The search for Britain's next make-up star is back.
From thousands of aspiring make-up artists across the UK,
ten of the best MUAs have been chosen.
Strap yourselves in.
Ooh, OK.
You're like my first ever... Oh. ..model.
And over the next eight weeks,
they'll be judged by industry experts...
It's too much!
Yeah, that's great.
I'm scared.
This looks amazing. I think it's really cool.
..working on professional assignments...
The shape is still not there. She's not getting it.
We need to get a move on, move on, move on.
SHE SIGHS
It is fierce.
..and showcasing their talents in the creative briefs.
Sometimes you have to shout.
Ooh!
Pow! My mind's just blown.
I look a bit like Piglet, innit?
You have definitely dinged my dong.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Nearly wet myself.
Please don't.
This is the power of make-up to tell a story.
Each week, the two who fail to deliver...
If you're not careful, you're going to fade into the background.
..will go head to head in a face-off.
The loser goes home...
GASPING
..until one remains to win a contract,
assisting some of the biggest make-up artists in the world.
So, are you ready? Yes!
It's going to be a very big statement.
It's time to glow up.
For their first-ever professional assignment,
our ten shiny new MUAs are in Birmingham...
It's crazy.
..home to one of the world's fastest-growing fitness brands.
THEY SCREAM
Hi. Hi. Oh, my gosh.
Welcome MUAs!
It is so lovely to see all of your faces.
Who's excited?
THEY CHEER
Yeah. I could hear the "yass" from down the corridor.
That was me. That was you?
Well, first off, congratulations.
You are all this year's chosen ones.
As you know, there is no Glow Up without the two legends
Val Garland and Dominic Skinner. THEY CHEER
L'Oreal Paris Global Make-up Director Val Garland
has been creating iconic looks for industry heavyweights
in music, design and fashion for over 25 years.
Average work simply won't cut it for me.
I want to be wowed. I want to be bowled over.
I want to see something that I've never seen before.
Dominic Skinner has spearheaded global campaigns for MAC Cosmetics
and created show-stopping looks at fashion weeks across the world.
I'm the prince of precision and a stickler for symmetry.
This is series four.
We've had thousands of artists apply.
The bar is high, but so are my expectations.
To be a successful make-up artist takes determination and hard graft.
We want to be blown away by your creativity
because only one of you can be crowned
Britain's Next Make-Up Star.
Today, you have been booked to do the make-up
on a social media campaign for a global fitness brand.
Gymshark.
Since it launched in 2012, Gymshark has become one of the most
influential fitness and apparel brands of the 21st century.
Having built their company entirely online,
the power of social media has been key to their success.
We really want to engage our followers.
We want to harness new audiences,
but also we really want to inspire them.
This week's guest judge is Ivy Weir-Ikpeme,
who is the styling manager for the campaign.
We carried out an online poll to our 17 million followers,
and a quarter of those that responded said
that they wear make-up to the gym.
So, for our latest campaign,
we want you to create a natural make-up look
that is durable for a workout,
that keeps health at its core,
and ultimately keeps our followers from scrolling by
and get them looking at our campaign.
To achieve this, I want you to include one fitspiration feature
that puts your stamp on the look,
whether that be accentuating the brow, having a bold eye
or a fierce lip.
The winning MUA's look will go live across the brand's
social media channels.
This is huge, right?
Just 17 million.
I will need the models to be ready to be photographed in two hours.
So, go and get your kits,
and I don't mean your gym kit.
So off we go.
I'm not a big, like, weight-lifting person.
I'm more just like a frolic-in-the-forest kind of person.
Wow. This is like Christmas. I love it.
This will be completely out of my comfort zone.
I've just done beauty campaigns.
This is, like, fitness, so it's a whole different vibe
that they're looking for.
OK.
This is so exciting. Love a fresh palette.
Ooh.
I'm someone that really enjoys getting skin really nice and clean.
I'm also a gym-goer, so this feels like it could be up my street.
Ooh! These are lit. Look at the colours.
I'm just so excited. It's like a kid in the candy store.
The MUAs have each been assigned a model...
Do you want to have a seat?
Oh, you're mine! Oh, my God.
..and given a mood board to help inspire their natural look
with a standout feature.
What are your pronouns, by the way? Just so... She, her. She, her - fab.
Over the past couple of years, the whole world has gone online,
which suited make-up artists perfectly.
In their bedrooms, all over the world,
people have been playing with make-up.
Do you have any allergies or any sensitive skin or anything?
No, not that I know of.
But we have young artists joining the industry
who've only ever done make-up on themselves.
This is really exciting. You're, like, my first-ever model. Oh.
That's why we have the professional assignments.
I feel like a little chef in this kitchen.
Only thing is, I'm in the gym.
It's a brand-new situation.
It will test whether they've got what it takes.
Hiya, Ryan. Hiya, Maya. You all right?
I'm good. How are you? Belting. I'm excited!
Is this something you're used to doing? Yeah.
But, in general, like, I do avant-garde looks, though.
Yeah, it's a bit different.
