Funny Face's place

My besties of 2011

2012-02-08T06:12:00.000-08:00

Right it's time to step away from the negativity and go onto something positive! I thought I'd finally share my favourites of last year, i'm only just in February so not as bad as last year where I just never got around to it.

(I stole the catergories from jennifaes awesome blog, because I am too lazy to make up my own! I did add a couple of things though and removed some that i don't have favourites of though). Some of the categories have contenders which are products that only just didn't make the cut.

Best High-End Beauty Brand

Illamasqua
A lot of my favoutite products come from Illamasqua, they tend to have really high quality, beautifully packaged, excitingly coloured and richly pigmented makeup. I also just love Illamasqua as a brand! Here's why.

Best Drugstore Beauty Brand

ELF
ELF tends to be a bit hit and miss with their products but the majority of those I have tried have been really brilliant, particularly those from the Studio section of the brand. The prices are fantastic (basically everything is under £5) and the packaging is really nice considering how cheap it is.

Contender
Sleek
Sleek are another great Drugstore brand. I love that they have very pigmented, bright and interesting shades and exciting products like their Molten Metals and Pout Paints. Their shadow palettes are also fantastic and (even with the stupid price hike) great value.

Best Indie Makeup Brand

Darling Girl
Darling Girl is one of the newest indie companies I've tried but they've quickly become my favourite. All the products I've tried have been fantastic quality and come in lots of gorgeous colours. The prices are fair and Susan (the owner) is one of the nicest, most helpful people you could hope to deal with. I've never had a problem with an order and TAT are always reasonable. I have a proper review coming up soon :)

Contender
Sugarpill

The reason Sugarpill didn't win is that they have fewer products to choose from and also I find it hard to catergorise them as an indie company! The packaging, branding and quality of the products is absolutely amazing and wouldn't seem out of place in a High End brand.

Best Pressed Eyeshadow

Sugarpill
Sugarpills pressed eyeshadows are just the bees knees. They're insanely pigmented, bright and true to colour and also apply smoothly and blend easily. They're also really reasonably priced at $34 for a palette of 4 huge pans of shadow or $12 each. At the moment there are 9 fantastic rich colours and a tonne more are coming out soon!

Contender
MUA Pressed shadows
MUA shadows are nice, particularly the pearl finish ones which are creamy and easy to apply, but not amazing. However as they cost £1 each they're a fantastic bargain!

Best Loose Eyeshadow

Darling Girl, Shiro, Sugarpill, Venomous Cosmetics, Fyrrinae
I couldn't choose just one brand for this. All of the above make amazing shadows, pigmented, creamy, easily blendable, great range of colours, long lasting etc. I'd say they're all about equal in quality. Sugarpill tends to have the brightest, boldest colours, Fyrinnae the most complex, Darling Girl has fantastic unusual neutral shades and lovely duochromes, Venomous has great sparkle and Shiro has wonderful soft shades.

Contenders
Illamasqua pure Pigment, Barry M Dazzle dusts
Both of these are lovely too but more expensive (particularly the Illamasqua)

Best Pencil Eyeliner

Illamasqua Medium pencil
I really like these because they come in a multitude of colours and you can use them anywhere on your face, which means you can finally have a pale green lipliner or bright red eyeliner if you wanted! I also just really like them, they're soft enough to leave an easy line but not so soft as to break or smudge easily and they last longer on my waterline than the average eyeliner.

Best Liquid Eyeliner

Illamasqua Precision Ink
This eyeliner has a really great applicator, it's a felt style one (not a felt-tip pen style though) but is a bit longer than average (I think? Something's different anyway) which makes it really easy to apply precisely. The formula is great, completely opaque and slightly glossy. It dries quickly and does not fade or smudge at all.
It's only available in 4 shades which is a bit of a shame in one way because I love coloured eyeliner but in another it's great because I love this stuff but my bank balance does not :P

Best Glitter Eyeliner
Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liners
Just the best glitter Eyeliners ever. These are packed full of glitter which means you don't need to layer it over and over to get a proper glitter liner look (unlike some glitter eyeliners *coughUrbanDecaycough*). They come in lots of lovely bright colours including some holographic ones and also dry quickly.

Contender
MUA Glitter Eyeliner
These are almost as good as the Collection 2000 but have a worse brush (it's too long and splays and is just a bit odd) and only come in about 3 shades, but they're also just £1 yay!

Best Mascara

Benefit They're Real
I've been using this as an alternative to my absolute favourite mascara (Lancomes Oscillation) since I discovered that lancome test on animals (or support animal testing or something, it's hard to tell :/ ). It's a really good mascara giving wonderful length and volume (doesn't add much curl but my lashes are naturally curly so I never bother with curling mascaras) and it doesn't flake or clump easily. The brush is a plastic one which I always prefer to bristles and has a cool little spiky top part that helps to lift the lashes up and coat them right to the roots. I have found that it's dried out a bit though and is not as good or easy to use as it was when I first bought it.

Best Lip Balm

Models own
When it comes to bog standard lip balm used just to moisturise your mouth I don't really have a favourite, I'll use anything as long as it doesn't taste disgusting, but these Models Own ones are amazing. Look here for a full review but these are highly pigmented, lip softening, super shiny, delicious smelling little pots of joy!

Best Lipstick

MAC Amplified Creme Lipsticks
My favourite ever lipsticks, these are creamy, soft, not at all drying and easy to apply. They glide over my lips and are beautifully pigmented with a slightly shiny finish. They come in lots of pretty colours and while they don't have any very unusual ones like blues or greens they do have bright oranges, pinks, purples and reds.

Contender
Mac Matte Lipsticks
I tend to just like Mac's lipsticks in general but only have a few that aren't either Amplified Creme or Matte formula so Matte would be my contender. A couple of the shades are hard to use (Ruby Woo i'm looking at you) but in general they tend to be slightly dry but not bad and not drying to the lips. They're very pigmented and have a lovely retro finish.

