Shattered Sugar Skull

I had fun with this one.

I've wanted to do a makeup based on a Día de los Muertos, Sugar Skull for a really long time, but there are so many people who have done them that I thought if I was to do one, it would have to be something different and something Unique.

And then finally I came up with something that is :)

I first fell in love with Sugar Skull, hmm lets see... about 4 or 5 years ago I'd say.  I was part of a belly dancing makeup tribe on Tribe.net - and somebody posted a picture of a Silva Ji painting.
I had never seen anything like it before, and instantly fell in love with it. 
The person who posted it was asking if anyone had any advice on how to do it in makeup.  And I was determined to try.

It was not long after my partner and I moved to England, and I was starting to get really into makeup and making youtube tutorials.  And I thought to myself "I could do this".
Because we where traveling (and had the budget of travelers) I didn't really have much makeup, and less in the way of specialist makeup.

I thought about how I would do it and what I would need.  And while I kept thinking about it... someone did it.  I didn't want to be labeled a copy cat, so I held of for a bit.
And then the next year, a few people on youtube did one.  And then after that it's safe to say that Sugar Skulls exploded in the makeup world.

I still wanted to do one (and I am still thinking of doing a series in different styles), but I wanted to do something unique, something different from what I had seen before, and something that would make an impact.

And this is it!

I was lying in bed trying to get to sleep (as I often am when all my best ideas hit me) and it just popped into my mind.  I wrote it down right away just in-case I forgot it (as I often do the next day) and when I woke up it was still clear in my mind.
I had a look around, just to make sure that nobody else had done anything similar to it, couldn't find anything, so I'm pleased to say, that I think I am the first person to come up with a sugar skull design and concept like this.  Yay!

I really hope that you enjoy it, and if you have giving it a try, I would love to see a photo of it.  You can leave a comment to this post, or you can check out my facebook page here - if you do a style based on it on something like youtube, I would really appreciate being credited for it :)

 Hope you enjoy it! :D

Crystalline Queen - Halloween Tutorial

This was the second Halloween look I did this year. 
It was loosely based on an image I saw of a sculpture by Vigrinie Ropars which I fell in love with the moment I saw it. 
I'm actually planning on doing a series of shots with a photographer I work with based around her works.  They are pretty breath taking! 
Here are the reference I used for this makeup.

 

To block out brows, I used a non-toxic kids glue.  It washes out easily with water.
Conceal with Kryolan concealer wheel
Powder Kryolan Translucent powder.
Mac eyeshadow #Cork
Use any light coloured Matte eyeshadow
Inglot #54
Mehron Metallic Powder #Gold
Mehron Mixing Liquid
Inglot #55
Illamasqua Precision Ink #Scribe
Mac #Fix +
Illamasqua pressed powder #White
Mac #Harmony
Any Matte Black shadow
Inglot gold eyeliner
Mac #Retro
OCC  Lip Tar #Clear

 

Hope you enjoyed this look.  If you did, why not leave me a comment about it? 

xox

Bride of Frankenstein - Halloween Tutorial

Hooray Halloween is almost here!

Although it's not part of our culture in New Zealand or Australia, Halloween is becoming more and more poputalr, and is fast becoming one of my favourate holidays.
What other time of the year do you get to dress up as anything you want to be?
I LOVE any chance I get to dress up, and Halloween is the best excues in the book!

So without any further ado, may I present to you, my first Halloween tutorial for 2012.

The Bride of Frankenstein!

This is Part 1 - The Hair.

Ah the hair, the hair.
I really like this style, and it's actually not too hard, although it is time consuming.  Now that I have done it, I can think of a lot of way's to improve it, and I almost wish I had done a test run before I filmed it.  But as I said, it is time consuming and free time, at the moment I don't have a huge amount of.

You'll need:

- A teasing comb
- Hair spray
- Some padding
- Fringe or wig pins
- Bobbie pins
- Coloured hair spray, in Black and white
- Triple barrel or curling iron
- A clean cloth, paper roll or light fabric to protect the hair

So to give you a basic break down of the hair:

Start by clurling the hair all over with a triple barrel curling tong, or a curling iron.
When I did this, I curled my hair after I had applied the padding, but you may find it easier you could do it first.  Either, or - it won't effect the end product, it's just what you will find easier to do.

Section of a portion of hair at the crown of the head.  Create a small ponytail with this.  Thread the ponytail through a hair dounut, pulling the ends up.
Split the hair into sections (2 - 4 depending on how much hair you have in the ponytail) and pin it down to the roots to anchor the hair dounut securely in place.

In small sections, working your way in a ring around the hair, begin backcombing or teasing the hair into "hair rats".
Pin these seconds up and over top of the padding to create volume.
Repeat with another layer of hair all the way around.  Pin these guys up as well.
Try to focus on creating height rather than creating heaps of volume.

For the final layer, while the hair is down, go all the way around and very lightly tease it.  Don't create hair rat's like you did on the first 2 layers, just tease it slightly to spread it out and to give yourself more to play with.
Take a little more care when you pin these section up, and where possible, try to maintain the curl in the hair so that it has a bit of a wave to it, and leave it looking smooth on top.
Work out where you want your white streak to be, and leave this bit down and out of the way while you pin the rest up.  If this section of hair has been teased, I would suggest combing it out so that it is tangle free.  It's going to help in the next step.