I mean, gym make-up, sporty kind of vibes. Yeah.
But you like the more fabulous stuff. Yeah, definitely.
So, I definitely have to tone this down
a little bit more than usual.
I come from Bolton, which is a very small town,
very laddy, very rugby.
You don't really be creative and do make make-up.
But in 2017, I went into a bit of a downward spiral.
It was just a very horrible, dark time...
..and make-up really brought me out of that.
It helped me kind of discover who I am, as well.
That was the time I kind of refined those skills,
and I became the artist I am today.
I'm just literally getting the skin perfect.
Your skin is so nice that you don't even need a lot of stuff
going on on your face.
The style of make-up I'm looking for today
is healthy, dewy skin.
What I don't want to see is really heavy foundation.
You're going to the gym to work out.
Yes, you want to look amazing, but your skin should be able
to breathe at the same time.
To create a look that's healthy on the skin,
the MUAs should keep the base light.
Make-up can do wonders
until it sweats off.
Laying it on too thick can mean extra sweat
and lead to breakouts.
Can you just look up?
But for primary school teacher and self-taught MUA Lisa,
the natural look is anything but child's play.
I'm worried about sort of getting the skin right, mostly,
because, obviously, only having ever done skin on myself,
I want to get it looking really nice and dewy,
without looking, like, oily or sweaty.
When I was talking to the kids in my class, and telling them
that they could be whoever they wanted
and achieve whatever they wanted,
I realised that I hadn't really listened to my own advice,
and it made me think I need to actually, like, try
and follow my true passion and get into make-up as a career.
I've always suffered with anxiety and low confidence,
and I think that is partly why
I didn't go into make-up straight away.
The thing that I most hope that I get through Glow Up
is to show myself that even though I have those doubts
that, actually, I can do this.
I think I'm going to keep it quite natural, and I want to try
and keep her freckles,
so that we have that extra feature that's really her.
With the "less is more",
what you'll find is, it's actually a lot harder
because you're adding product, but it's meant to look
like they're not wearing any product.
This is my first experience
with a brief like the one that we've got today.
You hair's so soft.
Also stepping out of their comfort zone
is 22-year-old self-taught MUA Charlie.
Hi. Hi, angel.
How are you doing? How are you? I'm...I'm gorgeous.
I'm OK. Looking stunning. Oh, thank you.
I'm not going to lie, I've been watching you
in those heels and not one triple slip. Almost.
Really? Yes. You're carrying it off perfectly.
I do suffer from gender dysphoria,
a condition where your own biology makes you uncomfortable.
Make-up has been a huge step
in being somewhat at peace with myself.
The ability to alter my presentation and present as femme is amazing.
I'd like to raise my beautiful daughter
to not even think about gender presentation
as such a strict thing.
I just hope that she's a well-rounded,
progressive human being.
I'm just focusing on skin at the moment. Mm-hm.
I'm trying not to get too carried away.
I keep saying, "Oh, do you think it's too heavy?"
It's kind of hard with the brief, isn't it?
Cos you want to stand out,
but then it's stripped-back make-up at the same time. Yeah.
I want it real.
I'm really happy with it.
I'm just going to get it all over, though.
I'm not having Val and Dom going,
"Your neck's a completely different colour to the face."
Let's talk about Ryan.
How is he getting on?
The base that he's using is a bit too heavy
for the model's skin.
It's interesting, cos he's started to work on the neck. Yeah.
So, clearly, his colour correction wasn't good from the get-go,
because if he'd got it correct,
he wouldn't have to start blending the whole neck.
So sorry, just going to pick this little bit of hair off.
How do you think Lisa is getting on?
So, I really love how her skin is looking at the moment.
She's got these lovely freckles. Didn't try and hide them.
I love that natural, healthy, glowy-looking skin.
I think it's working.
SHE LAUGHS
I'm pretty happy with it so far.
I think it looks pretty natural,
but it still looks, like, nice and glowy and even.
So, yeah.
MUAs, you've had one hour.
You've got one hour to go.
That was fast.
That was way quicker than I thought.
Once the MUAs have completed their stripped-back base,
they can move on to the second part of the brief -
creating a fierce fitspiration design that accentuates
one of the model's features.
For my fierce element, I wanted to do something
a little bit graphic, so a bit of graphic liner,
but sensibly placed cos, obviously, when you're sweating,
you're working out, you don't want it to crease and print.
We want a look that has a bit of a pop of something
just a bit more.
I feel like this line is quite sporty.
It just gives it that extra dimension.
We want our followers to look at it and think,
"That's amazing. I can rock that."
I'm doing, like, a really thin graphic eye-liner
in this shape of, like, a heartbeat.
I'm just adding a subtle contour in the eye
and being quite minimal with it, trying to strip back.
While some of the MUAs keep things subtle,
Nance's taking a totally different approach.
Oh, we're going bold. Might as well.
Go hard or go home.
Literally.
SHE LAUGHS
Right now, I'm just changing the brow colour to something bold.
I've gone for, like, lilac-y, purply kind of colour.
I'm trusting my gut.
