Cailap Smoky Eyes Brush Set

One of my Mariela Sarkima for Cailap blending brushes broke a few weeks back, the glue in the ferrule gave out and the brush started shedding like there's no tomorrow.

Shedding. Not nice.

So I wrote an email to the customer service at Cailap to ask if I could get a new brush (this one was only a few months old and I'm very careful with my brushes when washing, so there must have been something wrong with it) and if they wanted the busted one for examination. They answered me in a few hours and asked for my address so they could send me a brush set for compensation. A day later I got a packet with the brushes and a letter of apology. I think they handled it wonderfully!

I'm also very pleased with the brush set. I had been looking at it earlier in the department store, but decided to buy only the blending brushes, since I wasn't sure I would use the other ones. The set has a blending brush, eyebrow/liner brush and an eyeshadow brush. It costs 19,90 euros and is only available in Sokos department stores.

Blending brush, eyeshadow brush and brow/liner brush

Size comparison, the blending brush has
a much thicker handle than the others.

The brow/liner brush. This one was the most surprising, I thought
it to be too fluffy and soft for lining the eyes, but it performed really
well. Haven't tried it on my (non-existent) brows.

Eyeshadow brush. Too small for me, but works well for applying
shadow precisely. I usually use bigger brushes, but tried this with
putting on darker shadow in the crease and it was just he right size.

Blending brush. I have six of these now and I'm very fond of
them. They work very well for smoky looks and as the name states,
for blending.

The backside of the package instructs how to use the brushes. Just out of curiosity,
I tried to use the brushes just as the package says, and the result was very nice!

The package has instruction on how to use the brushes for a smoky eye look. It's in Finnish so here's a short translation: 

1. Put a grey eyeshadow on the whole lid with the blending brush. 

2. Line the upper and lower lashlines with a black shadow using the brow/liner brush. 

3. Use a dark grey or a a black shadow to add depth to the outer corner of the eye using the eyeshadow brush.

4. Blend the edges of the shadows with the blending brush.

Done using the packages instructions and all three brushes. I used Pollen Set in Stone,
Sugarpill Bulletproof and a dash of Sugarpill Taco on the brow bone and inner corners.
I'm also wearing black contacts, that's why my eye colour looks weird ;P

All in all I'm super happy with the brush set and the way Cailap handled my complaint. I also was able to fix the shedding brush (at least for now, the glue I used might not be suitable for the bristles in the long run). All the brushes are very soft but firm and work for the purpose they are meant for.

Pros:

-Synthetic high quality bristels

-Soft yet firm bristles

-Good choice of brushes, you can do a whole look with just these three

-Price, I think 20 euros for three high quality brushes is a good price

Cons:

-Availability

-The department stores don't offer tester brushes, which is just plain silly

Round-up of past Photo Contest Works

I like editing photos and have taken part in a few photo contests before, so thought I'd collect the pictures in one post for you to see. Generally after the contest there's no use for the pictures, but I worked so hard on them that I want to show them to you!

This was done for a competition where the prize was the huge chain-sword
replica that's in the picture. The task was to photoshop a picture of the sword
into your own pic. I came in third, if I remember correctly. Picture and editing
by me.

This was done for the Sakura make-up contest on the Gothique blog (now defunct). I came in third
(but never received the prize for some reason). The pic was taken with my old camera
in the middle of winter, and it was way too dark to get any decent shots, so I'm not that fond of
this one any more. The yukata I'm wearing was sewn by me years ago, I still use it as a
dressing gown since the pattern is so nice. Picture taken by my boyfriend.

Last winter Sugarpill had a Winter Wonderland themed contest. This was my entry,
I'm very happy how the look and pictures came out! I used craft glitter on my lips,
white mascara, eyeshadow and kohl pencil on my eyes and brows and some Love+
(or Dollypop, can't remember) on cheeks, nose and chin to make it look like I had been out
in the cold. I'm wearing a vintage fox stole draped over my head. Pic taken by my
boyfriend, editing by me.

At the Summer Cottage

I had an awesome weekend at the summer cottage, we were celebrating my other half's birthday for the whole weekend. And just as I expected, there were lots of mosquitoes, friends, beer, barbecue and sauna!

I didn't get that many pictures since I concentrated my efforts to having fun, but here are a few!

Leaving for the cottage! The day was really warm.

Top (beneath the dress) - Second hand, might originally be from Seppälä

Dress - Gina Tricot (they have gorgeous black maxi dresses right now!)

Shoes - Spirit Store

Sunglasses - H&M

A busy little bumblebee

This is from the old cemetery near the summer cottage, I had forgotten my camera settings
on manual and the pics look a bit blue and blurry.

The name plate on the only mausoleum on the graveyard.

View of the lake from the terrace of the cottage and a bird.

Another view of the lake shore.

