This is Maybelline Forever Strong Super Stay 7 Days gel nail colour in Carbon Grey #815. So far it’s been on for 3-4 days and showing no signs of wear – impressed. It’s a really nice dark gunmetal grey with just the right amount of shimmer to it, and the finish has stayed really shiny. I applied two coats to get the opacity I like.
Along the tips of my nails I put some little diamond stickers just for fun. The purple nail is a Sephora colour.
High five!
I’ve not been up to a great deal, makeup-wise, this week, so basically today’s post is a million self-photos. I can only apologise.
I’ve gotten into “the UK’s #1 foundation”, which would be Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse. I first used it in the shade ‘Cocoa’ to achieve this effect:
… and found that indeed, it did apply like a silky-smooth dream. So I bought it in the lightest shade they make it, 004 Light Porcelain. The first day I wore it I was terribly impressed with how well it lasted, didn’t make me look greasy, didn’t need powder etc. I asked my most honest critic, Chloe, whether it made me look ashy, pasty, greasy, flaky, chalky or dead, to which she replied “no. I… didn’t even notice you… had skin, it’s so good.”
These photos were taken after probably 8 hours’ wear, but they don’t really show the foundation up all that well. They do, however, show that I need to sleep for ten years or so.
Here are some more photos I took today when wearing it again.
natural daylight, minus any other slap
natural daylight, with all other slap and minus attractive hairdressing clip
me, pensive on windowsill
Today I wondered if it was a bit too pale, perhaps I should have gone the 2nd lightest shade. When it’s on sale at Superdrug again I might give it a shot.
Until then, here I am in my new Iron Fist skull suit. Just for fun. Cast your vote now on whether I should keep it or send it back.
I’m somewhere cool, not in my bedroom in Scotland standing next to a plug-in radiator
… with a million other things I am SUPPOSED to be doing.
So today you get a total cop-out post.
Just when you thought you had all the knowledge-power needed to win the war against makeup supervillain Flash Face…
… THIS goes and happens.
The flash has picked up that Irene’s hair is loaded with Schwarzkopf got2b Volumising Style Powder; a product which has gotten quite mixed/negative reviews online.
As I have a mullet…
Me and Chloe, ruling the world
…which is quite short on top, I find this product pretty good for fluffing my hair up. Sure, it makes your hair feel a little matted, and yes, when you try to shampoo it out, your shampoo won’t lather. If you put conditioner on it first it comes out fine. I think the trick is to just use it sparingly… I seem to recall it took a good few days for Irene’s lovely hair to return to normal after this!
Do you know of any volumising powders/dry shampoos that are big-hair perfection? Especially any that are darker in colour- a good dry shampoo that doesn’t just look like you’ve dumped a whole lot of talc in your barnet? Do tell 😀
PS Today’s product recommendation – Maybelline Master Smoky shadow-pencil, which is a fat eye crayon number with a pointy foam smudger thingy on the end. Pointy foam smudger thingies are great for sharpening/cleaning up a winged eye; use a clean one to give a sharper edge to a flick you’ve created using eyeshadow, for example.
The Master Smoky pencil itself is soft, full o’ pigment and excellent for darkening up underneath your top lashes, if you want them to look thick and fluffy and amazing. That there tip, courtesy of Kevyn, is a great way to really define your eyes – it’s subtle but makes a helluva difference, I think. Give it a go. Any big-fat eyeliner pencil is good for cutting your teeth on that one. They’re easier to apply.
What’s that you say?
You like posts with photos of me in the nuddy the best?
You’re only human.
But anyway, I didn’t put black lipstick with pink lipliner on to discuss that. No. I’m here to deliver the interesting-only-to-me news that my Jettblack tickets arrived.
I love Jettblack because Jon Dow.
I’m pretty sure he wrote this song about me, which is awesome because I think it’s the best love song I’ve ever heard. I very much look forward to meeting him and moving our relationship to the next level (reality).
Chloe is coming to see them too, of course. She still owes me (and will always owe me) for the Hanson/Kelly Clarkson double-whammy.
She was quite surprised when I breathlessly showed her the photo of my future-husband Jon, as she was expecting Jettblack to be in their fifties at least. Just like every other band I’ve made her come see.
Happy hair-metal weekend, rocklings.
*No mullets were harmed in the making of this post – it’s just tied up.
PS Here’s a fun photo effects thingy – http://pixlr.com/o-matic/
PPS For my photo-editing I use http://www.photoscape.org
PPPS Oh yeah, this is a makeup blog. So here’s a tip, I can’t remember where I saw it so I do apologise if I’ve nicked this from another beauty blogger who I’m now not crediting… but I’m pretty sure I saw it in a magazine so hopefully no harm done. Anyway. Make the darkest part of your eyebrows at the arch to make them look fuller, not the inside corner like you might think. Boom.
PPPPS I STILL haven’t heard from Clydebank College about whether I’ll be offered a place on the HND in Makeup Artistry…
I put the brown-eye contact lens in for this. Considering that I knew all along the picture would be in black and white, I hope you admire my dedication and attention to detail. Dedicated enough to have an orange mullet in 2013, but not dedicated enough to shave my eyebrows off.
There is an exhibition at the V&A in London called “David Bowie is” until some time in August. I am desperate to get down to it, so I think that’s what I’ll do for my birthday in July. Yes. Go down to London for a few days with Chloe.
