Mah.

I'm getting impatient now! I thought that it was Thursday today and not Wednesday - I was very upset, angry even, when I found out that it wasn't. I really really really really really REALLY want to leave! I'm so excited it hurts.

So in the meantime I felt like posting about my favorite make-up! I find my basic, everyday look to be very sweet and innocent - very fairy kei Lolita! So I thought that I would share my favorite products.

 This is my basic look - at least a good photo of it! I have very recessed eyelids so you can't see the major sparkly eyeliner and great eyeshadow - well that and the lighting on this isn't really showcasing the eye makeup. ^.^ But you can see my highlighted cheeks and fresh face feel to my basic makeup! The bows? I got them at *SHOCK* the dollar store. Can you believe it? They are so cute and nice quality, I am very surprised with them. The hat is Juicy Couture - a present from my crazy amazing Aunt. The mustache mittens are by a local designer Edit - a Christmas present from my awesome Mommy!


What I use:
★Face Basics★
❥ Benefit's Boi-ing concealer - this stuff is magic! I have a hard time finding good concealers, foundations and face powders because I'm so pale and yet this stuff is supurb! I used to use a Sephora brand buildable concealer but of course, as is my luck, they discontinued it. The girls at Sephora suggested this one to me and to be honest, I love it more. It says to warm it between your finger and thumb before applying it - "weird", I thought. But it makes it apply more evenly and covers more. It's great!
❥ Hourglass' Veil primer - this, too, is magic. I have found if I put it on underneath my tinted moisturizer, the moisturizer spreads more easily, covers better, and I use less. I used to put it on just before my mineral face powder but since putting it that one layer down it's done wonders. It not only feels amazing when you put it on. You can actually feel that it's smoothing out your skin. It wears so lightly - you don't feel like you have that extra product on. It actually is touted to waterproof your make-up: and it does. I had a relaxing, soaking bath one day just to get rid of some knots - like a hot tub only naked and solo - and my make-up didn't budge! It's also very nice that it comes in two sizes! I get the small one and find that it lasts me for 3 months! You need so little! The two sizes is nice because the big one is $60+. I get mine at Sephora.
❥ Sephora's Perfecting tinted moisturizer SPF15 - I really like this product for the days I don't feel like applying much make-up. I slap it and my concealer over the zits and I'm off. It covers enough that my freckles aren't killer but lightly enough that my skin still shins through. It does smell a little like "old lady" cosmetics but that's because of the sunscreen in it. It also helps me skip a step in my morning routine as I don't have to apply moisturizer as well! And trust me - here? You NEED creams. Apparently we spend more every year on creams and moisturizers than all of Canada. Go us.
❥ Bare Minerals' powder foundation (Just found out it, too is SPF 15!) - I love this product for my full out make-up days. I just feel beautiful when I have all of them on. So photo perfect. I haven't experimented with a lot of powders as, like I said before, there aren't many that are made for us almost-see-through people.

★Face Extras★
❥ Tokidoki's Soda Shop blush in Skate Girl - I don't know if this one is still orderable. (I hope it is when I run out ><') I love it because it's a nice colour for me. It is a little dark for my skin but my next product helps me with that! It has a beautiful shimmer to it and on darker skin it looks very subtle. It's a nice all rounded colour. Now, I may be a little bias - as I'm sure you'll notice - as I am obsessed with Tokidoki. I love everything that Simone Legno puts out. His little characters are ever so cute! I haven't bought ALL of the Sephora Tokidoki line - I've been good.
❥ Tokidoki's Luminosa Powder in Kabuki - This is my other "can't live without it" product. I love that it not only lightens the colour of my blush but it also illuminates my face wonderfully. It's kind of like a bronzer just without the deep tan colour! Perfect for those of us who love to shimmer with mystery but don't want to look like Jersey shore-ites: ie Orange. This product really gives me the fairy-kiss quality I love in my make-up.
❥ Nars' Copacabana cheek illumintator - I've just found this product. I got it as a free-bee from Sephora and when my little sample runs out I will be getting it in the large size. I use it on the top of my cheeks just below my eyes. I love that it gives me the fairy-kissed cheeks I've always wanted. It gives a shimmer and shine to my smile.

★Eyes★
This section won't be as in depth as the last two as the products I use are vast. Not quite as vast as Leesha's (the girl who taught me how to do my make-up -- no really she did via her youtube; go visit her) or Margareth (a current inspiration - her blog is in Swedish [I think] but her images are wonderful) or any other make-up guru/artist out there. But my collection is pretty big considering I'm no professional. I'm just going to highlight a few pieces.
Colour Extraordinaire! I don't have any of the following products yet but Leesha uses them a lot and I can see why. Their colours are bold and beautiful! So when I have enough spending money again I might just get some. ^.^
❥ Inglot Cosmetics
❥ Sugarpill
❥ Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics


