LTHP Dabbles: Makeup Inspired by the Film "Black Swan"

Changes,

 They are sudden. They happen often, they happen when you least expect them.... I like to think we are all in control of our own destiny and that we can make changes for the better, and for the worse sometimes too. What this little ramble brings me to is that husband and I are in the middle of a VERY big transition. We will be leaving Florida tomorrow and driving to California to start our new lives. Yes, it is daunting and hectic, but we are excited and hopeful. 

 So, in keeping with the theme of changes and transitions I want to share my very first "Halloween Look" (if you want to call it that). I really just wanted to take on the character of Nina Sayers (The Black Swan), since the film came out back in 2010. All of a sudden I was finding myself relating to this character very much. There are so many changes in my life that are requiring me to change my complete outlook on many things. I'm growing, I guess? But much like Nina, I feel like things are changing within me (and sometimes I feel straight up crazy). So without further rambles, here is my take on the iconic Black Swan poster look. 

 I created my own custom "Black Swan" tiara. I really wish I had the time to have done the full costume. Anyhow, this was very challenging for me. This whole thing was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone, but I am SO happy I took it on. Why? Because I LOVE a challenge, and I love trying new things. I know the film has been out for over Three years, but as you can see it made a big impression on me... Actually all of Darren Aronofsky's films seem to do that to me. So I took on his Black Swan... 

  I wont go into much detail about how to achieve the look because there are about a MILLION tutorials on You Tube on how to do this look, and a million different ways. I never meant for it to be an exact replica. I wanted to do my interpretation of such an iconic look. The hardest part was getting an even White "foundation" as I had to use cheap costume makeup and get creative with my Sugarpill Tako white eyeshadow lol. For the eyes I used mostly liquid liners to achieve the feathery look. For the metallic and shimmering details I used Sugarpill Tiara and Lumi mixed with a mixing medium to create a metallic "paint". Of course some editing was done to the photo to achieve that evil and dark look the poster has to it. I'm just obsessed with Black Swan. 

 I finished the look with some Red Vassen Lollipop circle lenses from Pinky Paradise and added feather lashes by Ardell. My lips were done in OCC's Black Metal Dahlia. To me the big finishing touch was my custom made tiara.

 Below you can see a closeup of the eye makeup detail. This was SO much fun to work on. I get two things from this look. There is the Black Swan vibe, but I am also getting an evil butterfly queen from this too.

Below you can also see detail shots of the tiara and I've posted some videos on how I achieved my custom piece. I had SO much fun working on this entire look. Is it perfect? NO, far from it.. But you know what? I don't care! I took something on that was WAAAAAY out of my skill set and brought it to life in a way I didn't know I had in me.

 Here are some vids explaining the process of the making of the tiara. 

 I really hope you guys enjoyed this post. I really poured my heart and soul into this mini project and it felt good to do so. Plus, since I will be moving during Halloween, might as well "dress up" now ;)!! But, in all seriousness, this was a challenge I've been meaning to take on for many years and I am so happy and excited to finally see it come to life. 

 I really hope you guys enjoyed this look. This whole post is very meaningful to me, for many different reasons. I really enjoyed working on this entire thing so much :D. Tomorrow we will be on the road to our new lives and I am excited to see what these changes will bring... Hopefully they don't end with me stabbing myself in the belly with a broken piece of glass though...... Oh and if you have not seen Black Swan, please DO SO!!! 

 Thank you so much for stopping by today my loves!! And please send all the good vibes our way ♥.! 

LTHP Quickies! Milani Naturally Chic LE Shadow Eyez Pencils- Swatches & Looks

(**Milani and Pinky Paraside press samples**)

Good morning and happy Tuesday!

  Truffle will be here with her pick later on. For now please enjoy this quickie post covering the Milani Shadow Eyez Neutral pencils. These babies are a limited edition release. That said, they are still available online and I have seen them in stores (mostly CVS pharmacies). 

 I was/ am a HUGE fan of the original Shadow Eyez pencils. So, when I found out that Milani was releasing a set of neutral shadow pencils I was fairly ecstatic. I love everything about them. They are insanely versatile. I've used mine on their own, as powder shadow bases, as pigment bases, as an eyebrow filler and brow bone highlighter. And I dare say that they even improved the formulation of their pencils. These are SOOO much creamier, smoother and blendable. The pigmentation of every single shade is superb, perhaps even a bit much (if there is such a thing). Some of these shades are best applied with brushes, rather than using the pencil directly on the lid. 

 The wear on these is AMAZING. When they say 12 hours, they mean 12 hours. They are also truly waterproof. These do set quite quickly so I do have to work a bit fast with them, and one eye at a time. 

