Sunday, August 14, 2011

And I'm Free, Free Falling!

Hi there!

I just wanted to share with you guys the look I created for a contest Geek Chic Cosmetics was having. We were suppose to create a look that had some sort of geeky inspiration for us. Now, while I wasn't anywhere near even in the top 10 of the looks that were created. I was very happy with this look. Honestly, I entered to do THIS look, not to win. I knew my character had more sentimental value to me personally and not necessarily did one that everyone knew of and got nostalgic about or one that automatically inspired makeup related things. I wanted a little challenge. I had so much fun creating this and getting inspired! HUGE congrats to all the winners and honestly to everyone who entered! Those ladies and gents did fantastic jobs!

Now.. On with the show!

My look is based off my favorite comic book character from my favorite comic book series.  Her name is Roxy, but she often also goes by Freefall. Shes part of the Gen13 comic series. I've always loved her. She's spunky and outspoken. She's beautiful and I've always had a little nerd crush on her. If you're unfamiliar with the Gen13 series, I fell in love with it at first visually. I loved the fact that they change artists almost every book. This means your favorite character can look anime style one book and like classic comic book heroes the next. They've even teamed up with Superman! 

Here is a list of what I used to create this look.
2FSI - primer
NYX jumbo pencil - Milk (only on lid where pink was going to be)
inner corner- GCC Bubble Hearth
Middle lid- GCC Are there any girls out there?
Outer edge- WnW (Im feeling retro palette) Purpley Pink (Bottom of the trio)
Highlight - WnW (Don't steal my thunder palette) Pearl White ( Top of the trio)
Waterline/black lines- WnW (Don't steal my thunder palette) Sparkly Black (Middle of the trio)
Black Eyeliner- Elf liquid eyeliner black #00908
Holographic sparkle eyeliner- ELF liquid eyeliner StarDust #01116

You can't tell but the pink gradient is lovely & The heavy black outlines remind me of comics!

These are bad photos. Sometimes I wish I had daylight to help with photography. >.<

Hate how sparkles don't show up in photos.. silly elusive glitter.

My original concept drawing. In ucky brown pencil.. but I knew it was going to be pink & black. I edited the swipe out from under the eye in the final look because she doesn't have one, it was just too mask looking or reminded me of "Kiss" instead of Roxy. But I kept her cute freckle dots in there! :D  LOL.


Me holding up one of my books, I added a frame & text to this photo. No other editing, I thought it came out neat!


A small sampling of my obsession.. I mean... collection.


The Finished Product: Roxy Collage
I wanted this to be a primarily pink gradient as an ode to Roxy's ever present hot pink streaks she has in her hair.  I wanted loads of heavy black outlining to replicate the "comic" style. The 3 little dots are there to signify the cute little freckles she has sometimes. I also used a sparkly liner to "represent" the fact that she has superpowers. (She has the ability to control the gravity of herself as well as others. She can also nullify gravity (and float) or multiply it (making objects ultraheavy) ) Remember ... Gen 13 was Wildstorm's answer to genetic teens (*cough xmen cough*) . The graphics and subject matter were quite a bit bolder and this led to Gen13 quickly scooping up a loyal fan base.

So did you enter this contest?  If you didn't .. what would have inspired you? What is YOUR favorite comic book hero?

Saturday, August 6, 2011

I love you Special Effects!

This is just going to be a quick RAVE post! I just wanted to share this with you all. I've been using Special Effects hair dye for many years. I've always found it to work wonderfully for me. They have a wide variety of colors, and even when they fade, they fade to a pretty color. I knew it had decent staying power, but I'd never recorded just how long they last. I blogged back in early March about using Special Effects dye (Blue Velvet) on my hair. You can see my original post HERE.  I just wanted to show you guys what it looks like now,  roughly 5 months later!! I have not done ANY touch ups or re-dyes here. This is the actual wear of the dye. The only "special" things I do is make sure none of the hair products I use have alcohol in them, and I skip-a-day wash my hair (I've been using Moisture Maniac Shampoo & Conditioner by Tigi Bed Head) and when I straighten or blow dry my hair I use a heat protect spray. 

BEFORE : Dyed March 04, 2011


AFTER :  Photo taken August 06,2011
As you guys can see .. its still nice and vibrant!  The black dye I used faded REALLY fast. I probably won't use that brand again, as the last 2 times I've used it it's faded early on me and that sucks because it's permanent dye. I shouldn't have to worry about anything but roots with it. >.< Anyway.. I've used almost every color of Special Effects dyes out there and ALL of them have met or exceeded my expectations. Have any of you used Special Effects dyes? How did they work for you? Did you find your color had amazing staying power as well?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Awards - Top 10

Hello! Today I'd like to take a moment to thank Lizzy @ The Nature of Beauty  for honoring me with these awards. Lizzy is fantastic! She has beautiful looks, wonderful reviews and a great nose for some indie scents! She is also one of the sweetest girls I know. If you haven't checked her out yet please take a moment to do so now. Thanks!

