May Favorites + Smooth summer feet

I've compiled a list of my favorite products for May as well as some new nailpolishes I recently purchased from Essence and Catrice.


Nailpolishes:
Essence Purple Diamond
Essence In The Jungle
Catrice I Sea You
Catrice Blues Brother
Essence Clyde

Foot products:
Eubos Foot Cream with 10% Urea
(Please note urea is not urine! It's a compound that is often used for dermatological uses, which rehydrates skin. It is also found in urine but it's not like they put urine into cream, haha!)
Essence Foot Protection Stick


Foundation:
Revlon Beyond Natural Skin Matching Makeup (I would classify this more as a tinted moisturizer and it contains SPF 15 so it's great for light coverage and protection for summer.)

Lips:
NYX Tinted Lip Spa in Sake

Video Link

Miley Cyrus Can't Be Tamed Makeup

This look is my version of Miley Cyrus' makeup in her latest music video for Can't Be Tamed. Here's the inspiration picture I used:

I didn't have the feather lashes that were used on her so I just used ones I already had, but otherwise I tried to copy the look to the best of my abilities. The focus here is on the teal blue eyes, the dramatic lashes, pink lips and bronzed cheeks. I hope you like it!

Eyes

Urban Decay Primer Potion, Ben Nye Turquoise, MAC Malt, MAC Feline kohl pencil, MAC Print, MAC Vanilla, MAC Vellum, light blue and white eyeshadow from a generic eyeshadow palette, MAC Brows in Lingering, MAC Lashes Nr. 42

Face & Cheek

Revlon Colorstay in Ivory foundation, Barry M Natural Dazzle

Lips

MAC Bombshell lipstick, NYX Salsa Lipgloss

Video Link

Rainbow Nails

I've never done rainbow nails before, but a few days ago I couldn't decide on a single colour, so I decided to do what is known as "skittle nails". One hand cools, the other warms! Please excuse the wear and tear, this is three or four days after the original application.

I love it so much I think I might do this on my toes next time! How fun for summer! I opted for cream finish as I have the most polishes of this variety, and I didn't want to combine different finishes.

Here's the polishes I used if anyone is interested.

First picture (Cool tones, thumb to pinkie): Barry B Cyan Blue, Barry M Mint Green, Misa Green With Envy, Essence In the Jungle, China Glaze Grape Pop

Second picture (Warm tones, thumb to pinkie): Barry M Limited Edition Pink, Essence Glam Girl, China Glaze Japanese Koi, Essie Tart Deco, Essie Shorty Pants

Blue Gradient Fantasy Nails

This nail tutorial will show you how to achieve a gradient nail using a sponging technique. For this looks I've chosen to go from a light blue, to a medium purple, and finally to a dark blue with glitter overlay. This is the first gradient nails I've ever done, so I swear to you even a beginner can achieve this! You don't need to use as many different polish colors as I have, but it makes the gradient effect look even cooler.


Nailpolish used:

Illamasqua Caress
Illamasqua Jo'Mina
China Glaze Grape Juice
Maybelline Blue Sapphire
Zoya Kotori
Essence Clyde
Seche Vite topcoat

Video Link

Pakistan blocks Youtube & Facebook

It's a sad day for many Pakistanis who no longer have access to Facebook and Youtube due to their government blocking these sites due to "offensive material" that reportedly shows the Prophet Muhammad in a blasphemous way. You can read more about it here, here and elsewhere. Restriced access is also being implemented to Wikipedia and Flickr.

I am sorry for all my Pakistani followers on Youtube who can no longer watch Youtube videos, or who can no longer access Facebook, which make up a large component for free expression online.

While some supporters may applaud the decision in Pakistan, I strongly believe in free speech, and don't take it for granted by any means. I value the freedom that I enjoy to go on Youtube, Facebook or other online sites and say whatever I choose to. To me, it is sad that people other countries cannot enjoy this freedom due to ruling such as these in places where free expression is looked down upon.

I would rather be offended once in a while, and I may not agree with everything that people say or write be it online, or in print, TV, or otherwise, but I stand firmly by their right to say it.

