Mykitco Brush Box: The Artist Solution For Shoots

When it comes to kit for pro makeup artists (and aficionados) Mykitco has become the go to brand focusing on brushes, tools and storage, they are an artist brand at heart understanding not just the changing face of the business but being on top of the creative needs of its customers base which is why the latest addition to the range: My Brush Box TM is a savvy addition to the brand.

As we all know, how we work as artists has changed with people being more aware of hygiene and looking closer at the way we store our kit, brushes in this case being one of the most important, the Mykitco Brush box is a real plus on that front for a number of reasons:

Brushes can be packed to suit the work at hand with multiples for a shoot being placed in the box on both sides or *as illustrated above, with brushes and small palettes that can be stored quickly and easily to access during a shoot in a set bag such as the Backstage Buddy available in small, medium and now a large backstage buddy option, without risk of damage as they roll around in the bag.

With its core of artistry led design at the heart of the business, it is no surprise that artists including our own JamesC, have taken the brand on as go-to for their professional needs.

To learn more about the Mykitco range or to purchase see:

Mykitco Website.

Mykitco Instagram.

For details on their pro discount click here.

Reaching Out in 2023

As we are in the first week of a new year, the lost creatives team has been making really positive moves and reaching out to not just new people but spending time talking to old friends in the realm of photography to discuss potential studio and location shoots.

With our first official telephone meeting of the year now done, we are very excited by the potential of what is being proposed and can start really taking stock with a view to moving our own brand forward.

New in the mix is creative director Jamesc, who wants to do not just horror based shoots but go back to freestyle painting (inspired by the amazing makeup artist Linda Mason) for editorial and showcase once again, his creative talents.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing more news and updates including interviews with actors, producers and other creative talent.

Welcome to 2023, lets make it a good one!

The Lost Creatives Christmas

In the last few weeks of 2022 (where has the time gone!!??) The Lost Creatives has gone from strength to strength, don’t get me wrong there have been pitfalls, but overall we have been able to create a network of people that is amazing, offer PR and other forms of support to fellow creatives that was after all the goal of the site.

Christmas for us, will be a time of relaxation with a heavy focus on what will be done in the new year, with commercial work and PR for clients having been the heaviest part of our workload, our creative director JamesC, will be returning to work as a makeup artist on a more open basis and taking on smaller projects to bolster the public side of his work and spending time on some personal projects that will be featured not just here on the Lost Creative but his own site and our partner site The Lost Agency who will be taking a heavier hand in our own marketing and internal affairs. *This means we will be returning to Instagram soon!

We have had some disappointments lately, with meetings and reaching out to potential collaborators falling through mainly due to scheduling issues which as you can imagine as a freelancer, has been a pain, however that will not stop us from pushing forward and with our ties to HOD TV, we will be focusing on that for the future and tackling things in a much more hard-line manner.

Our passion for the arts is not waning, far from it, we have collated magazines, festivals and other information that we intend to make full use of for ourselves, up until now we have put a vast amount of time into clients and not been able to put the lost concept at the forefront but, we are incredibly proud of the fact people have trusted the team.

In the next few weeks we will be releasing our goals and a schedule for this through the site along with a few snippets of art projects to test the waters.

For the moment we are going to allow ourselves a little breathing space for the festive season and release more information soon and options to get involved.

Working The Makeup Dept Budget With Desired FX

In the world of film and TV, budgets can be the biggest constraint alongside time, to the creative process. For the makeup department often this means we have to search out cost-efficient options to create a particular look or downgrade the process to fit the money available, thankfully, there are services like Desired FX that can help with this and give you a budget-friendly, professional add-on to your kit that will push the department ahead.

From silicone wounds to scars, tattoos including bruising and standard designs, Desired FX offers up a range of products that will work for most scenarios and even offers a studio custom service to allow further scope for creativity on a budget.

With increasing options in the digital market from Amazon to HOD TV (Horror on Demand), the indie film sector has never been so popular with the on-demand film/TV sector becoming bigger year on year, but budgets being tight in the circuit, having the option of a team like Desired FX who can provide cost-efficient options for the FX department, there is scope to bring a different dimension as a department head working smart with the available funds.

