American Beauty Star - General Discussion

[Aethera]

This topic replaces the old American Beauty Star forum which has been vaulted at the location below:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/3568-american-beauty-star-v/

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E1: My Signature Slay

Quote

The season 2 premiere kicks off when we meet the 14 hair and makeup superstars who will be vying for the title of American Beauty Star. In their first challenge, the artists must push their creativity and skills to the limit to impress new host Ashley Graham, mentor Sir John and judges Christie Brinkley, Yu Tsai, and Leah Wyar with their signature style.

Original air date 1/2/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Wow, I know we all complained about Adriana Lima last season but I didn't expect the show to clean house so completely and replace everyone but Sir John! After the mess that was S1, I wasn't really planning to watch S2 but I decided to give it a chance since they got new judges and a new host.

LOVE that they got Christie Brinkley as a judge. She must have a portrait of herself in the attic that looks like a ghoul because damn, she looks fucking amazing for 64. Honestly, she just looks amazing period.

I loved the dress Ashley Graham was wearing. She managed to use vocal inflection, so she's already an improvement over Adriana with her dead eyes and flat voice.

Who was the makeup sponsor last year? I remember it someone being much more high end than Revlon.

Diana's look was boring. Her model had amazing cheekbones and she did nothing to highlight that. I hated the outfit she chose for her model too. A sheer dress with underwear? GURL. I liked the hair though.

I HATED Samson's own makeup (the pink eye shadow plus pink blush so that one third of his face was smeared in the same color) so I was afraid for his poor model. Her makeup didn't look as bad as I thought it would, but what the hell did he do to her poor hair? It looked a mess.

Tina's makeup was fine, but I hated the crooked bangs. I was also not a fan of that white dress with the cutouts.

I liked Ricardo's makeup, but given his background that's to be expected. He also lucked out because his model has amazing eyes.

Oz's look was not good on my screen. It looked like the model's face was too pink/rosy. I don't know when this was filmed, but I am so over the million bobby pins on the side of the face. The lashes she chose were a bit too heavy. I know the contestants only have so many looks to choose from on the clothing racks, but that pink dress looked like a nightgown.

Axel's look was very 80s to me due to all the purple eye shadow he used on his model.

I felt bad for Lucy when she found out that the model would not fit the dress she'd already selected for her. I don't know if that was Lucy's fault for not paying attention to all the model stats or if there was some other issue, but that's stressful to deal with at the last minute. I wish she'd gone further with the drag makeup on her model (even without the eyebrows). What she ended up doing didn't look like drag to me at all. It actually looked very similar to Axel's with the 80s colored eye shadow.

I barely got a glimpse of Kendra's look so I knew she would be safe. The bronze eye shadow didn't look good on the runway but it looked better in the photos.

I hated the outfit on Jayson's model. I also didn't like her hair. It looked like he started curling it and then ran out of time to do anything with it. Her makeup was fine.

The more looks that came down the runway, the sorrier I felt for the contestants for having to use these fugly ass clothes. Case in point: Ronaldo's model was wearing a hideous bustier, a floral jacket/blazer, and a green skirt. I give his model credit for walking down the runway like she was wearing something fabulous.

Tyren's model looked good. I think I liked this look because it was one of the few that didn't have a pale/neutral/pink lip. I liked her black dress a lot more than most of the other hideous clothes we saw on the runway. I can't believe that the judges were talking so much shit about his model's hair but they barely had anything to see about the terrible hair on Samson's model. And as someone with dark hair, I just rolled my eyes at their comments about how they were confused about her dark hair with the dark dress. I still wear black dresses and I don't give a fuck.

Man, have things changed so much in Jersey that what Sara's model had is now considered big hair?

I liked the sparkly dress that Brittney's model was wearing. Finally, a dress that wasn't see through! I had to shake my head when she got so excited about the tip that Sir John gave her about using a q-tip to clean up the shape of the eye shadow. Seriously, how are you a makeup artist and you don't know that?

I didn't like the dress that Leslie's model waas wearing (what were those big circles on the dress?) but the fascinator gave it some runway glam. I wish she'd used a classic red lipstick on her model for this look.

I felt like Diana won because of her hair, not her makeup.

I would have sent Samson home instead of Leslie.

Awwww, I loved the pep talk that Ashley gave to Leslie after she was eliminated.

[GaT]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Wow, I know we all complained about Adriana Lima last season but I didn't expect the show to clean house so completely and replace everyone but Sir John! After the mess that was S1, I wasn't really planning to watch S2 but I decided to give it a chance since they got new judges and a new host.

LOVE that they got Christie Brinkley as a judge. She must have a portrait of herself in the attic that looks like a ghoul because damn, she looks fucking amazing for 64. Honestly, she just looks amazing period.

I loved the dress Ashley Graham was wearing. She managed to use vocal inflection, so she's already an improvement over Adriana with her dead eyes and flat voice.

I am SO glad Adriana Lima is gone. I checked, & she's not an executive producer anymore either, but Ashley Graham is, so that must come along with the host gig.  I don't even remember the judges from last season, but I'm glad to see Christie Brinkley there. I'll see how things go.

[Koalagirl]

I'm so happy they reworked this show.  Ashley Graham seems much more interested and invested in the show than Adriana Lima.  I also like that they got rid of the stupid drama of having a hair person and a makeup person working on the model. 