Almond Creme: an amazing shade of matte Vanilla toned creme. This shade has become my holy grail brow-bone shade as well as one of my favorite all-around bases. I will usually do a layer of my Milani eye shadow primer then a light layer of Almond Creme as a base for many of my eye makeup looks. 

Sand Dunes: another MUST HAVE from this set. I mean, really! This pencil has the smoothest, creamiest application of them all. This shade is also very shimmery, but not in a tacky way. The shade itself is a very, very light shimmering Taupey-Gold It just seems to light up my lids perfectly. I also love this as inner corner highlights. This shade is sheer so it can be built up or just swiped on for a touch of shimmer.

Golden Bronze: this shade is a great accent on lids for a quick sultry Summer look. This pencil also has a very creamy application. This shade is very pigmented and a light hand works best to blend and build up. 

Cafe Au Lait: is a lovely, light cocoa brown matte creme. This shade is great on the crease. This pencil if highly pigmented and is best applied with a brush. 

Espresso Line is a deep, true Brown matte creme. This shade is great to  darken the outer V's of the crease as well as on the waterline. But, by far, my favorite use for this pencil is to fill in my brows. It has made it effortless for me and they always wear all day long. This shade is also best applied with a brush. 

Black Ink I have not gotten to use a whole lot. I did, however, use it as a base to layer light Golden shadow over and it created the most amazing effect I had ever seen! This shade is also crazy pigmented and best applied with a brush. 

 Just for shiggles, here are some looks I've done using these pencils. I've applied the shadow pencils with brushes for these looks. I found this to be the best way to get even application and for ease of blending.  

Featured in this look are Almond Creme, Sand Dunes, Espresso Line and just a bit of Black Ink. The lashes are some of Ardell's Double Up, #202 in Black. Milani Grandissimo lahses mascara. The cateye was done with Jesse's Girl waterfproof liquid eyeliner pen. 

 This look features a bit of Almond Creme, Sand Dunes, Golden Bronze, Espresso Line and Champagne Toast from the original set. The lenses are from www.pinkyparadise.com. They are the G&G Big DM23 in Violet. I will be reviewing the lenses themselves soon. Mascara: benefit They're Real. 

This was an "adventure" look for me. I wanted to try a new shape and look. I was inspired by Sokolum's signature "Almond Cat-eyes". For the Purple bit I used a mix of Shadow Eyez in Royal Purple and then I used Milani Liquid- Eye, Liquid Like pencil in Perfect Purple. I used a brush to blend and create the cat eye shape. For the Pink accents I used Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in Woodstock. I also used Sand Dunes and Almond Creme. The purple lashes are Sugarpill's Angel Baby falsies. I had a lot of fun with this look and actually got a ton of compliments. It's always fun to try something new! 

 Have you picked up any of these Milani Shadow Eyez pencils? I will insist that if you have not, you are SO missing out!! These are a great product at a great price point. My faves from this set def have to be Sand Dunes, Almond Creme and Espresso Line. But they are all worth having.

Any of these catch your attention?

Random #EOTD Spam featuring Milani's New Ultra Fine Liquid Liners

(**Some of the products in this post were provided for review consideration**)

Hello my darlings!! 

  I won't beat around the bush, I feel like garbage. IDK what has been going on, but these past few weeks I've been having more bad days than good. It's a bummer because for a while I had been feeling better for some time, normal even. And then, all of a sudden, I'm starting to feel garbage-y again and having a hell of a time working up the energy to do even the smallest things. Fear of food is also at an all time high, as it does not seem to matter how healthy or badly I eat. Meaning, no matter what, I end up sick :(. 

 I've not been able to paint my nails since last Friday. I've been wearing Zoya's PixieDust in Nyx and Vespa, they are still holding up fairly well. So, since I don't really have nails to show you, I figured I do a spama-lama-dingdong post of some #EOTD's I've done over the past few weeks. All of these feature different brands of eye shadows, but they all have something in common. They all feature one or more of the new Milani Ultra fine felt tip liquid liners. I seriously LOVE those suckers!!  

SO guess what?! I am STILL horrible at taking notes while I do my makeup lolol!! I am SO sorry about any missing details on these looks. But as always, of you have any burning questions, feel free to leave 'em in the comments, or email me and I will do my best to answer it for you! Please enjoy some eyes-piration while I work on getting well ♥.

Smokey Taupes 

 This look features mostly Milani products. All eyeshadows used were from the Milani Pressed Powder shadow collection. 

Brows

 Milani felt tip brow pen in Deep and Senna brow powder/pomade duo in Brunette. 

