grey smokey eyes.

man, i'm still sick as a dog. that and the fact that my exam is next week doesn't really make for a happy jasmine. see how pained i look? how frizzy my hair is? i haven't been leaving the house, i've put on 2lbs, and i'm just generally pissed off. nevertheless, i put my happy face on and went to the cinema to see avengers assemble yesterday with my brother. it was really good.

the make-up i wore wasn't really my usual. the truth of the matter is, i suck at eye make-up. i'm not even going to pretend otherwise. the only thing i'm a master of is eyeliner, but that's only because i've been wearing it since 2005. smokey eyes? nooooo thank you. but, i fancied a change... and seeing as i'm nowhere near good enough to do some kind of all-black smokey eye, i thought i'd ease into it with grey and black.

the colours i used were 'creep' and 'gunmental' from urban decay's original naked palette - two shades which really don't get the love they deserve. i really can't explain how much i love gunmetal... it's one of those shades where, even though i don't wear it every day, i would still want to have if it was sold separately. it's just this really awesome blue-grey and completely unlike anything else in the palette.

but yeah, i didn't make a massive mess out of it for once. i think my biggest problem is my eye-shape. i don't really have hooded eyes (i think?), but my socket line is elusive so i essentially have to draw one on by working backwards. i used a small brush to draw the outline of my eye make-up (i.e. where my pretend socket line will go) with creep, then blended it out using urban decay's crease brush. i then applied gunmetal onto the lid using a normal eyeshadow brush (i think the one i used was by no 7), not going past the crease line i had drawn on. then, i blended everything using a mac 217 and added bits of grey and black where it was needed.

 see where that awkward crease line is? what even is that. seriously.

face: 17 primer, mac studio fix fluid on nose (nw30), bourjois healthy mix foundation (52), collection lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).

eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay eyeshadows (creep, gunmetal), maybelline gel liner, rimmel kohl pencil, benefit 'they're real!' mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud), the body shop brow & lash gel.

cheeks: bourjois (rose ambré), no 7 vital enlightening highlighter powder.

lips: 17 (bon bon) used as a stain, vaseline.

smokey eyes using urban decay 24/7 eye pencils.

hi friends. i am happy to report that i am slowly figuring out how to do a smokey eye without butchering it up completely. gone are the uneven eyes and looking like taylor momsen! for a ~blogger~ i really am clueless and have the make-up proficiency of a chimp, so please do cheer for me in light of this breakthrough. i suppose i can attribute this new-found success to the fact that, after a long, long journey,  i'm starting to vaguely come to terms with the fact that the crease brush from urban decay is better suited to my eye shape rather than a mac 217. and for the record, i love urban decay brushes as they are soft, never shed, and are cruelty-free. a dream combination.

jumper - vivienne westwood.

face: no 7 beautiful skin day cream, sephora base subliminatrice, illamasqua skin base foundation (10).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, nars eyeshadow palette (arabian nights), urban decay 24/7 eye pencils (covet and lucky), maybelline gel liner, max factor false lash effect mascara, collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), mac eyebrow pencil (stud), the body shop brow & lash gel.
cheeks: illamasqua cream pigment (hollow), mac blush (ladyblush), no 7 illuminator (peach).
lips: revlon (mauve it over).

i used a lot of cream products on my skin to make it look more natural & dewy. to me, heavy-handed powder products and matte skin just look too harsh against the eyes. unfortunately, i wanted to go for a green liner rather than a bronze (i love the combination of green and black), but this is through no fault of my own. now, before i embark on a massive bitchfest of a review, i just want to restate that i love urban decay. i am a serious fangirl and love everything they bring out. if i remember correctly, it started when i 16 and happily discovered that there was a product out there which would stop my eyeshadow from slipping off. hell, i even remember the days where i'd derive happiness from buying so much of their stuff in heathrow terminal 5 - back when they weren't so widely stocked! so yeah, this love goes way back.

however, one thing pisses me off. and it pisses me off a lot. in fact, i think we need to sit down and talk about it. my source of anguish is this: their 24/7 eye pencils. fantastic pigmentation? incredible colour range? creamy to apply? easy to blend? you're probably sitting there thinking "gurl, what's your problem" - and what my problem essentially is, is that there is this fantastic product encased in terrible packaging. i feel like a monkey seeing a banana except the banana is surrounded by lasers and i just can't claw away at it. with the pencils, it is essentially the same thing. their packaging is so tough and impractical that i simply cannot use the product. i can't sharpen the pencils without cracking them and causing a mess. today, it was in fact my sharpener which broke this time instead of the pencil - one which lasted me for years

see what i mean?

it really does hurt me to say this, because i love the pencils. it's not like it's rubbish both inside and out. it's in fact the best eye pencil i've ever used and now i can't use it anymore because of this. :( why must do you do this urban decay? WHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY? so if anyone has any recommendations for industrial-strength sharpeners, please do let me know.

