I borrowed a whole bunch of nail polishes from a girlfriend and have been lining them up to try it all out. :D

This one is the Skin Food Pedicure Sparkle in Cool Mint. It comes out exactly as it looks in the bottle: baby blue and super sparkly!

The polish applies smoothly with a soft brush that easily fans out to cover most of the nail. Sparkles always do a great job of hiding brush marks.

One coat would have been enough but I applied two for more opacity and topped it with some lace stickers with an accent on the ring finger.

This isn't the first time I tried Skin Food nail polishes and have been loving their Pedicure Sparkles range. Sure, it's probably made for application on feet, but I don't think it really makes a difference.

xxEva

I caved and bought the trio of Tony Moly nail polishes from Cosmetic Love that included:

• Milky Way (GS08) - Purple
• Shooting Star ( GS09) - Blue
• Pinky Star (GS10) - Pink

Plus they also sent me a ton of sample packs that I'm dying to try out as well. ^^

The polishes reminds me of speckled eggs and fairy bread with 100s & 1000s. I had high hopes that they will turn out just like the bottle.

I found that the formula was slightly thin and the glitter a bit sparse. Especially on Shooting Star.

By itself, the colour did not show up well enough and I wore OPI Steady As She Rose underneath to boost the opacity for Milky Way. I didn't have any baby blues, so I used OPI Mermaid Tears under Shooting Star on my ring finger as an accent nail.

The formula of the Tony Moly polishes was so sheer the difference in colour didn't seem to matter. However, I did have to put 3-4 coats over the top before there was enough glitter on the nail.

Products used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• OPI Steady As She Rose (Pirates of the Caribbean collection)
• OPI Mermaid Tears (Pirates collection)
• Tony Moly Milky Way
• Tony Moly Shooting Star (accent nail)
• OPI RapiDry Top Coat
• China Glaze Matte Magic Flat Finish Top Coat
• Nail polish corrector pen

The matte top coat was an impulse decision as I had yet to try it out. It created a very flat effect, which looked nice and definitely resembled speckled eggs! But I think I'd prefer a shiny finish to really bring out the glitters.

xxEva

*** Unless otherwise stated, all products are bought with my own funds and I am not affiliated with any mentioned brands or sellers. Reviews are 100% of my own opinion and experiences. ***

Tattoo Transfers

Ok, you're probably thinking, 'What's so hard about tattoo transfers?'
Um, not much, really. But these aren't your average cereal box  freebies; they're high-grade, professional transfers that do not have a shiny finish and looks much more realistic.

The trick with tattoo transfers is to make it look like a layer of skin has grown over it so the colour is slightly muted.

The tattoo transfers I used was from Hub Makeup and comes in a multi-pack with different designs. I chose a simple rose one and dabbed 99% alcohol onto the back of the image to transfer it onto the skin. Have to work quickly for this as alcohol evaporates pretty quick!

After transfer is complete, go over the outlines with black transfer tattoo ink and colour in the design. Transfer tattoo inks are also available from Hub Makeup and they activate only with 99% alcohol, but can produce a very vivid effect. To achieve a realistic tattoo look, dust over the finished design with translucent powder.

Covering Tattoos


Another no-brainer, really. Remember the lesson on concealer? That's what you use! Apply your knowledge of colour theory and conceal the different colours of a tattoo accordingly.

Layer on foundation in a colour to match the skin tone and set with translucent powder.

xxEva

Izzie models my Egyptian Queen look and totally nails it with her dark hair and olive complexion.

Egyptian makeup is all about defining the eyes. This is enhanced by jewel-tones, thick kohl eyeliner and bold brows.

For my look, I based the style heavily on the Eye of Horus, which is typically a big inspiration for Egyptian makeup.

The lids are smoked in bright blue eyeshadow, with heavy cake liner ending in a squared-off wing. The eyeliner is then outlined in gold loose dust mixed with liner sealer (awesome stuff!). This turns the loose dust it into a liquid liner.

Brows are squared off and complements the heavily lined eyes.

Lips are not lined and kept neutral to balance out the look.

xxEva

It's no secret I've been looking for an all-in-one makeup palette lately, so I bought the Collector's Edition Makeup Palette with the intention of popping it in my work bag for touch ups.

Yes, I know the palette is a little old as it's from Shiseido's 2010 holiday release, but I really don't mind last season's makeup. Once it's applied, who can tell, right?

Anyway, the palette comes in a sleek, black, piano-finish case with an affinity for fingerprints. The press-clasp easily opens to reveal a mirror under the lid and a simple arrangement of (from left to right, top to bottom):

• Double-ended liner & lip brush
• Lip & Cheek Tint x1
• Eye Colour (aka. Eyeshadows) x2
• Eye Colour Base (aka. Primer) x1
• Cream (Gel) Eyeliner x1
• Blush x2
• Blusher brush
• Double-ended eyeshadow sponge

*** Unless otherwise stated, all products are bought with my own funds and I am not affiliated with any mentioned brands or sellers. Reviews are 100% of my own opinion and experiences. ***

Small break from makeup. I had a spare hour and decided to finally break out my recent new nail polishes. Because I don't generally wear a lot of nail polish, I opted for minis to try out colours, and to be able to (attempt) finish using them before they dry up.

