Just a short update

The late September sun is hanging low over frosty lawns today and like many other people I am suffering from the annual flu. My nose is red and shiny and when I look in the mirror I can see the resemblance of a gothic Rudolf. Haha, I just heard Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer in my head, sung by Andrew Eldritch! XD But despite my sore throat and fever-caused headache I am so, so happy.

The other day I got a call from one of the top makeup companies in the world offering me a job at one of their counters. It has been a dream of mine to work for that company ever since I began working with makeup; even before I started this blog. Now it has come true and I have to pinch my arm from time to time, checking that it is all not just a dream.

Well, I've spent this past weekend in bed, trying to recover from this nasty flu, so I haven't really been in the mood to create a new look for you. What I have done, however, is to start planning a little for a new makeup series and for a HUGE project that hopefully will become reality before the end of this year. I will keep it a secret for the time being (just because I want to make you more curious, mohahaha!) but I can promise you it is quite exciting. ;)

And just because it is so boring to do a blog post without any pictures at all I will show you this amazing visual for M.A.C.'s Halloween Collection:

Source

I think I actually might try and recreate this, because it is the most inspiring Halloween look I've seen this year, this far.

Anyway, hope you've all had a great weekend and that you haven't contracted illness as I have!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

Today I used my Illamasqua Paranormal palette to create this quirky Beetlejuice inspired look. Do you have any idea how much I love striped eyelids? :P I have at least two more stripe looks planned at the moment but the possibilities are limitless.

Until I saw Beetlejuice I always thought that Michael Keaton was quite a lame actor, but now I think he's brilliant! :)

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! 

Hmm... I don't know what happened but when I put the photos into Blogger my skin texture appears rough and uneven, but on the photos on my computer my skin looks just normal. Anyone else experiencing this problem? :S

Face

*Skin Base Foundation 02 (Illamasqua)

Eyebrows

*Brow powder Dark brown (Anastasia)

*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)

Eyes

*Jumbo Pencil Milk (NYX)

*Medium pencil Sophie (Illamasqua)

*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)

*24/7 Glide on Eye pencil Vice (Urban Decay)* 

*24/7 Glide on Eye pencil Freak (Urban Decay)* 

*Paranormal palette eyeshadow Trance (Illamasqua)

*Paranormal palette eyeshadow Possession (Illamasqua)

*Tako (Sugarpill)

*Midori (Sugarpill)

*Diamond eyes (Sugarpill)

*False eyelashes #28 (Red Cherry)

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Today I got prescription contact lenses (not with any color, just regular lenses...) and it feels so weird to have normal vision without wearing glasses! I hate wearing glasses though, so I should have gotten contacts a long time ago. 

Anyway, thanks a lot for reading and hope you liked the look! :)

*Urban Decay is owned by L'Oreal which is not a cruelty-free brand. 

Paranormal Palette Review

My sweet boyfriend has been abroad and brought me home some (or actually a lot) of presents, among them the Illamasqua Paranormal palette. :)

The shadows of this palette are rather unique since their texture is not really powdery but definitely not completely creamy either. It is something right in between a regular powder eyeshadow and a cream shadow, which makes them more pigmented and provides us with a long-lasting, water-resistant formula.

As usual, I swatched these first on bare skin and then on top of NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk, but to be honest, I couldn't see any difference. They are highly pigmented both with and without a base and the ultra-light formula makes them easy to apply smoothly and even easier to blend.

Paranormal - dark, rose pink with a rather subtle shimmer.

Aura - warm peachy copper with a golden sheen.

Possession - cool, pistachio green.

Trance - soft shimmery violet

My favorite in the bunch is definitely Possession, but Aura (which I thought I wouldn't like that much) was also a positive surprise. Paranormal is quite a cool color and I can imagine it looking amazing with gold and black! As for Trance it is the most boring of these shades. It is a pretty color, alright, but we have seen this purple shade a million times before.


Pros: The eyeshadows are very easy to work with, have great color payoff and a very pleasant texture with a water-resistant finish.

Cons: The lightweight formula easily leads to overdosage, overdosage leads to creasing, creasing leads to hate and hate leads to the Dark Side... So watch out, ok?

Price: £34 

Overall this is quite an exciting palette, especially if you're into pastels, and if you want to try eyeshadows with a texture that you (probably) haven't encountered before you should definitely get it.

I really hope that this review has been helpful and that you all will have a lovely day! :)

Sugarpill Cold Chemistry Swatches and Look

I did this look a couple of days ago and was very excited to post it, but Friday I went to Stockholm, on short-term notice, for a job interview. It is a makeup-artist job for a company, whose products I really love to work with, so I would so love to get it! (Hold your fingers crossed for me please!)

So you'll get to see my Cold Chemistry swatches and look today instead. :)

The Cold Chemistry Palette is a collaboration Amelia Arsenic, model and designer of the fashion brand A is for arsenic London. It differs from the earlier Sugarpill palettes from the start, with its rectangular shape instead of the typical square adorned with pretty, bright colors. This palette adopts a darker more mysterious aesthetics. 

When you open the palette the difference with the earlier compact eyeshadows continues. This collection consists of four shimmery eyeshadows and dark mysterious shades opposed to the matte, brightly colored ones from the earlier palettes. 

Swatches without base, photographed with flash.

Swatches with NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk as base, photographed with flash.

With NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk as base, photographed without flash.

From left to right:

Soot & Stars 
Black eyeshadow with a lot of sparkle that mostly look silver but in different light changes to all the colors of the rainbow.
Vegan.

Diamond eyes
White shimmery eyeshadow with a pink sheen (or is it just my imagination?). This is the color for highlighting the inner corners.
Vegan.

Elemental chaos
Deep purple with a blue sheen. This rather gloomy color would definitely be Eeyore's favorite eyeshadow. ;)
Not vegan (contains carmine)

Subterranean
Dark, bottle green with navy blue undertones. I don't think I have any other colors in my eyeshadow collection that are similar to this one so this one is a very interesting addition. :)
Vegan.

All of these eyeshadows are insanely pigmented. Duh! It's Sugarpill! Of course they are! ;) The colors of the palette are perfect to combine with each other to create a dark, harmonious look.

WARNING! Please read this before trying on this look at home! The glitter flakes I've used are extremely sharp and are NOT supposed to be used anywhere near the eyes. Think about what extensive damage those sharp corners can make to your eyes! I made this look for the purpose of this photo shoot; it is not supposed to be worn. If you're not 100% sure of what you're doing DON'T TRY THIS LOOK AT HOME!

The lipstick is another new makeup item that I will write a review on some time in a future not far from now - OCC Lip tar in the shade Batty which is part of the Sci-Fi Lullabies collection that came out this past spring. I love the name that is taken from the character Roy Batty from Blade Runner.

Face

*Ready foundation 130 (Bare minerals)

*Mineral Veil (Bare Minerals)

*Blush Peach (Make Up Store)

Eyebrows

*Brow powder Dark brown (Anastasia)

Eyes

*Shadow Insurance (original) (Too Faced)

*Jumbo Pencil Milk (NYX)

*All colors from the Cold Chemistry palette (Sugarpill)

*Velvet revolver (Too Faced)
*24/7 Glide on Eye pencil Vice (Urban Decay)* 

*False eyelashes #28 (Red Cherry)
*Glitter flakes from Panduro craft store

Lips

*Medium pencil Sophie (Illamasqua)
*Lip tar Batty (OCC)

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What do you think of the Cold Chemistry palette? How would you combine the different colors? :)

Thanks for reading!

*Urban Decay is owned by L'Oreal which is not a cruelty-free brand.