Fyrinnae Halloween: Werewolves and Pumpkins

I think I promised more Halloween looks... I got a haul from Fyrinnae a couple of days ago. I picked up some more of their Halloween 2009 stuff. I love them. Druid Werewolf looks dark, tarnished gold (with burgundy notes) on my lids. Pumpkinfire is black-based shadw with tons of shimmer ranging from gold and orange to green. Medieval Haunting is an antique gold with flashes of silver. I decided to use these three together and create a darker look (but not as freaky as my Death experiment).

Werewolves and Pumpkins

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (on upper lid as a primer)
Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Druid Werewolf (all over upper lid)
Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Pumpkinfire (outer vee and crease, wetlined on upper lashline)
Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Medieval Haunting (wetlined on lower lashline)
Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Platinum (as a highlighter below brow)
Lumene Blueberry Curl Waterproof mascara in Rich Black

Face:

Purely Cosmetics Skin Smoothing foundation in Custom Blend
Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish finishing powder
Meow Cosmetics Pampered Puss foundation in Inquisitive Sphynx (to contour, under cheekbones)
Meow Cosmetics Firefly blush in Illuminate (on cheeks)
Meow Cosmetics Crystalline Cat Glow in Quartz (on cheekbones, temples, bridge of the nose, chin)

Lips:

Illamasqua Sheer Lip Gloss in Soul
Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Solstice






Here you can see how velvety the Fyrinnae shadows look. I had a bit of a problem blending Pumpkinfire because it's so glittery. I even tried using Pixie Epoxy but that made things very sticky which didn't help. So when I had done the crease, I blended Pumpkinfire in with a little Druid Werewolf. Pumpkinfire looks so good wetlined because it really brings out the shimmer.

I didn't want to do a cat eye because we're talking werewolves here. And my eyes have been watering lately so my look would've been destroyed before any pictures. So I blended the shadows upwards and made the shape of my eye a bit rounder.





I didn't get a decent pic with my eyes closed. It seems that it's that time of the year when we Finns don't see much of the sun, even when it's middle of the day. But you can see the shimmer of Pumpkinfire.

Some of you may wonder why I don't line my lower waterline. I have really sensitive eyes and lining my waterline makes my eyes red and watery. I do it sometimes when I absolutely have to but it doesn't feel nice. I actually can't use Fyrinnae's Inks because I get an immediate reaction to them. It's a bummer because the colours are really nice and interesting.






With such strong eye makeup, I wanted to do almost nude lips. I first put on some Soul and then I dabbed Solstice over it. I didn't want to use too much of Solstice because I was afraid it would go too Egyptian instead of werewolf.

I'm a huge fan of Druid Werewolf, I think it's a fabulous shade. It doesn't look like much on the jar but it's gorgeous. I like the velvety finish and the almost burgundy undertones. It's almost metallic but not really. It's also easy to use for everyday looks. Yes, it's a bit dark but it's not "young lady, please wash your face" dark.

I might do more Halloween looks so if you have something in your mind, let me know? But in the meantime, how do you like this one?

Join the Mineral Makeup Mutiny

Are you tied of ordering mineral makeup and noticing that what you've ordered seems so... familiar?

Join the mineral makeup mutiny and support independent businesses that create their own shades - for real!

Say NO to re-packaging and greediness!

Illamasqua swatches and review

Hello there!

When you are a beauty junkie, you pretty much browse the net looking for new exciting things to drool at and test. I had never heard of Illamasqua and would've lived my life in complete ignorance if I hadn't found out about their nail polishes through Scrangie's blog. I had no intention of buying nail polish but I decided to check out Illamasqua's webstore and just have a quick look. UH-OH. They were selling cosmetics, too!

Illamasqua is a relatively new makeup brand from UK. They are not selling trend products as such, they are interested in night time makeup. They describe their line with the words "Makeup for your alter ego". Simply put, it means the edgier and stronger side of you that comes out when you go clubbing etc.

Well, it didn't take me too long to make the decision to check their products out. And it only took a week when I got my goodies.

