An apology and some link love

I'm so sorry I've not been updating here. I've really not been well and I can't keep up with posting on here. There's so many new releases etc I have wanted to discuss on here, but I can't help but feel other places do it better, and I'm just not well enough to keep up with the fast paced beauty world on here, especially since I created a group on Livejournal that has become very popular and requires moderation... (details at the bottom of this post) ***


I don't want to stop blogging, so hopefully this isn't the end of the Fair Fae, but I am having a break.
Please read some of the other great beauty blogs out there instead, for now- they're more reliable and write better than me anyway!

These are some of my favourites:

http://www.temptalia.com/
http://www.phyrra.net/
http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/
http://portraitofmai.blogspot.co.uk/
http://lillianfunnyface.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.abrilliantbrunette.com/
http://www.britishbeautyblogger.com/
http://www.musingsofamuse.com/
http://dustyohunter.com/
http://www.scrangie.com/
http://the-swatchaholic.com/
http://www.xsparkage.com/
http://www.pinksith.com/
http://www.thenailasaurus.com

***http://highendcosmetic.livejournal.com/ The content there is all members only and membership is moderated. If you come from here and want to join, please let me know in a private message (on LJ)  that you came from The Fair Fae and leave links to your feedback from sites such as eBay or, preferably, http://www.makeupalley.com/ . I will also inspect your public LJ posts (well I'll skim!) just to check if you're a pop up scamming page. Thanks! These measures are only because of so much swaplifting and thievery in other beauty related communities. Thankfully, our group is doing well and has had no issues so far *touch wood* I have some excellent mods from all over the globe! 

Follow up to Urban Decay's Press Release. Q and A

Yes UD, I'm talking about you.

I hate to just copy and paste from another blog, so I won't. Go over to Temptalia for a full Q&A session with Urban Decay. Be warned, fantastic questions asked, and bullshit answers given so you won't learn much other than I'm stroking my chin in wonder about Urban Decay and searching for replacements for their Primer Potion... I think they're being very flaky and I'm not sure I believe anything they're saying right now. I still stand by what I've said before, and I don't agree with their choice to sell in China. I nearly died laughing when they said something about using Social Media to spread their message in China... they clearly don't know that bloggers go to jail in China and bits of Youtube and Google are banned. Freedom of Speech doesn't exist in any form in China.

Epic Fail Urban Decay. EPIC FAIL.

Again...

Read here: http://www.temptalia.com/qa-with-urban-decay-a-follow-up-on-animal-testing-and-entry-into-china

I know I refer to Temptalia a lot, but she's my favourite beauty blogger, and most of the time I can't say it as well as she can!

Urban Decay Press Statement: Animal Testing and China

From Urban Decay:

Urban Decay is going to sell our products in China. Because of China’s policies on animal testing, we know that this will not be a popular decision with some of our loyal customers. But the decision is a thoughtful one.

For 16 years, we have been committed to two key causes: women’s rights, and the fight against animal testing. Our dedication to those causes will not waver.

For those of you unfamiliar with China’s policies, the sticking point is this: the Chinese government reserves the right to conduct animal testing with cosmetic products before the products are approved for use by Chinese citizens. The government has not told us if they have exercised this right with our products. So, our brand does not test on animals, but the Chinese government might conduct a one-time test using our products. Do we like China’s policies? No…and that is really the point. Going into China was a huge decision for Urban Decay. But, we believe that change cannot and will not happen by outside pressure alone in a closed market. Change can only happen from within. When we enter the Chinese market, we will do our part to help make those changes.

When we were considering expanding into China, a group of marketing consultants told us to remove the section of our company history that describes our crusade against animal testing. “It doesn’t mean anything to the Chinese beauty customer,” they said. Of course, we refused. Our “no animal testing” policy is part of who we are, and has been since day one. The news that animal issues don’t even register with the average Chinese consumer was one of the biggest factors in our decision to go there. During Urban Decay’s infancy, we worked hard to inform consumers about animal rights in the United States and Europe. The battleground for animal rights is now in China, and we want to be there to encourage dialogue and provoke change.

We also hope to shed some light on women’s rights issues in China. As a company that caters to a female customer, this is extremely important to us. For one thing, going into China is a way for us to advance women into important professional positions. We will help grow the cosmetics industry, which primarily employs and creates career paths for women. Although workers’ employment rights are a relatively new concept there, progress has been made partially because of pressure from businesses, consumers, and advocacy groups from other countries. Based on this, our belief is that both an outside force and inside pressure for change can result in helping transform both the importance of women and animal testing policies in China. And more importantly, we hope to influence the perspective of the citizens on both of these issues.