I've been a freelance make-up artist for almost ten years.
I was born in Congo, and I moved to the UK
when I was nine years old.
I did not know a word of English. SHE LAUGHS
I've definitely had my struggles.
I don't think there's enough representation for people of colour
in the make-up industry.
There are so many girls like me who want to do make-up,
but it's scary not seeing people who look like you doing the things
that you want to do.
So, I definitely want to be a face for that.
Purple bleeds easily.
I would hate for the purple to bleed into the skin.
Nance, over there,
she's doing some stuff with the brows at the moment.
Yeah. I'm not entirely sure if the look that she's going for
is kind of in keeping to the fitspiration
that we would like the MUAs to create.
You're going to see purple brows, and you're going to stop
and you're going to want to stay on the page.
For social media, it's good.
We want them to engage, but also sort of feel
like this is inspirational and it's achievable.
And I'm not sure that that look is going that way
at this present moment.
What would you do if you were in her position?
I would start again. Start the whole thing? Yeah.
Those purple brows - it's too much.
I think what some of our MUAs need to remember
is that this is a brief about the brand.
Some of them, they're kind of doing their own personal take.
It concerns me a little bit,
but I know we've still got a bit of time left,
so let's just see how it pans out.
He got really nice eyebrows,
so I asked him, like, what are his favourite colours.
And, yeah, we came up with red and turquoise, so, yeah.
I've just been working with a pink and orange lip combination.
I just want to clean it up,
just because it's run over a little bit on this side.
Right, let's have a little gander.
Yep. I'm happy with the lip.
MUAs, tick-tock.
You have ten minutes to go.
Seriously?
I love doing liners, but liner terrifies me is all,
and it's like...I'm, like, holding my breath the entire time.
I want to make sure that it's symmetrical on both sides,
and, like, you know, one's not looking at her brow,
the other one's looking at her cheekbone.
I'm happy with the skin.
And I'm happy with the brows.
I'm ready to wow.
Judges, OK.
I'm hot with them walking around.
She smells good, doesn't she?
Yes.
MUAs, one minute to go.
Make it work.
Super happy with it.
Brushes down. Stop it, Ryan. Touching it too much.
Noice!
Glowing, natural, hydrated.
Time's up, everyone.
I need your models photographed.
I enjoyed it way more than I thought,
considering I don't really like gyms and sports and stuff.
It was really fun, just doing the natural, glowy skin.
It's so delicious.
I think I dried up my skin too much.
I'm so scared now.
I feel nervous after that.
I just...I just don't know what to think.
I want to hear the feedback now.
I think other people had a calmer approach to it,
and I didn't.
So, that's the risk.
While the MUAs wait next door,
their looks will now be photographed,
and a winner will be chosen for the global campaign.
All right, well done, everybody.
You've completed your first assignment.
How are we feeling?
Ecstatic, buzzing.
OTHERS LAUGH
17 million followers - like, they threw us
straight into the deep end.
So, this is Rachel's model.
It looks a tad too glamorous for what we wanted from the brief.
It doesn't have this essence of healthy.
Joining the judges to check that the looks are skin friendly
is the campaign's dermatologist, Dr Anjali Mahto.
It all feels and looks a bit heavy on the skin, you know?
I wouldn't want somebody wearing quite this much make-up
if they're about to do a workout.
It's glamorous make-up.
It's not right for the gym.
Here we have Ryan's model.
Do you feel happy with how you did today?
I am, but you never know because Val and Dom could be like,
"What is that?"
My biggest concern is, actually, if you're going to the gym
and you have this much base on you,
you are likely to end up with spots.
He's just missed the mark completely.
So, this is Charlie.
I was out of my comfort zone.
I just hope that they enjoyed what I created, I guess.
I think this has all the elements of an amazing beauty campaign shot.
But we're looking for a shot that, when you're scrolling through
on social media, that you're like, "Oh, my God."
We did ask for something that would just make the audience stop. Yeah.
And that's what's missing.
So, this is Nance's model.
It's just not keeping to the brand.
It's engaging the customer in the completely wrong way.
He looks like he's bleaching his eyebrows.
All I see is foundation.
There's too much make-up.
This is Sophie's model.
Maybe I went a bit overboard.
I don't know. You never know.
It could have been just the orange. It could have been just the blue.
It could have been just the highlight.
By putting everything into the mix, it ends up becoming too much,
so you can't really taste anything. Yeah.
Here we have Adam's model.
It's, like, such a beautiful, beautiful shot.
But we wanted something that would engage
on our social media channels.
Great skin, great brows, great lashes.
I am so bored.
We need something to make this an exciting campaign.
This is Chris's model.
I think the dynamic nature of the eyeline just doesn't fit
with the model.
Mikael's model.
I just don't understand what the lines are meant to be.
I think it would have looked far better if it was just the red.
This is Lisa's model.
I love that we get to see our model's freckles.
The skin looks healthy.
There's that rosy glow, like she's just had a workout.
If I had to have one negative,
I don't think the eyebrows are executed as well
as they could be.
So, this is Yong-Chin's model.
It's really, really beautiful.