I have swatches of all my Mac Lipsticks here

Best Lipgloss

Illamasqua Intense Lipglosses
I just looove these. They're super opaque, ultra glossy, smell delicious, come in fantastic shades like grey and molten silver along with pinks and reds and last longer than any other gloss I've tried. See my full review here and swatches here

Contenders
Darling Girl Holo-glosses/venomous cosmetics Lip Poisons
Darling Girls Holo-glosses are fantastic (generally) clear or sheer glosses packed with lovely glitter. They last beautifully and are amazing layered over lipsticks. Venomous Lip poisons are actually quite similar to the Illamasqua Intense glosses, they're opaque and long wearing and lovely but just not quite as good (in my opinion) You can see some lip swatches here.

Best Blush

Illamasqua powder blush
Amazingly soft and blendable but ultra pigmented. You need a light hand with these! They last all day and come in a myriad of colours to suit every skin tone (from the palest pink to deepest plum). The majority of these are matte but a couple of shimmery shades have just been released and have a lovely hint of shimmer but not over the top sparkle.

Contender
ELF Studio
ELFs blushes are also incredibly pigmented, easy to blend and cheap at £3.50 each but I find them just slightly chalkier and the sparkle in some shades can be a bit brash for me.

Best Bronzer

ELF Studio Cool bronzer

I don't generally use bronzer to look bronzed or sunkissed, I just use it occasionally to contour my face. To do this properly it's best to use a matt contour shade as the sparkle in bronzer reflects light (and when you're contouring you want to create shadows, which should not reflect the light) and this bronzer is great for that! It's matte and has 4 shades in the one pan that you can mix together or use seperately to get the right depth of colour. It's very pigmented though so you need to use a light hand.

Contender
Sleek Contour Kit
Sleeks contour kit has a beautiful formula which is really easy to apply and blend. It comes in a few shadesto suit different skin tones. I use the 'light' shade and it works well with my ultra pale pink skin. It's not super pigmented but I find that a good thing because it looks more natural. However it has shimmer in it which as I said before is not brilliant for contouring (for me anyway).

Best Highlighter
ELF Studio Blush in Gotta Glow/Illamasqua Illuminator
Gotta Glow is a pearly white pressed powder with some golden sparkle. It's great for adding a bit of shimmer to the face and highlighting large areas like the cheekbones however it's not very pigmented. Illamasqua's Illuminators are cream highlighters that are insanely pigmented and really reflect light. They have fantastic sparkle and dry really quickly. You can apply them sheerly for a hint of a glow or more thickly for a real sparkle with more opaque colour.

Contender:
ELF Studio Radiance Enhancer
This is a highlighting cream that comes in a handy brush applicator which makes it really easy to apply (especially to places like the cupids bow where you only want a hint of highlight). It gives a nice glow but is not very pigmented and takes a little while to dry.

Best Liquid Foundation

Illamasqua Skin Base
I love this foundation (though ignore the claims that it's like a BB cream, it isn't) it's buildable from sheer to full coverage, easily blends on my skin, lasts brilliantly and gives a really lovely natural looking finish to my skin. You can see my full review here.

Contender
GOSH X-ceptional Wear
A great foundation that blends easily into the skin, leaves it looking matte and lasts all day.

Best Powder Foundation

BFTE
To be fair I've only tried 2 powder foundations, BFTE's and Physicians Formula. The PF one is pressed, I find it quite hard to apply and the lightest shade is too dark for me whereas the BFTE is a loose powder which applies beautifully and comes in lots of shades (Alabaster suits me well). It's super easy to apply, you just buff it in, and it leaves my skin looking flawless. You can see me in it here.

Best Setting Powder

ELF Studio HD powder
This is just a good, bog-standard powder. It's colourless so should work for most skin shades (though if you're very dark skinned I think it could make you look a little ashy as it could leave a white cast) and sets foundations brilliantly, leaving you with matt skin. You only need to use a little bit and it's cheap at £6 (or cheaper in the US or with one of ELFs millions of codes).

Best Makeup Brushes

ELF Studio

I love the ELF Studio brushes, they're really cheap (generally £3.50), synthetic and thus cruelty free and just work brilliantly! I can honestly say these are on par with my Illamasqua brushes that can cost up to 10x as much. It's hard to explain why they're so good, they just work! I have a video about them here

Contender
Illamasqua
Illamasquas brushes are great, synthetic, soft, easy to use and apply and blend makeup easily.

Best Nail Varnish

Illamasqua
While Illamasqua nail varnishes are among the priciest I've ever bought at £13.50 each (though I always wait for a sale or discount code as I am cheap :P ) they're probably the best quality too. They're generally very pigmented needing only 2 coats to be fully opaque, come in beautiful colours, dry really quickly and last for ages without chipping or wearing.

Contender
Models Own, Lynnderella, GOSH
Models Own and GOSH polishes are great and dry quite quickly. I generally need 2-3 coats but the finish is smooth and glossy and lasts for days. Lynnderella polishes aren't quite as quick drying but they are so unusual and gorgeous that they're worth it!

Sorry for the lack of posts everyone, My laptop is being fixed so I have to use claire's and don't have access to my files and photos. I'm getting it back soon though.

If there's any other catergories you'd be interested in knowing my favourites of then comment and I'll add them in :)

Hi Fi Cosmetics - MIA or AWOL?

2012-02-01T04:17:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned that I was having trouble with an indie company. Unfortunately nothing has been fixed yet and there's nothing I can really do about it. The company in question is Hi Fi cosmetics. I've reviewed them in the past and absolutely love their products and the owner, Veronica, was always really nice and helpful so I'm really saddened to have to write this.

I ordered from the companies artfire page on the 27th of November and paid via echeque which cleared on the 2nd of December. It was during their black friday sale so I made a rather large order coming to about £40 ($60) Since then I've heard nothing. I know that earlier in the year they'd had a big problem keeping up with orders because of a Heartsy deal but that seemed to have calmed down. I expected to have a bit of a wait with the turn around time and then international shipping so, even though I got other Black friday orders in a couple of weeks, I didn't think much about it. But then New years came and went and there was no sign of my order. No shipping confirmation, no apology for delay, nothing. So I sent Veronica an email, just enquiring politely when my order was. No reply. I asked around on some facebook groups and was told by several people that while Hi Fi orders often take a while to arrive they always DO arrive. I also heard that Veronica was pregnant so i thought maybe that was why she hadn't replied to my email and thought I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and wait a while longer.

