makeup

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Daily outfit 20/3/2017

I’ve really been feeling the pin-up vibe with my outfits lately.  Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I’ve been listening to a lot of The Baseballs amazing do-wop covers. Perhaps it’s because the steaming hot end-of-summer temperatures have made me feel all warm and sultry under the collar.  Whatever the reason, I’ve been reaching for my hairspray and winged eyeliner to create the perfect pin-up look.

 

I wore this outfit to dinner a few nights ago, and managed to snap off a few pictures as I raced out the door.

 

 

 

I am wearing:

  • Cruelle De Vil Tee shirt from Threadless
  • Black and white polka dot skirt from Best N Less
  • Red buckled stilettos (thfited)
  • Black studded leather belt (gift from my ex)
  • Dice earrings from Equip

 

I recently purchased the NYX vinyl liquid eyeliner and it’s been a godsend in this hot weather.  The applicator is a very thin brush, so you can easily apply your liner with pinpoint precision.  It dries fast and has the most deliciously patent finish.  Best of all, this stuff doesn’t budge.  I can be sweating like a disco queen under a spotlight and my eyeliner remains crisp and clean.

 

I’ve opted to wear a pretty apple-tinted gloss on my lips rather than my traditional full red lip.  I just find gloss to be a lot more forgiving in the heat.  This one is the Innoxa Antioxidant Lip Glaze which I reviewed a while ago.

 

Although the days are drawing in and the air is a little crisper in the mornings, I’m sure that my love affair with pin up style will continue right on into Autumn.

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What I wore 29/7/2015

I had an epiphany when I was typing the title of today’s post.  Since the very beginning of my blog, I’ve called my outfit posts “Daily Outfit”.  And when I started blogging that was definitely true.  Once upon a time I used to post an outfit shot every day.  Now I’m lucky to do a couple of outfit posts in a month.  So I made the decision to rename this post series “What I wore”, because it feels more real than “Daily Outfit” now.

So anyway, this is the outfit I wore to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday.  We went out for a lunch of seafood and soft drinks and it was fantastic.

I am wearing:

– Black and white floral dress from Target

– Leopard-trimmed cardigan (a gift from my parents)

– Seamed stockings from Dangerfield.

– Black patent leather heels from Nine West

– Black cat earrings from Sisunyak on Etsy.

It felt quite right to wear an outfit that was a mixture of ladylike sweetness and rebellious detailing to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday.  My grandma is an amazing and surprising person.  She’s has a pretty rough year, as my grandfather passed away last year and she’s been on her own for the first time since she got married. And she is absolutely thriving.  Grandma spent most of her life being a wife and mother and putting her husband’s needs first. And now she has jumped at the chance to embrace her independence and explore the things that she’s always wanted to try.  She has thrown herself into loads of new hobbies and has made plenty of friends.  She got a job at an op-shop.  And for her birthday she bought herself a house as a gift.  In the last year she’s really embraced the desire to live a life that makes her happy and has pooh-poohed anyone who doesn’t like her choices.  I really look up to her because she is one tough cookie who still manages to be sweet and kind to those who mean the most to her.

I’ve been having such fun styling my hair since i got it cut.  One of my favourite ways to wear it is to braid along the border of my shaved side.  It shows off my short hair to perfection but has a hint of feminine loveliness to it. On this day I swept the rest of my hair into a fancy backroll.

I finished my outfit with a swipe of my new favourite lipstick: Entourage by Lipstick Queen.  It’s part of the new Velvet Rope collection and it is to die for.  Not only is it very heavily pigmented and a gorgeously vampy shade, it is practically indestructible.  I think this is the longest-lasting, non-drying lipstick I’ve ever tried.  It’s gorgeous.

I was very pleased to pop on this sassy ensemble to celebrate my Grandma’s birthday.  I felt quite cute and a bit tough as well with my leopard print accents and my shaved head.  I love the duality of elements in this outfit, as I think it’s such fun to mix sweetness with sexiness and have a bit of both at once.  Don’t you agree?

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Daily outfit 10/3/2015

Brrrr!  It really seems as though somebody flicked the Autumn switch here.  The mornings have been quite chilly and the nights are closing in.  It’s good though because I’m starting to get excited about wearing the items from my wardrobe that have been neglected these past few months.  Like stockings, leggings, jumpers and scarves.  And glorious layers!  I’m celebrating by layering some fun prints today.