If we don’t go to China, other companies without our beliefs will, and the culture will never change. We want to encourage a culture of consumers who care enough to buy cruelty-free products, and who view professional women as role models who influence their lives on a daily basis.

Yes, we are a for-profit company. And yes, we would eventually like to make money in China. But we don’t stand to turn a profit in China for quite a while, partially because the market isn’t quite ready to sustain an untraditional brand like ours. If it were only about the money, we would wait a few years. But our foray into this market is also about participating in an amazing time of change in China. We don’t like animal testing (and neither do the 13 dogs in our office), but we are trying to change the world… even if it is one eye shadow at a time! Sitting on the sidelines isn’t our style. We understand that you might not like our decision, but we hope you can respect it.

Source for article: http://www.temptalia.com/

For any advocates or Urban Decay fans interested, Urban Decay founding partner Wende Zomnir will host a live chat on urbandecay.com to answer questions about our entry into China.

This post got a bit serious, so I thought it needed more kittens.

Not sure what to think of all that. I'm vehemently against animal testing in cosmetics, but at the same time, Urban Decay makes sense in what they say. Change must happen from within. Sadly, it's neither my place here in the UK or Urban Decay's place in the US to say what happens in China... but then, would they rethink their policies on animal testing in China by people outside the country with-holding products they desire? No. I doubt it. China has different ways of thinking to some of us in the western world, and we have no more right to tell them that they are wrong, than they have to tell us we are wrong. I suppose education is key and Urban Decay can potentially educate from within, then it's China's own choice as to whether they do anything about it or not. I strongly suspect "or not" is the way China will stay though...

New MAC releases for June 2012!

Last night I was checking the MAC UK website as I do regularly (I'm so sad, I do keep checking back for new releases as they don't always release things on dates they say they will!!) and what do I spy but Casual Colour and Beth Ditto?!? YAY!

Beth Ditto

We've also now got Perennial Pinks which has been on the US site for ages now, and Extended Play Lash

I'm still too poor to buy anything which makes me a very Sad Panda, but I love the look of the Beth Ditto Shade and Smoke Shadow Liners, as I'm hoping they're like sort of double ended Shadesticks and I looooove my Shadesticks! From the lipsticks, I love the look of Heart Hangover and Dear Diary, but I probably won't actually buy any this time. Powder to the People is so unique, it really intrigues me... I'm not sure how useful it would be from a practical side, but it is gorgeous! Seeing reviews though, I'm not sure I need it in my life! I'm too poor, but I am hankering for the double ended Shadesticks!

Casual Colour

Casual Colour... well the lip and cheek cremes are the focus aren't they? Everything else is just decoration for those! I'd very much like to try those, but I can't really tell which are the best yet. I need Temptalia to do some full swatches to help me. I can't pick anything unless I've seen Christine's swatches! She's getting through them but they're not all up yet. Thanks Christine! <3 So far I like the look of Have a Lovely Day and Evening Stroll. Lilacs and blue based pinks look good on me, so I was gravitating towards those.


Perennial Pinks are nothing new I don't think (I could be wrong) and well... Extended Play Lash is a mascara *shrug* I have mascaras I'm happy with already!


So, what are you lot thinking about the June releases? And the Diamond Jubilee weekend is starting here in the UK! I should probably do some sort of make-up look in honour of that or something. I'm really not a royalist though!

EDITED UPDATE: from what Christine on Temptalia has said about the Shadow and Smoke liners from Beth Ditto, I had to come back and tell you all to read her review if you're considering them. I've been put right off. :\ http://www.temptalia.com/mac-beth-ditto-shade-smoke-shadowliners-review-photos-swatches *sad panda* I'd probably look like a sad panda too had I bought Little Miss Moffet as I planned!

Really Simple Vegan Lip Scrub

My lips have taken a real beating over the last week. The British weather really is designed to confuse and we get a reputation for always talking about it, but if you had weather that changed so frequently an so massively, you would too!!

Only a fortnight ago I was freezing, reaching for my onesie pyjamas and thermal socks, and then right now, it's hot and humid. I'm sitting with a fan pointed at me wearing not very much and still feeling warm, so it isn't surprising really that my skin is unhappy at all, but I was surprised to have cracked, dry bleeding lips in this weather- that's something that normally happens in the biting cold for me. I assume it's because of all the air conditioning and fans recirculating air. I have been applying Blistex religiously to heal my lips, but I though perhaps they could do with a good scrub!