When your happy with it, take your black coloured hair spray (give it a good shake!) and spray all over.  Hold the can about 6 - 8 inches away from your hair so that you don't oversatureate it and end up with it looking all wet and patchy.
Remember to try and get the top and back of your hair as well.  Try doing the mirror mirror thing, and take a handheld mirror to hold so that the reflection of the back of your head can be seen in the mirror in front of you, and check for any spots you may have missed.
Take a face wipe or damp cloth and wipe away and of the coloured spray you may have gotten on your skin.  Particularly around the back of the neck where you can't see.

If you have light coloured hair, you shouldn't find this next bit as hard, but if you have darker coloured hair, you may struggle to get it looking white a little more.  I did.

So first of all I dipped my head down, and just aimed the spray at the sections of hair I wanted white.  That didn't work so well.  Because my hair is a little darker, it didn't take to well and it was all wet and nasty looking, and still it was not very white, so I decided to work on plan B.
I got a clean chucks cloth, and pinned it to my head over top of the hair that I had already sprayed black so that it was well protected.
Then I pined up the section I wanted to spray white.  (See the video and it will make a bit more sense)

I was a little optimistic about this, and wanted to try and keep the wave that I had put into my hair with the triple barrel tongs.
Don't even bother with that.
Instead comb out the hair so that it is smooth and as tangle free as you can get it.
Pin it up over top of the cloth that you have pinned over the black hair, and start spraying.
I started off working in light coats trying to build up the colour and keep it dry as I did with the black, but it didn't really work.
I ended up going through a whole can on the two sections and the hair was pretty wet afterwards and didn't hold any of it's shape.  Because it's hair spray it's also pretty sticky.
So unpin it and go back in with a comb (I would suggest a wide toothed comb) in an upwards direction, try to comb it so that the hair is sitting smooth and neat.
Get it as smooth as you can, and try to keep the fly-away's contained.
Now start working it up in small "C" Sections or waves.  Each time you get to the bend in one curl, pin it down with a fringe pin, and then turn in the other direction, pin and repeat.

With any luck, it should look something like this (only neater because you combed the section out so that it was nice and smooth before you started pinning in the waves):

Once it is dry, it should be pretty set and you should be able to take the pins out without it loosing the shape, but if you are worried about it, you could leave it in.  If I was going to go out - particularly if I was to go dancing - I would probably leave the pins in.

Hope that you enjoyed this and found it helpful!

Stay tuned to for the makeup :)

xox

Fight For A Fair Beauty Price in Australia!

Hopefully, some of you would have heard about, or read about the Illamasqua Fight For A Fair Beauty Price in Australia campaign and if you have, I really hope that you could sign your name to it and supported it.  Here's a link.  It's easy, just click it and fill it out and you're done!  http://www.illamasqua.com/fairpriceforbeauty/

Companies in Australia and New Zealand - being so isolated - Can pretty much charge what they want too.  With little competition and nothing to drive the prices down, people keep buying because they have no choice.
Take a stand and go without it - or give in and buy it because you need it (or, let's be honest because it's shiny and you really really want it.  I like shiny things...)  This is all across the board in many different areas, from computer software and electronics, to clothes to makeup - it's a pretty common factor in pricing for most things over here.

England - being surrounded by, and so close to so many different country's as well as having such a huge population - while it is an expensive place to live, in many aspects it is a lot cheaper.
Makeup for example is much cheaper.

America is huge.  There's so many different companies selling the same thing, they drop their prices down because if they didn't, people would just go else where.

For Australia and New Zealand, unfortunately it's a different story.

Things have always been more expensive here, but when the US dollar was strong and the Australian dollar was weak, it almost balanced out.  Products where twice the price over here, but that's because the dollar in America was twice as strong, so once you converted it, add on a little for shipping to get it over here, it pretty much balance out.

Then the global financial crisis hit.  The British Pound and the US Dollar dropped, while the Australian Dollar crept up a little higher.
Now $AUD and $US are pretty much on par and at some stages the Australian Dollar is actually higher!

But have prices come down to reflect this?  No.

Why would they?

What company would drop their prices to reflect what the product is actually worth, when people are still buying it at the current price?  Where else are they going to get it from?

MAC cosmetics in America does not ship to Australia (or anywhere outside the US), so unless you go over to buy it, you really have no choice but to buy it here.  Believe me, I've tried.  There are some things, that unless you have a relative or friend that can sent it over to you, or you go over yourself to get it - you simply can't get from "A" to "B".  "A" being America, "B" being the Backwater Island (although a large one) that is Australia.

There are some companies that charge a reasonable rate for cosmetics over here, and there are a lot that don't.
Inglot Cosmetics is one of the best.  Their eye shadows are $10 per shadow in the freedom system, while a MAC refill for a pro palette is $26 and an normal eyeshadow is $33. Compared with $15 for the same thing in the States.
More than twice the price!

