Interlude

I thought I would take this time to have a brief interlude and show you my most recent nail art. I've been meaning to do this for some time, after I saw a friend do it. It's called Water Marble Nail Art, and it's simple to do, plus it looks divine.

I think it looks great, and it's interesting because the nails all look different.

from left to right: Butter London Nail Laquer in "Blagger" Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Nail Color in "Green With Envy" and Essie Nail Color in "Lollipop"

This is pretty much the easiest complicated-looking nail art I've ever done.

1. Paint your nails white

2. Fill a cup with room temperature water. It's very important to have the water at room temperature, so that when you drop the nail polish in, it spreads evenly across the surface, and doesn't sink to the bottom.

3. Tape around your nails (sides, top and bottom), so that when you put your nails in the water the polish doesn't cover your fingers as well. (This makes for easy cleanup, just pull off the tape and all is finished.)

4. Drop your different shades of nail polish into the water, so that they form rings of color. I recommend at least two rounds of drops.

5. Use a toothpick to make patterns in the rings, then pick your favorite pattern, and put your nail into that specific section. Hold it there for 10 seconds, then use a toothpick to collect the excess nail polish still floating in the water. Remove your nail and put on a layer of topcoat. Repeat for the other 9 nails.

See? Simple, simple. It looks great, and you can use any combination of colors. The downside? You need about a million toothpicks. Other than that, I totally recommend it, it looks funky and sort of like a strange lava lamp. Try it! 

Gaea

Inspiration

Gaea is the goddess Earth, the mother of the Titans as well as the Greek gods. She was the one who asked the king Titan, Kronos, to use his scythe and destroy his father Uranus, the night sky. Gaea and Kronos had the Greek Gods together, but there was a prophecy that one of Kronos's own sons would take his scythe and destroy him, and cast his pieces into the depths of Tartarus. In order to prevent this prophecy from coming true, Kronos swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born. When their youngest child, Zeus, was born, Gaea gave Kronos a rock to swallow instead, and hid Zeus until he was fully grown. When he was old enough, Gaea gave Zeus the scythe, and told him to kill Kronos. The moral of this story? Gaea is not the nicest mother earth. She's a little bit evil, and a little bit crazy. 

Intent

I wanted to use the deep, dark green of the earth, and the sense of evil that I think she gives off. In order to do so, I decided to do almost green raccoon eyes, blending them out to be a little more earthy. In theory, I could've gone with a sort of hippy-dippy vibe, a woman who crazily loves the earth, but I didn't want to do that because the cruel and unyielding nature didn't translate well into "harmless green-loving hippie."

Tools & Techniques

from left to right: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bahama, Nyx Special Effects Theatrical Lashes in Leopard, Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Ivy Shimmer Ink and a Sephora brand angle brush.

 Above: Urban Decay Black Palette color "Libertine" (bottom right)

 Urban Decay Book of Shadows III, Alice in Wonderland Edition, in "Absolem" and "Drink Me, Eat Me," (Left and second from left, respectively).

Urban Decay Book of Shadows V in "Bender" (Left, middle column).

The reason for all of the different shades of green is because (obviously) the Earth is green. I started with "Libertine" as the base color, used "Bender" to blend out into "Drink Me, Eat Me" then covered the whole thing with "Absolem." Eyeshadow is good for blending purposes, you can make it soft, and dark through layering. I didn't want to use anything else, because shadow contains darker pigments while still being blendable, as opposed to gel shadow, or liquid eyeliner. After all of the eyeshadow application, I used the gel liner to create a strong, dark wing. Last, but not least, I applied leopard-print eyelashes (which actually look birdlike because they're made of feathers). They're great-looking, but not extremely high-quality. As I tried to take them out of the container, several of the feathers came off. This somewhat diminished the effect. Either way, I think the overall look was good.

Outcome

I think that it turned out well, except the green doesn't look as dark in the pictures as it did in real life. The dotted eyelashes complete the effect, I think. I like the up-to-my-eyebrows shimmery makeup.

 The zoom on the eyelashes shows that the feathers fell off...oh well, I thought it would work anyway.

 The gel liner looks dark, and I like it.

Lip shot. I wanted the brown to balance out the green, and keep it earth-toned.

Gaea, the evil goddess of earth. Win, Lose? 

Amphitrite

Inspiration

Amphitrite is not technically a Greek goddess. She is the consort of Poseidon, sometimes portrayed as a mermaid. She is not a goddess of anything, however, in Roman mythology, her counterpart is Salacia, goddess of saltwater. Amphitrite, as consort of Poseidon, resided under the sea, and was never seen above the surface.

Intent

Thinking about what living underwater would entail, or thinking about water itself, I decided I wanted to focus on waves. Waves are beautiful, with millions of shades of blue, white foam topping the crests. So, with that in mind, I wanted to create a sort of wave image on my eyes.

