orphan black clones series #5 - helena

HELENA.

Okay, Orphan Black does such a good job of turning your expectations of a character a complete 180° from what it was originally. Helena is now more of a sympathetic character than ever and I love that.

Obviously I don't have blonde hair or hair with any natural texture, for that matter, but I slept in braids (which took me three hours... Let's not talk about it) and took them out this morning. It looks more frizzy than floofy like hers, so next time I would try bigger braids, but I'm never attempting this again.

For her "eyeshadow", there wasn't really a procedure for this. I just took matte eyeshadows and layered them until I got something close to her sunken-eye look and blended it haphazardly together. Messy is key here! I actually made the under-eye section way too dark and then had to lighten it up with some liquid concealer which seemed to work pretty well. The lipstick is a matte nude that I had to use two separate shades to get close to what I wanted, but it seemed to work well enough.

I also have a picture of me with red lipstick on like she did (SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED s2e05!) getting ready to shoot Rachel here, and I wanted to do red lipstick because none of the other clones take their lip colour this far.

Also, I've decided I want a jacket like Helena's, so that might happen in the future. Who knows? I only had a white tank top that looks a little bit like her outfit post-rebar stabbing, but without the lace. I also took a picture posed like this in my sister's bedroom (because mine is a mess, let's be honest) BUT I hate how it turned out, so you'll only get to see it if you ask very nicely.

No close-ups because there's nothing special about this!

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

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Paula's Choice The Nude Mattes Palette: Beige, Café au Lait, Chestnut, Plum Taupe
Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette: Faint (warm, dusty brown matte)
It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Matte Luxe Transforming Eyeshadow Palette Vol. 1: Sunrise, Sunset
Saucebox Cosmetics Etude palette: Biscotti, Caramel
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15 Fair

FACE
Urban Decay Naked Skin liquid foundation in 1.0
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye concealer in Light

LIPS
NYX Cosmetics Soft Matte Lip Cream in London (mid-tone beige) and Athens (matte peach beige)
OR
Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick in 645 Red Revival (deep red)

orphan black clones series #4 - cosima niehaus

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I have excuses that you don't care to hear for all of it, but I do have to say that I did this look before a graduation party I'm going to shortly and holy hell does it take a long time to try to finagle my hair into "dreads". And by dreads, I mean I did a few crappy twists around the top of my head and gathered the rest of my hair into a ponytail because my hair is impervious to styling unless I fry it.

Cosima has the coolest look, in my opinion, although my personal look leans more toward Sarah. (You'll see that once I link my post-Cosima makeover picture.) Obviously I don't have dreadlocks, but her eyeliner is amazing.

The dumb thing is that you can't even see my hair! Well, Cosima's makeup is actually rather straightforward. Take a liquid liner (black is the most common, of course, but if you have a navy liner, that's what the makeup artists on the show use!) and line your upper and lower lash lines. Then extend the line on the upper lid outward to create a wing, and extend the line on the lower lid toward your nose. Now, I know that for Cosima's makeup, the eyeliner on both lids is connected in both the outer and inner corners, but since my eyelids are hooded everywhere except the inner corner, where they're more monolid-like, I didn't connect the inner corners. If you don't have this issue, you can connect the lines easily.

I used a black liquid liner, so after the shape was created, I used a navy pencil liner and a thin liner brush to outline the shape and give it the correct colour. It doesn't seem like Cosima wears much other makeup, but I did use a bit of a nude lip colour to lighten up my natural lip colour. (I put on a layer of a light OCC lip tar and then dabbed on a nude/mauve Bite lipstick over that.)

