April collective haul

Finally, I was able to put it together :) I went Easter shopping today and bought some more items, so here it goes!

 Hair products (from left to right):

Aussie Aussome Volume Hair Spray - Maximum Hold

TRESemmé vitamin-enriched Heat Tamer Spray

CONAIR Instant Heat 1'' ceramic curling iron

Make-up related products (from left to right and top to bottom):

MAC Brush Cleanser

Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow in Seashells 11

Rimmel Vinyl Lipgloss in East End Snob

Softlips lipbalm in Honeydew Melon

MAC Studio Finish concealer in NW20

I can't say much about these products yet, because they're brand new (except for the curling iron, which I have used once). I am not much of a hair person, especially now that my hair are sort of 'no-particular-hairstyle-waiting-for-the-wedding' and I usually just put them back in a ponytail. However, I have been recently pulled into hair styling using a curling iron, so I bought that and some hair stuff to help me achieve the desired look. I decided to buy TRESemmé because it's supposed to be 'professional' quality, and then Aussie hairspray because I've heard it has a very nice scent - we'll see about that tomorrow.

As for the make-up related stuff... Today I went to MAC store for the first time in my life and bought my first MAC products. I know it may sound shocking for you, but until very recently MAC was altogether unavailable in Poland, and then it is quite pricey, especially if you're not working... So I really had to convince myself that I deserve this little treat. It's quite funny, I went there in the middle of the day and thought I would have a lot of time to play around and discuss stuff with a make-up artist, but they were incredibly busy and I had to stick with a quick decision. I was eyeing Studio Finish concealer for a while, so I got that, but I was really surprised when the artist color-matched me with NW20 shade, because I was rather debating between NC15 and NW15. I'm hoping it's the right shade!

After that I went to Rexall wanting to buy some NYX lippies. It was a huge disappointment when I realised they carry NYX products EXCEPT for lip products :( So I got Rimmel Vinyl Lipgloss in East End Snob instead.

I think I'm going to post reviews of some of these products. If you'd like to know my opinion about any of them in particular, just let me know. Have a nice evening!

Mizz Worthy's Illamasqua contest: Alphonse Mucha inspired look

As promised, this is my entry for Mizz Worthy's contest - hope you like it!

My inspiration for the look came from Alphonse Mucha's art and Art Nouveau movement. Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) was a a Czech painter and decorative artist, who is most famous for his lithographed posters. His works feature beautiful young women in flowing Neoclassical robes , often surrounded by lush flowers forming characteristic haloes. He used paler pastel colors than contemporary poster artists. The 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris diffused his style internationally and his art was often imitated. Towards the end of his life, Mucha rejected most of his commercial works and concentrated on the themes of his nationality as well as Czech art and Slavic peoples in general. He died of lung disease after being arrested by Nazis at the beginning of the World War II. 

Dawn

Dusk

I was mostly inspired by the colors and curved, fern-like lines of depicted women's hair and dresses. I've created something like a halo framing the left part of my face and then completed the look with pastel lids + distinct lashline and doll-like, full lips. If you browse through Mucha's posters, you can see how schematic his depiction of women is: porcelain skin, big pronounced eyes and sort of baby pout. This is my rendition:

And two collages:

The process of creation took a lot of time, effort and Q-tips soaked in make-up remover :) Just FYI, to achieve this look I curled my hair with a curling iron for the first time in my life and I put on fake lashes, also for the first time ever (is it embarassing to admit that?) . I took all the photos (170 of them, to be precise) myself, using self-timer function in my Canon PowerShot SD870 IS camera; just don't ask me how I made some of the photos look so full of light, I have no idea why some of them turned out like that.

List of products used

Face:

Sephora Zero-Shine Base

Inglot Cream Foundation in 21

Inglot Cream Concealer in 34

Coastal Scents Honey Fair 1.2 Flawless Finish Foundation

Coastal Scents Light Veil Flawless Finish

Wet n Wild MegaGlo Face Illuminator in 341 Blushing

baby pink blusher from my 78 palette

Eyes:

white, light cream, light beige and brown e/s from Coastal Scents 78 palette

shimmery navy blue e/s from CS palette

Max Factor Mechanical Eyeliner in Ice Blue 60

GOSH Eyeliner pen in Black

Covergirl Lash Blast mascara in Very Black

Ardell 110 lashes + Ardell lash glue

Lips:

Beautique Lipliner in Dusty Rose

Avon Lipstick in Christmas Spice

Inglot Blackberry Duo Lipgloss (baby pink)

What's in my make-up bag

I am such a noisy person myself, I decided that this might interest you as well :)