Tools & Techniques

From right to left: Violent Lips temporary tattoos in blue, Tarte Eyeliner in "Ballet Dancers" Sephora Eyeliner in White, Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in "Binge" and Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in "Deviant." The reason for using the four different colors of eyeliner is that they offer more versatility in terms of what you can use them for. You can create swirling lines, like I did, as well as straight lines, thin or thick, and create them far more smoothly than any eyeshadow. The different shades allow for blending easily, and creating textures. While my eyes were one thing, I have been totally itching to use those Violent Lips tattoos! I figured that if I couldn't use these for a crazy look based on a sea goddess, I could never use them. They work just like temporary tattoos; you need to cut them to the size of your mouth, and then stick them on with a wet washcloth. I was extremely excited to use these. Not only are they extremely bright blue, they're also sparkly, and permanent the same way that temporary tattoos are. Seriously, as awesome as they are, I had to scrub my mouth to get it off. Still, a very cool thing to have, as long as you can keep it on for a day or two and not earn a lot of stares.

Outcome

So, this is the final result. I think it turned out well, my eyes really looked like how I would draw a wave. The lips, while annoying, also turned out super cool. I like the gradient effect, from white down to the dark blue of my lips. Good? Good.

I don't think it's as stunning when my eyes are closed, but the color gradiation is still cool looking.

Lip closeup, for once not super awkward (except for my nose, don't look up there). Glittery and amazing, in my opinion. 

I tried my hardest to make Amphitrite, the not-quite-goddess, look like the goddess of saltwater and the ocean that she was meant to be, and I think that I succeeded.

Asteria

Inspiration

Asteria was the Titan goddess of the nighttime, stars and astrology. She was responsible for the formations, and for the meanings found in them. Patron of astrologers, she could use the stars to send messages to them, prophecies and such. She was pursued by Zeus, but instead of becoming his lover like many women before her, she fled. Asteria flung herself into the sea, where she was turned into an island. Sadly, instead of finding peace, she was pursued by Poseidon, god of the seas. In order to escape him, the island moved around in the ocean, evading the god until her sister, Leto came to the island to give birth. Upon Leto's arrival, Asteria's island became anchored and unable to move. Asteria means "Starry" and even as an island she was able to send messages through the nighttime.

Intent

I chose to focus on the starry aspect of Asteria, because it's easier to portray stars than to portray astrology. When I think of stars, I think of silver and gold, and how from certain angles the stars can glow silver, or as brightly gold as the sun. I wanted to use glitter and shine in order to emulate the glowing effects of the stars.

Tools & Techniques

The tools I used, from left to right, are: Tokidoki Brilliante Glitter Liner in "Unicorno", Buxom Stay-There Eyeshadow in Chihuahua (bright silver) and Poodle (yellow-gold), and Sephora Eye Bling individual crystals. I chose the eyeliner because it's golden, and sparkles like looking at the night sky. Over that, I used my fingers to put a mix of the two Buxom Stay-There Eyeshadows. The reason I chose that type of shadow is because it's creamy in texture, easily blendable, and shines. It also doesn't allow for hard lines, so I thought it would be perfect to blend out to a soft glow, like the diffused light from a really bright star. The addition of the crystals adds a more definitive sparkle.

Outcome

 Subtract the braids. The photos aren't as good as I thought they would be, I chalk that up to the makeup simply being too reflective. All in all, I like the look, not the pictures.

 Glowy and diffused...and the little crystals show up better. I like that the silver and gold are showing up in different places.

Awkward lip shot. The lipgloss is glittery and gold (NARS "Moonfleet"). I like it, it makes my lips look fuller. It sticks with the all-around look of gold and silver glitter. Success. This is how i picture Asteria, luminous and sparkling. Did I do her justice? 

Athena

Inspiration

Athena was the female goddess of war. She was the goddess of strategy, of wisdom in battle, and advisor to Zeus. Legend has it that she was literally born of his thoughts. One day, Zeus was overcome with a horrible, head-splitting migrane. He told Ares, the male god of war, to take and axe and split his head. Ares did so, and because Zeus was immortal, he did not die. From the fissure in his head sprang Athena, fully adult and dressed in battle gear. Athena was the goddess of wise council, and it was her job to advise Zeus, but she was also a master strategist, able to find a solution and a way around any opposing army's defenses.