nars holiday 2011 collection: 'arabian nights'.

is it possible for fingers (i totally did not just type "fingurs") to get abs? i feel like i've just been living in some kind of constant type-a-thon bubble. i've been writing this hiv/aids paper throughout christmas (260 words over my limit, not happy with the second half either, kill me now)... and as of next week i'm beginning research for the next one! it's on the human right to a decent environment, linked to development. you'll undoubtedly know how i'm getting along with it eventually.

 anyway, back to business. my second christmas delight (and i mean ~*D-LITE*~) was this bad boy, from nars' holiday collection 2011. my friend was very, VERY naughty. she spent christmas with me, and was naughty in general buy buying me something. i must've tweeted something like "WAAAA WANT WAA NO MONEY WAWAWAWA" ages ago so you can imagine my suprise - and delight! - when i opened this up. isn't it just beautiful? it's called 'arabian nights', which i think is the perfect name. it's evocative, dark, sparkly, and sultry. completely unlike anything else i own.

i've never owned a nars eyeshadow before. it's so soft and easy to blend! and AH LAV IT. definitely has a grown-up and 'evening' feel to it, as all of the shades come out really dark. the only bad point is that if you want to do a smokey eye, you essentially blend out all of the glitter. i haven't applied it in this way yet but i suspect that applying it wet and patting it on heavily should sort that out. please excuse my hair, it was pre-braid and was taken in a total of around 30 seconds.

face: no 7 lift and luminate day cream, bourjois healthy mix foundation (52), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, maybelline gel liner, rimmel kohl pencil, nars palette (arabian nights), mac  superslick liquid eyeliner (black), urban decay eyeshadow (virgin), max factor false lash effect mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud). 
cheeks: mac (stunner).
lips: mac (modesty).

ps - my friend also bought us a potted plant which i kid you not, is also just as exciting. my beloved little plant is now in my bathroom, in a sunny spot, waiting to grow - and then i will move it elsewhere. i don't think many people know that i'm mad about gardening. my kitchen window is lined with orchids and if i am in london during the summers, i go beserk and plant lilies everywhere. i'm pretty sure that only two people were previously aware of this - and now, the internet. brilliant.

black and gold.

today is my mother's birthday. yay birthday! here are her presents, containing a yves saint laurent 'arty' ring and a pair of chanel earrings.

as it's my first full weekend off since june (i have to edit some papers but let's forget that), i've spent today just taking care of myself. face mask (lush's 'love lettuce'), hair mask (aussie's 'three minute miracle') and painted nails (barry m's 'dusky mauve'). i haven't managed to do any of these things in about a week or so and people have been appalled and have asked me what's wrong. (that does tend to happen if i'm not wearing lipstick or nail polish, i must admit... no pressure...).

as i'm wearing black, i figured i'd go for something with gold tones and a more bronzey feel than my usual sort of look. something shimmery with browns and metallic shades. this is a sort of look i hardly wear, but figured i could do with - although admittedly, it could easily stray into becoming a disaster with my face resembling a disco ball. perhaps it does now. if so, forgive.

my newest plaything is a bit of a wild card. benefit's 'gilded' highlighter... in... wait for it... 'TANGERINE GOLD'. now, i don't know who does the marketing at benefit, but in the united kingdom, the word 'tangerine' in a beauty-related product within the industry has nothing but negative connotations for consumers. at least it sounds a little nicer in french ('enlumineur mandarine')! nevertheless, i like a challenge, and this more tangerine product was bought pretty cheap because no one else was showing it any love (see benefit, i know my shit). the only way i could do anything with it on a regular basis is to treat it like nars' multiples: on cheeks, lids, and lips.

as far as highlighter products go, it's pretty sweet. it's a middle ground between a liquid or powder highlighter/illuminator as it's more creamy, and it does last. it also photographs quite nicely, and is not orange. would i purchase again? perhaps. however, despite the little specks of glitter being miniscule in size, there is quite a fair bit of it and so if you are vaguely shimmer-phobic, i would get that pen from men in black, flash it in your own eyes, click, and forget all about it. for those who want something more subtle, then no 7's illuminator or becca's shimmering skin perfector provide better alternatives.

face: sephora smoothing primer, mac studio fix fluid (nc35), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, no 7 amazing eyes pencil (10 brown), urban decay eyeshadows (smog all over, dark horse in crease, half baked in corner, creep in outer corner), nars highlighter (albatross), nars bronzer (laguna), maybelline gel liner, rimmer exaggerate eyeliner, revlon grow luscious mascara, eyelure girls aloud false eyelashes (nicola), mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: benefit gilded highlighter (tangerine gold), nars bronzer (laguna), nars blusher (orgasm).
lips: soap & glory sexy motherpucker lipgloss (peach).


in other news: rest in peace, amy winehouse. what a tragic loss for someone who was a lovely girl before she met her demons; i hope it proves to people that drugs can easily escalate out of control and aren't as fun as they may seem.