29 Dec 2010

Edgy and Bold New Year's Eve Makeup




This sculpted and fashion-forward makeup look is very dramatic but perfect for New Year's Eve parties, or dancing the night away at a dark club. This look is both dark but very defined; the inner part of the eyelid has a metallic, shimmering finish that adds a nice highlight.

Eyes

MAC Paint in Untitled, Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Zero, Maybelline white kohl pencil, MAC eyeshadows in Carbon, Copperplate, Ben Nye Toast, Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge, Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Ore, MAC Spiked brow pencil, Maybelline Natural Glaze kohl pencil, MAC Nr. 42 lashes

Face
Nars Sheer Glow foundation in Mont Blanc, Lancome Maquillecomplet concealer in Ivory, Barry M Natural Dazzle bronzer, Alverde powder

Lips
P2 Rodeo Drive lipstick

Nails
Barry M Cyan Blue



22 Dec 2010

Chocolate Mint Candies Cookies



These cookies are soooo good! I've made them twice now in December and each time they came out perfectly. They are fairly easy to make and are a perfect combination of chocolate and mint.



Ingredients

(Makes about 24 - 30 cookies)

  • 3/4 cup butter (170g)
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (220g) (read my note below)
  • 2 tablespoons water (30ml)
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips/baking chocolate (335g)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (310g)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda (6g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (3g)
  • 3 (4.5 ounce) packages chocolate covered thin mints such as After Eights (378g)

Directions

  1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
  2. Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
  4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, be careful not to overbake. When cookies come out of the oven, Press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute. When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer
Note: The only changes that I made from the above recipe is that I reduced the sugar in half because I found it way too sweet, and added a few teaspoons of brandy to the batter.

19 Dec 2010

Gold Sparkle Holiday Look




I love this look for the holidays, gold and red are my favorite Christmas colors. I often wrap my presents with gold gift wrap paper and red ribbons, it's a timeless classic that will never go out of style for this time of year. I wanted to incorporate those colors in this look, so I focused on gold glitter and ruby red lips.

Face
Revlon Colorstay foundation in Ivory, MAC MSF in Shimpagne, Ben Nye Latte blush

Eyes
MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot, MAC Soft Brown e/s, Ben Nye Aztec Gold e/s, Ben Nye Iced Gold e/s, Essence glitter liner in Gold, Cinema Secrets Hollywood Glitz in Oscar, L'Oreal Super Liner in Carbon Gloss, Max Factor Natural Glaze kohl pencil, Red Cherry Lashes Nr. 47,

Lips
MAC Red Enriched lipliner, Illamasqua Maneater lipstick, MAC Red Romp Lipglass (LE)


Nailpolish
China Glaze - Cowgirl Up



13 Dec 2010

Models Own Haul

At the end of August I hauled some Model's Own polishes when the company was having a 50% off sale. Model's Own is a British nail polish brand that I'd read a lot about online and had seen lots of pictures of their colourful shades. So when the 50% sale came and went, I decided to take advantage. Here are some swatches of my haul, along with some other polishes.


Left to Right: Eyeko Rain polish, Eyeko Saucy polish, (blank)
The next one are from Models Own: Magenta Pearl, Pink Punch, Raspberry Crush, Disco Mix, Feeling Blue, Purple Gray, Green Tea, Barry M Spring Green

Same color wheel snapped outdoors in the shade. My favorites are Purple Gray, Disco Mix and Magenta Pearl.

The Models Own polishes cost £5 full price, but sometimes the website has sales or special deals. I think these are a bargain if you can buy them directly in UK shops, but not really worth it if you have to pay full price and the overpriced international shipping fee (£9.95 flat rate worldwide shipping outside the UK and a minimum order of £20) I'm sorry, but for that price I'd rather buy from Barry M, who also ship worldwide with more affordable rates and who also have great, inexpensive nail polish in lots of colors. My haul was worth it because the polishes were 50% off, but I wouldn't pay full price for them. They are just drugstore quality and nowadays, many drugstore brands make colorful polishes. At the end of the day, while I like the colours, my curiosity has been satisfied and I probably won't be ordering any more. The polishes do apply very nicely, and almost all (except for Pink Punch and Disco Mix) were opaque in two coats.

Where to buy:
http://www.modelsownit.com/
http://www.asos.com/ (very limited range)

Eyeko:
http://www.eyeko.com/eyeko-products-nails-c-21_27.html



10 Dec 2010

Ke$ha We R Who We R Music Video inspired look


 



So recently a viewer requested that I recreate the look Ke$ha is sporting in her latest music video "We R Who We R" and at first I thought - ugh. I really don't like Ke$ha's auto-tune Nokia-ringtone-vibe music, but I decided to watch her music video anyway to see which look my viewer meant.