[Gothish520]

I didn't watch the first season but the previews for this season looked interesting so I'm giving it a shot. Not bad - Ashley Graham is a decent host and the judges aren't tools - so far, so good, lol. 

I liked Brittney's look more than Diana's, but I'm ok with Diana winning.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S02.E02: America Is Beautiful

Quote

The artists are challenged to create stunning, one-of-a-kind editorial looks inspired by the American city of their choice; things begin to heat up as they scope out their competition and get to know one another better.

Original air date: 1/9/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Normally I cringe whenever shows try to integrate their sponsors (how many shows have we seen where a character says, "This [insert car name here] has satellite radio!"?). I have rolled my eyes at Project Runway forcing the designers to create prom dresses out of duct tape and design paper cups.

But I really liked that the contestants had to put glasses on their models. As someone who used to wear glasses (before switching to contacts), it can be difficult to pair the makeup you like with the glasses you wear, so I ws looking forward to seeing how they toned down their makeup for a non-dramatic look framed by glasses.

I want to hear more about this lifetime supply of Zenni glasses. Is that one pair of glasses per year?

I love that Sir John gives such specific feedback to the contestants.

While I agree with Ricardo that Chicago has great food, music, and fashion, I was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to convey Chicago in his look. I liked that he really took the glasses into consideration when choosing his model's wardrobe. I had to laugh when he said he almost had tears in his eyes because he was so proud of himself. Calm down there, dude. I thought he did a good job though. He chose a great dress, The big wig was great, and the purple glasses complemented the look.

I liked Tyren's LA look. I think he did a great job giving his model a casual but polished look, and his choice of glasses worked well. His styling was great too.

Heh, I loved that Kendra's NYC look was based on her love of Gossip Girl. Despite what Diana said, I didn't get any Urkel vibe from that plaid jumpsuit. I hated the red eye shadow though and I really didn't like those glasses.

I liked Oz's Motown look until she added all that unnecessary glitter. Her Diana Ross concept was a good idea so I wish she ahadn't panicked at the last minute and dumped all that tacky looking glitter on her model. I loved the glasses she used on her model.

I wasn't sure how Tina's Seattle look would turn out. Whenever people say they're going for quirky, I always get a bit skeptical. Her glasses and the asymmetrical hair looked great together though. I didn't like the messy bits of hair in the back that someone else mentioned. I also didn't really think the dress worked with the quirkly Seattle vibe.

I was cracking up at Lucy's original New York summer look - pink sunglasses with a black long-sleeved shirt because what women in New York want in the summer is to sweat profusely. I felt so bad for Lucy's model. If you don't know how to work with WOC's hair, you should not be allowed to touch it. I was so afraid that she was going to totally fuck up her model's hair. I was cringing while watching her try things with her model's hair. The look she ended up sending down the runway looked more Gossip Girl than Kendra's. She looked like an adult wearing a high school uniform in an effort to emulate the Britney Spears "Baby One More Time" video. A white shirt tied at the waist with an ill fitting stiff black skirt and that horrible pink lipstick? Just no. She fucked up before she even started messing with the model's hair.

This whole Ricardo/Ronaldo situation seemed silly. Sorry, Ronaldo, but if you don't actually pick up the earrings you want, then they're not yours. And to get all dramatic and say that you have to change YOUR ENTIRE LOOK because you didn't get the gold hoop earrings you want? Bitch, please. Ronaldo's Hollywood red carpet look seemed like an easy way to just do a glam look. I didn't like his model's makeup. She looked too smudged and sweaty for a red carpet. Similarly, I didn't like her hair which also seemed too messy for a red carpet. She looked like she drove to the party in a convertible. Finally, I didn't like the glasses with that dress.

I wasn't a fan of Brittney's North Carolina look. I didn't like that ruffled denim jumpsuit, the glasses, or the shade of lipstick she used on her model. Her skin looked nice, as did her brows and eye makeup though.

Jayson's Manhattan look was okay. That bright blue eye makeup was totally 80s to me. I liked that he put blue earrings on his model to mirror the blue makeup. I agreed with Sir John about using lashes that weren't so big but not for the same reason. If you have really long lashes, they hit the lenses every time you blink which is annoying.

I had mixed feelings about Axel's Miami look. The sunglasses were an okay choice, but she had on way too much dark eye makeup for a beachy look. And who the hell wears a long sleeved lace bathing suit?

Sara's LA beach look was good. She had the slicked back wet hair look, dewy makeup, and the "just from the beach" outfit.

Samson's Savannah look was pretty. I liked the bold red lip.

The best thing about Diana's New Orleans look was the curly upswept hair. Other than that, I didn't like anything about it. I really did not like that shapeless purple dress or the brown eye shadow. Nothing about that said New Orleans to me.

Between Tina and Lucy,, it was no question who to eliminate. At least Tina had a concept and she took some risks. Lucy just made bad choice after bad choice.

[GaT]

How did the one (still don't know anybody's name) with the nasty short blonde wig on her model not get eliminated? There was nothing good about that look.

[Koalagirl]

7 hours ago, GaT said:

How did the one (still don't know anybody's name) with the nasty short blonde wig on her model not get eliminated? There was nothing good about that look.

