Tuesday, August 25, 2015

p a s t e l ♡ c o m e b a c k


Title is - obviously - referring to my new hair color!  
Okay, to be fair, I have had it for about a month now... but I have not yet posted it here, have I? So why not. Let us say "new" and move along. 

Was not even blonde for a month, I think. I am so very indecisive it is almost amusing. 
Before and after, anyway.


 


For this, I used Directions ("Neon Blue"), which is my go-to hair dye brand. I get my Directions from Kawaii Shop or Shock here in Stockholm, but you can find it ridiculously easily on eBay. Literally, it takes two minutes.

Neon Blue is quite a dark shade of blue with purple pigments, so I mixed it with conditioner to brighten it a bit. Pastel things up a notch, so to speak! I used about one cup of regular conditioner, I think I have some Elvital repair type thing, with a little less than a teaspoon of hair dye, give or take a few drops.

This method is great, because you will certainly not have to run to the store or order new hair dye every other week, as I would have had to do if I had gone with a lighter shade of purple dye. So, it is highly recommended! However, I feel obligated to add that you cannot do this with permanent box dye, only with conditioner-based semi-permanent hair dye. Things will go horribly wrong if you try to mix permanent box dye with conditioner ("and you will get cancer and die").


Now that I have washed it a few times, it has turned a little blue though, to say the least. But I think it still looks rather good, so I will wait a while before buying some pink conditioner to throw in the mix and going purple again.

Seems like no matter what I try, I always end up going back to blue. 



Seems like no matter what I try, sooner or later I always go back to blue. 
Oh, well. 

Over and out, petals! ♡

Monday, August 24, 2015

m a k e u p ♡ cheap knock-offs vs. brands

Trying to write these long entries I have planned for such a long time, is really not having a very positive effect on my creativity, nor my ability to actually go through with it. I have repeatedly apologized for my messy brain, and surely it must be getting old by now, so I will just say that from here on out I will just write what I feel like, and what I have planned will come when it comes. Simple as that!

So, today’s topic, completely out of the blue?
The beauty of brand makeup. 

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. The reason as to why, is me growing up a dedicated cheapskate, who would rather chop her own arm off with a kitchen knife, than spend more than 300 SEK on a cosmetic product of any kind. That is, until a few weeks ago, when I finally gave up, and bought something I have literally been dreaming about for a very long time – The Too Faced Chocolate Bar nude eyeshadow palette.





Just looking at it is makeup porn, I am officially converted.

The thing – and the reason I am even writing this post – is, I learned a very valuable lesson from this experience, after going through a very stressful couple of sweaty what-have-I-done days. I have used this palette almost every day since I got it, and when I think about it, the price of all the cheap questionable quality products I have bought without feeling bad about it, probably adds up to a couple of 100 SEK bills more than the Chocolate Bar cost.

And I barely even use those cheap guilt free products.
Ironic, huh?

After the Too Faced palette, came a lip balm and cheek palette from TheBalm, as well as an eyeshadow palette from the same brand, and a foundation from MAC. Touching my savings made the cheapskate inside my skull throw a tantrum, but you know what, it has been completely worth it. (Note: All from http://www.beautybridge.com/ ! Highly recommended seller, they have great offers and coupons and stuff too.)

Remember; "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad"!

So, what else is there to say about brand makeup?

Q u a l i t y : When it comes to eyeshadows, in particular, the cheap ones are far less pigmented, and do not look nice and vibrant for as long. Cheap black eyeshadows are okay – I have one from H&M, and it is completely okay – but black is black, it is technically not even a color. Very hard to mess up.

As for foundation and powder, I am never ever buying cheap foundation again. There is a major difference when it comes to how the skin cooperates with different foundations, and if you like me have sensitive, dry skin, investing in a good foundation is a… well, good, idea. My old foundation made my skin flakey and cakey, but my MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation covers everything up instead.

If your skin is not as dry and uncooperative as mine, a cheaper foundation might work, however! Just thought I would add that as well.


♡ V a r i e t y : This mostly applies to shadows and lip colors, obviously, but this is where the biggest difference shows – you actually get a lot more for your money. A basic palette from H&M comes with four or five different shades, whereas most of the bigger brand palettes come with over ten different shades. If you think about it, it could actually be that if you buy several palettes which combined add up to the same number of colors as one of them more fancy palettes, you might even be paying the same price. So the question is; which option is more worth it?