You may have heard of Sleek Makeup before, it's a brand that has taken off in the past 3 years.  Originally "discovered" by Sam and Nic of Pixiwoo, it has become hugely popular as a good quality but affordable product for makeup enthusiasts.  When it first came out while I was living in England, the best thing about it was that a palette was under £5.
That works out to $7.80AUD (converted right now at this very moment.)
But I recently saw it on the Makeup and Glow (cosmetics and tools company aimed at professionals in Australia) website for $19.
Again more than twice the price.
A few days ago I looked into getting some Skindinavia makeup setting spray to try out.
Every website that I looked at in Australia had it listed at the same price.
$29 for the 2oz bottle
$49 for the 4 oz bottle.
Getting a little bit frustrated I decided to look on the actual Skindinavia website and thought I'd order it directly from there.
Here are the prices I found for the Orignal Skindinavia formula.
2oz = $19
4oz = $29
8oz = $39
Awesome.  Wonderful!  A done deal.
I went to register to buy some.  Filled out my details, went to select my country... and couldn't find Australia.
Every other country is listed, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - including New Zealand
Every country.  Except Australia.

So I clicked on the link and hopped over to the Skindinavia Australia website and had a little looksee.
Here's what we are lucky enough to be able to get.

20ml (0.67oz) = $14   <--- this by the way, comes free with any purchase from the US website.
59ml (1.99oz) = $29
118ml (3.99oz) = $49
The 8oz (236ml) is not even available to us, and if it is, I'm sure that it would cost a small fortune.


I've seen comments and reviews on blogs and youtube and the likes from people in America  "It was good, but it was pretty expensive" and "I liked it, but $29 for 4oz?  Yikes, that's pretty steep" or "Great, but 2 eye shadows for $20 is a lot"  that type of thing.  Can you guys even imagine having to pay $33 for one eyeshadow?  Or $49 for 4oz of a setting spray?  It's insane.

Que Illamasqua's Fight For a Fair Beauty Price Australia.
At least someone out there is trying to help improve the situation, by promoting and encouraging a fair price for cosmetics in Australia.
While I believe the petition is still active and growing, Illamasqua recently held up their end of the bargain and lowered their prices by 40% which is pretty huge.
It will be interesting to see if any other cosmetic company's in Australia follow suit.  I for one certainly hope that they do, and show respect for their customers, be them professional artist's or passionate makeup enthusiast - and lower their prices to reflect what the product is actually  worth.

In the mean time, Well Done Illamasqua.  Your fight for a fair beauty price is greatly appreciated, and we salute you!
 

Game of Thrones Series - The Night's Watch

Here's look two (well, actually look one in order of filming, but look two in order of uploading) in my Game of Thrones series, this look is based on the men of the wall, the crow's, the night's watch.  Protecter's of the realm, the sword in the darkness.

I really like this look.  I do love a smokey eye, and I love glitter.  A silver/black smokey eye, with glitter totally rock's my world ;)
I'm dying to see what happens next in the Song of Fire and Ice series with the men of the wall.  Their numbers are dwindling.  The Lord Commander has taken all of the remaining forces out beyond the wall in hopes of solving a few mysteries and finding out exactly what's been happening out there.  But what will happen on the wall and on our side?  Questions, questions!  Better keep on reading I guess...

In keeping with the face that the men are all surrounded by snow and ice all year round, in summer and in winter, I am going to go right ahead and presume they will have mostly pale skin.  While that's not necessarily the way it works, and often you can get more sunburn when out on snow than you can on a sunny day, (because the light and UV ray's reflect back up off the snow and you get hit with it twice)  All of the men on the wall in the TV series tended to have pale skin, and it represent's the snow to me, so that's why I did the base this way.  If you wanted to add more colour on the cheeks or cheekbone's you of course could.

Here's a look at the video


And Here's what I used:


Too Faced, Shadow Insurance
Mac #Blacktrack Fluid liner
Inglot #454
Inglot #23
Inglot #65
Inglot #30
Inglot #35
Inglot #101R
Urban Decay, 24/7 Glide On #Zero
Inglot #107R for brows
Eye Kandy - Liquid Sugar
Inglot glitter #73
The Body Needs2 - Holo Black
Illamasqua Liquid Metal #Phenomina
Revlon Colour Stay, Liquid Liner
Mascara
Graftobian cream blush, #Peach Blush, Vienna Rose
Mac Mineralised Skin Finish Natural - #Light
NYX #Natural
Illamasqua #Electrify
Inglot AMC Multicolour System Highlighting Powder #83
False Lashes

Hope you enjoyed it!

xox

Halloween 2012

Helloween is just around the corner and it's time to start thinking of wounderful ideas!

Some tutorials I have coming up include:

Bride of Frankinstine makeup
Bride of Frankinstine hair
Pin Up Zombie girl
Pop Art Boy
Sugar Skull (-yes I know its been done before, but i love them so much I just have to do one.)
Marie Antoinette - dead
Terminator - revamped (- this may wait until next year...)
Drowned Victom

And a few others I'll leave as a suprise ;)

Please excuse this blog. I'm writting away on my phone. Spelling and gramour is bound to be off.
More than normal.