I completely agree.  I think it showed poor taste when she threw all of that glittery crap on her model and the wig fit so poorly.  She should have been eliminated.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E3 Blasts from the Past

Quote

Tensions flare as the artists must work together in the season's first team challenge; the artists travel back in time to create gorgeous modern looks inspired by the '70s, '80s and '90s.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ugh, I hate team challenges. I know reality shows think I want to see conflict and drama, but I DO NOT. I am here to see some awesome makeup.

Oh, Sara. You think decades are centuries? GURL. As Tim Gun likes to tell designers on Project Runway, it is up to you to do your homework and know the history of what you're doing and cultural references. If you get hired to do makeup and they decide they want an 80s look versus a 40s look, you need to know the difference and how to do them. And if you don't know what the 80s are, YOU NEED TO LISTEN. Thinking that Elvis is from the 80s just goes to show how ignorant you are and shows exactly why you need to listen to people who know what they're talking about. Even after everyone on her team corrected her (specifically that the 90s were grunge), she still told her model she was giving her a grunge look.

In contrast, at least Lucy kind of learned her lesson after last week and asked Brittney for advice with her model's hair this week (and I really liked that she gave credit to Brittney for all her help when the judges complimented the model's hair). I still felt bad for her model this week because I was imagining how long it would take her to wash all that gel out of her hair.

Man, there was a lot of fug this week.

The 70s team was smart to come up with some cohesive ideas (glittery eyes and gold outfits). I didn't like the bottom lashes that everyone used on their models (which looked more 60s/Twiggy to me) and I thought most of their lipstick was a little too dark. I agreed with Sir John about the white eyeliner that Axel used on his model. Applying it to the waterline rather than on the upper lid was much more 70s. His model's hair looked great. Lucy's model ended up looking pretty good (aside from the lower lashes and lipstick issue I had with everyone but Axel). The green and gold shadow was very pretty on her model. While the purple glitter had a lot of impact on the runway, overall I didn't think it was a great choice from Britney. Again, I didn't like the bottom lashes or the very dark lip color, which was not very 70s to me. I also didn't like her hair. That was not a Farrah Fawcett look to me. It just looked messy. I thought Tyren's model needed some glitter to match the other models in their group.  On the runway, it looked like her foundation was about five shades too light for her skin. I don't know why he was trying to give his model a bump it.

Team 80s was a mess. Why did Kendra's model have pink eye shadow from her eyes all the way down her cheekbones? Is she getting tips from Samson? Her hair wasn't 80s at all. That yellow jumpsuit gave the poor model major camel toe. Sara's rocker look was a little more 90s than 80s (aside from the pink lipstick). Ronaldo's girl looked very 80s from the hair to the outfit to the makeup. I would have given her a bright lip instead of that neutral color he used, but that was my only nitpick. Well, and the blush. Diana's look made me gasp and not in a good way. Good lord, that bright blue eye shadow was just a wall of color from the eyelid all the way up to the eyebrows and extended out. WHY? The lip color she used was bright but it didn't go with the rest of the makeup. And the blush, just what?  I don't think she understood what Kendra was telling her about big bangs. Weirdly, the blue looked so much brighter on the runway than in the photos.

Team 90s - high five to Samson for suggesting they do the Spice Girls. I thought the hair and outfit on Oz's model were very 90s but not the makeup. The yellow eyeliner was all wrong. Samson's Scary Spice look was not great. The buns were crooked and one looked much thicker than the other. No one wore blue lipstick in the 90s either. I didn't get the outfit either. I lived through the 90s and I don't remember anyone wearing a leotard with a faux fur top and a fringed belt. Jayson's Baby Spice look was a mixed bag for me. The iconic ponytails were a must, but the dusty rose fringed skirt  with denim thigh high boots? Nope. Good lipstick choice though. Ricardo's Posh Spice look was fine but unremarkable. Considering how poorly most of the others did this week, that put him in the top half for me.

Sara did herself no favors during judging. It's bad enough that she had no clue what 80s makeup should look like. But then add to that (1) she said that the others told her it meant a lot of color and she doesn't like color (2) when asked who should be eliminated, she said Rinaldo because what he did was not her style. If you want to make it in this business, you can't just do what YOU like. You need to be versatile and educated so that you can give the client what they want! Then backstage, she said she only wants to do what she likes. Interrupting Rinaldo when he said, "You don't listen," only proved his point.

[GaT]

19 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Sara did herself no favors during judging. It's bad enough that she had no clue what 80s makeup should look like. But then add to that (1) she said that the others told her it meant a lot of color and she doesn't like color (2) when asked who should be eliminated, she said Rinaldo because what he did was not her style. If you want to make it in this business, you can't just do what YOU like. You need to be versatile and educated so that you can give the client what they want! Then backstage, she said she only wants to do what she likes. Interrupting Rinaldo when he said, "You don't listen," only proved his point.

I agree, not sorry to see her go. She just wanted to do what she wanted without caring about if it matched the challenge.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

I agree, not sorry to see her go. She just wanted to do what she wanted without caring about if it matched the challenge.

Her extreme ignorance was problematic because seriously, if she got hired for a job and then they asked her to do makeup from  [insert any specific time period] and she just did whatever she wanted to do, she would be fired.

