Okay, don't get me wrong here. I LOVE Jurassic Park. I love seeing their dinosaurs. But after watching Prehistoric Planet, and going back to look at this...
And then looking at this...
Notice how much healthier the second set looks? Their lips cover their teeth, they actually have fat on their bodies, their skin doesn't wrinkle like they're dehydrated. You can't see every single tendon and muscle move because you aren't supposed to. Dinosaurs are animals, not reptilian body-builders.
THIS is the kind of change I want to see in how we create realistic depictions of not only dinosaurs, but all prehistoric creatures. Paleoart has always had a huge issue with shrink-wrapping and making these animals look terrifying instead of making them look like, well, animals.
Get your Tyrannosaurs from responsible, DKC registered breeders! Anyone who says your rex should be skinny or 'thats just how they are' is lying to you.
I got my hands on a sample of NARS Velvet Matte lip pencil in Cruella many months ago and fell in love so when I was given a Mecca voucher for my birthday it was at the top of my list of purchases. It’s probably one of the loveliest lipsticks I own, I would probably call it a neutral red and when applied over lip balm it goes on a really gorgeous sheer, rich pink. It’s quite a creamy formula but actually sets to a matte finish that doesn’t have much transfer but doesn’t feel drying. It’s probably the most expensive lip product I own, retailing at $39AUD but in this instance I would say it’s actually worth the money.
Over the weekend I had some big choir performances where I actually wore foundation (weird) so I got very excited to do some highlighting and contouring and this morning I decided to have another go at actually doing a full face of makeup.
I really dislike wearing foundation so I don’t own any proper stuff so I had to use my Rimmel BB cream in light (I wish it were lighter but it isn’t too bad) and set it with RImmel Stay Matte powder- which does a pretty reasonable job at staying matte. For contouring I used Illamasqua cream pigment in Hollow and for my highlight I used a pale champagne eyeshadow from Sportsgirl.
Eyeshadow is Fixated from the Melt Lovesick Stack with a bit of Amelie for blending. I’ve never really used this shade before because I’m not a blue eyeshadow kind of person but I really like this one, I think because it is a bit grayer I find it more wearable. I also smudged out some black kohl eyeliner on my lid beforehand to make the colour more intense which worked really well.
I've been so busy with schoolwork I've been keeping my makeup pretty simple, staying with my normal everyday look of brows and lipstick. I've also been thinking even more about skincare than usual to try and ward off the totally inevitable stress induced chin breakouts and I would like to post soon about what products I am using and talk about how much I adore sheet masks and face masks.
Pic on the left is Metallurgy lipstick from Portland Black Lipstick Company, Savvy brow pencil in Light and Sportgirl pale gold eyeshadow from the Dream Catcher palette as a highlighter. Pic on the left is me having rolled out of bed 5 minutes ago with yesterday’s brows.
I wore my beautiful butterfly ASOS tall dress (I love ASOS Tall it is truly a gift from the heavens) today and to match I mixed a tiny bit of OCC liptar Pagan into Rollergirl to darken it a bit and then I put on a flower crown for good luck- sadly I decided the flower crown was a bit much to wear to matte painting class. To compliment my beautiful fairy look I wore the Alkemia perfume Faerie Queen, it smells like strawberries and fresh earth. It is probably my favourite sample from Alkemia and I would love to get a full size of it.
Also when I went to edit my single flower crown selfie I decided it needed to be more magical and before I knew it I had gone a bit bananas with the bokeh and colours and I love it.
I was on holidays for 2 weeks and I spent the whole time doing work and being sick so I haven’t posted anything here for a while. With all the rain I’ve been wearing way more blue and burgundy than usual, also I’ve been thinking a lot more about warm, cozy perfumes. Yesterday Sydney had a massive storm and houses were being washed away and roads were flooded and I stayed inside and wore Velourlips DOO-BAI and the gorgeous Solstice Scents Dark Ginger Spicecake perfume and nested in blankets to weather the storm.
