Outfit of the Day

My outfit from Sunday! My other half and I were going out for late lunch and he snapped a few pics for me. I really like how they came out, so here's a ton! I'm wearing my new Lip Service dress, I'm really a big fan of the bone stripe print. They had a sale a while back and my package finally arrived last week.

Jacket - Juunappa

Dress - Lip Service

Cardigan - Nanso

Leggings - Second hand

Shoes - eBay

(And you can't see my fancy socks from H&M, they have a prints

to mark a pair for each weekday, Sunday is done in hot pink ;D)

Current Obsessions

I've been wanting a lot of stuff lately, for some reason. I have piles of clothes and shoes and things, but these are the items I've been dreaming of.

New Rock boots
I tried a pair with the new Panzer wedge sole at WGT, but didn't find a pair that would have had everything I wanted. But they stuck to my mind, the wedge shape is nice and they seemed quite easy to walk with. Also my old New Rocks, that recently had their third birthday, are so worn out I'm not sure if it would be wise to
fix them.

Sugarpill Cold Chemistry palette
I love the look of this palette! I own lots of Sugarpill shadows and love each and every one. The palette would be a great addition to my collection, even though the shades don't look unique. I use dark shades a lot, and autumn is the season to go darker anyway.

A black chandelier
I saw one on Sandy's Halloween craft post, and fell in love again. I really wanted one back when we lived in the previous apartment, but my other half was of the opinion that it would be too over the top for the place. Now we have higher ceilings and he feels it might look nice here, so maybe I'll get on some day! I promise to hand cute little ghosts on it so it doesn't have to be jealous of Sandy's wonderful chandelier ;)

Dancing pole
I've only been on a few lessons so far, but it would be great to practice at home, too! Right now it would be too expensive for me to have lessons twice a week, and the beginners lessons are at tricky times if I'd want two a week. When I started, I thought I'd never want a huge pole sticking out in the middle of a room, but now it's beginning to sound like a good idea. It would be great to be able to practice at home, since I'm so excited about this hobby!

"Jeans"
Bik Bok sells awesome trousers, they look like jeans, have a high waist (= no love handles) and are very soft and stretchy. I have one pair in black, but I'd like another ones that are distressed, so I could get rid of the distressed GinaTricot jeans I now use when I need a bottom that's not pure black and warm. The GinaTricot ones fit me just right when I pull them on, but they loosen up with body heat and movement, so at the end of the day I need to pull them up, which is silly. And naturally they have no loops for a belt. Once Bik Bok has a sale, I'm so getting new pants!

IsaDora Color Chock Glossy Lip Stain in Vintage Wine Review

Yesterday I finally went ahead and got two of the gorgeous Color Chock lip stains from IsaDora's autumn collection. The product name states that they are glossy stains, which sounded very interesting. The consistency of the product is quite surprising, it's a sticky, gooey stuff and the doe-foot applicator does not glide on lips. Application is still fairly easy, since the applicator is precise. The one I'm wearing in the pics (and right now) is called Vintage Wine.

Picture from IsaDora's site.

The container would make you think the product is an opaque wine shade, but actually it is semi-transparent and has tiny blue glitter particles (which are super hard to capture on the camera!). The glitter comes out a bit more when the stain wears. My biggest problem with the product was that it leaves marks on glasses and isn't smudge proof. The shade is gorgeous and it lasts long, but on my lips the product does feather a bit. It also stuck to any dry parts on the lips, so you should exfoliate first for the best result. Unlike the name, the product does not actually stain lips. It can be removed with soap and water, but it's easiest to take off with an oily make-up remover.

Pros

+ Gorgeous shade!

+ Lasts long (8+ hours with some wear)

+ Precise applicator

+ Easy to remove

+ Unique product (at least by my standards)

Cons

- Sticky, feels a bit heavy on the lips at first

- Feathers over time (needs lip liner)

- Not smudge proof

You can just about see the blue glitter if you look very hard!

Even with it's negatives, I really do like the product. It's vibrant and the colour is very deep, and the slight shimmer adds depth that can't be achieved with regular lip stains. I might even go and buy another shade or two of this product since it's so unique!

Commercial Break! / Mainostauko!

