Makeup

Cog In The Machine SFX Makeup

No Comments

So, this is my seventh (and last!) Halloween makeup look for 2018. While it’s not as elaborate and excruciatingly detailed as my final Halloween makeup look last year, I’m still pleased with how this turned out (…and how my face turned out because maaan the placement of those cogs contoured the heck out of my big cheeks!!). After all, I’ve been wanting to create a steampunk makeup look for aaaages…or at least after I became fixated with BioShock Infinite!

I’ve thought about making myself look like Elizabeth…

…but that only involved wearing my eyebrows thin and painting my lips red (because I sure as hell kennaaaat venture into the cosplay territory, given my sewing skills!) Not very groundbreaking makeup-wise, no? I could’ve made fake wounds as if someone aimed a Skyhook on my face…but how many times will my face get scratched, really?! Painting cogs on my face was not an option either, since I’m the type who can’t draw a symmetrical flower on the first try…so, I just let my steampunk makeup idea stew inside my head…for years…until my Shopee addiction (and my newfound, I-wanna-buy-a-casting-kit-so-I-can-mold-my-face-and-make-it-easier-for-me-to-do-DIY-prosthetics obsession) recently led me to this super sweet online shop that sells teeny tiny metal cogs and aaaall the glitters I can use for a unicorn makeup look (once I’ve molded the perfect horn that is). Oh, it is so ON.

I’m just another cog in the machine. With a stiff neck.

What I did…

…for the face:

  1. I prepped my face with Urban Decay’s Optical Illusion Complexion Primer, then applied Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige with a damp beauty sponge, then drew inverted triangles under my eyes with  Maybelline Liquid Concealer in Medium. Bleeeend. Then I dusted a bit of bareMinerals Mineral Veil Finishing Powder to really make my skin seem poreless as hell.
  2. I didn’t go crazy with the contouring since my cheeks will be covered with bloody junk anyway so I just defined my nose with the lighter brown shade from Fashion 21’s Contour Kit. But I did try adding a hint of pink to my cheeks (Gloss Skin and Beyond’s lip & cheek tint in Sangria) just so my skin won’t look too one-dimensional since hey, I’m not a mestiza who flushes pink naturally lol. Highlighting game is still extra af with Sleek’s Highlighting Palette in Precious Metals over Benefit’s watts up highlighter used on my nose, browbone, and cupid’s bow.

…for the eyes:

  1. I shaped and groomed and filled my brows with Nichido Browmaster in Gingerbread and Coastal Scents Brow Palette. Then I defined it further by dabbing liquid concealer around my brows. Bleeend.
  2. For the eyeshadow, I started with bareMinerals cream eyeshadow in Soft Shell as the primer because it already has that rosy shade. Then I dabbed Garnet (a shimmery rose-gold shade) all over my lids (and lower lashline), Deep Purple (a shimmery purple-gray shade) over the crease, and Gold on the center of my lids–all from the Lorac Pro Palette.
  3.  I tightlined using a black NYX Retractable Eyeliner, created a winged eye using LifeFord Hi-Precise Eye Pen, and finished that off with #BT03 Bohktoh falsies that I applied using my favorite Nichido eyelash glue.

…for the lips:

This was a trial-and-error thing. First I applied Urban Decay’s Blackmail lipstick, which is a reaaaally reaaaaaaally dark purple shade that made me look like a Linkin Park-listening emo kid. So I pressed my lips on a tissue paper to remove some of its color (some of it anyway since Urban Decay matte lipsticks are dry as hell) then layered my darkened lips with a creamier and redder lipstick (Loreal’s Pure Brick). I was satisfied with the shade I created but I wanted my lips to look more bronze-y so I carefully dabbed a gold lipstick (Loreal’s Pure Gold) on the center of my lips.