I repainted my nails for the Easter long weekend and found myself drawn to blue colours, only I couldn’t pick which one I wanted so I grabbed a selection and then put some polka dots on top. I’ve used colours from Revlon, Chi Chi, Face Shop, TBN and BYS- brands you can pick up easily from Australian stores, and a dotting tool/nail brush my grandmother got me from Avon.
So Autumn is happening in Australia and I am very excited because it means that I can finally start wearing scarves and jackets again and also the Autumn colour scheme is one of my all time favourites! There is very little lovelier in this world than some beautiful reds, oranges, browns, glowing golds and warm greens so I’ve put together a selection of my favourite Autumn makeup picks.
Product list and swatches under the cut!
L to R: Fyrinnae loose eyeshadow Fire Opal, Maybelline Colour Tattoo Fierce & Tangy, OCC liptar Triptych, Fierce Magenta Cleopatra’s Pride, Fyrinnae liquid matte Vixen, Revlon In the Red, Burt’s Bees Redwood Forest.
Nail polished pictured above is Revlon Parfumerie Autumn Spice with Revlon Moon Candy Satellite on feature nail.
Fire Opal and Fierce & Tangy are eyeshadows and the rest are lip products, although there’s nothing wrong with a little mixing and matching!
The nail polish Autumn Spice is actually a scented polish and one that I like far more than I expected. I’m not really into scented polishes but this one is the most beautiful warm brown colour and when it dries it actually smells faintly of gingerbread and fresh cookies and I am very impressed.
Also the lovely Xena wanted to participate when I was taking photos of makeup, she is very helpful.
I was sorting out my makeup box to fit my new lipsticks in and after a count I now have 46 lipsticks/lip colours! I decided to just sort them into colour groups, then arrange them in a (somewhat) accurate colour wheel to see what I have, then I swatched them all on my arm and they only just fit!
1. Fierce Magenta Hot Choco
2. OCC lip tar Traffic
3. NYX Macaron Orange Blossom
4. NYX Wicked Wrath
5. Savvy lip stain Berry
6. Australis Velourlips NY-CEE
7. Maybelline Red Revival
8. Revlon In the Red
9. Fyrinnae Vixen
10. Australis Velourlips RIO-D
11. Savvy lip stain Watermelon
12. Revlon Apple Polish
13. Revlon matte balm Elusive
14. Australis Flamenco
15. OCC lip tar Black Metal Dahlia
16. Burt’s Bees crayon Redwood Forest
17. OCC lip tar Pagan
18. Maybelline Colour Whisper Oh La Lilac
19. Portland Black Lipstick Company Artificial Amethyst
20. Sportsgirl Pout About It Midnight
21. NYX Wicked Scandalous
22. Fierce Magenta Mystical Forest
23. Portland Black Lipstick Company, Metallurgy
24. Fierce Magenta Polished Bronze
25. OCC lip tar Triptych
26. Fierce Magenta Cleopatra’s Pride
27. Melt Bang! Bang!
28. Revlon Just Bitten Gothic
29. Revlon Hot Coral
30. Revlon Alarm
31. Revlon gloss Fire
32. Portland Black Lipstick Company Black
33. Sportgirl Pout About It Tropo
34. Revlon balm stain Sweetheart
35. OCC lip tar Narcissus
36. Revlon Cherries in the Snow
37. Revlon Ultimate Swede Fashionista
38. Australis Velourlips DOO-BAI
39. OCC lip tar Black Dahlia
40. Melt Dark Room
41. OCC lip tar Rollergirl
42. Revlon Va Va Violet
43. Fierce Magenta Midnight Sky
44. Illamasqua Apocalips
45. Melt Blow
46. Impulse Co Boggart
Today I swatched all 46 of my lipsticks in approximate colour order! I am pretty happy with the range of colours I have but there is always room for more lipstick. The post with labeled colour swatches is over here!
Priceline and Target both had sales last week and what started as just one lipstick very quickly spiraled out of control and turned into seven lipsticks and a very happy Mia.
I managed to get my hands on 2 NYX Wicked Lippies, only just released in Australia as well as a couple of the Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Creams which I’ve heard praised. I also grabbed a gorgeous Burt’s Bees lip crayon and a pretty blue lipstick from Sportsgirl.