It's fine to do what you like and what you find aesthetically pleasing on your own face, but if you want to actually be a professional makeup artist, then you need to be able to do a lot more than that. You need to be able to do whatever the client wants and you can't do that if you don't know jack shit about what makeup/looks go with each era.

If Sara only wants to do dark smoky looks without any color, then good luck cornering that niche market of emo prom makeup.

[Pepper Mostly]

I still can't with this show. Its a bore. The people are almost all catty, unpleasant and bitchy. I mean, come on! Hair and makeup! You're already halfway there, show, for entertainment value. I like Sir John as a mentor, and the hosting and judging are miles better than last season (but still not good), but the casting misses in my opinion.

[Josette]

I thought the 80s team should have gone the glamorous Dynasty route.    I think they would have had more success.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

6 hours ago, Pepper Mostly said:

I still can't with this show. Its a bore. The people are almost all catty, unpleasant and bitchy. I mean, come on! Hair and makeup! You're already halfway there, show, for entertainment value. I like Sir John as a mentor, and the hosting and judging are miles better than last season (but still not good), but the casting misses in my opinion.

It's confusing to me that the contestants are so bitchy yet still boring. If you're going to be a drama queen who complains about everything, at least be entertaining. I keep watching for the makeup but most of the time that bores me too. I keep watching in the hopes that we will see some amazing looks.

One thing I've noticed is that the makeup often looks dramatically different in the phots vs the runway, which makes me wonder which one the judges give more weight to when deciding who's in the top/bottom.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E4 Cosmo Magazine's Viral Style

Quote

The artists must bring their social media savvy as they create a perfect look and corresponding hashtag worthy of being posted on Cosmopolitan magazine's Instagram feed.

Original air date: 1/23/19

Edited January 24, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

First of all, why do they have so many accessories so high up that not all of the contestants can reach them? They have limited time to select their clothing and accessories and it wastes time when one person has to ask another person to fetch necklaces for them because they can't reach them.

I'm guessing the models are randomly reassigned every week? When Lucy said she hadn't been looking at sizes while selecting clothes, I remembered that during the first episode, she realized her model wouldn't fit the outfit she chose so now I think it was her own fault.

Man, some of these people do not understand how to create a hashtag.

Tyren's lipstick crown look was definitely memorable, but I would have chosen a different color background for the photo. Red backdrop with red lipsticks? No. You need a contrasting color to make the lipsticks on her head pop out even more.

What the hell was with the yellow on Lucy's model's nose? Was that on purpose? Was it gold shimmer that wasn't blended well? I was so confused by that.  know she said she wanted to use lots of colors but she had too many colors on the models eyes and above her eyebrows. It just looked messy and muddy.

Axel definitely made a mistake not choosing a closeup photo of his model. The focal point of the makeup was the glitter line above her lips and you couldn't even see them in the picture. That said, I thought the gold glitter looked like a glittery pencil mustache. I loved the yellow dress he chose for his model though.

Jayson's look was fine but nothing about the makeup/outfit/photo would make me stop to look at it if it popped up in my IG feed.

We barely got to see what Oz did, but I didn't like the makeup. I liked her hashtag though (#WhoIsShe) because it was short and memorable but kind of mysterious.

I agreed with the contestants that said Brittney's mermaid look has been done before AND that it looked like a bruise (due to her unfortunate color choices). When she wiped it off, I thought okay, she was smart enough to start over so she can make better color choices, but it still looked like a bruise on the runway. I didn't get mermaid from her look at all.

I liked Ricardo's look. The green eye shadow with the red lips was pretty. I liked her hair a little better when she was in the workroom (the curls looked different), but overall it was good.

My favorite part about Diana's look was letting her model (mostly) go big and natural.

Ronaldo's look was A LOT. The bright blue eye shadow, the black patterned lips, the peacock feathers, the striped skirt, the yellow chains as straps -  felt like it was too much in one look.

Kendra's look was boring for me. Her lips were so glossy that it looked like they were about to drip off her face.

I didn't like Samson's look. It seemed like what you would get if you let a six year old be the art director. "Barrettes! More barrettes! Flowers! More flowers! Pink and blue on the eyes! GLITTER! More pink! Donuts! With sprinkles!"

I thought Tyren's look was striking and the one most likely to make me stop scrolling to take a closer look, but he got himself eliminated with his attitude.

[GaT]

Lipstick head looked stupid IMO

[sleepyjean]

I didn't understand why anyone bothered to fuss about wardrobe. I would've planned to do a tight beauty shot so all the focus would be on the hair and make up and the clothes wouldn't show at all. Almost all of them did waaaaay too much.

 

Sigh. I wish this show was better so I could like it more. Everyone on the panel annoys me. Sir whatshisname and his scripted, inane comments adds nothing to the show. The competitors are either trying too hard to be extra, or milking some personal sob story. All of them can go. The only people I like on this show are the models. They can stay. A few of them deserve a medal for serving it up despite the terrible looks they've had to endure.

[GaT]

13 hours ago, sleepyjean said:

I didn't understand why anyone bothered to fuss about wardrobe. I would've planned to do a tight beauty shot so all the focus would be on the hair and make up and the clothes wouldn't show at all. Almost all of them did waaaaay too much.

I was under the impression that how things looked on the runway was also part of the judging, they need the outfit for that.

