Pastels and Flowers

Long time no see! I did a photoshoot on Saturday, it's been a while since the previous one. This was one lucky photoshoot, I have to say! My sister had found a gorgeous gown from a yard sale and got it for me, and it fit me. A friend had moved abroad and donated her wonderful headdresses for me, and there happened to be one that was perfect with the dress. Another friend suggested the spot, which turned out to be awesome. When we shot, it began to rain as soon as we started driving away from the location.

The photos will take a while, but I wanted to show you my make-up, hair and the headdress! The chains are a bit tangled, but I think it still looks pretty. These were taken after I got home from the shoot, so please allow for some wear and tear.

Model, make-up: Me

Hair: Anniina_E

Headdress: Agony von Grim

Little souvenirs I brought home ;D

I was shooting with Sanni Saarenmaa Photography and just can't wait to see the results! The location, dress, hair and everything just clicked.

Kat von D Shade + Light Plum Quad and Two Looks

I had had my eye on the Shade + Light Plum Quad by Kat von D for some time, but since I didn't come across any lightly used previously owned ones, I picked one up from Debenhams at London. They had a wonderful counter with shiny black antique furniture and lovely sales reps.

I didn't catch that the the palette has actual bevelled letters on the cover until I took it out of the cardboard box. I love it!
I really like the shape of the palette and the lettering is gorgeous.

Plum shades usually work very well on my eyes, bringing out the green in them. For some reason this palette is quite tricky to get to show correctly in photos. I think it looks too red in my pictures, when IRL the two middle shades, especially the darker one, lean more towards purple.

The shades don't seem to have names, so I'll call them by their use. Base is a pinkish beige, a bit darker than my skin but not much. Define is a deep plum, less red than in my pictures, but still with red undertones to make it nicely bring out green eyes. Contour is much like a darker version of base, but slightly more taupe and cool. Highlight is a very light warm pink. All of the are matte.

I did two different looks with the palette so far. All of the shadows are very pigmented but are still easy to blend. With so much pigment you really need the base shade to use as help when blending out the edges of the darker shades. I often use the same brush and just lightly brush off the pigment to switch to another shade, but with these shades you really need to grab a new brush if you go for a lighter shade. The two middle ones are intense and dark.

Highlight on inner corner and brow bone, define at the crease and outer edge, contour on the lid and blended up. I blended the edges of contour with the base shade. The liner is Urban Decay Delinquent, a dark purple with some glitter.

 I'm still learning how to do make-up after the eye lift, but I'm pretty happy with my lids now! I don't have to bring the crease shadow as high up as I used to, so I have much more space for blending it out towards the brows. Also my lids is more visible, so it allows better use of light shades on the lid, instead of everything looking like a smoky eye when the hooded part of the lid fell over the moving lid to hide anything I put there.

Naturally I wanted to try a smoky eye next!

For the smoky eye look, I put higlight on the inner corner and brow bone. The I added countour on the whole lid and blended up with the help of base. I then put define on the lash line on both upper and lower lid, and just a touch in the crease. The lipstick is a metallic liquid-to-matte from Milani. The look is quite dark, but that's just how I like it!

Look how the scar is almost invisible already! It's been a little over three weeks since the operation.

I would have wished for the shades to be even more red, to have a more stunning effect on my eyes. I have one ancient pressed eyeshadow that is just the right shade of plum to make my eyes look vividly green, but I have not been able to find anything that does the same. I still do like the Kat von D quad, it's easy to use, the highlight shade is good (I mention this because for some reason palettes rarely have light enough highlight shades for my pale skin) and you can do many kinds of looks with the four shades. The pigment is amazing and the texture of the shades is great, they are easy to blend and all the shades work well together. While this palette may not be the one I pick up for party looks, it is a very nice palette for sculpted matte looks and matte smoky eyes. 

Corset Photoshoot Make-up and Hair

Life tends to get in the way of blogging! I went on a business trip to San Francisco and the jet lag was devastating for a whole week, whew. Can't wait to try out all the new lipsticks I brought from the trip!

