Sucker Punch inspired look, birthday cake & thoughts.

[Happy Easter!]

Warning: Lots of pictures, many of which are eye close-ups. I hope they won't be too annoying, but I had a hard time choosing & wanted to finish this post already ;).

I haven't seen Sucker Punch & don't know whether I want to, but the make-up's beautiful. That's my excuse ^_^.

Below, I present my recreation of Baby Doll's make-up look. Let's start with the full face shots...

I tried to portray expressions seen on various graphics I found online.

(The hair, too. I never wear my hair like this: it's either loose, a messy updo or a ponytail. What do you think?)

So, if my poses look odd and/or funny to you, remember they aren't technically mine - I didn't come up with them ;).

I'd also like to apologise to any Sucker Punch fans who may think that I look like a poor parody of their favourite character. (I hope I won't!)

Next, eye close-ups...

Yes, I know.

Way too many pictures...

They do focus on her eyes in the movie though.

(I'm pretty sure it's a plot point.)

This last one is only here because it's fairly bizarre. I think I took that one by accident.

And OK, I didn't really need three nearly identical 'eyes closed' pictures...

But I've already uploaded them & it's my birthday, so here they are ;D.

The original look definitely uses false lashes. I did not ;).

Here's what I used for this look & how I did it. It's actually pretty simple.

Face: I used my Pola whitening foundation & Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder.

Eyes: I shaded my lids with the white shade from Wet & Wild Galactic Realm, used wet. Then I defined the eye with the brown (bottom middle) shade from the Let It Snow palette, going all the way into the inner & outer corners and using the shadow left on the brush (Tigi Fame - perfect for this look ;D) to apply just a hint of colour onto the lower outer corners. I lined with mascara (liquid liner could & probably should be used instead), and used my Oriflame pencil in Silver Snow on my lower waterline. To make my top lashes look like falsies, I used Lancome Definicils topped with Avon SuperShock. The bottom lashes were left bare.

Cheeks: I used the pink blush from my Sephora Sunswept palette on the centre & the lighter shade from my (smashed up but no less lovely ^_^) Sugar blush in Cupcake on the tops of my cheeks. Any similar shades of pink will do ;).

Lips: Estee Lauder Crystal Pink. It's not the best match, actually, but I really wanted to use it ^_^.

Birthday nails: OPI Russian Navy.

And here's a pic of my cake ^_^.

Number cutouts yet again ;).

Here's one last photograph. This & the very first picture are me posing as me (not Baby Doll of Sucker Punch). I took these last. I'm honestly surprised at how nice they've turned out.

Yes, I like this year's pictures. That's an improvement. It took me a year to like 2009's (I liked them in 2010), and a year to like 2010's (as predicted, I like them now), but I already like this. I suppose I'm making peace with my appearance. That was one of the reasons I started blogging.

Or maybe it's just growing up.

I have grown up. I've learned a lot & will keep learning. And I'm glad to be alive.

Thank you so much for reading my birthday post :).

Happy birthday to me ^_^.

Illamasqua Throb inspired recreation tutorial.

For reference, here's the original pic...

(By the way, I know that my version's inferior, but remember that I'm not a professional & had to do this alone. I hope it's close enough and not too badly executed.)

I applied Jane tinted moisturiser to the sides of my face. For the heart area, I used my Pola whitening foundation in Pink Beige as a base, then I powdered the area with white eye shadow (from the Avon Smokey Eyes quad). I used my mini kabuki brush to powder.

I drew the heart with my Mocha Stick pencil from The Body Shop.

I filled in my brows with the black shade from my W7 palette using my Sephora Angle Brow brush, then shaped them & added some colour with a black pencil liner.

Trying to match the lid colour was a bit of a challenge & I'm still not sure I got that one right, but I used a shade from my W7 palette. I applied this on the lid & also smoked the lower lashline out a bit.

I lined my eyes with black mascara, using a gel liner brush. (If you have liquid liner, just use that; I had to improvise.) I made the line quite thick, then I went over it with silver (Oriflame Visions liner in Silver Snow), leaving a thin stripe of black right by the lashes. The black base really intensified the silver. I also tightlined with black.

I applied black mascara to my top lashes only, the lower lashes were left bare. I lined the lower waterline with a pale pink (Oriflame Visions duo liner in Thelma & Louise).

For my lips, I first shaped them with lip liner (defined edges & a heart shaped top lip), then I filled them in with NYX lipstick in Ulysses, blotted, applied another coat, and topped that with Estee Lauder gloss in Burgundy. I tried to match the original lip colour using products from my collection. If you like Illamasqua's lip colour, I'd recommend just getting that.

On my cheeks, I used Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1. (This is an Asian product.)

Finally, I drew on the little black heart with a black pencil, then painted it over with mascara.

Hope this helps & thanks very much for reading :).

Illamasqua Throb inspired recreation for Valentine's Day.