Here are some of their lip glosses in their nifty squeeze tubes:

From top to bottom: Move, Mistress, Soul, Galactica

Move, Mistress and Galatica are Intense Lip Glosses which means they are more pigmented than Soul which is from the Sheer Lip Gloss line. Move and Mistress are both matte in the sense that although they are very glossy, they don't have shimmer or glitter in them.

This is Move on my lips (sorry about the face, I'm not wearing any makeup apart from the lip gloss in these photos). It's a lovely pink-mauve colour. I used to have a similar colour but I think I accidentally threw it in the bin (and afterwards banged my head on the wall for several minutes). Really lovely, I'm very happy with this shade because it's so flattering.

And this beauty is Mistress. A warm, a bit orangey red that looks scary in the tube but gorgeous on the lips. I find it hard to wear red lippies because they usually clash with my skin colour but this is just pure love. It's becoming my mistress for sure!

Soul is a champagne shade and compared to the other glosses I hauled, it's very sheer. I like it and it gives a nice shine to my puckers. It's from Summer 2009 Sirens collection which concentrated on sexiness and golden shades. I think this is a beautiful shimmery nude and from what I've gathered, it's a big hit among the Illamasqua fans.

Galactica is pure, molten silver. Not just silvery but really rich, foiled silver goodness. I had a hard time taking this one off after taking the pics because it's full of shimmer and highly pigmented. Although it seems unwearable, I have worn this in public in daylight hours. Just apply it a bit less and it gives your lips a nice shimmer. This looks awesome on top of other lippies, too. This lip gloss is from Autumn 2009 Dystopia collection that has some really dark and edgy products.

I wanted to concentrate on the lip products because I often ignore them on my blog because I like to concentrate on my eyes when doing my makeup. Here are swatches of some other products from Illamasqua:

Upper row, from left to right: Solstice, Phenomena, Involve

Bottom row, from left to right: Fondle, Rude

Solstice and Phenomena are Liquid Metal products. They are creamy and can be used on eyes, lips, face and body. I've only tried them as eyeshadows and they are too greasy for me, they just creased in less than an hour. But I'm not giving up on these because the colour pay-off is great and the metallic effect is so cool. I swatched them on bare skin.

Involve is a Pure Pigment. Of course I had to have something purple for my eyes, are you kidding! I love it. It's very pigmented and as you can see from the photo, it has this amazing silver and blue shimmer to it. I swatched this one on top of Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

Fondle is a golden pink (or pinkish gold) Illuminator. It can be used on eyes, cheeks, lips, basically everywhere. I wanted it for a blusher and a highlighter because I'm such a sucker for golden pinks. It's very runny when you squeeze it out (same packaging as with the lipglosses) but it dries quickly.

Rude is a Cream Blush. The pan is HUGE for how little of the product you need. And I mean you need only a small dab and you get a lot of colour. It's completely matte but because of the creamy texture, it looks very dewy on your skin.

I haven't tried out Illamasqua's Powder Shadows. From what I've read, they are almost all completely matte because Illamasqua wanted to cater also for people who have a few or more wrinkles on their skin.

I'm going to buy Illamasqua again. I love their approach to makeup and they have interesting products (and crazy product names!). Right now I have a serious hankering for Underworld lipstick, Tantrum sheer lip gloss, Phallic nail polish (told you!) and some of their false eyelashes. They also have brushes and other makeup tools. AND, when you have made your second order through their website, you get 10% off from the following orders until a year has passed from your very first order. In the US, Sephora is carrying Illamasqua but I've understood that they aren't yet having the limited collections in sale. So if you want to shop something from Dystopia, you either need to travel to UK or make an order through Illamasqua.

So what do you think? Does this make you want to buy some stuff for your alter ego?

Meow is having a sale!

The owner of Meow Cosmetics is celebrating her birthday so she's giving US a present: if you use discount code champagne, you're getting 15% off - and there's no minimum order!

I had to get a new top coat because my Top Cat is dying. This time I went for Equilibrium. I've tried and tested it and it works both as a primer and a top coat. Also I got a few Halloween samples.

So, enjoy the code champagne (and perhaps a glass of champagne to celebrate Tammy)!

The code is valid until Monday 8am so you still have time!