[sleepyjean]

7 hours ago, GaT said:

I was under the impression that how things looked on the runway was also part of the judging, they need the outfit for that.

I suppose you're right. The problem is, they're asking too much. The contestants are meant to be makeup artists, hair stylists, fashion stylists and photo directors, and this show doesn't have the talent pool for that. The bad fashion distracts from the looks, and the photos are 1000% better when the contestants aren't involved in the photography.

[GaT]

27 minutes ago, sleepyjean said:

I suppose you're right. The problem is, they're asking too much. The contestants are meant to be makeup artists, hair stylists, fashion stylists and photo directors, and this show doesn't have the talent pool for that. The bad fashion distracts from the looks, and the photos are 1000% better when the contestants aren't involved in the photography.

You're right. Last season they had a MUA or hairstylist with the contestants, but that didn't work out either. They need to narrow the focus of the show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E5 Red Carpet Sparkle Ready

Quote

The artists are on edge as they are tasked with creating dazzling red-carpet looks with the opportunity of taking home $10,000 worth of jewelry.

Original air date: 1/30/19

[CraftyHazel]

I hate when people say “jewLAree” rather than jew-el-ree.

 I’m petty like that.

[NowVoyager]

At least I'm not the only one watching this mess.

A number of these folks have questionable personal taste.

Every week Brittney's wigs make me irrationally angry. They are always too much hair for her petite build & they scream "wig" from a mile away. She looks silly. All the "experts" on this show, you would think someone would tell her.

[CraftyHazel]

30 minutes ago, NowVoyager said:

At least I'm not the only one watching this mess.

A number of these folks have questionable personal taste.

Every week Brittney's wigs make me irrationally angry. They are always too much hair for her petite build & they scream "wig" from a mile away. She looks silly. All the "experts" on this show, you would think someone would tell her.

I’ve found my people!!  Wait...person.  And your username is one of my favorite movies.

And most of these people have questionable personal taste. That’s part of the show’s charm.

Christie Brinkley still looks good, but she took her math teacher’s instructions way too literally for her life...”show your work”.  She’s always been a beauty, but it’s so obvious she’s had a lot of work done on that face.

[LennieBriscoe]

No; it's "people"! I love this show! 

Haha,  Christie actually said a look tonight (Red Carpet Challenge) was "uptown."

I thought the "Nefertiti" model was stunning and should have won. 

[Surrealist]

I considered not watching the second season, but I figured "Why the hell not?"

I don't mind Ashley as the host. I love having Yu Tsai's loud ass as a judge, but he's actually more low-key. Christie's had work done, for sure, but I enjoy her critiques.

I never really understand the taste level of any of the contestants.

So far, I think this is Lucy's to lose.

Edited January 31, 2019 by Surrealist

[Surrealist]

Double post.

Edited January 31, 2019 by Surrealist

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I liked that this week, the models already came with their dresses and jewelry so the contestants only had to do the hair and makeup. I feel like in previous weeks, they have wasted a lot of time and energy picking out wardrobe and looking at necklaces. This week was a lot more realistic because how often does a makeup artist also style their client from head to toe?

Every week I am reminded how much better Ashley Graham is as a host. She is so natural when she's introducing the judges, explaining the challenges, etc. Adriana Lima was just so stiff and unnatural (and I don't think her accent was to blame).

The biggest issue I had with this week's challenge is that most award shows call for a glamorous understated look, which means nothing outrageous. I totally understand that kind of look but I was ready for the judges to complain that the contestants didn't take enough risk(despite the fact that in real life, a red carpet event where you're wearing a long fancy gown is not the place to go crazy with your makeup). For that reason, it felt like the show was setting everyone up to get the comments about how their looks were boring because they just did regular beauty makeup.

I did not like Ricardo's slicked back wet look hair. I agreed with Sir John that he as piling way too much foundation on her skin.

I liked the silver cage that Diana did for her model's Met Gala look but I felt that her makeup was way too understated.

I ended up liking Samson's Nefertiti look. I liked that he worked through his hair issues and came up with an interesting idea. I thought the makeup complemented it well without going too overboard.

Once again, I noticed how different the models' makeup looks on the runway versus the photographs. One of the models looked like she had yellow streaks of foundation on her face on the runway. Another had bright eye shadow on the runway but it looked really pale in the photo.

Lucy has said from the first week that she does crazy dramatic drag makeup and I've been waiting to see even a little bit of that. I liked the blue and gold eye shadow she did on her model this week. I really want to see Lucy do something as colorful and wild as we've seen in her portfolio. I think that because she is deliberately not going over the top, she's been pulling back a little too much. Let's see it, girl!

[AntAnn]

10 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Once again, I noticed how different the models' makeup looks on the runway versus the photographs.

I modeled a tiny bit when I was much younger and in the last few years I’ve also been to a few events where a professional makeup was warranted. I’m in my 60’s now and I didn’t think there was a difference either, but I was doing some print work last year and my artist mentioned that my look and makeup would be different for photos. She was right, I looked great in the photos. So, for that reason, I don’t understand that judging.

[sleepyjean]

On 1/30/2019 at 8:11 PM, Marmiarmo said:

I hate when people say “jewLAree” rather than jew-el-ree.

 I’m petty like that.

