A Perfect Base

Foundation is probably the biggest part of any makeup wearer’s collection, and it is very easy to get wrong. With some simply understanding, you can be seconds away from achieving a stunning base.
 

1. Decide if you actually need to wear foundation. I’ve seen far too many people, (mainly younger girls) caking on the foundation when they have beautiful skin without it. This causes a few problems, the biggest one is, especially with young skin, foundation is pore clogging and this can cause pimples and spots. Mature skin will look lifeless and dull if there is unnecessary foundation piled on. Exactly the same as all other makeup, it needs to be a personal decision if you decide to wear foundation or not. If you want lighter coverage than that offered by foundation you can consider a light concealer or tinted moisturizer.

2. Find your correct shade. This is very to get wrong, due mainly to the OHS requirement of having to test makeup on your hand, but also due to bad lighting that changes the colour. DON’T put any store makeup tester on your face; because you don’t know what other disgusting hands have been touching it. The colour needs to blend seamlessly into your jaw line. This can be a problem for pale skinned people such as me because of the lack of extremely pale tints. This afternoon I spent about half an hour trying to find the correct shade. I know that many ‘popular’ makeup brands sell pale tints, but where I live often only the second palest shade is available. For pale Gothlings, there is the touchy subject of pure white foundation. I personally do own a pot of Manic Panic’s Goth White Foundation (which comes in a pretty black organza bag. Fancy!). In all honesty this is the closest shade to my natural skin tone, but is messy and difficult to blend. I believe that Stargazer creates a liquid white foundation, which can be blended together with a different… but more on textures later. I am sorry to anyone who has gorgeous olive, chocolate or dark skin as I have no experience finding makeup colours.

3. Decide on the ideal texture. Foundation nowadays comes in many different textures and formulas. So many that it would be ridiculous to attempt to discuss them all, so I am just going to mention the main ones.
Liquid- The most common form of foundation needs to be carefully blended as lines can form easily. Often it sits reasonably heavily and can be very pore clogging.
Mousse- Somewhat of a recent in the foundation market, this air whipped formula provides full coverage, blends really easily and is ultra light. Mousse foundation is probably one of my personal favourite textures. The best effects are achieved by using mousse foundation only where necessary as it sometimes has a crumbly texture. Although I myself have never tried it, smooth mousse foundation is now available and I assume that is doesn’t have the crumbly texture.
Mineral- Even more recently, mineral foundation has boomed in the makeup market, with some brands only selling mineral foundation. According to packaging (which are not always the best thing to make a decision on) mineral foundation can improve problem. Curious I was, I recently bought Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc Free Mineral Loose Powder to see if there were any results. Although one must consider that I have never had serious problem skin and that my skin is almost clear now that I am eighteen, I have to admit that my skin DOES look better with the mineral foundation, even though I am not wearing it every day. Although many foundations can be pore clogging, wearing foundation is not necessarily the cause of a spot or two. In regards to wearing mineral foundation, the coverage is super light, often difficult to apply and can be super messy. I wouldn’t recommend mineral foundation to any lady who has beautiful, full bosoms as I do myself, as it is hard to get off clothing (especially black). Shade wise, it is often paler.
Stick- Similar in texture to concealer, foundation in a stick is essentially really thick liquid foundation. I would avoid this personally because of the heaviness. It is best reserved for performance and theatrical makeup, or as a concealer.
Powder Foundation- is different to mineral foundation in the chemical compounds. I could research it, but I have limited internet as I am writing right now, and am just using Word. (Random tangent: I really should get myself a book on the chemical compounds in makeup. That’s make my writing so much easier!) I personally don’t use powder foundation alone as it needs a sticky base (I’ll mention application later) and can be very drying due to the talc. Some powder foundations have minerals in them, but they’re not mineral foundation.

4. Tools of the trade. Different textures of foundation need to be applied with different tools. Liquid foundation is best applied with a foundation brush with nylon bristles or a sponge (Also today I bought a foundation brush and the magical label that well all trust said that synthetic bristles are better because the product does not clump together, making them cleaner and so less foundation is wasted). Mousse is best applied with feather light, clean fingertips. Stick really needs to be applied with fingers, or if it’s being used as a concealer, a hygienic applicator so bacteria does not spread. Brushed and sponges do need to be cleaned regularly.

5. Application of foundation. You should always moisturize before applying foundation as this creates a thin barrier between your skin and the makeup. Let the moisturizer soak in, as foundation sticks best on drier skin. If you have really oily skin you can carefully blot some using a tissue. Powder, on the other hand, sticks best to sticky skin, so it’s best to dust your skin straight away afterwards. Finally, always remove your foundation at night. Even if all my foundation has slipped off, which it does do a lot in sunny Australia, I will always wash my face. If there is fresh foundation I use makeup remover and then wash my face.