To learn more about Desired FX or to purchase see:

Desired FX shop ( 10% off on all products with the promo code "JamesClark10")

Desired FX Instagram.

Desired FX Facebook.

Revamping The Lost Sites

We are going to be working on the Lost sites over the next two weeks allowing us to decide what is and isn’t working, change out images, and update affiliate links and partnerships, we are incredibly lucky to have some amazing brands supporting us already and we have projects that have been completed (but shelved due to other aspects of work underway) that will be used to update the sites.

From a professional stance, in particular to the makeup side, our creative director and head of makeup JamesC’s website has already been reworked to make it cleaner and simpler to navigate, he has chosen several brands to work with including Mykitco (check out the pro discount program for eligibility), Illamasqua Pro will become a featured brand soon, and of course Sons of Adonis (JamesC personally consulted with the owner of the range and the brush).

Two small projects for the festival circuit are being written and developed with a view to expanding into a full-scale TV series, an idea we have wanted to really push forward with for a long time, with the festival path we can tailor our choices to suit garnering awards for the team including the makeup, actors, and director to help with promotion.

*This means we will add to the roster very soon to help with the creation of projects, and a new TV production site will be a part of this planning.

We are really pleased that our main site, The Lost Project, is gathering attention (organically) and continues to be a source of information on the consumer side, the book reviews and makeup stories are proving to be popular which is something we are incredibly proud of.

More changes are coming and it is truly exciting to be working on the lost group expansion. Stay tuned for more updates and news.

Touching Base With Our Friends in Nepal

Something we are incredibly proud of is our association with the Nepal Film Production team, and with a potential project being discussed at the moment it is good to be talking business again with the founder Digbijaya Bharati is a genuine pleasure and will open up doors again to work in the jewel of South Asia that is Nepal.

With their main work being documentary, Nepal Film Production works with filmmakers across the world we love that we can be a part of that remotely at the moment, talk about new avenues and bring the Lost Creative’s methods and projects to them where we know that they will be tackled with professionalism.

Now that things are moving again we can open up old projects we put to the side during the upheaval of the last two years and tackle ideas that we have been eager to get back to. South Asia is to us, the most beautiful place, having spent two years in India, our creative director JamesC, is very happy about the prospect of this and looking forward to talking film, TV, and other things with our friends and associates in Kathamandu.

Finding Solutions

Finding solutions is a big part of the work we do, from our creative consultation work with the Sons of Adonis brand to blogging about shows, The Lost Creatives was built around that concept and we are truly grateful to the people around us, in the last few days our dear friend Keziah Nyam-jim who has been bringing her immense talents in the business world to the table and supporting our changes with some advice, gentle nudges, and more than a few laughs in the process, she has been talking us through options that we would otherwise have missed.

What this means, is we have a much clearer end goal and thanks to Keziah, a timetable to work to, and someone outside of the creative world we live in who is going to give us a critical eye that is much needed looking over the work and plans. Something that we highly recommend.

There are also updates we know are coming to the vshowcards site which will make a huge impact on how we work, and open up doors to projects for many people in the arts and media that will be a gamechanger. Our creative director JamesC, will be amending and changing his own profile with vshowcards and adding the link directly to the website to make promotion a little easier overall.

More updates will be available soon so stay tuned.

Travel and Meeting Contacts Featuring vShowcards

We are really pleased when people reach out, especially when our contacts who have taken time off, come to us to talk about working on something fresh which has been happening a lot recently especially with photographers and a few actors who feel that the time is right to start working on smaller projects to stretch their muscles a little after the uncertainty of the last two years.

Naturally, this has given us the impetus to think a little more deeply about concepts and start stockpiling items that may seem strange but will in the long term be of advantage to us, such as the mix of ready-made prosthetics, butterflies, and other items that would on the surface seem strange.