I've never scrubbed my lips before actually, but I thought I'd search Google and find a recipe, and most of them contain honey, which I hate, and isn't vegan friendly. I'm not a vegan, but I appreciate how hard it is for vegans, especially as my best friend turned to veganism only a few years ago. I also spotted recipes with almond oil in and I am VERY allergic to almonds so that's out.. SO I decided to make my own containing:

Brown Sugar
Bicarbonate of Soda
Olive Oil
Vanilla Essence

I can't tell you ratios or amounts as I'm crap at that. I'm the kind of chef that does things by eye mostly! Just a dash of vanilla, to flavour and scent it all, teeny bloop of olive oil to moisturise, then a combination of the two dry scrubby things in enough to make a paste (more sugar than bicarb will make it less harsh)

Mix it all up in no particular order. I used a teeny wooden spoon and mixed it in a little tupperware tub that I was going to store it in anyway, but you could transfer it to a jar.

I've now put mine in the fridge as I'm sure it will be even nicer when it's ice cold (assuming I can get it out of the tub!

Scrub that on your lips with a finger or toothbrush in a circular motion, then rinse off with warm water and moisturise with with olive oil or a lip balm of choice (I've put the Blistex on again so it can heal any remaining cracks)

Let me know if you give it a go!

Eurovision 2012

This year's logo

Today here in Europe, it is Eurovision 2012! Hosted this year in Baku, Azerbaijan, the competition is on RIGHT NOW. The UK entry is, in my opinion, pretty awful. Engelbert Humperdinck? REALLY? Oh well. Anyway, for those who don't know, every year there is a contest held across Europe, where each country enters a musical act, and every country votes on the other acts and allocated points from 1 to 12 to their favourites, and the winning country hosts next year (Azerbaijan win last year). See here for full details about Eurovision.





Anyway I wanted to do a Eurovision themed Face of the Day, and instead of going down the patriotic route, I decided to take inspiration from the logo. I thought there would be enough patriotism to come in the UK this year with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics to come!!

So I took a rather literal translation of the logo really (picture up at the top)

It's all Sugarpill Burning Heart palette. Even my lips. I used a Nivea lip gloss and mixed with the shadows! It's all Buttercupcake, Flamepoint and Love + and that's it aside from Urban Decay Primer Potion, MAC Select Foundation and an LA Colors face powder.


I was most annoyed that my brows look brown/auburn. I packed them full of Flamepoint!


What do you think? Sorry the photos aren't that great but the sun had gone down- I couldn't get into my studio to do this until the sun was down as it gets really hot in there at the moment. Enjoy Eurovision and good luck to Engelbert and the United Kingdom! (Please don't let Jedward win.. please!)

Adventures in Eyebrows THE RETURN!

Hello my lovely fair friends! Sorry I've been lax, I know I apologise a lot, but my health has been a little rough lately. I decided to cheer myself up today by playing with make-up!

Big pouty lips!

I got my Burning Heart palette from Sugarpill last week. Frustratingly, just before the new Heartbreaker palette came out which is gorgeous! When I ordered, however, there was no inkling of them releasing the new shinies, but Royal Mail f***ed up and lost my parcel, and after waiting the six weeks, Sugarpill were really sweet and not only reshipped my order, but they changed my order from Supreme Lashes to Shady Lane Lashes because I'd originally wanted the Shady Lane ones but they were out of stock.. so ultimately I got what I wanted, I just had to wait 7 weeks for it! The second order arrived so quickly though! Royal Mail were a bit rubbish again and left my parcel behind a plant pot in my front garden, and it was only down to sheer luck that my husband found it!

On the left there is the incredibly quick look I did with the Burning Heart palette, MAC Dame blush and MAC Quick Sizzle lipstick.

By the way, I'm aware I look very miserable in all the photos, pretty much! There's one smiley one at the end...

Sorry about the wet hair... it's a warm day!

Anyway! Today I continued my Adventures In Eyebrows! I know. You can barely contain your excitement can you? With my Sugarpill order I got a free sample of Magentrix loose eyeshadow. This wasn't high on my wishlist before, but when I used it mixed with water to draw on brows, it looks quite good when you have pink hair! (Even if it does need bleaching at the roots and redying....)


Products used for this look: 

MAC Lucky Jade Shadestick over the inner corner of the eye and over the upper part of the lid with MAC Bitter and MAC Swimming eye-shadows over it.

MAC Sea Me Shadestick on the lower part of the middle of the lid with MAC Electric Eel eyeshadow over that.

Out corners of the eye have Poison Plum by Sugarpill, and I then used Poison Plum wet to line under my eyes.