Hopefully the people in Pakistan who are against this grave form of censorship will find out a way around it, such as proxies or IP masking. If not, I hope this heavy-handed ban will soon be lifted and I will be happy to have my Pakistani subscribers back and active on Youtube.

Summer Color Splash Look

 

This look was inspired by summer colors! I've been itching to create a crazy colorful look so I decided to do something in the shades of turquoise, blue and lime, paired with a strong coral pink lip. I love how it came out! This makes me think of summer sunshine, beaches, and tropical fruity cocktail drinks. I can't wait for summer!

Face and Cheeks
Revlon Skin Matching foundation, Makeup Forever Mat Velvet+ Nr. 15, Lancome Highlighting Rose blush, MAC Global Glow MSF

Eyes
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Horseradish, FaceFront Cosmetics mineral eyeshadow in Early Spring, NYX Lime Juice, Ben Nye Sun Yellow, MAC Blue Flame, MAC Dazzlelight, Maybelline The Colossal mascara, Max Factor blue kohl pencil, MAC Blacktrack fluidline, MAC Brows in Spiked

Lips
Rimmel Indian Pink lipliner, MAC Vegas Volt lipstick, MAC Lipgelee in Lust is Lush

Nailpolish
Guppy Nr. 29, Orly Shine

Makeup Artist Magazine Interview

I was recently interviewed by Cori Stoddard for Makeup Artist Magazine; the interview is published in the current issue (Nr. 84). Exciting!! For those of you unfamiliar with Makeup Artist Magazine, it is one of the most widely recognized magazines in the industry for makeup artists working in movies, TV, theater and print. They often feature and interview prominent artists, give behind the scenes looks, showcase new products, and contain lots of inspirational images from portfolios. Makeup Artist Magazine are also the driving force behind the International Makeup Artist Trade Show (IMATS), which hosts shows in LA, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver and London.

It was a huge honor for me to be interviewed, along with my fellow colleagues from Youtube and the blogosphere. Others interviewed include Lauren Luke, Elessa from Pursebuzz, Koren from Enkore Makeup, and Lianne from The Makeup Girl.

I've scanned the 2 page article below, I am featured on the second page. Click to see and read it full size.

How I come up with my looks

I'm often asked how I come up with my looks and where I draw inspiration from. Honestly, my favorite looks I come up with on the fly by sitting at my vanity table, rummaging through my stash and looking at colors, seeing what would work together. Then I'll sometimes swatch a variety of colors on the back of my hand and see if they blend nicely, what I could combine with them, the varying textures and finishes, and envision them as an entire look.

Sometimes when I have an idea in my head, I'll do a "mock up" on my face, meaning I sloppily apply the basic idea of what I want to do on one eye. In this step it's not about perfection and precision, but achieving the basic outline of what I'm going for, trying to replicate the vision I have in my head.

Here's an example of something I threw together tonight, this took me about 10 minutes.

As you can see this isn't perfect, my lipliner is all over the place and the blending is not precise. I used dirty brushes that I just wiped off on a paper towel, I didn't sharpen my pencils. When I do a practice run, it's not about getting a perfect look, it's just to get an idea going to see if it would work as an entire look. You can see that the cheek doesn't work at all with this, it's actually from the makeup I had on today which I just quickly wiped off beforehand.

So I'm sure I will refine the look a lot before I decide to film a video for it, I might add or change things. But I thought I'd give you a quick look into the thought process that goes into my videos. I don't do this for all my videos, but for ones I'm not so sure about, or when I'm trying something different. I find the looks I do a practice run for, always turn out better in the end, and the additional practice helps to refine my skills.

Taylor Momsen Look

This look was inspired by Taylor Momsen's character look for Jenny Humphrey from the show Gossip Girl. She's my favorite character, so I decided to do my take on her makeup, hair, and overall style. In the video I'll show you how to get her look, and include some accessories tips at the end how you can make your everyday look a bit more edgy. I just used accessories that I already had that I felt went well with Jenny's overall look, these aren't the exact things she wears...