…for the cheeks:

PROTIP: If you want to hide your chubby cheeks, stick some bloody junk all over them. #ExtremeContouring
  1. I drew the curvy rectangles on my cheeks using a white NYX Retractable Eyeliner (because it’s easier to erase and blend out the mistake if you’re using white).
  2. I filled the curvy rectangles with a layer of tissue paper, applied with Graftobian Liquid Latex (because the cogs will stick better to the tissue than your actual skin).
  3. Once the liquid latex is dry, I painted the tissue papered layer with black Snazaroo facepaint. And once the black facepaint has set, I dusted a bit of metallic orange, metallic brown, and metallic green eyeshadow shades from the Coastal Scents Creative Me #2 palette so that area won’t just look flat and black.
  4. I hurt my neck while trying to arrange and stick the metal cogs with more Graftobian liquid latex…oh and if you’re missing a Family Mart retractable pen, please let me know so I can replace it since I also stuck the pen’s spring on my face lel
  5. Then I carefully highlighted the border of the curved rectangles with the white eyeliner so they will look more three dimensional.
  6. I finished the look by dabbing Graftobian Blood Paste on the cogs, and letting Graftobian Blood Gel drip from my cheeks.

 

 

Continue Reading

Makeup

Under Pressure SFX Makeup

No Comments

I’ve finally done my 6th Halloween makeup (which makes this set up to par with the amount of Halloween makeup looks I made last year huzzaaah), and tbh, I’m not really happy with this one. See, I was planning a melted face SFX look (think skin dripping as if I’m made of wax), but unfortunately, my college years of making jello shots did not prepare me for the DIY gelatin prosthetics scene. For THREE DAYS I’ve scoured the bowels of Youtube for a recipe that will work (like I even tried cooking in May’s place in Hellmouth) without sliding off my face and I’ve even Googled for local online stores selling Mehron 3D gel just to save me from my DIY misery (result: there is none), but alas, it’s not meant to be. 

So since I’ve already borrowed a crown for this look (LOL #effort), I went ahead and did it anyway (sans the skin dripping) just so I can claim that I’ve already done 6 Halloween makeup looks (…and I can peacefully obsess about how the heck am I going to execute my 7th/last one):

Judge: And now, for your final round question: If you have one bucket that contains 2 gallons and another bucket that contains 7 gallons, how many buckets do you have?
Me:

What I did…

…for the right side of my face:

  1. I drew a line in the middle of my face using my black NYX Retractable Eyeliner, and shielded my left eyebrow for the liquid latex later on with Elmer’s Glue Stick (I like using the purple variant that smells like grapes because the color change from purple-to-clear lets you know that the glue has dried)
  2. Prepped the right side of my face using Urban Decay’s Optical Illusion Complexion Primer, then applied Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige with a damp beauty sponge all over this area. I also used a cooopious amount of Maybelline Liquid Concealer in Medium to hide my eyebags.
  3. I shaped and groomed and filled in my right eyebrow using Nichido Browmaster in Gingerbread and Coastal Scents Brow Palette until you can see my eyebrow from Mars because I was aiming for that Brooke Shields-in-the-80s look. Then I defined it further by dabbing liquid concealer around that eyebrow. Bleeend.
  4. I defined my nose and my cheek using Fashion 21’s Contour Kit, highlighted my browbone, cheekbone and cupid’s bow using Sleek’s Highlighting Palette in Precious Metals over Benefit’s watt’s up, and colored my cheek with the blush powder from Sleek’s Contour Kit until it looks like I was slapped in a backstage catfight.
  5. I dabbed a bit of NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk over my lid because I’ll need a white base to make the super bright eyeshadow colors pop. Then I mixed blue and pink facepaint from my Flash palette to create the purple I applied on the crease, and applied the sky blue facepaint from the same palette on my lid. I made the colors pop out even more by dabbing a shimmery sky blue eyeshadow called Peace over my lid, and a shimmery purplish pink eyeshadow called Fishnet over the crease (both from the Urban Decay Deluxe Shadowbox Palette). I used the same colors for my lower lashline, then blend. Blend to infinity and beyond.
  6.  I tightlined using the same black eyeliner I used to divide the areas of my face earlier, created a winged eye using LifeFord Hi-Precise Eye Pen, and finished that off with #BT03 Bohktoh falsies that I applied using my favorite Nichido eyelash glue.
  7. Because I was aiming for that 80’s look (thus the thick Brooke Shields eyebrow), aka the time when nobody batted an eye if you match a BLUE! and PURPLE! eyeshadow combo with PINK! cheeks and a RED! lipstick, I used Gloss Skin and Beyond’s Diva matte liquid lippie.