To highlight I used MAC Lemon Chiffon Shadestick with Sugarpill Tiara over that.

Finally that yummy Sugarpill Magentrix sample, I used wet (just with water) to line under the Poison Plum line and did the brows.

I love the Shady Lane lashes!

Lashes are Shady Lane from Sugarpill. They are just as beautiful as I dreamed they would be! Lengen....dary..

Oooh I look possessed! It's not a photogenic day today...

I used MAC Azalea Blossom blush ombre on my cheeks, and highlighted with MAC Naked pigment

See? I promised a smile in here at the end!

Lips are MAC New York Apple and I tapped some of that Sugarpill Magentrix sample into them which pulls it all together I think.

Sorry I haven't done my hair in any of the photos. It's a ridiculously warm day today here in the UK so I decided to just wash my hair and leave it to dry on it's own. The idea of using a hair drier or straighteners today was not appealing to me at all! Hopefully I'm going to re-dye my hair soon as well and get rid of those pesky roots.

What do you guys think then? I am in love with the intensity, pigmentation and formula of all the Sugarpill shadows. I practically drooled all over the keyboard when I first saw the Heart Breaker palette too! I will have to start counting my pennies for that!

The Orange Challenge

 Apologies for a lack of posts recently. I've not been very well. I'm still not very good, but I'll try and churn something out for you lot anyway! Sorry if it's a bit of a disjointed blog post, but I'm trying!

Today I'm showing you what happens when you decide to give yourself a real challenge. Pick the colour you think looks the worst on you, then do an entire make-up look based around that colour!

The original idea I had worked on paper on the face-chart and I was thinking of couture and catwalks, and those models that look almost alien. A very pale white face, no eyebrows, no mascara, just orange as a liner above the eyes and orange lips. nothing else. Ideally I'd have an orange wig to go with this, but I don't have one....

My friends on Facebook all agreed this was weird and no, orange doesn't suit me....

I never know when to leave things alone anyway, so after I'd taken the browless photos, I'd already carried on playing around, filled in my brows with an orange, lined my eye with black liquid liner on the bottom, added mascara and then false lashes. Oh and I covered my lids with Sugarpill's loose eyeshadow in Tiara for some shimmer and more wearability.


I still don't suit orange, but it's a little more wearable. Sort of. I'm not rushing out to do anything orange again, but it was fun to challenge myself to do something that went against my normal purples and blues!

To make my orange liner, I put a liner of MAC Chrome Yellow eyeshadow on first, then mixed MAC Neo-Orange pigment with MAC Basic Red pigment and some water, and put that on over the yellow.

I'm fairly sure the Neo-Orange and Basic Red aren't eye safe, so I don't recommend that anyone else does this with those pigments, but I'm a rebel and washed it off pretty quickly.

In fact this agrees with me that no, they are NOT eye safe so do not copy me!

My lip colour was made using a Bobbypin lipgloss mixed with Neo-Orange pigment (again) which is actually lip safe, yay! Then I patted some Crystalled Yellow glitter into it, which I'm fairly sure is lip safe too, but I can't guarantee (if you're not sure, don't try- I recommend doing research yourself)

Eyebrows are also coloured with Chrome Yellow eyeshadow, and the Neo-Orange & Basic Red mix.

Disclosure policy for the Fair Fae

I've been meaning to write one of these for awhile now!




This policy is valid from 03 May 2012


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog does not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we will and do accept and keep free products, services, and other forms of compensation from companies and organizations.


The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog.


The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.



When I say we accept free products and services, none have been offered as such yet but if offered, I would accept, but I would post an honest opinion and review of the products or services supplied to me. If products or services reviewed or discussed here were not purchased with money and sent to me by a company, I would ALWAYS disclose that in the post so you can take into consideration any unintentional bias that may be in the post.


I've put a copy of this at the bottom of the blog for future reference.


The "I <3 Free Stuff" image here is of course a little tongue in cheek before you yell at me!!


Thanks for reading!

Opia eyeshadow (Primark)

Hello my little faeries! Today I have a review for you of an eyeshadow I received in a swap on Makeupalley. I'm reviewing it because it's from a brand I'd never heard of before called Opia from Primark which is a bargainous, cheap store here in the UK and Ireland where you can buy clothes, shoes,  jewellery and accesories, homewares and, apparently make-up too for very low prices (I sound like an advert). 

