the application day/last looks montage that had them mentioning the Bowie-esque androgyny.

 

On 2/15/2017 at 3:29 AM, starri said:

While I think Logan and Adam clearly belonged in Top Looks, part of the reason it worked so well was choosing Nayeli.  She really has the perfect face for this type of challenge.  Megan is very cute, but Nayeli has this regal look that few of the models do.  They were smart to focus the beauty makeup on her eyes.

I don't think that was a terrible choice here.  They have two contestants working on a single make-up, and these are supposed to be the cream of the crop anyway.  Time management should be a big part of the artists' skill set.

Again, totally agree on Nayeli.  And I agree with you about keeping the challenge as two days; these people should be able to bang that out at this point without an issue, and they mostly did (Niko & Cat's really looked so anemic and lazy).  

 

On 2/15/2017 at 5:23 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Logan and Adam's snow queen was middle of the road for me. The black eyes definitely lent to the evil look. I thought the big piece they did looked a little stiff and clunky but I appreciate the effort.

I liked that Keaghlan and Melissa used purple on their snow queen instead of blue. The headpiece reminded me of King Triton's crown in The Little Mermaid. I agree with Ve that raising it a few inches would have improved the look.

Yeah, I really liked L&A's face work and stenciling, but that body piece was clunky as hell.  And with what you mention about K&M, it shows the pros and cons of an All Stars season: everything will generally be solid and well done, but also mostly safe and non-risky; at worst it'll be a couple of tweaks from film-ready.  No one other than Emily & Tyler and Cig & George did anything daring, original, or interesting, and one of those teams had immunity.  Even had K&M pushed up the forehead, it's still a fairly generic but very respectable ice queen, but nothing you'll remember.  It's what professionals do, you churn out a well-crafted work that ticks all the boxes for ice queen and call it a day, and these people all have been on the show before to know what pitfalls to avoid and how to just stand in place creatively each week and let others take a risky leap and then fall away.

Edited February 18, 2017 by hincandenza
Tyler != Trevor

[Richness]

I blame the bad looks in this episode more on the challenge design than on the artists themselves. Frankly, I really didn't see how the snowflake was incorporated into any of the looks. The closest any of them came was the octagonal scepter, and that's a separate accessory and not part of the snow queen herself. Again, challenge design fail.

 

The only good thing about the challenge is that it gave us beauty make-up for the second week in a row. Speaking of second weeks, don't abandon the idea that both weeks are going to count already. As fun as the focus group made for an entertaining change of pace in the last episode, the judges should have been there as well so they could judge on both challenges.

 

I was really looking forward to Cig and George's make-up when they described it, but I was let down by the horror monster-eqsue qualities it ended up with. I really like it when teams with immunity go all out, and accomplish something spectacular. Unfortunately, that wasn't that spectacular.

 

While I agree with the winner, I do not agree with Adam and Logan having the second top look. That armor was just pathetic and way to bulky. I guess the make-up was nicely done with the stencils, but it wasn't a top look. And Neville's joke just hurt.

 

Actually, I'd probably switch Keaghlen and Melissa's next to bottom look with Adam and Logan's. While the head was a little squashed, it still looked better and more involved. Maybe the stenciling looked better in person than on camera or in pictures. Still, they get to live another day.

 

The right team went home with the horrid Statue of Liberty inspired thing. While Niko was relatively charming, none of the other looks were bad enough to go home ahead of their monstrosity.

 

I think Emily and Tyler's ice queen stood out the most because it was a different form of frozen from the others, while still looking good. If Ben and Evan's black ice queen wasn't so dark and looked like a circus's bearded lady, it would have stood out just as much. If the black ice had been more smokey or translucent like tinted glass, it would have stood out in a good way. 

[enoughcats]

9 hours ago, hincandenza said:

about keeping the challenge as two days; these people should be able to bang that out at this point without an issue, and they mostly did (Niko & Cat's really looked so anemic and lazy).  

My uneducated guess is that the judges expected the pairs to edit themselves before they began, to divy up what each would do and then come back and edit each other every two hours or so.

This would put Niko and Cat at a disadvantage, because their relationship is professional AND personal.  Neither is going to tell the other that "what you've done is totally wrong, mundane and silly, .........etc".)  In a two day challenge, there isn't time to gently avoid hurt feelings.  And feelings do come with this creativity, they wouldn't do what they did if they thought it was less than their best.  
Only long term working pairs can work out the way that severe critical review works for them.  

[starri]

I have to wonder if Cig and George's immunity didn't keep them from a trip to the Bottom Looks woodshed.  The makeup execution was fine, but the judges, especially Neville, seemed to be annoyed that they hadn't really kept to the challenge.  I don't think they should have gone home, but I do think they shouldn't have basically ignored the challenge without getting some feedback about that.

That was, apart from his forced quirky personality, the reason I wasn't particularly fond of Cig the first time.  He just made monsters over and over and over again.  Very good monsters, don't get me wrong, but the only makeup of his I really liked back then was his Ice Queen, because he forced himself out of his comfort zone for basically the only time.