Upeista upeimmat Samhain-bileet ovat taas tulossa! Bella Morte ja Club Underworld yhdistävät voimansa ja tuovat synkät tahdit taas Laternan tunnelmalliseen ympäristöön. Meitsi soittelee musaa, joten toiveita saa esittää! Luvassa on perinteinen pukukilpailu, jossa tulee olemaan loistavat palkinnot. Pippalot olivat viime vuonna loppuunmyydyt, joten liikkeellä kannattaa olla ajoissa. Tästä Facebook-eventtiin jonka kautta saa uusimmat tiedot!

The weird and wonderful Samhain party of Bella Morte and Club Underworld is coming again! I'm playing music so I can promise some nice tunes, and feel free to request specific songs. The costume competition will once again have great prices, and the place is likely to be packed full. Last year the party was sold out, so be sure to be early! Click here for the Facebook event to get the latest news!

Adoration and Resistance Look (and Natural Brows)

I've been experimenting with natural brows and let them grow back, which also means I've had less time in the morning to do my eyeshadow since I have to get the unruly brows in to order. I still hate them, but I'll try to let them grow just a little bit longer to see if they would magically transform into something I like.

For today's' fast eye look I used Adoration by Darling Girl Cosmetics and Resistance by Detrivore Cosmetics. The shadow on my brows is from a very old L'Oreal palette.

My considerate camera decided the funny little hairs at the end of the brow need to be the focal point of the picture.

Just look at those wonky little bastard brows growing all over the place ;D

I look so pale, even though I have blush on. And my forehead is enormous now
that I can't draw brows higher.

Outfit of the Day

This is me visiting Ikea on Sunday. Some doo-doo head had decided to alter the bus schedules so that the bus that drives to the Ikea parking lot no longer goes on weekends, which is just silly, since many people have the time to visit the place only then. I was not happy that now you have to drag everything you bought across a street and wait at a stop with no shelter. But at least we had candy! My butt looks so flat in the pic that I totally needed some extra sugar ;D

Jacket - Juunappa

Jeans - GinaTricot

Boots - New Rock

My Self-made Latex Skirt!

These pics were taken by the portrait photographer at the fetish event a few weeks back. I was DJ'ing and participated in a very nice latex workshop earlier in the day. They had a professional latex clothing maker show how the material is handled. I made a skirt and a glove with pretty pink accents!

Bolero - Artifice Clothing

Necklace - Artwith Latex

Corset - Heavenly Circus

Skirt - Self-made

Boots - New Rock

Handbag - H&M (second hand)

I personally prefer to take pictures from waist level, I think I look super short and have stumpy legs in these pics taken from way higher. But that was the photographer's style and I think the lighting is very nice and I like the background!

W7 Purple Paradise Nail Polish

This is one of the polishes I bought from the flea market. It's by W7 and called Purple Paradise. The shade is a blueish purple, but has a strong red & coppery shift making the purple look a lot more plum based and warm. The shimmer also gives it a nice depth and makes the colour complex, and to me, intriguing.

It also doesn't chip fast, which is great! In these pictures I'm wearing three layers of the polish and Seche Vite top coat. The manicure is five days old and is only slightly worn at the tips. I did have to fix one nail from my dominant hand because I almost sliced off a piece of the nail while cutting onions, but other than that, it has lasted perfectly. It's a great colour for the autumn, and probably one of my favourite purples of all the polishes I have.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain Review

On my trip to Stockholm I got this lip stain. It's the colour 07 Dark Berry from Sephora's own cosmetics line. I like lip stains, but none of the ones the Sephora had looked like interesting shades, but I'm happy that in the end I picked this one up.

It's a Cream Lip Stain, which describes the consistency very well. The package is sleek and modern, very simple. The product has a slanted doe-foot applicator that I found really nice an precise. The actual lip stain is not runny, but has a creamy consistency that's easy to apply. It has a strong vanilla scent. While the stain applies mildly shiny, it dries to a satin finish. You should keep your mouth open when it dries to make the effect faster and keep the stain applied evenly. When dry, the stain is smudge proof.

I found the stain alone to feel a bit too dry on my lips, so I put regular lip balm on top. This made it a bit more prone to smudging, but still nothing like standard lip stick. During the day (8+ hours) the stain feathered slightly at the corners of my mouth, so using a lip liner (one of the invisible types would be best) might be wise. To remove the stain, you need an oil based make-up remover. Unlike the name states, this product doesn't actually leave a stain on your lips.