Untill next time!
Xox

Game of Thrones, House Lannister inspired Makeup

This is the first in a series (well actually if I'm being perfectly honest, it's the second.  The first was filmed around 2 months ago, but I haven't edited it or up loaded it yet) in a new series that I decided to do.  I've been thinking about it for a while, but I've been so busy working on film and other projects that I haven't actually got very far yet.   But here we go!

This is a look inspired by House Lannister from the Song of Fire and Ice Game of Thrones series.  If you haven't read the book or watched the TV series, I highly recommend it.  It's a bit grim in places, but well worth it.  Fantastic storey line.  The books are beautifully written and it is so easy to pick it up and start reading and not realise that a few hours have gone past.  The TV series is brilliant.  I can't even imagen the budget they must have for that show.

The set's, the costumes, the wigs - everything about it is so beautifully put together and done that it's so easy to get lost in the world they have so stunningly created.


The Lannister colours are Red and Gold, and they are associated with all things opulent, rich and powerful.  While the family motto is "Hear me Roar"  it is more comment to hear "A Lannister always pays his depts".  And indeed they do.  Whatever you maybe rewarded for helping a Lannister, you can expect double if you betray them.
Powerful and rich and filled to the brim with cunning, if you get on the wrong side of a Lannister, no expense will be speared in making sure they pay you back for it.

I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the book or see the show, so I wo't say anything more about it, but please enjoy the look.

In keeping with the rich and opulant nature of the Lannister's I used all golds and bronzes on the eye, keeping the lip red.  I did use a lot of different colours for this look, but you don't have to use every single product I used.  Skiping out one or two of the bronze colours won't have a huge impact on the look.

Please check out the youtube video here:

Enjoy!

Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Inglot #355
Inglot #30
Inglot #27
Inglot #430
Inglot #606
Inglot #605
Inglot #607
Inglot #55
Inglot #107R
Inglot #329 and #363
Inglot #189 - loose pigment
Revlon Colour Stay Liquid Linder
Mascara
Inglot AMC #66 - Face and Body Illuminator
Mac Minteralized Skin Finish Natural - Medium Plus
Inglot 107R in brows with an angle brush
Inglot #27 Blush
Illamasqua Powdered Metal #Thalia
Illamasqua Bronzing Duo #Glint and Writhe (dark colour)
White liner on water line
Illamasqua #Torment lip liner
Inglot #63 Lip colour

Until next time

xox

Ok.  Let's be honest.

I'm not amazingly good at keeping up with my blog.  2 post's in a year.  That's ok right?

Mostly because I'm not sure how to work it and make it user friendly.  But I'ma try and sort that stuff out.  But it's confusing business this Blogging and I'm still trying to work it out.

I shall endeavor to do better!  And if anybody out there on the big wide web has some tips they would like to share with me, I shell gladly receive it :)

I'd also love it if you could follow me on my Facebook page under my buiness name under "Alchemy Makeup Artistry"  I keep up to date with that, and post photos and updates all the time.
Go there and check it out!  Here's a link :)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alchemy-Makeup-Artistry/187982611270556

Super awsome mobile blog!

Actually this is just a test, but there are great things to come! New videos and tuts -might even do some reviews of products iv tried that I like/don't like. Sounds niffty yes? Stay tuned! :) x

What's up?

So I've been out of the loop completely for a little while, and the reasons for this is that I am currently studying Diploma of Specialist Makeup Services. I am loving every second of it, and learning so much, but it is pretty full on.

On top of this I also hooked up with a fantastic Photographer whom I absolutely love to pieces and am so lucky and blessed to know. Her and the team have been doing a lot of shoots lately so, to the point that last month we were doing 2 shoots a week. Often the shoots start at 6.30 and will go until 2-3 in the morning and then I have to get up and go to school or work, so I have been totally swamped with School/work/photo shoots/homework and assignments, as well as helping out a friend with makeup for a short film she was shooting for part of her 3 year course. Busy busy, but totally loving it!

Would love to get back into blogging and youtubing but it may not be for a while. Would also really love for people to send me requests as I have a million ideas in my head, but no way I can work through them all, so if I know what people want, it will give me somewhere to start! Here is a quick look at some of the work I have done with Shami and the Caveboy crew.

Arg I had so many plans for more halloween looks this year, and I just haven't had time to do them!
I just started work (after moving back to Australia), its been about 3 months of not working since I left the UK (there was a lot of traveling and spending time with both my, and my partners folks in New Zealand before moving back here) and the it's taken it out of me.