What I use:
❥ Tokidoki - I have the Soda Shop palette. It's a large palette with lots of colours. I seem to use pretty much all of them. It's nice to have a well rounded palette on hand.
❥ Make-up Forever - I use various products from their loose pigment lineas well as their glitters. It's hard to work with and you can end up wasting some of it because they're loose pigments - but the colour! My god, amazing! An interesting note: I cannot wear their face products. No creams, foundations, blushes, creams etc. However I can wear their eye shadows and glitter with no problems. The glitters I get to stick by using Too-Faced glitter glue. Literally it acts like glue. I love it.
❥ Urban Decay - I have two palettes from them. One is very very old and no longer around. But it has some colours that are still available in individual colours. My current fave of them is shattered. The other is the Delux Shadow Box. It has colours galore in it. When I buy palettes I like to buy ones where there's an actual chance I'll wear all the colours. I hate buying one with four colours you love and use up and have two left over untouched. I also have a few single colours from them - I like their products, nice bold colours.
❥ Urban Decay's eye primers - I use the original and the matte. I like the matte for the days that I don't want to put make up on. I use it with black eyeliner and it gives me a really nice 1950's glamour girl look.
❥ Eyeliners - I love Sephora brand's retractable waterproof line. It's creamy and doesn't require a sharpener. I also use some of Tokidoki's "tattoo" liners. They're great for colour and they stay put!
❥ Mabelline's Lash Stiletto Mascara - I use the waterproof one. I like it because it's cheap but works.

That about sums it up. Well that and my ice cream is melting.
Yes it is a minus bagillion out and I'm about to eat ice cream. Only in Canada. ^.^

Sweetey Pies

I've been thinking for a few days now that I wanted to post a list of my favorite candy inspired bath products. From what I gather the idea behind Lolita is to feel elegant and sweet all at the same time. I use products that do so, and smell so, everyday! Making me feel like a proper Hime Gyaru, even if I can't dress like one. [See previous blog rant about being waaaaay to large to fit brand and proper Lolita clothing. ><']

My Favorite Candy Inspired Products
Cake Beauty's Snow Woman Body Wash - I believe that this is a limited edition product, that may only be released at Christmas. At least I hope that it is. I've fallen in love with it! That being said one of my other favorites is also only released at Christmas, luckily I know that it comes out every year. I'm hoping that this one is too! If not, Cake Beauty makes indulgent and lavish products. I've used a number of their body washes and foam baths. Each smells like a decadent dessert. I also really loved their Creme Brulee one.

Lush Cosmetics' Snow Fairy - This is the other "limited to Christmas" product. I usually would buy 3 per year. Just enough so I make it through to the next release. It smells like a mix between cotton candy and the hard striped candies my grandmother would give me. It has opalescent glitter in it as well which is an added bonus. I usually use it for bubble bath as it foams up beautifully so I don't know if the glitter transfers to your skin when used as a body wash. It's also advertised as a shampoo - again I've never tried it but Lush is an extremely reliable as a company. They use all natural ingredients and their stuff always smells amazing!

NEW                                 OLD

I used to love Calgon's Marshmallow body wash and foam bath but they've recently begun manufacturing in China instead of the USA. Not only did the packaging change but also they changed the ingredients. I currently have a bottle but I haven't used it yet and don't know how different it might be. I'm just hoping that my sensitive little body isn't allergic to it like so many other products.

Philosophy's Vanilla Birthday Cake - I got this one this past year (2011) from Sephora as their birthday gift. I've never tried Philosophy products. I enjoy the smell of a few of them but know that they wouldn't work with my skin. (I have a very high pH balance in my skin and fruity scents go very sour and smell like dying old ladies.) This one impressed me greatly. It's very moisturizing and again is a 3-in-1: shampoos, body wash and foam bath. It's also nice because it's in a travel size and I love my baths! The photo provided is not what the regular packaging looks like but the one that I got.

Gosh Cosmetic's Colour Rescue Shampoo - I'm not sure if this is available everywhere, I get it here at Shopper's Drug Mart [thus the link]. I love this product. Not only is it wonderful on my hair, which is heavily coloured, it smells so great! The first few times I was washing my hair I just couldn't place the smell. It was so familiar! Then it hit me! Those little 3-packs of red, yellow and orange Lifesavers that we used to get in our Halloween candy!

Aqualina's Pink Sugar Perfume - Got this one, again, as a sample from Sephora. Instantly fell in love! It smells like a meritage between vanilla buttercream and caramel sauce. Not only is it indulgently sweet but it is also a perfume I can wear. Again, a rare thing for me due to the pH balance of my skin.

Josie Maran's lip glosses - they not only smell very sweet and have pretty colours they are super moisturizing. Oh, and they taste good! I also love her cleansing oil. Strange, I know! How would oil clean your face?! I don't know but it is luscious! It, too, smells great and it makes my face feel perfect. So smooth and moisturizing. Removes make-up quite nicely too.


Well that's all I can think of right now! If you didn't notice, I love to smell like a bakery threw up on me. But to me that seems to be very Lolit-esque! I suggest trying out all of these. Some are quite expensive but you won't be sorry. I can't believe how big a difference the moderately expensive products make. They aren't ridiculous but they are more than the $6.99 of drug store brands. (With the exception of Gosh and Calgon.)