I have to say, the first look she has in the video is probably one of the most hideous looks I've seen in a music video to date. I mean - really???



Smearing black eyeshadow all over and gluing studs above your eyebrows does not an edgy pop singer make. Ohhhh Ke$ha. But the second look I thought was kinda cool!


Well, I changed it up a bit because the look is still a bit too messy and blotchy for my taste, but you can definitely see where I got my inspiration from. You could also tone down the look by just doing the eye makeup as I have done, pairing it with some simple lips in a nude or natural tone, and there's your New Year's Eve party look!




Face + Cheeks
Revlon Colostay foundation (Ivory), Lancome Blush Subtil in Highlighting Rose, La Femme Flamingo Pink blush

Eyes
Sephora 02 Keep Blue kohl eyeliner, MAC Prussian e/s, Ben Nye Cosmic Blue e/s, Sugarpill Bulletproof e/s, Ben Nye Toast e/s, MAC Feline kohl pencil, P2 Blue Mascara, blue & white cosmetic glitter (generic from ebay), Essence blue glitter liner

Lips
Sephora 02 Keep Blue kohl eyeliner, Illamasqua Disciple lipstick, blue & white cosmetic glitter 

Nails
Illamasqua Scorn, Illamasqua Nail Quills (click here to read about the competition I am doing in partnership with Illamasqua to win a sit of the quills)

Illamasqua Nail Quills competition

Illamasqua and MissChievous.tv are teaming up to give away one pair of their hot new nail quills. If you haven't seen these already, check out this picture of me wearing them, with Illamasqua Scorn nailpolish on my other fingers.


These are handmade, limited edition glue on nail talons with a a silver foil tip, designed by Mike Pocock. They also come packaged and presented in a beautiful jewelry box, which is great for storage in between use.




Head over to Illamasqua's website and enter to win in the competition, so that you too might have the chance to try these out! The contest is open worldwide.



Now my thoughts on these:

My first impression was great, they look really hot on the nails, reminiscent of the vampire Armand in Interview with the Vampire. Illamasqua Scorn semi-matte nail varnish is the perfect shade to wear with these at it looks exactly like the black part of the nail quills. (You could also wear them with other colors of course, but the nail quills will remain black.)

There are a few things I wanted to mention though. Judging from the pictures on the website, I assumed that the tip was made of solid metal, like a real quill, attached to the false nail. Unfortunately, this was not the case; the silver part of the quills is just a silver foil that has been cut to size and wrapped around the tip. This worries me because I wonder how long such material will actually keep its shape before wear and tear, or before it somehow comes undone.

The other issue I had with these is that according to the Illamasqua instructional video on how to apply and remove them, it was recommended to dribble some acetone-free remover down the side of the nail quill, wedging it with a wood stick. I did this just as in the video, only to realize afterwards while cleaning them from the inside that the remover actually stained and removed some of the color from the top of the quills! Now the silver foil of my quills has some small but noticeable chemical stains on it, and the black varnish has dent marks, and has even been removed completely on some edges. Luckily, Scorn is a perfect match, so I will try to repaint the black to make them look nice again. But that was a big surprise that the recommended method of removal actually caused damage to the quills. I don't know if they just used nail varnish to paint the false nail, maybe they should have used some sort of lacquer or paint that is completely resistant to remover? I guess I will have to be more careful next time.

But overall, these are a really unique and fun nail accessory that are sure to be a hit with a lot of people, especially those that follow various sub-culture trends. At £35 GBP they are a pricey bit of fun, but then again, anything handmade with a limited amount of production is bound to have its price.



6 Dec 2010

Germany Haul and a Giveaway!

I was recently in Germany (twice in November on business trips) and I did some shopping there. I bought some clothes, accessories, and beauty products of course! In this video I'll share my haul with you, and give some details on German drugstore brands - sadly not available in Switzerland.



I also picked up some great lipsticks by P2. It's a German brand and I have to say I've absolutely fallen in love with their lip products. Great quality at an unbeatable price. So I decided to pick up 3 more for a giveaway so that one lucky person might try them out as well. Here they are:

L to R: Kö (a bright berry tone), Regent Street (lovely medium peach), Rodeo Drive (nude)

How to enter to win these lipsticks

Go to my Facebook, "Like" my page (click the thumbs up beside my name at the top) and read my Wall update to see how to enter for the giveaway. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook. This giveaway is open worldwide.


Good luck!

2 Dec 2010

Holiday Giftwrap Nail art tutorial



Aren't these nails just so festive and perfect for the holidays? I got so many compliments from people when I wore these nails, asking me what nail salon I go to. Nail salon?? Pshaw! Get out some brushes and let the creative juices flow.




Products used:

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle and Ruby Pumps nailpolish
Essence Tip Painter in White
rhinestones (craft store)
Seche Vite topcoat