This post has been on the back burner for a while. Originally I filmed it and had no time to edit then when I finally went to edit I decided to re-film now that my natural nails are long enough. So hopefully it lives up to expectations! Also there’s no music on this video due to some technical problems, I might update it later 🙂
To be honest using an orange stick is my second choice for doing this. Normally I just use my finger but it was very difficult to see what I was doing with a finger blocking the camera XD If you would like to see another way to achieve a similar look check out Mini Nail Blog’s post in which she uses loose glitter.
Last week I was lucky enough to get an invite to the Illamasquacounter opening at Chadstone shopping center. Considering how much fun the city launch was I was really excited to go. They had flown in 3 of their best make up artists to give us all transformations too so that was the icing on an already awesome cake!
Champagne and orange juice was waiting when we arrived.
With lots of the MBBE girls it was awesome to catch up with good friends.
Lovely make up artist Daniel Busuttil welcomed us to the event. All of the MBBE girls are in agreement, he has the most perfect eyebrows that any of us have ever seen.
And Jaciewho had a “Futuristic Mad Men” themed make over…
Love this photo of her so much:
And this one too, Jamestook so many awesome photos of the night!!
After all of us had caught up, the transformations began!
I was given the royal treatment by the fantastic Philip Buck who is so funny and sweet. The girls started plotting ways to keep him in Australia and not let him go home!
Now before we get to the “after” pictures I should probably explain the idea of an Illamasqua Transformation. The tag line for the brand is “Your Alter Ego” so a transformation is different to a regular make over because it is supposed to take you completely out of your comfort zone and show you an alter ego. So if you think it will be too traumatic to see me in anything other than sweet cutesy things it’s probably a good idea to skip the rest of this post -_-‘
Philip’s skills were amazing. I told him the look that I usually go for and that I wanted something completely crazy and he ran with it!
My eyes started freaking out at the powder (crazy sensitive eyes) half way and watering everywhere so I undid some of his beautiful work, instead of re-doing he took it as inspiration and turned it into something even more awesome!
This sparkly pigment was awesome and I have added to my want-list!
Starting to get darker now…
Adding more pigment…
Before, the regular plain old me with just foundation, lip gloss and lashes:
After, the transformed Tim Burton nightmare me:
And with the mastermind himself!
Rocking our transformations:
And with Melwho looked absolutely stunning in her Black Swan inspired Transformation
And Daniel who was the genius behind it!
By the end of the transformation there was a whole crowd of onlookers watching us XD
Some of the MBBE girls and I trying to do our scary faces:
The rest of the post is just going to be pic spam because it was so cool it deserves pictures!
Haha the poor other girls were convinced that they were going to have nightmares about me!
I think James was a little worried about waking up to this too hahaha!
These ones were taken once we got home and could control the lighting
My absolute favorite photo:
All in all it was a fantastic night and I really enjoyed breaking out of my comfort zone. I like trying new things, that’s how you discover old favorites! I would definitely recommend having an Illamasqua transformation, it’s an awesomely fun way to try something new.
The other day when I posted about the Illamasqua eye pencila couple of people asked about the eyeshadow I was wearing, well here it is! It was one of the items in the MBBE gift bags as you can see below 😀
It’s the Estée Lauder Pure Colour Eyeshadow in “Enchanted Forest Shimmer”.
Just with the shadow and mascara:
The price here in Aus for one of these is $42 (according to their website) which is on par with other high end brands here. Unfortunately as per usual here in Aus we pay more than twice as much for most of our cosmetics that those overseas for absolutely no reason whatsoever >:(
The quality is very lovely, it really glides on and it’s quite pigmented without looking fluorescent. I think it’s a really nice way to do a non-natural colour without being too over the top. The colour lasted all day for me with no problems and stayed where it was supposed to.
With liner and the rest of my make up:
VERDICT: High end brand and therefore out of my budget… still very good quality, lasts well through the day and doesn’t migrate. DO WANT (but not at Australian prices).
When I went to the MBBE Illamasqua counter opening I took home a lovely gift bag with a lipstick and medium pencil. While the lipstick wasn’t quite my colour (black), the pencil has worked its way into my every day make up routine so here’s my review ^_^
Colour name: Elate (white) in mediumBrand: IllamasquaAvailable from: In store (available from the website for overseas readers)
This is a swatch with 3 stripes, the bottom one has been blended into the skin.
I think medium is a good way to describe this pencil in pretty much all aspects, in texture it’s not super soft but it’s not like it’s super hard either. Haha it’s like the Goldilocks and the Three Bears of pencils XD
I can’t fault the colour at all and I’ve been using it as a highlighter in my casual make up looks by applying it as a second layer of eyeliner just above the black…
Once it’s on it lasts all day with no troubles and is easily removed with gentle make up remover at the end of the day. It does it’s job very well. The only thing that would make it better in my mind is if it was a tiny bit softer, I have particularly sensitive skin so I usually favor super soft pencils (or just avoid them completely and use gel liner) to avoid irritation.
Again this is on the higher end of brand products so the price reflects that.
VERDICT: Assuming you were looking in the higher price range (or lived overseas where it’s less than half the price it is here -_-) I would definitely go for this and give it a test in store. Versatile and great for highlighting. DO WANT.
This year as part of my Christmas presents for everyone I made them custom lip glosses ^_^ They are fun to make and you can personalise the colour to the person you’re making it for too.
What you need:
Vaseline/petroleum jelly
Containers
Mixing container ( the metal thing from a tea light candle)
Tea light candle and lighter
Things to colour the glosses with eg. other lip glosses, lipsticks, eyeshadow, plain pigments, shimmer dust etc.
Flavour or scent if you want. I used a tiny bit of perfume oil but it’s optional.
So in your mixing bowl put in a big glob of vaseline and cut off a little slice of lipstick or whatever colour you’re using. I added a bunch of shimmer dust too. Keep in mind that if you are using old lip products and you are planning on giving them to other people you need to make sure it’s hygienic and there are no germs. If you’re making them for other people rather than using old products that you’ve used previously for colour you should really invest in some reasonably priced lipsticks or colours.
Using the pliers or something, hold it over the candle to melt it all together and stir.
The first time I bought BYS shimmer powder I was 13 years old and I didn’t buy it for make up… I bought it to use in art pieces XD Then when I started getting into make up I used the rest of the jar I had bought at 13 because as it turns out… its fricking awesome. So I spent years looking for it again with no luck until about a month ago when I found a whole new range of them at a junk store stand!
Brand: BYS
Product: Shimmer Powder
Price: $2.99
Available from: Places that stock BYS (usually junk stores)
They come is maybe 6-7 different colours, I bought pink and purple to start with. Previously the bottles had screw caps but in the new versions they have a twist top with little shaker holes. This is ok but it makes application more annoying. Previously you could just dip a cotton bud in and apply now you need to shake onto something then use the cotton bud to apply, it’s a little wasteful.
This is what it looks like straight out of the jar:
And rubbed in:
The photos really don’t do justice to the truly awesome amount of shimmer at these babies give so here’s a short video!
Verdict: Super shimmery, lovely colours, blends very well and nice and cheap. DO WANT. Tempted to buy like 10 jars of each colour in case they stop making them again *_*
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