I really feel that fulfils what I was looking for.
I like the heartbeat.
I just think it's in the wrong place.
Overall, I think we've got some really strong images today,
but I definitely think there's one that I would want
for our social media campaign.
Hello, judges. Hi.
Hello. Hello.
Well, congratulations, everyone,
for completing your first assignment.
The brand asked for a natural make-up look
with a fitspiration feature.
Some of you fulfilled that brief.
However, others didn't.
And your looks, the make-up just looked too heavy on camera.
The MUA who's going to be shooting our global campaign is...
..Lisa.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Congratulations. Well done. Oh, my God!
So, Lisa, no time like the present.
We're going to go off on set now and shoot the campaign.
Oh, my God. Congratulations!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
That is crazy!
Well done. Well done. Well done! Thank you.
You happy? Yeah, I'm happy.
I'm literally can't believe it.
I mean, you know, it's the first model I've worked on.
I've never done anything like a campaign.
This is huge.
It's good on the big screen. It's absolutely crazy.
The detail. Yeah. And I love her freckles coming through.
I'm looking forward to telling my mum.
She's just, like, my biggest fan ever,
and she's...she's definitely going to cry.
Good to meet you.
Before the day is done,
the judges must decide which two MUAs least impressed today
and will start the creative brief tomorrow in the red face-off chairs.
Let's start with Nancy.
The eyebrows were just too much for me.
We just could not possibly put this image out.
I always have to add my little signature to something.
Otherwise it's not me.
I have to.
Ryan.
I wouldn't want somebody wearing quite this much base
if they're about to do a workout.
Too much make-up.
Big fingers-crossed, because I literally could not
be bothered being in them red chairs.
Rachel.
VAL SIGHS
This, to me, is blind panic.
Rachel just threw everything at it, hoping it was going to stick,
and it does not.
The blusher may have been a bit too much, but I think
it really tied in with the lip.
I just hope it didn't tip it over from being a natural glam
into a full face beat.
I think we know who's going to start in the red chairs tomorrow.
The next morning at Glow Up Studios,
it's crunch time.
If an MUA's name is on a red chair,
they're heading for the face-off at the end of the day.
HE SIGHS
Oh, no, not this.
Urgh!
It's OK.
We'll just be all zen and cute.
There's only one way to beat the seat.
Wow the judges in the creative brief
and prove they deserve their place in the competition.
Ryan, Nance, you are the first MUAs in the face-off chairs,
which means you'll have a 15-minute time penalty at the start
of today's creative brief.
Nance, you took a risk with the eyebrows,
but we felt that your look just didn't engage with our audience
in the way we would have liked. OK.
And, Ryan, if you put that amount of product on your skin
whilst you're going to the gym, it could actually damage your skin.
And that's a complete no-no for us.
Today, we want you to create a look that tells us your hidden strength.
You'll be doing make-up on yourselves,
and we want you to produce a bold, dramatic make-up look.
Push your creativity to the limits and showcase your talents.
So, Ryan, Nance, I'll let you know when you guys can start.
The rest of you will have two-and-a-half hours.
Your time starts now.
Let's go.
The MUAs have been allowed to prepare for today's brief,
and Glow Up studios is stocked with any products they may need.
Have you seen a primer?
The creative brief tests our MUAs' imagination.
It shows us how expansive is your mind.
Are you an original?
I want to be blown away.
I'm really happy I'm in a blue chair.
I really thought I overdid it.
I'm just happy I have all the time I need to create this look.
Sophie is planning to impress the judges with an alien warrior
and their secret weapon.
I'm quite a sickly person, so my hidden strength
is based on stem cells that are really important
to help build our tissues again and fight infection.
I'm sticking down my eyebrows
because aliens don't really have eyebrows.
I'm feeling a little bit nervous,
but I'm definitely going to try and go all out.
Adam's drawing inspiration from a matter close to his heart.
My hidden strength is taken from the bravery of a lion.
Shortly after my father passed away, I had to really become strong,
look after the family,
just like a lion would.
I don't have much experience in doing my own make-up,
so let's just see how this goes.
Nance, all right, my love? Hello.
We're here now. I just have to make it work.
Talk me through your look.
So, my hidden strength is resilience and persistence.
So, this situation right now fits really well. Yeah. Yeah.
What kind of techniques are you going to be using?
So, bald cap... Oh, wow. Bald cap on the hair, though?
Yeah, but I'm taking a different approach.
This represents my hair.
I'm poking a hole in the bald cap.
My hair is going to come out of it, and then...yeah. Good thinking.
Yeah. Cos I'm like, "That's a lot of hair to fit
"under that cap, honey." Yeah, it is. It is. OK, good.
Yeah. 15 minutes less time.
You could still blow it out of the park. Exactly. Yeah.
If Nancy or Ryan can dazzle the judges with their designs
and beat the seat...
Can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
..then another MUA will take their place
in the face-off elimination.
So, everyone's out to impress.
So I'm just using a latex to create this, like, crater
in the centre of my face.
