Darling Girl Look

Here's a look I did with Darling Girl eyeshadow samples. I think it came out very nice, even though it's very light! Persuasion has very pretty gold sparkle, that would have maybe needed a stickier base than UDPP.

I used:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Darling Girl Persuasion on inner half of the lid
Darling Girl LaLa on outer half of the lid and crease
Darling Girl She-bop blush
Lumene lingonberry lasting lip stain Eternity

Look! Sunlight!

Skeletal Shoe Shopping

I ordered these shoes in the beginning of February from Arrogant Minnie and they finally arrived today. I had been drooling over the DSquared2 skeleton heels for some time, but the originals were too expensive, and I didn't like the front side of the shoe, it was too boring. The peeptoe versions were not to my liking either. Luckily after doing a lot of research on google, I came across the version Arrogant Minnie was selling. They are not exact replicas, because they don't copy the original shoes except for the heel, and I really liked the lacing in the front. It looked very sophisticated with plain black laces threaded trough plain black leather, just enough detail but not too loud. I was a bit worried, since I didn't find any reviews of the shop, and because a pair that I had been watching on eBay turned out to be very different from the model pictures when the shop published a picture of the actual product.

In the end, the shoes shipped fast and were very nice quality and looked just like the pictures on the site. I'm very happy, now I just have to wait for the snows to melt before I can take them outside!

The shoes are genuine leather and came with extra heel taps. The size was very accurate and the insole was nice and soft. They cost about 100 euros with the shipping and came from China.

Behold my sexy leopard socks ;P

The heels might need a new coat of paint someday, but they look good.

Crocheting a Rug

Our bathroom needed a new rug, the old one was years old, faded and so full of kitty litter that I was afraid to put it in the washing machine. I found instructions on how to crotchet a rug after I taught myself to crochet before Christmas and did a few baskets. A few too much, that is, since my right hand was overworked and hurt for a few weeks ;P Now I couldn't stand looking at the pretty yarns any more! I had ordered lots of yarn for the baskets and the same type was fine for a rug.

I used a pattern, it's basically this with some holes in it (I'm new to crocheting, can you tell?) but the one I had is this (it's in Finnish only, sorry!), I only made it smaller. You can make the bulky yarn from old t-shirts, if you want to.

Here's my rug! It's about 60cm in diameter and took me maybe three hours to do. I got blisters but my hands don't hurt, so I went better than with the baskets ;) I improvised some parts and the centre is somehow deformed, but I think it's still fine. As long as it doesn't curl up in any direction, I'm happy!

One Hand Washes The Other Review

One Hand Washes The Other, or OHWTO for short, makes bath and body products by hand. I wanted to try the Black Magic soap, which has been praised as an excellent facewash. I recently ran out of Lush Fresh Farmacy face soap, and wanted to try something new after trying to replace it with Coalface that didn't work so well. I want something I can wash my eye makeup off as well, Coalface had too large exfoliating particles to go anywhere near my eyes. I ordered the Black Magic soap in a tube, since I felt that would be the most hygienic choice and I wouldn't have to work it like a bar to get some foam.

I also looked into the perfumes, since I don't have many of those and was interested to try some. I picked a seasonal winter scent, I Smell Like A Witch. The perfume oil was out of stock so I chose the solid scent. About a week later, the perfume oil came back to stock, so I sent Becca a message if I could swap the solid scent for the oil. I got a quick answer and an invoice for the few dollars the oil cost more.

I've ordered from the company before via Artfire and got solid scents that I use regularly.

I placed my order on 1st of February and it arrived (to Finland) on the 23rd, which I felt was really fast. Everything was packed well and secure. I got the products I ordered, two samples and an extra lip balm. A printed copy of my order was included in a nice sealed envelope and there were stickers, a lollipop and a large business card in the bubble mailer.

Look at all the stuff! And the DOLPHIN.

I Smell Like A Witch perfume oil, Very Berry lip butter, Black Magic soap in a tube and two solid scent samples.

I'm really rubbish at describing scents, but I Smell Like A Witch is really candy-like in the bottle, but the patchouli comes out better on (my) skin. It's really nice and not too overpowering. Even though my boyfriend said I smelled like an old lady, I'm going to continue using it ;P I can't think of anything old lady -like in the smell!

This is how it's described on the site: "Red & White Roses, Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum, Smoke, Sandalwood, Patchouli & Vanilla Bean"

Very Berry lip butter smells divine, like strawberries and raspberries, very sweet and yet light. Goes on the lips well and moisturises nicely. A good, basic lip balm with a very nice smell.

The Black Magic soap smell like herbs and left my skin feeling really clean the first time I used it. I can't say anything about how it affects my skin yet, but the tube is easy to use and the soap cleans well and smells good.

The solid scent samples were 1605 (which I already had from my previous order) and Raspberry Gingerale. Raspberry Gingerale is really fresh and even a bit sour, like sour candy. It smells divine! I love raspberries and sour candy ;P I gave 1605 to my other half, since he had already gotten the last 1605 I had and it's more his type of a smell, heavy and musky. It's really nice, just not me.