When I think of Athena, I think of war, the ferocity, the power. I wish the first thing that came to mind was her intelligence, but it's hard to base a makeup look on that. Instead, I created a warrior's makeup. The tradition of battle paint is an old one, and the original purpose of it was to intimidate the enemy. I used that idea and I wanted to create a strategically terrifying, imposing, black eye. I wanted to create an image that was both frightening and beautiful, and one of the first things that came to mind was one of the eyeliner looks that Michelle Phan created in one of her videos (the very last one!). I also thought that since my eyes are this weird shade of hazel, maybe the black look would make them a bit more green (let me know). I also have about a million different false eyelashes that I never get to use, but I finally did! (I asked my sister if I could wear these to her wedding, and she said absolutely not, they were too scary. So, of course, my first thought was that these would be perfect for this look. Random side note: I didn't notice that they had little sparkles on the underside until today). Basically, I wanted to embody power and ferocity.

Tools & Techniques

The best tools for the job, I decided, were (from left to right) Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion, Sephora black eyeliner, and NARS Semi Matte Lipstick in Scarlett Empress. In the Michelle Phan video, she uses a gel eyeliner to outline the shape of the wings on her eyes, but personally, I think that using a pencil is much easier and therefore preferable. I used my Sephora eyeliner to create the shape I wanted to fill in, and I used the Urban Decay liquid eyeliner to fill it in with a glossy black. The reasons I chose to use liquid eyeliner were as follows: it is the only black I have that I felt would have been opaque enough to cover my whole lid, it goes on easily and smoothly, with more staying power than black eyeshadow, and it had no sparkles in it (like my Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Barracuda, which I thought would be easy to use, but wouldn't give the right effect, being more glittery than glossy). However, the use of liquid liner was better in theory than in practice. This particular type of liner was a bit too sticky to cover my whole eye, and every time I opened my eyes, it stuck together and creased a little bit. It also got in my eyes a lot, which burns. I don't recommend it. The lipstick choice, though a bit dark to go with my dark eye, was the right color simply because it was almost matte, almost opaque, and went well with the whole feeling of "overdone-ness" (in real life, pick a strong eye OR a strong lip, never both, unless you are a drag queen). 

In order to create this look, first outline the shape you want with the black eyeliner pencil. It doesn't have to be a perfect line, because you're going to fill it in with the liquid liner. Liquid liner is a little tricky, because if you tilt the brush at the wrong angle you can end up with black marks outside the line. But, all you have to do is be careful, the worst that can happen is you take it off and start again. Once all the eyeliner-ing is finished, you're ready to put on your scary fake eyelashes. One of the best inventions (literally, I cannot put on eyelashes without it) is a sort of eyelash holder. It's wide, big enough to secure the spine of your lashes easily, so you can apply glue without getting it everywhere, and then apply your eyelashes without poking yourself in the eye. It's glorious. After that, just wait for them to dry a little, apply your lipstick, and you're done. 

Outcome

The idea is still "carefully calculated intimidation" but on second thought, it looks a little bit like the makeup in Black Swan.

Eye closeups are my favorite. I think that this actually does make my eyes look more green. Also, the lower lash line, while being perfect for this out-there makeup look, should never be used in real life. It was actually painful to make the line so thick. I felt like a scary goth kid.

  (The eyeliner got creased here, but oh well...)

Awkward lip shot! I love the color.

Instant Athena, Warrior Goddess. Let me know if I've done her proud.

Explanation

I realize now that I never fully explained my independent study, or the purpose of this blog. First of all, my independent study is the study of makeup, and it is based firmly in the idea that makeup is like any other art form, and the face is simply a different canvas. Most canvases are blank, flat surfaces, whereas the face has shadows, and peaks and valleys built right in. Makeup offers a way to change how any face looks, to make eyes look rounder or more almond-shaped, to make skin look luminous or eyes change color. For example: green eyes pop when surrounded with black, hazel eyes look green when lined in plum shades, and if you want to make your eyes look less round, wing the eyeliner straight out. Kim Kardashian even uses contouring, adding more shadows and highlights, to make her nose look shorter. Contouring is a way of changing the shadows and light on your face, the same way that artists use darker colors to create more depth in a lifelike painting, so too can we use darker colors to make our cheekbones more prominent, or our nose thinner.


The purpose of this blog is to prove that makeup artistry is, in fact, an art form. In addition to that, I'm here to provide tutorials, tips and tricks for people who don't know the techniques, for people who are interested, and to show the finished looks to people who don't believe that makeup can be art. It can be, I believe this strongly, and I intend to prove it.


In order to prove it, I'm going to make dramatic, over-the-top makeup looks, almost couture in a way. Everyday makeup is not usually the transforming type, whereas makeup designed for strong lights, or runways, is. There's an art to painting someone's face, there's a way of portraying a certain feeling or theme that can be expressed through makeup. The same way that a fashion designer creates a collection based on a certain idea, makeup can be inspired by anything, anyone, and can be basic, or over the top. All of it is art, the use of colors to make something look interesting. Watch me prove it.