I'd never thought to look there for make-up, and I'm not sure I'd have bought this myself as it doesn't actually have an ingredients list on the jar, though there is a chance it came in a box or some sort of outer packaging with the ingredients, I can't find it anywhere on the web (if you do know the ingredients, please let me know). It's difficult to search for as it has no name or shade number or anything! I can only identify it by "opia" on the lid!

I haven't put this on my eyes yet, only swatched it on my arm, but that's because I have sensitive skin and a lot of allergies and the like, and I'm not keen on sticking an unknown brand on my face. To start, here's a photo to show you the size of the jar. That's an old style MAC pigment jar, and a MAC Fluidline jar to compare it to for size, I hoped most of you would be able to relate to these. It's a reasonable size for a loose eyeshadow, but is tiny compared to the jars from somewhere like Sugarpill, for example.

Now here's the swatches... (enormous photos so you can see all the detail)

Without Flash

With Flash

It's a sort of graphite base colour when applied, with fine holographic particles leaning toward the bluer side of the spectrum. As you can see, it looks best when applied wet (I just used water, nothing else). The primer I used here was Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin (I used Sin rather than the Original so I could see where I'd applied it on my arm!!). When applied on it's own it was a bit uninspiring... I wasn't wholly impressed. Wet it's actually quite pretty, but I still don't feel it has that oomph I'd like to see. It reminds me a little of Fyrinnae Biker Chic, but watered down a ton, and with nowhere near as much complexity.

I didn't leave it on a long time for a wear test as I didn't know what the ingredients were, as I explained earlier, but I can tell you that it the dry swatch came off easily with make-up remover, the bit over UD PP required a little more scrubbing, but oddly the wet swatch stuck the most and stained a little. I suppose that's because it managed to pack in more product. I didn't try it wet over primer, that would probably have been useful.You may be able to see  in the photos that there was a fair amount of fallout from the swatches, so I imagine it might end up travelling down your face throughout the day. I can't say how much it would crease without a proper test on my eyes, but I'm still not comfortable to do that with something I don't know enough about.

I'm not really sure what I think of this as I'm still hesitant to actually use it on my face, but for a cheap product it does seem to have strong pigmentation, and it is quite pretty. I just don't think it measures up when compared to other similar shades I've tried from other brands, but that may not be a fair comparison, I don't know. I wonder if it's a poor man's Stella but I don't own that so I can't compare, but from swatches I've seen, I'd guess the Opia one has more or a dark grey than a black base compared to Sugarpill's Stella. If you're strapped for cash, I'd say this is a good thing to go for (sorry I can't give you an exact price as I didn't purchase it myself, but knowing Primark, it won't break the bank!) but personally, I'd save up my pennies and buy a different brand with more complexity and depth.

What do you think?

MAC's new collections for May 2012

Mac Lovers in the UK listen up! Check out  http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk ! They have Hey Sailor, Fashion Tips and Reel Sexy up NOW! *dance*

I'm sulking because I wanted Pink Nouveau Lipglass over here. MEH! I knew it was Latin America and Asia only, but I can still sulk!

What are you lot eyeing up? I'm passing on Hey Sailor I think. Nothing leaps out at me except for maybe the Emerald Sea PowerPoint eye pencil. For Reel Sexy I'm after Heroine lipstick and perhaps the magenta blush. Fashion Sets may also be a pass for me unless I can get a friend abroad to get me the Pink Nouveau lipglass!

It's just as well I'm not too excited about this lots to be honest, as I need some pennies for some of the upcoming things I've see snippets of I think!

What's the general opinion about these collections then? Are you passing or buying?

Rainbow eyes, FOTD

Want to see a make up look I did the other day? Well tough you have to see it or click somewhere else, it's my blog! Stupid me forgot to note down everything I used.. but I wasn't making this specifically for a blog post, I was just going out to the cinema (to see the Hunger Games, see last post!) and it turned out to be something I really liked so I quickly snapped photos on my phone before I went out.

The only products I can guarantee I used were my lips were MAC Pink Nouveau with MAC Shush! Tendertone over (I took them in my handbag for touch ups, so I know that for sure!) and my eyeliner was Rimmel black liquid liner. I could take a stab at the colours on my eyes, but I used so many and didn't write it down anywhere. There's definitely MAC eyeshadows in Bitter and Chrome Yellow and the pink at the outer corner is Rose pigment, and the purple in the mid crease is Violet pigment, and the palest blue is Mutiny pigment, and I highlighted with MAC Pure White pigment on the brow bone (ooh I actually remembered a lot there) but the other shades I'm not too sure on!

Obligatory shot with unusual frame, off camera eyes and a bad view of everything! Booyah!