In addition to this, we are planning a trip to London, part buyers trip and part meet up with friends, although the timing for this has been a little tricky due to family commitments, there are advantages to this that aside from being able to shop, we can discuss plans with the team at vShowcards gaining further insight their upcoming changes (which look to be amazing), our creative director JamesC is already a member which is another reason we want to sit with them and work out some details and add to his profile with strategic work.

What we are planning for is trips to the major makeup retailers, meeting with clients/friends, then returning to Scotland to work on additions to the sites across the board. There is something to be said for this plan that goes beyond the obvious networking, it really is about finding new sources of inspiration on route.

The scope and potential of this trip should be interesting and be a welcome break from the background work we have been doing.

To learn more about JamesC or the vShowcards site see:

JamesC vShowcards.

vShwocards official site.

Adding To Your Pro Kit For Makeup Artists Featuring Mykitco

In our last blog, we talked about the books we are adding to our working library which included two fantastic makeup books and one on filmmaking which we thought would be beneficial not only to the team but to our readers.

Now we want to talk to the makeup artists out there and remind you that your kit is important, more so now than ever with changes happening on a regular basis and guidance altering how we work collectively, this admittedly varies by company and by budget, none the less it is a good time to invest in solid kit staples that will ensure you are working smart in the new year from fashion and print through to film and TV.

Mykitco is one of the brands that does feature heavily in our creative directors working kit and with a plan in motion to split the kit into 2 parts (more so the tools) a sale is always a good time to buy up brushes and other accessories especially when they are pro-grade and high quality.

What this means for JamesC, is that rather than a full array of kit items brought in and cleaned in stages, he and the rest of the team will focus on small projects that will allow space to clean and in terms of space reduce the need for a larger table so limiting things to 6 f each brush and careful planning for the looks to ensure that we are working smart, and in a time-efficient manner across commercial projects and our festival plans.

*It is worth taking the time to apply for the pro discount available from Mykitco as this will allow you the flexibility to add to your kit over time and add new items as and when you need them.

For further information on the Mykitco range or to follow them across social media see:

Mykitco Website.

Mykitco Instagram.

Mykitco Facebook.

Adding To Our Book Collection

With the Christmas and New Years’ break in midflow, we wanted to take some time to add to our collection of books for work both in filmmaking and of course in makeup artistry (at the behest of our creative director JamesC). Naturally, with Boxing day sales, and gift cards in our pocket it was a really good time to add to the collection and give us time to read up on new techniques and look at some other perspectives.

Of course, we wanted to share the top 3 books that have made our list and give a brief overview of why we bought them starting with:

Don't F*ck Up Your No Budget Movie!: Inexpensive Filmmaking In This Content-Hungry Age by Ivan Peric, aside from the title (which immediately grabs attention) this was one that from the chapter list alone spoke to the team because it does talk in terms we are thinking and puts the emphasis on the commercial aspect of filmmaking, so we did purchase the book in hardback for our collection. We will be going into more detail on this book for the blog soon with the support of the Author, so stay tuned.

Don't F*ck Up Your No Budget Movie! Amazon UK.

Don't F*ck Up Your No Budget Movie! Amazon USA.

A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup 3 by the Tokyo SFX makeup workshop, was a real plus as it will add dimension to the collection and be in line with our second makeup-oriented book, which is one that will be bought in again as a backup. Focusing on cuts, scars, and wounds, this book offers up a different perspective on techniques that we are really interested in and want to integrate into our work next year.

A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup 3 Amazon UK.

A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup 3 Amazon USA.

Special Effects Guide Of Real Human Wounds and Injuries By Mr. Benito Garcia iii, a must for anyone interested in film and TV makeup, this is a truly graphic and comprehensive book that covers different aspects of bodily injury and shows you in real terms what they should look like making it entirely possible to replicate this with special effects.

Special Effects Guide Of Real Human Wounds and Injuries Amazon UK.

Special Effects Guide Of Real Human Wounds and Injuries Amazon USA.

We have other books coming and within the collection but these were real standouts and worth sharing as we move forward with our own plans and goals.