 

…for the left side of my face:

  1. The rough texture is composed of uneven bits and pieces of dried tissue paper that were dipped in Elmers Glue.
  2. Sooo basically I just covered my left face with Graftobian liquid latex and attached those bits of tissue paper to my skin. I covered my eyesocket with a round cotton pad so the liquid latex (and tissue) won’t get to my left eye, and then sandwiched that with another layer of tissue paper and liquid latex.
  3. I traced the middle line (that I drew with my eyeliner earlier) with liquid latex, which I then covered with a thin roll of DIY scar wax (equal amounts of petroleum jelly and flour with a few drops of your liquid foundation)…which I then pressed and blended to my real skin.
  4. Once everything’s dry, I painted my paper mache’d face and scar wax with the same liquid foundation, blush, eyeshadow and lipstick that I used on my real skin–the wonkier the better since I want the left side of my face to be disintegrating (if not melting!), and hey, I’m freakin doing this step with only one seeing eye.
  5. Added some black drips (for the mascara) and even glued the other half of my falsies to make it look a bit more “real” (heh).
Continue Reading

Makeup

Love Is Blind SFX Makeup

No Comments

Because I’m running out of doable ideas (and because my supposed 5th Halloween makeup look should’ve involved DIY prosthetic!) I settled with another makeup look that’s a little too literal. Now, I’m just gonna go straight to the What I Did’s because I’m running out of time and I still promised to facepaint some of my colleagues for today’s kid-friendly, non-gory Halloween office party so I’ll just let my imaginary childhood boyfriends Nick and Landon explain why the idealist in me still believes in “love is blind”.

 

Makuha ka sa tingin.

What I Did:

  1. I swiped a stick of Elmer’s Glue on my eyebrows to protect them from the liquid latex and scar wax I’ll be using (and it’s what drag queens do as a pre-concealer measure in hiding their real eyebrows).
  2. I drew the lines and hearts over my eye sockets with a black NYX Retractable Eyeliner and filled them with black Snazaroo facepaint.
  3. I wanted to add a rough-looking texture for the gouged-out eye sockets so I stuck little bits of cotton inside the black hearts with Graftobian liquid latex. Once the latex is dry, I painted the cotton bits with black facepaint too.
  4. I framed the hearts with little rolls of my DIY scar wax (equal parts of flour + petroleum jelly and a bit of liquid foundation) that I stuck to my face using mooore liquid latex. Once they’re in place, I gently rubbed and blended the scar wax to my actual skin.
  5. I veeery carefully applied Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige on my face with a damp beauty sponge, making sure that the sponge can also cover the scar wax’d areas so they’ll appear as if they’re my real skin.
  6. Did my usual contour-highlight routine using Fashion 21’s Contour Kit (contour for the nose line and cheeks), Sleek’s Contour Kit (blush), Sleek’s Highlighting Palette in Precious Metals and Benefit’s watts up highlighter (for the nose and cupid’s bow).
  7. Added a bruising effect to the frames of my gouged-out eyes using red and purple eyeshadow from the Coastal Scents Creative Me palette.
  8. Covered my lips with a very sinister-looking, velvety dark red matte liquid lippie appropriately called Revenge from Gloss Skin and Beyond.
  9. Dabbed a generous amount of Graftobian blood paste over the black facepainted areas of my gouged-out eyes and let Graftobian blood gel drip all over my cheeks.
  10. Stuck bits of wire to the scar wax frame to make it appear as if the wires are holding my face together.
Continue Reading

Makeup

Honey Beesh SFX Makeup

No Comments

So I’ve finally reached my 4th Halloween makeup for 2018 (3 more to go!!!), and this time, it was inspired by the gifts I received from Gloss Skin and Beyond, a local enterprise (owned by fashionista-turned-doting-mom, Mini) offering all-natural, cruelty-free, FDA-approved skincare and cosmetic products. Now this is the part where I’ll sound pretentious with a “Mini and I go way back…” statement, but let’s not go there; I’m already trying hard not to be the Jaclyn Hill to her Kim Kardashian. All I know is that she’s the popular girl two years my senior in Rural who, in a time when Duramo slides were the norm, sported that cute pair of Nike sandals I’ve been eyeing in Planet Sports for weeeeeks so yeah,I was too intimidated to even speak to her #fashuuun nature. So you can just imagine my disbelief when I unboxed the makeup haul she sent me last Monday:

(L-R) one sunflower soap & one shea butter + cocoa butter soap, one strawberry lip scrub (I’ve stopped exfoliating my lips with a toothbrush like a barbarian. Thanks Mini!), one Wonder Lash & Brow Grower serum, four (4) lip & cheek stains, and four (4) matte liquid lipsticks. Wowza.