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

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
bareMinerals mineral veil
Liner - Sephora Collection Long-Lasting 12HR Wear Eye Liner in 01 Black (matte black) + Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Binge (pearly navy blue, discontinued)

FACE
Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 13 Bright Beige
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01

LIPS
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Interlace (palest crème peach)
Bite Beauty Lipstick in Pepper (dusty rose)

After I took my hair down and changed (and put a tiny Dutch braid where my part normally is), this is what happened. I went from Cosima to Sarah-as-Cosima!

orphan black clones series #3 - rachel duncan

Time for a third clone! So, I have to admit that Rachel fascinates me a lot, as she seems to be a bit of a red herring villain at the moment. That being said, I think her motives are rather unexplained and I can't wait to see what her real story is.

This look is based on this picture. I really tried to give a withering look but it just looks like I'm tired. Which is pretty close to the constant, pervasive truth! Obviously, I don't have blonde hair, nor is my hair short enough for a bob, so I improvised. I couldn't replicate the blonde, of course, but I put my hair into a faux-bob using this tutorial. My hair is incredibly thick so if I do this again, I'm going to leave less hair for the braid that is tucked underneath the rest of the hair, but otherwise it seemed to work well enough. (It looked so much better in person than in all of my photos...)

Rachel is very polished and since she's got blonde hair, her eyebrows seem to be a bit lighter than the other clones'. She's also got a bit of a tan in comparison with everyone else, and that might be more noticeable because of her hair colour. I had to apply bronzer all over my face, which looked HILARIOUS in natural lighting but didn't seem to do too much in flash photography.

For the eyes, take a very pale grey-brown shimmer shade and tap that into the inner corners of your eyes, drawing the colour out toward the center of your lids. Take a darker grey-brown shade to the rest of your lid. Using a matte brown shade, blend the colour into your crease and take the excess to your lower lids along the lash lines.

Take a flat liner brush (I used Wayne Goss' Brush 08, which is a ridiculously tiny push liner brush and I think I'm in love with it) and load it with a black cream liner, then tightline your upper lash line and line your lids. I used a pencil liner instead of a cream because I didn't want to open one up and have it dry out. Use a few coats of mascara on your upper lashes.

I spent a good ten minutes trying to find a lip colour that would mimic the one Rachel used and I think I got close, though hers appears to be more red-brown than mine, which leans more warm pink.

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

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
bareMinerals mineral veil
Inner corner - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Verve (oyster shimmer)
Outer lid - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Pistol (light gray-brown shimmer)
Crease - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Tease (pale brown matte)
Under eye - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Tease (pale brown matte) + Paula's Choice eyeshadow in Cafe Au Lait
Liner + waterlines - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (matte blackest black)
Lashes - Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black

FACE
Urban Decay Naked Skin liquid foundation in 1.0
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01
Under eyes - Benefit Fake Up Concealer in 01 Light
Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil bronzer

LIPS
rms beauty lip2cheek in promise (warm salmon pink with golden shimmer)

orphan black clones series #2 - alison hendrix

It's my 23rd birthday! Last year was absolute shit and I can only hope that this year is better. I've never really felt older on my birthday until this year. I feel like I earned being 23. I spent the entire day getting food and shopping with my family, so I'm exhausted and stuffed.

More importantly, though... Tonight is the premiere of season 2 of Orphan Black! To celebrate, I dressed up as another clone: Alison Hendrix.

Alison is a soccer mom living in suburbia and she seems to have a more laid-back, simple look because of her hectic schedule. I based this look off of this picture, where she's wearing a little more makeup than I think she usually does. I also don't have bangs that go across my forehead, so I improvised with my side bangs and I put in a headband for good measure.

For the eyes, all you need to do is take a matte brown shadow that is a few shades darker than your skintone and swipe it over your eyelids and under your eyes, and then line your eyes with a dark brown eyeliner. I used a dark taupe liner because it was what was convenient!

For lips, Alison seems to wear a pinky lip colour that is slightly brighter than her natural lip colour, but in this photo it appears a bit darker. I went with a fig shade that applies matte and put on a lipstick with some sheen over it.

I'm not wearing blush here because my cheeks are naturally pink. However, Alison always seems to be wearing some, so I'd suggest something a little on the warm pink side.

