look of the day - A HAIRCUT, FINALLY

I haven't had an actual haircut in at least 8 months, likely more, and I finally went to the salon today.

Some things to note!

a) My bangs are doing weird things because my hair dried in a part too close to the center.

b) Obviously, there's a bit of a curl in my hair, but the actual length is at least two inches shorter.

c) I took this on my phone camera because it's a ton better than my point-and-shoot camera.

Kate requested a simple look for a regular high school day, so I've tried my best to replicate something and will provide cheaper dupes for products if I know of any.

For face products, start out with a BB cream if you need coverage all over your face. Generally, BB creams tend to be multipurpose, blurring imperfections while covering redness. I've used a Dr. Jart+ BB cream, but Maybelline makes two formulations (depending on skin type) that seem to work well. Take a concealer and cover up anything else you'd like to cover that the BB cream didn't. Maybelline Fit Me concealer is one that I quite like. For cheeks, a cream blush is quick and easy and can be applied with your fingers. Try one of Revlon's cream blushes or L'oreal's mousse blushes.

For eyes, take a shimmery pinky-nude eyeshadow and use it over the eyelid. This gives a wash of colour without complicating the process. If you want to take the extra step, use a taupe or purple-toned eyeshadow in the outer corner of the lid. Eyeshadow can actually be skipped if you're feeling lazy or you don't have that much time to get ready. The brown eyeliner is the most important--draw a line across your upper lid. Brown is softer and more forgiving than black. (If you have oily eyelids, consider using an eyeshadow primer and a translucent powder to make sure your eyeliner doesn't smudge.) Finish with a coat of mascara--brown for lighter eyelashes, black for darker.

For the lips, use a pinky-nude lipstick. There are so many good ones out there--Lipstick Queen makes a universally flatter shade but it's definitely pricey. Revlon lip butters are a good place to start, but their balm stains are really good if you don't want to keep touching up throughout the day. The glossy part of the product might fade but it leaves a stain behind that will last several hours. Honey is a really good colour.

BROWS
Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express brow kit in Brunette
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Inner half of lid - Laura Mercier eyeshadow in Guava
Outer half of lid - Laura Mercier eyeshadow in Kir Royal
Upper lash line - marc jacobs highliner gel crayon in brown(out)
Lashes - ck one mascara in 800 black

FACE
Korres Quercetin & Oak Antiageing Primer
Dr. Jart+ V7 Beauty Balm
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01
stila convertible color dual lip & cheek cream in peony (I THINK. This was a sample and I can't find the shade name on it.)

LIPS
Lipstick Queen Jean Queen lipstick

hogwarts series - ravenclaw (dramatic)

So, tonight is the Golden Globes and I only watched part of the show... But I'm pretty sure the only part that mattered was Emma Thompson showing up to present with her heels in one hand and a martini in the other. She was just a presenter and I think she won the entire ceremony. That's it, she won the Golden Globes.

Anyway, today was a long day of me doing nothing except freaking out about my life, so as usual, I turn to makeup! This isn't all that dramatic in my eyes, but I know a lot of you will disagree.

BLUE EYEBROWS! I have absolutely zero issue with crazy coloured eyebrows, as you can tell from so many different posts on this blog, but I'm sure a lot of people are balking at this. Obviously, you don't need to do this! I just wanted something boldly blue to go with the whole Ravenclaw theme. (Also, holy fresh hell, why do I look so sickly in this picture? And this isn't even the foundation's fault, but my neck is at least two shades darker than the rest of my face. Boo.)

Also, let me talk about my hairstyle for a moment. This turned out SO MUCH WORSE than I had intended. I wanted to braid my hair in some way because I think braids suit the Ravenclaw life, but for some bloody moronic reason, I decided to sleep with foam curlers in my hair last night. I keep reading that having texture in your hair will make braids stay, and I completely agree because my naturally stick-straight hair usually won't stay in a braid without some serious coercion, and this time there wasn't any slip from random ends sticking out from the braid itself.