I can't quite decide how they're going to do the finale, since I'm sure there's going to be a single winner, unless they're expecting a person to drive half of a Hyundai Veloster.  I don't know if there's going to be an individual challenge at three teams left, or at two.  But depending on how this works out, I'm predicting Tyler/Cig/Emily or Tyler/Cig/Gage.

[mlp]

Quote

 I've never noticed them change their outfits between last looks and judging, but most of them were in totally different clothes; does that always happen and I've just missed it?

I've always noticed that and wondered about the time delay between last looks and judging.  Obviously, the models are already made up and in costume and have to remain that way until the end and many of the costumes look like they'd prevent a model from sitting down much less going to the bathroom if necessary.  I have to think that the contestants bring a change of clothes and do whatever they need to do with hair and so on quickly while the models line up and the cameramen and all prepare for the next scene.

[April Bloodgate]

On 2/15/2017 at 4:29 AM, starri said:

How were Evan and Ben not Bottom Looks?  I know they probably got points for originality, but even so, the makeup was terrible.  Not only did it look like she had a goatee, but they didn't appear to have done any beauty makeup.  I don't think Team Smurf was great, but I thought it was better than that.  Especially with Megan continue to act it out even when the judges finished and started to walk away.

I was also shocked that they weren't in the bottom. It was a beauty challenge and they gave her a freakin' beard.

[LittleIggy]

Yeah, the bearded snow queen should have been in the bottom!

[sourpickles]

I loved the Snow Queen concept, thought there we so many directions that it could've gone, and I thought the shapes of the snowflakes would really afford some great ideas.  I was disappointed.  Frankly, I didn't like any of the looks.  Put me in with those who immediately noticed the "beard", and they were really the only ones who went outside the traditional color palette, which overall read very dull.  I love looking out my back door at the color of frosted pines in the winter, and thought we'd see some of that.  A lot of the face pieces looked crooked to me too.  I just was not a fan of any of the finished looks.  I'll miss Niko/Cat's cuteness, but they were the right choice to go.  There is a fine line b/w "inspired by" and a copy.  I did not get any Snow Queen out of that.  Looking at it now, Tyler/Emily did deserve the win, their detail was the best, and a bit different.  But oh, Emily.  You've gotta see some of the really influential  movies, especially those with iconic makeup, to have good reference points as the career goes along!  I've always thought she had an 80s vibe to her, especially with her hair (that I love and covet), so I find it so funny she hasn't seen a thing.  Speaking of hair, I don't know WTF was going on or if it was my tv, but Keighlan's hair looked purple and her eyebrows green for the first half of the episode to me.  I spent so much time staring at that I missed a lot of dialogue.  And I swear they fixed Glen's hair b/w takes, too.  I was all about the hair this week!  I thought George/Cig had a great idea, but it didn't pan out quite the way I thought it would, A for effort and all.  I agree they might have been in the bottom if it weren't for immunity.  I, too, loved Racheal's outfit.  Logan seems to be loosening up some.  Did we get a preview for next week, because I missed it....?

[feverfew]

On 15/2/2017 at 11:32 PM, Canada said:

I can't wait for Ben to go.  I found him depressing and negative on his original season and he hasn't changed at all.  If anything, he manages to look even more miserable this season.  That man is the opposite of joy and I feel sorry for him.

Aww, Ben's my favourite. I don't think he's negative at all, just introverted and highly self-critical which can come across as low energy/miserable on screen. I do think his and Evan's look wasn't the best (I too thought "beard" the moment the model stepped on stage), but I think the costume had a lot to do with it. If it hadn't been sparkly green, but some sort of shiny black (like Magnificent's "evil" outfit) I think it would have gone over better.

The right team won - although I, like many of you here, can't believe Emily hasn't seen those iconic movies.

10 hours ago, sourpickles said:

I was all about the hair this week!

Did you notice McKenzie's Elsa-inspired (from Disney's Frozen) hair in the beginning of the episode? :)

[SirOsisOfLiver]

Unpopular opinion, probably, but I'm rapidly being bored to tears by this show.

Make a Disney character. Make a princess. Make a fairy. Make a queen. Make a cutesy high school monster girl.

Remember back when the show started and people created entire bodies and extra heads and limbs and wings and things that moved and lit up? Remember how astounded people were at how much these people could create in such a short time? Now it's been reduced to make a pretty face. Almost no manufacturing or construction. Rarely if ever see them doing anything with wardrobe - it just magically appears now.

It's become a makeup competition. It's not what I want to watch for an hour.

[diebartdie]

On 2/16/2017 at 8:28 PM, April Bloodgate said:

I was also shocked that they weren't in the bottom. It was a beauty challenge and they gave her a freakin' beard.

 

On 2/17/2017 at 1:37 PM, LittleIggy said:

Yeah, the bearded snow queen should have been in the bottom!

