Earth Day Makeup

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.

Used: Darling Girl Chickster on the inner corner and above crease, Shiro Hodor on the center of the lid, Victorian Disco Sailor Jupiter (Makoto) on the outer corner, Aromaleigh Draghignazzo in the crease, Aromaleigh Calcabrina as a liner, Shiro Hero of Ages for the brows, Maybelline Collossal mascara. *phew*

Easter Inspired Look

Easter is this weekend, time flies doesn't it? I thought I should do a Easter inspired look to celebrate the occasion. My inspiration for this came from mini eggs! Chocolate and pastel colours, I actually really like it, which is odd for me where it comes to pastels.

Used: Darling Girl Death by Unicorn on the inner corner and inner half of the crease, Shiro Farore's Wind on the outer corner and outer half of the crease, Detrivore Hypothesis on the lid, Victorian Disco Shadowform as a liner, Victorian Disco Zangermarsh brows and L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara.

Happy Easter!

Chinese New Year: Year of the Goat

This year Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Yeaar) falls on the 19^th of February (that's tomorrow) and the lunar new year this year is the year of the Goat, more specifically the year of the Wooden Goat.

The Goat comes 8th in the Chinese zodiac. The 12 zodiac animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. According to Chinese astrology, each year (starting from Chinese New Year) is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a 12-year cycle. For example 2015 is a year of the Goat.Lucky Colors: brown, red, purpleLucky Numbers: 2, 7Lucky Flowers: carnation, primroseYear of Birth: 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027

I was born in 1991, but as I mentioned last year technically I am Year of the Horse (according to the Lunar calendar and the date that the New Year fell on). However I feel like I associate a lot more with the emotional profile of someone born in the year of the Goat, although I like horses as animals a lot more.

People born in a year of the Goat are generally believed to be gentle mild-mannered, shy, stable, sympathetic, amicable, and brimming with a strong sense of kindheartedness and justice.They have very delicate thoughts, strong creativity, and perseverance, and acquire professional skills well. Although they look gentle on the surface, they are tough on the inside, always insisting on their own opinions in their minds. They have strong inner resilience and excellent defensive instincts.Though they prefer to be in groups, they do not want to be the center of attention. They are reserved and quiet, most likely because they like spending much time in their thoughts. Goats like to spend money on fashionable things that give them a first class appearance. Although goats enjoy spending money on the finer things in life, they are not snobbish.

I'm not tough on the inside or good at spending money on the finer things I think that's where I'm more like a Horse. But for the most part, that's me.

Anyhow, I don't really believe in any of this Astrology stuff, I just find it interesting. Now, on to the look, I tried to incorporate all of the 'lucky colours' for the Goat. Especially red as red is traditionally associated with the Lunar New Year and is worn at the celebration.

Used: Victorian Disco Why is it Always You Three? on the inner corner, Darling Girl The Boogeyman across lid, My Pretty Zombie Brisket on the outer corner & crease, Fyrinnae Scarlet Macaw on the lower lashline & crease, Aromaleigh Cagnazzo & Hello Waffle Lust as a liner and finally Innocent + Twisted Warm & Fuzzy & My Pretty Zombie Brisket for my brows. Mascara was L'Oreal Miss Manga.

All of my information came from the China highlights site

Soft Valentines Date Makeup

This is my contribution to Valentines makeup, a soft and subtle look you could wear out on a date (if you're lucky enough to have one). I've done a few dramatic looks over the years, this year I wanted something gentle.

Used: Darling Girl Death by Unicorn on the inner corner, Fyrinnae Kurisumasu across most of the lid with Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Little Crush on the outer third, the outer corner, crease and brows are all Innocent + Twisted Contaminated Wastelands. Eyeliner and little heart was all Collection Extreme liner. Mascara is Maybelline Collosal.

Would you wear this out on a date or do you prefer a more dramatic approach?

Green Liner

So nearly everything I tried this weekend went wrong (ever had one of those weeks?) but I did manage to put together this simple look, which is a great way to wear a bright eyeliner. If you want to go with a bright colour for eyeliner and don't want to forgo the eyeshadow but don't want it to look too much then go for a more subtle shade. I went for a peachy orange with a bright green liner, because it's all so grey right now and a little brightness never hurt!

Used: Darling Girl Turning Japanese on the inner corner and inner 1/3rd ish, Victorian Disco Sailor Venus (Minako) over most of the lid, Darling Girl The Seam on the outer corner and crease (very blended, you can only just about see it), Shiro Hero of Ages as the liner and last but not least my brows are Victorian Disco Zangermarsh

Kirin Tor

In an effort to dig out and use some of my older eyeshadows that just don't get enough love I tried to incorporate a few of them into this look, I think I pulled it off okay what about you?

