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My Halloween/Fantasy Look for 2014 inspired by The Last Unicorn
Hi Lovelies! Sorry that I have been AWOL for a while. At the very last moment, my husband and I decided to take a vacation and that's why I haven't been uploading videos or writing blog posts for a while. I did bring my laptop with me, but that was a total waste of space as I never used it while we were on holidays :P
For Halloween 2014, I decided to do a few fantasy looks. The first one, as you can see, is a Unicorn look. It is inspired by the fairy tale written by Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968. There is also a cartoon film - The Last Unicorn (film) . I loved both the story book and the film so much. If you get a chance, I highly recommend the cartoon film. It is filled with such beautiful music/songs and the animation is so so pretty and I understand it was done by the predecessor to Studio Ghibli (which made such films as Spirited Away & My Friend Totoro).
DVD of the Last Unicorn
In the story, the Unicorn goes on an epic quest to find where all of the other unicorns in the World are, after having been told that she is the Last unicorn. Along the way, she gets magically transformed into a woman and starts to fall in love with a prince, slowly losing her identity as a unicorn.
I thought it would be fun to do an inspired look for Halloween, of a character that is half woman, half unicorn.
It was a bit hard to pull the whole idea together as all ready made unicorn head dresses / costumes just didn't cut it for me.
So what I did was to purchase a pink wig from Amazon (Link) and a separate unicorn head piece and combined them by sewing on the wig, the parts I wanted.
Combined wig and unicorn ears
For the makeup, I really wanted to use the cute pastel colours from my new Sugarpill Sparkle Baby palette. So the eyes were the main focus. I also wanted to do a coloured brow inspired by Amy @Shrinkle of Sugarpill.
I wanted to incorporate some paper butterfly cake toppers I bought last year for a look that I never did. These butterflies are just so BEAUTIFUL and I thought it would fit in with the idea of the Unicorn being the guardian of her forest. I got them from here.
I hope you enjoy my transformation into the Last Unicorn! Video just right below.
Thanks sugar muffins! I'll be sure to see you all soon.
Hi there Lovelies! I've just recently discovered Concrete Minerals!! OMG WHERE. HAVE. I. BEEN? At the recent IMATS in Sydney, I was able to test out some of Concrete Minerals pigments at the Lipstick Republic stand and boy o' boy was I blown away by the pigmentation. I'm not sure what I was thinking or maybe at that point I had run out of cash, but I didn't pick it up that day.
I found their webstore, and I purchased two of their pigment kits: Sugar Skull and Zombie Girl. I think I must have had Halloween on my mind cause looking at the cover of the kits kinda scares me a little :P
They ship Worldwide and have free Worldwide Shipping for orders of US$50 and above.
Each of the kits come with 6 pots of pigments (1.5 grams each). The brand prides itself on being 100% vegan and cruelty free. The makeup is made in USA. Concrete Minerals also sells nail polishes and lip tints.
The Sugar Skull Set
I think I am obsessed with anything that comes in a set. I liked the idea of the tin box and the cartoon on the lid was rather attractive. This set retails for US$36 and you can find it here.
The tin box is pretty big. It's hard to tell from the photos, but the box is filled with a lot of shredded paper (about 2/3), so it can hold a lot more pots of pigment.
As you can see from the swatches (without primer) on my arm, the pigments are super duper intense. Except for the bright aquamarine colour (swatched closest to my wrist), the colours are very wearable for every day purposes. I really like companies that take the time to name their products (from top (nearest wrist) to bottom):
Los Angelitos (bright aquamarine)
Altar of Roses (crimson red)
Saint (navy blue-purple)
Sweet Catrina (pinky-neutral)
Calavera (marigold-yellow)
¡Viva los Muertos! (electric pink w/ purple shift)
For every day wear, I think the neutral pink all over the lid with a bit of the dark navy as an eye liner would look lovely.
I found the pigments to be creamy and easy to blend.
Here are how they look on the eye.