I hope this helps. Please tell me your comments and experiences!

xxx Lilly

Bach, "Little" Fugue (G minor, BWV 578)

So there's something that I am obsessed with at the moment.



This graphical representation is a great example of the construction of music, in this case a fugue (FWI, fugues are cosidered to be the most complex music form. This one is a very simple one. In a fugue there is one melodic figure that is repeated in different parts at various times. Fugues therefore have to be highly structured and the composer needs to be careful about not only the melodic pattern but also all of the underlying harmonies that will sound together. Fugues are very diffifult to write well, but when they are they sound fantastic.)

There are far too many examples on YouTube to share, but they are all amazing. Listen, watch, learn and be educated!!!!

xxx Lilly

Review of Plants vs Zombies

I begun playing this game over six months ago, so I am very familar with the gameplay. This is also my first game review, so I am choosing something I am familar with. I have to admit that I have also played the iPhone version, but much of the gameplay is different as well as the overall gameplay (using your finger instead of a mouse). Please only consider this to be a review of the PC version.

The game, overall, has a perfect mix of cute, cartoony graphics and a slightly macarbe, spooky style. This makes it prefect for teenagers, kids and adults. There is no violence or blood, however when the zombie's head falls off you can see a red neck with a white spinal cord. The game, in my opinion, has revolutionised tower defence games by using colourful, intriguing graphics, innovative gameplay and concepts and having a large amount of character and charm.
Plants vs Zombies is a tower defence game, but it is not like most others. Instead of having multiple paths for the adversary to travel along, it is divided up into five rows, each with a zombie or zombies attacking.
You (mostly) play by planting plants down to stop the zombies from eating your brains. As the levels progress, tougher zombies, or zombies with special abilities, begin to advance and thus more plants are released. A new plant is made available after each level, and this immediate reward is a big part of what makes this game so addictive. Each level gets progressively harder, so the first few levels are really easy. The game gently eases you in.While the basic concept of the main levels remains the same, every five levels there is an arcade level, which breaks up the gameplay and adds a good change of pace. At the start of the game you select seeds to plant. You have a limited number of seed slots, and the selection of seeds can determine your success with the level. This presented a problem in some of the arcade style levels where plants would be presented on a conveyor belt. Sometimes there would be no appropriate plants available at the start and then the zombies would eat your brains!!!
The musical score, which is varied and can easilly be muted, is really good. It contains elements of latin, big band, and pop with a somewhat spooky feel. My favourite is the 'Night music'. As a big wave approaches, the music intensifies, drawing the player in. The composer, Shigihara, also performed the music video during the credits.



The game is really fun while you are continuing to unlock plants and minigames, but once everything is completed and unlocked, the replayability really looses it's value.
Now, there are heaps of minigames. The minigames is actually what I spent most of my time playing. All of the minigames are different, and each possess their own challenges. Some of them are really difficult, for example there is one minigame whereall the zombies are invisible. Another minigame is when everything (including the music) is sped up. All though the game there are references to other PopCap games (the developer of Bejewelled. FYI), in jokes and little humourous tidbits that make the whole experience very enjoyable. A previous version of the game feature a dancing Michael Jackson Thrillar zombie with Thrillar zombie backup dancers, but a year after his death the zombie was replaced with a generic '70's disco zombie at the agent's request (or something to that extent).
 The game is available for about $20 online and as a hard copy.

Notifications and me as a child

So, it's pretty obvious that I haven't been as regular with my postings as I promised. I cannot guarantee that things will improve, but it is likely as I have finished term one and am on mid semester holidays for the next two and a half weeks. On monday, unless I decided otherwise, I'll do another Goth makeup related post. I'm thinking about a theaterical Gothic fairy look, so stay tuned!
Oh and in about an hour or so I'll do my first ever paid job, working as a waitress at a private party. The only work experience I've had before has been music education, so I'm looking for some other things to do, however I'm not sure if this will count. At least it's money though.

Oh, and here's a photo of me when I was very young; about eight. It was taken as part of a photography assignment for a family friend. XD

xxx Lilly

Steampunk, Changes and Thanks

First of all, I'm currently writing this from school, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do. I'll finish it at home if need be. Anyway, from some random surfing I came across this. Circus Oz is one of Australia's circuses, and it's pretty good overall. Very tongue in cheek mind you, but we all love of bit of that from time to time.
But, Steampunk circus is really really awesome! And hopefully this will add some familiarity to the general public about Steampunk.... which is needed. Often I'll say something like "Oh so I saw this band on YouTube. Their visual style was kind of Steampunk..." only to recieve raised eyebrows.

