L.F RAMBLES - LINES AND LIFE

So I finally had time to play with make-up. I started off with thin lines but I got more bolder and more graphic (ba-doosh). Playing with shapes, so ones more angular and ones more rounded.

Gel eyeliner, concealer and a flat shader brush to soften the lines. It's not perfect but fun to play around and experiment with proportions. Do you guys like the left or right eye? 

I got this note with some chocolates on my first day. Yay. Yes I ate the chocolate btw. Naughty food... give me bad stares.

Hey guys, since my last update life has been pretty crazy and uni' work kind of took over. To people who say design subjects is 'easy'. It's not. It's solving problems with no 'real' answer. You can't just find a textbook solution. Unless you go down the whole plagiarism route. Err not cool. Anyway I was going round in circles when stuff finally clicked and I had a week to pretty much do a final version of my publication. Stayed up for stupid hours, plenty of coffee (think I can drink the stuff again) and I decided to sleep in on the day of presentation (I managed to finish all loose ends still *phew*). So this weekend has been bliss for me. No library. I'm homeee. 

And more exciting news is I've scored my first retail job finally. I'm a Christmas temp but I work for Boots! I work in the flagship store (for Newcastle) too so it's huge and busy. I had my first shift yesterday and I love it. I'm part of the Christmas department so lots of restocking and time seems to just fly past.

My manager (who interviewed me) is super awesome and I'm pretty sure I managed to get it because I mentioned about my  freelance make-up side. During the interview I had to 'sell' a lipstick to a customer and I think I impressed her with it. THANK-YOU MY POINTLESS KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL THINGS MAKE-UP.

The next post will probably be Halloween related make-up. Our house is off to a flat party and we have to dress up as Rocky Horror Show characters. Ugh. I don't actually like the film (sorry) and Magenta who has the coolest make-up has been stolen by a flat mate.

Anyway extra positive vibes and smiles.... because I have to for work ;) I think my natural 'thinking' face is moody looking because EVERYONE including strangers always tell me to smile. I'm fine honest. 

HALLOWEEN - ALEX DELARGE INSPIRED

SOURCE
Good film and..... the lashes. Such an iconic character. 

A.J being erm A.J, No serious model face.

KEY PRODUCTS:

SPIKY LONG PAIR OF FALSE EYELASHES
BLACK EYELINER

Hey guys, something a bit fun! You might remember A.J from last year in his epic Halloween get up. 

A.J was wearing really formal clothes for a night out anyway, so we decided to go all Alex DeLarge. I've intensified the eyes a bit more with black eyeliner.

This could be a really good Halloween costume idea for anyone who doesn't want to look gory or zombie-esque. Super simple :)

L.F RAMBLES - LIFESTYLE CHANGE

Something I used to do when I first started make-up (just do one eye). Flatmate said I looked like a panda.

Hey guys, so not my usual sort of post, but I feel kind of comfortable talking about it since I've been pretty dedicated for a couple of months and for life now!
I've always been overweight/chubby/fat from a young age (I've never been at a healthy weight for my height and age) and to be honest I wasn't kind of fazed by it.... I got used to it and kind of in denial with it. And that's NOT normal or healthy.
I've strangely not been *that* insecure with my body image (didn't hate or love... just meh about it) and that's with me being friends with people who can literally eat tons of shit and not put on any weight. My best friend (born couple of days after me) is a natural size 4/6... FML. BUT this summer I caved in to my parents persistent nags to do something about it. I usually just shrugged off any weight comments from them, but I did put on weight during uni (my downfall is I tend to binge eat when stressed..... uni IS stress) and I was at my heaviest. Changing my eating habits wasn't going to be enough. I HAD TO MOVE. There I said it.... EXERCISE. I'm just lazy. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I was just lazy.

Anyway I bit the bullet and joined the gym for the first time ever during the summer. I'd say the first month didn't really count because I was stupidly unfit so I didn't do as much as I'd like because of aches and pains. Second month the aches literally vanished. Or I just got used to it. I also fine tuned the classes (approx 45 min) I liked and built up a weekly routine. Generally the minimum was 1 class and 1 hour at the gym 7 days a week. Sometimes I'd have a day off which was usually when I did  2 classes/tired. I know it sounds a bit extreme but once you start going to the gym I felt guilty if I didn't go. PLUS I only had to work 3 days a week (in the evenings) and rest of the time I was free. Obviously if I was in pain I'd rest but if I felt fine I'd go.
The good thing about me is I am a dedicated person, so I didn't feel or want to slack off. It's go home or go hard mentality with me. My favourite classes were Kettlercise and Les Mills Bodycombat. I tried not to miss these classes because - they were fun and make you work your ass off.
Funny story is me doing a spin class during my first week at the gym. Somehow in my head it didn't look so bad......wrong. SPIN IS FOR BADASSES. My legs were literally like jelly the day after and that's with me not doing all the resistance changes they were doing.