The thing about curly hair... When I was six, my mom and I thought that washing our hair with shampoo meant for curly hair would give us curly hair. (It was a language barrier on my mom's part and childish bandwagon jumping on mine.) I've always really wanted naturally wavy or curly hair because my hair is boring and won't hold anything without a shit ton of product and two hours of work.

Well, I finally concede that I LOVE MY HAIR. I do not want curly hair. Braiding curly hair was the equivalent of drinking arsenic. I'm sorry, hair. I really am.

Anyway, so the makeup is actually rather simple, as I don't think Ravenclaws would necessarily be all that bothered with their makeup. They've got so many other topics on their minds, but this look is simply created with a few products, yet it makes for a big impact. Bright blue eyeshadow goes all over the lid and bronze eyeshadow is blended into the crease and under the eye. Take a black eyeliner and line your upper and lower waterline, put on a few coats of mascara, and you're done! The cheeks just require some simple blush, and all I did for my lips was put on a matte mauve-y pink lipstick.

BROWS
Sugarpill pressed eyeshadow in Velocity (vibrant matte royal blue)

EYES
Lid - Sugarpill Chromalust pigment in Royal Sugar (metallic royal blue)
Crease + lower lash line - Shiro Cosmetics loose eyeshadow in Nic Cage Raking Leaves on a Brisk October Afternoon (coffee brown-black with gold and red sparkles)
Upper lash line - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Binge (pearly navy blue, discontinued) + Sugarpill loose eyeshadow in Magpie (black with metallic blue sheen and turquoise sparkles)
Waterlines - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (black)
Lashes - Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black

FACE
Marc Jacobs Gel Genius Foundation in 10 Ivory Light
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01
L'Oréal Paris Magic Smooth Soufflé Blush in Celestial (muted rosy pink)

LIPS
NYX Matte Lipstick in Tea Rose (mauve-pink)

halloween looks - broken doll tutorial

Wow, it's been a week since my last post. I've been lacking in inspiration and focus as of late, but I just discovered a desire to try special effects makeup and I went full out with recreating my look from last Halloween.

Ta-da! This was my last-minute costume that I wore to my a cappella group's rehearsal. I had my hair in tight ringlets and only managed to curl about 2/3s of my hair before we had to go and I was already late... And it still took me two hours to do the hair alone. I wore a dress I bought at Hot Topic, ripped nylons, and round-toed black heels. I think it worked well for something I slapped together.

There are a few changes I made this time around: I filled in my eyebrows to mimic a more rounded shape, I didn't bother curling my hair with a 1/2" iron, and I chose a lighter lip colour.

Pre-broken doll...

My hair takes too long to curl regardless of what I do to it, but I think this was worth it. If you want to try this for Halloween, you don't even need to curl your hair! You can just put your hair into pigtails of your choice, but I was going for a very made up doll look. The tutorial follows the next picture and if anyone needs a detailed description and/or photo for a particular step, please don't hesitate to ask.