I liked everything I got and felt the pricing was reasonable and shipping fast. I'll try if the soap suits my skin, and if it does, I'll be sure to order more and grab a few more amazing scents to go!

Darling Girl Look and Outfit of the Day

Today I did a smoky look with Darling Girl Cosmetics' Dark Heart. I had some issues blending the shadow, since it didn't want to stick to the skin coloured shadow I put underneath it, but it worked out fine in the end. The burgundy shift is really pretty! Next time I'll put the Dark Heart on with a damp brush to get the most out of it.

I used:
MAC foundation and concealer
Evil Shades powder Matte Silk
Darling Girl Cosmetics Dark Heart (on whole lid and crease)
Sugarpill Tako (on inner corners and brow bone)
Make-Up Store Vanilla (beneath the Dark Heart to help with blending)
Darling Girl Cosmetics blush She-bop
Max Factor lipstain Royal Plum

The earrings are from Ebay, they are my current favourites :)

And here's what I wore!

Bolero: Queen of Darkness

Shirt: Living Dead Souls (customized, I remade the neckline)

Skirt: Lip Service (second hand, bought this yesterday)

Shoes: New Rock

Starling Look

I only have one picture of this look, somehow all the others turned out to be blurry or just otherwise bad. I did tiny eyebrows just because I thought they looked cool and quickly put on some eyeshadow and liner. I wore this for playing boardgames with friends, so not a big event ;) I and played horribly, one mistake on round three and the seven rounds after were just waiting since there was no way to get back on your feet! Otherwise I liked the Game of Thrones boardgame, it had lots of scheming and interesting tactical choices. Now I also know that it has no "rubber band" mechanic to get players back in on the action if you mess up in the beginning ;) Better luck next time!

I used:
Sugarpill Tako (on inner corner and towards the centre of the lid)
Sugarpill Starling (outer corner, lid and crease)
MAC Fluidline Blacktrack
Kanebo 38 Mascara

Cranberry Champagne Look

Here's a look I did with Cranberry Champagne eyeshadow from Evil Shades. It's a dark red colour with metallic shimmer and I felt like it went well with my green eyes. Even my other half asked if I had coloured contacts on!

I used:
Evil Shades Cranberry Champagne (on whole lid)
Fyrinnae Moonchild (inner corners)
MAC Fluidline Blacktrack
Cheap Ebay eyelashes
Kohl pencil
Kanebo 38 Mascara

Apparently I somehow got a ton of shadow on the lashes. Whoops!

I didn't have anything on my lips so the full face looks a bit blah.

Darling Girl Cosmetics Review and Swatches

I made an order to Darling Girl Cosmetics a few weeks ago and it arrived today! I wanted the She-Bop blush, because it was said to be quite similar to NARS Orgasm which seemed like a colour I didn't already have. I was also recommended Dark Heart eyeshadow, and grabbed a glitter to try while at it. I also ordered a blogger sample pack and asked Susan to pick the colours for me. She did a wonderful job, I love everything!

The order came in a bubble mailer and everything was wrapped separate packages inside it.

Everything was wrapped carefully.

Here's what was inside. So much stuff!

I got six eyeshadow samples, one blush sample and a lipgloss sample. I purchased the She-Bop blush in petit size, Pink Elephant glitter, Dark Heart eyeshadow in petit size, and got as a gift with purchase the Phantom of the Taupera eyeshadow (in a jar but less than a petit size). There was also a business card, some pretty confetti and an adorable heart eraser! Here are individual pictures of the products. The pics are a bit dark, sorry!

She-Bop. Less orange in real life!

Dark Heart

Pink Elephants

Phantom of the Taupera. The shade is cooler in real life.

Fawndle. Again too warm in the pic!

Vixen

Persuasion

LaLa

Purple Haze

Obviously a Wig

Willow

Taupe Secret

Everything was neatly in baggies on pots and the pots had sealed sifters. Eyeshadow and blush samples have a list of all ingredients on the label.

Swatches. From left to right: Persuasion, LaLa, Vixen, Willow, Obviously a Wig, Fawndle, Dark Heart

Persuasion - A matte lilac base with gold shift and shimmer. Very unique!

LaLa - Purple with lilac shift

Vixen - A dark puple with purple and teal shimmer

Willow - A soft baby pink with teal shimmer

Obviously a Wig - A bold dark cool pink with a blue shift (this wasn't listed on the site)

Fawndle - A medium brown with red shimmer

Dark Heart - A dark shimmery burgundy with pink shimmer

Blushes, gift shade (I have to admit I didn't know what it was for, so I swatched it with the blushes) and glitter. Purple Haze, She-Bop, Phantom of the Taupera, Pink Elephants.

Purple Haze - A dark magenta with light shimmer

She-Bop - Peachy light orange with a gold shift and some gold shimmer

Phantom of the Taupera - A light taupe with blue and green shimmer, seems like a very usable colour

Pink Elephants - Pure bright pink glitter, very pretty!