This might be highly anti climatic but I've NOT lost a *huge* amount of weight in terms of on the scales. No ones actually noticed much but the main thing is I CAN TELL. I can fit back into the jeans I was wearing 7 years ago *and* they are getting baggier. That was a hallelujah moment. I've lost more in terms of inches and that's fine but I've still got a long way to ago. Ironically, I'm more conscious of my body now then before. 
I know most people have goals but mine is literally as long as I'm happy in front the mirror. Most 'Asians' are usually a size 4/6/8, but I don't know if I'll ever be like that. I've got a bit of a bust for starters, which is unusual haha.

Anyway I thought I'd share some tips if anyone is in the same boat. Take these with a pinch of salt. If your  weight is 'normal', ignore these. I'm a bit of an extremist when I get into things.

• IT'S NOT A DIET, IT'S A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. 
• DON'T BUY 'TEMPTATION' FOOD AT ALL. IF YOU BUY IT YOU'LL EAT IT SOONER OR LATER.
• KEEP THINGS SIMPLE. CUT OUT ANY 'EXTRAS' LIKE CHEESE, CHIPS, BUTTER, OIL, MAYO, KETCHUP ETC. IT'LL ALL ADD UP IN THE LONG RUN
• AVOID UNNECESSARY LIQUID CALORIES SUCH AS JUICES/CORDIALS/FIZZY DRINKS. TRY GREEN TEA OR WATER.
• JUST SAY NO. EVEN IF YOUR FLATMATES ARE ALL HAVING PIZZA,  I RATHER JUST SAY NO (THANKS) THEN TO TEMPT MYSELF AND HAVE A BIT. 
• LET OTHERS AROUND YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN A HEALTH KICK. I FIND THIS KEEPS ME ON TRACK IF I WANT TO EAT BAD* STUFF. 
• READ THE RDA/CALORIE LABELS. THIS HELPS ME TO DECIDE WHAT TO BUY/EAT.
• BE COMMITTED. THERE IS NO POINT EATING HEALTHILY BUT STILL HAVING THE ODD JUNK FOOD REGULARLY.
• EXERCISE AND EATING HEALTHY WORK IN SYNERGY. YOU GOT TO DO BOTH.
• YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR HEALTH REASONS NOT JUST FOR AESTHETIC REASONS.
• DON'T HAVE REGULAR 'FUCK IT' DAYS/WEEKS. THINK OF THE HARD WORK YOU'VE PUT IN. THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS IS HARD. 
• TRY NOT TO HAVE FAST FOOD/GO OUT FOR MEALS TOO OFTEN. HOME COOKING = KNOW AND IN CONTROL OF WHAT YOU PUT IN. 
• SWEAT= WORKING HARD. PUSH YOURSELF.
• HEALTHY EATING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE. GO TO LOCAL MARKETS FOR FRESH FRUIT/VEG.
• HEALTHY COOKING = BOIL/STEAM/GRILL.
• YOU HAVE TO WANT TO DO IT. 
• YOU CAN HAVE CHEAT FOOD/DAYS BUT IN MODERATION.
• START TODAY. NOT TOMORROW, NEXT WEEK OR NEXT MONTH. 
• TRY TO CUT OUT CARBS IN THE EVENING. YES I LOVE IT AND MISS IT TOO. 
• GO TO A GYM WITH CLASSES, I FOUND THESE TO BE REALLY FUN AND MOTIVATING. I WENT TO THE VILLAGE IN LEEDS AND THE STAFF (HI ANITA AND IZA)/FACILITIES WERE MINT. 
• STARTING OFF CAN BE DIFFICULT BUT DON'T GIVE UP ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SEE ALL THE GYM BUNNIES AT THE GYM.
• GET A GYM BUDDY! YOU CAN GOSSIP AND WORK OUT.
• HAVE FUN! OR GROW TO LOVE THESE CHANGES. IT SHOULD BECOME SECOND NATURE.

Hope you guys found this post interesting. If I lose any major significant weight I might do another one of these but for now I'm just going to stick with what I'm doing. Feel free to leave any suggestions/recommendations you find helpful. If you ever see me eating bad stuff give me a good evil stare!
  
*My current 'bad' food is sushi. I used to love eating M&S cheese puffs (like wotsits) too... OH THE GOOD DAYS.

L.F DOES A/W - RED DRAGON

SOURCE

My main inspiration. I was actually drawn to the rust and orange undertones but then the red/pinks started taking over!