Getting duped

I remember one of my very first posts being about Lime Crime. Back then I thought I had discovered something unique and fun. Xenia has her own super-famous blog with awe-inspiring tutorials and style guidance. She always stressed how she had come up with her makeup line herself and how she had created all the colours.

I started hearing some alarming news about Lime Crime through my friend Phyrra's blog. Lime Crime was accused of repacking TKB minerals that are on sale on places like eBay with ridiculously low prices. I immediately e-mailed Xenia, asking whether these accusations were true or if they were concocted my jealous competitors. Here's the answer I got:

Hi Saila,

I knowww, it sucks how people would try to bring you down like that. :( But
like you said, it comes with the territory when you start to stick out a little
too much. It's a good example of how competitors will follow and try to imitate
something that's been prooven to be successful.

Colors cannot be legally copyrighted but we still stand by the quality of
our product as the best and most pigmented on the market! While we can't protect
ourselves from copycats, what we can do is continue moving forward, offer new
products and hopefully set new trends - exactly what we are trying to do with
our upcoming lipstick line, Candyfuture! The competition has no idea how much
new, exciting stuff is coming up in the Lime Crime line but once they do, it
will their minds all over the room. ;)

Thanks for your question & concern. xoDoe

So there's no way she wouldn't be telling the truth, right? Right?
　
Well, there are several bloggers who have done some more hands-on research about the matter and who have also e-mailed Xenia and gotten completely different answer than mine was.
　
Here are a couple of links:

http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/2009/08/lime-crime-so-ordinary-it-should-be.html
http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/2009/10/will-real-slim-shady-please-stand-up.html
http://sparkleismycrack.blogspot.com/2009/10/lime-crime-is-ripoff-please-read.html
http://gothique.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/made-me-giggle//lcomment-172
　
You can also do a search on Google by typing in 'Lime Crime' and 'repackage'.

So why I am I so bothered by this? Because I was being lied to when I asked for an honest answer. Mark (Xenia's husband) e-mailed Anastasia (the blogger behind 'Lipstick and Lightsabers') a completely different answer when she approached them and told about the little swatch test she did with Lime Crime and TKB.
　
So I've been duped. Not only have I been using products that are just repackaged cosmetics but Xenia also tried to pull one over me.

So bright it's illegal? I hope it was illegal.

FOTD: The Cat Caught the Beetle!

I know I promised more Halloween looks but I couldn't help but playing with Meow's Egyptian Treasures collection again. As you all know, these colours are metallic and I think they're the best metallic colours I've ever seen (if you don't count in cream eyeshadows).

When I swatched the colour Miw, which is metallic neon-ish green with golden undertones, I was 100% sure i couldn't wear it. But I decided to give it a shot because it looks awesome in its sample baggie (a bit like acid green, like the shade they used in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series in the early 90's). Because it's such of a show-stopper, I decided to do a very simple look. I mean, anyone who can hold a makeup brush can replicate this so if you like it, give it a go!

The other shades I used were Hieroglyph (metallic chartreuse with verdigris overtones and metallic gold undertones) and Scarab (bold metallic olive with a chartreuse undertone).

Are you wondering about the name of this look? Miw is Egyptian for 'cat' and scarabs are these big dung beetles that have a metallic sheen to them. Scarabs were and still are thought to bring good luck.

The Cat Caught the Beetle!

Eyes

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (as a primer on upper lid)
Meow Eye of Horus eyeshadow in Miw (middle of the upper lid)
Meow Eye of Horus eyeshadow in Hieroglyph (inner corner of the eye)
Meow Eye of Horus eyeshadow in Scarab (outer corners, wetlined on upper lashline and on lower lid both wet and dry)
Meow Lost Rainforest glow powder in Queen Alexandria (as a highlighter below brow)
Lumene Blueberry Curl waterproof mascara in Rich Black

Face

Purely Cosmetics Skin Smoothing foundation
Meow Egyptian Treasures Blush in Isis (on cheeks)
Meow Lost Rainforest glow powder in Queen Alexandria (as a highlighter on and between browbones and cheekbones)

Lips

MAC lipstick in Sandy B

I really love all of these colours and I think they work well together. I started by applying Miw on the middle of my lids. I used a lot of the pigment but you can use it less if you want a lighter effect. Then I took Scarab and darkened the outer lid with it. I used Hieroglyph to the inner corners, and over the tearduct area. it really opens the eyes. I was going to line my eyes with Blacktrack but it would have looked harsh because these colours look almost smoky when blended in together. So I wetlined my upper and lower lashlines with Scarab, however I darkened the lower lashline by using Scarab dry.