Since then I've sent two more emails and a message over artfire and have had no reply of any kind. The Hi Fi cosmetics facebook page has been deleted and their twitter hasn't been used since Christmas but the Artfire shop is still up without any kind of announcement about delays etc.

For some reason I thought I'd ordered later than i actually did so when I thought I was coming up to paypals 45 day limit to make a claim I was actually over it :( so now there is nothing I can do to get back my money (and £40 is a lot of money for me) and as I can't get in contact with Veronica I very much doubt I will ever see my order.

So... yeah that sucks! If anyone has any ideas what I could do please say. I can't file a claim with my bank by the way as I can't use the phone and my bank doesn't seem to have email customer service :( I really don't mind long TAT times, I'm in no rush to get my makeup, I just don't want to be ripped off!

The thing is, while of course I am pissed off and want my order or my money back part of me is worried about veronica. When people just disappear from the internet I can't help but think that something bad has happened, especially as the last few tweets from Veronica (from December) say that she's been sick and had

other problems to deal with. So it's really hard to know what's happening. Veronica could be ill or something bad could have happened but there's no way of knowing!

So I'm out £40 and very unhappy. As I said before, if I knew my products were still coming I wouldn't even mind waiting this long but as my emails have remained unanswered and the company has basically disappeared I can only assume that my money has been stolen. And because of this I do not recommend Hi fi Cosmetics. Their products are genuinely great but there's been too many problems with TAT in general and now my order has not been honoured. If you are going to order then please at least wait until Veronica reappears because if you order now then who knows if it will even be acknowledged?

Just a word to indie sellers, if you're ill or have some kind of problem then announce it. Most people are going to be fine to wait for their stuff if they know you're having a hard time, or at least will want to know what's going on. Just disappearing without any explanation is frustrating and suspicious. Perhaps give someone you trust the log in to your facebook account or similar so if any emergency happens they can take care of the business.

Follow up to the last post

2012-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

I was just going to leave my last post as it was, just links and me saying 'this sucks' but I've been feeling all angry and need to rant! To apologise for the upcoming drama llama below the cut, here's Justin Bieber made from meat:

1. Grey

For the people who were confused about Grey of legothique here is a good post from the Lime Crime Examiner Article (which is basically a forum about Lime Crime and other makeup shenanigans) that explains it well. I've paraphrased it a little to make it more factual and less emotional:

'Back in January of 2008 a member of Ravelry, a knitting community, username MommaMonkey (GiGi Silva), died of Lupus complications. The community mourned and was sad because she posted a lot of awesome knitting patterns, sent people gifts and even started a community of her own called Socktopia. Her husband, Nico, logged on to her profile and asked people to continue purchasing her knitting patterns - in exchange, he was going to donate all the profits to a Lupus research foundation.

Fast forward to a year later. It's January 2009 People were still suspicious about MommaMonkey's death. Especially because profiles were popping up on Ravelry that suspiciously had the same voice and overall writing tone of MommaMonkey. People were starting to accuse MommaMonkey of faking her death, and others were defending her. Someone put in MommaMonkey's email address in to twitter, which opened up a giant can of WTF. There was a twitter profile tweeting and posting pictures of tattoos that MommaMonkey had, using MommaMonkey's old email address, with the same basic info: Lives in San Diego, has a husband, 2 kids, proficient in handmade crafts. The knitting community exploded and drama ensued.

People started posting blog entries about how MommaMonkey was this huge scam artist. Meanwhile Grey was watching from a safe distance, content that she had left that world behind and had enough money to start a new life as a Crafty Punk blogger with loyal following that was getting bigger every day. Some people even claimed she "honed" her new "Grey Persona" using a blog called Miss Cissy, until people realized that Miss Cissy was MommaMonkey and she proceeded to DELETEF*CKINGEVERYTHING.
Grey was basically safe as Grey, until someone stumbled on the MommaMonkey info. Maybe someone's curiosity finally got the best of them, because Grey was relatively secretive about how she looked and the pictures that she posted of herself. She used to post lip swatches on her lips, but stopped and then deleted the photos. She had pictures of her old tattoos on her twitpics account, but deleted those and then ultimately deleted her twitpics account'

And it was found that the Legothique domain was owned by Gina/GiGi Silva.

I think it's obvious why people are upset here. Not only did it turn out that Grey was not who she claimed she was (or was a liar at least) but faking your death is a Goddamn shitty thing to do. And then adding to that she basically stole charity money. That's just evil.

I'm very lucky in that I've never lost anyone who was incredibly close to me (the only person I've known who died was my aunt, which was terribly sad but she had lived a long life and had been ill a long time so it wasn't surprising) but I've felt the heartbreak of grief when my pets have died. I can't imagine how awful it would be to find out a friend had died. Even if you've only known someone over the internet it doesn't make your friendship any less.

I was never super close to Grey, we chatted sometimes and I liked her and she was always very nice to me but I wouldn't have considered her a 'friend'. I'm lucky in this sense because it means I'm not hurt by her lies, I'm just furious! I also feel stupid and foolish because I had no clue. I even sent her a piece of jewellery from Callooh and Callay to review. So I'm angry that I trusted a fraud basically.

There's a chance it might not be true, and I hope that, somehow, is the case but I find it incredibly doubtful.I'm truly sorry to anyone who was close to her and considered her a friend and hope you're not finding this too upsetting and that anyone owed a refund for the Awesome indie box thing gets it promptly!

The links regarding Grey in my last post don't work anymore, if anyone knows some good links to replace them please leave them in a comment.

2. Lime Crime.

Cultural appropriation is too big and complicated an issue for me to really get into, especially considering I am a white, middle class woman from a country that used to go around making empires.

