Maximoff Twins Inspired Look

This is a quick look I did inspired by Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver! Though mostly it's Wanda inspired, Pietro is only there as a flash of silver, which I think is fitting.

Used: Black Rose Minerals Faye on the inner corner and above the crease, Fyrinnae Scarlet Macaw across the lid, Black Rose Minerals Scabbed Winds on the outer corner, Geek Chic Megaflare for liner and Victorian Disco For The Horde for my brows.

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?

Birthstone Series: February Amethyst

image from here

Second month, second look in the birthstone series. This is my birthday month and my birthstone, the Amethyst! 

For those who were born in the month of February the Amethyst is the traditional birthstone. The February birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Amethyst is associated - stability, peace, balance, courage, inner strength, sincerity and a calm disposition. The healing properties of the February birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the withdrawal symptoms of any sort of addiction,  headaches, insomnia, arthritis, pain relief, circulatory system issues and general healing. The Amethyst is also referred to as the the "sobriety stone" as it was once believed to prevent drunkenness and used to treat alcoholism and other types of addictions. via birthdaygems.org

For this look I used Shiro Alkahestry in the center of the lid and inner corner, with Geek Chic Bad Wolf over the rest of the lid and blended out past the crease. On the outer corner and in the crease I tried to add a little darkening with Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog.

Birthstone Series: January Garnet

I didn't make this, credit goes to myjewelrycenter.com/

Hey look, a new series! I hoping this gives me a little more inspiration and as I'll be doing a different gemstone (and therefore a different look) every month, it will *fingers crossed* mean I get at least one makeup look uploaded on here a month :)

First off is January and the stone for January is the Garnet.

For those who were born in the month of January the garnet is the traditional birthstone. The January birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the garnet is associated - purity, truth, faithfulness and friendship. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the January Birthstone Garnet are  awareness, commitment, regeneration, insight and removing negativity. The healing properties of the January birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the blood, heart, lungs and infection. The garnet is also used to enhance sensuality and sexuality. From Birthday Gems

For this look I used Fyrinnae's Scarlet Macaw on the inner corner, Victorian Disco For The Horde over the lid and  Black Rose Minerals One Does Not Simply in the outer corner and crease. The liner is Victorian Disco Kidnap Sandy Claws mixed with Makeup Revolution Aqua Seal (I prefer ELF's Lock and Seal but shhh)

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.

Clownin' Around

So this is a look I found hiding in completely the wrong place in my hard drive, it's from a couple of months ago back when I was still living at home. I can't promise I remember exactly what colours I used, but I'll try to have a good guess. I hope you like it anyway, the eyeliner was fun to do.

As I said I can't remember exactly what I used, the brows are Conjouring from Fyrinnae, I think the gold is something like Helga from Victorian Disco or maybe Heiroglyph from Meow Cosmetics, possibly with a little Inevitable Betrayal from Geek Chic mixed in. The crease colour I'm pretty sure was 1000 Needles from Geek Chic. Eyeko skinny liner and probably Maybelline Falsies mascara.

Discworld Series: Death's Domain

The second in the series is another location from the books that really stuck with me, the home of Death. I picked Death's house for this one as I have already done a look for Death himself (albeit not this specific anthropomorphic personification, but Death in Discworld is not much different from Death elsewhere colour wise).

Death's Domain was the home of Death. It was an extra-dimensional realm and has a house, garden and stable where Death's horse Binky lives. Death's house has infinite space inside. The rooms include the Life-Timer room,the home of the life hourglasses which keep on running.Then there is the Library where everybody's biography is being written down by itself.The whole house looks old. The house Is predominatly night black, dark purple and shroud white, with lots of drapes and runny candles

via Discworld Wiki

Used: Victorian Disco Sandy Claws for the all over lid colour, Victorian Disco Shadowform for the purple liner, Rimmel white eyeliner pencil for the white and Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog blended out above the crease and for the brows. Mascara is Maybelline Falsies.

I think I like this eyeshadow shape.

Darth Vader Inspired

Second week of the Dark Side of Beauty March Series challenge brings us your father the infamous Darth Vader, a voice recognised by fans and non-fans alike.

Once a Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker swore loyalty to Sith Lord Darth Sidious in order to gain the power of the dark side of the Force. Vader betrayed the Jedi Order and his Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. With the rise of the Galactic Empire, Darth Vader became the Emperor's dark enforcer. He carried out the Emperor's will, and commanded legions of Imperial troops. Vader was tasked with discovering the secret headquarters of the Rebel Alliance, as well as chasing down the Rebels who destroyed the Empire's massive Death Star battle station.

Used: Femme Fatale Unholy on inner corner and lower lashline, Geek Chic Baby over lid, Victorian Disco Kidnap Sandy Claws on outer corner, crease and in brow, Shiro Zero above the crease, Fyrinnae Scarlet Macaw on outer brow, Geek Chic Golden Trio as outer flick liner. Main liner was Collection Glam Crystals in Rock Chick.

Lots of blacks from the infamous costume and a flash of red for the lightsaber. I actually really like this look, bit much for everyday wear though (not that that would have stopped me!).

Boba Fett Makeup

I took a break from this last month, totally out of ideas, but now it's a new month and a new theme and I'm totally excited for this one. Star Wars is awesome, and I love the three theme picks! 

Boba Fett was a Mandalorian warrior and bounty hunter. He was a clone of the famed Jango Fett, created in 32 BBY as the first of many Fett replicas designed to become part of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was raised as Jango's son. Jango taught Boba much, training him to become a skilled bounty hunter as was his father-figure before him.

I took inspiration from his armour, and of course I used the Victorian Disco shadow named after him.