Oh yeah, I wear glasses normally. I'm blind as a bat without them (minus 6.5ish I think, one eye is better than the other) and I don't get on with contact lenses.. don't ask. I normally take glasses off for make up shots, but sometimes I take shots with them on! I think this is the first time on this blog though. My hair was purple like my glasses but it's faded a lot :( Though the shade it is now matches Pink Nouveau lipstick perfectly.

Eyes closed

Eyes open

Close up of closed eyes. Oooh Cinema film frame! See what I did there?

This last photo is DIRE. Up nose shot and you can see where I'd had a spot next to my nose, but sadly this is the best shot of all I took that shows the colours true and clear. Please don't laugh... I ran out of concealer and foundation and powder were just making it look horrible, so it's not got anything much covering it really. I don't like caking spots in make up if I can help it anyway as it only makes them last longer... any free donations of concealer would be gratefully received until I can afford to get some from MAC. (Why don'[t they let you back2MAC for other things than lipsticks? I have enough for 2 lippies now I think, but I don't NEED lipsticks, I need concealer and powder!)

By the way, the t-shirt I'm wearing here is from Think Geek. It's this one.


Just in case you all haven't noticed, I chose a groovy new background for this blog today from here. Woo! I might get off my arse and design myself a banner at some point.. maybe.

I'd also like to point out I have an email address for any queries relating to the blog here.

If you enjoy it here, (or hate it) I'd love some feedback, and please spread the word.. but only if you like it.. ;)

The Hunger Games. Wow.

Bzzz! (Fifth Element)

I saw The Hunger Games last night and just wow. Wow. I could hardly say much more! My husband said it was "good but not amazing" but I think the reason I was more impressed was the styling and the make-up of the people of The Capitol in contrast with the Districts. I felt the Capitol's style was a little like The Fifth Element with the bright colours and wacky styles and fabulous wigs! My Mother-in-Law said it was "the Truman Show meets Rambo" which I think was also pretty apt, but doesn't involve so many pretty Jean Paul Gautier designs...

Sky Waitresses (Fifth Element)

Effie Trinket

I wouldn't normally post about a film in a beauty blog, and I'm not an overly movie-loving person, not like my husband who will watch as many films as he can in a day.. I'm picky with my films... but The Hunger Games had such a strong sense of style in it, I felt it NEEDED to be mentioned! I've seen several other bloggers doing their own "Effie Trinket" styles and general Capitol styles, and I can now see why, and will probably be jumping on the bandwagon too, as I came home with my head literally buzzing with ideas for make-up looks!

Effie Trinket alone is an amazingly inspirational character, visually speaking at least! See the photo to the right here:

Curly wig, pink all around her eye area, lilac lips, and all so well colour coordinated!














I thought that was a strong theme in  all the residents of  The Capitol- they all had strong colour coordination, bold bright colours and matching accessories. Just look at Caesar Flickerman with his blue hair and blue brows (left)! Next time I dye my hair blue, I'll have to do my eyebrows as well...  And this woman in pink on the right here! See what I mean by coordination?? Amazing.









I have to mention Lenny Kravitz as Cinna with amazing gold eyeliner! He gets a *special* mention because he's also so pretty. I believe this was  Make-Up Forever, Metal Powder #1 Sunflower Gold  that they actually used. It made me think of Illamasqua for some reason. Do they have a good gold eyeliner or something? I don't know why, but it comes to mind for some reason! *Googles* Yes! Precision Ink in Alchemy. I'm not going totally mad! 





Finally the beard on Seneca Crane. Imagine having to maintain that daily! I tried to convince my husband that it would look good, but he has a vast beard, and that's because he's too lazy to shave at all so if shaving in a simple way is too much, no way in hell would he do this. I don't blame him too be honest, but it's actually really hot imho. I think it's a fashion I'd be very happy about if it took off. I'd love seeing guys with a well trimmed, intricately shaped beard. I love it!





I've not even scratched the surface on everything that I enjoyed in the styling of this film. I could go on and on about it. When I've got it on Blu-Ray at home and I can pause it and inspect the whole crowd at the games I'll be very happy. None of this amazing styling would have been achieved without Ve Neill as the make-up designer behind the film. She's clearly incredibly talented, and I take my hat off to her. When you know that she did the make-up on Edward Scissorhands and Johnny Depp's smokey eyes on Pirates of the Caribbean amongst other things, you know she must be a lady of skill!


I will definitely be coming back with a Hunger Games inspired look. It has to be done; it would be rude not to. I had t resist the temptation to start playing with make-up at 11.30pm last night when we got home from the cinema in fact..


