Um, this is bad-ass.
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bye, July
31 JulChloe and I travelled through space and time down to London last week, for the David Bowie Is exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum. She bought us flights and a night in a hostel right by the museum for my birthday, and THAT, boys and girls, is how you win employee of the month.
So here is a little photo essay, scroll down really fast to animate and it’s almost like you’re there with us. Soundtrack: us screeching “HOW FUCKING MUCH?” every time we had to pay for something.
it would probably be quicker to WALK from Oban to London but public transport is just so much funnnn
After … about 30 hours in transit, we finally arrived in London. It was HOT down there – up in the highlands, summer so far has been humid and freezing, the worst of both worlds. But in London, blue skies and legit t-shirt temperatures!
Nelson’s Column, London Eye in the background.
We checked in to our hostel…
good luck with that
… and beetled straight over to the V&A to check out our chances of getting in the next day. We put on our broadest Australian accents and advised the staff that we had travelled a very. long. way. to see the exhibition, and we were only in London for one day so what did they suggest we do to guarantee a ticket?
Sadly they didn’t usher us into the exhibition after hours so we could dance about trying on the priceless Yamamotos.
Chloe (left) and me dancing about in the priceless Yamamotos. Thanks, yeah, I work out.
But they did tell us to get in line quick-sharp the next morning, and all going well we’d be allowed in. The museum opens at 10am so they told us to come around 9am, but we didn’t take any chances. We were there at 8am because we’re hardcore.
good thing too, this was the line by 9am. We were 15th and 16th from the front, coiled like steel springs ready to fly through the doors at 10:00:01am
We got stand-by tickets to the first showing…
BOOM
and the exhibition was friggin’
squeeeeee
We had to go and drink some vodka in Regent’s Park afterwards to calm down before our flight back up to Scottyland
So then we spent the night in my new flat in Glasgow, which I will be moving in to in 2 weeks from today.
Sad to leave my awesome housemates and weird to leave the town and job that have been home for the last 5 years…
… but excited for the change of scenery and the bloody amazing fun and opportunities that are to come!
So that’s me, kids. I’m spending the next couple of weeks trying to sort out things at work and get my move a’happenin’. I know I’ve really let this flog die in the arse and I do apologise to any disappointed stalkers out there. I’ve got some good ideas for future posts so hang in there and one day I will get my shit together and make it worth your while.
meantime, here are my nails! Silver flame wraps that I bought in Reykjavik earlier this year.
Right, now I’m off to bed, and when I wake up I’m going to make August my BEEEEAATCH. Stay tuned, best beloved xX
artists I admire: Kevyn Aucoin
26 JanI owned Kevyn’s books, Face Forward and Making Faces, years ago, when I was back in Australia and first becoming obsessed with makeup. I’d taught myself a lot from practice, trial and error, and reading magazines. But I was at a stage when I was acutely aware of how much I didn’t know, and I was hungry for more technical knowledge and inspiration.
I can’t remember how I first came across the name Kevyn Aucoin. Probably at the library. I would have read every makeup book they had, but I couldn’t tell you now about any of the others. Kevyn’s were all I needed at the time, and there was a lot I liked about those books. His philosophy and attitude to life, not just to makeup, came across as incredibly positive, inclusive, open-minded and altogether exciting. He seemed to see the value and beauty in everyone and everything, and his books generously share all he knows.
These two books have so much in them; incredible transformations, technical tips and tricks that are so well illustrated and explained. Even though I read these books years ago, so much from their pages has stayed with me. I remember Kevyn writing something about running a mile if you’re hearing the words “always” and “never” being used in a beauty-facist kind of way. I like the idea that absolutely anything goes, and being open to all of it will teach you how to do things you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. Even if something is a mistake or doesn’t work the way you want it to, in another scenario it’s just the look you’re going for.
Hell’s bells, he’s only gone and made Gweneth Paltrow look exactly like James Dean. Nice work, Kev. That picture first appeared in FaceForward (published in 2000 by Little, Brown & Co.) – does it further blow your mind to know that it took him 15 minutes to create that portrait?
Like me, Kevyn was completely self-taught, and unlike me he was seriously amazing at what he did. Now I’m at the stage where I’m looking seriously at gaining a qualification, because once again I’m feeling like there’s so much I don’t know I don’t know. Seriously.
Oh Kevyn, not a day goes by without me putting eyeliner underneath my top lash line, thanks to you. Try it for yourself; once you get used to it, it’ll revolutionise mascara for you.
I also highly recommend getting on Amazon where you can pick these books up for a song, second hand. Even though I have copies of them back home in Australia I justified buying them again the other day because they were only a few bucks each. And I’m falling in love all over again. As Gena Rowlands says in the foreword of Making Faces (published 1997 by Little, Brown & Co.)…
“There are so many things in the world that you have to face that aren’t so pleasant, that being able to learning something and have a little fun and feel better about yourself, all in the time it takes to get from one page to the next, is a special and wonderful combination.”
digital imologue 