For instance, in my opinion anyway, there's a big difference in simply portraying someone of a different race and offensive cultural appropriation. I mean the difference between Laurence Olivier 'blacking up' to play Othello and a black and white minstrel show. While a white man playing a black character is certainly problematic I don't think it's the same as something as outwardly racist as the minstrels who nothing but a charicature of racist stereotypes.

Personally I know that I have probably been very racially insensitive in the past because I LOVE the makeup of geisha women so often use elements of it on myself. I have read up about geishas and the culture but am not super knowledgable. I guess the reason I think that this is ok is that to me I feel I am just replicating a makeup, not trying to look like or pretend to be part of the culture. (I'd love to know peoples feelings about this!)

And this is my problem with Lime Crimes photo. If it was just the photos of caucasian Hanna Beth in 'Oriental' garb I would see it as problematic but wouldn't think it was hideously offensive (Again this is my opinion only, I'm not saying anyone should necessarily agree with me. If you find a white person wearing inaccurate Asian style clothes and makeup offensive then that's perfectly valid too). Too me the horrible part is the stereotypes of Asian women that come through in the description:

'Don’t let her milky skin, pouty mouth and flushed cheeks fool you; underneath the poised façade, there lies a heart of a tigress ...

Chinadoll is fragile and bold, soft-spoken and out-spoken, a free spirit of undeniable presence. I created a romantic duality by casting watercolor gradients against sharper lines -- Lotus Noir was applied under lower lashes, blended into Jade-o-Lade, then faded seamlessly into Parasol. Finally, I added soft-red accents to her cheeks, brows and around the temples for an innocent glow evocative of vintage Chinese advertising posters.'

This description manages to invoke both the stereotypes of the demure, subservient, delicate Asian flower and the fierce, agressive Dragon Lady. Doe has claimed that this description is not offensive because (i'm paraphrasing) 'China Doll is not real, she is a fantasy' but the problem with that is that she's a fantasy born entirely from the Wests fetishized view of Asian women. The idea of this woman as the exotic bloom with skin smooth as porcelain, and a personality just as fragile but also a ferocious, domineering heart, not a real person with a personality but just an object to be admired.

I've seen people bizarrely try to argue that 'China Doll' doesn't have anything to do with Chinese women, it just refers to dolls made of china. But it's so obvious that the name is trying to be a pun, she's Chinese and a doll basically. (though I doubt that Lime Crime knew that 'China Doll' is a name given to the stereotype of the demure Asian woman. Well I certainly hope not!) . The whole collection is just chock full of Chinese imagery from the names of the colours (Parasol, Goldfish, Fly Dragon Fly, Lotus Noir and... uhh... 'Jade-O-Lade' -__-) down to the dragons that now grace the Lime Crime header.

Using stereotypical charicatures of a race that (I can only presume) you know little about yourself to sell eyeshadow just isn't cool.

"I'm very sorry to hear that some of you found the Chinadoll concept offensive. Chinadoll is inspired by a time and a place, and is not meant to depict any contemporary or even real person. My Chinadoll is strong but not afraid to cry, rebellious but in control, traditional and untamed all at once. She is a living contradiction and, above all, a *woman* -- she can never be, or will be stereotyped. I hope you guys can continue to support our independent brand, we truly do pour our hearts and souls into it. Thanks for your feedback!-Doe"

It's great that China Doll can never be stereotyped, but ethnicities can be. And it's hurtful. Even positive stereotypes are hurtful because it brings the idea that different races/sexualities/genders (in this instance Chinese women) are a sort of homogenous society, they're all the same. And that leads to racism/sexism/homophobia because if you don't see a person as an individual, but as just a member of a group who all have the same traits, it lessens the idea that they are a real person and strengthens the idea that they are different from you and that in turn makes you think you can treat them differently.

If you're a company and do something that offends someone then APOLOGISE! And not some half-arsed 'I'm sorry you were offended' rubbish, apologise for being offensive! You might not have meant to be, there might be nothing you can do about it now but you can always just say you're sorry. Not 'I'm sorry to hear that you found it offensive' but 'I'm sorry'.

I know i linked to this in my last post but I think Mai's post put's it better than I ever could.

Gragh, why does there have to be so much nonsense in the makeup community?

Some posts you should read

2012-01-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

Some rubbish stuff is going down in the makeup world at the moment, here's some posts I think are important to read:

http://www.makeupzombie.net/2012/01/putting-worries-to-rest.html

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/fcvm91

http://portraitofmai.blogspot.com/2012/01/lime-crime-youre-doing-it-wrong.html

I'm also having a big problem with an indie company I ordered from at the end of November. Hopefully it will be sorted out soon, if not watch this space.

To lighten things up, here's a picture of My Monster High Dolls making out:

Oh Lagoona, you're such a cad!

Quick FOTD

2012-01-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hullo everyone! I'm a lot better now (though I'm still snuffly), but last night I went dancing to celebrate my birthday and am feeling all sleepy and crunch today so this is just a quick look from about a month back when I still had ginger hair.

Wearing:

(can't remember what the lipgloss or blush was I'm afraid)

Face: Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in 02, ELF Studio HD powder

Eyes: Brazen cosmetics eyeshadows in Millennium and Submission, Collection 2000 glam crystals eyeliner in Night Fever, Black mascara.

Off to finally reply to comments, sorry Ive been so incredibly crappy!

Still here

2012-01-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

Hope to be back posting soon but I've come down with a terrible case of Man Flu and am finding doing basic things like breathing irritating. But I had a great birthday and new years and have lots of posts planned for when I'm not wading through a sea of snotty tissues and rubbing lip balm on my nose every few minutes. <3

Happy new Year!

2011-12-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm going to a David Devant gig which should be magical enough for the Cullens to approve of.

I'm going to be doing the traditional 'what I got for Christmas' and 'best of 2011' posts asap if anyone is curious, but I'm busy for the next few days so it might be slightly later than everyones elses :P

It's my birthday on Wednesday, I shall be 24! ... WHEN DID I GROW OLD???? D:!!!! (If anyone gets that reference then I love you)

And at Callooh and Callay we're having a New Year Sale! It's buy 2 get 1 free on all our Christmas Collection and 25% off everything else (apart from our Devant jewellery because 25% of the proceeds of those go to charity) until the 7th of January :)

I hope everyone has a lot of fun tonight, but stay safe kids! CHAMPAGNE!

