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.