I am wearing:

– Grey marle cardigan from Cotton On

– Tribal print dress (gift from my parents)

– Pink leopard print tights from Rubi

– Black gladiator sandals from Sportsgirl

– Silk headscarf (thrifted)

– Beetle ring (gift)

– Gold rock ring from ASOS

– Blue beaded necklace (vintage)

I wore this outfit to go shopping for craft supplies and enjoy a coffee at my favourite cafe.

I’m trying out a new blush at the moment.  I usually go for variations on dusky pink for my blush, and this time I felt like something a bit different.  I picked Exhibit A from NARS.  It’s a bright red shade and at first I worried that it was just too darn bright for my fair skin.  But after a bit of playing around I now absolutely adore it.  I’ve also been wearing nude lipstick more often to accommodate the bright cheeks.  It’s very different to my normal look and I quite like it.  Sometimes it’s good to step out of your comfort zone.

What have you done lately that’s pushed you out of your comfort zone?

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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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Things I Love Thursday 18/12/2014

Welcome to another Things I Love Thursday post.  Every week I take time to write about the things I’ve been grateful for and those awesome happenings which have put a smile onto my face.

This week I love:

– Catching up with friends.  I went to visit Natalie and we ate pancakes and shopped.  It was so much fun and I’m so excited that this gorgeous lass now lives so close to me.

– Staying up until 3am chatting with cute boys.  I haven’t done that since…well, ever actually.

– Fleetwood Mac.  I’ve been watching American Horror Story 3: Coven and it’s been influencing my listening habits dramatically.  I’ve been spinning a lot of Stevie this week.

-Rocking strong eyeliner and red lips for dinner with my parents.

– Counting down to Christmas.  There’s only one week to go!

– Finding a gorgeous rose pink vintage slip at the op shop for just $2.  It’s going to be perfect for sleeping in once the really hot weather hits.

– Glittery gold nails for the festive season.

– Gingerbread frappacinos from Starbucks.  I ordered one, and as I was about to take a sip thought to myself, “This could either be really delicious or truly disgusting”.  And it was amazing.  I only regret that there’s no Starbucks in Benalla so I can’t get another one.

– Taking crazy leaps of faith.  Sometimes you just need to take a risk.

– Sending Christmas cards.

– Introducing friends to the wonder that is Elf.

– Bing Crosby.

What do you love this week, sweetie-pie?  Leave your own Things I Love Thursday list in the comments.

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Daily outfit 16/12/2014: Who’s This?

I’ve been thinking about putting together some Christmas themed outfits this year, but I haven’t felt very inspired.  I struggled to come up with a single outfit idea, even after sifting through several combinations of red and green clothing.  That is, until I watched The Nightmare Before Christmas last week.  I loved the idea of creating a Burton-esque outfit in honour of the holidays, and a snap of cold weather was the perfect opportunity to put my idea into practice.

I am wearing:

– Key earrings from Etsy.

– “Who’s This?”  Tee shirt (gift)

– Green leopard print trousers from Target

– Black motorcycle boots from Big W

– Christmas beetle ring (gift)

– Skull spike bracelet from ASOS

– Jack Skellington bracelet (made by Violet)

I accessorised with this cute Jack Skellington bracelet that Violet made for me years ago.  I felt that the outfit needed some more studs, so I added this skull bracelet as well.

The tee shirt I’m wearing was a gift from a friend, and it’s got the most perfect print.  I adore it when two of my fandoms collide!  The design on this tee shirt is called “Who’s this?”.

My makeup was bold, with green eyes inspired by Oogie Boogie.  If you like this look, just wait until next week when I post a tutorial to help you recreate it at home.

To me, The Nightmare Before Christmas is the perfect Christmas film.  Not only is it full of cute characters and awesome songs, but it has a lot of heart to it.  The relationship between Jack and Sally is so sweet.  I also adore the way that the main character, Jack Skellington, struggles to define the indescribable spirit of the Christmas season and is always at a loss to put it into words.  I find it so difficult to adequately describe the magic of Christmas, and I can really relate to that feeling of being lost for words to define something so amazing and touching.

Of course, it also helps that the film is a bit quirky and unconventional.  I like things that are a little bit left-of-centre, like this unusual take on a Christmas outfit.

Do you wear Christmas themed outfits?  How do you work the holiday spirit into your wardrobe?

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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*