Now I'm pretty new to nail art as I never have the patience to really sit there and labour over the design. But I quite like to do my nails while I chat with friends over webcam at night. :)

Thought I might as well snap a few pics and turn it into a quick tutorial while I'm at it. Products I've used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• OPI Mummy Knows Best mini polish (Spookettes collection)
• OPI RapiDry Top Coat
• Black nail art strip tape
• 2mm nail art rhinestones
• Nail polish corrector pen
• Nail scissors

It's a pretty simple nail art so I hope the pictures are sufficient. I had on about 3 coats of Mummy Knows Best as I found the formula really streaky and goopy. Bit of a fiddle to get it right as I was being such a perfectionist. It might just be my bottle, though.

And I'm not sure if it's because of the tiny brush, but I had to load it with a lot more polish to even out the streaks, although the RapiDry top coat did a good job of smoothing over any patchy work.

The black striping tape was easy enough to adhere to the nails. However, I had to get it exactly aligned or it will rip off the top layer of the polish if I try to remove it. The tape also started peeling back a bit after a day. But then again I'm quite abusive of my nails.

My sis actually liked the design and said it looked 'posh'. :) Whatcha think?

xxEva

Geisha makeup probably works better on an Asian face, but Samara carries it off pretty well. :)

I've decided theatrical makeup isn't for me. There is nothing sexy about slathering the face in thick layers of grease paint and gambling with blocked pores and breakouts.

While I can appreciate a good face-painting and some designs are utterly exquisite, I can't see the appeal of caking on the makeup. And let me tell you: grease paint is thick! So if I'm not willing to slap it on my face, I wouldn't recommend it to others.

Despite this, I decided to grin and bear it in class just this once.
Ben Nye Clown White, here we go...

1. Moisturise the face thouroughly. This is the only time I will overlook moisturising the eyelids . It will help with removing the makeup and won't leave your skin feeling completely gross afterwards.
2. Apply primer to add another barrier layer. If the colours being used a especially pigmented, you'll thank me for this later.
3. Start with the eyes and you'll have no regrets. Fall outs on white greasepaint is totally obvious and will require a wipe-off and reapplication of the base to remove.
4. I played with Ben Nye's Clown White as a base. A little goes a long way and the product requires warming up before killing your brushes. I recommend using the back of the hand as a palette if you can get away with it. It's much harder to apply from a cold metal palette.
5. Layer on the white grease paint bit by bit and dab over brush lines with a sponge for that flawless look. Don't push the makeup into the hairline if you can help it (or if the look doesn't require it) and I guarantee your model will be grateful.
6. Apply blush with a sponge dabbed in powder to get a softer look with maximum blendability and no brush strokes.
7. Finish off lips and eyebrows, then set the makeup with generous amounts of translucent powder.

Happy face-painting!

xxEva

I'm so excited to finally present my (first) new business cards! They arrived just in time yesterday and turned out really well for something I just got 'off-the-shelf' at Zazzle.com. Impressed! :)

I must admit these cards were a rushed order for me. A photographer friend offered to hand out my cards at a function on May 4th, along with her own promotions. Can't pass up such a good opportunity, right?

After weeks of procrastinating on designing my own card, I had to find one asap (2 weeks ago) in order for them to arrive in time. Plus I'm pretty picky on design, so after browsing through literally hundreds of designs and googling 'makeup business cards' to death, I finally settled on this one and customised it to allow for my own logo and details. Love!

So ok, it's currently just a place holder until my actual awesome business card design gets, um, designed. Zazzle had offered a 50% off sale on all customisable business cards back two weeks ago, so I was just damn lucky at the time and got 300 cards for less than $45.00 all up, including shipping. *Fist pump moment*

The printing was gorgeous and my only gripe would be that the paper was a little thin. Upgrades costed an additional ~$13, which I didn't get, so I guess that can be an option for others.

xxEva

You don't even have to squint to see that Sami could be a twin of Katy Perry in this recreated E.T makeup look!

This is one of the few classes we actually got to do whatever we wanted, as long as it's in keeping with the style of our selected artist. I chose one of Katy Perry's makeup from her E.T music video. The makeup was flawlessly symetrical, distinctive, yet flattering and exquisitely themed. How hard can it be, right? I decided to free-hand it...

In reality, Katy Perry's makeup artist would most likely have used a template and airbrushed the makeup on so it stays the same in every scene and didn't take an hour to apply each time. Bet she didn't had to sketch the tribal designs on square-by-square either...

But I still fully appreciate the skill, creativity, and steady hand of Katy's brilliant makeup artist.

Anyway, the main thing with music video makeup is that it must look good both from a distance and on close-ups. If shooting over multiple days, makeup continuity is of utmost importance and the look must be identical from scene to scene.

Other than that, unlease your creativity!

xxEva