Eyes
Illamasqua Enrapture Liquid Metal, Ben Nye Terracotta e/s, MAC Antiqued e/s, Ben Nye Dark Brown e/s, MAC Malt e/s, Ben Nye Toast e/s, Quo Dark Brown eyeliner,

Cheek
Illamasqua Writhe Bronzer, Ben Nye Latté blush

Lips
MAC Media lipstick, MAC Viva Glam I lipstick

Hair
GHD IV Styler in Black, Sebastian Molding Mud

Nails
Essie Tart Deco

Revlon Photo Ready review

There's been a lot of talk about Revlon Photo Ready foundation since it debuted earlier this year, and it's been the talk of the beauty community for a hot minute. In the video I talk in depth about the product but here's my short review:

Pros:

• Suitable for normal to dry skin types
• Light to medium coverage that is buildable. You will still need to use concealer with this foundation to cover redness, undereye circles, blemishes.
• Leaves a glowing, slightly shimmery look to your skin
  
• Affordable in North America (Between $12-14, sometimes available BOGO)
• Very light shades are available for fair skinned people.
• pump dispenser is great for ease of use.
  

Cons:

• Not suitable for combination and oily skin as the shimmer will enhance the oily look
• The foundation contains micro shimmer particles that probably don't photograph too well with flash so I wouldn't recommend this for flash photo shoots or anything similar
• If you have problem skin, large pores, or acne, I would avoid.
• Very pricey in Europe for drugstore foundation. (+$30 USD in Switzerland)
• Not a very wide shade range.

Overall I like the foundation for myself, but I can see how it isn't for everyone. We only have a measly 5 shades available in Switzerland, the lightest one available here being Shell 03, which is much too yellow and dark on me. I'll be ordering Ivory, the lightest shade, from eBay most likely. I would repurchase this but only from eBay, this is way too expensive for what it is in Switzerland and the shade range is too narrow.

Dewy Glowing Skin (Foundation tutorial)

In this video I will show you how to achieve that lightweight, dewy, glowing skin look for summer. I'm often asked how I achieve that glow to my skin, so here's my new routine perfect for spring and summer.

Products:

Eucerin Hydro Protect oil-free moisturizer with SPF 15

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in Shell

Ben Nye Total Cover Wheel II SK-200

Ben Nye Neutral Set powder

MAC Creamblend Blush in Joie de Vivre

Illamasqua Bronzer in Burnish

Benefit High Beam

MAC Lipstick in Overrich (LE)

Margaret Astor lipgloss in light pink

Maybelline Colossal mascara

Max Factor kohl pencil in Natural Glaze
MAC Blot Powder in Medium

Skindinavia 10 Years Younger finishing spray

Nailpolish:

Essence - In The Jungle

Since I've had questions about it, the Hakuhodo brush that I love for under-eye concealing is available here.

RTL German TV feature

Thanks to my Twitter buddies for letting me know one of my videos was featured on the German midday TV show "Punkt 12" on RTL. The segment was about how-to videos on Youtube, where test subjects tried to reproduce the instructions in the videos.

Here is the segment! My video is featured at 2:40 minutes in.

Click here to watch! (You have to scroll through the videos bar until you see the video titled "Test: Anleitungen aus dem Netz")

This is the video the testers tried to copy. But seriously, it can't be that difficult to make an eyeliner - not moving your lid while doing it might help...lol!

Essence In The Jungle

What's currently on my nails? Essence "In the Jungle" toe nail polish. Essence has released a few polishes marketed directly for toe nails, why I'm not really sure. Personally I prefer this one on my fingernails. The color reminds me somewhat of OPI Jade is the New Black, it's a medium to dark jade green with blue undertones, with a cream finish. I really like this, it "glows" a bit more in real life. What I also love about this polish is the wide brush. Unlike the finger nail polishes by Essence, the toe nail polishes come with a brush not unlike the OPI pro-wide, which is my favorite for application. This polish was opaque in 2 coats and applied very smoothly.

In other news, my balcony herb garden is thriving fabulously! I only have one container so far with coriander (cilantro), flat leaf parsley, and chives. I'll have to get another container for basil, mint, rosemary, and maybe a second coriander, I inhale that stuff!

By the way, I'm back from Italy and my trip was fab. I vlogged a lot and am uploading a 3-part video series on my roadtrip through Piemonte on my second channel so you can check it out there. Hope you all have a great weekend!

