Makeup

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Disney Villains Makeup tutorial: Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I’ve all but retired my Disney Villains Makeup tutorial series.  Although it was a lot of fun to begin with, in the last few months I just haven’t felt inspired to keep it going.  I was really struggling to think up ideas and I just felt it was better to leave it be than to try to force myself to film more videos that I wasn’t happy with.

That is until last week.  I got a comment on one of my videos requesting a tutorial inspired by Oogie Boogie, the Bogeyman from The Nightmare Before Christmas. And all of a sudden my mojo was back!  I leaped at the chance to create a seasonal look inspired by one of my all-time favourite movies.

For this look, I wanted something ghostly and gothic.  I chose a few shades of green and blended them together to create a striking eye.  I used a khaki colour that was reminiscent of Oogie’s sack-cloth body, but added a pop of day-glo green that reminded me of the glow-in-the-dark colours in his lair.  I’ve been dying to use a black lipstick for one of these looks, and it was the perfect way to pay homage to Oogie Boogie’s gaping maw.

I’ve actually worn this makeup a few times now.  I like the punk feel this look has.  If you feel that it’s a bit over the top, you can always wear a slick of clear gloss on your lips and just play with the green eyeshadow.

 

If you’d like to request a makeup tutorial, please feel free to get in touch with me.  Have fun playing with this look and let me know if you try it out for yourself.

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NYX Boudoir Provocateur Mascara review.

I’m extremely picky when it comes to mascara.  My eyes are my favourite facial feature, and I like to highlight them with sweeping lashes.  I’m also quite fickle about whether I want my lashes to look thicker or longer.  My lash desires change depending on my mood.  So how awesome would it be if I could get one mascara that could do both?

Luckily, I found the Provocateur mascara from NYX’s Boudoir collection.  This genius product allows you to choose thicker or longer lashes with the twist of the wrist.

This nifty design has two levels in the lid of the tube.  For thicker, fuller lashes, open the tube at level one. For longer, more defined lashes, open at level two.  The opening at the top of the tube narrows or widens depending on which level you twist, controlling the amount of product that’s deposited on the brush.

Level one leaves the top of the tube quite wide, so a lot of mascara appears on the brush when you take it out of the tube.  I use this level when I want thick, dramatic lashes.

In this photo, I’ve applied one coat of the Provocateur mascara at level 1.  As you can see, my lashes appear very thick, but there are a lot of clumps and the lashes tend to stick together.  However, I found that this setting is great for using before applying false lashes, to make my natural lashes blend into the falsies a bit better.

At level 2, the brush is wiped clean, so there are fewer clumps and globs of product.  This setting is perfect for achieving defined, sweeping lashes.

Look at that length!  I tend to prefer this setting for my day-to-day makeup.  It looks much cleaner and my lashes don’t stick together as much.

In terms of longevity, the NYX Provocateur mascara performs very well.  I apply one or two coats of this in the morning and it lasts all day.  I haven’t noticed any flaking or fading.  I have worn this product a number of times with my contact lenses and it hasn’t caused any irritation of my eyes.  Although it isn’t a waterproof mascara, it seems to hold up on days when I’ve got a touch of hayfever and my eyes are lightly watering.

In addition to the awesome performance of this product, I love the fact that it’s cruelty free.

The best bit about the NYX mascara?   It costs just $6.  Seriously.  I think that makes it the best budget mascara I’ve ever tried.  It is great value for money and out-performs some of the luxury brands I’ve used in the past.

I am totally addicted to this mascara and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Have you tried any of the NYX mascaras?  What did you think?

*This is not a sponsored post.  I purchased this item with my own money and my opinions are unbiased and genuine*

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Halloween 2014: Welcome to Pleasantville.

I know it’s still a few day’s before Halloween, but as usual I got into the spirit early.  I held my annual Halloween party last Saturday.  It was a fairly subdued affair, with only a few guests.  But those who attended had an awesome time scoffing lollies and playing Silent Hill with the lights out.  Spooky!

This year I opted for a more glamorous Halloween costume than what I would usually go for.  The past few years I’ve dressed as The Joker and Corpse Bride, so it was a nice change to wear something that wasn’t quite so gruesome.