In the meanwhile, here's more detailed pictures of the corset photoshoot look Anniina_E did. It's so wonderful to have friends who not only have the skills to do awesome make-up and hair, also have the creativity to come up with wonderful things and the time to work with me!

The hair-do is a high ponytail with the base wrapped and sections done with a crimping iron to give the hair more texture. In the back is a braided section. I kept the jewellery very small and unnoticeable, so the corset and make-up would be the things that really shine. The jewellery should not compete for attention in this shoot.

I really, really love the way Anniina did my brows! I've been going for a somewhat similar style in my everyday look since the shoot, but her take on the brows is just amazing <3

Here you can see the braid, lovely! I'm growing out my shaved side, so the hair on this side is shorter.
The braid is an excellent way to hide it.

The brows are just <3 I do also like the subtle contouring and the glittery eyeshadow!

ColourPop Pressed Powders Look

Having fun with ColourPop again! This is High Strung patted over a base of Come And Get It, with Hear Me Out as the highlight on the brow bone and inner corner. I really like how the very metallic, coppery High Strung blends into the rose gold Come And Get It on the edges of the darker area!

Full face, the lips are Kat von D Lolita.

Now Playing Look with Glitter Bows

I seem to have found the background that is closest to my hair colour, so that I can perfectly blend in ;D Anyway, on Friday a friend asked me to come and see a burlesque show with her, and it was the perfect excuse to log out of World of Warcraft for a while. It was cold as eff outside, but that didn't stop me from putting on some fancy make-up.

The look is done with ColourPop shadows from the Now Playing set I reviewed. The lipstick is by Black Moon Cosmetics.

For some reason I look chubbier than usual in this pic. But it was still the best one of the set,
so you get a chubby me today.

I found these super cute glitter bows in the children's section at H&M. Couldn't resist! My fringe growing project is in a state that I usually need to pin back some hair to keep it from falling on my face constantly.

Metallic green lippie by Black Moon Cosmetics, this shade is called Myth.

Myth looks more teal is the shop pictures, and a bit more blue in natural light than my picture taken inside with just artificial light. I'm a big fan of Black Moon Cosmetics lipsticks and Myth is no exception, the formula is wonderful. Easy to apply, stays on well and doesn't need touching up.

ColourPop Patchwork on the lid, Babykins on the inside of the lid and Peekaboo as a tear duct highlight.

My brows are done with Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics lip liner in Black Dahlia, and the eyeliner Kat von D tattoo liner is black. The Kat von D liner is hands down the best I've ever had. Crips, clear lines, no smudging, doesn't transfer on my oily lids = perfection.

Bachelorette Look

I had my bachelorette party a couple of weeks ago! We did things in a non-traditional order: first getting married, then having the wedding party over half a year later, and then after the wedding was my bachelorette party. I can recommend this order, much less stress! I don't think I could have enjoyed a bachelorette party fully before the wedding, as there was so much to do.

I didn't know beforehand what we were going to do at the party, so I just my makeup and chose comfy clothes.

Pastel look done with Sugarpill Sparkle Baby palette. Brows are OCC Black Dahlia lip pecil.

I was amazed at what wonderful things my maids of honor had come up with for the party! We ent to a burlesque dance class to improvise little performances, then to a room escape game and afterwards had a great dinner. I really enjoyed all the activities, and just meeting people who I had not had the time to talk to for a while was nice. Just eating, drinking and chatting, the most basic fun there is!

And I absolutely have to try out more room escape games, that was fun! The concept is that you have a team of people, go into a room and the goal is to find the clues hidden in the room and escape it within a time limit. I like games, and having a physical puzzle game has it's own charm.

Check out my new earrings from H&M Halloween selection ;P They say "Witch Please"

Next I hope to show you my Halloween costume! At Club Bella Morte x Underworld Samhain party we had a professional photographer set up booth to allow guests to get pictures taken of their outfits. I had some extra time (usually I just run around all night long, as there's always something that needs to be done) and got my picture taken too. Can't wait for the result!