Finally, I get to do a fairly graphic look. If the feedback's good, I'll do more of that sort. They're fun.

(Before you wonder, yes, posting this does indicate that I didn't go out - but yay for being single & having the chance to mess with my face as I see fit ;D.)

I tried to get a photo similar to the promo shot, but my best try is not really a side pic and slightly out of focus. But here it is.

I'm not really sad. But I do like this picture. So I guess this is for those who are...

[Cheer up. Think of something beautiful that belongs to all.]

Finally, eye close-ups.

Isn't the heart pretty ^_^? I think it's adorable :).

A tutorial of sorts coming up tomorrow.

(I used no actual Illamasqua products 'cause I don't own any. Sorry about that.)

Thanks for reading :). Happy Valentine's Day 2011, everyone ^_^.

Watercolour eyes look.

Once again, apologies for the lighting. I really must plan these posts better so I don't end up shooting by electric light, but at this point in time, I blog when I can.

This look was me trying out an idea I'd had for a while. I think it turned out nice :). I call it a watercolour-ish look 'cause that's what the shadows' effect reminds me of.

Skin: Finishing off my almost empty bottle of Tesco foundation. I might decide to swap for a second bottle, that stuff is so pale. For that alone, it deserves to be loved. I powdered with Bourjois Vanille as usual ;).

Eyes: Wet & Wild Envy cream eye shadow as a base, then I used a mini blush brush to sweep on NYC MarblEyes eye shadow in Aquamarine, keeping the application uneven. This is key to this look. That way the ratio of green vs. blue varies throughout & that was the effect I was going for. I lined my upper lashline with black gel liner, my lower waterline with white liner, and applied mascara on (curled) top and bottom lashes.

Cheeks: Bourjois Miel Dore to contour & The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose to highlight.

Lips: Labello Pearl & Shine topped with Revlon Super Lustrous gloss in Pink Afterglow.

Products:

(Foundation not pictured 'cause there's so little of it left that I'm storing the bottle upside down XD.)

Eyes close-up (open)...Excuse the hair ;).

The idea for the eyes was actually two ideas that'd been swirling in my head: one, I was frequently using Tiger's Eye (my other NYC MarblEyes shadow) but had not tried Aquamarine & two, I was curious about using a cream base of a complementary but different colour than my main eye shadow (as opposed to a similar colour).

Combining them produced this :).

Eyes close-up (closed).

More pics follow...

The 'odd look' pic. I don't know what I was thinking...I mean that literally, not metaphorically. I kinda like this one - if I didn't, it wouldn't be here.

And yes, I love sweaters.

Me smiling :D. Taking a decent picture of me smiling is much harder than one of me serious, but people tend to like them so I try.

I wanted to put this one first & name the post "He says he reckons I'm a watercolour stain...", but then I thought that most people wouldn't recognise the quote and those that did could be annoyed by me using it for a make-up look, so this little musing ended up here. Oh, and the quote's from a Tori Amos song.

Another lovely & always relevant quote from the same song is, "Nothing's gonna stop me from floating." - I hope it'll always be true.

Thanks for reading :). And thanks to my new followers for following ^_^.

Busy days subtle look.

This is the sort of look to wear when you're late for work or an errand and have no time (or maybe can't focus enough) to do a full face, but skipping make-up altogether would be inappropriate.


It's a very easy & quick look that looks done but pretty.

I'm not even going to break it down into eyes/lips/face for this; I'll just go with bullet points ;).

*When you're in a hurry, you've got two quick & simple options for face coverage: a cream-to-powder foundation or tinted moisturiser. I went for the former.
*Next, under-eye concealer. Lack of sleep usually shows and that should be avoided.
*For the eyes, a shade similar to your natural lid colour (usually a bit darker than the rest of your face) but with a sheeny effect will do nicely. The sheen should be a natural looking colour. The specific colour family will depend on one's skin tone, but out of pink, peach, beige, gold or bronze, one or more will work. Sweep it onto the whole eyelid with a large brush (I actually used one of those mini cheek brushes that palettes come with).
*If you have good lashes, just curl them ;D. If you need your mascara, go ahead and apply some.
*If you're really knackered, you may want to skip contouring because when sloppily done, it looks worse than a bare face does. But if you feel up to it and your face just doesn't look right without it, then yes, you should contour.
*Cheek colour's easy enough: a natural flush shade of cream or gel blush applied to the apples.
*A soft and slightly glossy shade of lipstick that's close enough to your natural lip colour to be applied straight from the tube finishes this look.


Was having an unphotogenic day...That's why I look so annoyed.
I'd probably look worse without make-up though.

The pic below is kind of odd but it shows how lovely the shadow & lipstick are, so up it goes ;).


(Lovely make-up :D. Wish I could claim the same about my face...)

And this is me so desperate to get a satisfactory snapshot that I used an umbrella.