I decided to carry with me a really small make-up bag, so it's not possible to pull out a full look from scratch with this set; it's good only for touch-ups. The contents consist of two face products: Oil Control Sheets from Essence and Lumene Skin Couture Powder in (1) Dreaming, applied with Coastal Scents Flawless Face brush, two lip products: Avon Plump Pout in Nude or some other lipgloss/ lipstick and Cherry Culture free-with-every-purchase Lipgloss in Cherry, and two 'medicinal' products: eyedrops for my contact lenses and painkiller in a handy plastic tube. I also carry hand sanitizer and body lotion in my purse; that doesn't count for make-up, but is still essential :)

So, this is my little survival kit. What do you carry in your make-up bag?

Quick update

I am so sorry, my lovely bloggers, to abandon you for what, like 3 days...? My only excuse is the lovely spring weather now in Vancouver and the urge to go out and socialize :) 

So, for a couple of days now, I've been meeting my new girlfriend and after going together to Granville Island last Friday, we decided to throw ourselves into the beading art :) I used to do it when I was a teenager, but then gave up on it, but since I have loads of time lately I thought it would be something nice and creative to do, especially in company. We bought some pieces in a craft store on Granville Island and then supplemented our collection with cheaper beads from dollar stores spreading all the way from downtown Vancouver to North Vancouver (today's trip).

So, FYI, these days you can expect some posts pertaining to my hand-crafted jewellery (just don't laugh at me, I am only a beginner, okay?). And, on a different note, I am putting together a nice haul for you guys, and an entry for Mizz Worthy's Illamasqua contest - or maybe two entries? Stay tuned for that! Cheers :)

Cherbourg inspired look

Ehn, to brighten up the day...

Well, it doesn't really show up in the photo, but the colors were supposed to be bright yellow and orange on the lid with soft brown in the crease. I used a matte baby pink blusher from my 78 palette and GOSH lipstick in Darling to tone down the natural pigmentation of my lips. I don't think a list of actual products is actually that necessary for this look...

Oh, and the weather got a bit better towards the evening, I bet it's because of my make-up :)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg / Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a French-German musical film from 1964, directed by Jacques Demy and starring young Catherine Deneuve. The film dialogue is all sung as recitative, which makes it very different from all other musical films. This can be quite annoying, especially at first. However, two songs from the film, I Will Wait For You and Watch What Happens, given new English lyrics, became quite a success.

Anyhow, it's not the music than I wanted to blog about. This film is absolutely visually stunning. The decors (Bernard Evein) and costumes (Jacqueline Moreau), all in bright, pastel colors, are set against drizzly, gray streets of the Norman town of Cherbourg. The colors themselves convey a message, emphasize the personalities of each character. Genevieve, a character played by Catherine Deneuve, has a bedroom decorated in blue and pink floral patterns, which shows her innocence and girliness, whereas the apartment of her lover's old aunt is painted in sickly green, symbolizing her age and lack of taste (middle row stills).

The style of the costumes, make-up and hair designs are very much in the spirit of 1960's. Some of the looks have become almost classic, replicated in modern fashion and style. The choice of colors and silhouettes makes me think about the spring and that's probably why I chose to write about it today, with this dreadful weather outside. The film is a great experience for anyone interested in history of fashion or make-up, or just anyone in the mood for a little romance :)

Lipstick factor

I was recently wondering why so many of us started their beauty blog during just a few last months. For one thing, the community on YouTube and here on Blogger is constantly growing and attracting more and more people who discover their 'beauty-addict' side, but why has it intensified that much lately?

One possible answer could be a 'lipstick factor'. If you haven't heard about it yet, it's an economic term denoting a situation when in times of a global economic crisis consumers tend to increase their spending on cosmetics while saving on everything else. Basically, it's 'substituting large extravagances for small luxuries', as one of the experts put it. The term originates from 1930's Great Depression when the phenomenon was first observed, with the same pattern repeating in early 1980s, early 1990s and early 2000s when recessions occured.

1930's Guerlain ad

Do you try to cheer yourself up with more affordable treats when your budget doesn't allow for more expensive buys? And then aren't you trying to squeeze as much joy and fun from the little thing as possible, researching it, photographing it, discussing it, blogging about it...? Sometimes the fun of it is not in having it, but just wanting, waiting, deciding which shade/ brand to pick (see our beloved wishlists). Does this ring a bell?

So, what would be your personal name for this effect? Lipstick, earrings, chocolate factor? I'll probably go for 'eyeliner factor' myself :)

For more info on the 'lipstick factor', check out this Sydney Morning Herald article.