Illamasqua Freak

2011-12-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

A little while ago I was sent a sample of Illamasqua's first perfume - Freak (AKA possibly the perfume with the worlds most beautiful bottle) - to test out.

Ohh such a beautiful bottle! *__*

Beware, I find discussing perfumes very difficult. All the talk of top, heart and base notes just baffle me (generally) apart from the initial strong smell you get when you apply perfume they tend to smell the same on me regardless of how long it's been on (apart from the smell fading and stuff) they don't seem to 'mature' or change and no new notes come through. Also perfume is much harder to describe than makeup because I can't photograph a scent! And of course it's really subjective, what someone loves may smell rank to someone else and vice versa.

And describing this perfume is particularly different as there are quite a few notes in it that I don't think I've ever encountered before! But anyway let's give it a go!

This is what Illamasqua says about Freak:

'The rich and daringly provocative opening notes of Black Davana cast a magical spell of desire across the senses to celebrate the night. The compelling burnt orange bloom base is highly prized the world over for its ability to enhance the wearer's natural perfume. The subtle mustiness of Poison Hemlock haunts the background tone of Freak, adding alluring depths of mystery.
Datura, the Moonflower, has an intoxicating scent that has long been used as a heady aphrodisiac. The exquisitely rare Queen of the Night blooms fleetingly for a single night each year, and completes this daringly provocative concoction with its warm, soft floral scent touched with sweetness.'

As for me... Well I think the description is pretty accurate! This is a strange, almost mysterious perfume. To me it mainly smells like musk or incense, dark, oriental and exotic. It's earthy and musty. But there's also a strong floral note that I can't put my finger on (probably because I'm not familiar with the flowers in it!). These flowers are not sweet or at all 'old fashioned' smelling, no roses or jasmine for instance, they're unusual, earthy, and fresh. Finally there is a slight sweetness from a hint of sugary orange blossom and honey.

To me it seems like a very sexy perfume, it's heady and seductive. The notes are unusual and as a lot of the floral ingredients are actually poisonous it adds an exciting thrill! I personally would think of this as more of an evening scent as I do not find it at all invigorating, quite the opposite in face, to me it seems almost intoxicating and calming. It also just smells distinctly 'nocturnal' to me. I also think it could be a good unisex fragrance, the florals are so unusual it doesn't come across as overtly feminine. It is also very long lasting, while it fades in intensity I can still easily detect this after a full days wear.

You can probably tell that I really like this! I didn't expect to, I generally like very fruity, sweet scents, some of my favourites are Diesel Loverdose (which to me smells like a floral based licorice with a hint of tangerine), Gap So Pink (smells like a softened grapefruit), Prada Candy (like baked goods and toffee with a small amount of musk) and Nina Ricci Les Belles Liberty Fizz (which to me smells like tomato flowers). I tend to dislike strong woodsy, oriental or musk smells. So it's odd that I like this so much. I think it's because it's just so unique. I can imagine this being the scent of choice for a femme fatale or Film Noir heroine because it's so mysterious and seductive. And the sweet undercurrent of the honey and orange blossom makes it more palatable than other oriental/musk smells. I think another reason I like it is because it conjures up images in my head. It reminds me of churches and cathedrals (because of the musty, incense) but also a deep, dark forest, full of slightly rotting leaves and exotic plant smells.

It probably won't become my everyday choice, for that I'll stick with my fizzy fruity smells, but I'd love this for a special evening out or, indeed, a special evening in ;D

Sadly at £59 or 75ml the full bottle is out of my price range at the moment, so I won;'t own that beautiful bottle :( But I'll be enjoying my little sample vial!

*sample sent for review, all thoughts and opinions are my own*

Christmassy FOTD

2011-12-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

This was a quick and easy look but I thought it was purty.

Wearing:

Face: Illamasqua Skin Base in shade 2 mixed with moisturiser.

Eyes: Darling Girl eyeshadow in Donner, black mascara, Sugarpill Love + Pressed eyeshadow on the eyebrows.

Lips: Originally I was wearing Darling Girl Cookies for Claus Colour Rich Lip Balm with Holly Jolly Holo-Gloss over the top but then I just topped it off with Holly Jolly and Cookies For Claus wore off, I can't remember at what point these photos were taken :P

Holly Jolly is my favourite lip colour at the moment, it's just so festive :)

Shoe Review!

2011-12-27T09:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the amazing opportunity to choose something from One Stop Plus to review. I picked this lovely pair of shoes. They're made by La Redoute Creation come in sizes 3 - 8 (35-42) and come in black, taupe, cerise and duck egg (a tealy blue colour) and cost just under £40. I chose the cerise in a size 8.

Shoes tend to fit differently depending on the brand, usually a size 8 will fit me perfectly or be a bit small (I might actually be a size 8 1/2) but these were actually a little too big for me. I could have sent them back and swap for a 7 but I am sure that would have been too small. They're not too big as to be a problem though, they don't slip, they're just quite roomy and the problem is solved by wearing thick tights or socks. However as I said I am quite a big size 8 so other people may want to order a size down from usual, they're definitely bigger than the norm.

Anyway they're really lovely. They're a bright cerise colour with a chunky heel, round toes and a t-bar strap with ruffles on it. I love t-bars anyway but the ruffles make them really unusual and cute! They're made of a fuzzy suede-like material but they're entirely synthetic so great for vegetarians like me!

I haven't been able to wear them out yet because the weather has been very rainy and, as they are suede-ish I don't think it's a good idea to get them wet :( But I have worn them a lot around the house and they're bizarrely comfortable! They have a 7cm tall heel without a platform but somehow they don't hurt my feet. Maybe it's because the heel is so chunky. I'm sure if I did wear them out for a whole day I would change my mind because I have terrible feet that hurt in flat shoes and absolutely die in heels. I can walk in high heels but get a bit wobbly in stiletto style heels but because these have chunky heels they're pretty sturdy.

