A UCB make-up graduate hopes an 鈥渁lter ego鈥� creation, depicting her battle with a form of bipolar disorder, will win a place in the final of a prestigious competition.
But first Joanna Strange needs the public鈥檚 help to get there.
Joanna, 23, of Birmingham, has made it into the Top 10 of the NYX UK Face Awards and a public vote will now decide the contest鈥檚 five finalists.
The freelance make-up artist鈥檚 stunning designs, captured in a 90-second video, are inspired by the conflicting states of bipolar disorder. Joanna has a form of the condition, which she describes as a 鈥渃urse that comes with a gift.鈥�
As she explains in her video, 鈥渆veryone wears a mask 鈥� and we all have an alter ego.鈥�
In the film, Joanna explains she has two alter egos: tragedy and comedy: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 let them define me. Instead, I channel the best of both into everything I do.鈥�
She interprets classic theatre masks from Ancient Greece, where single actors represented opposite emotions and multiple characters.
Joanna uses bright green, yellow and red NYX make-up to represent the 鈥渉ighs鈥� of bipolar while cold blue and purple tones signify the lows.
Joanna, who recently completed her Specialist Hair and Media Makeup degree at UCB, was diagnosed when she was 17 and is happy to confront the condition publicly. She said: 鈥淚 hate how hush-hush it is. I don鈥檛 want people to be embarrassed by it. I want to bring it to the spotlight.鈥漇he revealed she was going through a 鈥渄ip鈥� during the 鈥渁lter ego鈥� challenge: 鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 want to film but we got through it.鈥�
The result is stunning.You can watch Joanna鈥檚 video 鈥� and vote 鈥� by clicking here:聽
Voting closes at 11pm on June 25 and the final five are revealed on June 29. The winner will be crowned 2016 Beauty Vlogger of the Year at a ceremony in London next month.
