Miss Havisham Designs - Hair and Makeup

There are many things which could have effected Miss Havisham’s appearance whether it be illness, malnourishment, depression, self harm, lack of sleep, poor hygiene or just old age. These factors have been considered with the development of my own Miss Havisham look.

Firstly, I looked into emphasising old age. For this look I wanted to display loose and wrinkled skin, gaunt features and a very pale complexion. After researching images of elderly people, I noticed how blood vessels often created red patched on the face. These were mainly focused around the nose, eyes and lips. The lips are also not definite and facial hair becomes thin and white/grey. The skin on the neck becomes very loose and hollows. This would be created with contouring and highlighting and use of latex and ageing techniques.

For this look, I wanted to focus on the idea of Miss Havisham being depressed. In doing this, I imagine the eyes would be red and sore from the irritation of wiping aways tears and rubbing of the eyes. The lips are also sore looking, again from wiping her face. I could also imagine she would have some bizarre traits, such as biting her lips in anger and frustration. The grey shading is to show how I could shape the face to make the model look naturally sad without pulling an expression. The grey and pale skin ages her. Again, the neck and facial skin needs to look gaunt, loose and wrinkled.

This look is to demonstrate irritated, dry and sore skin. As part of her schizophrenia, I’d imagine she would potentially self harm and maybe scratch herself. This is why I have shown scratch-like marks on the side of her face. The slight yellow areas are to show the peeling and dry skin around the eyes, the scratches and the lips. This would be produced by either latex or eyelash glue.

In this look I am trying to demonstrate constant layering of makeup each day without removing the previous day’s face of makeup. Im imagining Miss Havisham trying to keep hold of her beauty that she had on the day that her wedding was planned. Here, I want to emphasise the eye makeup that has been potentially smudged from her tears which creates a symbolic effect of her sadness. Again, I have imagined the lips to be slightly pink from being sore.

This look has a similar concept to the one above with the idea of the application of makeup. The thing differing with this image is that the eye makeup is a demonstration of her madness and how it spreads wildly around her eyes. There is shading on the face to emphasise the hollows to create a tired and aged effect. The redness around the eyes is to show irritation and blood vessels coming to the skins surface, as a sign of old age. Here, I have created the wrinkle lines around certain areas to create and angry expression.

Here is a potential idea for a look using a veil, seeing as she remains in her bridal wear. In this look I have incorporated a few of the above designs. I have made sure that the ageing is obvious with strong contouring using grey tones to hollow the face out and make her appear tired and gaunt. The eyes are red with irritation from tears and rubbing. Her lips are heavily wrinkled to create an old and pinched effect. I have also used a deeper red in the centre to make the lips look bitten and sore.  On one side of the face, there is a heavy application of eye makeup. This shows her madness and desire to hold onto her wedding day. On the other side, covered by the veil, the eye is bare and hidden. This could be symbolic of how she is vulnerable under her cold front.

Here, I have chosen a similar design to the Victorian silhouette I created. This time I have added dead moths and butterflies to emphasise the fragility of Miss Havisham's mental health. The veil and roses at the back coincide with the bridal image Miss Havisham has tried to keep hold of.