SOURCE

The placement of everything was based on this. I wanted it all to interconnect.

Ahh the lighting in my room sucks. Think I'll have to do make-up during the day from now on.

KEY PRODUCTS:

MAC PIGMENT - ELECTRIC CORAL

NYX JUMBO EYE PENCIL - RUST

BENEFIT - EYE BRIGHT

NYX LIPLINER - RED HOT

SUGARPILL EYESHADOW - LOVE+

BENEFIT CREASELESS CREAM SHADOW/LINER - BUSY SIGNAL

MUFE FLASH COLOUR - CORAL

Hey guys, so I'm back. OFFICIALLY! I've just been settling in my new house and uni routine so I've put off any fun make-up stuff till everything was sorted. I'm kind of in a weird situation with uni but I'm getting on with it.

Back to makeup! I actually wanted to have a main emphasis on orange and burnt reds. You can still see it but not as much as I wanted. Once I start adding pinks and reds I always go crazy. I've lightened the brows and I have velvet lips going on too.

I think make-up time/day off day is every Saturday, so expect a make-up look every weekend and I'll squeeze in anything extra when I can.

Miss you all! 

L.F RAMBLES - BLINK!

The song that got me into them. Oh and Tom Delonge was the first of many realistic fan girl crushes ;)

Yes, I kept the confetti from the show.

Short story: I went to see* Blink-182. The band that epitomised my early teens *fan girl moment*.
Even though Blink 182 was my favourite band at the time, I eventually branched out and I didn't really listen to much of their music for at least a good 4 years. I didn't even check out their latest album until a couple of weeks before the gig. So when I was there kind of surprised myself that I still knew all the lyrics to their songs. 

I managed to somehow get to the front-ish (about 3/4 rows behind the barrier). And it was a really good time jumping about like a loon. Oh The All American Rejects also supported. NOSTALGIA - geez 10 fricken years has passed. Damn. 

Anyway they were really good and the atmosphere of it all was ace. CRAZY hot (Mark said it was the hottest gig they've had so far) and with the bonus of being pressed against really sweaty men. MY FAV'.

So a bit like after The Kills gig, I'm listening to a lot of Blink now and getting into them again. Memories!
While in rant mode:

• Gigs should be in height order - I know you can't control your height but us 5 footers can't see jack. I was tip toeing!
• PUT YO PHONE DOWN AND ENJOY THE LIVE MUSIC.

*I was meant to post this AGES ago. I saw them in June!

THE 'HELLO MARGARET!' PROJECT

The film in all its glory! I'm even in the credits section at the end. I did all the make-up apart from opening 'tear' scene. 

The 'day' looks I had to do for the characters Lucy, Daisy and Ruby. I was given quite open briefs for each character but even though this was a fashion film Jenny still wanted the characters to look 'real' - so I had to create looks that were wearable (wouldn't look out of place in the streets) but still with an edge.

I've included this photo as a before and after with how I adapted the brows after reviewing the photos from the first day. The brows were over plucked but I didn't 'deal' with them effectively so..... 

This is the second day and hopefully you can see the brows look more fuller and overall more flattering to the face. With the Daisy character she had to have an 'edgy' look. I decided she could have a 60s mod vibe to her with the statement eyes and nude lips.

Ruby was the rock chick out of the gang. I played around with black eyeliner and cream textures to create a greasy creased look. She has a more 'distressed' vibe going on and I played around with creating the outer wings of the eyes by dabbing brush marks using the cream to create a feathered effect. For the lips I went for a stained red, focusing the colour on the inner parts of the lips and faded the edges using a cotton bud tip.

Ruby's look had to look 'well put together' so this make-up was more muted and I did a classic smokey brown eye with gold cream dabbed onto the inner corners just to liven things up.

Onto the experimental looks for the characters! This was probably my favourite look from the whole project. Ruby is still rocking the rock chick vibe but it's much cleaner as I decided to go with precise winged eyeliner, painted lower lashes, pink neon lips and holographic stars and glitter to the face. It's quite simple but it has such a statement factor. She was also a dream to work with because her skin and facial features were a make-up artists DREAM.

Daisy's gone to the dark side. I had Brody Dalle vibes going through my head whilst doing her make-up. Playing around with navy tones and a winged shape. For the lips I decided to go all out on the stained inner lip effect. P.S Ruby's look was just an amped up version of her existing day make-up with added glitter!

Hey guys so I'm finally sharing with you the super cool project I was involved with! Jenny (founder of Hello Margaret!) basically asked me if I wanted to do the make-up for a commercial for her fashion company. And of course I said yes!

It was a 4 day shoot with a really tight deadline because it had to be done in time for the  launch of her website, but the video is brilliant (not biased at all). I'm really proud to be part of it and I got to work with such a fantastic group of creatives. 

