Finnish Game Awards 2016 Look

My gala look! I quite like latex, so I had a dress made by Tiina Rikala who has years and years of experience with the material. Tiina usually makes fetish clothing, but wasn't scared of gala dresses, so this chocolate brown baby was born! I wanted something not black, but don't feel comfy in bright colours. The brown goes well with my hair, and was more appropriate than my second favourite shade of latex, metallic purple. I asked Tiina to emphasize my waist, so she built an awesome system of thicker latex around the waist area to cinch me in a tiny bit. Comfy and good looking!

Sorry about the ugly socks ;D I originally wore a panty hose, but it didn't work well with the dress, as latex is meant to be worn right next to skin. So I bought socks while on the way to the gala and the only skin tone ones I found were a tiny bit too short.

If you want to take a look at more of Tiina's latex works, here's her website! Latex may sound like a weird choice for a gala, but it's actually quite nice to wear and you don't need to have it done in fetish style, it also works for normal dresses just fine. My dress cost a little under 200 euros, so compared to fancier off the rack dresses, latex is not even exceptionally expensive. I have to say I fell a little more in love with the material, and already planned another dress with Tiina. I also learned that glitter latex actually exists. I have to have it!

Oh, and our game did awesomely! Cities: Skylines is the Big Screen Finnish Game of the Year, the Finnish Game of the Year and also got the Kyöpeli award from Pelit magazine. Yay!

Outfit of the Day

My outfit from last Saturday! My other half and I went to see a tournament at the Häme castle and check out the armour exhibition that opened the day before. I enjoyed everything, but should have worn way more clothing, as the weather was colder than a witch's tit (a saying I learned from the Outlander and loved). It even snowed and it's supposed to be spring!

Jacket - Juunappa

Cardigan - GinaTricot

Dress - Black Milk Dark Moth vs Play With Me Inside Out Dress

Shoes - H&M

These are only pictures I got of the outfit before the camera battery died. To be efficient, we not only went to the castle, but also to get my measures taken for a corset project (exciting!) and visited some relatives. It's once again been a bit busy, as I spent three days in Berlin on a business trip, then one day at a gala and one working and recovering, but just wait until I get pictures of my gala outfit! I bought a made-to-measure latex dress that turned out absolutely awesome.

The tournament. It was cold but worth it!

Soon I will also show you my new favourite lipstick that I managed to find despite it being almost sold out!

Pink in Wonderland

Over the top? Me? When I noticed a friend's b-day party my other half and me were attending had a Wonderland theme, I immediately got inspired! I had 8 meters of pink taffeta stashed away just waiting for an idea. Originally it was supposed to be a Lady Lovely Locks cosplay outfit, but the hair and flattening my boobs kinda sounded uncomfortable. So in comes Wonderland!

I already had a little teacup hat I made a few years ago for another party with the same theme, and I wanted to try if I could alter the robe d'anglaise pattern I got for hybrid between it and a robe a la francaise. The francaise has a stomacher instead of the hooks and eyes front closure of the anglaise, and francaise usually has large back pleats and a hidden lacing in the back. All of those pleats and lacing sounded like too much work, so I just sliced the anglaise pattern to have the same back and a stomacher in the front. To save even more time (and nerves) the stomacher attaches to the dress with snap tape. I'm thinking that this way I could make interchangeable stomachers for different looks, and even alter the waist circumference a bit to suit different corsets underneath.

There were some tricky parts, like running out of matching thread even though I bough a hundred meter spool, and pleating all that hem to fit the bodice, and then the blasted ruffles! All the ruffles had to be sewn by hand and I absolutely hate that. At least this time I didn't poke myself with the need and leave bloody finger prints all over the dress, but I still hated it. I think I cut the ruffles too narrow, which made them bunch up impossibly so that attaching them to the bodice was slow. The ruffles wanted to twist and I had to be extra careful to make sure everything was the right way around. Then again I doubt it would have been obvious even if the ruffle had so twists here and there.

The dress with pannier hoops. Sorry about the too long petticoat hanging out!
This was the first time I got to wear the ensemble and see how it came together.