Eyes

Milani eye shadow primer

Milani Pearl- Highlight

Milani French Vanilla- Transitional color

Milani Caramel Brown- Crease

Milani Brownstone- Lid

Milani Ultra Fine Liquid Liner in Prismatic Purple- Cateye

Milani Liquid Eye- Liquid Like Mechanical Pencil in Brown- Waterline

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on pencil in Woodstock with Milani Shadow Eyes pencil in Champagne Toast layered over it- Lower lashline, inner corner

Milani Liquid Like Liquid Eye pencil in Perfect Purple- Lower lashline, outer corner.

Lashes

Milani Grandissimo Lashes Mascara

Red Cherry lashes in #110. 

 To see some more eye looks just continue reading ♥.

Random #EOTD and #FOTD-ness and Pics of my New Hair!

One might say... 

  That I might be on a slight bold makeup- cateye kick... I got so much amazing makeup for Christmas that I am finding every excuse possible to wear all my goodies. These are a few random makeup looks I've done recently that I wanted to share with you guys!  

  In some eventuality these posts will become a "dedicated post". Meaning I will only be covering a full "FOTD" instead of several looks in one post (unless you guys like this better). 

  To see some closeups of these eye looks, some full face shots and my new hair just continue reading!

Fun with @SugarpillMakeup and The Story of LTHP's Origin!

Good morning!! 

  I am so excited about this post because SUGARPILL!!! I've never been one for lemmings when it comes to nail polish. Which is ironic, considering the origin of my blog lol. I.LOVE.POLISH. That is a plain and simple fact. Lately though... I've been loving on some makeup as well. More like obsessing over it. I find myself watching countless hours of tutorials from my favorite gurus and lusting after the beautiful makeup they use. 

  Sugarpill shadows have been my most hardcore lemming EVER. I've lusted after Sugarpill shadows longer and harder than I ever have any polish o.O (True story). I practically want everything they produce. Have you seen their matte palettes (what a silly question lololol)? Sooooooon, sooon they shall be mineee!!! But anywho, for Christmas, my husband got me the Zillionaire Chromalust Pigment Trio. Quite frankly I wanted it just for the epicness that is Goldilux. I am SOOO happy that I got the trio because Hysteric has me in hysterics over how beautiful it is and Junebug is all kinds of sexy. I am aware they sell the pigments separately as well but I figured they would be like potato chips... Can't get just one. I was right. The husband did fantastic this Christmas!! 

 Last night I shot a quick vid on the origins of my blog. This is one of the questions I get asked most often so I thought it would be fun to share my story with my awesome readers. I'm really excited to finally be doing these videos and answering questions and such. I also have some tutorials planned!! Soon, soonn!!

To see close-up pics of my makeup look just keep on reading after the jump.

Fun with @NakedCosmetics Shock Effect Pigment Set and @Ardell_Lashes #EOTD/#FOTD Looks!

Hello my lovelies!!! 

  I know today is supposed to be a challenge day but I honestly kind of forgot until the last minute yesterday. By the time I had realized I was supposed to be doing my Supernatural nails, I was already shut down for the day lol. So, I checked with you guys on Facebook to see if it was cool to show you some makeup looks instead :D. I will absolutely be back at some point soon with my challenge nails. 

  These look feature (for the most part) an amazing pigment set I got at The Makeup Show Orlando, back in November. One of the brands that captured my heart was Naked Cosmetics. They display was a SEA of beautiful loose pigment and glitter sets. I practically flew over to their booth and was paying for my Shock Effect set before I even realized what had happened. I didn't really have a hard time choosing this "palette" out from all the beautiful sets because the colors were the brightest and they really JUMPED out at me. Don't get me wrong though, had I not been on a tighter budget, many more sets would have come home with me.  

 I am also, pretty much, obsessed with the new Ardell Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection lashes. I got Four of the Six sets, but I'm thinking I really want to go back for the Two I am missing. I've only worn Two of my sets so far but it is safe to say that I LOVE them. They are dramatic, unique and just plain fun! Just in time for the Holidays.

  I am pretty much madly in love with these pigments and lashes. The pigments are very versatile! They can be used as eyeshadow, eyeliner and even on the lips. They can be built up to be very vibrant, or blended out for a pretty flush of unique color. I'm always intimidated by loose pigments, because I am not a fan of "fallout". I am happy to report that these are deliciously creamy in texture, they are easy to blend and build up. I did not have an issue with fallout at all. I am very pleased with the color payoff in these babies. I did use my NYX primer (Skintone) and my NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk as a base for these looks to really make the pigments pop. These can be worn dry, wet or with primer. They are really very, very versatile.

 To read me rave some more about my Naked Cosmetics pigments, my beautiful new Ardell lashes and see close ups of these looks just keep on reading ♥.