Salut mes cheries :))
Hope you had a productive week and are enjoying your weekend to the fullest!!! I am for sure, because my week was tough, to say the least. For one, I started my final semester of school, with my week consisting of speaking to counselors, sorting out my schedule, purchasing books with money I don't have, etc. :/ and to top it off, while running around, I was also battling a killer cold that was vigorously trying to bring me down... I got knocked once or twice, but in the end, I beat the bitch... and I'm finally better now, thanks to my slow-to-respond immune system, which awoke from its week-long siesta at the eleventh hour... and thanks to my mom for bringing me actual Russian remedies that did not involve vodka. whew... Enough about all that bitterness. Today I'm planning on enjoying me some QT and rest. Tomorrow's another day and then back to biznass on Monds... In today's post, I'll try to address some of your questions and comments, while presenting you with my look of the day: Lady Vengeance. The Bitch is Back and She's Back with a Vengeance. (The Bitch is played by Moi ;) Hope you all enjoy. Please vote in my new POLL, you can find it on the right sidebar. Merciiiii
bisous,
Maryam Maquillage
Fancy seeing you here...
THE CONCEPT: A couple years ago, I saw
The Vengeance Trilogy
, a South Korean movie trilogy about revenge, which blew my mind and just knocked my socks off!!! I believe it was based off a Japanese manga of the same name... Korean or Japanese, it was awesomely mind-boggling and refreshingly twisted. So, if you're into twisted foreign films, watch the second installment titled
Oldboy
, and you will not be disappointed. Anyway, I got my vengeance idea from this film and the Japanese manga--it's like ninja meets anime :/ I like to base my makeup looks on concepts or stories and sorta build from there... I thought it was fitting because after looking and feeling like crap for an entire week of imprisonment by the evil cold, I decided to break the chains and kiss my cold bye bye. Now, I'm back and I'm better than ever and I wish to take pleasure in avenging my cold mwa-ha-ha. Hope you like the concept, I kinda do.
THE LOOK: The focus of the look is obviously on the dark, sultry and crazed purple eyes. I think this makeup can be worn for a dinner or a night out, but you have to be careful with your hair and accessories. Keep your hair up in a classic chignon pairing with black lace and simple accessories or if you're more daring, go for loose hair and a white blazer... mmm I smell lady vengeance ;) P. S. I have no idea why the eyeshadows come out so washed out in flash photographs... I mean, I get why that happens, but I don't accept it. It is unacceptable lol...
A quick disclosure: I'm posting the high quality pics so that you can see the makeup on the face and how I would pair it with clothes, hair, etc., even though the colors aren't true to life. Smaller, more detailed pictures are taken with photobooth (built-in web cam) and are more true to life as far as color consistency. Yay, now the weight is lifted and I can move on ;)
TOOLS YOU'LL NEED: Here's everything that I used for my entire face. Click to enlarge.
Palette:
Urban Decay Ammo Palette
. I used Last Call (burgundy) for the crease, Grifter (lavender with glitter) for the inner corner, and Polyester Bride (shimmery white) for the highlight under the brow. I absolutely love this palette and all Urban Decay palettes... they're super sleek, are great for traveling and the quality of the eyeshadows is superb!!! I'll be doing a lot of looks from these palettes, so get them if you're a makeup junkie like meeee :)))
MAC pigment: Grape (purple with hot pink glitter). I used it for the lid color.
Lashes:
Ardell Whispies
; Glue:
Duo dark tone adhesive
.
Brushes: Medium Shadow brush for application and Stiff Crease brush for the crease and blending. I don't remember the brand, but I'm sure I got them both at Target.
NYX jumbo eye pencil in Purple
(love this color--it's like a bluish purple that's sorta duo tone)
NYX lipliner in Natural
, and
NYX gloss in Mauve
(this color is very flattering on olive and tan skin)
Bare Minerals matte foundation in Golden Medium
and my pink Kabuki brush from Coastal Scents.
TO ACHIEVE THE LOOK: I kept my face super simple, one because I really wasn't going anywhere and two, because I wanted to keep the focus strictly on the eyes. I used my
Bare Minerals matte foundation in Golden Medium over the t-zone only and to cover up any blemishes. For the lips, I used NYX lipliner in Natural and NYX gloss in Mauve.
- Prime the lids with a primer and apply a purple sticky base to the lid and under the bottom lash line (NYX jumbo eye pencil), leaving the inner portion of the eye blank
- Taking a purple pigment (MAC pigment in Grape) with a flat eyeshadow brush, begin by packing it on the lid, going past your crease. Keep the shape parallel to the line of your crease. With the tip of the brush, also line underneath your bottom lash line. I like using pigments (loose shadow) because the effect is very opaque. Keep a tissue handy to catch fallout.
- With a stiff dome-shaped brush, apply a burgundy color onto the crease, blending with the purple. Concentrate most of the color on the outer portion of the eye.
- Wipe off the flat brush and apply a white shimmery shadow under the brow and a lavender shimmery shadow to the inner corner.
- Apply the lashes and you're done. Because the color is so deep, I skipped the eyeliner, but if you feel like you need to line the eyes, go ahead and do so :)
- The lashes that I'm using are strip lashes, so they're far from natural looking. I think they're fun and demure and add an extra degree of drama to the eye, but I'd never claim they were mine lol. If you're looking for something believable yet enhancing, go for half lashes
, or lash accents
. They're easier to put on and they blend in nicely with your own lashes. I use Duo dark tone glue for strip lashes because it's the only one that dries quickly and does not pull out any of your real lashes when you take them off.
QUICK LASH HOW-TO: STRIP LASHES
- Remove the lash from the tray using tweezers.
- Apply a thin line of Duo waterproof lash adhesive to the base of the lash strip
- Wait 30 seconds for the glue to get tacky. While you wait, bend the lash gently to form better to the shape of the eye.
- With dull tweezers, take the lash by the center and place to the center of your lash roots. Once you practice a couple of times, you can apply your lashes with your fingers.
- Take the outer corner and place it to outer corner of your eye, then the inner corner, respectively.
- The inner corner of the lash strip does not have to meet your tear duct, it can stop where ever it stops, as long as the outer corner is at the very corner of your your eye.
- Flick the lashes up or gently crimp them with an eyelash curler.
- Take a black mascara and run it just underneath the roots of your lashes to blend your real lashes with the fake ones.
To remove: Grab the outer corner and gently peel off. Voila!!!
Ze Bitch eez Back... and she's scheming
These eyes never tell a lie... I'm so in character!!
PEACE OUT AND I'M OUT ;)
, which she recently purchased. If you don't have this palette, do not fear--you absolutely don't need to have this exact product (although the colors are phenomenal). You can certainly recreate the look using whatever shadows you have. I just wanted to attempt something simple and everyday, using very bright and shimmery shadows, plus Larry put in her request :))) Voila!!
. For more skin care tips, go to my post 