Everyone has their own bunch of favourite I'm-in-a-hurry products. I used:

*Pola 1/f whitening foundation in P32 Pink Beige
*NYX Concealer In A Jar in Fair (to hide my dark circles)
*Tigi Fixx-It Stick in Light (on blemishes)
*Bourjois powder in Miel Dore (to contour)
*NYC MarblEyes eye shadow in Tiger's Eye (I love this - if you come across any, get it)
*Tarte Cheek Stain in Flush (Note: if you can, get minis - these are huge)
*Estee Lauder Crystal Lipstick in Crystal Baby
*Various brushes & my lash curler :)


I may end up reviewing the Pola foundation cake. I don't use it daily so I wouldn't know whether it has long-term whitening effects, but it does make my face look fair, as you can tell from the pictures ^_^.

I didn't mention brows 'cause I didn't do anything to mine for this look other than comb them.
Also, you could probably add liner to the waterline (I'd go with white), but I forgot it >:-).


Sorry if this was badly written - I hope that I'll get better as I blog more frequently. Got another look planned for the weekend, and I do have a few old swaps I want to post, if only for the record.
Thanks for reading :).

Impromptu look.

This was quite random; I pretty much made it up while working on it.



Skin: Revlon ColourStay Mineral Mousse foundation in Fair/Light. It's quite matte so I didn't use powder. For cheek contouring & highlighting, I used Bourjois powder in Miel Dore and Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder in Vanille. No cheek colour - I wanted a pale, clean look.

Eyes: Bold and slightly sparkly lashes with a nude lid and just a bit of liner.

I started by covering the whole lid with a pale, satin eye shadow (Mary Kay Ivory Petal from my Floral Fantasy palette). Then I curled my lashes and applied mascara (Lancome Definicils). With it still slightly wet, I pressed some Everyday Minerals loose shadow in Mystic Night onto my lashes, following that with some glitter. I defined the outer lower lashline with the darkest shade from my L.A. Colours eye shadow set in Wine & Roses & lined the lower waterline with my Oriflame Visions glitter pencil in Silver Snow.

Pre-lip make-up pic:



For the lips, I used Wet & Wild lipstick in Black Cherry, but I wanted a fruit juice effect rather than a very defined & proper looking lip, so I applied colour with a lip brush I'd softened with some lip balm, starting from the inside and pulling the colour outwards. I didn't use liner.



[I'll try to take pictures during the day so the lighting's better. Electric light causes a blue tint when using flash & an orange one when not.]



Some you-can-tell-I-haven't-done-this-much-lately eye close-ups...



Annoyingly enough, the lash glitter doesn't quite show up in the photos :-/...



Stuff I've used for this look...



So, here goes another comeback look. And hopefully I mean it this time...

I don't know how regularly I'll be able to blog, but I don't plan to abandon this completely, so I will be posting in the future. Thanks for reading :).

Birthday look, cake & thoughts. 21 years old now...

So, today's my birthday.

[Well, when I started working on this entry, it was still Saturday, so there :-P. I wasn't lying when I typed that ;D.]

I am now 21, and to be honest I do feel old. One of my brothers is twelve as of the 19th, and I remember myself being twelve. It's really damn scary.

It's not the 'growing old' aspect of it that scares me. It's the change and how time passes, not in relation to me but sort of historically if that even makes sense, how things that I live through will be the next generation's past...

When I get gloomy, I force myself to stop thinking ('brooding' would probably fit better here), so here are my look, cake etc. & am being positive :D.

[I do feel wonderful for making it this far though. Thank you God.]

Face: The usual. Tigi concealer, Tesco foundation, Bourjois mineral powder & contouring powder from that fake YSL kit. And a whole lot of brushes. A foundation brush truly's brilliant to work with.

Eyes: First, a soft wash of NYX Apricot Moose. Over that I applied Sleek Eye Dust in Inferno. I lined my eyes with Too Faced's Ruby Slippers metallic pencil (lovely :D) and used the lighter end of Oriflame's Aladdin & Jasmine duo liner on my waterline. Curled lashes & threw on mascara [Avon SuperSHOCK] too, naturally.

Cheeks: Revlon Leading Lady Blush in Smoky Rose, applied lightly & diffused over the apples. An unusual way of wearing blush for me, but I thought it'd work here.

Lips: Stila It Gloss in Fetching. It is ;).

Here's a smiling pic, because after all this is a birthday post...

And I wish the one below hadn't turned out this blue...But my phone tends to do that.

I'll post the eye close-ups just to illustrate how out of practice I am where those are concerned. Must keep trying then :-P. It's the only way to improve.





Cake:

The tradition of using paper numbers continues ;D. And here it is without them...



Oh, and of course I bought it. I cant't bake (and that's probably fairly apparent, lol XD). Thanks for reading :). Am passing out after I'm done with this - must get some sleep.


P.S. In retrospect, I like my smile from last time :). Maybe I'll like today's photos next year.