Haha! I'm sure as all you bloggers know, they are indeed a blessing and a curse! :D So lets get on with these two lovely awards shall we?
Top 10 Award, here's my (current) "Top 10 Cosmetics" List (in no particular order):

1. Too Faced : Shadow Insurance - I use this under my shadows, always. I have SUPER dry skin, so its not oil I'm concerned about messing up my shadows. But for some reason my eyelids get sweaty super fast.. maybe its because they are fairly hooded. I dunno.. all I know is that if I don't use this, I crease badly. I've heard some rave reviews about the ELF 3$ primer, and I don't have that one, what I do have is the 1$ primer and its completely pointless for my own uses. I've ruined too many time consuming eye looks by using that POS. Ill stick with my 2FSI thanks. :D

2.  Monistat : Chafing Relief Powder-Gel - I use this as a face primer. I'm sure you've all heard about this being a Smashbox primer dupe by now, so I won't go into too much detail. But its awesome. I feel it smooths my skin and diminishes the appearance of pores. I think it also keeps makeup from settling into fine lines as badly. SO much cheaper than other face primers too which is ALWAYS a good thing.

3.  OHWTO : Black Magic Soap - I use this with every shower as a facial cleanser. To me.. it smells of pumpkin and peppermint.. and all sorts of wonderful fall-like scents. The smell is divine, it even perfumes my entire bathroom even when I'm not using it. It's a great cleanser, and my face feels so tingly and clean after I use it.

4. Zoya Nail Polish : Loredana - I love this! I don't have anything else like this shade. The color is what I'd call graphite. It looks just like you colored your nails in with a pencil. So amazing! Its a matte shade and goes on like a dream and dries to a super smooth finish. It also has pretty outstanding wear time considering I don't wear mine with a top coat.
Wearing Loredana on my fingers and Athena's Kiss on mah lips!
5. Geek Chic : Glass Cannon -  I go to this shade SO often. Weird how blue eyeshadow has been under so much fire lately for basically being a demon in the makeup industry. (What about red, or orange, or yellow?) Its a shame. I really believe any color can be worn with the right techniques and the proper venue/lifestyle. This is the most gorgeous baby blue. Its sparkly and feminine. I just adore this color so much.

6.  OHWTO : Coven Solid Perfume - This is the essence of Autumn to me. I own 2 full size & a sample of this and savor every bit of it. It's hard for me to explain this one. When I put this on, everyone says " omg what is that awesome smell?!" I honestly don't like it at all if I smell it right out of the tube or immediately on my skin. Its just too powerful. But allow it time to breathe and sit on the skin for awhile and its TO DIE FOR. It smells exactly like a "Capricorn/ Zodiac" powdered incense I use to burn as a teenager. I cannot wait for the new fall scents from OHWTO. :D I'm salivating with anticipation over here.

7. Essence : Smoky Eye Brush - First of all it's purple! I couldn't help myself. It works really well, considering. I have purchased quite a few of these brushes. At $1.50 usd I really prefer these to the ELF brush for blending and crease work. They are a little big for detail work, but hey.. it's called a smoky brush for a reason. Totally worth the 2 bucks!

8. Beyond the Zone : Turn up the heat - I know this isn't technically a cosmetic. I use this before blow drying or using my flat iron (which I love btw its an Ion One Stroke ) . It smells wonderful! It has NO alcohol in it! Which is more important than most people know. (especially if you have color treated hair) It does a great job at protecting my hair (as best it can) and leaves my hair SUPER soft and shiny!

9. EOS Lip Balm : Honeysuckle Honeydew - I know everyone is SO over these. But I really enjoy them. Cute packaging (Although its a little too big for your pocket, I like it cuz I can actually find it in my GIANT filled to the brim purse.) I love the flavor/ scent of this one and because of that I find I apply it more often. And because I reach for it more often, it really does make a big difference on the condition of my lips, which I'm really happy about.

10. Mac Wonder Woman Lipglass : Athena's Kiss - I love this shade. Its a nice vibrant fuchsia. Not quite pink, not quite purple. So sparkly and shiny. Totally not sticky. I love the packaging as it appeals to my inner nerd girl. The doe-foot is HUGE though. I wish my lips were big enough for it!