Brass and Copper Look

I haven't played with make-up in ages, but tonight had both the energy and the time for it! So here it finally is, a look with Colourpop metallic shadows!

The dark coppery shadow is called Mooning and the brass one is Kathleenlights. On the waterline I wanted a purple that pops, but it ended up looking a bit muted in pictures. A more blue based purple would have served my purpose better. This purple is Urban Decay pencil in Voodoo, a pretty, mildly sparkly purple, but too red for my waterline.

I used to find it hard to apply Colourpop shadows, as their mousse like formula doesn't adhere to most of my brushes at all. I've been very fond of fluffy synthetic brushes that simply do not pick up any of this type of shadow, no matter what I do. I had the idea to try my new favourite brushes, Zoeva Luxe Shaders, and they were perfect for this! They are not fluffy, but flat, but somehow the shape and bristles are just perfect for blending. This will help my Colourpop shadows see a lot more use, as I'm not very keen on applying eyeshadow with my fingers, as the Colourpop shadows are meant to be used.

Gothic Night Look

I promised to DJ at a new event in Bar Bändäri. They were having a Gothic Night first time ever, and I'm so glad I got to be part of it! Many people came, the music was good and the antique sofas of the bar were soooo nice and comfy and pretty. It's always great to see an event do well!

I went to the hairdressers the day before the event to get my hair dyed and to try out a hairdo for the wedding, so I still had the curls the hairdresser put in. When loose, my hair looked kinda eighties, which is cool! I usually wear larger curls, but this is a fun look too.

Bolero - Artifice Clothing

Dress - Lip Service

Earrings - Kill Star

I just love the different shades the hairdresser put in my hair! There's sections of purple, bright pink and more muted pink and purple. All done with Elumen so my bathroom doesn't look like a massacre after shower and the colour lasts a long time (in hair, not on bathroom floor ;D).

Femme Fatale eyeshadows, some Sugarpill Tako, a pink from Urban Decay Spectrum palette, and glitter lips. I did the lips so that I lined them with a liquid to matte Sephora lipstain (it's actually a lipstick, I don't know why they call it a stain), then added some Urban Decay Jawbreaker to the middle and a bit on top of the stain, then padded on loose glitter. Works like a charm! Thanks to the liquid to matte the lipstick doesn't bleed on smudge at the edges, but the traditional wax based lipstick in the middle is a lot more comfortable to wear. And the glitter just makes everything amazing.

Face the Day

I've been skipping putting on make-up in the mornings, as I've been so busy with all the housework, but today I had to look my best for filming a documentary at the office. And I'm so glad I took the time, I love make-up and enjoy applying it and feeling more confident looking the way I want to look.

Messy curls and neutral smoky eyes it was!

Eyes - Femme Fatale Cosmetics Golem and Sugarpill Tako

Lips - ColourPop Grunge

Spectrum Look, Once Again

I'm alive and he's alive! I've been surprisingly busy taking care of one man with a broken ankle, six cats, including one who just had five teeth removed (the seventh kitty is at a friends' place, she was too active to be kept in the same space as a recently operated person), and handling work and the apartment. I lived by myself for a few years but didn't remember that doing all the housework alone was this much work! Then again there were less cats, the place was a lot smaller, and I didn't need to feed anyone but me and the kitties.

I'm hoping I'll get everything under control soon, so I'll be able to take on some sewing projects. I was supposed to be working on my Demon Hunter cosplay costume so my other half and I could have participated in a cosplay contest as a pair, but that will have to wait. So far I'm just happy when the cats are fed, get their medication, and there's clean plates and clothes available ;D My other half has taken care of almost all the cooking for years, so I don't even know where things are in the kitchen, but so far no one has died of hunger!

In the mean time, here's yet another look done with the Spectrum palette I so love :)

Shades used are Flashback for the lower lid and inner part of the upper lid, Sugarpill Tako for the tear duct area, Deep End on the outer part of the lid and Madness in the crease. I just love how the purples and teals work together!