Used: Victorian Disco Kirin Tor over the whole lid, Geek Chic Old Fashioned Villain on the outer corner and Darling Girl The Seam blended into the crease. I think the liner was Victorian Disco Kidnap Sandy Claws and the brows were Black Rose Minerals Spike. White eyeliner was NYX Milk. 

Have you pulled out any neglected products recently? I reccommend it!

Blue and Gold

Long time no post? Work got super busy after my convention and I haven't caught up yet, sorry. I'll hopefully be back to normal posting soon. Until then, here's a quick blue and gold look from a couple of weeks ago.

Used: Victorian Disco Evenstar on the center of the lid, Meow Heirogylph on the inner corner, Darling Girl Friday I'm in Love across the rest of the lid, Fyrinnae Mephisto in the crease and Darling Girl Survival Instinct as liner. Brows are Fyrinnae Meerkat.

Pumpkin Spice

Autumn, time of the pumpkin. Also a great time to break out the oranges and greens for a seasonally appropriate eyeshadow look.

Used: Shiro Snake on the inner corner, Darling Girl Ripley's Cat over the lid, Victorian Disco Godric on the outer edge of the lid, Meow Telekenisis above the crease and Black Rose Minerals Spike as the liner and very lightly in the crease. Brows are probably Fyrinnae's Conjuror (if not they'll be Victorian Disco Hero Class, I forget).

Green and orange, it looks good. And Snake makes such a nice inner corner pop of brightness.

Jinx Inspired Look

Another for the Dark Side of Beauty monthly challenge. Week 2 is Jinx, a new champion that I've never actually played. But I do like the character design (somewhat impractical clothing or lack thereof aside) and she seems like tonnes of fun. Plus this gave me a chance to try something a bit fun.

Jinx lives to wreak havoc without a thought for consequence, leaving a trail of mayhem and panic in her wake. A manic and impulsive criminal, she despises nothing more than boredom, and gleefully unleashes her own volatile brand of pandemonium to the one place she finds dullest: Piltover. With an arsenal of deadly toys, she unleashes the brightest explosions and loudest blasts - all the better to shock and surprise the hapless authorities. Always just out of the law's reach, Jinx's favorite game is to toy with Piltover's finest - especially Vi.

from the League of Legends wiki. Her full lore is actually pretty long and interesting so do pop over there to read it!

for this I used: Victorian Disco Arda (pink) and Evenstar (blue) over the right and left lids respectively. For crease colours I used Black Rose Minerals Annabele Lee (blue) and Shiro Wheeeeeee! (pink), brows are Shiro Wheeeeeee! (pink) and Geek Chic Little Albatross (blue). For liner I used Barry M black glitter kohl liner.The glitter on the lids is Victorian Disco Barrett (blue) and Darling Girl Freaky Friday (pink)

This was tonnes of fun! What do you guys think? Are you LoL players and if so have you played Jinx yet? 

Darling Girl Haul and Swatches

So this is an old haul, most of these shades are from the Darling Girl Easter collection. Oops! Unfortunately this means that all the easter shades have now been removed from the website and are no longer available for sale, apologies for that. Still, you can admire the prettyness? 

Anyhow, on to the swatches. As per usual all shadows were photographed in natural light, but this time the swatches are done with only primer on the left and pixie epoxy on the right. Let me know if you prefer this over the old way (just pixie epoxy except for mattes). 

Chicka Chicka Boom - Pale golden champagne with soft pink glow and in certain lighting a green shift

Chickster - Light caramel with silvery green sheen and in the right lighting you might just spy the prettiest soft pinky purple.

Chicks Dig It - Mint green with pink to green shift purple sparkle. 

Chick Me Out - Green tinged yellow (just shy of chartreuse) with green to peach shift. 

Turning Japanese - Golden champagne with pink to green shift and green and gold iridescence. 

All of the above together, left to right: Chicka Chicka Boom, Chickster, Chicks Dig It, Chick Me Out, Turning Japanese.

Cold Comfort GWP (no description) – pretty shimmery tan

Die Die My Darling - Gorgeous olive green with pinky red undertones and glimpses of gold and pink sparkles.

