† XDOLL †

AOFM GRADUATES DIOR MASTERCLASS

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Last Wednesday I attended Dior's (free) masterclass which took place at Swarovski Crystallized store. The event was held only for AOFM graduates so it was lovely seeing some of the girls in my class again!

Goody bag containing a mascara and a Skinflash stick - thank you Dior

Jamie Coombes (DIOR's national make-up artist) gave a demonstration on how to create a glamorous red carpet look using some of their new products.

Marie Claire's Beauty Director - Lisa Oxenham - was also there to give us tips on how to become a successful make-up artist then going over the S/S12 catwalk trends!

Halfway through the masterclass my right eye started to feel really irritated - I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to the lash glue. It was annoying as my eyes kept watering and my nose kept running so I couldn't concentrate or take pictures during the demonstration!! I really liked my eye make-up that day so was gutted I had to take lashes off.

Loved the shape of the eye-liner flick!

Ended up going home with big-small eyes O_o

Last weekend I went mad on ASOS trying to find a Christmas party dress and ended up spending over £300... yet I'm STILL a Christmas party dress short!! Yep, definitely need to get on that tomorrow before all the pretty dresses get snapped up....

OOOH OOH OOH!! This is so exciting - I waited 3 months to my hands on these babies and I received them on Friday:

Jeffrey Campbell Lita's in taupe suede!!!! OMFG!!

Gaaaahhhh. I can't wait to take them out for a walk!!! OMFG.

An on that note I think it's bed time for me, goodnight my pretty little dolls.

XOXO

KISS ME QUICK

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:59:00 +0000

SHOCK. HORROR.

Guess who's back to update?!

I have been on the hunt for the perfect red lipstick for some time now. However, I always find myself standing at the drugstore counters in a state of confusion after trying on less than three shades. Why? I always encounter these problems:

1. How do I pick the right shade for my skin tone?

2. What lipstick finish is best?

3. Do I need lip liner? If so, should that be a darker shade to the chosen red lippy?

I have NEVER owned a red lipstick in the 27 years of my life... until now. Say hello to the new additions of my lipstick family:

My favourite lipsticks right now are MAC Ruby Woo and Russian Red. Honestly, they are both gorgeous and have a really nice cool tone which compliments most Asian skin! Both are a matt finish but it's really down to personal preference with the type of finish to buy (but matt will stay on longer than a glossy finish lippy). I bought Media for a Halloween look so for me it's not a colour I would wear everyday but it is a beautiful dark purple/red.

Very similar although Ruby Woo is slightly lighter than Russian Red.

I also splashed out on lip liners too:

Kiss Me Quick is my favourite and goes well with the two red lipsticks. Burgundy as you can tell compliments Media to give a define outline.

As for the lip shape? Unfortunately you just have to practice! I find it handy to use mirrors in different angles - sometimes it can look perfect from straight on but slightly unflattering from the side.

Playing around with lipstick after work

Lately I've been thinking of really putting effort into making better videos, I mean to REALLY try. Buy fluorescent light, HD camcorder, reflector...the lot! First of all I need to practice my make-up skills and secondly I need to save up!! I also want to set up another site under a different username, I'm not feeling 'Kuroxdoll'...never have done. 'XDOLL' was already taken so I added kuro, means black in Japanese, hence the black font for kuro in my header. See, I'm clever like that.

Also, alot of people mispronounce it as ku-rox-doll which irritates the hell out of me - it's 'ex-doll'!!! Which sounds just as stupid but that's how you pronounce it!

Anyway, that's all for now.

XOXO

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:26:00 +0000

*WAVES*

How is everybody? It's been so long since my last entry even my blog banner decided to disappear!

Work has been really tough the last two months and it's not getting easier. Hopefully by the end of November things will slow down a bit and I will be able to blog and make videos again

This is just a quick update to say hello... so 'HELLO'.

Here are a few pics of me after various hairstyles and colour change. The first pic is what I currently have!

That's all for now.

XDOLL

I'M NOT DEAD

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:06:00 +0000

Yes, I am still very much alive.

So where have I been for the last two months? Well, I have something very exciting to announce...

.......I am now a qualified Freelance Make-up Artist!!

AOFM - Art of Freelance Make-up

The course spanned over a three week period with the first two weeks covering make-up and the third week covering hair styling. My favourite lesson was our editorial/high fashion day taught by Jo Frost, the first assistant to the most influential and AMAZING make-up artist in the world - Pat McGrath. She was very constuctive, gave us pointers, direction and was very down to earth.

The academy is located on Dean Street (Soho, London) and I enjoyed every second of it. Can't believe it's only been over a week since we finished! I am back in my full-time office job now and it's pretty deflating because more so than ever, I know this isn't what I want to do, it isn't... me. I NEED to keep it up, keep praticing the skills I have learnt or it'll be a complete waste of time. The next step is to get myself in the industry whether it be assisting for free or get a counter job for a make-up brand. Working at a Bobbi Brown counter would be my ideal job right now as I love the branding, the products and what the brand believes in. It won't be easy leaving a well paid full-time office job but if you are committed, you have to take the jump.

What I have discovered is that I am not a hair person. Don't really know why. I just don't... get it. I enjoyed learning techniques styling, setting, blowdrying, sectioning etc. but seriously, I only do make-up!

