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.

The Braid

Last Saturday I was DJing at Gothic Night and my friend Anniina (check out her Instagram for more awesome hair stuff!) was so nice as to agree to do my hair! I needed something that would stay put for hours, look goth enough and hide the weird tuft of hair that is my old shaved side I'm now growing out. Anniina came up with this wonderful braid hair-do that works excellently in my thick hair!

I'm wearing a Lip Service dress with an open back and a racerback bra with a lace insert.
Really like how the lace shows!

And a couple of pictures of the make up! I had eyelid surgery done a little over a week ago, so I still look a bit beat up. I consider myself a genius for coming up with the idea to hide the last traces of bruises under my eyes with the blue stripes ;D 

You will be seeing the scars up close in my future eye make-up pictures, but I'm hoping they will fade well. I have hereditary heavy lids, which with time would most likely have been so bad that they would hinder my sight. Within about 10-20 years I would have been able to get the surgery done by public health services, but I didn't feel like looking tired and having headaches due to straining my forehead for that long, so I had it done now. I'll most likely do a post on the procedure later. I just wanted to be honest with why I look a bit weird in these pics and make sure no one is worried, I'm absolutely fine! And I'd say for nine days after the surgery and no make-up on the incision area I look pretty decent ;P The liner looks like it's too far from my lashes, but that's just the swelling.

My Hair Routine

I just got my hair dyed by a friend who is studying to be a hairdresser (thanks Anniina, you did an awesome job!), so hair has been on my mind a lot. I have very long, thick hair, so people often ask what kind of products I use. I think the length and thickness are mainly due to genetics, but I do try to take good care of my locks and have gone through a lot of products to find the ones that works for me.

I would describe my hair as straight, thick and mildly coarse and dry. The single hairs are quite thick and there much of them. My scalp tends to be dry. My hair is naturally wavy in some spots, but it's so inconsistent that it just looks messy if it dries naturally.

Four Reasons Deep Cleanse Shampoo, Goldwell Dualsenses Ultra volume Boost Shampoo and a cheap-o
de-tangling brush.

My hairs needs a very cleansing shampoo and lots of rinsing to get all of the shampoo out when it's washed. I used to go for conditioning shampoos, as my hair tends to be dry, but a friend studying to be a hairdresser did my hair and suggested that a cleansing type shampoo would be better. She was very right, my hair felt much heavier and I had to wash it more often with the conditioning shampoos. Goldwell Ultra Volume is what I use for regular washes about twice a week, and the Deep Cleanse Shampoo by Four Reasons is what I use if I have lots of products in my hair, or just every couple of weeks to be sure the hair really is clean.

I noticed my nails tend to break often when I'm washing my hair, so after some online investigation, I found that using a de-tangling brush or something similar could help. The brush gets the shampoo to the scalp and roots easily and does a very good job. It's sometimes hard to get fingers through the thick hair all the way to the scalp and that's what the brush is great for. And since my nails don't snag on my hair when washing it, they grow longer.

Conditioning. Joico Color Endure Conditioner, Sebastian Potion 9, Kevin Murphy Un.Tangled leave-in conditioner and Joico K-Pak Deep-Penerating Reconstructor.

My hair type needs a lot of moisture. Silicones also work very well on it, smoothing the hair. I've tried silicone free shampoos but they made my hair feel coarse. The main thing fot my hair is that I have a keratin conditioner (the Joico K-Pak) for the ends and use very moisturizing leave-in conditioners. Sebastian Potion 9 is a very nice, it makes hair smooth and soft. I use it after washing my hair, when hair is still moist. The Kevin Murphy leave-in conditioner is what I use almost daily, when ever my hair feels dry or if I keep it loose, if it's frizzy. Joico Color Endure has been very good for a basic conditioner in the shower. I haven't found a perfect one yet, but most are fine.

Tangle Teezer.

Tangle Teezer type brushes are what I like to use. They penetrate the hair to get to the deeper layers and still don't snag or pull. I used to have bristle brushes, but they only brushed the top layers, and I found them hard to clean. The Tangle Teezer I just toss in the dishwashers when it starts looking dirty.

I use a lot of hairspray and often use flatirons and curling wands. The favourite products for hair do's are heat protecting sprays that give medium hold and hair spray. A weak hairspray for teasing hair and a strong one for finishing a do.

Generally my coarse, thick hair can stand a lot, but it needs lots of moisture and silicone, which is a challenge.