I took my inspiration for this year’s costume from the film Pleasantville and also from the work of drag queen Detox iCunt.  I have been playing around with special effects makeup a lot lately, and I wanted to see if it was possible to make it look like I was in black and white using only makeup and clever wardrobe choices.

I’m pretty flippin’ happy with how this turned out.

My costume didn’t photograph all that well.  While I still like the pictures, I feel that the effect was much more striking in person.

I did have loads of fun putting this outfit together.  I had originally thought that I would use a wig, but I couldn’t find one that I really liked.  In the end I twisted my real hair up into victory rolls and a french roll at the back and they sprayed the heck out of it with black hairspray.  It didn’t budge all night, but my hair did feel awfully helmet-like.

For the makeup, I mixed a very light grey body paint and used this over my face and any exposed skin.  As is typical of store-bought face paints, it was extremely difficult to apply a smooth and even layer.  One day when I’m rich, I’d love to try this look again with some professional quality products to see the difference.  I set the paint with a generous layer of Smashbox Photo Set Finishing Powder.

Then came the fun part.  It was so weird doing my makeup all in shades of black and grey.  I started with my eyes, creating a slightly smoked eye with a selection of blacks and greys.  I used a gel liner to create a big wing at the corner of my eye.  I was very generous with my mascara and was sure to add a lick of waterproof grey liner in the waterline of my eye to cover up the skin there.

For my lips I used the NYX cosmetics Macaraon lipstick in Chambord.  I am head over heels with this lip colour, and I now want to wear it as part of my every day look.  My only complaint is that it is a very emollient lipstick which tends to slip and slide all over the place.  I used a black eye liner to line my lips and a lip fixer over the top, but it still shifted all about.  Ah well, it was only $4 so I really can’t complain.

I coloured in my brows with a black eyeshadow and a stiff angled brush.  Then I used a mid-grey colour to contour my cheeks, jaw and brow.  I added a well-blended swipe of MAC chromagraphic liner to the bridge of my nose, my brow bone and the tops of my cheeks for a bit of highlight.

Even though my party wasn’t big or elaborate, I had a brilliant time.  It was awesome to catch up with some of my favourite people and just chill out.

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?  Are you having a party this year?

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Liptember: A week of reds.

I was flicking through the selfies I’ve taken this week for Liptember and I realised that I’ve worn a shade of red each day this week.  How rad is that?  Let’s take a look at my red rainbow of lippies from this past week.

On Sunday I got dressed up to go with my family to Gracebrook winery.  I picked a deep wine lippie: Rouge Sinner from Lipstick Queen. I love the Lipstick Queen Sinner lipstick for days out because they don’t budge and you barely need to touch them up.

I swept my hair up into an Elsa-inspired braid.  My outfit began fairly simple but I just kept adding accessories until I had the right amount of pizzazz going on.

On Monday I opted for a sheer wash of colour with Lipstick Queen’s Medieval lipstick.  It’s the prettiest lip stain with just a little hint of red.

On Thursday I wore Perfect Russet by Estee Lauder.  It’s the perfect lippy for pairing with pretty blush and a coy smile.

This week has been a rough one for me, mental-health wise.  Work has been extremely demanding and I’ve had a couple of days where I was ready to throw in the towel.  My anxiety has been creeping up and jumping out at me at the most inappropriate moments.  I just feel drained and burnt out.  I need a break, but none is forthcoming.  Oh well.  I’m trying really hard to just keep going, to take time and lay some boundaries for myself.

I must say that working on this Liptember campaign has really given me a lift.  It’s given me the motivation to put the effort into my appearance each day which is a good thing.  It’s helped to spark my creativity and given me a boost.

Also, I made some sales from my esty store, which is awesome because some of those funds will contribute to my Liptember total.  It’s looking a bit dire at the moment, and I don’t think I’m going to reach my goal.  But if you’ve got a few dollars to spare, it would be awesome if you could help out:

– Firstly, you can donate to my Liptember page.  All donations over $2 are tax deductible and every dollar counts.  It doesn’t matter if you donate $1 or $100, I’ll appreciate every single donation.