The colours blend very well which is pretty unique for metallic shades. In my experience metallics are usually pretty "heavy" and when you try to blend them, the metallic effect pretty much disappears. Not with these babies. These are incredibly easy to work with and I think Meow has done an amazing job formulating these shades.

As you can see, the colours just glide from one to another seamlessly. I didn't have to blend in that much, I used a clean wide brush and went over the shadows with a windshield wiper motion.

I had to take the pics inside (however, I'm not using flash) because it was too sunny outside. I think my look would almost pass as a smoky eye, don't you?

I'm not sure about the blush. I love the metallic shimmer in it but I'm not sure if the shade is flattering for me. Or maybe I've used cool blush shades for too long!

I wanted to keep the lips pretty neutral. Sandy B is a frosty golden peach. Unlike many frosty shades, it's pretty moisturizing. My lips are in a pretty bad shape now but the frost didn't get stuck on the unflattering parts.

I also vamped my hair colour up a bit yesterday with my trusty colour mousse for the Death look I did. I think it's more visible with this look because the other was so... lifeless?

So what do you think about this look? Have you tried Miw?

Halloween look: Death

I've been ill for a couple of days which really sucks. Nothing big, just a bit of fever and blowing my nose off my face. So yesterday, and I'm not sure if this was fever-induced, I went to the bathroom and started applying Fyrinnae's lip lustre in Diabolic Masquerade (black with burgundy shimmer) on my lips. I looked in the mirror and what stared right back at me looked like death. This gave me an idea to a slightly couture-ish Halloween look. I usually don't wear makeup when I'm ill but at the moment my skin looks just perfect for a deadly look.

Death

Eyes

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (as a primer on both upper and lower lid)
Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Faerie Realm (all over upper lid and lower lid)
Fyrinnae eyeshadow in Mephisto (lashes, cheeks and lower lid)

Face

Purely Cosmetics Skin Smoothing foundation (all over face)
Meow Cosmetics Crystalline glow powder in Quartz (to highlight cheeks, chin and nose)

Lips

Bepanthen lotion
Fyrinnae lip lustre in Diabolic Masquerade

First of all, I went over my upper and lower lids with Faerie Realm which to me is a purple-shaded off-white. It's almost silvery but there's a purple/lavender shimmer to it. Then I rubbed some face lotion on my upper lashes. After that I dipped a cotton bud into Mephisto (really dark royal purple) and batted my lashes against it, letting the shadow stick on my lashes and fall to my cheeks. Then I used Mephisto again on my lower lids and went over Faerie Realm. I wanted to keep the shade darker on the lashline but I extended it downwards. The idea is to look like you've had no sleep in the last 100 years or so.

I applied Diabolic Masquerade on my lips by dotting small amounts of it at a time to my lips. Then I used my finger to blend it in with the Bepanthen (any good, non-sticky or non-slippery lip balm works just fine).

Tadah! I look like I feel at the moment. I could've really used more Mephisto but my skin is really dried out and sore because I'm ill. I also considered using Mephisto or a black eyeshadow on my upper lids but I thought it would be too literal an interpretation of death (skull and that stuff, you know).

I also did a bit of Konading yesterday which didn't turn out as awesome as I would've liked. I used this as my entry to a Halloween themed nail art contest. I'm 100% sure I'm not going to win anything but I wanted to enter anyways.

I used Spa Ritual Protein Boost Nail Fortifier as a base coat (it's excellent, dries very quickly), China Glaze IDK as the main colour (it's a really cool lavender holo polish, I'm pretty bummed out that I couldn't get a decent pic of the holographic effect) and then I stamped on some bats using CO4 plate (Coraline II kit) and Eyeko Vampy Polish (dark blue black), Color Club Revvvolution (black holo) and Zoya Trixie (foiled silver).

So what do you think? Would you be interested to see more Halloween looks this month?

Konad Halloween Treat contest on painted Lady fingers!