We had a professional photoshoot on the last day where we have to draft up a mood board of a beauty look and one editorial. These are some screen shots of how the editorial ones turned out:

We have to pay the photographer to photoshop pics that we like but we can have 10 copies of hi-res unretouched photos. As I don't really have the budget, trying to pick 2 from 90 pics is really difficult!! These photos will be the start of my portfolio... hopefully there will be plenty more to come!

We also had a shopping day where we visited make-up stores such as Benefit, MAC, Bare Escentuals, Shu Uemura as a class and receive discounts of up to 35%. As you can imagine, most girls were saving their £££ for the MAC store, me included! We were given a 35% Mac Pro card for two weeks - here's a photo showing one of my many transactions from last week:

Kidding. The top two rows of eyeshadows aren't mine, they were bought by a fellow AOFM school friend but I asked her to put it next to mine to give the photo more impact, haha.

Anyway, as I am back to my normal routine I will try to upate more and maybe do another tutorial. Going on this course has opened up my eyes on applying make-up on different eye shapes. For so long I have only practiced on myself or other Asian friends and hardly on western eyes so I wasn't too confident with my skills. However, it became apparent that it was easier for me to adapt/adjust to western eyes than those applying make-up on my eyes! I felt bad... my eyes are so small... not much you can do to it!

Until then, hope everyone is having a lovely summer so far. Will be back to update shortly! See ya.

SHIZUKA TAKEDA INSPIRED SMOKEY EYES

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:02:00 +0000

It's here finally! I had trouble uploading it onto YT as it uploaded twice with an error right at 98% completion... *grumble grumble*

I did my make-up from scratch so please excuse my freckly face.
Anyway, here it is - hope you guys enjoy it!

♥ XDOLL ♥

NEW TUTORIAL COMING SOON

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sun, 29 May 2011 15:43:00 +0000

Hi guys! Hope everyone is having a lovely extra long weekend - I ♥ Bank Holidays! Although I'm not enjoying it as much as I want to as mother nature has a wicked sense of humour. Hot water bottle and painkillers is what I have to look forward to!! *grumble grumble* Now where's my chocolate bar?

So I have spent much of this morning editing another makeup tutorial! My OCD nature is my eternal enemy as I literally spent 3 hours on perfecting the first minute of the video, that's right, the FIRST BLOODY MINUTE.... I drive myself to drink sometimes lol.

Here's a sneak peek of my upcoming tutorial:

What do you think?

It's really difficult to give the end result justice as I record all my videos using my laptop webcam and it tends to wash out everything. Even adjusting the hue/contrast/brightness it still washes out all the detail - I applied so much bronzer but only a smidgen of it came across in the video! When I came to wash my face I gave myself a fright in the bathroom mirror as it looked more like ganguro make-up than a tanned/bronzed look!!

Anyway I better get back to editing the video!

BYE FOR NOW

♥ XDOLL ♥

NEW HEADER & VIDEO (KANAKO KAWABATA INSPIRED)

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sun, 22 May 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Just came back from my sisters hen weekend and I'm completely wiped out. Drinking at 11am is never a good idea especially if it continues through the day and well into the night! A male strip show and a night out clubbing with a portion of onion rings and chips later we finally called it a night at 4am.

Anyway, that aside I wanted to post my video tutorial based on Kanako Kawabata's eye makeup. I recorded this on the day of the Royal Wedding so it has taken me a while to edit/upload this. I was reluctant to pay £79 for a video editing software but in the end I gave in - I used the trial version to edit and produce the video (which took a week!) but only to realise they stamp 'TRIAL VERSION' (and the software name) for about 5secs at the beginning of the vid! I was so annoyed as the end video was produced in their own file type so I couldn't convert it!

(Stupid thumbnail makes me look so chubby!)

Also, did anyone notice my new header? My boyfriend helped me photoshop the banner and I love it! We made a few in the end but picked this one as I currently have a girl crush on Sayoko - she's so hot!

That's all for now. Be back soon!!!

†XDOLL†

'PEARLY N KELLY' HAUL

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:54:00 +0000

A quick post to mention I received my order from the lovely Kelly of Pearly N Kelly a few weeks ago! She was travelling to Japan and kindly set up a 'shopping spree' list for her readers and I quickly put in my order for Diamond Lashes and Qtto sleeping socks. Unfortunately she could only find 2/3 of the lashes but nevermind, it works out cheaper anyhow than ordering them from online shops!

Thank you =)

I wanted so much from the list but could only afford these items! >.<

Nudy and Angel Diamond Lash

I haven't used the lashes yet. I actually wanted to do a Kanako Kawabata (my favourite model from Egg magazine) inspired make-up tutorial a long time ago but felt it wouldn't be right until I got hold of the bottom lashes she uses! After doing a crappy video of Chinatsu's make up I wanted to get Kanako's right! So hopefully this will encourage me to do another video soon. My first one took a whole week to edit, being a noob and all I was quite meticulous with choosing each section of the video to fit in with the song length.... but I still managed a typo within the first 10 seconds of it.... (-_-") MASSIVE FAIL.

As mentioned in the post before, I asked my sister to get her hands on these cheap made-in-China-lashes you see often on eBay. After paying shipping fee you end up paying more than they're worth. My sister bought these in a shopping centre and they usually cost around 60p per box, the ones below were ever so slightly more expensive at £1.

