Fyrinnae eyeshadows...

In anticipation of a tiny haul of Fyrinnae coming my way (cleared customs! now...on ze way), I have been using their stuff every day.

This post is a tidy round-up of some favourite Fyrinnae looks over the months. I noticed my skills have deteriorated over time. Again, let's blame the beverages. Caffeine is leaching important minerals from my brain!

(Btw, if anyone's fond of interesting/creative makeup and has a bit of time to spare, please check out her blog: http://dizzymakeup.blogspot.ca/ << pretty much a visual feast. She is UNE ARTISTE MAGNIFIQUE)

finished look (VERY OTT)

(Clinique perfect plum topping off EArden Neoclassical coral)

This is literally all Fyrinnae, from inner corner outwards: Electric Stardust (discontinued), Snow Leopard, Te Amo, and finally, for the crease and lining purposes, Sorceress.
 Two of these colours were Arcane Magics (slight colour shifting), so twas a complex look indeed!

Again, Sorceress for crease/lining. Evocation and Shenanigans for the lids. L/S: Revlon Fuchsia Fusion.

Unless used wet as a liner, Sorceress is hard to work with, as are all their shades with a black base. However, the effort is worth it. Teal and turquoise lovers will love it.
The colour shift is subtle but glorious. It's a pain to use as a crease shade, unless you have a big fluffy crease-shaped brush which does the majority of the work for you.

Eye Sweep brush, mine's called, from Spa Resource (INEXPENSIVE), and looks like the Bobbi Brown one of the same name.

You NEED a decent (more than 2) variety of brushes for loose shadows, especially duochromes and Arcane Magic shizzle. This way, you can simply pat them on, but the brush gently diffuses it for you, without having to lose the sheen/overlay with motion.

Ho-hum, another blue-green look. Nothing too creative as I was going to a Posh Wedding. I didn't want to be mistaken for a Punjabi aunty with a penchant for dancing in her socks. The one who is beating the doctor-sahab-who-looks-like-he-is-having-an-epileptic-fit-but-is-really-just-doing-a-bhangra at his own game.
"Bhai, koi in ke liye roh afzah laye! Inho ne to hum sab ka SATIYA NAAS kardiya hai!"

A khaki Hard Candy cream shadow as a base (thing went prune-like in a few weeks!), followed by Electric Stardust (discontinued! Thank GOD I haz backup).
The silvery-greens from Dior Extase Pink, which my amazing cousin gave me to use on my wedding, for the rest (crease). Rimmel Amethyst Shine l/s.

Electric Stardust is LEGIT my favourite eyeshadow ever. It goes from mint-green to pastel blue.

Now we come to a flinch-wince-cringe pose-y picture, but I was trying to balance the friggin iPad whilst nearly toppling, ever so gracelessly, off the stairs.
Electric stardust for an inner corner highlight.
Scarlet Macaw (lid) and Sultry Samhain (crease). These are both beautiful reds from Fyrinnae. However Macaw is a warm red, Samhain is cool-toned. So they kinda conflicted, the Electric Stardust just played off the incongruence of the pair. And Fyrinnae Enrapture for blush, way heavy-handed.
Lips are Clinique Ambrosia (buttershine)...

And now we come to my scarf-take-off-ing phase. I really really miss hijab. I felt happier.
But I know I'm gonna feel like turtle poop if I get any more reproachful glances, rude words about it, or about MoZlEmZ in general. I don't have the emotional stamina to deal anymore.
And on the other hand MoZlEmZ expecting me to be some kind of enlightened Madonna. The assumptions on either side.

K, whatevs. Rainbow eye. Again, Electric Stardust--a common theme--I can't resist it. Evocation, then Snow Leopard (I promise I do other combos, but it seems every time I hit on something I want to PHOTOGRAPH, it features these three colours), London Mod (inner crease--also lower lashline, to top off Cover Girl Liqui'line blue liner), and Meerkat/ Sultry Samhain for outer crease. Bourjois fuchsia lip crayon.

The dastardly iPad decided it preferred this lighting, to show off the eyeshadows. Unfortunately, this one's prior to lip balm thingy.

This is...Dior Rosy Tan and Fyrinnae Te Amo. Artist of Makeup Marrakech for a bright orange.