Pros

+ Easy-to-use colour, suits many skin tones

+ Excellent staying power

+ Can be worn with lip balm on top

+ Stylish package

+ Easy to remove

Cons

- Availability, only available at Sephora

- Vanilla scent can be overpowering and lasts quite long

Challenge: How I Edit My Pictures

I got this challenge from Sonia at Tyttö ilman helmikorvakorua, thanks for sending it to me!

Here are the rules of the challenge:
1. Thank the person who gave you the challenge!
2. Have an unedited and an edited version of the same photo in the post.
3. Write about what you usually do when editing photos. What software do you use?
4. Give the challenge to five bloggers!

I went a bit overboard and included many pictures from the Make-up Store Look post I did earlier.

Original

Edited. Cropped, auto contrast, auto color and the horrible stubble is touched up a bit.

For editing I use Picasa by Google. It's a light program that lets you organize and edit pictures. It has only basic tools, but they are very well selected and programmed. I also have Photoshop, but I find Picasa is so well optimized for photo editing I hardly ever open Photoshop just to fix photos.

I have a Nikon D80 with a macro lens I use to take pictures. I usually take my make-up close-ups inside, standing next to a window to catch as much natural light as possible. The pictures still sometimes come out a bit dark.

Original

Edited. Cropped, auto contrast, auto color, touch-ups on the stubble on brows.

Normally when I open a photo for editing, I first crop it, then use auto contrast, then try auto colour (sometimes I like the original colours better and stick to them). I finish with cleaning the picture up by using the Retouch tool if there's something like fallen eyeshadow on cheeks, pieces of mascara, stray cat hair or I happen to be having a bad skin day and have a zit or two ;P Picasa's retouch tool is very intelligent and cleverly matches the background so it's easy to fix small areas.

Original

Edited. Cropped, auto contrast.

Original

Edited. Auto contrast, some small retouches on the redness on my nose bridge left by glasses,
a pimple next to my nose and another one on my temple. Dark undereyes are faded a bit.
This editing takes about five minutes with Picasa.

I can definitely recommend Picasa to anyone editing photos! Photoshop is great for doing larger tasks and graphic design, but I feel the limited tool selection of Picasa also helps to not go overboard with editing. Picasa also automatically saves the original picture (for some reason as a hidden file, so if you are looking for the originals, turn on showing hidden files on your computer) so if you make a mistake, you can't have accidentally saved over the original.

Then on to challenging other people to do this!

1. Sandy at Arsenic and Old Lace
2. Duvessa at One of Beauty's Daughters
3. MothMouth at Through the Looking Glass
4. Lynoire at Milking the Rolling Cow
5. Chastel at Wandering the Borderlands

Good luck!

Mini Shoot with Sephora Lip Stain

I got a new pair of earrings and a matching nail polish from a flea market, so it felt like a great idea to do a mini photoshoot while there was still some natural light left! My other half was nice and took the pictures :) I'm wearing the lip stain I bought from Sephora.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 07 Dark Berry being worn. It's a nice, rusty red!

You can't really see it in the pics, but the fake fur jacket is also from the flea market.
It was only three euros and I'm a sucker for short pile black fur and the silhouette
it gives when worn with heels and slim fit trousers, so I had to get it!

If the nail polish would have caught the light, you could see how similar it looks
to the earrings' finish. Sorry ;P

And a close-up on the make-up. On my lids I have Fyrinnae Snow Leopard in the crease
and Geek Chic Cosmetics Kingslayer on the lid.

Flea Market Finds

On Sunday I visited a self-service flea market. I used to go there often, but I've cut down buying stuff so I've had a long break. I still like to look at things, even if there's nothing to buy, so I figured it would be a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday. But this time I was lucky and found some great items at great prices!

Sinful Colors What's Your Name, Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy and W7 Purple Paradise.

Along with the fancy Sinful Colors beetlewing polish, the table had a huge basket of other polishes, even some high-end ones like OPI and Essie. Most were barely used and the prices were very reasonable, so I picked up a few.

Sinful Colors What's Your Name along with the new earrings from the same table. The purple shift in the glitter is very hard to get to show on nails, but it's gorgeous and totally my colour with the purple and teal.

W7 Purple Paradise. A purple with a coppery red sheen.

Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy. A pale metallic lavender with a strong green shift.

In addition I got another pair of earrings, a baggie of bat shaped beads, a fake fur jacket that was barely worn and a turquoise turtle neck top. And everything all together was under 17 euros, that's what I call a great deal!