So I am enjoying my new job, although there is sooo so much to learn, and I have had alot of homework and things to do after work, and I haven't had much time until now. I am starting to get the hang of things a lot more now, and now have more time to do things after work (and more energy! Do you know how much work takes out of you when you haven't worked for a while? I never did until now! I think that is the longest in my life I have been without a job since I left school haha)
That last few weeks I have been trying to organise all of my aplications and everything I need to apply for school next year (makeup school! Wish me luck! I am up to stage 3! what a mission haha)
Last week was devoted to sorting out my costume for myself and my boyfriend for the Boho Ball last weekend.
Sooooo *this* week I had planned to do as many more halloween tutorials as I could, and get some of the requests I had done .... and now I have been struck down with the lurgy!
I have spend 2 days in bed, and another off work, and everday after I got home I have gone straight to bed, and now the weekend is 2 days ago and I haven't had a chance to do anything!
I am so dissapointed with myself and I feel like I have been a let down.
So I am realllllly sorry, and I am really going to make an effort to set aside more time for any requests that I may get from now on, if I decide to do them.
Anyway I hope you all have a wonderful halloween anyway!
love and laughs,
Manda xx

Dark Giesha Luis Royo Inspired

Luis Royo has some dark and sometimes disturping images, but they are never the less very beauiful. A lot of his work features woman wearing not much, but they are often strone worrors.

A lot of them have strange body and serface peircings, and tattoos and markings as well. I think they are really beautiful though.

This is my take on one of the Dark Moon 2010 images. You can see the one I used above.

I don't know if that flash of read down the side was there, but I wanted to add it in, because other wise the look is very black and white. You can decide for youself what you would like to do. I think it would be cool to add a bit of red just above the eye and at the top of the brow from the arch to the end. That to me would give it more of a Maiko feel.

From the research I have done, Maiko tend to wear more red than a Geisha.
Products used:

Kryolan Super colour 001 (white)

Ben Nye Setting powder

Mac Painterly, Paint Pot

Coastal Sense 42 Matte shadow - White

Mac Shark Skin, Shade stick

Coastal Sense 42 Matte Shadow - Black

Urban Decay Zero 24/7 glide on eye liner

Coastal Sense 42 Matte Shadow - Red

Body Shop Brow and Liner kit, o2

Maybelline Liquid Liner

Rimmal London 024 Red Diva

Wet n Wild 508a

I really love this look.

Cheap Bites

One of my wonderful friends, loaned me the use of her neck for this one. Thanks Steph!

So as you may know, last year I did a video on how to do vampire bites using Nose and Scare Wax and fake blood. But not everyone can get those, so I was going to do a video on how to do the same look on the cheap.

I didn't have time to do it last year, so it was one of the first videos I filmed this year.

It's pretty easy to do, and I think for a night out it's probably better than using the nose and scare wax, because than can move throughout the night as the wax stays soft.

Products Used:

Eyelash From the cheapest set of lashes I could find.

In the top bite I used Raven Red by Revlon

In the bottom bite I used 508a by wet n wild

(you can't see clearly the difference it makes in the photo's though I'm affriad)

Liquid eyeliner by Revlon

All of the eye shadow I used where from my Coastal Sense, 42 matte and Blush Palette. I used a mix of different pinks, with a touch of yellow, and purple.

Red Diva 024 by Rimmal

A red lip gloss (I'm sorry I don't know the name, it is one that has been kicking around in my bag for a while and the name has warn off)

Any clear lip gloss on top.

Black Widow Spider Make-up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El562XGf_gk




Halloween look number One for 2010.
Acutally I wanted to do this look last year, but I just didn't have time.

Whatda ya think?

Hope you like it! You damn well better because it gave me the creeps to do it. When I had the lashes on under my eyes, I kept thinking there was something 8 legged on my face. And when then when I had to look for pic's of a black widow spider to put on my finger, I was kept feeling something crawling down my spine, and ever dark spot I saw I'd jump at. Hahaha I'm such a wuss! :D





Here's what I used:




Painterly paint pot by Mac


Red by Star Gazer


Vitamin E Face Mist, by Body Shop


Shark Skin, Shade stick by Mac


#40 (black) Loose Dust by Napoleon
A glitter Gel, or lip balm


Midnight Star by Splash mixed with some Red Sparks! by TKB (both glitters)


Brow and Liner Kit, 02 by Body Shop


Blacktrack fluidline by Mac


Lash Stiletto by Maybelline


Individual lashes




Spidery lashes!

Soft Gold for Red heads and Blue Eyes

So! Like I was saying, this look is for a friend of mine who has a very classic red head compelction (woops spelling!).

She is very very fair, with a gaw-jus ginger, almost Honey Blonde colloured hair.

We were talking about make-up in our dance class the other day, and she said that she really didn't know what to do when it came to make-up.

She had tried going into makeup counters before at places like Mac, and some of the different makeup houses in David Jones and Myre, and the makeup advisers always had really dark makeup, and tried to do dark looks on her, which she just didn't feel confident wearing (she doesn't normally wear any makeup at all).

So this is a very soft gental look with her in mind. Once you have more confidance, and are feeling alittle bolder there is so much you can do!

I forgot to say in the video that for very fair skin, and blonde/red head complection it would look nicer to use a brown mascara instead of black, but I don't have one, and just automaticly said "apply black mascara". Use brown!

So for this look I used:

Paiterly by Mac

Body Shop Shimmer Cube 06 - Lightest shade

Jardin Aires by Mac

Soft Gold by Inglot (I will get the number, but I am at an intnernet cafe at the moment. Internet being hooked up on Tuesday!)

Woodwinked by Mac

A very small amount of the Copper colour in the Shimmer Cube 06 by Body shop, lightly swept accross the lid to warm up a touch more.