My swatches from top to bottom are Burt’s Bees lip crayon in Redwood Forest; Velourlips shades in DOO-BAI, NY-CEE and RIO-D; NYX Wicked lippies in Wrath and Scandalous and Sportsgirl Pout About It lipstick in Midnight.
The Australis Velourlips matte lip creams are something I’ve been hearing about for ages and after finally getting some I totally understand why. The formula is super easy to apply and the colours are gorgeous and last for ages. NY-CEE might be one of the loveliest long lasting reds I’ve ever worn and DOO-BAI is a gorgeous burgundy that wears really well and is super flattering. RIO-D was a bit of a let down considering the quality of the other two, it applied quite streaky and the colour is so pale and bright I am going to find it quite difficult to wear.
This Burt’s Bees lip crayon in Redwood Forest is so so gorgeous! The colour is stunning and muted but still really rich and the application is super easy because the crayon is smooth and just glides on. It usually retails at $17AUD but I got it for $10 and it is a really nice quality product.
During my shopping trip I also dropped into Sportsgirl to browse and found myself drawn to this beautiful blue. Midnight is part of their store range which tend to lean on the side of too creamy for me and sadly Midnight is no exception, but the colour itself is a super lovely medium neutral/warmish blue.
Finally I managed to get my hands on some of the NYX Wicked lippies, I had thought about getting them shipped here but it was too expensive but now they are being sold in Target which is fantastic!! The colour I wanted the most (Trickery) was heartbreakingly sold out but I did pick up Wrath, a really lovely bronze colour and Scandalous, which is a very pretty turquoise colour. I’ve found these ones to be a bit sheerer than I’d hoped and they shift around easily but a little bit of lip liner underneath seems to really help and hopefully I can wear them a bit more to test how they last!
I’ve been super busy this week with homework, projects, choir and events but I have also been working on some exciting posts to share with you soon. I recently picked up some lippies in the big Priceline and Target makeup sales (Including NYX Wicked lippies and Velourlips!!) which have been amazing and I want to talk about them, both strange colours and even some regular colours like red and pink! Also I get asked a lot about how to wear weird lipstick and pull it off and that is something I’ve been meaning to talk about since I started this blog so I am busily working on that post for you as well!
I hit 50 followers today! Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog, a shoutout to balfies for being lucky number 50! I am so excited to have this space to talk about makeup and it is awesome there are people who want to listen. If you have any questions or suggestions or just want to say hello, my ask box is open!
It isn't easy being green, but getting your hands on green lipstick is getting easier every day.
Green is my favourite non traditional colour for lipstick and I have a growing collection of lippies as well as an expanding wishlist as more companies are starting to produce more exciting shades of verdigris.
Green lipstick was the first alternative coloured lipstick I ever bought and it is the colour I keep coming back to, it is exciting and there are so many beautiful shades to wear for every occasion.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of greens and I will update my blog and this post with more greens as I get my hands on them!
Left to Right (both images): Illamasqua Apocalips, Melt Blow, Fierce Magenta Mystical Forest, Impulse Cosmetics Boggart, Portland Black Lipstick Company Metallurgy
Apocalips almost didn’t make the list because it is a teal and sits right on the edge of green and blue, but it is just too beautiful not to include. The formula is quite dry because it is so opaque so it can be a bit tricky to apply (you can see in my photo that the lipstick is a touch damaged where I accidentally pressed too hard and the stick moved and hit the edge of the tube) but it is totally worth the effort because the colour itself is so lush and flattering.
Blow is a super creamy cool toned green, it glides on beautifully and opaquely but because it is so creamy it tends to shift easily so it doesn’t last as well as I would like.
Mystical Forest is quite similar to Blow in terms of its consistency and application, but the colour is definitely more of a warm/neutral toned green. I recently reviewed it in my Fierce Magenta post, I love this lipstick and the sample sized tube actually makes it really easy to carry around and accurately apply the colour!