Hair Experiments

I think my hair has a curse on it, so far two hairdressers have just vanished when I've tried to get an appointment to touch up my roots. Being the strong and resourceful woman I am, I just did it myself then. Bleaching the roots is a bit tricky to do by yourself, so I only applied Elumen pink on the whole hair to get an ombre look for the roots. I was a bit scared of how this would turn out, but I quite like the result! I'm feeling bored with the sidecut, so I combed my hair in a different style for a change. How do you like it?

I'm wearing a Lip Service dress for going out to a friend's birthday party. I've had so many things to do lately it seems I've just been running around! Next week I'll have two short trips and then there's the Bella Morte and Club Underworld Samhain party I need to prepare for.

Trying Out a Black Wig

I felt the need to try out some wigs for an easy changeable hairstyle, so I went shopping at Insomnium Wigs. I liked the black wig that I got for my Halloween costume, but it was of very low quality because I bought it in a hurry and didn't compare products enough. The wig in these pictures is called Mademoiselle Noir and fits me much better than the ultra cheap one, even when it isn't that expensive!

I almost never wear red eyeshadow, it just doesn't go with pink hair. It isn't even mine, I borrowed it from my other half ;D But with the black wig I wanted to see what I could do with red and black. Looking back I think a metallic red would have looked better, or I could have done a fake 3D effect by applying a white matte shadow on the center of the lids. I feel the red is too flat, but wanted to post these pics anyway, to show the learning process.

I used:

Sugarpill Tako
Sugarpill Love+ (as blush too)
Sugarpill Bulletproof
Fyrinnae matte lipstick in Naughty & Nice
Red Cherry lashes

I had a cat hair stuck on my false lash that I tried to get off, but the picture looked very nice ;D

A red and black cut crease with blended edges and a bold red lip.

This one shows how flat the matte red looks. I think the look could have improved
100% with a more shapely effect on the lids, but you live and learn, I'll know better
next time!

I think the wig looks quite natural on me. I've actually never had black hair, I was
always such rebel that I wanted to stand out even from a goth crowd ;D

IRL the blush looks super bright, but once again the camera washes it out. The blush is
actually the red eyeshadow on my lids, just applied very lightly.

The Red Cherry lashes are awesome. They are long and glamorous, but very comfortable to wear thanks to the soft
lash band. They are made of human hair, so the lashes are not shiny but look quite natural. I always come back to Red Cherry
lashes, my brief ventures into other lashes always remind me how annoying itchy, hard lash bands are!

B-Day Hair

Happy belated birthday, me! I had the real b-day yesterday, but my parents took my other half and me out to a fancy restaurant on Saturday to celebrate. I even did my hair up, according to the suggestions I got when I showed this dress earlier on the blog. You people were spot on, the up-do suits it very well!

The ends of my hair are a bit faded, so make the do more lively with different shades.

I bought the lipstick as a present from myself to me ;P

The earrings are tiny clock hands.

In the back the hair is simply teased for volume and lifted up, secured with some bobby pins.

I popped in two glittery black roses for an accent.

Skeleton Corset

I pondered on getting a new corset for my upcoming birthday party and ended up ordering one from DraculaCorsets. I have to admit that I was mentally prepared for it to be of poor quality or not fitting me well, because ready made overbusts are always tricky and they only had pictures of it on the gorgeous Razor Candi. I bet she can wear a garbage bag and make it look glamorous ;D Just meaning that I was a bit unsure of what I would receive, quality wise and for the fit.

I was disappointed when there was no information on the site on how long making a corset takes. They sent me a notification when the work on the corset started, but since they only listed the time it takes to deliver one, I had no idea how long I would have to wait. In the end it took ten business days from the "production started" notification for the corset to arrive at my doorstep. It not too long I think.

The corset arrived today and naturally I had to try it on immediately (well, after eating dinner, as it's always such a great idea to put on a corset right after a meal ;D) and I was positively surprised! The corset has a very nice waistline and comes quite low on the hips, creating a beautiful shape. The top part fits me very well on the front (with a bra on, I'm quite small on the top) and the back rises high to keep the silhouette smooth (and hide the bra closure). The corset is made of real leather, which feels very nice and soft against your skin. I've never had a leather corset before, I didn't know they are this comfy! The leather has a tiny bit of stretch so it molds to your body.

The ribbon is very long and the busk is sturdy, making it easy to put the corset on and take it off. I can't lace it up myself, like I do with my underbusts often, this baby is so long that you need some help to get it sit right and tight!