Anna Sui bronze liner again. Marcelle Kajal, which is a great cheap replacement for Arden's powder pencil liner (and a deeper, cooler black, whereas the EA one was pretty much a warm dark grey). Best bit is the Marcelle Kajal doesn't irritate my finicky eyes, and looks messy/smudged, without much effort.

Te Amo is a delicious colour. It's a greyish-copper with a tendency to look like multiple colours (bronze-brown in crease). They have renamed it 'Serendipity,' to keep us suitably confuddled.

If I look happy, it's because I managed to find a decent colour match in Cover FX cc cream. NOT because my life is amazing, or I am a blessed, successful little pixie. NO.

Finally, this (ok, the base wasn't all that bad--I had on SPF and it was near a window--case closed)...is nice. Black eyeliner as base (smudged out) with Fyrinnae Snow Leopard on top. A bit of Artist of makeup Espresso around the outer-V to smoke out the Anna Sui liquid liner pen (a sparklesome brown/gold).

This proved how versatile Fyr E/S are, to me.

What Gotu K. and Gingko B. Canst Do For Thee

"Hurrah! Hurrah! It's a holi-holi-day! With lots of fun, for Baby's mum, it's a holi-holi-day! Yay!"
This is the ditty I dance to, whenever El Cute-o Pablo decides to forsake the joy of his new Jeep, for a snooze.

 Not a doozy of a snooze, mind, as all Littles know, Sleep is the ENEMY of the Young and the Restless...(disappointed, I would've thought that soap would be about babies. Rival babies, jolly babies, babies smashing their chubby hands into decadent raspberry pies, then smearing it on the walls. Baby giggles, that reek of sadism, as they watch their landlord screech and clutch at the last tuft of hair on his balding pate! Drama...action...cuteness...pies! I would watch that.)

Also, all this tea has nary made a DENT in my drowsiness. And yet...I continue to prosper!
 STUPEFYING!

"Do tell what your secret is being, if you please?" asks Pompeii Reigns Supreme, the youngest in the class, but carrying a heavy name that promises seething, volcanic intelligence, that may one day erupt and destroy us all!!!!! (Or is it ambition?)

Well, Pompeii Reigns Supreme, my pink-cheeked, formidably named one, I shall.

GINGKO BILOBA EXTRACT. GOTU KOLA.

Pills of these. From Nature's Sunshine, but would not any brand fare as well? Of course, their gingko swears it's in a slow release formula, but...choose what you will! This isn't an autocracy. I am benevolent to all! ('Cept kitten kickers. Sloth stranglers. You getst the gist.)

So pills. Non-illegal. I've been taking these (1 gingko, 2 gotu) and requiring far less tea, my focus has improved, the exhaustion does not detract from my stupendous performance as a Cook of Great Calibre. No eggshells in the omelette, etc.

There is a marked difference, from the days when, in a fit of scientific frenzy brought on by reading Brian Greene's books, I don't take 'em.

Placebo? Gazebo.

THIS HAS BEEN ANOTHER 'MAZING MOMMY TIP!

 Brought to you by Colgate--'why smile when you haven't brushed your teeth yet? You lazy bastard, you.' Now available in a wide variety of toddler-friendly flavours: Dora, Boots, Swiper, and the Map, the Map, the Map, the Map, the Map, the MAAAAAAAAP.

This Oughta Be a Tumblr Post...

Shiseido Beach Grass

[Note: If you want to see good swatches, see this post.]

One of my favourite combinations is MAC Expensive Pink with Star Violet, and any variation of highlighter lying around (even WnW Brulee). Shiseido Beach Grass is a similar palette to this pairing, but less rich/deep.

Shiseido Beach Grass

The colours are tempered to be milder, with a slightly talc-y glow that you don't get with MAC.
The end result is cleaner. Subtle, but eyes look brighter.

Shiseido eyeshadows are very interesting, to me. Not just the colour combinations (which are AWESOME).
 The way they have blended in the shimmer is beautiful and...different to most companies.

It is distinct and visible but so teensy-tiny. Seems it's lying on the 'surface' of the underlying colour, rather than part of it, but because it's so finely milled...it's like the sheen of satin. I don't mean the typical satin finish eyeshadows, but the actual fabric.

With just a dab, careful not to scar the INCREDIBLY soft product, it covers the lid well.

The brushes and mirror that come in the compact, are actually very good! The mirror is better quality than the average Dior/Chanel compact mirrors--does that sound plausible? It's true though. Like a 0.5 difference, but still. The brushes are: 1 double-ended sponge-tip applicator--better than the average sponge-tip applicator any other company would give you--and a natural hair brush (I don't know what kind of hair).