Brown eye definer by Ben Nye

Small amount of black liquid liner (I wouldn't recomment using this for very fair/redhead people, but I wanted to add it on for myself)

Mascara - I'd suggest using brown, but I used a black on myself because I don't have a brown.

~Halloween~

Halloween is just around the corner!
Last year, I simply didn't have time to get done very much, so I really want to make up for it this year. Hopefully my boxes from the UK will be arriving soon, and then I can get into it!
This is a list of the things that I would like to do this year. I probably won't have time to do all of them, but this is my list so far. If there is any from there that you would like to see, please let me know which one's so that I know what to start working on first.
Also if you have any request's please let me know as well :)

Medusa
Sphinx
Black Widow Spider
Vampire bite's using everday makeup
Vampire Makeup using Everyday makeup (This is a request that I filmed this last year but didn't have time to load it up cos youtube was having issues at the time for me. I am hesitant to load it because there is just so much out for vampires at the moment, but I have it so I may as well put it up!)
How to make your own fake blood
Marie Antoinette
Luis Royo Inspired look
Luis Royo Inspired Gisha
Day of the Dead girl (again I may not do this. I really wanted to do it the year before last, but did not have the right things for it. Last year so many other amazing Guru's did it, that I think it would be silly for me to do it as well)
Mermaid
Poison Ivy
Scare Crow
Corpse Bride
Sally - from Nightmare before Christmas
Betty Boop
Terminator - take #2
Zombie - take #2
Clockwork Orage
Queen of the Damned -Akasha

If there is anything there that you like the sound of and would like to see, please let me know!
And if you have any request's let me know about them too :)
See you all spoon!
xx

My Top 20 Travel Tips

1. Don't take more than you need too! Seriously, you will be there wanting to buy something and be thinking damn, I really didn't need to bring the kitchen sink with me after all. It's dang heavy to carry, it takes up all of your shopping space, and it weighs a tone, that could be on all these neato things from .

2. Wear sunscreen. Remember that song from the Class if 1999? They had it right. Sunscreen is awesome. And plus it keeps your skin nice and wrinkle free, and stops sunspots and skin cancer and that stuff. So trust me. On the sunscreen.

3. Take some small zip-lock clear plastic bags. You may not need them, but if you are caring liquids or gells (under 100mls) on your carry on you will need them. You can normally get them at airports, but I have seen some places charge for them, and they can come in pretty handy for things like toothbrushes, wet clothes, broken jewelery and all sorts of things that you'd otherwise be thinking "Man I really wish I had a ziplock bag right now.

4. Take Ear plugs and an Eye patch! I used these almost every night when we where traveling! It is akwards to throw something at someone you don't know who is snoring while staying in a hostel or backpackers. And alot of hotel's have very thin walls and you can hear people nextdoor and on the street.

5. Take a book or a magazine and an MP3 player. At some stage you will be waiting for a plane or a bus, or a boat, or a train and it is good to have something to entertain yourself with. I would recommend not taking something fancy like an ipod, just take something cheap and replaceable just incase you loose it, or someone decideds it is shiney and wants it for themself.

6. On that note, be careful and have your wits about you. You probably won't get pick pocketed, but you might. When you are in busy places, keep and eye out, be weary of anyone that approaches you.  If they keep talking to you when you have said that you can't help, or are not interested or don't have a lighter, look around you. They often work in teams' one person will try to distract you while the other will pick your pockets.

Also there are bag slashers that will cut a whole in your bag nic your wallet and be gone. I haven't had it happen anywhere while I was traveling, but I have had it happen about 30seconds from my door when I lived in the centre of London. (admitidly I did look like a tourest cos we were carring bags and suitcases just returning from a holiday. "Can I borrow I lighter?" "I don't have one" "Can I just borrow a lighter?" "Um no, I don't have one" he just kept going on = DING DING DING DING DING!)  I realised what was happening and whipped around just as some guy was pulling his hand out of my pocket. I hadn't felt a thing and he would have gotten away with it, if I had not realised something was up and turned around. Luckily for me, and unluckily for him I only had a handful of snoty tissues in my pocket because I had a cold. Ha Ha! In your face you pocket picking arse!)

Also I would not recomment taking anything valuble or specail to you, be it jewelery or anything else. Even in backpackers people can take things from right out of your drom. It normally doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I had a jacket stolen once. Not happy.

7. Take your own food as much as you can. You will save so much money! There will be food anywhere close to a big tourist attraction, but it is hard to find a cheep place and often the food is pretty rubbish. It is nice to eat out while you are away every now and then, but it is a good way to spend all of your money and often the food is not fantastic, because it is aimed at tourists that will only go there once and never come back. If you really want to eat out, get a Lonley Planit and check out the recomndations. You can trust them. Other than that, I recommend finding a supermakert (and in some places even they are not cheap) and buying a few things for a packed lunch or to at least take along to snack on. You will save a bundle!

