a post about brows.

bleurgh. that is how i feel in a nutshell. just pure BLEURGH. i've been feeling so tired recently, and feel like i'm going through one of those weeks i'm just bloated and gross... not to mention with a load of stress thrown on top... and a horrible cold. sexy, right? ha. i have so many deadlines and the pressure is really getting to me but i'm hoping to make real progress this weekend.

for that reason, i've been keeping my make-up simple. now i usually just line my eyes with kohl and pencil in my brows so that they look thicker and more arched - but nothing beyond that i'm afraid. talk about boring! unfortunately i'm not much of an expert when it comes to brow products, as i have never attempted using powder or eyeshadow in my brows (they are already dark and thick, and i'm worried it would just be brow overload). instead i use my beloved brow pencil from mac, which has great staying power and a thin tip so that you can draw on individual hairs for a natural look. it's this tip which sets it apart from other eyebrow pencils i've used from other brands (e.g. estée lauder). if i've altered the shape of my brows and want it to stay on for even longer, i use a brow gel from the body shop to seal it in place.

the way i make it more arched is really simple. using an eyebrow brush (everyone must have one, surely), i brush my eyebrows down. then, i begin by filling in any obvious gaps. i then slowly draw on the arch - where it would be if i had one, that is - and keep going back and forth to make sure my brows look the same. then, brush your brows back up and voila! done. it really is that simple. if your brows are naturally quite identical, it will take a matter of seconds.

one thing i miss about the middle east (probably the only thing i miss) is how amazing their girls are at threading. they know how to thread and shape brows without making them look thin or awkward on the face. now my brows just look a state and i'm far too apathetic to do anything about it. my eyebrows are naturally a weird round shape, and only those girls know what to do with them - weep. if anyone knows any middle-eastern salons in london, do let me know!

face: 17 primer, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skin finish (medium plus).
eyes: bourjois bronzing powder, illamasqua fine pencil (eerie), maybelline gel liner, mac studio fix lash (black), mac eyebrow pencil (stud), the body shop brow & lash gel.
cheeks: bourjois bronzing powder, no 7 illuminator (peach), nars blush (orgasm).
lips: mac (see sheer).

sorry for such a miserable post. i feel like i'm becoming the unluckiest person on the planet, 2012 is letting me down man!

kung hei fat choi!

yesterday was chinese new year. happy new year if you were celebrating! i went out to chinatown with a few chinese friends and we had a meal. it was nice even if i ate about 50kg of pure carb. i've recently just been eating a lot of far-eastern food actually, and would love to learn how to make it. dim sum. sushi. kare lomen from wagamam's. raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar food porn.

to channel my inner china/dragon/communist fan, i went for a block of red shadow on the eyes. red eyeshadow is one of those things which can easily tread that fine line between 2005 emo and looking like your lenses have given you hell. i probably tick both boxes but i don't care, because thie pure pigment i used ('berber' by illamasqua) is absolutely beautiful and is definitely one of my all-time favourite purchases. i think it photographs beautifully and is so unique! i've honestly never seen any pigment like it still.

i could've easily toned it down by applying it with a mac 217 and blending out a lot of the shimmer but i thought that i'd go all out. i patted the colour on my lid using a no 7 eyeshadow brush, and then used the 217 to blend it. i didn't line my lashes with black eyeliner as usual, just so the red could do the talkin'.

this dress is also unbuttoned because, to put it bluntly, cos forgot that girls below a size 10 may also need breathing space around their boobs. i felt that if i had buttoned it up, the buttons would pop and go flying into someone's dim sum. i paired it with a tiger brooch from kenneth jay lane. 

face: no 7 lift and luminate day cream, sephora base sublimatrice, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralize skin finish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay 24/7 eye pencil (lucky), illamasqua pure pigment (berber), maybelline gel liner, mac studio fix lash (black), mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: no 7 illuminator (peach), nars highlighter (albatross), mac blush (ladyblush).
lips: tiny bit of revlon (peach), clinique superbalm moisturising gloss (grapefruit).

grr.

how annoying! i hate it when you do your make-up and the sun sets. means i can't take proper pictures! nevertheless, here is what i wore (on my face that is) today. big lashes and dark lips.

face: clarins beauty flash balm, sephora base sublimatrice, mac studio fix fluid (nw30), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), no 7 illuminator (peach), mac mineralize skinfinish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, urban decay eyeshadows (naked, buck, virgin), rimmel exaggerate liquid liner (black), illamasqua fine pencil (eerie), nars highlighter (albatross), mac studio fix lash (black), eyelure girls aloud false lashes (nicola), mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: illamasqua cream pigment (hollow), duwop blush (peach).
lips: illamasqua (poison), sephora gloss (08).

my brooch still hasn't turned up. i've eliminated the taxi as a line of enquiry (wasn't there) so i only have two feasible explanations left: that it is at someone's house, or that it's simply awol in my own home. my friend is going to call the house for me on monday. keep praying!

MISSING: MY FAVOURITE BROOCH.

i haven't been posting about make-up purely due to the fact that i am overworked between now and early february. i have a million things on my plate and unfortunately a lot of grown-up troubles which i can't escape from. however, i am now in an elevated state of distress due to the fact that my favourite brooch (from dior) is MISSING. MISSING. MISS. ING. i hadn't realised until i worked on my jewellery collection a little bit (my 'to sell' pile is growing daily).

i am 90% sure it's somewhere within my house, but really baffled because i usually take really good care of my stuff and it isn't in it's box... i am praying that i've simply worn it one day and it's still on a dress somewhere in my wardrobe(s), so i'm emptying all of them tonight in order to find it. pleeeeeease cross your fingers for me!

where the GAPING EMPTY SPACE IS is where my brooch should be. WHERE ARE YOU? hmmm. the box is from where it was originally purchased from in the 1950s, which was a now-defunct american luxury department store. the earrings & brooch were designed by kramer, one of the most celebrated jewellery designers of his time.

here is some other stuff in the meantime to distract you all from the weeping mess that is me, on a thursday afternoon.

things i am looking forward to.

seeing as i'm so busy/stressed to talk about make-up (my face resembles 'the scream'), i thought i'd talk about a few things i'm excited for in 2012 instead.