I think it's because there's more workmanship involved with these and also the lash 'spine' is see-through. I really like these because when you try to bend the 'spine' to fit your eye shape, it makes the lashes curl up even more! Sometimes with various other eyelash brands I have to curl them with an eyelash curler once they are on.

The only downside to these is you pay for what you get. Even though they are slightly pricier than the other ones, they are still cheap so the quality is pretty bad. As you can see above, two rows are missing and I have used them in two days. This is because when you try to clean/pull off the dried glue from the used lashes, it moves the lash you're tugging at so some will twist down/up!! Eash individual lash is moveable along the spine (bad quality!) as it's just knotted in? It's all too much work (I don't have much patience) to fix the lashes that are not inline with the rest - it's easier to use a new pair!

I wore them two weekends ago, they are quite subtle but noticeable at the same time.

Taken from webcam. Wearing Dolly Wink bottom lashes here.

ToyStorm1

That's all for now.

XOXOX

4 OUTFITS IN 1...

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:06:00 +0000

...Because UK weather is so unpredictable like that!

Top temperature today was 17c and lowest at 9c meaning warm in the afternoon and chilly later in the day. I really dislike this weather because I hate carrying extra things such as cardigans, jackets and umbrellas (which potentially could be a life saver in London but nonetheless it's still extra weight)! Although I do prefer being over prepared because I absolutely hate feeling cold but the hassle of deciding 'Should I?' or 'Shouldn't I?' in the morning has caused me to be late for work a few days last week!

So I guess if you cant beat it, embrace it because the weather isn't going to get better anytime soon. This only means one thing - learn how to layer outfits. I'm not saying I'm the queen of layering now, far from it, but it's time to learn as it's the only way to survive this schizo British weather!

Not the most exiting of outfits but just wanted to show you the changes I went through today. I'm not sure what the point of the following pictures but I edited them so I'm going to post it! (Captions under photos to inspire you)

Denim shirt wrapped around waist and my messy room.

Denim shirt hung on bag plus a messy room and dirty mirror!

Today's eye make was a bit heavy but as I was heading to a Bobbi Brown counter (at Fenwicks) I wanted to doll up more than usual. My sister has booked a Bridal make-up lesson with a nice lady there and I'm there to look, stare, absorb and remember everything because guess who's going to be doing her make-up on her big day? *drum rolls* That's right. ME! (Eeeeeeeeek!) I have until the 25th June to pratice on her as much as possible so fingers crossd I can make her look like a beautiful wife-to-be!!

My sister bought a few boxes of eyelashes from China because I ordered her to! Haha.

These boxes average at 60p... each!!! 60p!!!!! OMG! For 10 pairs! It's so cheap!!!

Need double eyelid tape for my left eye..

Anyways that's all for now. More photos to come!

† XDOLL †

xoxox

MAKE-UP HAUL & NEW CAMERA

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:42:00 +0000

OMG I'M BACK WITH ANOTHER POST! (SAY WHAAAAAAAAAT!?)

Hopefully I will make this a habit from now on. I actually edited some photos at the start of the week but didn't manage to tap up an entry to go with it.

So as the title suggests I have been a naughty girl this month and did some (pointless) make-up shopping because a girl can never have too much make up right? The beauty counters at Selfridges are my ultimate weakness as they are the only department store (on Oxford Street) to stock MAC and Shu Uemura make-up brands. I was actually there to find a birthday card for my sister but didn't find a suitable card so decided to head for the exit via the beauty counters but ended up leaving with:

The YSL eyeshadow palette is amazing because you can wear it as wet or dry eyeshadows. Wetting the applicator first will intensify the colours and give it a smooth creamy texture without leaving any crease lines. You can use it as normal eyeshdows too for a more subtle look. There were other palettes to choose from but green and purple are such good combinations it stood out from the rest. This season is all about bright colours/colour blocks so I thought I could play around with this palette.

I also received my Eyemazing lashes I ordered earlier this month:

I found these really difficult to wear - they were not as flexible as I thought and not very comfortable either as the lash band was quite stiff. Dollywink is way better in my opinion! I have only tried on the No.2 but will see if the No.1's are better. Can you see how they are moulded to shape? It doesn't suit my eye shape at all so might have to cut it in half and wear it that way. My eye shape is rather long and flat, stupid Chinese eyes lol.

My best friend's mum sold me a camera she had only used once or twice for £50! (Thanks Auntie!) It's a Nikon P6000 and is a dslr camera but I have no idea how to use it yet! Tried to read the manual and adjusted the ISO blah blah but everything was coming out really yellow and using the in-built flash washes out everything.

Extra Yellow Tone!

(I photoshopped this one like crazy but it's still so yellow!!!)

What's more is that the photos makes me look really 'mature' - don't you think? Like it adds years to my face. My old crappy digital camera washes me out too but I guess being only a 6megapixel camera it hid all the flaws on my face such as my laugh lines! This picks up everything, gah it's so despressing..I'm only 26!

