Illamasqua Snap

This is the second drool-worhty shade of nail polish I got from Illamasqua. It is a cold stormy pewter grey that for some reason makes me think of Victorian London. That is of course awesome. But, unfortunately, the awesomeness drops downwards quite steeply when it comes to the formula. Maybe it's because I had so high expectations on this polish, after trying Baptiste, but I was rather disappointed with Snap. 

The formula is far too thick to conceive a satisfactory result. It is hard to work with and leaves brush strokes and an uneven finish. Some of these flaws are removed when the top coat is applied, but the surface of the nails aren't as smooth as I require from a good nail polish. :/

Also, despite a fast drying top coat, Snap takes a very long time to dry. Several hours after finishing the manicure I still got dents in my nails from bumping them into things. Not cool.
The good thing about the thickness of the polish is that it has a very good coverage. You only need one application to get full coverage (although I like to apply two coats anyway).

Because of the formula this polish becomes moderate instead of awesome, which is a little bit sad since it is SO pretty.

What do you think about Snap? Have you tried it?

Thank yo uso much for reading and hope you'll have a wonderful day, evening, morning or whatever time of the day it is in your corner of the universe! :)

Velocity

When I do a cat eye makeup look the main color is usually either black, purple or red. And most often I use more than one color to create the look. I wanted to break my usual creative pattern and do something very simple, yet very spectacular; a decision that gave birth to this royal blue cat eye. :)

I swear, this look is so easy to do. First, outline the shape of the cat eye with a black khol pencil, then fill it in with the same pencil. Blend out the edges. Pack on the blue (or any colorful shade...) eyeshadow on to of the black and blend out the edges again. To get an even smoother transition just use an eyeshadow or powder the same shade as your skin tone when blending the edges.

Something that is important, though, is to apply black on the lash line to intensify your eyes and add depth. Otherwise, you will end up with a rather flat look. Not too cute...
Another interesting fact is that I spent a lot more time on my foundation/concealer and powder for this look, which really shows! I haven't edited my skin at all in these pictures and still it looks smooth. :)

Nude lips, black lips, blue lips... Whatever floats your boat. :)

Face

*Skin base foundation 02 (Illamasqua)

*Studio finish concealer (M.A.C.)

*Loose powder (Isadora)

Eyebrows

*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)

Eyes

*Velocity (Sugarpill)

*Blanc Type (M.A.C.)*

*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)

*Medium Pencil S.O.P.H.I.E. (Illamasqua)

*Contacts from Photoshop ;)

Lips

*Studio finish concealer (M.A.C.)

*Edelweiss Lipgloss (Face Stockholm)

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Before drawing on the eyebrows I decided to take some pics without them to play with a little bit in the computer. This is the... eh... kind of scary result. :P

Thank you for reading! :)

Illamasqua Baptiste

Here is another purple beauty from Illamasqua. This time it is the nail polish Baptiste that was another item I received as a Christmas gift from my lovely boyfriend.
I hate wearing nail polish without a fast-drying top coat, and since my Seche Vite went all viscous on me a couple of days after Christmas, I decided to avoid nail polish until my new one had arrived. That's why I haven't posted any swatches or reviews on it yet. :) And speaking of fast-drying top coats, this time I got the one from Poshé insted of Seche Vite, since it is supposed to be better. Of course I will write a review on that one as well, some time.

Illamasqua's Baptiste is a dark shimmery purple which is nothing but gorgeous. I think it is a perfect adornment for both short and long nails and I find it classy and a little crazy in the same time, which is a winning combination.

Honestly, it is hard to find something to complain about when it comes to this nail polish. It is a great formula which is easy to work with and it dries quite fast. One of the nails started chipping after about 24 hours but I don't think it has anything to do with the polish itself since the others stayed just fine for yet another 24 hours. I must be cruel to my nails or something because nail polish tend to chip on me after only a couple of days... Or maybe that is normal. I don't know.

The only reason I won't give this nail polish 5/5 is because of the chipping. As I said I don't know if it is me being awfully careless with my nails or the actual polish, but I have tried polishes that has stayed perfect for up to 4 days...

As usual I would love to hear your thoughts on this product. :) Do you have it or plan to get it?

Thank you so much for reading and hope you'll have a lovely weekend!

Dark gold (but definitely wearable...)

As Christmas fades away I suppose people are getting tired of golds, reds and greens. So am I, but I am itching to play around with my Goldilux loose eyeshadow so you have to bear with me this time. ;)

This is a soft and subtle look that will suit anyone, goth or not. Since gold is a color that normally don't belong in the average goth's makeup wardrobe I figured I'd combine it with long black eyelashes and a dark purple lip to create a more mysterious and unique look.

Since Goldilux is such a highly reflective pigment I figured it would be perfect to use it as an inner corner highlight. When you move your head Goldilux will catch the light from different angels, resulting in a tremendous highlighting effect.