Since I decided to buy myself some Konad stuff, I went ahead and subscribed to a boat load of Konad/nail blogs. One of them, painted Lady fingers, is having a Halloween contest where you have a chance to win a set of Halloween themed Konad set!

To enter and see the rules for this contest, go to http://paintedladyfingers.blogspot.com

NOTD: Color Club Revvvolution

O hai! It's my first Nail of the Day post, woot! I did this because I found THE most amazing nail polish yesterday. I love reading nail blogs. I'm jealous and in awe of how people can make their nails look so beautiful with different polishes and nail art. I have my name day tomorrow so my Mum and Dad gave me some money. And I knew exactly where to spend it. NAILS.

I love black nail polishes. So when I saw Color Club's Revvvolution, I went to a nail salon I've visited a few times and got it (I also got some Konad stuff, too, but that'll be a different post).

It's a black holographic polish! I can't stop staring at my nails because they look so cool! You can see the holographic effect in these photos but for better pics, check out Scrangie's blog (for example) or google 'Revvvolution' and you get zillions of hits.

Isn't it gorgeous? Hehee, my nail pics are a bit nerdy, I just love Terry Pratchett :)

So what do you think?

Meow's Egyptian Treasures: Sand Dune, Pyramid and Anubis

I forgot to post this look I did with Meow's Egyptian Collection. First of all, the metallic shimmer in these shadows is beyond amazing. So if metallics are your thing, I'd suggest you go shopping.

I chose three eyeshadows from the collection for this look. Sand Dune is a metallic, French vanilla type of colour. At least in theory. I applied it foiled and I almost had a stroke: it turned into liquid gold! Well, not literally but you get my point. Pyramid is a coppery shade, I used it very little but it looks beautiful. Anubis is deep, chocolatey brown goodness. I think this will become a bestseller because I can see a lot of people using it. It's a very versatile and an incredibly yummy colour.

I also used glow powder in Immortal for highlighting. To me it's a shimmery light taupe. It's lovely but I can't use it on my face because it makes my skin look ashy. But it's perfect for eyes.

Sand Dune, Pyramid and Anubis

Face:
Meow Pampered Puss foundation in Inquisitive Himalayan (two layers plus used wet as a concealer on blemishes)
Meow Lush blush in Kiss-And-Tell

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance (as a primer on upper and lower lids)
Meow Cosmetics Eye of Horus eyeshadow in Sand Dune (all over upper lid, foiled)
Meow Cosmetics Eye of Horus eyeshadow in Pyramid (to blend in Sand Dune and Anubis)
Meow Cosmetics Eye of Horus eyeshadow in Anubis (outer vee and crease, 1/3 of lower lashline and over Blacktrack)
Meow Cosmetics Egyptian glow powder in Immortal (below brow as a highlighter)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (upper lashline)
Lumene Blueberry Curl waterproof mascara in Rich Black (upper lashes)

Lips:
Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Flavor of the Day
Lancôme Color Fever lip gloss in Electro Flash Orange


This look actually turned out darker than I anticipated because I foiled Sand Dune. The colour changed almost completely. But it's not a bad thing. I wonder if all the metallics in this collection turn out darker when they're foiled... Hmmm...

I took this photo to show you that the colours really are glistening metallics and that they really shine when they catch the light. Some metallics are simply eyeshadows with some metallic shimmer in them but these colours are the real deal. My boyfriend commented when we were inside that my makeup was almost unnoticeable. When we went outside, he looked shocked and said "I didn't realize that your makeup was so dark!". Haha. That should teach him. Yes, the colours look better in natural light but any kind of bright light makes them glimmer.

This pic was taken inside. Yes, the colour are still stunning but compared to the previous photo, they look more subtle. I wanted to take a full face pic with my eyes closed because I really wanted to show you what the metallics actually look like.

For my lips I mixed Flavour of the Day and Electro Flash Orange because neither of them looked right on their own. I love both colour to death. I would've never in a million years believed that I look good wearing orange lippie before a makeup artist wanted to demonstrate Electro Flash Orange on my lips.

So what do you think? Have you tried the Egyptian collection from Meow? Do the colours look darker to you when foiled?