Now camwhoring with my webcam is my favourite hahaa because the colours are not so saturated (so it makes me look pale) and gives me a good complexion! Also I feel the photos show what I REALLY look like if you know what I mean...but maybe I'm the one who's deluded and maybe I do look more like the pictures taken with the Nikon (or maybe it's because I had my hair down?). Again, depressing. *Goes to slap on 10inches of anti-wrinkle cream*

Spot my cat, Zoe, bottom left corner

And I leave you with a picture of my precious little darlings - Bobo & Zoe:

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

That's all for now! Byeeeeeee xox

CONTACT LENS - BAMBI SERIES

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:48:00 +0000

How lame am I? I know I keep making empty promises but honestly I have been REALLY busy with work and have been enjoying my weekends by doing absolutely nothing (well...spending it with the lovely boyfriend of course!). I spend enough time staring at the computer screen at work and have been trying to limit the time I do at home... @_@

Anyhoo, as my blog title suggest I've received my contact lens order *squeals*. It's Tsubasa's Bambi Lens Series in Chocolate Brown! I ordered this from Eyecandylens and the direct link to the lens are *here*. The site changed the lens name to 'Princess Mimi' from 'Bambi' incase you were wondering...

Tsubasa-chan spotting the chocolate brown lens..

...and here's me with them on

GAAAAH why is my face so long, wide and horsey-looking??!!?!

How do I get a small face? *cry*

The lens are really comfortable. I buy so many lens a year it's ridculous and each one I can say has caused some irritation on the first few wears. I had no problem with these at all! I wore it for a full day and my eyes never felt dry or irritated once. I LOVE THEM! These are also now my favourite brown coloured lens and I can't wait to try out the grey and green ones.

I also ordered two sets of Eyemazing lashes through Makiko Online Shop and the direct link is *here*. I'm still waiting for those to arrive.

If you haven't heard already, the lovely Kelly from Pearly N Kelly has organised a Japan Shopping Spree for those who have been dreaming of getting their hands on Japanese make-up products such as CandyDoll, Melliesh, Diamond Lash including wigs by Prisila and Navana and many more products! Get your orders in now as the spree closes on 28th Feb! I want Diamond Lashes and slimming socks >.<. (maybe if i wear this around my head it can slim my face too! har har har..)

I've been working from home the last two days but I don't think I spent the time wisely... have a feeling it's gonna be a late one.

zzzZZZZZZzzzZZzzz

XDOLL

Quick Update

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:39:00 +0000

I'M SO SORRY GUYS!

It has been too long... I've been meaning to do a massive update this week but work has completely wiped me out.

Anyway this is just a quick update to let you guys know what's been happening and why I have been MIA for so long. Gonna keep it short and sweet, here goes:

First of all, I have been suffering from adult onset acne. Yes, acne. I have never had acne in my life...!! The doctor said it's hormonal as the spots gather around the sides of my face, jawline and neck (yuck). He prescribed a strong antibiotic and antiseptic cream which has helped a bit but I realised this whole thing started because I went off the pill in February! The acne came about in mid April and stayed with me throughout summer until I finally decided to see the doctor in late August. The spots gradually increased over time and I was at my lowest point in August - the spots had spread from my neck to my face and along my jawline all the way to my chin! I have now started taking the pill again and it has clearerd 70% of it the spots already. The next task, once all the spots have cleared will be to tackle the scars. My self confidence has plummeted to -1000 as my skin is really dry (from the cream), my complexion is at its worse its ever been and wearing make-up only shows up everything I want to hide! It makes me want to cry...
On the bright side, everything is improving right now so fingers crossed this will all be over by Christmas!

Secondly, I am enjoying my new job and have been putting all my efforts into learning everything I need to know. My schedule for the next month is absolutely manic so I won't have time to update! =(

Thirdly, my blog layout is lame. I really need to update it but I'm uninspired and confused about where to take my blog design-wise. Any suggestions? I'm not very good with Photoshop either. This is actually one of the main reasons why I haven't updated for so long. I have been procrastinating about changing the design and not wanting to blog until I have done so! I'm so stubborn... and lazy.

Fourthly, I had a terrible accident at the hair salon last weekend. I wanted to go to a light brown shade but instead the colourist turned me into a blondie.....with green streaks in my hair! I stopped bleaching my hair 5-6 months ago and those parts that have grown out have taken the ash toner really well. Bloody brilliant. I have been forced to clip my hair up everyday so the green streaks look more like highlights but even then you can see it's not right! Need to go for colour correction this weekend to sort it out because I'm not walking around with this hair for another week!!!

And lastly, ......new boyfriend. (Need I say anymore? Lol).
I've spent nearly every weekend with him since July so it's been difficult to find the time to update... but I'm really happy and really smitten with him *blush* ^_________^

I have photos from this summer to upload but it makes me depressed as my skin is really bad... *sigh*

Miss you guys loads. Sorry for neglecting my blog for so long but will try to update as much as possible! <3

XDOLL

PS. I've lost a few subscribers in the past few months and I know it's my fault but I just want to thank those who have stuck with me! I have so much to write about but please be patient - I will get there in the end. =) Also, thanks for those who have newly subscribed! *waves* Apologies for the emotional train wreck above but I will get back on track very soon....with lots of photos! xx

SORRY SORRY SORRY!

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:41:00 +0000

ごめんなさい!!

(more of a confused face than apologetic..but it's close enough! LOL)

PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

Sorry for being AWOL- So much has happened since my last post (June proved to be a tough month to get through) but I am much happier than I was back then. Yay.