 There used to be a makeup...person on youtube, fuzkittie, who created lots of looks using only spongetip applicators. What I mean is, these are actually quite useful, so don't discard.

With this, I only need to use one other brush (an 'eye sweep' one) and the look is 'finished.'

In this trio, the colours are pale mauve, a pinkish gold similar to Expensive Pink (but less intense, which most people would prefer, I think), and a cream.

To me, the slightly shimmery cream comes off as chalky/powdery, doesn't apply evenly, and just looks...cheap. The other two are fine.

Rambles, rambles, eggs be scrambled. I am preferring Elizabeth Arden Smoky Powder pencils with this, in keeping with the softness, rather than a painted-on stark black liner.. I did use Guerlain liquid liner with it once, but it was a jarring mismatch.
[I've also used it with a blended-out teal eyeliner once..And a bronze-brown liquid liner. A smoky violet would also be interesting...]

The palette is...excellent, useful...but boring for evening/parties.
I have found myself using Artist of Makeup Brazen, or Cocoa, or Espresso--even MAC Typographic--to lend some dimension. Alsssooooo...lasting power isn't CRAAAAZY...

The only times it lasted on me from morning until night was with 1. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy 2. Maybelline Bad to the Bronze Colour Tattoo 2. Smashbox Cream eyeshadow (Icon). Even THEN a quick touch-up was in order.

Final thoughts: This trio would work very well with an off-white, apricot, peach, or turquoise desi outfit, I think. I haven't had coffee all day, and the result has been a less annoying post than usual, hopefully. Less poorly-incorporated French.

Child of Gumption and Delight awaits his next meal, so let me bid adieu...adieu...to you and you and yo-oou.

Inspiration

Excellent stuffs on the interwebz...put here for selfish reference reasons...because I never look at my bookmarks tab.
Hope my readers, scant & imaginary though they may be (Delilah, Jimminy Cricket, and Lady Petunia J. Walters) will benefit.

1. Sabotage your self sabotage. Haven't seen the videos yet but I do think that reading this article improved my productivity this past week....
2. A soft, painterly, rainbow look.
3. This really awesome post from Humans of Pakistan on FB..portrait of a security guard at C.U.S.T. university..pasting it here:

""Chacha, apni naukri ki sub say pasandeeda baat batain."

(Uncle, tell me your job's favorite part.)

"Beta khud toh parh nahi saka lekin khushi ye hai k meri wajah say yahan 12 hazar bachay kisi darr k beghair parh rahay hein. Shayad isi sawab k liye khuda ne mujhe anparh rakha."

(I couldn't study myself but I'm happy that 12000 students here are studying without any fear because of me. Maybe God kept me illiterate for this virtue.)"

4. I miss Phil. Adorable Infant has to put up with the shrieking of Gisele, instead.
5. Habits of highly creative people.
6. Found myself crying after reading about the death of Fizza Malik, one of the victims of a recent bomb blast in Pakistan.
My aunt had put up a photo with her, taken a few years ago. Her twitter account is still up, has a host of beautiful quotes. And my cousin just shared this beautiful, powerful tribute 

A Violet Tinge

Ah, my burnt little crumpets!

My scathed scones, blameless though you are, and seething with the unjustice of it all, forgive me! I may have left you too long in the oven! I was lost, my dears, lost to your piteous bleats! For I was admiring my latest acquisition, as it shone with a potent lustre! Almost as potent as this third cup of coffee.

Revlon Icy Violet! 

Lookit!

Checkit!
Get yo' own, homie G dawg shiggity diggity boom boom!

(Coffee--in this town, we blame...ze...coffee).

Giggity (doesn't the stupid headband make me look like someone from Mortal Kombat?)
LUSH Sophisticated cream shadow, Smashbox Icon cream shadow, Dior Extase Pinks, MAC Tilt/Star Violet

Understated 'violet'...it mutes down the lips so they gently complement the cool-toned eyes.

A great formula, better than the regular line I think, because it is that bit more balm-y and hydrating. Frost-frightened little lambs need not refrain... Tis not frosty in the least, the 'icy' in the name refers only to a subtle dusting of splendour. Although the doctor has been nudging me to get my eyesight evaluated... 