The fact that they're synthetic is a big plus for me because I'm a vegetarian but if you don't mind wearing leather then it might be a bit of a problem. Leather is generally meant to be more comfortable and better fitting. The fabric does feel a little bit less sturdy than usual but not flimsy.

They're go absolutely perfectly with this new playsuit I bought from Warehouse:

And I bet they'd look good with some bright blue or turquoise tights.

All in all I really like them, they're really pretty, easy to walk in, vegetarian and comfy. But the sizing is a bit of an issue and the fact they're synthetic may not be to everyone's taste. At the moment they seem comfortable but time will tell how they stand up to long term wear. The price, £40, seems just about right.

Thank you One Stop Plus :)

Have a happy Christmas everyone!

2011-12-24T13:42:00.001-08:00

Or if you don't celebrate Christmas then just have a nice December 25th :)

kiss kiss

Have a very Glam Christmas!

2011-12-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

My friend Mikey was playing a glam themed gig on tuesday, so I dressed up all Christmassy. Also a you can see I've dyed my hair. On the packet it was bright bright red but it's come out sort of Burgundy. I still think it's quite pretty but it's almost the same colour as my Mum's hair which makes me feel a bit weird :P

Here's mah face:

Wearing:

Face: Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in 02, ELF Studio HD powder, Sleek blush in Salacious
Eyebrows: Sugarpill pressed eyeshadow in Love +

Eyes: Darling Girl Blitzen Eyeshadow, Darling Girl Honeypot eyeshadow, black mascara, the liner is just some loose glitter mixed with ELF Studio Makeup Lock and Seal.

Lips: Red lip pencil (offbrand :P), Darling Girl Jolly Holly Hologloss

Here's my outfit. I know I probably 'shouldn't' wear something like my plausuit, it's too high cut and not particularly flattering on my little round body, but I like it so who cares?

Wearing:

Polka dot Jacket and diamante tights - Topshop

Sequin playsuit - Asos

Hair bow - Dolly Dagger

Badge and necklace - Callooh and Callay

Shoes - Office (I would have worn more interesting ones but I cut my foot on a bit of smashed bauble :( )

For some reason here in the UK a disproportionate percentage of our Christmas songs are from the Glam Rock genre of music. Wizzard, Mud, Slade, Bowie (with Bing Crosby who is, of course, totally glam) and of course this which you never here anymore. I wonder why...

OOTD - ENVY ME!

2011-12-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

For I have a Christmas Onesie!

It's my New Years Resolution to find somewhere less horrible to take outfit posts. I will probbaly fail :(

Candy Stripe nails

2011-12-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

I finally found the lead for my camera! Yay!

And it's nearly Christmas, hooray!

Here's my current manicure. It's not perfect of course but as it was my first time properly using a striping brush I don't think it's terrible. That being said, this was my left hand, the right one is even messier!

I used Models Own Snow White as a base and then Inglot Nail Art polish in 34

I'll probably end up changing them up again before Christmas :P

Blogs that don't get enough lovin'

2011-12-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

I've been a rubbish blogger and an even worse blog follower recently. I am so sorry, I've just been busy with the business recently and a bit poorly and generally just a bit rubbish. I'm trying my best to get back in the saddle and reading all the posts I've missed.

By way of apology I thought I'd share some blogs I've either discovered recently or just really love that don't have as many followers as they should. Seriously, these blogs are all amazing and you should follow them all.

Firstly Ruth's Makeup

Ruth is an absolutely fantstic makeup artist. She's not afraid to use colour and experiment but her looks are always immaculate and super classy. Check out her amazing Adventure Time looks!

Polish and Pigments

If you've ever wondered about making your own nail polishes then this is the blog for you! It is an absolutely amazing source of infomation, with posts dedicated to supplies, techniques, reviews of polish bases, lists of what glitters do and don't work in polishes and more. It's, without a doubt, the best resource I've found about frankening polish. And if you're not interested in making your own then it's still worth a look for the pretty polishes she makes.

Eyegraffiti

Eyegraffiti is a collab between two amazing bloggers. They post the most amazing eye and lip looks, I wish I had an ounce of their talent!

Lemon Bunny

Mandy is just an allround great blogger, she posts lovelys faces, reviews, nails and various posts about her life in general.

The Postcolonial Rabbit

Again, a lovely blog that is mainly beauty related but also shows some great fashion and other bits and bobs.

And last, but not least, Vulcan Butterfly
A fantastic blog for gothy, punky fun looks, and check out those mad eyeliner skillz!

What are some of your favourite blogs that you don't think get enough action?

My Christmas Wishlist

2011-12-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

I enjoy a very secular Christmas with a good dash of materialism thown in, so I thought I'd share my christmas beauty wishlist with you. I've only included makeup and toilettries and it's nearly all gift sets because otherwise it would be the longest blog post in history!

You may notice there isn't much indie stuff in this list, the reason for that is I didn't want to be listing a load of individual colours and things. I'm surprised at the lack of gift sets form indie companies, I really think that would be a great idea for Christmas!

Anyway onto the stuff!

The Nerd Lacquer mini colour library

These nail polishes look gorgeous and right up my street, bright and glittery! They sell the entire library in larger bottles too, but I figure 5ml is enough when you get 28 polishes! :D

Glitzy Lips in Rainbowdar

This stuff is crazy-cool, foils for your lips! Rainbowdar looks gorgeous, almost holographic with multichrome goodness, but what a stupid name :/

Illamasqua Midnight Decadence Lash Duo

I rarely wear false eyelashes because I'm not too great at applying them but these ones are just so pretty and glamourous that I really want them! Also this comes with a free eyeliner.

Lush All I Want for Christmas Box Set

I love Lush goodies, and their Christmas range is always fun and generally has a lot of yummy sweetie scented things.

Tweerzerman Candy Cane set

I don't need tweezers, especially not ones that are this pricey... But they're so darn cute!

Paul and Joe Fragrance Set in Toyland

Usually I'm very hesitant to buy perfumes without trying them, but this sounds delicious. Apparently the smell contains ' floral notes of rose and jasmine alongside fruity apple, peach, and raspberry and warming vanilla' yummmm! Sounds right up my street. And as with all Paul and Joe beauty stuff it's beautifully presented.

