nowruz 2012: a vague attempt at a pin-up look.

NOWRUZ MOBARAK!

yesterday marked the beginning of the spring equinox - meaning that it was new year for many people including iranians, kurds, afghans and others. myself included! despite how positive i felt on new year's eve (that is, 31st december 2011), 2012 has proven to be massively shitty for a variety of reasons - with the only good thing being that i embraced frequent exercise. but i'm happy to have a second chance, and hope that 1391 brings good things. :)

this is our sofreh hafsin, which was arranged by my mother. she does it differently each year. there are seven items which are in each sofreh hafsin and begin with 's', supposedly bringing good luck and stuff. nevertheless, regardless of whether you celebrate it or not, i wish everyone a very good year.

make-up wise (i have to keep on topic, haven't i?) i went for a classic, retro, pin-up ish look. my skin is still not great, so i stuck to heavy coverage. although it doesn't show in the picture, i used illuminating products on my cheekbones so that my face wouldn't look too matte and one-dimensional - in particular, i'm actually really loving nars' highlighter in 'albatross' at the moment. it has hints of cream and gold in it which really suits my skin tone; it's a really buttery product and i totally think it's worth the high price.

face: sephora base lissante, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), paula dorf magic stick (#2), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).

eyes: urban decay primer potion, revlon 12-hour colorstay eyeshadow palette (in the buff), maybelline gel liner, rimmel exaggerate liquid liner, revlon 'grow luscious' mascara, lancome l'extreme mascara, eylure girls aloud false eyelashes (nicola), mac eyebrow pencil (stud), ruby & millie eyeliner pencil (brown/black), the body shop brow & lash gel.

cheeks: nars bronzer (laguna), nars blush (orgasm), no 7 illuminator (peach), nars highlighter (albatross).

lips: mac (ruby woo), mac lip liner (cherry).

LOADS of products, i know! but that's how i roll. what can i say, i like using a little bit of everything to get what i want. i also wore these heels from reiss which i've had for a while but hadn't worn before. they're very high, and considering that my foot is injured, NO ONE must find out about this. especially not my doctor.

it's a bit of a funny post and i'm sure i've bored you, but that's what i've been up to recently!

betty blues loungerie and a story about never winning.

aren't i naughty! i won a prize at #zomgbloggersbash (i always feel the need to type that without spaces...) and forgot to blog about it when i said i would! next it'll be heroin and alcoholism.

one thing i really liked about the event was their 'blogger's bingo' - it was a nice way to break the ice with people and with goodies up for grabs, a double perk! now, anyone who knows me (platonically, intimately, biblically) has probably had to deal with my recurring rant about how i never, ever win. i honestly don't win ANYTHING. even if there's 3 prizes, and 4 people, i will still always lose. it really is the bane of my life.

the first (and last) time i won something was three years ago, at a charity art reception where i volunteered to sell raffle tickets. i use the term 'volunteer' very loosely as i apparently have enough charm to make people cough up cash - i sort got made to do it, so to speak. anyway, the night went rather well and i sold £400+ worth of tickets. first prize? two return business-class tickets for flights to hong kong. HONG KONG! closest i've been to hong kong is going to oriental hong kong in north london for noodles. so, after i was done selling to everyone there, i purchased two tickets for myself.

... i came second place. my heart was racing when the prize was being announced. the consolation prize... return flights to paris? barcelona? DUBLIN? but no. i won a bottle of wine, hahaha. i don't even drink wine! so i took it home and made everyone else drink it... deary me...

WITH THAT MENTAL SCAR ASIDE, i was utterly thrilled to win something and have it be something i actually do like! this gorgeous 'marilyn' scarf is by betty blue's loungerie, which is bringing glamour back into loungewear. having checked them out, i actually really love EVERYTHING they stock. i particularly like this fabulous red robe, but unfortunately lack the funds right now. something tells me it would look sweet with my sonia rykiel x h&m slippers, no?

make-up wise,  i went for a sort of marilyn look myself. well, as marilyn as i can get away with (which coincidentally isn't that marilyn at all). okay okay, say marilyn if she woke up one day, having had an identity crisis, and became an olive-skinned, brown-eyed brunette.

please excuse how tired i look.

face: no 7 beautiful skin day cream, sephora base subliminatrice, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay eyeshadows (virgin, naked, hustle), rimmel exaggerate liquid liner (black), maybelline gel liner, eyelure naturalites false lashes (101), revlon 'grow luscious' mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: mac (fleur power), no 7 vital illuminating highlighter powder.
lips: mac lip pencil (cherry), rockalily lipstick (rockette red).

 as i don't use heated rollers like the ladies in the picture and therefore have nothing fabulous to cover, i figured that i'll just use this scarf the same way i use all my other scarves. i messed around with it for a little while but a) taking pictures of yourself is harder than you think and b) i realised i was late to my international protection of human rights class. dropped the camera, and RAN to the station!

ps - i went to the only way is blogging event. mixed feelings.
pps - i finish level one of my 30 day shred tomorrow. OH HAPPY DAY
ppps - thinking about vlogging, but i'm terrified.

happy birthday dad!

today is my dad's birthday! 

dress - vero moda.

yaaaaay. happy birthday baba. it's pretty special that he is here. he works abroad (has done so since i was 7) and so sometimes he can't be with us on his day, which is pretty miserable for everyone. we went out for a meal last night and will be spending today doing family things.

my make-up was relatively simple and i do apologise the rubbish webcam photo - it was dark outside and my room is insane when it comes to light. i had thick eyeliner on and sculpted cheeks. i tend to do that if i'm going out for a posh meal, purely because bold lipsticks and eating in restaurants are a total pain in the ass. so, the focus is all on the eyes and cheeks! perhaps it was a blessing that i couldn't take a photo with my DSLR, as i felt horrendously tired seeing as i had been up since 6am (which is ESPECIALLY painful on a saturday).

face: no 7 lift and luminate day cream, sephora base subliminatrice, illamasqua skin base foundation (10), clinique airbush concealer (03 light), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus). [note: i used all of these sparingly!]
eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay eyeshadows (naked, buck, twice baked), maybelline gel liner, no 7 lash adapt mascara, eyelure naturalites false eyelashes, mac eyebrow pencil (stud), the body shop brow and lash gel.
cheeks: no 7 illuminator (peach), nars highlighter (albatross), illamasqua cream pigment (hollow), duwop blush (peach).
lips: revlon (mauve it over).