It was such a sweet gesture that kinda left me in a panic: how the heck can I use any of these without hurting Gloss Skin and Beyond’s pretty sweet brand image? We all know what kind of image I possess! And so I wondered, hmm since I’m the type of gullible who takes things almost always literally, then let’s create a makeup look that’s literally sweet, honey-and-bees sweet…with a dash of trypophobia:

WHAT I DID

…FOR THE FACE:

  1. I rubbed a bit of Urban Decay’s Optical Illusion Complexion Primer on my face to make the liquid foundation + heavy contouring look more flawless, avoiding my left eye socket area because really, why would I waste my fancy primer on an area I’ll cover with a DIY eye patch later?
  2. I applied Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige using a damp beauty sponge. Added more coverage by applying bareMinerals Mineral Foundation in Neutral Medium with a huge foundation brush. Slathered an inverted triangle of Maybelline’s liquid concealer in Medium under each eye and blended that out with my middle finger.
  3.  I used the two brown shades from Fashion 21’s Contour Kit–the lighter brown to define my nose and cheeks, the darker brown to cast a shadow that can slim down the outer area of my cheeks and make my forehead less Rihanna-ish. This is the part where I reaaally wanted to use one of Gloss Skin and Beyond’s lip and cheek stains to add color to my cheeks, but alas, I’ll be using the very sticky modeling wax on my left cheek, so a powder-based blush like that from Sleek’s Contour Kit is needed. Then I illuminated my nose bridge, cheekbones, cupid’s bow and browbone with Sleek’s Highlighting Palette in Precious Metals over Benefit’s watts up highlighter (yeah I’m a highlighter junkie so wat)
  4. Dusted a bit of bareminerals Mineral Veil Finishing Powder with a huge fluffy brush for that airbrushed look.

…FOR THE EYES:

  1. I shaped my brows with Nichido Browmaster in Gingerbread. Went a bit #extra and rubbed a bit of concealer around my eyebrows to make them eeeeven more defined.
  2. I dabbed a bit of Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk over my lids so the white will make the eyeshadow colors pop.
  3. For the eyeshadow: the neon pink shade from the Coastal Scents Creative Me palette over my lids and below my lower lash line, then the bright purple from the same palette over the crease and the outer corners of my lids. Topped them with the glitter light pink, pink & purple shades from the Urban Decay Moondust palette (applied with a wet finger so the glitters will really stick)
  4. Tightlined with NYX Retractable black eyeliner, created my cat eyeliner look with my black, Lifeford Hi-Precise Eye Pen, and finished that off with my new favorite falsies (#BT03 Bohktoh false eyelashes) that I used with my favorite, holy-grail-of-an-eyelash-glue from Nichido.

…FOR THE LIPS (MADE SMOOTH & SOFT THANKS TO THE STRAWBERRY LIP SCRUB I USED EARLIER THAT DAY #NAKS):

I chose Gloss Skin and Beyond’s matte liquid lipstick in Go Girl (which I can describe as a Mocha Neutral Pink: “Ang pink po nya! Grabeng pink. Ah hindi naman po masyadong pink kasi neutral yung dating nya sa skin kaya sakto lang po. Parang pink na mas neutral po.”) so the color would go well with my ultra-mega-girly eyeshadow combo. When I swatched it, it reminded me of Revlon’s Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor…but unlike Revlon’s, Go Girl really delivered its lightweight & transfer-proof promise once applied on the lips. Oh, and its smell reminds me of my cat (but that’s because I bathe my cat with a honeydew-melon-yogurt scented cleansing syrup from Snoe so beh!)