Background: ze company, zey were kind enough to re-release five previously discontinued lipsticks, voted for by ze peoples. 

Mais...un petit probleme.. zey are of ze limited edition variety. Alackaday! (More informative, less annoying post here)

I refuse to get so attached to les ojets zat I indulge in 49 backups. Although...c'est une possibilite, n'est-ce pas?

In any case, Icy Violet...when thou dost finally drop, plippity plop, from the market stands, and when the last little stub bids us adieu, you shall be missed. You are like MAC Fluid refined, less ostentatious, less deadening. You are like a Clinique Plum Perfect, but less greasy, a softened gleam, less out-of-this-nebula metallic. 

Violet, plum, withered prune colours, zey are my favourite! 

And so I shall share, in this same post, oui, in this very one (it must be your lucky day!), ANOTHER GOOD VIOLET-ISH PLUM-ISH LIPSTICK!

Zut alors! I see you sway...clasp your walking stick for support. My dear! You must not faint with the excitement of it all! Smelling salts, Marie! Bring the smelling salts! 

Anyway... I give you...Dior Prune Daisy...

Lise Watier Les Cuivres palette on eyes, over Smashbox Icon cream e/s

No lipliner used, believe it or not. This guy is so tenacious, vibrant, and awesome. I wrote a (coffee-charged) post on him somewhere here, bemoaning the reformulation, condemning it. 

I WAS A FOOL!

Contouring: HOW IT'S DONE, SON

Here is a man who cares not a flea's cowlick for contour powder

I get questioned IRL a lot on what I use for contouring. Here, I'll share, knowing, of course, that such a post is redundant, only adding to the excessive blahblahblah on the subject.

First, in my opinion, contouring is not for everyone (nor their grandma).

It's acceptable for 'correcting' here and there or trying to trace the chola/Kardashian mask to the exact wart. Still, if one is not in makeup for the artistry, and not in a photoshoot/selfie-obsessed, contouring can be completely unnecessary.

What an interesting, fun, amazing way to spend your time....

You can use it to redo your face contours after blotting them out with full coverage foundation. This is old-fashioned and boring for normal life, IMO. 'Tis the age of translucency, of sheer finishes, and slapdash cool. Mais oui. Contouring can appear starkly vulgar, very easily.

E.G. A CC cream allows your facial framework to shine through, as it merely evens out your skintone. So if you do contouring more suited for FULL coverage on top of that, it jars.

ALSO, some face shapes/features just don't need it. Aging. If you resemble Clara Bow, why would you undermine your natural beauty by 'carving out' cheekbones? Just leave it.
Or nose contouring...it can so easily make you look mean and hard. Like you regularly throw cell phones at your maid and then go on Oprah and pretend that you're sorry.

 Leave it. All that agony to look stupidly gaunt and witchy...

I blame it on the dearth of embroidery, the shunning of archery. It's like, when arts requiring much focus and attention to detail, as monogramming handkerchiefs, or falcon training do, became unhip, the human race decided to shift all that surplus energy to....applying bronzer. Skillfuly. And talking about it much too much. And being bored to death but still talking about it because it's easier and more accessible than horses, falcons, embroidery coaches (aka grandma).

Kashmiri ladies embroidering shawls and not giving a damn about their cheekbone highlights

Bride with a bird (nary a muddy bronze stripe in sight)

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I use the darkest and lightest shades of the Maybelline fit me foundation sticks, to carve out the contours. (When I say carve I mean a couple of dabs, blended).
 Like contour sticks RE: Artist of Makeup RE: Zukreat, but cheaper.

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick: It is very interesting. 

The beak gets a dab of the dark shade on the end of it, because when that's blended out, it makes it cuter and shorter, more like a deer and less like a bird of prey.

I then pat on foundation with clean hands, because brushes/stippling is boring. I sometimes re-emphasize the contours with a cream bronzer like Omorovicza Sunkiss (cool-toned) or Guerlain Terracotta TM (warm-toned). This way there is that bit more dimension, avoiding the striped tiger look. By the way, cream bronzer used with a fluffy brush = evenly distributed, diffused...more airbrushed-ish.

Alternative: lighter foundation in centre of face, a coupla shades darker for the outside, no contouring faff needed.

Put on some Wet n Wild Coverall powder/Chanel Poudre Universelle. Go back to dreaming of medieval times. Refrain from using mop as a hobby horse.

THE END