 1. buying more books i lust over. i absolutely love books, but unfortunately my first degree (which i detested) put me off them completely. i'm still recovering from that (!) but really hope that i can find a job or the money to buy more photobooks instead. i'm absolutely obsessed with them and have a fair few as it is, but you can never have too much of a good thing. i'm especially obsessed with the bookstore in liberty but as the books start at around £50+, i have some saving up to do.

2. investing in good accessories. sorting out my jewellery has amazed me as i was blissfully unaware of how much crap i owned. mind you, it's crap which has been accumulated for 6 years but still. i want to sell a lot of it, and should i need to, invest in better jewellery. buy less, but buy great quality instead. if you constantly drop £3 there and £5 there at h&m for instance, it does actually add up!

3. get my bare legs out the moment it stops being so freezing. i hardly get my legs out due to the beautiful bruises and cuts i sport - i mean, i just don't think people are ready for it. my scarred knees? tremendous. however, i feel as if it's just been cold for too long (what with last summer being full of rain and miserable) and i just cannot wait to enjoy summer as it's supposed to be! terrible legs and all.

benefit's 'they're real!' mascara.

yesterday was my best friend's birthday celebrations and so i am feeling a tad "delicate" as i type this...

her birthday was an excuse for me to try out my latest mascara, called 'they're real!' by benefit. it was always sold out in shops (undoubtedly due to the hype, grumble grumble) so i bought it online around christmas time. my immediate impression was a good one, as i think that the packaging is really sleek and glamourous. 

nails - no 7 (totally teal).

however, when it came to application, i was a little let down. it's a good mascara, but not as great as people make out. i felt as if i had to apply it sparingly else it'd clump, and there isn't anything revolutionary about it which would make me want to re-buy. the wand is made out of plastic but i don't sense any sort of difference there, and i didn't feel that this product was that much better than a drugstore brand to warrant paying almost double the price. however, the only good part about this mascara is that it doesn't flake, which usually can be the bane of my life as a lens-wearer - so if that is an issue for anyone then this may be a good option to check out. i do think i'll keep it, but it definitely isn't the best mascara i've ever tried. perhaps it's because i already have long eyelashes, and therefore the change just isn't as drastic as it would be on those who haven't.

face: no 7 lift and luminate day cream, sephora base subliminatrice, illamasqua skin base foundation (10), collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), clinique airbrush concealer (03 light), mac mineralise skinfinish (medium plus).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, revlon colourstay quad (in the buff, second colour), benefit 'they're real!' mascara (top lashes), lancome hypnose mascara (lower lashes), maybelline gel liner, mac superslick liquid liner (black), mac eyebrow pencil (stud).
cheeks: mac (fleur power).
lips: urban decay (buzzkill).

and here is what i wore! i don't really do outfit posts because i'm not interested in my own outfits and i don't think i'm dedicated enough to the cause to get a remote control/tripod/photographer boyfriend...

dress - whistles, belt - chanel.

illamasqua lipstick in 'drench'.

i remember it like it was yesterday. i must have woken up absurdly early, and having just opened my emails, i heard a ping. there it was. that horrible, HORRIBLE email i dread... the email from illamasqua, saying that their sale is on. i was totally helpless. like a moth to the flame, i went on the website, and bought more things i simply did not need (except one). to be fair i didn't go really crazy, but you'd think that with 30+ lipsticks and 5+ pairs of lashes, i wouldn't be going and buying more. 

generally speaking, i really do like illamasqua lipsticks. i've played around with a few of them but only own their matte shades for some bizarre reason, even though i keep telling myself to not buy more and go for their glossier lipsticks. despite the the brilliant colour range, their matte lipsticks really could do with being more creamy. i mean, if revlon can manage it, then c'mon. or maybe i'm being harsh. you see, illamasqua's mattes are actually far more tolerable than those of mac - but because i absolutely adore illamasqua's products, i just wish they'd work on that so i could love it even more. they've also got decent lasting power, and i really like the packaging too - definitely the best shaped bullet i've ever seen, perfect for creating a perfectly defined cupid's bow.

this is the shade i ordered, in 'drench'. i expected a fuchsia pink but instead received a pink-red which was a pleasant surprise. i haven't got any other shade like it but it's definitely in the same family (colourwise) as revlon's 'cherries in the snow'. application-wise it was the same old - great colour, little bit dry. i'm quite baffled as to how it's photographed with a bit of shine despite being matte though!  

jumper - river island, earrings - asos, brooch - dior.

face: 17 primer, 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, revlon colourstay quad (in the buff, second colour), maybelline gel liner, max factor false lash effect mascara, mac eyebrow pencil (stud), the body shop brow & lash gel.
cheeks: illamasqua cream pigment (hollow), topshop blush (high five).
lips: illamasqua (drench).

all in all, i do like it. i received compliments on it and it's definitely really wearable. very decent for £7.50.

spring clean update: still in the fiery clutches of ebay hell. haven't made progress on jewellery.