Here the dress is worn with a white undershirt (for modesty ;D) on top of a correct corset, and a tulle petticoat,
no pannier hoops.

The cute little muffin earrings are made by a friend. Thanks Anniina!

The "polonaise" top skirt is actually floor length, I just gathered it up with ties and two
safety pins to go with a short skirt instead. I don't have enough fabric to do a long skirt with
the same pink, but maybe I could find some more of the fabric.

For the stomacher I wanted to do decorations with ribbons to avoid having to do something
slow, like embroidery. I originally wanted to have matching pink ribbons, but the local haberdashery
shop did not have anything matching, so I chose a complimenting olive shade.

I got extra ribbon to use as a bracelet, necklace and to tie some in my hair and on the sleeves.
There no olive ribbon actually sewn to rest of the gown, so I can change the colour scheme
if I feel like it. 

All. Those. Pleats! I was losing my mind with pleating the skirt, and it's not perfect, but close enough!

The teacup got some olive ribbon and a few slices of the pink fabric, finished with pinking
scissors.

The teacup hat is a  actual teacup glued to a hairband with epoxy. I had glued some rhinestones
on the last time I used it, but those came off easily, so I just used ribbons for decoration.

The party was great, lots of people and delicious pastries! It was along day as my other half and I came back from Helsinki and stopped by to change summer tires to the car and help clean out my family's summer cottage. I beat the sofa pillows with a tennis racket (there was no carpet to be found) until I had blisters on my hands, but boy where those pillows dusty! So we did just a quick, few hour stop at the party and headed home to catch some sleep. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who likes theme parties, people had awesome outfits!

Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II

Lolita II was one of the lipsticks I bought from Stockholm. It looked nice in the tube, but on my lips it's surprisingly orange. I think it's got something to do with undertones, but can't understand what exactly could cause this amount of orangey-ness ;D The normal Lolita fits me perfectly, but maybe this revised version is meant for darker skin tones or different undertones, as it looked a bit too orange on me for my tastes. Luckily it found a new home with a fellow beauty blogger, so no harm done!

This picture is straight out of the camera, no adjustments done.

On the lips and in the tube.

This was the first Everlasting Liquid Lipstick that didn't suit me, but all the other I've tried were perfect! The formula is good, but the shade just isn't me, so there's nothing wrong with the actual product :)

Colourful Cthulhu

This is what I wore last Saturday to go out and listen to the Coffinshakers! My other half was so nice, he drove all the way to Helsinki and back, as I'm still taking lessons to get my license. Things seem so much easier with a car, can't wait to be able to drive it myself ;D

Dress - Black Milk Cthulhu vs Haunted House Inside Out Dress

Necklace - Rogue and the Wolf

Ring - Bloodmilk Jewellery

Nothing too fancy, just straightened hair and a super comfy dress to get through the two hours drive each way. I hunted high and low for this dress, but finally found one on eBay. It's basically to dresses in one, as you can turn it inside out for a different print. The perfect item to pack when traveling light!

The gig was great! I listened to Coffinshakers alot when I was younger and didn't even know they were still together, but luckily spotted the concert and got us tickets early. The place was sold out and a bit crowded, but since we were there only to listen to the gig and then head back home, it wasn't a problem. Horro country music makes everything good!

Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Exorcism

The Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Exorcism has quickly become one of my favourites! Exorcism is a dark cool red with excellent staying power. On my lips it bleeds a tiny little bit, but applying skin tone lip liner just outside the lipstick edges after applying and letting it dry helps a lot. The shade works very well on my skintone, it's dramatic but doesn't look black in dim lighting. Damned, the other red Everlasting Liquid Lipstick I own, is a warmer tone and even a bit darker. Exorcism is easier to wear and looks surprisingly different on lips, as in the tube the two shades look quite similar.

Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Exorcism

Nyx Haul!

Nyx is now in Finland! I've been a fan of the brand for some time, affordable high quality cosmetics always make me happy. My favourites have been the Soft Matte Lip Creams. Since Nyx was previously only available online, some products were hard to choose. I prefer to try concealers and foundations on my skin before committing to buy them, as matching the shade to skintone is VERY difficult based on just pictures. So finally being able to see the products and try them out is great!