Illamasqua Freak

Again I actually haven't smelled this. I'm not certain I'll like it, but it sounds so interesting! And the main reason it's on the list is the bottle. It's one of the coolest, most beautiful bottles I've ever seen. The snail! *__*

GHD Scarlet Straighteners Set

I need a new pair of hair straighteners. I currently have an ancient pair of Nicky Clarke ones that are pretty useless. I don't really buy into the hype of GHDs and think they're really overpriced, but this set is so lovely! I love the Art Deco styling of the pouch and the bright red colour.

Shimmer Twins Star Eyelashes

These are just so cute! I have no idea what they'd look look like actually being worn, but I bet they're cool.

Prada Candy Perfume

I tested out this perfume a while back and it was love at first sniff. It smells of candy and toffee and cake and all things delicious, but it also has some kind of undelying smell that somehow takes away from it smelling solely edible and cuts the seetness so it's not cloying. It smells warm and delicious.

You can see there's lots of perfume on here, I'm on a perfume kick! at the moment!

Whats on your wishlists? :)

2011-12-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

Agh I've lost my camera lead! D:
Hopefully I'll find it soon, as I have things to post! Until then there may be some filler.
Sorry you guys!

Poodle puff

2011-12-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

Claire's poodle Perry has come to stay with us. Here he is being cuddled by me. Look how happy he looks!

...or perhaps not.

Here is my face:

Wearing:

Face: Illamasqua Skin Base in 02, ELF studio HD powder, Illamasqua powder blusher in Morale

Eyes: BFTE Lace (all over lid), Sugarpill Goldilux (in the crease), Illamasqua precision eyeliner in Havoc

Lips: Rimmel Vinyl carat ligloss in Steal the Show

It's funny, in my head I think I look really rubbish with sheer or nude colours on my lips and when I can I always choose bright, opaque colours (I wore this going out for dinner so didn't want to bother with bright lipstick that would smear and stuff) but I actually think this looks very nice! Quite soft and pretty.

Here's my ouftit, which I really like. It's from River Island. Sadly it's ever so slightly too small in the bust which is why my boobs look a bit crushed :P I'm not feeling great about my body right now :(

Finally this looks like quite a nice photo until you realise both the dogs are peeing behind me.

Cheers dogs.

FOTD - Lumi-nescent

2011-11-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a purple and green look I done (apparently I was channelling the Joker) I think it turned out pretty pretty!

Wearing:

Face: Illamasqua Skin Base in 02, ELF Studio HD powder (can't remember or tell if I was wearing a blusher)

Eyes: Sugarpill Lumi, Sugarpill Tipsy, black mascara

Lips: Mac Violetta, Sugarpill Lumi

For the eyes I applied Lumi lightly all the way up to my browbone and then heavier on my lid. Then I took Tipsy and used an angled eyeliner brush to line my top lashline, create a wing and then bring it into the crease.

And I patted Lumi over my lipstick to just give it a little highlight. It made my lips look slightly fuller as well as adding a fun green sheen :)

I also really liked my outfit:

Wearing:

Black fluffy top thing (it's horribly short so I was wearing a primark vest underneath) by Motel

Fluffy skirt from Asos

Spotty tights from Primark

Black bow shoes from Office

Callooh and Callay Sparkling Snowflake necklace

I need to do some product reviews but I've been tidying my room and most of my makeup is thrown into a box and hard to reach at the moment. So it's gonna be faces and outfits for a while :/

FOTD - The Walk of Shame

2011-11-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last saturday I went dancing with a friend of mine. All was going well and we were having a gay old time ala the Flintstones until suddenly and without warning she disappeared. I was lost and worried and very stressed . I found out later that she went out for a ciggy and the bouncers wouldn't let her back in. She had no credit and I, being stupid and slightly drunk and wandering around the club looking for her, didn't think to try and ring/text her. When I found out what had happened she had already started off for her home, so I was very worried about having to journey home on my own at night as I can barely leave my house alone when it isn't dark and scary and I'm not inebriated and vulnerable. Luckilly we had gone to a club run by someone I know and he took me back to his house and let me sleep on his sofa (good old Carl!). In the morning I was so embarrassed and shy and worried about having been an imposition I got up before him and went on my merry way.

Wandering home in a sleep deprived stupor I felt very wicked and cool and youthful for once. It was a bit like having a one night stand, I would imagine, but without the awkwardness of having sex with someone for the first time.

Anyway the reason I'm relating this whole underwhelming story is that, somehow through a night of dancing, hours of sleeping scrunched on a couch and slight tears of stress, my eye makeup remained practically perfect!

(I shoved some lipstick on for the photo but the eyes were left alone)

And all that without primer!

Wearing:

Eyes: Sugarpill Magentric all over lid, Illamasqua Static in browbone and slightly in inner corner, Barry M Fine Glitter dust in 23 in outer v and crease.

Lips: Makeup For Ever lipstick in 152 (I think its discontinued)

I hope everyone in the US had a fun black friday and didn't get run over by stampedes of bargain hunters!

Speaking of, we're having a big sale!

Yes, I know, plug plug plug :P

Old Photo of the day and Christmas for Callooh and Callay

2011-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

So back when I was about 18 (I think, I can never remember so I guess by what my hair was like) through a bizarre series of events I ended up at the Mighty Boosh Live Tour's after party. It was absolutely terrifying annd very surreal. I was with my sister (who is also shy) so we ended up just standing in a corner gawping and wondering how on earth we got into that situation. However we ended up chatting with Noel Fielding for a little while!

He was absolutely lovely. A complete sweetheart! My sister stupidly decided to tell him that I fancied his brother and I was mortified, but he was really nice and went and got Mike (the brother) to come talk to me. Julian was also there and we tried to talk to him but he was having none of it. We stole a drink he left unattended as revenge (actually not really, we were just dying of thirst and had no money with us -___- we are tramps).