Taupe Secret lipgloss

Taupe Secret - Cool light brown with blue and green shimmer, quite light on the lips but makes their colour cooler

Everything seemed to be of high quality and Susan did a great job choosing the pinks and purples for me. Colours seem complex and unique, but yet very usable and easy to combine with others. I'm very happy with the order! The website is a bit hard to navigate, but I can assure you, it's worth it :)

Gradient Eyeliner

We had friends over, so I thought I might as well try to look nice and opted for nude lips and colourful eyes, and did a look that fit the Never Too Much Shimmer challenge for this week. We had some pasta, cheese cake and watched a film called TrollHunter. I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to see the other movie, but it was a Czech animation and looked scary with stop motion clay animation and a dead rabbit. As a conclusion, I'd say food and friends go well together, and Norwegian sounds funny. It's like they have no space between words, just this constant mumble ;)

On to the look! The challenge was gradient, so I did gradient eyeliner. I put a line of black on my lid first, then did the gradient line above it. It doesn't suit my heavy lids very well, but was still fun to do. The colours wanted to transfer on to my upper lid even with it covered in nude shadow.

I used:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Evil Shades Mixing Medium
MAC Yogurt (on the whole lid)
Lost in Makeupland blush Alive
Dermosil lipgloss Classic Rose

Eyeshadows starting from the inner corner of the eye:
Evil Shades Bittersweet Symphony
Sugarpill Magentric
Antoinette's Revolution Marie Therese
Fyrinnae Faerie Glamour
Sugarpill Starling

Dermosil Classic Rose, a nude gloss

The earrings were made by me!

Cats!

Since me and my other half have five cats, it's only natural to write about them. He had two cats and I had three when we moved in together. The kitties took some time to adjust, since we had both females and males (all sterilized/neutered) and they had to work out who's the boss. Luckily we have a big apartment, so it wasn't an issue to put cats in separate rooms during the work days when we were both away, and now the whole bunch lives mostly happily together. Just the occasional smack on the head.

We have two "regular cats" and three orientals. If you know how orientals are, you also know that life is never boring with one, let alone with three and two other cats to urge them on. They are very social and want to participate in EVERYTHING. They like to sleep in the same bed as us, and loudly complain if anyone dares to roll over. I usually have a cat or two on my lap when using the computer and at least two or three when I'm lounging on the sofa. If you go to an empty room, Möttönen is already there and wants food. Or Mü or Mør tries to trip you.

Möttönen

Möttönen is a three-year-old chocolate silver spotted oriental shorthair. She loves everything and most of all food. I'm absolutely sure she can be at several places at once. Wherever there's trouble or something breaks, Möttönen is there. She was supposed to be named Mette, after the Danish princess, but she was just too silly to have a royal name. Thus she became Mette Möttönen, Möttönen being a silly-sounding Finnish surname. She was also supposed to have kittens, but instead just went on wild sex holidays to spend time with boy-kitties, but never came back with babies. Her current favourite hobby, now that she's sterilized, is to eat as much as she can and yowl like she's starving whenever anyone comes to the kitchen.

Mü

This is Mü. He's also three, as is his brother. They are nice blue-white regular cats, not as social as orientals, but have a wonderful personality. Mü is a bit shy and likes to hide beneath the hems of my maxi skirts hanging on a clothes rack. He also likes to take naps with people, but strictly limits his with-people-sleeping to daytime, he never comes to bed at night.

Mør

Mør is Mü's brother, they are from the same litter. He likes playing, but doesn't always understand when the other kitties don't want to play with him, and then he gets smacked on the head by one of the girls. He also knows when to hide under the dining room table when he's done something naughty. Both brothers specialize in looking very innocent with their big, round eyes.

Nana, this is her normal expression.

Nana is a cranky lady. She's a chocolate ticked oriental, almost seven and likes to sleep under covers and smack the young brothers and Möttönen on the head. She hates it when people sneeze and regally goes around and tries every lap when people come and visit. She likes to sleep in a tight ball and has a cool tusk, since her teeth have been crooked from birth. She can be a lovely cat when she wants, but also a bad-tempered biatch if people sneeze too much or others cats are closer to her than she likes.

Last but not the least, Nivek, named after Nivek Ogre. He's my first cat and just had his seventh birthday in January. He's a chocolate solid oriental and a big sissy. The girls rule over him even though he's biggest of the cats. He's a bit shy, but is all purring machine every once in a while. He's terrified of people with shoes on, plastic bags and silicone insoles (for shoes). He came from a home with very active young children, so they may have played rough with him, but I don't know for sure. He's still very easy to handle and takes direction well. He's also so greedy that I was able to teach him to give paw and lie down when commanded, just by using some cheese as a reward. I'm pretty sure he would do anything to get cheese spread. This is the fifth apartment Nivek has lived in so far and he's been with me for most of my adult life. I got him as soon as I moved to live on my own, since my parents didn't allow any pets.

Here's some extra pictures of all the kitties!