I will do a proper update towards the end of the week but just to let you guys know.... I GOT A NEW JOB! WOOP WOOP!!! Four months of gruelling interviews and tests from recruitment agencies, enrolling to computer courses and whoring my CV around (10+ per a day) finally paid off.

One more month before I can start my job...I'm super excited!!!!

WATCH THIS SPACE.

XDOLL

PS. Thank you and hello to all my new subscribers! It really means alot. (And thanks to my older subscribers who have been patient with me!) ♥

NEW HAIR.....AGAIN!

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:07:00 +0000

Yes girls, I dyed my hair again. I was due for a touch up on my roots but I decided to go for a complete makeover.

I'm welcoming singledom with both arms wide open. It's time for a change.

So on Saturday I wasn't sure if I was going to be meeting up with Emmelie ♥ - I completely failed to make any arrangements prior her flight to London. (I'm so sorry!) As it reached 1pm and still no email from her, it was pretty clear that it was too late. So I headed off to my salon instead (still checking my emails on my Blackberry!).

When I got there the receptionist told me that my stylist, Yachiyo, was on holiday. I needed and was desperate to get my hair done so I settled for another stylist called John for a cut and colour. In the end, he did a fab job. I got rid of my blonde hair and went dark brown!!

It took while to get use to my reflection. I look so...normal.

The hair is now a short bob (with layers to make it look thick), just above my shoulders with a small side fringe.

I'll take a better picture next time. I also ditched my mahoosive Wonder Eye Brown circle lens and opted for an all brown lens. What do you think? Better blonde or brown hair?

The next exciting news (for gals in London anyway)is..... *drumrolls*

Japan Centre is now stocking POPSISTER MAGAZINE!!!!!!!

I did a double take when I was browsing through the Popteen/Egg/Ageha section and there, snuck in between Ranzuki and Popteen was the August issue of Popsister. *Squeals* I snapped it up at lightening speed aswell as Happie Nuts (August issue) too.

Happie Nuts came with a pair of flip flops by Emoda! It's soft and squidgy.

I've never bought this magazine before but with Ena Matsumoto gracing the cover and looking fierce, I couldn't resist! It was really pricey - just over £12 but it's so worth it. I will do some scans later this week.

I went shoe shopping to try and find some balck thick strapped sandal heels and founds these in Zara.

They were quite expensive by Zara standards at £50 but the inner sole is thickly cushioned so it's very comfortable. I really wanna pull off the Mode look since this trend is hitting the gal world fast. Now, all I need is a bandage skirt with a loose top tucked in and a headscarf turban!

Ena - looking chic as always.

That's all for today. Promise I will be back soon.

XDOLL

NEW HAIR X TATTOO X MAKE-UP

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:49:00 +0000

Hey guys, it's been a long time.. sadly, I've been feeling down for the last month but hopefully this feeling will pass. I dread waking up each morning because I can't face another day of going into work (and face the bastard boss), and then not wanting to go home (my work place is 20min walk away) as it only gives me more time to let my thoughts run wild in a negative way. I've been to five job interviews already but have been rejected by all of them. Needless to say this has had a knock-on effect on my self-confidence.. oh, and I broke up with my boyfriend last month too.

Throw some self-pity into that mixture and you've pretty much summed up the last three weeks for me. Lonely, desperate and suffocated. I so want to leave my job right now!

Anyhoo, I need to stay focused and get on and snap out of this self-pity thing!!
*FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS*
So as my blog title suggests, I have a new hair colour. This 'new' colour was done at the beginning of May but I've never blogged about it.. my hair is due for another session at the salon now. ¬_¬

I decided to go for the half coloured look, so I kept a block of blonde on one side while dying everything ese a dark ash brown. My stylist and colourist always joke about when they see me and ask 'Sooo, what will it be this time?' with a heavy sigh... haha. I'm never an easy customer!

Shame I don't have a photo of the back of it, the colours are parted in a slant.. it's pretty cool!

The next new thing is.....my tattoo!!!!!! I got mine done in Camden, I paid £200 for it and took over 3 hours to complete! This was something I planned to do last year but sat on it because I didn't really know what I wanted. In the end, half a year later, I narrowed it down to wanting something pretty and oriental (Chinese). What I didn't want was a generic Chinese tattoos such a dragon, phoenix and/or Chinese writing or Japanese art work. So I came up with this design...

I should've kept it this colour! No tattoo work done yet, it's just the stencil.

Three hours later...

Oriental fan with Chinese peonies.

I love it so much!

The tattoo shop was called Evil from the Needle on Camden High Street.

A recent pic of my tatt without the redness.

Since making the Chinatsu make-up video I've been meaning to do another video but don't have all the relevant bits for it. I was thinking of doing either Sakurina or Kanako's make-up tutorial. Kanako has recently got a new fringe so I was thinking of cutting mine when I next go to the salon.. so maybe I should do Sakurina first as I can sorta imitate her hair without needing a fringe. I attempted her make-up a few days ago but I failed miserably! I need more practice and more importantly... her contact lens! So I ordered a pair from PinkyParadise along with a massive haul from Sasa.com for DollyWink lashes.

Barbie King Size Circle Brown.

No.1 and No.2

No.7.