1. Prime your face. I'm using Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre because it's wonderful and my skin needs the extra moisture, but you can use a normal foundation primer if you'd prefer. (If you want to go all out and use circle contacts, put those in now before you start your makeup!)
2. Using a foundation brush, cover your face with a foundation that is one shade lighter than your skin tone. You can forgo the lighter foundation if you don't have it, of course, but they don't call them porcelain dolls for nothing.
3. Conceal as needed. I have a lot of redness in my cheeks, so I focused on that and on the dark spots around my face. Dolls have completely flawless skin, so aim for that. You can also use a full-coverage foundation so you don't need to do as much concealing!
4. After applying eye primer, use a matte shadow that is close to the colour of your skin on each eyelid. You don't need to be precise with this--it's mostly to help the rest of the eyeshadow blend more easily. (Here's the fun part: you don't need to stick to the eyeshadow look I've done here! As long as you keep it simple, anything goes. If you want to use a light blue eyeshadow, go for it. Use a green, if you'd prefer!)
5. Using a matte shadow that is a few shades darker than your skintone, work the colour into the crease of your eye. Make sure to blend blend blend! When you're done with this, use the same shade and contour slightly around your nose. You want to connect the inner corner of your brow to your nose and then draw a straight line down, and then shade the tip of your nose to get the dainty doll look. Make sure to blend out all the harsh lines. (I forgot to do this here, but you can also brush the shadow below your bottom lip to make your lips appear fuller. Add a little white pencil on your cupid's bow, too!)
6. Take a matte black shadow and work that into the crease over the nude shadow. This is mainly to provide definition that will emphasise the doll lashes you'll be putting on later.
7. Fill in your eyebrows! Mine are naturally thick so I didn't want to work against that. Dolls tend to have thin eyebrows so if you have thin brows or your brows are light, try playing around with changing the shape of your brows! Aim for a soft, rounded shape with no discernible arch.
8. Line the waterline and just under your eye with a white pencil. You're shooting for big eyes, and this will work in your favour.
9. Line your upper lash line with a black pencil. This will give you a place to hide the false lashes.
10. Draw a dashed line with your black pencil below where you've used the white pencil on your lower lash line.
11. Curl your lashes and add a coat or two of mascara. Now for the fun part: glue on those falsies! Thickness is not what you're aiming for--you want a pair of long, fluttery lashes.
12. Using a red blush or shadow, go wild with colour on your cheeks. I used an eyeshadow with a sightly heavy hand. Focus the colour on the apples of your cheek and don't be afraid to make the colour bold.
13. Take a taupe or brown pencil and dot some fake freckles on over the cheeks and the bridge of your nose. You don't want these to look too perfectly spaced, but aim for clean dots.
14. Take a pink lipstick (or lip product of your choice) and fill in your lips. Don't be afraid to exaggerate the look and work out of your lip line! Dolls have naturally pouty lips so you can focus on the bottom lip and not apply anything at the corners of your mouth. If you have very pigmented lips, you might want to put a little concealer into the corners with a concealer brush.
15. Place a bit of a light pink gloss on the center of your bottom lip.
16. Time to make yourself as creepy as possible! Take a sharp black pencil and lightly begin to trace where you want the cracks and chips to go. Don't make these lines too harsh at first and don't think too hard about what you're doing with the lines. Make them haphazard! You can outline large pieces that will be missing.
17. Fill in the large broken pieces. Use the pencil with a heavy hand to fill in the outlines to make them appear more multi-dimensional.
18. If you're going out, you can possibly set your face with a translucent powder. However, the black pencil might prove difficult. Test it before you go out, and if that doesn't work, a setting spray will help tremendously.
19. Keep reminding yourself not to touch your face. If you look at the first photo in this post, you can see that the eyeliner kept smudging because I have that bad habit of touching my face constantly. I'd also advise not to put a big missing chunk on your nose because that's likely where you're smudge things first.

BROWS
Sephora Brow Sculpting Pencil in Dark
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Lid - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Foxy (very light yellow/white matte)
Crease - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Naked2 (taupe matte), Faint (warm, dusty brown matte) + Crave (deepest, darkest brown/black matte)
Upper lash line - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (black)
Lower lash line - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Yeyo (metallic white) and Zero (black)
Lashes - Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black
False lashes - Ardell lashes in #105 Black

FACE
Marc Jacobs Gel Genius Foundation in 10 Ivory Light
On cheeks - MAKE UP FOR EVER Full Cover Concealer in Pink Porcelain 1
Benefit Fake Up concealer in 01 Light
Under eyes - Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15 Fair
Blush - Sugarpill pressed eyeshadow in @#$%! (vampy pearl red with silver metallic sheen)
Fake freckles - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Desperation (deep taupe to gray matte)
Broken patches - wet n wild coloricon eyeliner in black

LIPS
NYX Soft matte Lip Cream in Sao Paulo (plummy-pink)
NYX Butter Gloss in Merengue (pink lilac)

My mom told me that I'm creepy. I think that means this is a success.