Clothing-wise, I don't have much that is as preppy as Alison's wardrobe is, and I don't have pearls. (Would have made a nice touch, no?) So I just went with a graphic tee and a sweater that looks a little more like Alison's workout clothes than her day-to-day wear.

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

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Lid - Saucebox Cosmetics pressed eyeshadow in Almond (cool medium brown matte from the Etude palette)
Upper lash line - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Desperation (deep taupe to gray matte)

FACE
Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrè + Dr. Jart+ V7 Beauty Balm
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01

LIPS
Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Stick in Brooklyn (harvest fig)
NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick in Pops (mauve)

EDITED: The makeup artist has said that Alison wears purple eyeliner and this was done before I read the articles saying this! That being said, for some reason my eyeshadow here looks a little purple. If you're looking for a good purple eyeliner, try Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in either Vice or Psychedelic Sister (higher-end option) or NYX Slide On Pencil in either Pretty Violet or Purple Blaze (drugstore option).

orphan black clones series #1 - sarah manning

Hello, hello!

Today has been surprisingly warm and sunny and spring-like, but next week it's supposed to fall back into the 40s and 50s with rain, womp. Since the weather was "nice" (and this is in quotations because if you know me well enough, you'll know that I prefer colder weather with zero sunlight since I'm a vampire), I went for a walk at the arboretum and then went to an outdoor mall to window shop.

So, Orphan Black.

Next week is the season 2 premiere (and it also happens to be my 23rd birthday!) and to celebrate, I thought I'd start a series based on the clones that we've gotten to know. I only started watching this show at the end of March, though I'd been intending to watch it since shortly after the first season premiered. I'm OBSESSED. I cannot get over this show or how amazing it is and I've been rewatching episodes like it's my job. No spoilers, but I will encourage EVERYONE to watch it.

This is based off of Sarah's look in the first episode, when she's Sarah as her punk self and not as Beth.

(Also, yes, I'm wearing a leather jacket and a black shirt that looks a bit like leather. I also happen to be wearing pajama pants in these pictures, but that would ruin the illusion.)

I probably could have gone with another side braid on the left half of my hair so it wasn't so awkwardly poofy, but hey, I couldn't be bothered and my hair is naturally parted to the side so I needed my hair to stay put. My hair was already sort of wavy after sleeping in braids last night, so that worked for me. Here, have a close-up of the clip-in on my right side!

I didn't make that wavy by braiding it, unfortunately, so it's a little off-putting with how stick-straight it is.

The eyes are very similar to one of my concert looks; take black eyeliner and rim the waterlines and lashlines of your eyes, then thickly line them before smudging the crap out of the liner. Then, top it off with some charcoal shadow. Since my makeup is fresh, it's darker and more pronounced than what Sarah seems to prefer, which is a smoky eye that looks more lived in. For this sort of effect, you can try smudging out the liner with something like an eye gloss or a thick balm-like product--Lisa Eldridge has a great video here.

Nothing on the cheeks unless you feel bare without it. Sarah doesn't strike me as the sort to wear blusher, but I probably could have done with some since I look like a ghost. Whoops!

For the lips, it sort of looks like Sarah cancelled out the colour of her lips with a layer of foundation over her mouth. Most people can't pull this off, myself very much included. I would look like a serious ghost. Instead, take the lightest nude lip colour with which you are comfortable and layer that on your mouth. A good trick to pulling off a true nude lip is to take a pinker shade and dab it right along where your lips meet so you don't look completely zombie-tastic.

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

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
bareMinerals loose eyeshadow in k.i.t. (matte medium charcoal grey)
Waterline + lashline - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (matte blackest black)
Liner - Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil in Black Velvet (rich, smoky matte black)
Lashes - Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black + Maybelline Volum' Express One-by-One waterproof mascara in Blackest Black

FACE
Urban Decay Naked Skin liquid foundation in 1.0
Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Concealer in Light 16

LIPS
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Cairo (matte pure nude)
Center of mouth - NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Abu Dhabi (deep rose-beige)