Can't wait to try these out!

So my failed attempt at Sakurina's make-up looked like this:

The eyelashes aren't right especially the top ones.

On my Sasa purchase I ordered some Koji eyelid tape too! Haha.. never used them before so I'm curious to see how it'll look on me. I think it might help to make my eyes look rounder and bigger to achieve Sakurina's eyes.

That's all for now guys and I promise to update more! Oh! And lastly, in the past two issues of Egg, one model that really caught my attention was Nonoka. Everything about her is stunning! Her hair, pale skin and her funky style... hmmm, I think I'm having a lesbian crush on her XDDDD

CHINATSU WAKATSUKI MAKE-UP TUTORIAL [VIDEO]

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:26:00 +0000

So here it is...

I've been busy with work and stuff so it's taken me over a week to edit the whole thing! As this is my first make-up video please don't expect anything spectacular as it's far from being perfect. I got sick of looking at my face and had moments where I wanted to delete the whole thing! I 'ummed' and 'ahhed' about uploading it to youtube and it took alot of courage...there are so many people on there who are on a mission to write horrible comments. I've always stuck by these words - if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it. I realised at the very end of editing the video that I looked nothing like Chinatsu... the make-up I mean (well, and face too lol). I needed a fringe of some sort so I wore clip-on fringe and a wig to add to the look.

Any pointers or suggestions on how I can improve are welcome =)

XDOLL

CHINATSU WAKATSUKI MAKE-UP TUTORIAL...

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:39:00 +0000

...COMING SOON!

†XDOLL† X W♥C

KUMIKO FUNAYAMA INSPIRED EYE MAKE-UP

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:19:00 +0000

I decided to try out my Shu Uemura lashes today. Can't remember what it's called (I bought them a while back) but it's the half lashes with three stars on each set! I layered this with a full length MAC lashes underneath. For the lower lid I cut up an old set and trimmed each invidual bit to size/length.

The stars are so pretty!

The lower lashes are nicer on this eye. >_<

This is my first time so I think I did OK! Stick them about 2-3mm away from your water line.

Top view.

To achieve Kumikki's eye make-up it's important that you stick the lashes further out to where your lashes naturally end. This will elongate your eyes and also create that semi-circular eye shape.

I look stupid...but this was the clearest profile picture of my eyes!

I had the worst outfit dilemma this morning - I was trying to revolve my outfit around a pair of shoes. It probably would've been a damn sight easier if I had been less stubborn about it and chose another pair of shoes but I knew I wouldn't be happy unless I wore that particular pair. Headache. *sigh*

It was a hot/sunny day so uggs were definitely out of the question. Haha..

50 million outfit changes + indecisive me = a really messy room

.....can you spot my bed?

Uh oh.....

RANZUKI MAY 2010 X CAMWHORE X SHOPPING

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:25:00 +0000

As promised, here are the scans of May's Ranzuki magazine.

This is actually my first Ranzuki mag purchase as the cover was too cute not to buy (it came with a cute freebie too) and because SCawaii, Egg and Popteen were not available at the time. Tbh, I got bored flicking through the fashion section. The make-up and hair spread was interesting but that was about it. Egg is similar to Ranzuki right? But I still prefer Egg magazine... I think it's because I like the models in it!

Anyway, here are the pages I thought were cute:

***PLEASE MAKE REFERENCE TO MY BLOG IF YOU TAKE ANY OF THE IMAGES BELOW***

THANK YOU =)

Free SBY scrunchy. You can wear it as a hair band, wrist band or an accessory!

I liked this spread because it shows you how to put together dark clothing with denim.

I prefer the 'rock' look....

So colourful! =)

Arichan was my favourite from the personal style section. She's fun and colourful ^^

Onto the beuty section:

The SBY freebie:

My epic fail attempt in using it as a hair scrunchy -_-"

TA-DA!

LOL!!!!!

My hair is too thin and layered to use it as a hair scrunchy!

I went back to Japan Center yesterday to see if my magazines were available....and they were! WOOO! My staple buys are usually Egg and Popteen. But I wanted to buy SCawaii this time because I can't get enough of Chinatsu!!! I <3 her style.

I was really disappointed with both Egg and Popteen's cover.

START RANT://

EGG

You all should know by now that I love Kanako but this seriously is NOT the best photo of her... her eye make-up is really bad and it's a close up shot too! The overall decoration of the cover is poor...the 'Egg' logo is plain white. Where are all the flowery or animal prints gone that were on previous covers?!

Kanako's personal style is funky and colourful...but sometimes it can be pretty awful... lol.

I bought it anyway because I'm very loyal to Egg. =)

POPTEEN

ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?!?! ANOTHER KUMIKO COVER!??!

I'm sooooo booooored of looking at her face. Seriously Popteen. Way to go to promote her but this is taking it too far.

I'm boycotting Popteen until I see another model besides Kumiko on the cover.

The last issue was a total disappointment. I've actually scanned in tonnes of images of it two weeks ago but haven't uploaded it, do you know why? Because it's so bloody boring. At least the first quarter of the magazine was all country/western style. I know it's in fashion and all but is it really necessary to have soooooooo many pictures of the same type of Liz Lisa style country and western? Some of it isn't even wearable... I mean do I really want to dress up like a cow girl from head to toe?

