Cheetah

Inspiration

As you can see, my inspiration has changed from Greek goddesses to animals. The inspiration for this look was a cheetah. Ridiculous as it is, I just love to do the cheetah print on my eyes, and I thought it would be interesting to see if I could make my face look a bit more cheetah-like.

Intent

I wanted to do my favorite thing, cheetah print, on my eyes, as well as make my face a little bit more angular using contouring. My face is pretty round, so contouring helps make my cheekbones look a little bit sharper.

Tools & Techniques

 From top to bottom: my BH Cosmetics 88 Color Palette, Sephora Brand blending brush, drugstore brand small shadow brush 

 The color on the right was used as a sweep of color, from my lash line to my brows, and originally, I thought that it would be bright enough to look the way I wanted it to, unfortunately it didn't. To that end, I used the left-hand gold, which is a much richer, deeper gold, to go over my lid and really make it pop.

 This is the brown color I used for the inside of the spots. I used the small shadow brush to apply it, because it is good for the precision needed in order to keep the darker color in one place, and not just make my entire eye look brown with black spots.

 Originally, I used my Sephora Brand black eyeliner to line my eyes in such a way that they looked a little bit sleepy, and a little bit more almond-shaped (I have pretty round eyes.) That worked pretty well for the first look, the daytime look. When it came to the actual cheetah-eyes, I decided I wanted a bit more precision, and a sharper, cleaner line. For that, I used my Kat Von D black Tattoo Eyeliner in Sinner. I think it had the desired effect.

This lipstick is my MAC Lustre Lipstick in High Tea. I chose it because it's just a nice simple shade of nude, with a golden shimmer to it. It doesn't detract from the awesomeness of my eye makeup.

This eyeshadow is from my Urban Decay Naked Palette, and the shade is called Buck. I used this to contour my cheekbones and make them more prominent, though I'm not entirely sure it worked to my satisfaction. I chose this color because, even though it's an eyeshadow, it's a dark, matte brown that wouldn't reflect the light and therefore would create deeper shadows. I applied this right under my cheekbones with my fluffy shadow brush.

Outcome

These are the pictures of the cheetah-inspired look, the simple day-wear. It's still sort of cool and cheetah-ish in the eyes, and this type of eyeliner (with wings on both sides) makes your eyes more almond-shaped, and sleepier, especially if the wings both face down (facing up makes your eyes look rounder. Also, if the inner corner has a facing-up wing, you'll probably look ridiculous!). the shadow itself is just gold, it's light and pretty, especially for summer.

These are the pictures of the cheetah print look. I love the cheetah spots, and I think that my eyeliner looks good here, the shape of my eyes is changed. 

It was hard to find a good picture of the contouring, but I think this is okay. It almost looks like a shadow, which is the intent.

 I love this. The top eyeliner kind of disappears, which is the point. If you have heavy bottom eyeliner, it draws attention to that, and changes your eye shape. The spots are also clearly a different color than the eyeshadow itself, which was a worry of mine when doing this look. The dark brown shadow pops against the pale gold shimmer.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this look. My first time contouring didn't turn out so badly, now did it? More animalistic makeup to follow!

Kat Von D Triple Threat Tattoo Eyeliner

These three felt-tipped eyeliners are quickly becoming my favorites. They're all black, but they have different tips, so they create different lines. I've tried many different black eyeliners, from many different brands. Some were too smudgy and wouldn't stay on (Korres eyeliner, Maybelline eyeliner), some were sticky (Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner), some were perfect pencils (Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil, Sephora Pencil, NARS) and some were gels (Bobbi Brown, Buxom). Of all of these, the easiest to apply are the Kat Von D "Tattoo Eyeliners." The reason these are the best is because they come in a "Triple Threat" pack, and each is good for a different thing. I use "Saint" for thin black classic lining, "Sinner" for dark, gothic liner, and "Poetica" for cat eyes, because its unique shape is more conducive to that than the other two. So far, of all of the black eyeliners I've tried these are the best. All three glide on like pens, don't smudge or crease, and they don't get sticky and peel (like Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner). You can easily make wicked cat eyes, slim black lines, or designs (such as my Anthousa themed look). These are my current favorite eyeliners, and they come in more colors as well (Tattoo Liners, or Triple Threat Set).

From top to bottom: Poetica, Sinner and Saint 

From left to right: Saint, Sinner and Poetica

I recommend these for anyone who has a hard time applying eyeliner, but likes it a lot. Really, I recommend this for everyone. They're just such great quality, they're worth the $40 for the set.

Khione

Inspiration

Khione is the daughter of the North wind and an Athenian princess. The North wind, the coldest of the four, could only have his daughter be the goddess of snow and ice. Her name is sometimes spelled Chione, which comes from the Greek word "chion" which means snow. She is often portrayed as one with a dangerous temper, and a penchant for freezing heroes and defrosting them for fun. 