What's currently on your nails? Share in the comments! :)

Italy Bound

I'm off for a few days to Italy, a short getaway trip with my boyfriend, to celebrate our birthdays. Mine is April 27 and his is April 29! We're heading to Piemonte, a lovely wine region, where the famous Barolo wine also comes from. Piemonte is also known for its truffle mushrooms, so I hope to eat a lot of homemade truffle pasta while I'm there! Hopefully we'll also get to do some wine tasting, I'm planning to buy some Barolo for sure.

We'll be staying at a charming, country inn that was recommended to us. It's called the Osteria Del Maiale Pezzato and is located in Sinio. We'll be taking some trips around the region and explore this lovely part of Italy. Hopefully the weather will remain pleasant!

I'm taking my filming camera with me so hopefully I'll remember to film as much as I can, and will upload that on my second Youtube channel. I'll "see" you all in a few days when I get back! Now to finish up my packing...Toodaloo :)

Awful product: Syoss Heat Protecting Spray

I bought this heat protecting spray about a week ago, hoping this would be a dupe of the Tressemé spray which I bought and loved in Canada. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take that back with me to Switzerland because my suitcase was too full, but the design and appearance of this Syoss spray had me hoping it would work instead. Similarly as the Tressemé, this one can be purchased at drugstores and is inexpensive, and has the same convenient spray head.

Oh how wrong I was! As soon as I sprayed it the first time, the smell of alcohol overwhelmed me. I hadn't bothered to read the ingredients, but discovered that indeed the second ingredient is alcohol! What the hell?! How on earth is that supposed to protect your hair from heat damage? If I wanted to dry my hair out, I'd just spray alcohol on it! This does absolutely nothing like the Tresemmé spray, the latter of which is very nice and works like a leave-in conditioner. This is just awful!! My hair felt dry and crunchy after using this. Alcohol in a product that is supposed to protect your hair is just wrong. Schwarzkopf, hang your head in shame.

Another product that will be dumped down the drain. It wasn't expensive, but still, what a waste of money. The bottle is convenient though so I might just make my own leave-in spray using some of my L'Oreal Professionel conditioner diluted with water.

If you're interested in knowing what hair products I actually do like, check out my latest video below.

What's a really bad product you've tried lately? Leave a comment!

Illamasqua Body Electrics Review & Swatches

I've received some samples of the Illamasqua Body Electrics Spring/Summer 2010 collection so I thought I'd show you what's coming up. Click on the pictures for full size.

L to R: Bronzer in Burnish, Bronzer in Writhe, 4-Colour Liquid Metal Palette

Clockwise from top left: Enrapture, Surge, Solstice, Phenomena £29.50

Top to bottom: Surge, Enrapture, Phenomena, Solstice

Bronzer in Writhe £20

Bronzer in Burnish £20

Top to bottom: Burnish, Writhe

Nail Varnish in Jo'Mina £13

L to R: Illamasqua Jo'Mina, Illamasqua Wink, OPI Done Out In Deco, China Glaze Grape Pop

4-Colour Liquid Metal Palette (£29.50)

This is the product I was most intrigued about since I've never tried out the liquid metals from Illamasqua before. I would characterize these as cream eyeshadows or cream highlighters. The colours are really pretty, Surge and Enrapture being my favorites. Surge I'd describe as a tarnished silver olive, Enrapture a coppery rust, Phenomena a silver, and Solstice a tarnished gold shade. I was a bit surprised at their texture, they are very slick and to get a true colour payoff as you see in the pan, you need a generous application. The problem, however, is that because they are rather slippery, if you apply too much product especially on your eyelids, they crease. I wouldn't recommend these to people who have oily eyelids, and I wish the texture was a bit drier and more intensely pigmented. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this product.

Bronzers in Writhe and Burnish (£20)

I was provided with both bronzers in the collection and found the colours of these are fairly similar. Both are golden tones with a satin shimmery finish. Note that these are not just spray overlays, the product is shimmery throughout, but does not contain glitter particles, a plus point to me. Writhe has a noticeable red undertone, whereas Burnish has more of a golden-tan undertone. These bronzers are very pigmented so if you have fair skin like myself, a light hand and a stippling brush is required. These would work well on darker skintones as well.