Turning Japanese and Die, Die my Darling can both be purchased online at Darling Girl Cosmetics. Prices range from $2.50 to $5.90 depending on the size purchased. Full sizes are packaged in 5g jars with approximately 3/4 tsp of product. Petits are packaged in 3g jars with approximately 1/4 tsp of product. Samples are packaged in 2x2 zip lock baggies with approximately 1/8 tsp of product. (Samples are available as sets of 5 Mix and Match for $4.00)

Spring Pastels

This is the first of two looks I'm bringing you this week using spring pastel shades. Now the weather is warming up I thought it was a good opportunity to break out some of my lighter colours, especially those I haven't used in too long - namely the Victorian Disco Sindarin Collection as well as a Darling Girl shade.

Used: Victorian Disco Mellon on the inner corner and blended out above the crease, Darling Girl Death by Unicorn over the lid and Victorian Disco Thranduil on the outer corner and in the crease. The liner is Urban Decay 24/7 in Rockstar. Thranduil has a pink sheen to it which didn't show up well in the photos but paired well with the pink shadow.

Soft and Sweet Valentines Look

This is a good look for during the day on Valentines, or for a soft and subtle date night look.

Used: Darling Girl Death By Unicorn on the inner corner, Victorian Disco Arda across most of the lid and Darling Girl Persuasion on the outer corner and in the crease. Pretty sure my brows were Fyrinnae's Conjuror but I'm not 100% there.

Do you have any valentines plans?

Favourite Products & Brands of 2013

First in my line up of 2013 favourites round ups, my favourite products and brands of the last year. I've provided links to reviews and swatches where I can.

1. Collection 2000 Extreme Liner & Glam Crystals liner. The Extreme 24hr liner in black is my everyday go to liner, it's easy to use and highly pigmented giving a near-perfect black line every time. Great when I'm in a rush, since I think my liquid liner skills need help. Granted it isn't waterproof, but it also doesn't stain like some of its coloured counterparts. The Glam Crystals are my favourite way to add a little, or a lot, of sparkle to a look.  Glam Crystals swatches
   
2. Barry M nail polishes are always a winner for me and this year they've released some utter stunners, especially the Gellys and amazing Crystal Glaze. While I'm not a fan of textured polishes, the swatches I've seen of some of the latest releases, especially Countess, have been slowly luring me in. swatches here
   
3. Indie eyeshadows! I discovered indies this year and since then I've been hooked, well over 100 samples have found their way into my collection. I don't have a problem, honest... Top brands for me this year have been Shiro here, Victorian Disco here & Darling Girl here
   
4. Primers! Favourites for me have been the cult favourite Urban Decay Primer [I have Eden] and from the Indies Kiss My Sass's primer [though I haven't restocked since after the reformulation so this is subject to change]. And not a primer, but a sticky base that I just can't be without the Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. It really makes colours look amazing, and glitter sticks!
   
5. Layla Holographic polishes. Linear holographic polishes with a really strong holo bend at a reasonable price. Enough said. swatches here
   
6. ELF lock and seal. I owe you all a post singing the praises of this. I was trying to make my own mixing medium so I could use my pigments as liners, but always managed to end up with a lovely transfer line on my eyelid. But with this? None of that mess happens. It sets solid for the whole day, so now I can have hundreds of eyeliner shades! It also sets glitter into place if I'm applying it second whereas my pixie epoxy can lift my eyeshadow colour if I apply a second layer.
   
7. Maybelline Colour Tattoo are a quick fix lifesaver. They really do last for ages, can be used as a base if I haven't got primer to hand [though I am a little bitter the matte beige shade from Autumn in the US never made it over here, perfect base right there!] as well as coming in a range of gorgeous shades for quick lasting eyeshadow if I don't want to mess about with pigments and brushes and such. Seriously a winner for me this year. swatches

Christmas Sparkle

'Tis the season for sparkle! Just a quick post sharing some of my sparkly eyeshadows, these aren't straight glitters but very shimmery/glittery shades. And it's made me realise I really need a good glitterbomb neutral shade, so any recommendations are much appreciated.

As labelled, left to right, Shiro Cosmetics Slave 23, Alkahestry and They're After Me Lucky Charms. Darling Girl Sushi Flower, Persuasion, Survival Instinct and On-X.

 

Left to Right, Fyrinnae Meerkat, Geek Chic We Are Coming and Non-Euclidean. Victorian Disco Life and Lies [which is matte based and refuses to play nicely with pixie epoxy, something I forgot again. I don't have many mattes], AY SEXY LADY and The Fett.

Shiro and Darling Girl make some of the most stunning glittery shades, but I have to say Non-Euclidean and Ay Sexy Lady are my favourite glittery darks.
What are some of your favourite sparkly eyeshadows?