…FOR THE “BEES”:

I decided to unearth the Great Nail Art Stash of 2013 for the unused, fake stick-on nails sent by my mom, which I then painted with a yellow nail polish (China Glaze’s Happy Go Lucky) and a black nail polish (Orly’s Liquid Vinyl). I let them dry while creating the beehive’d patch for my left eye…and if you’re wondering where the heck are their wings, well, “A bee’s wings move so rapidly that studying them, even seeing them, has proved difficult.” #YeaaahScienceBtch

…FOR THE BEEHIVE’D EYE PATCH:

  1. I framed a round cotton pad (which already fits my eye socket area) with tissue paper bits and Elmer’s Glue.
  2. I covered the cotton pad with my DIY scar wax (equal amounts of flour + petroleum jelly and a bit of liquid foundation) that I fashioned into a tiny pizza dough…because my DIY scar wax is easier to mold than the ever-sticky Graftobian modeling wax (plus it’s already pigmented thanks to the liquid foundation included in its ingredients).
  3. I lined my actual eye socket area with Graftobian liquid latex, pressed the tissue paper frame of my eye patch over it, and sandwiched it with more liquid latex. I didn’t want to challenge gravity while the liquid latex is still wet so I just faced the ceiling while trying to send a text with one eye. 😉
  4. Once the liquid latex’d frame of my eyepatch is dry, I smoothened out the edges and blended them to my real skin using Graftobian modeling wax. Used the same liquid foundation and mineral foundation I applied to the rest of my face earlier so the eye patch can match my actual skin…plus the mineral veil powder too, so both my DIY scar wax and Graftobian modeling wax can lose their sticky-icky nature.
  5. To create the 3D holes, I pressed the tip of an eyeshadow makeup brush onto the waxy, fake skin surface of my eye patch; I even rolled the brush like my eye socket was one big pencil sharpener until I was satisfied that the holes were big enough. #InsertDirtyJokeHere
  6. Then I filled the holes with black facepaint from my Flash palette and glued my fake bees with more liquid latex.

…AND FOR THE HONEY:

I’m pretty proud of this because this was a total, last-minute moment of eureka (after an hour of mixing Elmer’s Glue and hair gel and yellow facepaint to no avail!) I simply opened a pack of Garnier’s Lightening Peel Off Mask (which already comes in a translucent yellow shade) and mixed it with a few drops of yellow food coloring.

Continue Reading

Makeup

The Purge Mask Makeup

No Comments

Because it ain’t Halloween without making yourself look crazy fugly, my 3rd Halloween makeup is based on the masks from The Purge (2013), an American horror movie (turned franchise!) wherein crime rates and unemployment became almost non-existent because for 12 hours a year, it’s legal for the citizens to unleash their angst by committing the most heinous of crimes (oftentimes towards those who are poor or weak…so it’s like the modern-day Philippines and the poor people who are being slayed because they had the misfortune of fitting the Drug Pusher Starter Pack, but I digress).

What I used:

  1. Urban Decay’s Optical Illusion Complexion Primer 
  2. Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige 
  3. Maybelline’s Liquid Concealer in Medium
  4. The brown and gray-brown shades in Fashion 21’s Contour Kit
  5. LifeFord Hi-Precise Eye Pen in black
  6. bareMinerals soft focus in Warmth
  7. Patience. Lots and lots of patience.
  8. Garnier Micellar Water & a handful of cotton balls for the eventual screw-ups because my God do I suck at drawing thin lines steadily
  9. Facepaint! Brown, black, dark coral, and white from the Flash Palette.
  10. Graftobian Blood Pastesprayed using a toothbrush.
  11. My housemates’ big-ass knife (already an upgrade compared to this LOL)

What I did:

This is the part where I’ll admit that this makeup look will make it seem as if I cheated since all I had to do was follow Madeyewlook’s The Purge Makeup tutorial to a T. And AY DONUT KERR, because this Purge Mask facepaint makeup took me looooooonger than my first two Halloween makeup looks (like I had to redo my facepainted lips four freakin times!!), and Madeyewlook is pretty much the Youtuber who’s responsible why I’ve managed to create facepaint-based looks before. She’s a kickass teacher and I love her.

So if you wanna create this look, just watch Madeyewlook’s tutorial and leave me alone this was so traumatizingly exhausting lemme just move on to my next makeup look because I prefer SFX-based makeup looks over facepaint-based ones okthx.

Continue Reading

Makeup

Snow Why?! SFX Makeup

No Comments

To be honest, I wasn’t so hot about this makeup look. But like I said, I’m aiming to create 7 Halloween makeup looks this year so I can’t really afford to be picky. All I know is that when I saw this makeup look in Instagram ages ago, I thought, “Hmm looks doable enough, I’ll just have to substitute the melted skin with rolls of tissue bits like the last time.”