Nail Varnish in Jo'Mina (£13)

I haven't applied this to my nails yet (will do so tonight) so I cannot comment on application yet. But the colour I would describe as a bright medium purple with a slightly red undertone. The picture is not entirely colour accurate, purple seems impossible for me to photograph. You can see it in comparison to some other purple nail polishes I own, so far I don't know a dupe that is comparable in colour. As you can see, it is quite a lot brighter than Wink, which Illamsqua released with their spring nail varnish collection. You can see a swatch of Wink here.

You can check out the rest of the Body Electrics collection on Illamasqua's website. Illamasqua products are also available at Sephora.com in the USA, as well as various other store locations around the world.

Keep on the lookout for future videos using these products! I filmed one already using one of the bronzers and the liquid metal palette.

Jewelry Giveaway

I'm giving away a beautiful handmade necklace and earring set this week, the prize was generously donated by Auviana on Etsy. This lovely necklace and earring set will be given to one lucky winner through my Facebook site, selected randomly using random.org.


How you can enter:

1. You must become a fan of my official Facebook page. Click here to go there now, and hit "Become a Fan" beside my username on the top of the page.You can also add my Facebook application to get automated updates when I release a new video.

2. Click on the "Discussions" tab at the top of the page, and go the official giveaway thread I have created there. Enter yourself in the giveaway by leaving a comment in that thread. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON ONLY PLEASE.

This contest is open worldwide, all ages, and the winner will be announced on May 3, 2010 directly on Facebook. I will notify the winner through Facebook!

Good luck!

If you're interested in the jewelry by Auviana, visit their store on Etsy!

Hakuhodo Love

I cannot stop raving about Hakuhodo brushes. I've since acquired a few new ones, maybe I shall post a picture of them here. I've always had a thing for makeup brushes, and I can appreciate any product that is made with meticulous care and quality control. I worked at Rolex for a while, so I could see first hand that quality comes at a price.

I saw that Hakuhodo have now uploaded their company profile video on their website, so I thought I'd share that with you, since this wasn't available when I made my initial video on their brushes. At about the halfway point, the video shows how the actual brushes are handmade in Japan and what techniques they use to bind and roll the brush, and sort the hair by quality. The attention to detail is incredible!

HAKUHODO FUDE BRUSHES from HAKUHODO USA on Vimeo.

If you haven't seen my review video, you can check it out here. And of course, Hakuhodo brushes can be purchased online through their website, or at upcoming makeup artist tradeshows such as IMATS or The Makeup Show in NYC.

The latest Fashion

My mother resurrected some old drawings I did when I was a little kid, I think I was probably about 9 or 10 years old when I drew these. I present to you the latest fashion trends according to MissChievous! These must be appreciated in full size for ultimate lols (click on the image to enlarge.)

Hot damn I had the fashion going on! Never mind that all the body shapes resemble more that of a Barbie doll wearing a bondage corset, but come on, fashion designer in the making? My favorites? The skating outfit. I mean who wouldn't want to hit the ice in hot pink skates and wearing a Mrs. Santa Claus outfit with a Dalmatian spotted shirt underneath? Other favorites are my skimpy and revealing (bordering on whorish) bikinis and the cheerleader outfit complete with pompoms. LMAO!

Which outfit is your favorite?

Hair update

This is just a nonsensical blog post really, but I filmed a video today for my favorite haircare products and I just liked how my hair was looking. I admit it's starting to look pretty wild and unruly and I should probably get a trim soon; it's at that weird stage where the layers are starting to look wonky. But sometimes I think this can also look kind of cool! I'm currently trying to grow out my top layers, I still want layered hair but I want the top sections to be longer so it doesn't look so "mushroom-y".

I was looking at some pictures a few days ago on my external harddrive and I found some old hair pics. Whenever I look at these I want to go back to this style...

These were all taken during my student days in Montreal. I had the best hairdresser there, the likes of which I'll probably never find again. His name was Benoit and he worked at Salon Pure, but later left. If I could clone Benoit and have such a hairdresser again here in Switzerland I'd not hesitate a second to go for more edgy looks. But for now I'm trying to go for a more streamlined look.

The haircare video with my favorite products should be coming up soon on my Youtube channel.