So, you can, like, soak cotton wool in the latex
and then they become this, like, malleable substance,
create, like, a 3D element.
Fashion graduate Yong-Chin is hoping her special effects
and dramatic use of colour will be enough to wow the judges.
My hidden strength is my focus.
I'm always trying to pull new ideas together.
This look shows them, like, manifesting as this,
like, atomic explosion,
like, on my face.
Yong-Chin isn't the only MUA
experimenting with prosthetics.
Kris. Hey, gorgeous.
We've got cotton ears. Yeah, we've got... What is this?
That's cotton wool.
It's just to kind of flatten out the ears.
It feels quite nice, though, doesn't it? Feel very cushioned.
Do you mind if I stroke your head like that? Sure.
A little stroke. A little pat.
Tell me what you're doing.
So, my hidden strength, I'm basing it
around my ability to transform. Mm-hm.
My look is inspired by a chameleon. OK.
So, I've got my little friend here,
going on my face. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
This was done last night, so it's pre-made prosthetic.
I was up till 4am getting it finished.
The graveyard shift. Yeah.
It's going to go...splat. Right on the face.
That is incredible, though.
I'm going ambitious, so I just wanted to make sure
that I had everything. Can't wait to see that on your face.
Thank you, hon. I'll see you later. All right. Good luck, honey.
Oh, my goodness. No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Mikael hasn't even started.
I'm just sweating. It's very hot in here.
Time is of the essence.
This is a competition.
I keep having to wipe my face.
Ryan, Nance, you can start now.
Finally.
Right, contact lenses. Let's hope I don't get bloody pink eyes.
HE CHUCKLES
Sometimes a bit more difficult to get in.
This is one I always...
We're going to leave it for now.
Ryan's drawing on inspiration from a difficult time in his life.
My look is all about light overcoming dark times.
In 2017, I was at the Ariana Grande concert
in the Manchester terror attack.
The community came together and instead of focusing on the dark,
I tried to, like, just look at the light
and just be around the light.
I'm doing the bald cap.
I haven't done something as big as this before,
but I have an idea of what I'm doing.
If she doesn't get it nice and clean,
it's going to look like a pair of old knickers.
OK, let's cut this so I can see what I'm doing.
Oh, my God. Did you just see that? What?
She's going way...
She's just cutting away on that bald cap.
There ain't going to be nothing left. Nothing left.
Just hack. Hacking away. It's going to be a headband. Yeah.
Oh, my bald cap is ripping!
JUDGES: Mmm.
Oh, look, there's the ear. Oh.
I'll just pull my ear through that.
But you see where she's stuck it down?
There is a big crease there.
There's a fold there. She...
SHE GASPS
Oh, here we go with the scissors. Don't, don't, don't, don't.
Really close to the eyes. Oh, I can't bear it. Don't. Stop.
Stop! Sorry.
I've shaved half of my face cos I want this side
to be sort of my altered presentation.
I want it to be hyper femme.
Charlie's concept is a half-masculine,
half-feminine look.
My hidden strength is that I can alter my presentation
to mimic how I feel on the inside
and to sort of settle my dysphoria when I go through these...
..these episodes.
Don't really have, like, a set plan.
I mean, I'm just trying to switch between the two.
Lashes.
Did you take the big lashes, Lisa? No, no.
I want to make a lash quickly.
Having won yesterday's assignment,
teacher Lisa is hoping to stay top of the class with her design.
The concrete is the barriers that I, like, put up for myself.
And then there's going to be, like, cracks that show my perseverance
of breaking those barriers.
I don't want to shave time off with having to tidy up
the speckling.
So, I'm just trying to use paper to, like, guard as much of my skin
as I can so the speckling stays on the statue part.
It's quite interesting, that speckle that she's doing.
Stippling. It's called stippling.
And it's really hard. I need another hand.
Speckling. Bit of speckling? Whatever.
It's going to hopefully achieve a more, like, concrete look
for my statue.
Close your eye when you do that, please.
Oh, no, I'm not going to be able to see at all.
No, can't do that.
I've kind of put myself in the mind-set
that I am just in my bedroom creating content,
just so that I don't panic.
Like Lisa, glam MUA Rachel is also creating
a cracked-surface effect for her look.
My hidden strength is my positivity.
I have been through depression.
When I came out of it, I just became this being of light.
So, my look is kind of showing the broken pieces
and how I've transformed.
I've got this part, this part and this part that are going
to be with the multi-chrome flakes.
But they're really hard to tame,
and I've already got some in my hair.
Mikael. Hello.
Hmm.
So, you can't speak right now
because we have a mouthpiece. Mm-hm-hm-hm.
Right.
So, how are we going to communicate?
Maybe, like, a blink technique.
So, if I'm like, "Are you feeling confident?"
Blink once. Mm-hm.
Are you worried about the time?
Mm.
Mm-hm.
No, blink.
Can you hear me? I can hear you. Yeah. Yeah.
OK, so talk me through your look.
So, this look signifies me on muting the black voice within me.
I'm incorporating African symbol.
For the mouthpiece. I'm going to use, like, a thread
to go through it. So, yeah.