Bet the apple was planted by Banksy (…I wish!)

I’m not even going to yap about Snow White because she’s my least favorite Disney princess (#MulanPaDinMgaOlol), so I’ll just go straight to the step-by-step:

WHAT I DID…

…FOR THE FACE, PART 1:

  1. I prayed to the makeup gods above that I can still squeeze out an ample amount of Urban Decay’s Optical Illusion Complexion Primer because I don’t want to splurge on a new bottle any time soon just so my face can look flawless and make-up ready. Then I breathed a sigh of relief when I discovered that I just have a faulty pump.
  2. I covered my face with Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beigeusing a damp beauty sponge. Added more coverage by applying bareMinerals Mineral Foundation in Neutral Medium with a huge foundation brush. Raged and told myself another lie about getting more sleep when I realized that I’m three products in (primer + liquid foundation + mineral foundation) and yeeeet, my eyebags were still visible. Slathered an inverted triangle of Maybelline’s liquid concealer in Medium under each eye and blended that out with my middle finger.
  3. I defined my cheeks and made my noseline pop like it’s for Josh Groban with the powder blush & powder contour from Sleek’s Face Contour Kit, then illuminated my browbone and cheekbones with Benefit’s watts up highlighter because I like goin extra with my highlighters.

…FOR THE EYES:

  1. I shaped my eyebrows and filled in the sparse areas with Nichido Browmaster in Gingerbread, which has been a cheaper, guilt-free-everyday-tool for me compared to Benefit’s Gimme Brow.
  2. I Primed my eyelids with Lorac Behind The Scenes eyeshadow primer because I need the yellow & blue colors to reaaally stick (yeah, poor choice of color combination but they were supposed to represent Snow White’s Ikea-inspired dress).
  3. Dabbed a bit of white facepaint from my Flash palette over my lids (or else the yellow will barely show on my Azn skin). Added a layer of yellow facepaint over the white lids, then I used a lemon yellow powder eyeshadow my Creative Me palette as their setting powder, and theeen lined the crease and my lower lids with the Facebook- blue eyeshadow (also from the Creative Me palette).
  4. Suck at blending two neon colors together, decided to just screw it and leave them looking raw rather than end up with a green eyeshadow look.
  5. Tightlined with Nyx Retractable black eyeliner, created my cat eyeliner look with my black, Lifeford Hi-Precise Eye Pen, and finished that off with my new favorite falsies (#BT03 Bohktoh false eyelashes #ObligatoryHelloThailandILoveYouForThis), used with my favorite, holy-grail-of-an-eyelash-glue from Nichido.

…FOR THE FACE, PART 2:

  1. I rolled bits of tissue paper into little cocoons. THEN I use the same liquid foundation I used on my face to paint all over them so they can appear as the same shade as my skin. Set to dry.
  2. I used one of my random brown eyeliner pencils lying around to create an outline of my bloody mouth (visualize Ronald McDonald’s mouth while you’re at it).
  3. I lined my Ronald McDonald mouth with a layer of pinky-sized tissue paper using Graftobian liquid latex. This will serve as the frame of the melted skin bits.
  4. I mixed red, black and brown facepaint from my Flash palette and painted my Ronald McDonald mouth outline so it will appear as if it’s one gaping hole of a mouth.
  5. Once the liquid foundation-doused tissue cocoons are dry, I started sticking them to the tissue frame of my Ronald McDonald Mouth using more liquid latex and smoothened the creases with Graftobian Modelling Wax. Oh and I also kept an o-face during this whole ordeal to make sure that the tissue cocoons/melted skin will fit nicely haha
  6. Painted the tissue frame of my mouth with the same liquid foundation, then dabbed a geneeerous amount of Graftobian Blood Paste on the painted gaping hole.
  7. Find a red hairband and hold an apple. Pose for a selfie and make your nosy cat wish you’re not her hooman.
Continue Reading

cats, Makeup, Ramblings

2018 Halloween Makeup Look #1: Grating Makeup Fueled By The Not-So-Great Serendra

No Comments

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the latest DRAMUH concerning the BGC community cats, particularly those that have been living in the ever-so-fancy, Two Serendra. Actually, you might’ve forgotten it already, since this has been going on for almost two months now and the management probably feels that it is beneath them to respond (unlike a Filipino senator who had the initiative to release this I-was-a-dog-lover-but-now-I-love-jail-cats-shame-on-you statement but nah let’s not get political shall we?) I’ll let this article clue you in so I can just focus on sharing a step-by-step guide for this SFX makeup look. I’ll reaaally try to just focus on my makeup. I’ll try.