For sometone who doesn't wear this style in general, I would be wasting all my money buying an outfit from the straw hat to cowboy boots and when Autumn/Winter fashion kicks in...I would never wear those clothes again.

I enjoy the make-up section of Popteen and the general look of the models but when it comes to hair, there are no short hair gyaru's. Can't be inspired by any of the hair stuff because I can't try any of it...

I didn't buy Popteen this time.

://END RANT

So this month was just SCawaii, Egg and Ranzuki.

Chinatsu's little insert mini magazine...

Gorgeous eyelashes!

CHINATSUUUUUUUUU

Now for some camwhore pics:

I walked down Regent's Street after buying the magazines and decided to have a look in Zara. I love Zara's TRF collection because it's affordable! But some of the stuff is really....er.... European.......... lol.

I deliberately picked up a few things and that were definitely not my style just to see how it looks....

Bad idea.

I have a complex about my face looking too, what's the word....manly. Yes. Manly. I think my jaw is too wide so I can't look feminine even is I had long hair. That's why going country and western style is all great BUT if you don't have long hair (LIKE ALL THE MODELS IN POPTEEN!) and have a small feminie face and a pointy chin... then it's like seeing a man in drag. HAhahaaa...

As I mentioned before, I much prefer the 'rock' look (it's my personal style tbh) and anything black, gothy or...emo. I'll show you.....

See what I mean? There's something not quite right. Myabe it's my hair colour..I dunno. I've said many times to my bestfriend sometimes 'my face doesn't match the outfit'! I think this is a prime example of that.

Manly face + Short Hair + Floral pattern clothes = NG!

Ahhhhh....much better don't you think?

I love love love the top on the left and it's good for work too (+ a black vest underneath of course otherwise it's a bit hoochie ;p)

Ok. This is the longest post I've done so far. I need a break.

*Pats herself on the back*

BAI BAI for now!

(my 'screw face')

†XDOLL†

I ♥ YOUR BLOG AWARD

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 23:32:00 +0000

First of all I would like to apologise for my absence on Blogger. No particular reason really - just been busy with work, looking after my cats and spent most of my free time playing God of War 3!! Har Har Har. (My gamer tag is 'XDOLL' if you guys wanna add or have a PS3.)

Secondly I would like to say a big thank you to Rena and aimei for tagging me with a 'I ♥ Your Blog' Award!!

You girlies are the sweetest!

I've nominated 15 newly discovered blogs that I love (in no particular order):

FINDING TOKYO
(FINDNG TOKYO - thanks for the link on your blog! ^^)

～小悪魔蝶～ ♡姫ドールSIRUのブログ♡

***EDIT***
I've decided to add a 16th blog to this list because this is how much I ❤ YOUR BLOG

Pearly N Kelly!

I bought the May issue of Ranzuki magazine on Sunday. It came with a cute hair scrunchy and/or you can wear it as a wrist band. I will scan the images in tomorrow!

Love you all!

XDOLL

P.S. And HAPPY BELATED EASTER! I definitely had one too many Easter eggs over the weekend....

NEW HAIR COLOUR X FOTD

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:38:00 +0000

I had my hair coloured on Saturday. I decided to ditch the blonde hair.. it was fun while it lasted and I'm definitely going to miss it, but it's very high maintenance and expensive (and damaging of course). That being said, I have kept some of the blonde bits! Hehehe. I have light brown hair with blonde streaks. At the moment my hair looks green because the combination of ash blonde streaks and ash brown makes green... *sigh*. Can't wait for the toner to wear off slightly.

My inspiration is of course, Kanako Kawabata. My favourite gal model if you haven't noticed already. I wanted her multi-streaks and tones.

This is how it turned out:

In natural light.

There's suppose to be a block of blonde in the middle there...can you spot it? I guess it's not that obvious!

With flash. Does not look this light in person.

It doesn't come close to the amount of different shades Kanako has in her hair so might ask my stylist next time to just go for it!

I bought from Yesstyle Missha's Perfect Cover BB Cream and it arrived last Friday. I was excited to try it as it's mentioned in a million make-up blogs so had to get. Here's how it turned out:

This photo shows off my hair colour better than the photos above! Love love love this foundation!

[Face]

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream (light beige)

MAC Studio Fix Powder C3

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil (hazel)

MAC 'Bare Study' Paint Pot

MAC 'Swoon' Blusher

[Eyes]

Kate Diamond Cut BR-1

MAC Fluidline Eye Liner

Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes Mascara

[Lips]

Vasaline

I really liked this look as it was very simple and quick. The BB cream was actually too light for my skin so I had to add a dusting of Mac Studio Fix powder on top. Using eyeshadow as bottom liner really softens the eyes. I layered on the mascara especially on the lower lashes. The Givenchy mascara is bloody amazing! The brush is a little spiked ball so you can be precise as to where you want to apply especially in the outer corners. ^__^

That's all for today.

BAI BAI

EGG APRIL 2010

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:22:00 +0000

Some scans from Egg's April issue. I only scanned in the 15 new spring trends section! The cover is really cute and Kanako looks so pretty (as some of you may already know), she is my favourite Egg model so I ♥ it so much more. I'm going to try and translate each trend/style but as I only did less than a year of Japanese 2 years ago... it won't be 100% accurate (but near enough) and tbh it's quite obvious what each style is by looking!