A radio controlled scale model tank

A scale model tank and an interested doggie ;)

This was taken around 2 am, talk about nightless night! The sun only briefly dipped under
the horizon and soon came back up again.

Person in a horse mask swimming and ladies on the pier.

The birthday boy himself celebrating in a cool soviet hat and
fancy sunglasses ;)

Totally mosquito-proof boots.

Aside from the millions of mosquitoes and rain on Sunday, everything was perfect! We didn't run out of beer, the sauna was nice and hot, the lake was warm, many friends found the time to come and visit, and everything we grilled tasted delicious! Well, aside from the two corn cobs I forgot on the barbecue, which resembled coals when they were found later on ;P

200 Follower Giveaway!

First I want to thank all my readers for reading my blog! I hope you have enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it :) To celebrate 200 followers (well, it's 231 as I'm writing this) I've got you guys some goodies from Germany and made a necklace and earring set with gothic cameos.

To participate: Follow my blog and comment on this post telling me what you like the most in my blog and what you would like to see more.

You can participate until the 1st of July! Please feel free to spread word of the giveaway :)

The prizes!

The winner will get:

-A set of Claire's mini glitter nail polishes (gold, silver, hot pink, blue, red and purple)

-Red Cherry Spiderweb lashes

-Two pairs of Claire's earrings (gunmetal filigree hearts and gunmetal ornamental jewellery with black stones)

-Skeleton hand earrings and a ribcage necklace made by me (bone on black with silver settings)

The jewellery is NOT nickel free (might be, but I cannot guarantee it).

Better view of the items

Outfit of the Day and a Purple Smoky Look

Today I just went to work and am now preparing to pack my bags for a weekend at the summer cottage. I'm expecting the trip to include friends, beer, barbecue, sauna, swimming and lots of mosquitoes, like a typical Finnish summer party should!

Here's what I wore today, it's really warm outside and the sun is shining. You can also see my tattoo better now! It's still  bit dry and shiny, but well healed. I'm already contemplating on continuing it to a full sleeve :) I have so many ideas for blog posts and too little time, but I promise I'll write about the tattoo! It's taken about seven hours of tattooing so far and needs some tiny touch ups still. I love it!

Top - H&M

Skirt - H&M

Shoes - Spirit Store

Earrings - Claire's

And Möttönen from Ancient cattery ;P

And today's makeup! I did a light purple smoky look, since I wanted to try out the Pollen eyeshadow I got from a Facebook group's swap. The shadow is called Lily Jane and it's a beautiful lavender with a hint of shimmer. On my lips I have Rimmel 1000 Kisses lipstain in Everlasting Mauve. The blush is She-Bop duochrome blush from Darling Girl Cosmetics.

Pollen Lily Jane

Rimmel 1000 Kisses Everlasting Mauve

An extra picture of me and Möttönen! Nivek also
wanted to participate. They are such sweet cats :)

A Smoky Photoshoot

Got my other half a birthday present, since we are going off to a summer cottage to celebrate his b-day in the weekend. He wanted a water pipe and some fruit tobacco (or what ever you call the fruit stuff that actually doesn't have any tobacco in it), so that's what I got him, the prettiest water pipe in the oriental shop and four packs of different flavoured tobacco. We tried it right away and since the smoke looked so cool, decided to do an improvised photoshoot!

Here's some of the pictures :)

I was going for some oriental courtesan with a satin dressing gown and a PVC-corset.

Look at the pretty chains decorating the pipe! I thought it looked perfect
for my other half. 

Turns out I totally sucked at trying to exhale the smoke so it would show ;P
But then again, I don't smoke regularly, so I haven't gotten much practice!

And a few pics just showing off the makeup and outfit :)

He was much better with the smoke, with his singer's lungs ;)

But look! I got some to show!

And finally the pretty pipe.

The eyeshadow is Obviously A Wig by Darling Girl Cosmetics, with just a hint of Sugarpill Bulletproof in the crease to give depth. The lashes are from Claire's and the lippie is a Maybelline 10h Tint Gloss in Timeless Plum. Sorry about my pink underwear, I was too lazy to take it off and tried to adjust the gown so it wouldn't show, but apparently failed ;P

Outfit and Nail Polish of the Day

Just a quick post! I'm preparing for the 200 readers giveaway, so stay tuned :)

Jacket - Lip Service

Belt - Only

Dress - H&M

This is from last week, my hair was still super faded but I got to wear the new jacket I bought at WGT. It's perfect for warm summer days! It was the last of its kind and on discount, I was so lucky it fit me :) The maxi dress is from last summer.

(Sorry about the messy cuticles, I painted my nails while playing Diablo)

Essie's Jamaica Me Crazy, a dark cool shimmery pink. Got myself a new bottle of MavaDry top coat, makes working with polish so much easier!