I mean, that is so impressive what you've got there.
None of that is surgery.
It's me, honey.
Oh, my God. That's amazing, that chocolate.
Now, these are good.
I don't think I've had one of these before.
Have you not? No.
Right. OK, grab it. Concentration.
I'm putting it all there so everybody thinks it's her.
All right, lovelies, 40 minutes down.
How many do we have in total? You've got two hours and a half in total.
40 minutes are gone. What does that mean, then?
I don't know. I didn't get maths GCSE.
Did you not? Same. So, 40 minutes,
take away from two hours and a half.
We need maths. Do your maths GCSE.
OK, I need to keep going with this, so...
Oh. Ooh!
Reminds me of a date I once had.
It didn't end well.
I just really, really want to make sure that I'm not rushing
on one aspect at the end, or I'm running out of time
and can't complete it.
That's a lot of prosthetic to try and paint, though.
Now I'm starting to stress out a little bit.
These flakes are a lot harder to work with than I thought.
It shouldn't have taken this long.
What you do is you put the glitter on first... Mm-hm.
..clean up all the fallout. Yeah.
You then go in with the beauty.
She's wasting time by not thinking through the process.
Now I'm worried about the time.
Definitely.
Why is it messy here?
Oh, dear.
Oh, gosh. What the hell is going on?
This bit didn't glue,
so I don't want that showing.
I can't look.
It's stressing me out.
She doesn't know what to do.
I just need to move on and deal with that later.
So, I'm just putting the fuller's earth on my body
to represent the coal.
I've mixed it with black paint
because I want it to look like charcoal.
It's looking good, Ryan. What do we think?
DOM: I really like what's going on here.
I like the fact that he's in the zone.
One hour gone.
One hour-and-a-half to go.
THEY GASP
Likey, likey.
That's gone somewhere else. Yeah.
Are we a nebula? Are we tie-dye?
Are we an eyeball?
I'm just picking out my flowers for the look.
So, I'm going to place the flowers first and then I'll draw
the stems afterwards.
Want a nice big one here.
Yeah. Pop a little bit of skin-safe adhesive on the back,
and then a little bit on my skin.
And then I can pop it on.
Yeah, pretty.
I'm just laying down some flat-back pearls along the mouth,
and that is to try and replicate the chameleon's scales.
Then, once that's on, I can get started on painting.
Everything I touch is sticky.
I am concerned
quite a few of our MUAs are going to run out of time.
Yeah, there's a lot of faffing.
This is not at home in your bedroom.
You're not doing this for social media? No.
I'm really worried about Mikael.
I'm really worried about him.
Hmm.
I've just added a few more lines to the face.
It was originally just a round circle.
I just hope I can get the symmetry great,
you know, up to the standard that would impress Val and Dom.
I think this is a really beautiful make-up.
You know what? It's giving me modern Bowie.
Yeah. I like it.
Oh, my goodness me.
I'm a little bit stressed.
I've got some rhinestones to add.
I hope I can get them done on time.
I'm just working all the colour on.
The latex does take a little bit of time.
I want it to be really detailed,
so I'm going to move on to that really soon.
What is it? What Charlie's done is, like, basic beauty. Basic, yeah.
It's not enough.
No. I'm really disappointed.
I think I need to do more with the left side.
I'm just unsure...
..what, and I don't want it to look messy.
Half an hour left.
Oh, my God. 30 minutes.
30 minutes.
HE LAUGHS
In this last half an hour,
take a look around the room. Yeah.
And if this is what we're getting...
Week one. ..day two,
I am so excited.
This part is still...
..it's still an issue.
But I'm not going to...I'm not going to give up.
I'm going to keep trying to glue it down.
She's done a hell of a lot of make-up.
Yes, it may not be 100% perfect,
but she's had less time than everyone else.
From where I'm sitting, she's brought it back.
She is looking like an underwater avatar.
Oh, gosh.
I'm literally done, like...
HE CHUCKLES
I'm literally finished. What do I do?
I might try and put the contact lens in,
but I don't want my eyes to go all funny.
And I kind of like the whole two-different-coloured-eyes.
I think it looks really edgy and weird.
15 minutes left.
HE SIGHS
I was going to do another missing piece
with the light shining through it,
but I don't think I have the time to do that.
I'm just sort of adding the pearls in now.
It gives this, like, real illusion
that's it's like...there's a lot of depth in the design.
Five minutes to go.
Stress.
HE CHUCKLES
My hands getting a little bit shaky.
I'm putting the wires in my hair.
I'm rushing.
Gosh, I don't know how I'm going to do this.
Oh, gosh.
All right. Time is up.
Brushes down.
Oh, my God. I hope that's enough.
Please go next door to have your looks photographed.
I feel relieved that I've done the look.
And I did it in two hours and 15 minutes.
I'm proud of myself.
Comparing yourself to other people is inevitable.
But I'm proud of my look.
It's personal to me, and I hope that they can see that.
I think I've definitely redeemed myself and hopefully I get
a ding-dong, fingers crossed.