Intent

I wanted to capture her general snowy-ness, and the idea of slight cruelty, a bit of fear. I almost wanted to use the same techniques as I used on Amphitrite in order to create a swirling snow-like pattern.
Tools & Techniques

From left to right: Make Up For Ever Flash Color Case, Nyx Special Effects Theatrical Lashes in "Snow", Smashbox flat ended brush, Too Faced Starry Eyed Liquid Eyeliner in "Silver Lining" and Revlon Lip Butter in "Cotton Candy"
There really aren't that many colors or items that I used for this, but the techniques are a little bit more involved. I said I wanted to create the image of a snowfall, and I only used one color to do that. I covered my entire eye with the white color from my Make Up For Ever palette, and then used the flat brush to create swirls of windblown "snow." I thought that the Make Up For Ever palette would be a good choice, since it goes on smoothly, and is almost the consistency of oil paints, so I thought it would be a good choice for painting swirls onto my face. As it turns out, it's a little bit too much like oil paint, and refuses to stay in place. When my sister was taking the pictures, she asked, "Is there supposed to be a white line in the very middle, and no white around it?" It turns out that there's really no way to stop this paint from creasing, so you have to blend it constantly. (to see my whole review of this, click here: Make Up For Ever Palette Review) Other than gathering in my crease, the swirls stayed on fine, and looked okay. The flat brush was the best brush to use for that, because it allows for more options in terms of application, and is small enough that the color won't just go everywhere. It is ideal for details like that. Though the brush was good, on second thought, I should've used a white eyeliner pencil, because those are more likely to stay put. Aside from that small blunder, everything turned out well. I used the silver glitter liner to add faint sparkles to the look, the way snow does in the sunlight, and I used the lashes because, obviously, they're white. In comparison to the pure white makeup, however, the lashes looked a little bit yellowy, and I that bothered me a little bit. Also, when I opened the lashes, they were giant. No, really. These lashes were almost long enough to use one on both of my eyes. The spine was also a bit unyielding, so it was sort of difficult to apply them correctly. The lip color, I chose because it has a frosted quality to it, and I could have both color and general wintery-ness.
Outcome

 I did notice that the lash on my left eye is badly applied...it makes me look a bit sleepy. And when my mom came in, she said I looked like an alien. It's freaky to not see a dark outline of lashes when you look at someone's eyes, because we're so used to it. Also, note the reflection of silver, it's faint but noticeable, giving an air of glittery snow.

 In the closeup, you can see the faint line of my lashes against the false ones, so it looks a bit more normal I think. in addition, you can now see the silver glitter better, so I like this picture.

 The biggest problem in this picture is that the glue that holds the spine together is yellow, and very noticeable. Aside from that, this is post-re-blending, so it looks a little bit better. No glitter is on my lids, so I think it's a little bit stark compared to what I was thinking of. 

Awkward lip closeup! Note the frostyness, which is my favorite part.
All in all, I think that the outcome was very close to what I was imagining, but some products could be changed. It's also not as scary as I expected, but I still think that it looks interesting and alien.

Anthousai

Inspiration

The Anthousai are flower spirits, connected to the plants, just as nymphs are connected to their rivers or specific trees. They're most seen in the spring, when their plants are coming back from a cold winter during which they couldn't grow. They are most often pictured as having green skin, tinged with chlorophyl, and it is said that they cry green tears.

Intent

I wanted to create a simple look reminiscent of the green of spring. Though I didn't want to make the entire face green, it's echoed in the eyes. This look isn't as wild and crazy as the others before it, because my sister volunteered to be my model, and would not allow me to do crazy makeup on her. The final product is as crazy as she would go.

Tools & Techniques

 Above, Urban Decay "Alice in Wonderland" Book of Shadows III, I used colors "Underland," top left and "Absolem," bottom left

Above, Sephora rounded shadow brush, Kat Von D Saint Tattoo Eyeliner in Black, and Urban Decay Primer Potion in "Eden"

So, as I said, my sister wouldn't allow me to do anything truly crazy on her eyes, but I did use the two eyeshadow colors to create the springlike effect. The reason I love Urban Decay eyeshadows so much is that the colors are always bright and go on smoothly. They're beautiful, and easily blended together, and when they're applied after the primer "potion" they don't go anywhere. I used the Sephora brush to apply them because it picks up a lot of shadow, and can put the colors precisely where I want them. I usually use sweeping strokes to apply my shadow because Urban Decay is good enough that sweeping strokes don't displace the color that is already there. The reason I used the primer in "Eden" is because it's not clear, it's a shade of nude that makes for bright eyes, and a plain surface to apply to. After the primer and the eyeshadow, I used Kat Von D's Saint eyeliner in black. I love this eyeliner. It came in a set of three; "Poetica," with a chisel-tip which is ideal for drawing cat eyes, "Saint" which is skinny, and good for precise lines, and "Sinner," an extremely thick pen, ideal if you like thick, gothic eyeliner. All three pens are felt-tip, but they're not like liquid eyeliner, they're really like pens. They don't crease, they don't become rubbery like Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner, and they're easy to apply. (to see my entire review of this product, click here: Kat Von D Tattoo Eyeliner Review)

Outcome

 I used the Kat Von D eyeliner to draw a tiny flower on her right eye, and I noticed that the flower sort of tilts downward, changing the appearance of her eye. In contrast, I did a small wing on her left eye, which makes that eye appear more open and awake. the green looks shimmery and pale, and you can barely see the purple, but it's there. I'm not the best photographer, so bear with me.

The closeup on the flower is cool, I think. you can see the colors, and you can see the black eyeliner. The flower itself is probably not the best I could've done, but I like the effect.

Make Up For Ever Palette

The palette itself looks like this, it has 12 great colors, and it makes no sense that it works badly. Originally, I bought it because of this video: Michelle Phan's Summer Makeup Tutorial. Michelle Phan makes her look seem so simple, I wanted to try it for myself, so I purchased this palette. The colors are bright, and easily blendable, but most blendable makeup eventually dries to a solid finish. This does not, in fact it retains the consistency of oil paints, never quite drying, and creasing easily. I was so disappointed, because I'd never heard of something like this, so I had hoped it would be a good product. In all honesty, if the colors and blendability of this palette were combined with the staying power of Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencils, you could have a dream product. As it is, I don't recommend this product.

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?