In the mean time, have a look here at a website of "Capitol Couture" :

http://capitolcouture.pn/

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!”

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention the China Glaze Capitol Colours collection! ARGH! I'm huge nail polish junkie, and China Glaze is quite possibly my favourite brand, so I don't know how I forgot it! OUT NOW!

http://chinaglaze.com/products/index.php?coll=57

Kermit The Frog FOTD

Hi, Ho! Kermit the Frog here!

Yes you read that right. I have a Kermit The Frog themed face of the day! Hahah! It started out that I was just playing with the greens in my palette and it just looked SO Kermitty in the end!

I've actually experimented a little with using blush of sorts here, not sure if you can tell, but I've used MAC Cool Pink pigment on my cheeks here and blended it well with a large brush so it's less harsh. It just dawned on me that although I pretty much solely use the pigments as eye shadows they are supposed to be multi-purpose!

Trying to show the pigment as blush!

I started with a base or Urban Decay Primer Potion then MAC Lucky Jade shadestick over my entire lid and just underneath my eyes as a liner, then went over the entire lid with MAC Bitter eye shadow and a brush damp with water for a more intense colour.

I then used MAC Chrome Yellow eye shadow (dry), upwards from the crease and blended into the Bitter.

Then I took MAC eye shadow (dry again) in Swimming and swept it across the crease and outer corner and blended it.

Feeling wistful, MySpace-esque shot

Using a brush damp with water only, I used MAC pigment in Emerald as a liner.

To highlight the brow bone and the inner corner of my eye around the tearduct I used MAC pigment in Jardin Aires. and BLEEEENNND! (there's a lot of blending, I know!)

Then finished the eyes with black mascara and put MAC Tendertone in Shush! on my lips, and we're done! I should really complete this look by putting OPI Rainbow Connection on my fingernails!


What do you think of my "blush" and, of course, the insanely green eyes?

Carine Roitfeld for M·A·C

I don't know if this is common knowledge yet, but this just popped up on my Facebook feed:


Irreverent and a living image of provocative fashion – Carine Roitfeld. M·A·C announces our collaboration with the fashion visionary and muse, editor and image-maker. M·A·C partnered with Carine on every aspect – from the chic shades and Good Luck Star to the packaging and the tools to achieve her signature look – nude lip, bold brow, and the smoky eye elevated to a new art form. Photographed by Mario Sorrenti. Debuts this Fall.


I've read elsewhere that it's going to be a 20 piece line, but I don't know much else about it...


Thoughts? I can't help but think there should be brow related products in the line like brow gel or brow pencils, as her eyebrows seem to be pretty key to her look really! Other than that it's hinted toward smokey, dark, bold and gothic eyes. Good in my book!

Illamasqua Human Fundamentlism (second part)

Oooh Illamasqua added more products to their Human Fundamentalism collection! Damn them and their unpronounceable name and very expensive products. I have actually PRACTISED saying their name as they say it on their videos as I previously thought it was Ill-llama-squar instead of Il-lum-ass-kah. 


I like the Eurydice lipstick they've just put on, but it might be because I like the name :D But Apocalips still wins. There's nothing else like that. If I had money, that's what I would buy from them! And their signature Sealing Gel... and the false lashes! If only it wasn't so expensive... but it IS quality and unique.


Check out the whole collection including the new bits added today here:

Human Fundametalism

Yeah.. I want Apocalips. I REALLY do! The whole collection is just jaw dropping when you look at the promotional shots they've done. This is just one of their amazing looks here with Apocalips!

The search for a blush, and smelling like chocolates??

I stumbled across this on the boots website this evening, whilst searching for blushers..

 http://www.boots.com/en/Bourjois-Delice-de-Poudre-Bronzing-Powder_35023
Ok so I don't use bronzer, and possibly never will as it makes me think of bright orange sparkly chavs using it incorrectly, but WHAT?? Chocolate scented bronzer?? Surely it just makes random dogs in the street want to lick you (and menstruating women in desperate need of chocolate) I really must get past my phobia of bronzers! You don't have to look like the cast of TOWIE when you use it, I just grew up in a town fullof people who apparently weren't aware of that, or had bad lighting at their make up tables... or were just unnaturally heavy-handed with products! *sigh* Anyway...

This isn't a new product I don't think, just new to ME. Apparently, upon Googling, there is also a highlighting powder, which is something I might use, but I'm not sure a chocolate fragrance would just interfere with my perfume. I find it a thoroughly odd idea and I'm not really sure why they thought of it...