Photo from http://www.concreteminerals.com/
The Zombie Girl Set
I think it is so nice when makeup brands take that extra step and gift wrap your orders for you.
It''s kinda weird. I'm both attracted to and equally repulsed by the illustration on the lid. What is that French expression? Une jolie-laide?
I really liked the colours in this one. Except for the (vomit) green, the rest are perfectly wearable for the day. This set retails for US$36 and you can find it here.
As per the Sugar Skull kit, the pigments in this kit was also very pigmented, creamy and easy to blend. I found that after wiping the swatches off with a makeup cleansing wipe, there was still some colour left on my arm and I had to bust out my heavy duty makeup remover to remove the remnants.
Again, the names of the colours was super cute (on my arm top to bottom):
The Vaccine (steel blue-grey w/ bright green duochrome)
Nightmare (electric purple w/ pink sparkle)
Graveyard (deep taupe w/ pink shimmer)
Quarantine (medium pink w/ purple undertones)
Blood and Guts (rusty red w/ bright aqua shift)
Living Dead (moss green w/ brilliant copper undertones)
The Vaccine, Blood and Guts (the rusty red) and Living Dead (moss green) did not have the duo chrome finish I was expecting, as these three were described as having contrasting undertones/shifts.
Photo from http://www.concreteminerals.com/
All in all I quite enjoyed the Concrete Minerals pigments. I can see myself using them in a variety of ways, like on the lips, and maybe mixing up a nail polish. I would like to try more.
On the Concrete Minerals website, they have a special deal for beauty bloggers. It's a pretty good deal, as you can purchase 4 pigments for $15. Sweet!
They have also come out with more cute sets, which I will be saving up for (see photos below from Concrete Minerals' website).
That's all folks and I'll be seeing you all real soon! :)
Naughty and Nice Kit US$28
Naughty and Nice
Naughty and Nice
Sugar and Spice Kit US$28
From the Sugar and Spice Kit
From the Sugar and Spice Kit
Disclaimer: I purchased both of the kits myself. This is not a sponsored blog.
Hi Lovelies! This year, IMATS Sydney was held at the Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park - just across from the Hordern Pavilion (a very popular concert hall in Sydney). I have to say, I much preferred this location. Also the exhibition space felt much bigger than last year (which was held at Darling Harbour Convention Centre).
I attended both days (Saturday and Sunday). This year, I had two of my girlfriends with me - one on each day. I really enjoyed this year's experience more than last year. It just felt like a better venue and there were so many new and exciting vendors this year.
The first day was like a mad house, a real frenzy of crazy makeup addicts like me. The second day like last year was a lot more relaxed.
This was the first stand I headed to as there were quite a few limited edition items I wanted to get. Besides queueing for 1 hour to get into the venue, I had to queue for another 40 minutes or so, to get my purchases. Check out my haul video for what I got and live swatches, but here are some photos.
Had to take a photo of the bags!! So kawaii! Argg cuteness overload
Isn't she the cutest!
More cute babes from Sugarpill
I managed to get a Pro Palette (the one with 12 colours at the back). That sold out in a few hours.
Look at how adorable their displays are! It was also the global launch of the Sugarpill's new palette called "Sparkle Baby".
The Sparkle Baby palette sold out in a few hours, but I managed to get two (one for me, one for my GF)
I can proudly report, I have everything :P
The lashes I wanted were sold out!! Bummer.
The mad frenzy at the Sugarpill stand
I really have to hand it to the Sugarpill girls. They were the best dressed group in the entire IMATS. They really made an effort, and I think they flew into Sydney just for the event.
Let's just admire this fabulous outfit!! LOVE the hair.
The girls were very kind to pose for me, and as you can see above, they were very patient and posed so nicely like super models!!
I didn't see Ms Amy Doan of Sugarpill on the first day, but I saw her on the Sunday. She was sooooo nice and very sweet. I think she looks just like a Harajuku doll. She very kindly consented to pose for a pic with me. I didn't know what to say, and babbled something like "I have everything!!!".