There are some very beautiful bearded women in the world you know. Such as Harnaam Kaur, pictured here:

[sourpickles]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 5:57 AM, feverfew said:

Did you notice McKenzie's Elsa-inspired (from Disney's Frozen) hair in the beginning of the episode? :)

Didn't, but she's had that hair before and I always think she looks great with the longer hair, so...........shame on me, plus I'm not great with references, like if I don't notice, thank cheddar there's someone to point them out!

[sourpickles]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 10:47 AM, SirOsisOfLiver said:

Remember back when the show started and people created entire bodies and extra heads and limbs and wings and things that moved and lit up? Remember how astounded people were at how much these people could create in such a short time? Now it's been reduced to make a pretty face. Almost no manufacturing or construction. Rarely if ever see them doing anything with wardrobe - it just magically appears now.

I only took part of this comment, though I could reference it all.....there are people on this forum (and you may be one of them) who also are on the Project Runway forums, and one of the biggest complaints is how the talent level and strength of challenges has gone down over the years.  Time for creation has been reduced, materials have become bargain basement, basically many/all of the things criticized there have been said here as well.  It comes down to putting up with it, accepting the changes, or hate watching.  I, personally, am at hate watch stage with PR.  I know FO isn't where it used to be, and might not ever be again, but realistically speaking, looking at SyFy and the dwindling challenge ideas/contestants.........I'll take what I can get right now and I think this season has promise.  Not to ding your opinion, certainly you are entitled to it and obviously well aware of the hurdles facing (!) the show but.....give it another chance, and it might surprise you!  I think they do what they can with what they have.  Again, not trying to discredit your opinion, it just very much reminds me of where other long term creative shows are heading.

[enoughcats]

12 hours ago, sourpickles said:

one of the biggest complaints is how the talent level and strength of challenges has gone down over the years.

Yes.  

And someone somewhere recommended Forged in Fire.  It's no Project Runway (which seems to have all the drama in a can, ready for distribution at the next competition), but Face OFf, to me, remains fun to watch.

But for (dare I say?) make it work moments, some of the Face Off solutions to problems have been memorable.  To me, it's a major thing when they look at the face and decide it's bad, rip it off, and make up well enough to survive without all the prosthetics.  

[BlackberryJam]

I'm fine with Face Off decreasing challenge times this season because it's always teams of two. I think the third day is necessary for solo challenges.

There are only so many movie makeup ideas. Superheros, classic villains, aliens, Burton/Wonka stuff, etc. I'd be bored watching them all do Planet of the Apes. Most films don't require the level of makeup this show is doing. And there are only so many people needed in the industry as well. So yeah, the quality of contestants is definitely dropping. It's been good while it's lasted because these are some genuinely talented and mostly kind people.

Edited February 21, 2017 by BlackberryJam

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

So yeah, the quality of contestants is definitely dropping.

It always seems to on these skills based shows. Really good artists are more likely to be getting actual work, or wanting to be available for the next paying job. It isn't easy to get time off to do a reality show, or to go that long without a paying gig. Does this show pay them or only the winner? I've heard that several shows don't actually pay them to be there, or only give them a small stipend. That would drastically affect who is available. Especially in an industry where you don't know when your next paycheck might come.

[SirOsisOfLiver]

Is the quality of the contestants dropping? No argument from me, and I was glad they took a break instead of putting in contestants straight out of school. But my issue is the challenges. I've read plenty of comments on here complaining about "too many monsters" but I think this is pushing it to the other extreme. It's like nothing else matters except doing a pretty face.

Go back to some previous seasons, find challenges that worked and do them again if need be. The TV industry seems to think that everything MUST be changed every season. Every season MUST be "fresh" and "different" and "never done before". Blech.

Or maybe I'm just a grumpy old fart.

[qtpye]

I was so excited by a the Snow Queens and so let down by the make ups.  Why is it hard to do a beautiful faces, particularly when they already have stunning models?  I mean most of these women are already half way there naturally.

Thy could have gone out side the color palette.  The Auroras are beautiful colors and they could have based a queen on that, instead of boring light blue and white.

I did love the way Mackenzie totally looked like Elsa, when they introduced the challenge.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

The Auroras are beautiful colors and they could have based a queen on that, instead of boring light blue and white.

Ooh, that would have been amazing. All those different colors. My issue with this challenge wasn't that it was more of a beauty/makeup challenge but that it kind of trapped all the artists in the same box. There are really only so many ways to do a snow queen and still have it seem enough like a snow queen not to get dinged for not following the brief. I feel like the snow flake thing was a bust as the one team that kind of followed the snowflake ended up with the statue of liberty instead of a snow queen.

[WearyTraveler]

Challenges that they haven't done in a while include:

• Successfully aging a model (the first time they did it they used triplets, IIRC, and while one was to appear without any make up, the other two had to be different ages)
• Successfully disguising themselves to the point that their own family members didn't recognize them

I'd love to see those challenges again

Edited February 22, 2017 by WearyTraveler