And so

A new year begins tomorrow, or tonight depending on how you look at it. I'm excited about the new year for many reasons: starting a new, making goals, etc... only not. I guess in reality the new year started for me two months ago. So far things are going quite well. I'm learning new things, exploring my own fashion, learning how to make my hair less ugly and continuing on my ever changing quest with make-up. Wow, how superficial and vain of me.
FOR ONCE!
I've always been so pre-occupied with other people that I've never taken the time to be selfish and work on myself. So last year (2010) I said to myself that I would learn to be more selfish. So far s'ok. I mean I am living at home right now so my mom doesn't feel as lonely - ohkay, ohkay, so _I_ don't feel as lonely. And I really think of others first, but I'm improving. Starting with being a little more vain.

And so in the exploration of Lolita I've realized that a lot of brands I love actually carry a lot of lolitaesque clothing and accessories. Thus my decision to, here and now, list off some of my favorites.

1) Tokidoki - An Italian based designer who takes inspiration from Japan. Go figure that he would have rediculously cute designs that remind me of so many of the super cute cut-sews. Sadly Tokidoki can be very expensive for some one on a budget. Sadly that means that there are a lot of rip-offs of the brand. If you're reading this please visit his website for information on how to look out for said rip-offs! A lot of work goes into his designs and trust me they are worth it. I've found that his clothing lasts for quite a few washes! Sadly two of my t-shirts I've had to retire to PJ status as they are too short for me to comfortably wear in public - this was NOT due to manufacturing defaults but to the fact that I grew. (Slash gained weight.)
2) Kid Robot - Based from the United States, Kid Robot sells a bunch of different designers' cute plushies and plastic toys. Again, they can be expensive but with Kid Robot you're purchasing a piece of art that is usually (more often than not) limited edition meaning there are less than about 1,000 (or less than that) in the entire world. After a while certain pieces, much like Lolita dresses, become of more value and desire to people. Tokidoki has designed a few pieces for Kid Robot and their line of Kosik's labbits are too-cute! Heidi Kennedy's yummy breakfast key chains make nice chunky necklace pieces, or purse decorations and her breakfast plushies are edibly cutesy!
3) The Dollar store - silly I know but when in the hair section there are adorable clips adorned with bows, lace and ribbons! And hoo-boy are they cheap! $1 for 4 clips? Stock up!
4) Pin-Up Girl Clothing - Although waaaaay more sexy than lolita, they sell great 1950 style bathing suits that cover very nicely, cupcake and a-line full skirts and dresses (they have a tendency to be bold colours, but that somtimes can fit in :)) - that with the right pieces will suit lolita quite nicely. They also sell very nice mary-jane shoes on occasion that are super-duper comfortable! They have gloves that are so cute and accessories that can be woven into the right outfit. Sometimes a little expensive but the product is unbelievable! The fabrics they use are very nice!
5) Hell Bunny Dresses - The Hell Bunny brand doesn't have it's own website, so I find it best to google it and see what you can find in your city/country. Their clothing is cute and flowing - more along the pin-up girl style but the a-line and full skirts may make nice separates for Lolita. I really like the brand for their crinolines. AKA petticoats in the Lolita world. Technically petticoats are a full dress flared skirt but I'm not going to get fussy about that.
6) A great source for crinolines is Etsy. There seem to be quite a few people on there selling them in every shape, size and colour. The ones I've found all seem to be the crinoline type opposed to tulle or fabric which go limp quickly.

That's it for today!

New?

Since no one really reads this right now anyway, if it spontaneously change topics no one actually notices until much later. Wow can you saw bad sentence? Please don't shoot me Sherry; should you ever read this.

Recently I've been falling in love (I guess again) with the Lolita style. I e been taking the time to actually learn about it this time. Only to find out, to my surprise, that I've been wearing and living elements of the culture this whole time! I'm definitely a mash up of a few different Lolita styles and a cross over to 1950s bombshell like Rita Hayworth (whom I love!). I even looked into my closet tonight to find that the cute pink dress I bought in Jamaica fits the sweet Lolita style I covet ever so much. I've been admiring Lolita style from what I thought was a far for a bit now. I've always believed that I'd look silly in it being so tall and big. I've learned more about it as while I'm not ever likely to own brand Lolita dresses, skirts or tops I can always just accessorize! The clothes for the most part are one size, not that they ate one size fits all but more of the this is the size if you don't fit it, too bad. I've started following a blog from a girl who posted a great piece on how to be a tall Lolita. She, like me, is well over 5'2". Which means the brand clothes are all mini skirts. Which doesn't work since dressing Lolita means dressing sweetheart like, modest and cute not slutty mcsluteeton. I would post the link to her blog "f yeah Lolita" but I'm posting from my phone which means all my bookmarks are else where. (google her if you're interested cuz her posts are great for a north American Lolita and for older and tall Lolitas.
My goal over the next year is to have even greater pieces in my wardrobe, both Lolita styled and pin up - a contradiction in terms I know, but that's me! Now to the fabric store for lace, sparkles and bows - oh my! Crafty heaven here I come.

But more on that next time.