I also bought April's Popteen and Vivi but haven't managed to scan the pages yet. Popteen's cover is cute too but I am slowly growing tired of seeing Kumiko on every cover (not to mention she is almost on every single page)! I do like her but she only has one look/expression. Seriously............mix it up girl!

Kanako ftw. Enjoy.

01 - W♥C (brand)

*click for a larger image*

02 - Western Vintage VS Bohemian Vintage

03 - Floral

04 - Bloomer bottom

05 - Kira Kira (shiny/glittery)

06 - Light outer

07 - Loose white dress

08 - COCOLULU (brand)

09 - Long One-Piece

10 - Sexy One-Piece

11 - Polka dot

12 - Sandal boots

13 - Denim

14 - (anyone know? something clash?...)

15 - Casual black

Here are the top 10 accessories for Spring:

SHOPPING: I ♥ FAKE UGGS

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:27:00 +0000

OMG my retail therapy this month has been the worst by far. I just spent another £100+ on Yesstyle and I've already spent another £100+ on high street clothing stores! EEEEEK! (and not to mention I have to get my roots done again soon!)

What to do eh? *Sigh*

So within last weeks shopping expedition to Oxford Street I found myself in the middle of Barratts staring at the sale display which seemed to only stock Sketchers shoes, and when I say shoes I mean uggs. They had the light beige colour or black. I tried both of them but for some reason the beige looked nicer than the black but I probably would get more wear out of the black ones...hmm, choices choices...maybe I should buy both? They were on sale from £85 to £50 and were the tall uggs. Tempting.
But in the end I chose only to purchase the beige ones...they go with my blonde hair!

...can't really see them but they look like uggs. Use your imagination. =)

Or you can just look at the photo below:

I actually prefer the shape of these than to the genuine 'Uggs'. The real Uggs are quite shapeless but these are fatter around the calf area so it a little more flattering for my legs (when I wear them with tights my legs look sooooo skinny. I like ♥). Also, I'm really not too fussed about these not being the real deal... they were £50 and they keep my feet so so warm!

My style has changed dramatically to what it was last month. I hardly recognise myself in these pictures...damn you Jap fashion mags! I suppose I was going for a toned down Kanako Kawabata (Egg magazine) style here.

*Yawns* It's Friday!!! One more day of work and then it's freedom!!!!!!! Going to bed now.. toodles.

XDOLL

ONLINE SHOPPING: RAKUTEN X EBAY

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:45:00 +0000

I was so excited to see my Rakuten package sitting on my desk when I went to work last week! YAAAAAY! So happy! It was my first purchase from Rakuten and I had no problems at all so will definitely use this site again. I ordered a fur leopard print coat with a hood:

It came to around £50 including express delivery which I think is a bargain.

Don't worry, I'm still blonde! I tried on a piece of clip-on fringe in brown and also clip-in extensions on the side of my head... for fun! I really want to dye my hair brown now..

My Ebay purchase was the pair of glasses (also worn in the above picture).The eBay shop was called 'Retronetty' and it cost me £9 (free delivery). BARGAIN.

After a pointless camera whoring session the lens on the glasses started to irritate me because the screen light kept reflecting off from it! So I popped it out....

Annoying reflective glare..

That's better!

The last two pictures were taken after a night out at SeOne last Friday. It was a CNY party, a week late, but nonetheless it was good and they even did a count down at 1am. Random? My best friend has gone to Tokyo for a week then to Singapore for another week. I miss her so much already, can't wait for her to come back!!!!!!

HAPPY CNY EVERYONE!

♥XDOLL♥

GYARU INSPIRED EYELASH TUTORIAL

noreply@blogger.com († XDOLL †) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:34:00 +0000

As promised, this is going to be a mini eyelash tutorial. I don't claim to be the best but this is how I do my fake lashes.... and I want to share it with you guys! I also don't think this is the only way to do it, if you have a different way or an easier way please leave a comment and let me know! So here goes...my first tutorial!

These are the lashes I use:

I swear by these although they don't stock them at every Boots store.

I bought these for fun but they turned out to be quite useful!

Layer the two sets of lashes:

So this is what I'm trying to achieve - a feminine feathery lash effect.
This will go on your top lash. These aren't glued on together btw. The Eylure ones will be applied first and then I go onto adding the three seperate ones after. I think it's easier to see the shape you are trying to create if you apply them individually.

The remaining 4 Shu Uemura lashes will go on your outer lower lash line.

Pair them up so they look like this:

So before you apply your falsies you will need to have a basic eye make-up to work with. Line your eyes with an eyeliner and add mascara.

(This will help blend the falsies with your natural lashes.)

When all the falsies are on it should look something like this:

Apply the lashes on the lower lid a few mm away from your natural lash line. This will create larger looking eyes and also prevents the top + bottom lashes from sticking together when you blink! (Sorry for this terribly pixelated photo, I never actually took a close up photo when I finished so had to zoom into a portrait shot!)

Side profile.
Oh and I am wearing prescripted contact lens at 14.7mm. They are so big! I think coloured lenses are very important in getting the gyaru look.

I think it looks quite subtle and I love the feathery effect on the outer corners. You can skip doing the lower lashes if you want a more natural look!

♥ XDOLL ♥