OH NO I’ve been scratched after playing with this cheese grater! *scratches head* Guess I’ll just throw this poor, unassuming cheese grater away; it doesn’t deserve to co-exist with me…#StupidAnalogyForAStupidDrama

What I did:

  1. For the face, I used Urban Decay’s Optical Illusion Complexion Primer. It’s supposed to make your skin look flawless and perfect—an optical illusion like the beauty of Two Serendra because underneath the fancy, expat-friendly facade (“Oh sh*t, that place is brimming with expats? That must be such a 1st world haven in our 3rd world nation!”–says every clueless Juan) is a management which, unfortunately, has money that couldn’t buy them class nor the animal welfare awareness of 1st world nations. What a haven indeed!
  2. Then I used a makeup sponge to apply Maybelline’s Fit Me Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige, which resonates with what I imagine to be the Serendra management’s thought process in dealing with the community cats. “Hmmm we better set a rule that forces our residents to pay P10,000 ($185) for feeding those cats…and the retail area should probably set up a DO NOT FEED THE CATS sign so we can join High Street’s kitty bandwagon regardless if, unlike High Street, we haven’t set up a proper feeding program with the ever-willing volunteers…I mean, these cats are sooo cheap, always lounging and flaunting their bellies for the rays of sunlight that should be exclusive to us Serendra folks…Santo Dios, they don’t even have the right breed for our brand of lifestyle!  So yeah, let’s make this money-grubbing penalty happen because it’s never gonna apply to me…it fits me.” #LongBuildupIsLong
  3. Then I used Maybelline Liquid Concealer in Medium to cover my eyebags which can probably compete with the eyebags of the cat-loving, Two Serendra residents—you get caught feeding the cats and that’s $185 down the drain, hostile treatment optional. Who could sleep in peace at night?!
  4. TIME FOR CONTOURING, BLUSH & HIGHLIGHTING! I used two products for this step. First is Sleek’s Face Contour Kit, which includes a powdered blush (which can give your cheeks a rosy effect, just like Serendra’s attempt to make things look cute and rosy lol hashtag “Fluffies of Serendra” nga daw check ittt) and a brown powder contour (that you’ll use to make your cheeks and nose look slimmer and more defined, kinda like the bone structure of the Serendra cats if they starve to death). Then of course I’m not going to forget my favorite creamy highlighter of all time which can brighten up your cheekbones, browbone, and your cupid’s bow: Benefit watts up…so, what’s up Serendra? Any updates? Since, you know, it’s been weeks and you haven’t responded to the invitations nor sent a representative to (wo)man up and digest all of the efforts of the people who are WILLING to create a humane Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) Program for the Serendra cats—with no funding or labor needed from y’all whatsoever. They are offering solutions that can keep the Serendra cat population healthy and stable so you won’t have to experience the Vaccuum Effect. Watts up???
  5. To shape and define my eyebrows that seem to be perpetually raised thanks to Serendra’s haughty lack of action, I used the no-fuss, Nichido Browmaster in Gingerbread.
  6. For my simple smoky eyeshadow, I used Bootycall (browbone & lower inner corner my eyes), Chopper (lids) & Tease (crease) from the Naked 2 palette of Urban Decay. Urban Decay…Urban Decay!!! Hahahaha I don’t even need to write this joke anymore. #BestOfLuckWithYourRatInfestation
  7. I used two different eyeliners, both as black as the hearts of the cat haters of Serendra: Nyx Retractable Eyeliner for my lower waterline, and Lifeford Hi-Precise Eye Pen for the obligatory cat eyeliner look.
  8. And now, for the grated skin (recreated from @rubymediamakeup) that resembles an exaggerated cat scratch aka The Most Overused Argument As To Why We Should Just Eliminate The Serendra Cats Year After Year When Eliminating The TNVR’d Cats Will Attract New Unvaccinated Ferals To Claim The Territory Who Are More Likely To Scratch Or Bite Unsupervised Children So It’s Like One Expensive Roofie Circle: I applied a thick layer of Graftobian Modeling Wax all over my cheek, carefully brushed a bit of setting powder & blush powder over it to make it stay put and look infected, dragged the tip of my gel eyeliner brush on the surface of the waxed area to create the 3D wound effects, filled those strips with the brown facepaint from my Flash palette, and dabbed Graftobian Blood Paste on the brown strips. Graftobian modeling wax is too sticky to be molded so I just rolled strips of my DIY scar wax (discussed here) for the strips of skin on the bloody cheese grater.
  9. Last but definitely not the least, I used my newest favorite liquid lipstick (that says A LOT because unlike the 2016 Timmi, I am done hoarding lipsticks after I found my favorite formula of #MyLipsButBetter shade with Sleek) which is the perfect choice for this look: it is Vice Cosmetics’ Phenomenal Liquid Lipstick (AND! It’s only Php195! AND!  I bought it with a 10% discount! AND! Vice Cosmetics donated a portion of sales to CARA Welfare Philippines!!! AND AND AND! Unlike the Serendra management, IT’S PETA-CERTIFIED CRUELTY-FREE! ) The name of this lippie’s shade? It’s called Ravaaan (colloquial term for “Laban!” which means “Fight!”)…and Ravaaan is what the cat lovers and animal welfare advocates will be doing this coming October 13: a silent protest against animal cruelty, particularly the cruelty to the Serendra cats. Hope to see you there, KaPusa!