The Would You Rather Beauty meme:

1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows? Wow.. well since we HAVE to pick... erg.. uhm.. I guess I will say I would rather loose the eyeliners cuz I could attempt to recreate them with other things.

2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again? These are rough questions! I guess I would be more inclined to chop it all off. It WILL grow back again, and then I can cut it or keep it long or do whatever I want with it after that.

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?  Probably coral. Pink on me seems a little less natural. Im not really a blush person though so there might be errors in my logic. 

4. If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?  I would probably RATHER buy makeup, but I NEED clothes more. I haven't bought a pair of shoes in years if you can believe that.

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick? Uhm I guess I'd rather apply eyeliner as lipstick. i mean.. lipliner is basically the same thing.. I'd just throw some  gloss over it and be done. haha!

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora? I'd have to go with Sephora the people who work at either store are rather snobby, however I like the variety of products better at Sephora. Plus they have LOTS of fragrance there! (My favorite designer fragrance usually is there : Hypnotic Poison By: Dior This is my "special occasion" fragrance, because its expensive, but I'd wear it daily if I could. So smoky and sweet, I love the red bottle it comes in , and best of all, It lingers on your skin for such a long time!)

7. Would you rather use only one eyeshadow color or one lip color the rest of your life? This one is a little easier on me. I'd MUCH prefer using just one lip color. I'd pick something that goes with everything.. a light pink , probably a gloss of some sort. I can't live without color on my eyes.

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in the summer or summer clothes in the winter? probably summer clothes in the winter. I always wear tank tops and stuff around the house. And as long as its not pouring rain I wear flip flops.

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round? Dark. I love the contrast between my pale skin and a dark nail. :D

10. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a pony tail or a messy bun? Messy bun I agree with Lizzy's explanation all the way here. Hot librarian = win! Plus.. I don't like how long it takes to get my thick hair into a nice sleek looking pony.

11. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss? This one is tough, but I'd probably go with Lipgloss. I could find other products to use on my lips and still be able to keep my nail polish addiction. :D win, win.

Photo Courtesy of: Google Image Search & memory-alpha.org
12. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all? Or sharpie them in everyday? Gah. Eyebrows are so important. I mean..have you seen Whoopi Goldberg's eyebrows? I first noticed it when she played Guinan on ST-TNG. They are completely missing, and you think there's something odd about her then you realize she has NO eyebrows. Not even drawn on ones. So strange. I think I'd rather marker them in honestly, at least then I could have facial expressions again. haha!

13. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish? I'd probably rather live without nail polish. But with either of them, I'd seriously have to change my artistic outlet to something else and that would be a very difficult challenge for sure.


And there you have it. Hope you all maybe learned something new about me.. and now I would like to maybe learn something new about you all as well. Instead of passing this along to individuals and checking to make sure they haven't been tagged a billion times to do these.. I'm just going to let you guys have it. ANYONE who reads this is tagged if they do so wish. PLEASE don't forget to come back and place a link in the comments if you DO this so I can go look at your answers!! That's the funnest part for me at least, is getting to know YOU guys better! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you are all having a great day!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

EOTD 08.01.11 Snake Battery

Hello again!

Here is the EOTD I did to kick off August. I wanted something super dark and gothy today! I think this turned out pretty good. I felt awesome wearing it. Its one of those looks you have to be confident wearing or it won't work for you. It also looked pretty snazzy with my hair which is also black & blue. (I didn't get photos of it though, darn too fast with the cam .. you know how it goes.)  Anyway, here it is.. enjoy! :D





What I used:

TFSI (Primed)
ELF - Waterproof Eyeliner Pen : Outline of blackened area & bottom lash liner
Maybelline - Eyestudio Gel liner (blackest black) : even coat for base color of blackened area
NYX - Jumbo Pencil (Milk) : top base color for highlight area
Milani - Liquif'eye metallic eye liner pencil (01 black) : water line & smudged down to meet bottom lash liner
Rimmel - Sexy Curves Mascara (003 extreme black) : top & bottom lashes
(not a big fan of this product, just used it cuz it didnt matter due to the fact that I was using falsies)
Daiso Voluminous Type False Lashes (#10)
Geek Chic Cosmetics - Solid Snake : All over lid (over black base)
Geek Chic Cosmetics - Mana Battery : Highlight above crease to brow (over white base)

So that's it from me! Thank you all for looking! Hope you guys are doing good. What color/s do you tend to rock when you wanna be noticed? Would you leave the house wearing this look? (& not on Halloween!) Later Gators!