Mum and Dad are talking about visiting from Australia in July. Dad could take us to see where he grew up and tell us stories while we throw rocks into the Thames. I could have almost my whole family there to watch me get old (minus big sis Phoebe, who is also my birthday buddy – we were born on the same day but three years apart).
If I get my way, I’ll also do a short makeup course while we’re there.
And then, there will be absolutely no stopping me.
Oh hai.
Sunday night I was at the pub painting faces for St Patrick’s day celebrations. I did my own makeup using MAC Pigment in a light green and various dark brown pencils and shadows to create a smokey eye. I put false eyelashes on but they pretty quickly gave me the shits so I ripped them off not long after I took these photos.
I’ve used falsies a lot in the past so I’m not sure exactly what went wrong with these ones; they were cheap (not a deal-breaker) and “pre-glued” (a fallacious concept) so I put more glue on them, and things quickly went pear-shaped. They were itching to buggery so off they went. Shame. I do love a good flutter.
So then it was off to the pub to decorate everyone else, but first I went via the hostel and painted Chloe as a green tiger while she was on reception. Just for practice.
and here is (almost) everybody else!
Then I let Chloe do my makeup…
Which she was very happy with…
And a whale of a time was had by all. Thanks very much to Lindsay at Markie’s for being a gracious host as always, and Sandra MacBeth for the banter-tastic entertainment! I hope you’re all not feeling so green now that you’ve had a big sleep and lots of water.
This week I will hear (hopefully) about whether I have been offered a place on the HND Makeup Artistry course @ Clydebank… keep your fingers crossed for me. Maybe this photo will bring some luck ‘o the Irish – I present to you some of my lovely staff 🙂
Happy Tuesday, little crumbs xX
After the last post featuring my housemate Colin’s nipples, I have been deluged with requests, fan mail, bribes, marriage proposals, weird fan-art, and all sorts of messages and trinkets that I was supposed to pass on to him, but didn’t.
Some of the more savoury suggestions you sent in, dear readers, included things you wanted me to do to Colin’s lucious lips. Which is why we are here today, to try out the lip tattoos given to me for Christmas by my babelicous Danish friend, Irene.
Here’s me with Irene, in Glasgow, December 2011, on our way to the Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Steel Panther gig.
So Irene gave me, amongst other fabulous gifts, some lip transfer/tattoos.
As made famous by Jessie J
They’re just like the temporary tattoos that we all played with as kids (I don’t still play with them, HAHAHAHAHAHAA). You cut the tattoo to fit the size and shape of your lips, peel off the plastic, wet the tattoo generously with cold water, press it on then carefully lift away the paper backing once the tattoo is stuck to the skin.
Colin assumes the position
But I just didn’t think that was creepy enough, so I made his teeth pointy.
These pointy teeth were created with…
yes, Vegemite!
… although if you want a longer-lasting pointy tooth, get some tooth enamel. Otherwise, as soon as you stop baring your teeth and start flapping your gums as normal, you’ll end up looking like you need to see the dentist urgently.
So the lip tattoo lasted for an entire evening.
And it lasted quite well. I thought it would crack and peel but it didn’t, it just kind of faded. He got a good few hours wear.
And it wasn’t any ordinary night that the lip tattoo survived; it was Roadtrip Three Reunion night, where Chloe, Colin and I enjoyed a splendid slideshow of all the photos from the holiday we took together a year ago. She-housemate Zoe might not have enjoyed it as much as we did, but she was a bloody good sport about it, and that’s why we love her 🙂
So, my Snazaroo colours have arrived from eBay – Grass Green, Bright Green, White and Black (in case anyone wants a pint of Guinness painted on their cheek). I wasn’t able to get hold of any green glitter anywhere in Oban; seems everyone has the same idea, AND is more organised than I am.
And here I am, on reception in the hostel, practicing painting shamrocks on the back of my hand.
In other green makeup news, I used the ole Illamasqua sealing liquid on Chloe the other night, in a St Paddy’s take on the classic feline-flicked eye.
She commented that once it had set, it felt a bit tight and weird on her eyes. I haven’t had that problem using it on myself, but maybe I was laying it on her a bit thick.
Another cautionary tale; I started doing the flick using the Maybelline Eye Studio 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in black, but it didn’t really work out. As regular readers are aware, I am a huge fan of those lil pots of metallic colour perfection, but I can now say I think they’re best suited for a wash of colour, a smokey eye or as a primer on which to build powder colours. For precision work, I had trouble getting a clean and opaque line.
Yes, Colin does have leopard-print lips there. Just a few teasers for an upcoming post 😉 Right after this last photo was taken, Nothing Compares To You by Sinead O’Connor came on, which is Colin’s favourite song, and we had a huge and very emotional sing-along – so there’s the answer to yesterday’s caption competition riddle, for those following on Facebook.
Stay tuned, and I hope you don’t feel too green the day after your St Patrick’s Day celebrations! xX
We’ve not seen Agi in a while, so here she is, rocking a nice winged smokey eye with a metallic orange pigment blended into a soft moth-coloured purpley-grey.
Anything in the beige, taupe, tan, brown, fawn, bronze, gold, rust, etc family is great for bringing out blue eyes.
And from the archives, here’s a video of me doing Chloe’s makeup (and singing) in our parents’ bathroom way back in… 2006 or 2007.
Hope you’re all having an excellent week – only two more sleeps until the weekend, where I will be painting faces at the pub for St Patrick’s Day 🙂
digital imologue 