8. Take a tourch. Them things come in mighty handy! The headlamps that campers use might look a little silly, but they are even handeir still because well.... you can use your hand! Both of them! (asuming you have two) and besides, no one can see you looking silly because it is dark.  If you come home late, and there are people asleep in your dorm don't be a dick and turn on the main light, whip out your little torch :)

9. Take a padlock. If you can't put your things in a locker then you can at least put in around the zips on your luggage. Most backpackers or hostels will have lockers, sometimes you will have to buy or hire a key from them, so it is cheaper to just have one with you.

10. Take a scarf. If you are going sight seeing, often that will be going to some of the breathtaking chruches or mosques. It doesn't matter if it is not something you believe in. It is a holly place and you should respect them. If they have signs up saying don't take photos, Don't take photos. If they have signs up saying no talking, don't talking. Even if there is not a sign up saying to cover your head or shoulders do it anyway. It is respectful. I have seen people cueing up to get into St Pauls Basilica for 2 hours, only to get turned away at the door because they were not covered.  It doesn't matter if you don't believe in it, it's about experiencing a piece of history or culture of where you are right then and there.  Even if it means nothing to you, there are probably a lot of people that have pilgrimaged from all over the world to get there to see that, so show a little respect.

11. Take a camera! I'm guessing you are already planning to take one, but take along spare batteries and spare memery card as well. And a charger. Also, as much as it is good to have your big camera that takes amazing photos (and I took mine everwhere) it is really handy to have a small one as well. They are easy to carry, don't take up much space or get in the way, and you can get them out easy peasy to take a photo without any fuss.

12. Check out the plugs in the country you are going to, and take a plug adaptor. A universal one is a good idea because you can use them most places.

13.Don't buy the first thing you see! If it is right next to a train station, or an underground station, or right next to a big attraction, you will almost certainly find it cheaper somewhere else. Probably right around the corner.

We got out of the tube and saw a fella selling sunbralla's in Rome. He was selling them for 8euros. We said we'd take one for 5. He said ok. My, my, aren't we cleaver! We walked around the corner and saw a stand selling them for 3. D'oh!

14. Buy a Lonely Planit of the place you are going. They are full of wonderful tips, bits of informations, recommandations, lingo. They are heavy though. We meet one chick that would rip out the the pages of the places she was in and carrie that round with her. What a brilliant idea! It gets heavy carring everything with you. Lonely Planits come out every year so it doesn't matter if you rip out the pages, because in a year there will be out of date anyway.  Then if you want to be a nice person, when you leave you can give them to someone else.

15. When in Rome... Don't buy water. Ok well buy the water once so that you have a water bottle, but don't buy any more after that! The Romans are very proud of their water. You will see water spots all over the place where you can fill up your bottle for free and the water is perfectly fine to drink. It tastes good, its cold, and its free! Yay!

16. Print out confirmation of all of your bookings. Something may happen where you get to a hotel or backpacker or airport and they can't seem to find your booking, or don't have a space, or the price has gone up. If you have a print out of confermations from them, they can't wiggle their way around you. It never happend to us, but I have heard of it happening to others. We took a print out of every single place we went, just incase. It is better to be safe than sorry!

17. Take a notebook, and write down all of the numbers of hotels, or busses, or anything you think might be handy. Just incause it's not as easy to find where you wanted to be and you need to call up for directions. People are normally really helpful and can tell you how to get where you need to be. Also have things written down on paper incause your phone goes dead and you need a payphone.

18. Print out a copy of your passport and leave it with someone back home that you know you will be able to get in contact with.

19. Wear comfy shoes! Its all very good and well to have sexy looking feet, and if you can manage to strut down a cobble street for a good 6 or so hours, then I take my hat off too you and expect you to give me some tips! But I would much perfer to have comfy shoes and no blisters or sore feet. I don't mean that you have to wear sandles and socks, but I wouldn't really recomment high heals or something that might give you lots of blisters either.

19.2 Oo while I remember, it is a brilliant, brilliant idea to take a little mini first aid kit too. If you are only having carry-on then you won't be able to take scissors or anything, but take some plasters or band-aid's, insect repallent, insect bite cream (No matter how much I spray myself with no-bitie stuff, I still get bitten) sunscreen, (aftersun is good to sometimes incause you forget sunscreen), Ginger pills if you get travel sick, Imodium! You probably won't get food poisening, but sometimes just eating food you are not used to can upset your body a bit.

20. Have a totally amazing time! You will go to so many amazing places and see some amazing things! Have fun, be possative, and look at the bright side of things. Even if something awful and unforseen happen's - it may seem like a disaster, but you will have a great story to tell when you get back, and the older you get the funnier it will seem!

OK.

So I have had this blog for almost 6 months I think, even though I haven't told anyone about it. (one would wonder what the point in that is? Yeah me too.)

But I have hardly used it in the last 6 months, so I am going to make a effort to start using it properly again!

I keep starting to write something, and then I will have to run to work, or I will be half way through and then I will get tired and fall asleep and forget about it. I have about 5 blogs that I have started to write and never finished! Fail I know. hehe

So I guess this is just kinda a short wee note to that I am writing up here, because if I write it up here, I will actually do it.