Used: Victorian Disco The Fett over lid, Victorian Disco For the Horde as liner, Geek Chic Don't Blink for the 'scuffs', Fyrinnae Scarlet Macaw for eyebrows

Seven Deadly Sins: Pride

art used for banner is by dahlig, you can see the full series here

In almost every list, pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris (Greek), is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and the source of the others. It is identified as believing that one is essentially better than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story of Lucifer, pride (his desire to compete with God) was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan. In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitents are burdened with stone slabs on their necks which force them to keep their heads bowed.
The demon associated with this sin is Lucifer (who else?) 

We're finally here, the end of the sins series! I feel like it's taken me a long time. This is the final look and probably my second favourite aside from Lust, though the photos didn't take too well. There's lots of glitter and lots of purple. It's definitley a very dramatic look. 

Used: Shiro Alkahestry on the inner corner, Shiro Shinigami across the lid, Victorian Disco Shadowform on the outer corner, black is from the MUA Starry Night palette. Extra glitter is Black Rose Minerals Stardust. Eyebrows are Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog on the inner half and Victorian Disco I'm 100 Years Older Than You But It's Okay on the outer half. White liner is a Rimmel pencil. Lips are Rimmel Apocalips in Eclipse. Lashes are by Revlon [double wink I believe] and rhinestones are from eBay.

Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony

art used for banner is by dahlig, you can see the full series here

  Second of the sins and the second look is Gluttony.

Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony (Latin, gula) is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste.

In Christianity, it is considered a sin if the excessive desire for food causes it to be withheld from the needy.
Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's own interests above the well-being or interests of others.
Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony, arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, comprising:

• Praepropere – eating too soon
• Laute – eating too expensively
• Nimis – eating too much
• Ardenter – eating too eagerly
• Studiose – eating too daintily
• Forente – eating wildly
  

In Dante's Inferno the "great worm" Cerberus guards the gluttons, forced to lie in a vile slush produced by ceaseless foul, icy rain (Virgil obtains safe passage past the monster by filling its three mouths with mud). In her notes on this circle, Dorothy L. Sayers writes that "the surrender to sin which began with mutual indulgence leads by an imperceptible degradation to solitary self-indulgence." The gluttons lie here sightless and heedless of their neighbors, symbolizing the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives.

The demon associated with gluttony is Beelzebub

Used: Victorian Disco Sailor Venus on the inner corner, Victorian Disco Arda in the crease, Shiro Cosmetics Wheeeeeee on the outer half of lid and brows, Geek Chic Bigger on the Inside for liner, Fyrinnae Scarlet Macaw as the cherries with Victorian Disco The Fett for stems. White is rimmel liner, glitter is collection glam crystals in funk.

This shopuld have been published on the 29th January! Blogger glitched and saved it in drafts instead of scheduled it, sorry guys!

Chinese New Year Inspired

It's Chinese New Year on Friday, the year of the Horse [which I recently found out I was born in after years of thinking I was a sheep, as the Chinese New Year started after my birthday!]. This is my new years inspired look, using traditional reds and gold. I also tried to draw the Chinese symbol for horse in eyeliner.

The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people's ethos – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able. Ancient people liked to designate an able person as 'Qianli Ma', a horse that covers a thousand li a day (one li equals 500 meters).

from travel china

Used: Fyrinnae Scarlet Macaw on the inner corner, Victorian Disco Godric on the outer corner, Shiro Cornucopia on the lower lashline. Revlon Runway lashes Golden Saturn and Collection Extreme liner with Rimmel Jet Black liner on the waterline. Brows are Victorian Disco For The Horde and Helga. Rhinestones from eBay [can you tell I'm obsessed with them?]

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

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

A Couple Looks I Forgot To Post

Purple and Teal using Shiro Derp as liner and Victorian Disco Room of Requirement and Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog over the lid

Sparkly Neutrals!
Inner corner is Victorian Disco Lorien, with Innocent and Twisted Alchemy Warm & Fuzzy over the main lid and Geek Chic Antedelluvian on the outer corner. Liner is Collection 2000 extreme in black and glam crystals in Hustle.

Can't remember if I posted this before. Not 100% on what I used. I think Victorian Disco Fallen Survivor is there somewhere.

And finally a totally random test-look, christmas elf inspired

 Used Black Rose Minerals Spike over the lid with a mix of Geek Chic Inevitable Betrayal and Black Rose Ein in the center to highlight, which didn't work so well. Red liner is Victorian Disco For The Horde

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.

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.

Disney Villains: Maleficent

For Dark Side of Beauty's October Series Challenge, week 1. The Dragon was my favourite thing Maleficent did, I have a weakness for dragons, so I used that form as my inspiration

Sorry this is so small, I screwed up editing and can't make it bigger again.
Anyway, products used:

Fyrinnae Magical Hedehog and Shiro Alkahestry on the lid, Darling Girl On-X in the crease and Shiro Rupee and Victorian Disco Wazooo glitter as liner

Look Dump

Just a collection of looks from the past couple of weeks that I photographed and never posted. I can't promise I remember what I'm wearing in most of these, but I'll note down the ones I can.

This used Victorian Disco Godric over the lid, Geek Chic Madness in the crease and Victorian Disco Rowena on the lower lash line. Liner is collection liquid liner and lashes are L'Oreal volume million excess.

 Honestly cannot for the life of me remember what I used here. But it's a nice pale gold, copper and grey look for work. Sorry!

This used I think Fyrinnae's Meerkat in the inner corner,  can't remember what the green was, but the blue in the crease is Victorian Disco Evenstar,

This was inspired by the pretty green double liner look on Blog of Shadows. Only less subtle and more crazy. Lid colour is Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze and the blue is Victorian Disco My Feels.