P.S.

This post is dedicated to my Sandra who was an abandoned kitten discovered, fostered & spayed by some of Two Serendra’s compassionate residents. See, you Two Serendra hotshots are blessed with people who actually care about a keeping a well-maintained cat population in your vicinity. They’ve been using their own time & resources just to keep those pest-killing cats happy and healthy…but what have you done in return?

Continue Reading

Ramblings

And we’re back.

No Comments

After nine months of hiatus and letting this blog float in cyber purgatory, I am back. First because I am awake now that September has ended #ObligatoryMemeingDadJoke, second BECAUSE IT’S HALLOWEEN, AKA THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (at least for me, because I get to have an excuse to stock up my makeup stash and flaunt my weirdness without being judged!)

Last year, I had five different Halloween looks (plus this) so I am reaaally wishing and hoping that I can at least be as productive as last year, if I can’t afford to be #extra and do seven.

So what have I been up to anyway?

I wish I can blame the BGC cats but nope, I haven’t contributed new content for cobgc for three months now (props to my fellow Titas for picking up the slack!). I wish I can say that I’ve been snorting cocaine served in gold platters thanks to myriads of high-paying, after-work freelance jobs. I wish I can say that I’ve finally surpassed my 16km night run of last year. I wish I can say that I’ve just been busy adorning my Rihanna forehead with contour powder and facepaint.

But nope.

Rather, the past few months was simply me doing a Rihanna (complete with getting treated for anemia, crazy period cycle and hormonal imbalance that made me look thiccer). Hey, it’s what pays the bills…and it’s what allows me to spoil the love of my life, the one I never imagined having nine months ago:

This clingy, insect-catching, toy-fetching, psychotic alarm clock. Yes, I’ve been crazy for cats since I was a kid, but this is my first time (as a lone city dweller who can no longer rely on her grandpa to care for the stray kittens she found on her way home) to actually own one—first because she had me at MEOOWWWWRRRUH? Second, I was an overthinking commitmentphobe (Who will care for her if I’m on vacation? What if I migrate and get a new job abroad?!) who values #ResponsiblePetOwnership, the same way I value marriage or motherhood or the last piece of pizza when I’m finally full but I have to go home—I don’t have the heart to dump or give her away or just ragequit when the going gets tough. Third, I admit it–turning 31 has made me develop that fuzzy feeling that pushes you to give a damn about something…and for me, that something better be a freakin cat because I am not yet ready to squeeze out a mini-me.

Her name is Sandra because she used to be a stray kitten that was abandoned in Serendra. THANK JEEBUS her foster mum chose Sandra becaaaaause speaaaaaking of Serendra and the horrors of Halloween, nah I’ll leave it for my next blog post—which I will write after this, at least after I finish cracking my knuckles and sharpening my stake. 😉

Continue Reading