I also wanted to try a Adora Batbrat inspired make-up look (I'll have detail pics of it in a separate post, there's so many photos I like from this set!), so I decided to do it together with the corset. So prepare for shots of a painted face, tons of lashes and a killer corset!

Tiara - Too Fast

Hair fall - Hair from Hell

Feather collar - DIY

Corset - DraculaCorsets

Shrug - Artifice Clothing

I had planned to add rhinestones to the corset, but it looks so bad ass as is that I don't think I want to now. I save them and make something else that sparkles!

Hair From Hell Warlocks Review

Do you like big hair? And yet sometimes there's no time spend hours fixing it? Then you are bound to love Hair from Hell! I used to make my own loose synthetic hair falls, but I've been quite busy lately, so I looked into pre-made falls. Hair from Hell is situated in the UK and their site has a huge gallery of gorgeous, fluffy hair falls. I wanted a set in custom colours, so I contacted the owner, Lol, for a quote. She was nice enough to offer a small discount in exchange for a review, so I hope I can provide you with some extra information to on her lovely falls :)

I ordered a pair of waist-length Warlocks (exclusive to Hair from Hell) with a fuchsia base and accents in purple, petrol and black. They were ready in six days and took about a week to arrive to Finland from the UK.

The warlock falls are heavily layered and mounted on elastic ribbon. The hair is heat sealed so it stays where it's supposed to. Heat sealing the hair to the elastic also helps it stay nice when brushed, it can't slide or be pulled off accidentally. All the huge amount of hair in a fall is mounted on quite a small length of elastic, which means they cover anything you hide under them.

Hair is securely on the elastic.

I put loose falls on by first putting my hair up in small buns. My buns are not of equal size, because of the undercut, but with such a nice fluffy pair of falls no one will notice. I use small transparent hair clips to secure the buns. Pro tip: If you change you hair colour often, get transparent clips to make them match any and all colours!

Uneven little buns. (My moth tattoo got its background re-colored two days ago so it looks blotchy!)

To attach the falls I bend at the waist so the falls hang freely and don't get caught in the knot. Warlocks have elastics long enough to tie into bows to make them very secure. If you know you'll be moshing all night long, use hair pins to secure the ends of the knots to your hair for an even better grip.

Warlocks out of the box. I haven't back-combed them or added hairspray, this is how fluffy they are naturally!

My poor lighting makes the details in the falls not stand out, but the hair is slightly
crimped to make them keep their fluff. There's a shorter layer on top and longer ones
lower. The accent colors are added as streaks and they really show nicely with the layers!

Waist length really is long! Even with the buns situated quite high the falls reach my waist.

Coverage from the back. Basically none of my own hair is showing.

Even with the huge amount of hair, Warlocks are very light. I weighed them and the two falls
combined weigh only 150 grams. So these babies won't be yanking your scalp on long nights out!

After trying out the two buns look, I wanted to see what else I can do. I put my hair in just one high bun on top of my head and tied both Warlocks on top of it. This way of wearing the falls shows more of my own hair, but also the shaved side I like. The colour match is very good, my hair is just dyed with Elumen pink and I picked the fuchsia falls colour based on a color chart on the Hair form Hell page and checked with Lol if she thought it would match well. IRL there's a slight different with my hair being a bit warmer in tone, but it doesn't show on camera and I doubt anyone would notice at a club in dim light. The crimped hair is not very shiny, which makes it look quite a lot like real hair. You could totally fool someone into thinking these falls are naturally yours :)

I got the idea for one bun only after I took off my corset. Oh well!

Another angle. If the falls did not match so well, I would add some flower clips to hide the place
where they meet my own hair. It's an easy way to hide anything and have the hair look even higher!

One more!

I personally like these falls very much. They give instant big hair and don't need any work when they arrive. The colour match is great and the accents make them seem less like a mass of hair, more natural and more lively. Attaching the falls is easy and they stay on well. They are very light, making them easy to wear. So many times I've tried to comb my hair free of tangles before going to bed after a night at a club, that I can definitely appreciate just opening a bow and putting it in the closet ;D

All in all: big, fast easy hair = just the thing for me!

If you are interested in getting your own, take a look at what Hair from Hell has to offer! There are many styles available (I'm drawn to the sparkly ones, naturally ;P) but you can also order falls in custom colors and lengths by emailing them. 

Behind the scenes! I can never take photos at home without some cats in them ;P