♡ D e s i g n : Let us face it, an eyeshadow palette that smells and tastes like chocolate (please Saga Malva, just shut up about this goddamn thing already) is much more appealing than one of those five shade basic palettes from H&M that I just mentioned. Not to mention TheBalm! I love TheBalm and the half-naked cowboys posing with the apple themed lip balms.


♡ F u n : I could not come up with a better title for this one, so let us ignore the somewhat pretentious feel of it. This part goes hand in hand with design, anyways. Quirky products are just as nice to look at as they are fun to play with. I can honestly say I have enjoyed doing my makeup a whole lot more lately, and it has actually been very inspirational as well. Heck, I even made a YouTube video!





♡ E a s y : Because these palettes are themed, in colors and whatnot, it is much easier to match the different shades and create looks that “make sense”, if that makes sense. Pun intended. It also helps a lot to see the colors next to each other on the palette, so you can do some combining in your head before trying it out on your eyes.



When should you go cheap, then?
Well - brushes, eyeliner, mascara, and perhaps you can live without the fanciest brand of clear lip gloss because real talk, they all look exactly the same.

Money management, when and what to invest in is another topic I could write a book about...! Surprisingly enough, I hate math, but I love numbers. Oh well.


As always, this post got quite long, but I do get quite a few questions on this subject, and I really wanted to share my experience, because converting has done so much for my creativity and inspiration!

Now, there is also a lot to say about ethical makeup as well, but I am planning to write another post on that subject, after hearing some gross things about a certain brand called Lime Crime. Too Faced and TheBalm are cruelty-free, I can say that much. Just now I discovered MAC is no longer cruelty-free, after moving their production to China (long story short), but MakeUpStore is a good alternative. I have some more digging to do, before I can publish a well thought out list. To be continued in part two.

Time for me to go offline and get some work done.
Have a great week everyone! Take care until next time. ( ´ ▽ ` )



P.S. In case you missed it, here is my new video makeup tutorial !
Shamelessly advertising myself.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

t u t o r i a l ♡ [ Aye Space Captain ! ] video and product list

Okay, I am just going to post this. I have a lot of things to say - for example, I ended up completely panicking with the music - but it is unimportant. Going to stay positive! It is my second video, hopefully someone will enjoy it despite the somewhat messy editing! And most importantly, I had a lot of fun with this look. 

Brought to you by the glitter and aliens 
I always come to think of when I am wearing this sweater:

[ Aye Space Captain ! ] Makeup Tutorial



p r o d u c t s ♡ u s e d

B r u s h e s :
Every day is Caturday set from Forever21 
H&M's own brand 
eBay

L e n s e s :

GEO Eyes Cream RayRay Gray (click !)

- Get them from Pinkyparadise, and apply coupon code irodohieru!

La s h e s : 
Upper lashes - PLAYGIRL from Decorative Eyelash
Lower lashes - Off-brand value pack from eBay
Duo eyelash adheshive

F o u n d a t i o n : 
MAC Studio Fix Fluid, NC15
Manic Panic Dreamtonic White (it's vegan!)

P o w d e r & b l u s h :
MAC Blot Powder Pressed, Light
Estée Lauder Deluxe All-Over Face Compact

E y e s h a d o w : 
H&M basic smokey eyes palette
- All shades except light light grey used.

M a s c a r a : 
Max Factor Wild Mega Volume
Isadora False Lash Wings

E y e l i n e r & e y e b r o w p e n :
Dolly Wink
Off brand liquid eyeliner
Wet & Wild liquid eyeliner, brown
Isadora Eyebrow Pencil, 21 Dark Brown

L i p s : 
Tony Moly Cat Chu Wink lip tint, Cherry Pink
Face Stockholm Nektar lipgloss, Äppleblom

♡  

There we go! Again, I hope someone enjoyed this or found it helpful! Feel free to subscribe if you like! But then you have to go to bed, it is getting late. 

Much love to each and every one of you (and please be nice, remember it is only my second video, haha...) !

P.S. Oh my, looks like I almost forgot these lovely behind the scenes treats.