In other news our Callooh and Callay Christmas Collection is being released tomorrow!

Please take a look tomorrow at 7 PM (GMT) for lovely sparkly, wintery goodies!

Jillian

2011-11-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling very down the last few days, this morning I decided to cheer myself up by watching Jedward videos. Those guys are just so delightful and happy they never fail to make me smile. So I decided to do my makeup and hair like them (well as much as possible) because obviously that's the normal reaction to liking musicians.

This is my attempt at looking androgynous... Well that didn't work but I think there is something slight Jedward reminiscent in my face!

And if you don't know who Jedward are I think this pretty much explains it all:

God I love them.

OOTD - Mango dress

2011-11-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

A while back I went on a big shopping trip with Claire who wanted to go into Mango to look at some workwear stuff. I've always thought of Mango as very dull and boring with nothing to interest me, but I take it all back! Claire didn't find anything but I came away with a dress and a cardigan!

This is the dress:

It's not the most exciting item in my wardrobe I grant you, but I really like it! It's made of thick, soft wool so it's lovely and warm for winter, and it has a vintagey feel but is a bit different because of the neon pink plaid and the black piping waist thing (you can't see it that well because I'm at an angle).

I paired it with my Ruffled Rabbit necklace (plug plug plug)

The light makes my hair looks all green here! I was in a rush to go out so I'm just wearing mascara and Darling Girl Liquid Kiss Luxe in Strawberry Fields (my skin would look alright without makeup if it weren't for the blemishy chin!)

What do you think of the dress? :)

Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless Collection

2011-11-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm stupidly late with this post once again. The collection has been out for quite some time now, but because Illamasqua is awesome with it's collections, the products are all still available and will be for a long time :)

This collection was inspired by the dark and decadent nightlife of Berlin in the 1920s, the images really reminded me of expressionist cinema. The colours are vampy and rich, but with hints of sparkle and iridescence. While the collection of darker, vampier hues seems perfect for autumn/winter, as usual Illamasqua has not gone down a 'safe' route. The dark cerises, smoked purples, forresty greens and rusty reds are also joined by flashes of bright magenta, light peaches and greyed pinks. There's new textures too - shimmery blushes and rubberised nails.

To be honest while I absolutely loved the collection imagery that came out before the products, I didn't imagine I'd end up wanting to buy much. To me while the pictures were absolutely breathtaking, I didn't imagine that too many exciting products were involved. For instance I adore this picture:

But the only product really featured is a black liner (and whatever created the flawless skin)

But then when I actually saw the products, there were loads I wanted!

And the lovely people at Illamasqua were kind enough to send me a few items, including two that I was absolutely craving, so that was a bit of good luck for me!

The products came with a catalogue, featuring more gorgeous artwork.

And in the normal, sleek Illamasqua packaging. This is the one thing I would change about Illamasqua's collections, special packaging would be nice to distinguish them from the main line of products.

The three products I recieved were Sheer Lipgloss in Violate, Lipstick in Kontrol and Pure Pigment in Berber.

Firstly the product I was the most excited about, the Sheer Lipgloss in Violate. I won't do a proper review of the formula because it's the same as one's I've talked about extensively before here

However you can see from my picture that while this is called a 'sheer' gloss it really isn't very sheer (though you can make it look sheerer by applying it very sparingly). It's a fantastic colour. A sort of red-ish brown with tonnes of green shimmer. You can see the brown colour a lot here because of the angle of my lips, from straight on they look much more green. I really love it, such a cool colour, I can honestly say I've never seen a metallic, forrest green lipgloss before and this is a wonderful one. However what I would say is that the pigmentation is a little odd, it's not opaque like their Intense Lipglosses but it certainly isn't sheer. I think it would look better over a base, perhaps black. You can also apply a tiny bit of this over another colour to darken it and add a hint of the green sparkle. It's good over red!

Next the other product I loved the look of, the lipstick in Kontrol.

This is an amazing and unique colour. It's a real, true purple (not an aubergine or plum just called a purple) but with a hint of grey which makes it look really sophisticated and special. Berry lips are usually big for winter and I think this is a more interesting alternative. I've had problems with Illamasqua's lipsticks before, a lot of the shades I've tried have been very dry or drying or just not that great. I don't know if they've made any changes to the formula or if it's just this shade but this is just a fantastic lipstick! It's super pigmented, opaque in a single stroke and has a matte finish, however it is not in the slightest bit drying. It's creamy and smooth and glides on like a dream. It's just an amazing lipstick, I don't have anything bad to say about it!

Finally I was sent Berber, a pure pigment.

Pure Pigments can be used all over, as eyeshadow, blush, highlighter or you can apply it wet to make an eyeliner. Berber is a great metallic red colour with gold and green sparkles. It's beautifully pigmented and the different colours of the glimmer really shine through. I've not used this as an eye shade yet but I have other Pure Pigments which I have and they make fine eyeshadows, they last ages and don't tend to crease or fade. If you apply this lightly it makes a fantastic blush! It doesn't say anywhere if this is safe for use on the lips, which is a shame, I imagine it would look beautiful dusted over a red lipstick.

All the products I tried are really wonderful, I'm so so impressed with the lipstick formula and I love the lipgloss. So I really love this new collection, I want basically everything else from it! If the items I recieved seem a bit too 'out-there' and strange there is a lot more in the collection which is more conventional, there are blushes in rosy magentas and peachy nudes and pure pigments in black and white for a great smokey look.

One last thing, I thought one item I really didn't need was the eyeliner in Havoc, an aubergine shade. Then I saw this:

From http://solomag.se/killercolours/2011/10/havoc/

Bloody heck it looks nice!

Thank you so much to the lovely people at Illamasqua for the products. I can't wait until I have the money to buy more!

Fringe

2011-11-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

I have a fringe now.

Terrible photo, my apologies. November appears to have stolen most of the light from my town and tunred what is left a horrible grey colour. Also I couldn't be bothered to get out of my pyjama top. Ahh I am so incredibly hot.

Anyway what do you think? I personally think it really suits me :)

Rubbish post I know, but I'll have a proper one up tomorrow.