For a bag this small I sure fit in a lot of stuff!

The whole haul!

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Copenhagen and blush in Deep Plum.

HD Studio Finishing powder is a product I've been meaning to try for some time, and as I was running out of my only loose powder, now was the perfect time to get this baby!

The Wonder Pencil is a lip liner, concealer and a brow highlighter all packed into one little pen. The big black pencil is a lipstick base. I was excited that they had the brand new Lingerie lipsticks, an honestly I think I could have bought them all, the nude shades were all so nice! But I settled with Teddy in the end. I have Jumbo Eye Pencils in black and white, but wanted one to use as a base for taupes, so I chose the shade called Iced Mocha.

The contouring palette was an impulse buy. The shades might be too warm for my skin, but I waned to try it out anyway! The Matte Finish spray is one of the most popular products. I have a setting spray by Urban Decay, but I've not found it to actually make my makeup last longer, so maybe this on will fit my skin better. Last but not the least, I got a lip brush to apply Soft Matte Lip Creams with!

Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha, Wonder Pencil in Medium, Lip Lingerie in Teddy, and blush in Deep Plum.

I'm the most excited about the Wonder Pencil, as I've been having some problems with lipsticks bleeding and this might be just what I need to fix the issue. The formula is very solid, dry and waxy, just what a good lip liner should be to keep the lipstick where it belongs. I tried it yesterday with a regular lip liner on top and it seemed to work just like I wanted!

I think I have to go back to get some more of the Lingerie lipsticks at some point, the muted browns and nudes were all super nice, and Teddy is very comfortable to wear and stays pristine for hours. Maybe next week, if there are any lippies left then!

Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick and Studded Kiss Swatches

Last weekend I was in Stockholm, and since Stockholm unlike any city in Finland, it means shopping for new cosmetics! Kat von D products were released in Sweden in February. Previously I've only gotten them from trips to the States, but this is much more convenient! I like Kat von D beauty's aesthetics and shade selection, and the packages are to die for. I got three new liquid lipsticks (one went to a new home as the shade was not very me), a regular lipstick and a gift-with-purchase mini lippie, which is the cutest thing ever!

I was supposed to swatch all my Kat von D lipsticks, but apparently forgot one. Sorry!

Gift-with-purchase Underage Red is so cute! The middle one is Vampira and on the right is Poe, which I forgot to swatch.

Everlasting liquid lipticks. From top to bottom: Exorcism, Lolita, Damned and Echo.

The swatch pictures are unedited, as I wanted to show the shades as close to reality as I can. Thus they look a bit grey and flat.

Damned, Echo, Lolita. Damned is a dark, cool red, very dramatic. Echo is an interesting medium blue.

Echo, Lolita, Exorcism. Lolita is a really nice shade, it's a peachy nude. I also got Lolita II, but it was way too orange on me, so it went to a new home. 

Lolita, Exorcism. Exorcism is a much warmer red than Damned, and a bit lighter. Not the most natural shade, but much easier to wear than Damned and very different too!

Exorcism, Vampira, Underage Red. Vampira is quite close to Exorcism, but a sheerer formula as a Studded Kiss lipstick, and a teensy bit lighter. Underage Red is not a shade I would have bought, but I think I can make it work! Both Vampira and Underage Red look much lighter when swatched on skin than on lips, as lips are a lot more pigmented. On skin Underage Red looks almost neon, it's so bright! The shade is an orange based red, very very red and bright, but a shade that works well with many skin tones.

I've been wearing Everlasting Liquid lipsticks every day after going shopping :> The formula is really nice, light on the lips, very good staying power, not too drying for a liquid matte lipsticks, and the shades are very easy to wear. I'd almost go so far as to say the Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks are my favourite formula of the liquid to mattes, but it's still a tie between them and the Blackmoon Cosmetics lipsticks!

Stockholm = Lipstick

I'm in Stockholm for a couple of days, and that naturally means buying plenty of lipstick from Sephora! They now carry Kat von D, which makes me very, very happy. So expect plenty of lip pictures in the future!