Ryan, I would love you to tell us what your hidden strength is.
In 2017, unfortunately, I was at the Ariana Grande concert
in the Manchester terror attack.
And that time was very, very dark for me.
So my hidden strength is getting light to get through dark times.
Wow.
This is quite astonishing.
Thank you. You've somehow got this orange and yellow glowing
and it's just like...
HE HUMS PULSINGLY
You know?
And then the clay that you've used helps to make that orange
just so much more punchy.
Today, you focused,
you knew you didn't want to be in that red chair. No.
The texture works for me.
I think you did an incredible job.
I really must commend you for actually knowing
when to stop, because you were definitely the first to finish.
And I like that you were like, "Actually, I'm done."
And I think it's a really strong look.
Thank you so much. Rachel...
This look is kind of representing the skin kind of fading away and me
coming into the light.
It's very hard to apply glitter without it going everywhere.
You've packed that glitter on beautifully, but this brown paper,
like, this is a metamorphosis. You're coming through. Yeah.
Did you start out with only one eye? Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
I completely understand.
The way you've used that lighter shade of foundation gives a real
sort of three-dimensional feel to the make-up.
But to really pull your story out, you could have added in maybe
some darker glitter.
I think the overall effect is there, but we're looking for more.
Yeah.
Lisa...
My hidden strength is my perseverance.
The concrete, statuesque forms represent self-made barriers
that I put up, and the cracks and the wild flowers represent pushing
through those barriers.
I loved the technique to create that concrete effect,
and it really does look like concrete, it's brilliant.
Well done. I'm really impressed.
This is a work of art, the attention to detail.
You'd stuck the flowers on, but it's so clever with the shading.
It really married the whole painting together.
You lot should be very, very scared.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
APPLAUSE
Whoa! My God!
Charlie...
My hidden strength was my ability to battle my
dysphoria through presentation.
So on the...well, the right side here, a bit gross and uncomfortable
and the other side is high femme, sort of how I present on days
where, you know, I do need to settle my dysphoria.
Thank you for sharing your story. No worries. Really amazing.
I think that the exploration of your narrative is there,
but I definitely would have liked to see just a bit
more coming through.
I appreciate that.
The female side of your face,
you could have got some contour in here.
It would have been great to see
a bit more of a male-female differentiation.
The liner is well applied and the brow is really strong.
But what I'm struggling with is, you know, we asked for a big,
bold, dramatic loop.
And when we think about what else is going on in the room,
it is a little simple.
You just need to dial it up.
Yeah.
Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Yong-Chin.
My hidden strength is my focus.
This make-up is a visual representation of all my ideas
coming together in the centre of my face.
Wow. I mean, what an explosion.
There was so much going on.
But I have to talk about the chest, the way you have created
that sort of nebula.
It's just telling me everything I love.
Oh, my days.
This is a beautiful look. Thank you.
When you're talking about lots of different things coming into one,
I can really see that translated here.
I think you've executed it to a T.
Was that prosthetic... Is that home-made?
It's just liquid latex and cotton pads.
Exactly.
It's just liquid latex and cotton wool.
Good golly.
I was just absolutely blown away.
I mean, the way the colours blend right into your centre focal point.
Ding-dong, darling.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Adam...
My hidden strength is bravery.
I love the asymmetry going on, you know, that heaviness of that brow
and that underline.
There's lots of really interesting things going on, but yellow
is a really tricky colour.
It's a very weak pigment.
And the trouble with using a brush is that you will always
get brush strokes.
So just use a sponge - you will get a more seamless finish.
You haven't stepped out of your comfort zone yet.
You've got it.
You've got it in there.
You need to show me that you're brave.
I'm going to show you. You need to show me that you're brave.
Yeah, I'm going to show you.
Sophie.
So my hidden strength is based on a stem cell.
I'm quite a sickly person.
I drew on these inspirations and tried to make
the strongest look I could.
I was watching you, and you were working with pencils.
I never saw you use a cotton bud, you just went straight in,
and it was perfect straight away.
That is so lucky, right?
Or it's incredibly skilled.
Well done.
You've arrived. So thank you. Thank you.
Sophie, I'm obsessed.
I love this.
I... Honestly, I love this.
The colours are really beautiful.
It's really intelligent. Well done.
You've really made a very strong impression for your first look.
Kris, would you like to come forward?
So my hidden strength is based around my ability to transform.
Growing up, I had a lot of issues with self-confidence.
I discovered make-up.
It really made me feel completely empowered and completely in control.
This is a massive undertaking in two-and-a-half hours.
That is a hell of a job,
and you've accomplished it. Thank you.
It's a little rough, but I love it.
Start polishing up those little things,
and that's when I really feel you're going to go a long, long way
in this competition. Thank you.
I loved the guppy mouth.
I loved the sort of chinny-chin-chin.
For me, you have become your hidden strength.
Wow, that... That is pure art.
Thank you.
Mikael, please tell us your hidden strength.
Growing up as an African black man, I became muted.
I have finally found the strength to unmute my voice.
I think, initially, I understood that there was a nod
to like the Black Power Movement, and I commend you for doing that.