– You can also purchase your official Liptember lipstick for just $4.99.  You can buy your lippy at any Chemist Warehouse store.  For the first time, Chemist Warehouse are now offering the Liptember lippies on their online store with international shipping available.  How exciting!

– If you’re really keen, you can sign up and start fundraising yourself.  It’s super easy to set up your fundraising page and begin raising funds for this awesome cause.

– I’ll be donating 10% of every sale from my etsy store to Liptember.  I’ve got all kinds of hand-crafted items and e-books available.  I’m also happy to create a custom-made to-order item just for you.

 

Every donation counts, so dig deep and give just a little if you can.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support.

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Product review: Innoxa 2 in 1 eye shadow and eyeliner stick.

Lately I’ve been on the look-out for a new eyeliner.  I am very fussy when it comes to eyeliners and it’s so hard to find one that meets my specifications.  Around the same time that I began my hunt, Innoxa sent me one of their 2 in 1 eye shadow and eyeliner sticks to try out.  Although it’s not perfect, this product does tick quite a few boxes and is a great addition to my makeup kit.

The packaging is very simple and compact, which I like.  The pencil is sleek and narrow and fits comfortably in my hand.  However it’s not so thin that it’s difficult to get a proper grip on it.  I feel that this is important when it comes to eye pencils, because my hand is less than steady so I need something that’s easy to hold onto if I have any hope of drawing a straight line.

The pencil is double-ended, with an eye shadow at one end and an eyeliner at the other.  This is a great idea, particularly for women who love to travel because it takes up very little space in your makeup bag.

 

I was sent the brown black pencil, with a brown eye shadow and a black eyeliner.  I have to admit that I didn’t have high hopes for the eye shadow.  I’ve not had much luck with cream-based shadows, and even less so with pencil eyeshadows.  But I was willing to give this one a shot.

The first thing that I noticed is that the eyeshadow comes with a spring-loaded applicator tip.  It re-fills itself so you can apply it right from the pencil.  I was a bit wary of this, because I prefer to apply my shadow with a brush.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  The eyeshadow goes on smoothly from the pencil and the applicator tip gives you a lot of control.  I used my finger to blend out the colour a bit and the end result was lovely.  The one thing I didn’t like was that the rubbery texture of the applicator pulled at my lids a little bit.  But this was one minor downfall in an otherwise stellar product.

 

The shadow also stayed put beautifully throughout the day.  Cream eye shadows are notorious for creasing, but this one was excellent.  The colour didn’t fade even after a long day at work.  I was extremely pleased with it.

 

Now, onto the eyeliner.  To begin with, I love the fact that the eyeliner has a twist-up mechanism.  This eliminates the need for sharpening and makes sure that your eyeliner remains crisp and fresh every time you use it.

 

The liner itself is a beautiful dark black.  So many pencil liners are a bit wimpy in the colour department, tending to run more to grey or charcoal.  I prefer my eyeliners to be as black as a crow at midnight, and this one definitely delivers in the colour department.

The texture of this eyeliner is just beautiful. It is silky and glides on easily.  This would be an ideal product for eyeliner novices to practice with, because it is so easy to use.  It can be used to create a clear, crisp line or smudged for smokier looks.  I do find that the liner doesn’t really set, so it is susceptible to smudging throughout the day.  However, this is fairly typical for pencil liners, due to their creamy texture.

One thing I wasn’t so thrilled about with this pencil is that it would not draw on my waterline.  I don’t often wear liner in my waterline, but I do occasionally like to place it there for some of my mod-rocker looks.  Try as I might, I couldn’t get this liner to transfer even a dot of colour onto my waterline, so that was a definite downfall for me.

 

The liner lasted very well, without any fading.  I did notice that it smudged a little throughout the day, but as I said before, this isn’t uncommon with pencil liners.

 

Overall I was very impressed with this product.  I would recommend it for travelling fashionistas, because it can be used entirely on it’s own to create gorgeous eye makeup.  You don’t need to pack any brushes or sharpeners, just throw this pencil into your bag and off you go.  At $14.95,  this double-ended pencil is a steal.  Best of all, it’s 100% cruelty free.