Catching Fire

I've been meaning to post this for ages, I saw Catching Fire on the 23rd and never got around to actually getting the photos edited and uploaded. My apologies.

The movie itself was amazing, I cried an awful lot and was in total awe at the makeup, effects and clothes [and yes, the story, I loved the books and the film. I'm glad they're not pushing the love story angle as hard as they've done in the trailers].

Products used: Black Rose Minerals Jet and Darling Girl The Seam on lid, Shiro Cosmetics Zero and Cheifest of Calamities in the crease and inner corner. Shiro Cornucopia as upper liner with Collection Extreme Liner as the black liner near lashline. Liner on lower lashline was Darling Girl Survival Instinct and I used Rimmel white eyeliner pencil on the waterline. The glitter on the outer eye is Freaky Friday from Darling Girl. For my lips I used Fyrinnae Conjuror with Shio Zero in the center of the lip.


And as a bonus, here's a practice run look I did:

 Used: Black Rose Minerals Jet on lid, Shiro Ragdoll in crease, and Victorian Disco Helga and Sailor Galaxia as liners.

Random Looks

Just a few looks I've done, photographed and never got around to posting.

Daily look, I remember using Bogeyman from Darling Girl Cosmetics and I think Geek Chic's King of Hell on the outer corner.

Greens with Victorian Disco Thranduil  in the crease and inner corner, and Innocent and Twisted Alchemy No Fairytale on the lid. I think there was another colour but I can't for the life of me remember.

 Oranges with Darling Girl Ripley's Cat on the inner corner, Shiro Ragdoll on the lid, Kiss My Sass Heatwave on the outer corner and Darling Girl Freaky Friday Glitter

Blues. I think I used Victorian Disco Evenstar, Geek Chic Blasphemous and Victorian Disco Barrett

It's The Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester!

Aka Pumpkin inspired Halloween makeup
This is secretly my favourite. I'm really loving these oranges!

Used: On lid from inner corner out; Darling Girl Ripley's Cat, Shiro Ragdoll and Chiefiest of Calamities. On the outer corner and in the crease Black Rose Minerals Jet. The green on the lower lash line is Geek Chic 1000 Needles and I used a touch of Victorian Disco Wazoo! glitter.

Devil Halloween Makeup

Devil inspired makeup for Halloween, lots of reds!

I used: Fyrinnae's Scarlet Macaw and Victorian Disco For The Horde on the lid. The outer corner has Geek Chic's Blasphemous and I used Darling Girl's Ripley's Cat in the crease.

Ursula Inspired Makeup

A bonus week look for Dark Side of Beauty's monthly theme challenge.

I really enjoyed doing this look, maybe not as much as my Malificent one, but this was fun and it's nice to be creative.

Used: Shiro Bubblebeam above crease with Victorian Disco Barrett glitter over it, Darling Girl OnX on the lid,and a mix of Darling Girl Basket Case and Sushi Flower for the purple.

Darling Girl Oh The Horror Swatches

I ordered a few of the Darling Girl Oh The Horror Halloween collection eye shadows when they were released. I grabbed five samples as a mix and match set, and got a free sample too. 

All shadows are swatched over pixie epoxy and photographed in natural light. Descriptions taken from the Darling Girl site where possible.

The Boogeyman - Sandy taupe with orange sheen and red sparkles

 

The Mummy - Shimmery metallic gold with color shifting iridescence that shifts from blue, purple to gold. [the colour shift was hard for me to see, but the wintery light sucks]

Lonely Assassins - Soft ashy grey with pink to golden green shift.  [again I struggled to see the shift, I did get the purple but it wouldn't photograph. I have about 50 of this shade]

Death By Unicorn - Pale silvery pink with blue undertones and pink, bronze and blue color shifting sparkles.

Ripley's Cat - Orange-y coral with pink and gold tones and color shifting iridescence that shifts from pinky red to orange to gold.

Freaky Friday [GWP] - Blue, purple and holo glitter in an orange microglitter base

The Boogeyman, Ripley's Cat and Death by Unicorn are favourites, though I kinda want to plaster my face in Freaky Friday.

Everything can be purchased from Darling Girl Cosmetics online.

Eyeshadows

Full Size: 3/4 tsp in a 5g jar $5.90

Petit: 1/4 tsp in 3g jar $2.50

Sample: 1/8 tsp of product in a baggie 5 for $4.00

Full Set [22 shadows]: $116.82 full size, $49.50 petit