Next, I'd like to thank everyone for the response I've been getting here lately. I know I'm not always consistent with my blogging, but people have still been reading... over sixty views today and yesterday...?!?
Thanks also to the positive feedback on my last post as well. It is always nice to know that my hard work trialing and writing pays off.

And, you probably know that I had promised to do a makeup tutorial today. Well, I had intended to do "Making eyebrows invisible", you know, for creative eyeliner and such. I naturally have black eyebrows, so I soon realised that I had no hope unless I got some facepaint, and I loathe that stuff. So, instead I posted on
black lipstick yesterday.

http://community.livejournal.com/aus_steampunk/40913.html

xxx Lilly

Black Lipstick

There are quite a few folks in the Goth world who feel that black lipstick is reserved only for Mallgoths and Babybats. This is probably due to the unfortunate steryotype of a younger Goth wearing Tripp pants and having badly done black lipstick smeared onto their lips, and even more unfortunatly is that these people do exists.

However, there are those, myself included, feel that black lipstick can, and does look fantastic if it is worn the right way. To quote Jillian Venters "You must ensure that you're wearing it, not the other way around."

 

Siouxsie looking stunning in black lipstick

There are also ways of wearing black lipstick in conjunction with other colours as a way of intensifying or darkening the colour. Another important tip is to learn how to use makeup properly. Most lighter colours allow you to make some mistakes and no one will notice, but black is very harsh and needs to be flawless, or it will look awful. You need to be commited have very smooth lips, because as the colour wears it will look very scaly on dry lips, and it needs to be reapplied often.
It needs to compliment your other makeup and clothes. There's no set rules about what suits black lipstick, but it shouldn't be casual.

 

http://weheartit.com/entry/4238580

Black lipstick is also used in to world of Haute Couture, which is eons away from hardcore Goths, as a dramatic look. If you can stand it, there are some fantastic tutorials by high end makeup companies such as M.A.C featuring well done black lipstick. These show proper application and the required attitude towards dark makeup which is required for something that has been done badly so many times.


xxx Lilly

The Weekend...

So, as a new makeup tutorial/ experiment I am going to trial Invisible Eyebrows, and, no. I'm not going to shave mine off. But, hopefuly things will work out. We'll have some interesting results so say the least. I'm going to try and take my photos and write up the post tomorrow and publish it on Monday. As for today, I spent most of the day with my boyfriend around Melbourne. More notably, while I had dragged him to Peril Underground (An awesome yet rather unknown independant shop that sells heaps or Goth, metal and rock music, along with heaps of new and second hand Gothic clothing) and a cool looking girl wearing a lot of brightly coloured clothes and a hot pink mohawk (that was not put up) commented on my coffin shaped bag. It was just a ' oh, I like your bag. Where did you get it?' type question, but it got us chatting. Anyway, I don't remember the whole conversation, but she commented that the whole "Old school romantic Goth" look (naturally she couldn't see my ripped stockings and spiked cuffs), or words to that effect, really suited me, and she said that it was rather rare to see Goths like that these days. Now in Melbourne there are heaps of alternative types, and that is one thing the city is well known for, so I have seen a lot of Romantic Goths around, but in general they have been trad Goths who make me uncomfortable. Yes, you read that right. The reason is, and we chatted about this today, is that I feel really awkward about being so much younger. Probably because I have had some bad experiences with some older Goths, but, some of these folks have kids who are my age. Anyway, it was kind of depressing to think that when (yes, I haven't been out to a club yet and I've been 18 for a month) I go out, there won't be as many folks who are interested in the type of Goth that I love so much. But, the cool girl, who did tell me her name, said that I pulled it off so well, so that really did make my day at the same time.

xxx Lilly

Appologies

So sorry that I have been negelecting this blog again. Year 12 is sucking the life out of me, and I recently ran almost out of internet downloads... Damn you, YouTube!!!

Anyway, I'm still living and breathing for the moment, so over the weekend you can expect some proper posts again.

What did you think of my makeup tutorial last post? Should I do another one?

In regards to any decent content in this here post, I am going to leave you with some more pictures of this that I am currently in love with... =)

How can you not love this???

Shiny latex Green Fairy. It works here

Cemetary photos...

Modern Surrealism at it's finest

I am a huge Simpsons fan. I think this is brilliant. It from Etsy, but I cannot remember the exact store

xxxx Lilly