 

 

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Product review: Innoxa Anti-oxidant Lip Glaze

I love a good lip-gloss.  I love the way that just a quick slick can add such a carefree, flirty spirit to any outfit.  Gloss is playful, pretty and oh-so-feminine.

The gorgeous folks at Innoxa were kind enough to send me one of their Anti-Oxidant Lip Glazes to review.  I was so excited when I opened the package and this gorgeous red tube came tumbling out.

I was sent the shade Apple, which is a beautiful sheer red gloss.  I couldn’t wait to try this baby out!

As you can see from the swatch, the finish is sheer and glossy, but still packs a colourful punch.  So many coloured glosses don’t offer much in the way of colour, and are really more of a tint.  This one is beautifully pigmented with just the right amount of colour to really make an impact.

 

On the lips, the glaze offers gorgeous shine and beautiful colour.  I love adding this product to my makeup routine on days when I want  a bit of colour on my lips, but I don’t want to wear a fully made-up lip.  The glaze also looks amazing when worn over a red lipstick for extra punch.

 

The glaze comes with a doe-foot applicator, which makes it very easy to apply.  The applicator picks up just the right amount of product so you aren’t left with a patchy finish.  The tube is very solid, and I’ve been carrying it around in my bag for weeks without any spillage or leaks.

 

When I read the word “glaze” I was worried that this gloss would be very sticky.  I’m not a fan of sticky lip products, so I was a bit wary of this.  However, once I tried it my fears were put to rest.  While the glaze does have a slight stickiness when you first apply it, I find that it settles down after a few minutes of wear.  I’ve worn this on windy days and I haven’t had to worry about my hair getting stuck to my pout.  The gloss had a very moisturizing feel and left my lips feeling very smooth and soft.

 

The Innoxa Lip glaze lasted very well when compared with other glosses in my collection.  It stayed on throughout the  day (although I did reapply after eating) and maintained a good finish with plenty of colour and shine.  I was very impressed with the longevity of this product.

 

 

One of my favourite things about this product is that it is cruelty free.  Like all of Innoxa’s products, the lip glaze is not tested on animals.  Innoxa is a proudly 100% cruelty free company, which is definitely a plus in my book.

 

The Innoxa Anti-Oxidant Lip Glaze retails for $14.95.  I think that this is a bargain price for a very good-quality product.  I will definitely be re-purchasing this once the tube I was sent runs out.  I’m very excited to try some of the other colours in the range, and I think that the Plum shade will be the next to join my collection of glosses.

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Disney villains makeup tutorial series: Gaston from Beauty and the Beast

It’s time for another Disney villains makeup tutorial!  This month I’m taking my inspiration from Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

In my opinion, Gaston is one of the most interesting Disney villains. I touch on this a bit in the video.  When we first meet Gaston, he’s not really villainous.  When you think about most of the Disney villains, particularly the classic ones, you know right away that they’re the bad guy.  They start off pure evil and continue that way throughout the film.  But I really don’t think that Gaston is evil to begin with.  Sure, he’s chauvinistic and self-centered, but not really evil.  He acts like a jerk when he throws the ‘surprise wedding” for Belle, but again I don’t think his behaviour is exactly evil.  He’s just a guy who is used to getting his own way who begins acting like a brat. But then there’s a point where his actions stop being bratty and become downright vile.  That turning point comes when he plots of have Belle’s father locked in the asylum.  I find Gaston interesting because he’s one of the few villains that actually turn into villains during the course of the film.  We actually see his descent into evil, which I find really interesting.

Also, he has one of the best songs in the entire Disney song catalog.


For Gaston’s look, I chose shades of gold and red, to mirror the shades in his costume.  I chose a strong gold tone to highlight the eyes.


I added a deep contour to my cheeks and jaw to draw reference to Gaston’s chiseled features.


http://youtu.be/693j3ZODjNc

For the lips, I went with a red-toned brown.  When I originally designed this look, I had intended to use a brighter red, like Gaston’s shirt.  However it was a bit too strong with the gold eye.  So I chose a brown with a red hint to it, which looks much better when paired with the gold.

If you’d like to request a villain to serve as next months’ inspiration, feel free to get in touch with me.  I always love hearing your suggestions.