But I just felt like it could have been neatened up a bit more. Yeah.
The symmetry is a little iffy. Off.
We have a bit of a glam lash going on. Yeah.
We have these jewels on the forehead.
And I don't think it actually relates to what you're trying to say. To say.
You have tried to do too much. Yeah.
But at the same time, it doesn't look like you've done a lot.
It might have been better if you'd taken one or two elements.
Maybe that was enough.
It's a bit hard to focus.
Thank you. Nance.
I wanted to create a celestial being that represents
persistence and resilience.
If resilience and persistence is your hidden strength,
you're going to do really well in this industry
because that is what you need... Thank you.
..and that's what you showed in your make-up.
You were able to disguise a really bad bald cap.
The colour was fantastic.
I got the avatar.
Your embellishments were on point.
You gave me the whole package with 15 minutes less
than other make-up artists in the room.
That's the kind of make-up that gets you out of the red chair.
Thank you, MUAs.
Now please go next door whilst we decide
who is going into the face-off elimination.
SHE EXHALES
That's literally how I feel.
Release. I'm so happy.
I think we're all in agreement.
Ryan and Nance have done enough to beat the seat. Yeah.
So who's going to fill them?
Definite contender has to be Charlie.
I just don't feel like Charlie delivered enough make-up.
This is a look that should have taken max 40 minutes.
I wouldn't change anything about it personally, but I do
understand what they're saying.
Someone else I think we need to discuss is Rachel.
We asked for bold. We asked for dramatic.
And this is lacking.
It needs to be a lot bigger.
I completely agreed with everything that they said, and I definitely
want to show that I can elevate myself.
But other than that...
I'd like to talk about Mikael.
I just don't think the execution is there. Yeah.
There's almost too much story going on, so you don't really know
what he's trying to say.
I hope I will not be going into the face-off battle,
I am ready for it because this is what I'm built to do.
So, yeah, bring it on.
Ryan and Nance, you were our first MUAs in the face-off chairs.
And despite a time penalty, you both delivered fantastic looks.
Double ding-dong, darlings. You beat the seat.
Now, this means we have two seats to fill.
Charlie, your make-up was just a little too simple.
For that reason, you'll be the first MUA heading
into the face-off elimination.
So we have one more seat to fill.
The second MUA going into the face-off elimination is...
..Mikael.
OK. Thank you, judges.
Mikael, Charlie, say your goodbyes,
as one of you will be heading home tonight.
Bye, diva.
To level the playing field,
the MUAs will face off over a set of identical twins.
To succeed in this industry, you need to know your technical
make-up fundamentals inside and out.
The face-off is a test of technical skill under pressure.
There's nowhere to hide.
For your first face-off challenge, we want you to master a trend
that is really hot on social media.
The reverse cat eye.
The key to achieving this look is a fierce hand
with a confident brush stroke.
Using gel liner,
apply along the bottom lash line.
This is a bold line with one end reaching past the tear duct
and the other stretching to an upward flick.
We are looking for clean lines and symmetry.
OK, Charlie, Mikael, you have 15 minutes to complete your look.
Your time starts now.
Halfway through now.
You know what? Mikael picked up that pencil,
he went straight into the waterline.
I'm really excited because so far we haven't seen anything
precise from Mikael. Yeah.
And straight off, I'm seeing symmetry...
Yeah. ..precision.
WHISPERS: We are halfway through,
and Charlie hasn't even started.
What is going on? I don't know.
Why is Charlie wasting time?
One minute left now.
Brushes down. Time's up.
Judges, I presume you want a closer look?
Absolutely.
This.
Confab? Mm.
Wow. This is unexpected. I know, I know.
I mean, it was like Charlie wants to bow out on their own terms.
I agree.
But Mikael, he's delivering some really great symmetry,
and that shape on the end is beautiful.
Have you reached a decision?
We certainly have.
We asked for a reverse cat eye,
for clean lines and symmetry.
Charlie...
You didn't deliver what we asked for.
Mikael, you did.
So congratulations.
We'll see you next week. Thank you.
Charlie.
It's just really sad to see you go
because you are a really incredible creative.
Thank you, though.
And I was so excited to see what you could have done
in the forthcoming weeks.
What I've done,
I just hope that I haven't...
..no-one feels disrespected because it's not...
It's...it's nothing of the sort.
Mikael, I'll love you for ever.
I know people may be confused, but I just wanted to get
my one message across.
And I'm proud of my Glow Up journey. Short but sweet.
And I'm proud of what I've done, honestly.
Mikael.
CHEERING
I am feeling so great.
Y'all thought you were going to get rid of me!
So now, in the next challenges coming up, you'll be expecting a lot
of weird and wonderful from Mikael.
Right!
Congratulations on making it through to next week.
I think you should go home and get some rest because next week
there'll be no waiting in the wings as your make-up will be put
in the spotlight.
Next time, the MUAs take centre stage.
Cirque du Soleil.
This is huge.
And at Glow Up studios...
Oh! ..rave reviews.
Wow. This is just wow.