Boggart (pictured at top of post!) was the first ever indie lipstick and green I ever bought, it is a metallic cool toned green. It isn’t as opaque as other greens I’ve tried and definitely benefits from a solid base of lipliner (or eyeliner you are using as lipliner) underneath to get an even colour and to help it stay put. Also the lipstick is packaged like a lip balm and it can be a little clunky and difficult to apply accurately. The colour itself is a lovely neutral green that makes me want to sit in the garden and pretend to be a fairy.
Metallurgy is the most incredible blackened golden green and I’ve never seen anything like it before. While it suffers from the same packaging issues as Boggart and it is a pain to apply neatly, it is creamy, opaque and so very bold and beautiful.
Some other greens I don’t own but have my eyes on are Nagini from LASplash, Bunny from Colourpop, NYX Risque and the recently announced Cosplay from OCC
Transforming yourself into an ethereal space princess and the beautiful leader of an expansive intergalactic empire has never been simpler!
I am all about lip art and also space so when I realised I had all the materials I needed to become a beautiful cosmic angel I didn’t hesitate and just jumped in.
For these lips I used a black and blue eyeliner as lipliners, black and navy blue lipsticks, shimmery blue and purple eyeshadows and some sparkly silver cosmetic glitter for stars.
I quickly outlined my lips and then used my pencils to do a rough colouring job just to lay down a base for my lipstick to stick to, then I applied Portland Black Lipstick Company’s signature black lipstick to the edges and the beautiful Midnight Sky lipstick from Fierce Magenta (which I just reviewed!).
Then I grabbed Neptune from my gorgeous new BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic palette and patted it on in the centre of the lip to intensify the ombre and brighten the blue.
After that I then patted on some purple eyeshadow on the edges and randomly, I chose Promiscuous from the Melt Lovesick palette because it has a beautiful violet shimmer.
When you are happy with your ombre space base then gently pat on some silver cosmetic glitter for your shimmering stars and you can finally ascend to your rightful place on the galactic throne!
I ordered and received these about a month ago after they were recommended to me by my gorgeous friend lipstickforlosers and I am really loving them.
I got the pack of 5 small lip products for $30 ($30 USD so plus shipping and the exchange rate it cost me about $50 AUD) so I ended up paying about $10 a lipstick. They are small sized lipsticks but the product itself is great quality so I am happy with my purchase.
The lipsticks i got were Mystical Forest, Midnight Sky, Hot Choco and Polished Bronze and I also grabbed the Cleopatra’s Pride gloss.
Clockwise from top left: Midnight Sky, Cleopatra’s Pride (over plain lips), Polished Bronze, Cleopatra’s Pride layered over Polished Bronze, Hot Choco, Mystical Forest
Midnight Sky is a gorgeous deep blackened blue colour that applies really opaquely with just one layer. I’ve been looking for a dark blue since I tried Illamasqua’s Disciple and was disappointed, I think Midnight Sky is what I have been looking for. I wore this one out for the first time a few days ago and I used a dollar store blue eyeliner pencil as a lipliner which really helped it stay, it barely shifted all day even after I scoffed my butter chicken down in the 5 minute break between classes.
Mystical Forest is a gorgeous cool to neutral green colour with a satin finish, I love my greens and this one is a great staple colour and easy to match. It reminds me a lot of the Melt Cosmetics lipstick in Blow, although a touch less blue toned.
Hot Choco is a lovely brown shade, the first brown lipstick I’ve ever actually owned, and I am a big fan, It is close enough to a red to not be too attention grabbing but also a gorgeous colour in it’s own right. It works as a contrasting lip colour for me but on darker skin it could also work as a nude shade. All of these lipsticks are very opaque but also very creamy so you have to be careful it doesn’t move around and slip after you’ve applied.
Polished Bronze is definitely my favourite lipstick out of them all, it is a bronze/golden metallic shade and it lasts for ages without any lipliner and has such a gorgeous metal sheen to it. I have also layered some of the Cleopatra’s Pride gloss on top for some extra golden metal depth and it is stunning. It is also slightly less creamy than the other colours which in my opinion is always a good thing.
Cleopatra’s Pride is a gloss, but even though I am not a gloss fan I really like this one. It isn’t too sticky or gooey for me to wear which is really great, also the golden shimmer it provides is quite subtle in one layer but you can build on it to make it a deeper gold.