Now that I am back in this side of the world I am going to start doing more videos again, and I am going to tell people about my blog. Maybe I well even have a sneaky contest on here.... one can never be to sure... ;)

So what I hear you asking will be on this mistery blog that no-one actually knows about? I'm not 100% sure. I think just a bit of this and that and the other. Whatever comes into my mind at the time that I sit down to write in it.

It is most likely going to be a random mishmash of things. Might have something to do with dancing, might be about make-up, might be about making things hand made, might be questions and getting your thoughts on things, might be a contest, might just be about whatever I have been doing lately, Might be about travel, might just be reminicing about the past. Honestly don't know.

In the mean time... have a kitten :)

Leatherotics

Ok. So incase you haven't noticed yet... I love corsets.

This was a wee "me" gift I couldn't resist. I was playing around on ebay looking for something, and I couldn't find what I was looking for and thought hmmm I wonder if they have any cute underbusts. I entred it in and found this sold by a a componey called "Leatherotics" I was really suprised at the price, because leather corsets are normally very expensive.

I remember a freind on mine at school made a leather corset for her Ball gown in our last year of school, and I loved it. Then Starwars episode II came out and Natalie Portman playing Padme wore that beautiful leather corset, and the long fishtail skirt, and that amazing chocker bead necklance that hung down past her knees, and ever sinse then I have been determind that One Day, even though I can't get the rest, I will get a full leather corset. .So I was looking around on this site and they had a few different styles that I loved, but I wanted something that I could wear often, say with a white blouse or a shirt, but also funk up a little.

Since I first heard about Steampunk I have *loved* the style, and I wanted to get something that I could wear everyday, (ok not everyday but you know what I mean) or dress up, or go steampunk in, and they had this fab one that had buckles down the frount.

I read about the sizes (although stupidly did not check the size of my boobytrap corset, *face-palm*) and went down for inches from my natural waist and got a 32" corset, paid the extra £8 to have a modesty panell sewing into the back and got it sent out.

It arrived much sooner than I would have expected, (I can't remember exatcly but I think it was less than a week and I was expecting it to take longer as they where ultering it for me.) Although when it arrived it was much to big for me, and even laced up as tight as possible with the ends together it was still much much to big! Guess I have a squidgey tummy.

I contacted them straight away, and they said I could return it and get another one, and only charged me and extra £5 for the postage even though this one was also being ultered.

It took a little longer to get the new one, but totally worth the wait. I love it! I think I could still probably go down a little smaller to a 26" rather than the 28" I got, but I am still really happy with it.

It is a really beautiful and well made (to my untrained eye at least) corset, and the leather is so soft. It molds to my body really well, and is so comfy on I really love it. :)

Thanks leatherotics!

Untill next time :)

xox

In Love With BoobieTrap Corsets

For my birthday this year, my boyfriend got me a beautiful corset from BoobieTrap. I had seen them online somewhere and fell in love with them. I loved the style of them, I just think they are gorgous. The website was www.boobietrapcorsets.com when I brought from them, but now they have had a facelift and renamed themselfs to www.boomboombabyboutique.com

It took a long time, for me to decide on the fabric I wanted, I started looking at the Gingham, and then I liked the Black Cherry, and I just loved the Sailer Jerry, but didn't think I would be able to get as much wear out of that one, so sadly I had to stop looking at it (although I still love it) then I looked at the Red and White Polker Dots. I was very close getting that one - in fact when I got the mock up, I said I wanted the Polker dot's but then at the last moment, (I must be the most annoying customer ever. I'm always changing my mind, and i find it really hard to settle on something. I think that's why I haven't gotten my tattoo yet.) I decided to go for the Gingham again. That was the first one that caught my eye, and my wonderful boyfriend is always saying go for the first thing you see.

The mock-up arrived, and and we did a bit of tweeking with the sizing. I wanted to have a bit of a princess point, but not to much, so my friend Jennie who has studied fasion, and is a wonderful seamstriss helped me mark out where we thought we wanted it on the mock-up, we took some photos to email to Kirsteen with it on, and she gave me her thoughts. I think the mock-up was done to a 28" waist, but on the mock-up there was not much of a gap so she thought it would be best to go for a 26" -As after you lace it up a few times, and wear it a few times, your body becomes used to it, and you can get it tighter.

My sister came over from America on her way home to New Zealand and stayed with us for a week in London, and then we left our job, hired a car and traveled around Ireland, then hired a campervan and traveled around a bit on Wales and England. So I didn't get to try my corset untill we arrived in Cambridge staying with my boyfriends sister -which is where it had been sent- while we job hunted. I think I must have put on a little weight eating junk when we where traveling, and when my sister and I are together, we encourage each other to have cake, and scones with cream and what not. Mmm scones with cream... I think I will do some baking later today....

Anyway when I tried it on, it was alittle on the small side. Laced up, but with a gap bigger than I liked, and I felt a little as though I was stuffed into it, so I haven't worn it much apart from tring it on every now and then. I haven't worn it out yet. I think the princess point is a little long, and I can't really sit down in it unless I am on a high stool.

But I do love it, and I think it is so beautiful. I wanted something that was more of a retro rockabilly style, that I can wear with skinny jeans and some cute heel, or with a pencil skirt
Let me know what you think!