Scootch over so I can sit. We'll be petty together. Jool-ery makes me physically cringe.

On 1/30/2019 at 8:31 PM, NowVoyager said:

Every week Brittney's wigs make me irrationally angry. They are always too much hair for her petite build & they scream "wig" from a mile away. She looks silly. All the "experts" on this show, you would think someone would tell her.

I don't know, Oz is just as bad. Brittney's was sad this week, but Oz's hot pink ombre wig and hot pink eyelids took the cake for me.

And speaking of wigs, ok Christie, we get that you learned some fun new lingo. Give the wig snatching and wig flying a rest please.

 

On 1/30/2019 at 9:37 PM, LennieBriscoe said:

I thought the "Nefertiti" model was stunning and should have won. 

Totally agree.

On 1/31/2019 at 1:35 AM, Surrealist said:

I considered not watching the second season, but I figured "Why the hell not?"

I don't mind Ashley as the host.

 

I figured why not too. I've got one foot out the door now. If this show comes back next year, I have feeling the answer to "why not" will be "because this show still sucks."

On 1/31/2019 at 11:16 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I liked that this week, the models already came with their dresses and jewelry so the contestants only had to do the hair and makeup. I feel like in previous weeks, they have wasted a lot of time and energy picking out wardrobe and looking at necklaces. This week was a lot more realistic because how often does a makeup artist also style their client from head to toe?

Ok, but why were they still fooling around with accessories? Ricardo was fooling around with shoes and bag, and Jayson's model had that huge necklace on, but he decided she needed even more jewelry? Why? Was the sponsor pushing it? (Side note: As Nina Garcia would say, this jewelry did not "look expensive.")

 

On 1/31/2019 at 11:16 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Every week I am reminded how much better Ashley Graham is as a host. She is so natural when she's introducing the judges, explaining the challenges, etc. Adriana Lima was just so stiff and unnatural (and I don't think her accent was to blame).

To be fair, that is a pretty low bar. Adriana, bless her....this was not her wheelhouse. Ashley is ok. I don't dislike her, but I can't make myself like her either. There's something about her that is just a little off-putting for me and I can't put my finger on it. 

On 1/31/2019 at 11:16 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Once again, I noticed how different the models' makeup looks on the runway versus the photographs. One of the models looked like she had yellow streaks of foundation on her face on the runway. Another had bright eye shadow on the runway but it looked really pale in the photo.

At first, I thought photoshop was to blame, and it is, in part. The guy who does the photoshopping for this show must also have a side job touching up those creepy pageant photos I used to see on Toddlers and Tiaras. They've all got those unnatural looking "doll eyes." But aside from photoshop, I think they re-shoot the models later. I can't think of another reason why this model (Rachel, I think?) was missing those little crystals at the inner corners of her eyes. Not that I missed them. I think they re-did her makeup.

 

There were so many things that seemed off this week.

• Why were the models wearing flip flops in the photos shown during "concept' time?
• Since when is "concept" a verb? As in "We have 15 minutes to concept" Is that lingo or is that BS?
• Why, with only 15 minutes to concept, were the stylists screwing around - fooling around with accessories, twirling around in the dresses and horsing around with the wigs, etc. Why did that one stylist, who had just seen his model in the dress, and had photo of her wearing the dress on his tablet, and had the dress physically in front of him, why was he fussing with hanging up the dress and photographing it again?
• Why were so many of the outfits so bad?  The blush/beige pantsuit was fantastic. I loved the gold and fuschia gowns. The green dress was 4 inches too short. The lavender dress was terrible and the blue one cut down to the waist was unflattering. The dark blue with the portrait neckline was way too low on her torso. That neckline was about an inch above her nipples. 
• Why did two of the models show up with hair in twists/braids that had to be undone before a new style could be done? With only 2 hours to do hair and makeup, that doesn't seem fair. All of the models should be barefaced with hair down and clean. A blank slate for everyone.

I'd also like to know how the models are assigned.

And finally, I've had enough of the weekly discussion about black girl hair. It is pathetic to show up on this program whining about knowing nothing about this hair type. It makes them look lazy and unprepared, and it's just as inexcusable as contestants on project runway complaining about having to make pants, or a garment for someone over a size 2. Having said that, it's been three weeks and I believe the topic has been exhausted. Thank you Oz. Let's move on.

Edited February 1, 2019 by sleepyjean

[timeywimey]

On 1/30/2019 at 11:37 PM, LennieBriscoe said:

No; it's "people"! I love this show! 

Haha,  Christie actually said a look tonight (Red Carpet Challenge) was "uptown."

I thought the "Nefertiti" model was stunning and should have won. 

I think Samson was robbed. From a distance Lucy's model looked like she had two bruises over her eyes.

[Surrealist]

On 2/1/2019 at 1:26 PM, sleepyjean said:

Ashley is ok. I don't dislike her, but I can't make myself like her either. There's something about her that is just a little off-putting for me and I can't put my finger on it. 

For me, it's that Ashley comes across as patronizing at times.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E6 Waitress Worthy Makeovers

Quote

Drawing inspiration from the hit Broadway musical "Waitress," the nine remaining artists are each paired with a deserving waitress to give them a gorgeous makeover and jaw-dropping new look.