This post is brought to you because I haven't been arsed to post a proper one for awhile and I felt bad... also this product both amused and baffled me! A friend has since informed me that " It doesn't smell that chocolatey and is a really good bronzer for pale skin." (direct quote) which is good news and as I go to post this it's only £4.99 on the Boots website (and possibly in store too but I can't guarantee that)


I'm searching for a blusher to try still. I've never really worn blush, being of the slightly Goffick persuasion, and very pale I saw of embraced my paleness, and it's only recently dawned on me that blusher doesn't have to make you look like somebody's crazed great aunt with big, obvious bright smears up your cheeks, and a lot of the great make-up looks I admire actually use blush, just properly and subtly and the right shade! 


So, with that in mind, I thought it was time to take the plunge and buy one when I next have free cash. My gut instinct is to go with MAC because I know and love them, and the Tres Cheek collection out right now is fabulous (check it out if you haven't already, there are some lovely shades in a buildable, blendable formula) but then it's My First Blush and I am poor, so I wondered if I should try a cheap brand just to check I like how I look with blush first, and the Barry M ones seem quite popular amongst the blogs, AND I can use my Boots Advantage Card points to buy one and not spend ANY real money! YAY! Of course, I could always get that chocolate powder by Bourjois with Boots points too... if I wanted to!
Does anybody have a blush they'd recommend to an NC15 skinned, blush n00b? I'd like NARS Orgasm in the future as I've heard excellent things about it, and of course, MAC! Oh MAC, so many MAC shades I like. I've also read that crème formulas are best for blending to get a subtle finish, which is the opposite of what I would have guessed! In the short term, I'm leaning towards Barry M or perhaps good ol' No 7. Let me know any advice you have for me on the blush front. I'd love some feedback!

This is the Barry M one I'm liking the look of. Pink Orchid:

Reviving MAC Lipglasses and Shadesticks

Well, I thought I'd share an experiment with you all. I have two MAC Lipglasses that I love immensely and they have gone "bad". They taste horrible and the vanilla scent has gone. I was particularly devastated as one is Nico that I wore on my wedding day and it's discontinued now. The other is Flashmode which is such an amazing pink, and there's more than half left in both of them!

Firstly I Googled and found this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poBgTkYsUvI

Fabulous idea!

I decided to take it another step as the loss of the vanilla is my biggest issue, so I put some vanilla essence in each lipglass (courtesy of Dr Oetker and the baking section of the supermarket!) and then put the lipglasses in the hot water:

As you can see I slung an Urban Decay Primer Potion in there too, and it worked pretty well to get that going again!

After leaving them in there for some time whilst I washed my hair and drank a cup of tea, I thought they'd probably be about done. I'm a bit crap so I can't give you an exact time. When I pulled them out the consistency had improved greatly, but I have to say my experiment doesn't seem to have improved the taste at all. I wonder if with time the vanilla will infuse better with the whole product? I can hope.

Once again to be confusing you can see I put a (very) old Urban Decay Lip Gunk in with them after I took photos of them stewing in the water. Sorry! Noob blogger fail! But anyway, you can see it looks like new lip gloss!

Finally I decided to extend the experiment. I have three MAC Shadesticks that have dried out a bit. It's something that's happened to many of us I think... bought a Shadestick and forgotten that it clicks TWICE, and if the lid isn't on properly it dries out and it's really hard to get any colour pay-off.

I'd say with this ensure you DO have the lid clicked on properly, and only submerge it below the level of the lid. You don't want water in the product- just the heat. Think of it like a Bain Marie if you do any cooking- the mug is your pan of water, the Shadestick packaging is the bowl in the saucepan and the stick itself is like chocolate you want to warm in the Bain Marie but not get water in it... only you don't want to melt the stick, just warm it through.

Before I put them in, the Shadesticks were all too dry and scratchy to use and there was hardly any colour pay-off. After only 15 minutes in the warm water, it was like this:

I was seriously impressed! Longer may have been better, but too long (or too hot.. make sure it's warm and not hot for this, I'd make it cooler than you would in the video) and it would just be a puddle of Shadestick-ness in the bottom of a tube you couldn't retrieve it from without pouring it out....

So in conclusion, the vanilla restoration project failed. The consistency of the glosses was improved, and it works well still, but I find the flavour pretty repulsive. Perhaps something in it really has gone "off" but it was worth a shot. If it improves over time, I'll report back. The Shadesticks worked amazingly well though! I've not seen any advice to restore Shadesticks to use before now, so I'm very pleased about this.

Let me know if any of this works for you.