She looks FABULOUS & of course it had to be the day I looked like (especially) crap.
Lime Crime
This stand was very close to the Sugarpill Store. This year, they were a lot smarter. They had a stand that was double the size of last year and had these massive bags and a full Lime Crime backdrop.
Also they made sure to have several display stands for all to test out before purchasing.
Rather blurry photo - sorry!
Other than the new Velvetine called Utopia (a vibrant orchid colour) which was already released on line. There was nothing new from Lime Crime. Now, I have to point out that this was not a store run by Lime Crime but the Australian distributor for Lime Crime. The prices were at a 20% discount.
My GF (Sarah - who looks like Taylor Swift) that accompanied me on the first day was so fascinated by how big and bright the Lime Crime bags were. So much so, that she bought a lippie and was given that massive bag! I bought a few things for my upcoming giveaway ;P and also got that ridiculous big bag. I guess it turned every makeup enthusiastic into a walking ad for Lime Crime.
Massive Lime Crime bag in green. It's HUGE!
Bésame Cosmetics
As far as I am aware, this was the first time Bésame Cosmetics was on show at IMATS Sydney.
Go here for more info of this brand (USA Link here Australian Link here). This is an American based brand that makes very high quality makeup in vintage inspired packaging. I noticed that in the USA, you can buy it through Amazon and get 2 day shipment under Amazon Prime (Amazon Link).
I was quite excited to see that this brand was going to be at IMATS this year, and so that was the second store I headed to. By this time, my GF had joined me.
The Lovely Ladies of Besame Cosmetics
Their amazing Violet powder which is now my all time fave to set my under eye concealer
Their compacts are plated with 24 carat gold and make great presents. The pressed powders also come in refills
I will be doing a blog/youtube review on Bésame Cosmetics. They are just too beautiful not to go into detail about them.
I purchased one of their foundations because it was made from all natural products and free from parabens
I picked up a few brushes from Hakuhodo. The ones I picked up were the special red lacquers ones from what they call the S100 Vermillion Brush Range. These brushes are all hand made in Japan and incredibly soft.
These brushes are quite expensive (think in the US$100 ++ range). However, you are really paying for superior quality. I call these my "artisan" brushes. The ferrule of the brushes is brass 24-karat gold plated with clear coating.
I also picked up a few more brushes from Bdellium tool. I mainly purchased from the pink series. I like them because they are all vegan and well, who doesn't like pink?
I think I got a pretty good bargain on them, as they were cheaper than iHerb.com
I love Kryolan products but they are super expensive! Even with the 20% of discount, I did not purchase the palettes that I wanted. I did get a pretty nifty (and affordable) brush set from Kryolan.
I really wanted this one, but could not justify the $140 for it.
Same as above, this palette retails for $140.
This brush set (12 brushes + brush case) was $79 down to $51 and the brushes are SO soft. The brushes are made by Essa for Kryolan. That was all I got from Kryolan, as everything else was sooo expensive (as it should be as Kryolan makes great makeup), and I justified this by thinking it would be good for travels.
Saucebox Palettes
I also got to purchase three palettes from the brand SauceBox Cosmetics (Link)
I have heard good things about these palettes and so I was happy that I could test the out in person before purchasing them.
I found the texture of the eye shadows to be very creamy and easy to blend.
Photos of the three palettes I bought below:
The Forbidden Fruits Palette
This HUGE mega palette called the Midnight Blossoms Palette
The Creme de la Creme Palett
Watch my haul video here!
For more IMATS fun and live swatches watch my video :)
More photos from the day
This was the winning entry for the SFX category.
All in all, I had an awesome time! I think it's always advisable to bring a friend along. My two girlfriends were super interested in everything as they had never been before and they really got into testing and trying out everything. Thank you Sarah and Emily for being my beauty buddies at IMATS 2014.