Original air date: 2/6/19

[LennieBriscoe]

Highway robbery. I think all viewers know what I mean.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved the blue look that Oz gave her model. I agreed with the judge who said that matchy matchy can backfire but that in  this case, it worked. The royal blue color looked beautiful on her model and it would have looked great even if she had been wearing a different colored top or dress. Her client's hair and makeup looked polished but not too fussy.

I thought Lucy's model had on a bit too much eye makeup and her hair looked messy (rather than tousled), but she looked happy with her look.

Axel's girl looked great on the runway but I thought he used too much pink - pink eye shadow, pink blush, pink lipstick.

I disagreed with the judges about Brittney's look having too much. There is nothing wrong with a bold lip and strong eye makeup and great hair. They didn't even know it was a wig until she told them, so that whole "you have to pick only two of these three elements" seemed stupid.

Samson's 40s look was great from the front. His girl was rocking that red dress. But good lord, her hair looked TERRIBLE in the back.

The makeup on Diana's girl was a bit boring, but I give her credit for putting in so many extensions that quickly.

Kendra put way too much of that horrid orange eye shadow on her model. Good lord! i could see it even from a distance. It looked really terrible (both the color and the exaggerated shape).

I totally get what the judges were saying about how Ronaldo worked with his girl's downturned eyes, but I didn't think that was worthy of a win. I also didn't like his bad attitude. First of all, don't interrupt someone who is celebrating the good comments he got from the judges to complain. Interrupting is always rude, but it's even worse when you're being a total buzzkill. But secondly, why is it everyone else's fault that they sat in those other chairs and he sat down on the sofa that was all the way at the end. He could have sat closer to everyone else, but somehow it's everyone else who's excluding him? Bitch, please.

Jayson's look was pretty, but he was getting way too much credit for his client being awesome on the runway. She had a sassy attitude which was great, but it was not his doing. I don't care that he hasn't won a challenge yet, and it certainly doesn't mean that he deserves to win one now just because he hasn't won one yet. He is way too convinced that he is better than he is. And sorry, but saying "no disrespect" before proceeding to trash talk Ronald's look was a dick move. I have never understood why people think saying the equivalent of "no offense" gives them carte blanche to say shitty things.  Although the judges liked his look, he really shot himself in the foot with his attitude. Shaking his head and telling the judges that their decision was bogus because he "transformed" his girl.

Since no one was eliminated this week, should we expect a double elimination next week?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E7: Modern Brides

Quote

The judges struggle to keep their emotions bottled up as the artists take on their next challenge, where they must create a stunning look for the modern bride in a catwalk presentation that leads to a shocking elimination.

Original air date: 2/13/19

[GaT]

On 2/13/2019 at 12:13 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

where they must create a stunning look for the modern bride in a catwalk presentation that leads to a shocking elimination.

Um, nothing shocking about it, his look sucked.

[heckkitty]

57 minutes ago, GaT said:

Um, nothing shocking about it, his look sucked.

I haven't seen this yet, but I found a few videos on the show's (crappy) home page and I'm assuming/hoping Ronaldo got the chop?

[Sew Sumi]

Yup, he was chopped.

[Surrealist]

Whenever a contestant gets too cocky and takes digs at the others that's the giveaway (s)he's getting the axe.

Ronaldo deserved it though. His look was awful.

Also, I could have done without Ashley crying over his elimination. 

Frankly, they should have eliminated Diana too. She's been mediocre for most of the competition.

[heckkitty]

1 hour ago, Surrealist said:

Also, I could have done without Ashley crying over his elimination. 

Yeah that was nonsense. Calm down girl, his look sucked. 

[Pepper Mostly]

Brittany really took her inner bitch out for an airing, didn't she? The way she dragged Lucy into it, then shoved her later, was just ridiculous.

I though Lucy's flower crown looked ridiculous. I love flower crowns, too. To me that bejeweled dress called for a sleeker hair style. If she had to have flowers, it would have been more effective to have all one color, imo. The hippie-ish flower crown didn't seem to go with such an extravagant dress.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I don't know why Brittany or Sir John said that Lucy's headpiece was like the Beyonce one. Sir John's Beyonce flower thing wasn't the first time it was done or made famous. Frieda Kahlo made it iconic, and I know I've seen it many times between Frieda and Beyonce. I'm glad that Sir John just said he loved it instead of being pissy about it and saying that she copied him.

Same goes for Diana getting mad at Brittany. Sorry, Diana, but you didn't invent either of those two looks. And squawking to other people in the workroom about it and then saying that you're keeping your mouth shut and that your momma raised you right doesn't count as actually keeping your mouth shut. But Brittany also made herself look like an asshole by dragging Lucy into the shouting match. Seriously, STFU.

Let's be honest - how many people have actually created original looks? Very few. I used to see people getting pissy about this in dance too and they get really ridiculous/possessive about things that they did not invent. The most laughable example was a student choreographed show. After watching rehearsal, one girl went to another one of the choreographers and said, "Um, you know that I have a center split in my dance too, right?" I overheard this and had to really bite my tongue not to laugh. Girl, you did not invent the center splits and you do not have exclusive rights to center splits.

Sir John's knows that he did not invent the floral look which is (hopefully) why he didn't say anything along those lines to Lucy. There's no sense in accusing someone of copying your work when you weren't the first one who did it either. I was glad when Samson later said that no one owns anything because it's true.