On the lid I've used a dark and a medium brown to create a soft and natural smokey eye. Instead of gold you could use silver or why not a bright blue or green? :)

On my lips I'm wearing Kontrol by Illamasqua. Read the review here.

Step 1. Fill in your eyebrows and prime your eyes. Powder your eyelids above your crease to make the eyeshadow easier to blend.

Step 2. Dark brown in the outer corner of the eye. Drag it into the crease and fade it out towards your nose.

Step 3. Medium brown on your lid and underneath your eye.

Step 4. Highlight the inner corner and underneath your brows with NYX Milk.

Step 5. Line waterlines and upper lash line with black eyeliner pencil. Blend out the pencil in the upper lash line with black eyeshadow.

Step 6. Apply white eyeshadow underneath the brows and gold in the inner corner.

Step 7. Mascara and false eyelashes.

Step 8. Purple lipstick.

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I hope this tutorial has been helpful and that you like the look. Thank you for reading. :)

Illamasqua Kontrol

This lipstick was the first item that I fell in love with when I discovered the brand Illamasqua. The matte, bluish violet shade will definitely attract attention to your lips! Isn't it absolutely lovely? :)

It is so damn hard to give an overall grade to a product. The product overall can be great but still have some flaws that would have to be mentioned. Therefore, I decided to do a new grading system where different variables of the product will be graded separately. What do you guys think about this? Is it more helpful than an overall grade of the product?

The formula is thick and nice but somehow the lipstick manages to go on rather sheer anyway. For full opacity you have to go over your lips 2-3 times. Blot your lips in between the applications. This creates a long-lasting result.
Although it is a matte lipstick I feel that it is very moisturizing on my lips, which is a big + in my book. After a couple of hours, though, I begin to feel the dryness.

To whom would I recommend this lipstick? To anyone who wants a high-quality lipstick in an unusual shade.

Price: £16 at Illamasqua's Website


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Have any one of you tried this lipstick? What did you think? Have you tried any other of the lipsticks by Illamasqua?

Thanks for reading!

Monthly Theme: New Years Eve

First of all I want to say thank you to all of you who have shown me support in the matter of my pictures that were stolen, mutilated and published in the web magazine called Stylish Eve. I have contacted the magazine and asked them to compensate me for the pictures but they have, as I'm writing this yet not answered. I will give them a couple of more days before I am going to take further actions. Anyway, thank you so much for your support and a big hug to all of you! <3 

I know, it is a little bit late to post New Years Eve makeup looks in January but it is this months Monthly Theme at Sophistique Noir. I wanted to do a look with glitter, because New Years Eve is all about glitter and fireworks and such, so I went to search for convenient inspirational pictures. 

This is the picture that inspired me for this look. I've been dreaming of going to London for a long time now and I really hope that I will have the opportunity to do so during 2013. :)

Source

Now on to the look itself...

Underneath the pink sparkles two eyeshadows are hiding; Dollipop (inner part of the lid) and 2AM (outer part). Put them on on top of NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk and blend upwards slightly above the crease. Then, use a pink or crystal/white glitter eyeliner as "glue" for your glitter to stick to.

As the title suggests this is a look for you who's into more bold makeup. An eye-makeup like this one is definitely a head-turner! :)

I was going to wear this makeup for a shopping trip so I decided to balance out this bold eye-makeup with a neutral lip. Normally, I would have combined it with a black lip, to achieve a more gothic approach, but sometimes you just have those kinds of days when you want to avoid attention and to bold makeup would be just too much. Today was such a day for me.

Face

*Skin base foundation 02 (Illamasqua)

*Loose powder (Isadora)

Eyebrows

*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)

Eyes

*2AM (Sugarpill)

*Dollipop (Sugarpill)

*Tako (Sugarpill)

*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)

*Waterproof Glossy Eyeliner (Isadora)

*Medium Pencil S.O.P.H.I.E. (Illamasqua)

*False lashes #111 (Ardell)

Lips

*Darling (Makeup Geek)

*Edelweiss lipgloss (Face Stockholm)

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I must confess that I have never made any "promises" for the new year before, but this year I have one; I am going to brush my dogs teeth every day. She hates getting her teeth brushed and as a result we haven't brushed them as often as we should. Dental health is very important for small dog breeds because of their increased tendency for loosening of the teeth. 

Anyways, hope you liked the look and thank you very much for reading! :) Have a great weekend! 

Stolen pictures

I just discovered that an online magazine called "Stylish Eve" has used my pictures without my consent and removed my watermark by cutting the pictures in a hideously ugly way. They are violating my art! *___*

http://www.stylisheve.com/eye-makeup-ideas-with-drawings-for-blue-eyes/

Why can't people just ask before using other peoples stuff? And if not asking then at least leave my pictures intact with a link to my website! Gaahh! I get so mad! -___-