I have such a hard time judging the makeup on this show because it looks so different on the runway vs the photos. I'm assuming it's because the photographer is using a really bright flash because the colors always look brighter/darker on the runway and lighter/washed out in the photos.

On the runway, Jayson's look was way too heavy on the eye shadow (to a ridiculous degree especially considering that this was a bridal challenge) but in the photos, the pink looked much softer.

I liked the idea of Diana's Great Gatsby look because I agreed that the dress looked very juvenile (I, too, wondered who the hell would get married in bedazzled crop top and tutu), but creating a flapper look really worked. I thought the brown eye shadow was way too dark, even in the photos.

I'm glad that Lucy asked her model how she was doing while putting the flowers on and stopped adding any more when the model said it was getting heavy. I thought using the flowers of the colors for the eye shadow was a fun idea but you couldn't see any of that in the photos because the colors were so washed out.

Ronaldo's look was ridiculous. A messy bun for a wedding? I can't believe he got to assign all the looks and he chose the model wearing a pantsuit. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a pantsuit but of all the outfits, that would not have been my first choice. I also can't believe that he spent all that time putting in extensions and then started ripping them out right before the runway. He deserved to be eliminated for that sloppy looking hair. I don't know anyone who would get married with their hair looking like they just left the gym. The fact that he said he has seen brides at courthouse weddings with this makeup did not help matters.

I was cracking up that Samson thought he created a bold avant garde bride of Frankenstein look when what he really did was put in one wisp of white hair on the side. The purple eye makeup was barely visible in the photos.

I was afraid that Kendra was jinxing herself when she said that she does a lot of bridal makeup for her business, but lucky for her Ronaldo fucked up so much with the hair that I figured everyone else would be safe. I thought she did a lovely beauty makeup but since the challenge was supposed to be bold, I thought it was a little meh for that.

I hated the pink eye shadow that Axel used on his model. It looked really bad. I also hated the slicked back hair. To me, neither of those things was bridal.

On the runway, it looked like Oz's model had on foundation that was about three shades too light. I wasn't a fan of the purple eye makeup either. But I did like the big flowers in the front of the hair. It was pretty and bridal and a little untraditional without being too weird.

I didn't like when Yu Tsai told Oz she wasn't selling her look very well after he asked about her inspiration. It's not a makeup artist's job to give you a long story about her inspiration. Her job is to do the hair and makeup that was assigned to her. Look at it and decide if you like it based on what it looks like. I actually LOATHE when contestants on Project Runway come up with these long convoluted stories to justify their stupid outfits and design choices. If you're at a wedding or looking at a magazine. you aren't going to ask what the makeup artist's inspiration was. You're gong to look at it and either like it or hate it based on what it looks like, not some longwinded rationalization or story.

[GoGamecox]

I started watching this because I am a fan of Ashley Graham and she plugged the show pretty hard on her Instagram. But I don't feel like I'm getting a good idea of what she's really like. Maybe it's just crappy editing?  I thought her crying reaction to Renaldo was strange when it seems she has not really interacted much or bonded with the contestants. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E8: Hero vs. Villain Face Off

Quote

The artists must work in pairs to create hero and villain looks that are both cohesive. The judges' intense scrutiny and attention to detail has the artists on edge during a fiery elimination.

Original air date: 2/20/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was pleasantly surprised that this week's team challenge resulted in no fights in the workroom. I'm sure the producers were disappointed that Diana and Brittney weren't screaming at each other. I was wondering if the bottom two teams would end up turning on each other during judging, but of course the show had to add that twist of each team competing against each other.

I wasn't expecting much from the hero/villain challenge because it seems pretty obvious that the hero will get the soft/luminous beauty makeup and the villain will get the dark dramatic makeup.

I'm over rhinestone lips. All I can think about when I see them is the poor model not being able to eat or lick her lips. I think Axel could have achieved a similar look on his hero model by using a metallic silver on her lips. He drove me crazy every time he said "rhime-stone."

Kendra's villain had the expected smoky eye. I was kind of surprised that she chose that lip color instead of a dark red. I agreed with whichever judge said she was getting a Naomi Campbell vibe from this look.

I wasn't into Diana and Brittney's Japanese theme. My biggest issue is that the white bit that was on Brittney's model's lower lip made it look like she had buck teeth from a distance. My other problem is that without the light/dark costumes, it wasn't obvious from the hair/makeup which model was the hero and which was the villain.

Samson's hero model looked like a highlighting factory exploded on her. For someone who said this was his dream challenge, he really played it safe. Her hair was blah and her makeup (aside from the iridescent highlighter) was pretty boring.

Oz's model was working the evil runway. She didn't go nearly as dramatic as I thought she would with the makeup. I did like the feathers in her hair which added a subtle touch of evil, and I liked the metallic green eye shadow.

I found it interesting that Jayson decided to put his hero in a bright orange dress rather than the cliche white or pastel of Disney stories. I did not like the rhinestone glued around her eyes though. She's not going to Coachella, dude.

Lucy's model looked like a villain even from a distance. Between the black cape and the headdress, she had that evil vibe.

I was really surprised that Jayson took his elimination so well. When he went back to the lounge and had only encouraging things to say to the other contestants, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm glad he didn't have a meltdown.