Hope you guys like the video and here's a link to the backstage photos so you can see more of the makeup.

L.F RAMBLES - UNI BLUES

I've heard of them AGGGGES ago but never really got into them. Anyway random YouTube stumble couple of days ago and I found this. The song/video is FREEKING awesome. It always gets me smiling. 

Teen years *sniff*

Oldie but still love this.

The lyrics are so beautiful. 

I know I shouldn't blog when I'm 'down' (nothing bad just 'woe is me' moment) but I got my uni enrolment reminder through the post recently and I'm NOT excited about being back up to Geordie land in 2 weeks or so. I've had almost 3 months off but it's gone incredibly quick. I've got a decent job now (pay wise) and I've settled back home.... and I don't want to go back. Has anyone else got cold feet about uni before? The uni, people, place, course is fine. I just don't think my path is graphic design atm. I know I've had on and off feelings about it for the whole of first year. Maybe it's because I'm thinking about the future too much. I don't really see a career path in my chosen subject in the horizon and graduating seems to be much closer then I want it to be. Argh the future freaks me out. 

Anyway positive things:

• Current man crush is Josh Klinghoffer - he's super talented and has that awkward but cute thing going on.
• Listening to Nirvana a lot lately. TEEN FUCKING SPIRIT.
• Gym is going well. I succumbed to the dreaded first year weight pile on and I'm back to my 'original' pre uni size - which is still overweight btw LOL. I'm keeping this lifestyle up (bye vodka binges) because it's TOO damn hard to shift the pounds.
• Still perving on the fit personal trainer at the gym. He's not the usual tanned steroid pumped type btw. Ew.
• Self imposed shopping ban is going well. The key is not to venture into town and don't get enticed by online discount codes/free shipping. YOU CAN DO IT.

BRIDESMAIDS

This is my friend Fiona who was one of the bridesmaids. Fiona was actually my former gym buddy and seriously one of sweetest and sincere girl I've ever met - she'll get along with anyone and she's always really bubbly. I've done her make-up before but it was a really rushed job and I didn't feel happy to upload it. With Fiona my main focus was actually her skin as she had dry red patches on parts of her face and I had to cover them without looking mask-like or too cakey.

The eye make-up is a bit more 'done' then a typical wedding theme, but I think it sits on the 'glam line' without looking inappropriate. I don't have before photos but I'm really happy with her outcome as I feel like it was a 'transformation' whilst still looking like herself.

This was a really impromptu job but the brief was very natural and minimalistic. The eye makeup is literally eyeliner set with eyeshadow and inner shimmer in the tear duct area. The skin I used a light veil of foundation, highlighted the skin, soft blusher and filled in the brows. For both of the girls I used a tinted balm which adds colour and moisture.

Hey guys, so no major jobs for 2 months and now they all come at once. Typical, but not complaining! I'm more confident with doing bridal related make-up now as I used to feel 1000x more pressure just because the client will be photographed and judged all day and if I did something 'off'' it'll be my fault.... but I'm fine now. Keep to classic styles, softer tones, defined features, thin layers and you should have beautiful clients who still look like themselves.

BEING FRIDA

SOURCE

I referenced to a lot of photos but I decided to use this as my main source for the makeup. Bright lips, blush on the upper cheekbones and obviously the iconic brows. 

Taken after the party so everything's not so 'fresh'. Also I'm not rocking the facial hair - sorry!

My outfit all bought from charity shops, I spent around £20 for everything. 

Hey guys, finally showing my face. I went to my friends 21st where the dress code was to be something from your first or last initial. I decided to go as Frida Kahlo because A. she's awesome B. I've always wanted to rock a mono-brow.

Ironically when my friends first saw me the first thing they noticed was the hair! They didn't even notice the brows until I pointed them out. Shout out to my mum for doing the hair, she did a really good job of doing a plaited up do and securing our home decorations into my hair ha!

You guys like my Frida Kahlo inspired look? 

PAUL & JOE SWOON

PAUL & JOE FACE COLOUR 02

First of all I'm not usually JUST a packaging kind of make-up girl..... but LOOK! It's so pretty and feminine. The compact is a cool mauve pink with micro pink and gold shimmer. LOVE. 

Highlighter and blush in one. 

I thought this might of been a shimmer/frost finish product but it's actually matte with micro glitter. SAY NO TO CHUNKY GLITTER FACE PRODUCTS.

Total impulse purchase. I've always been interested in Paul & Joe but nothing really stood out. I have to say the selling point is the packaging for me but the product isn't bad inside! Would I of just bought it for the product alone? No.... but this kawaii little product stands out in my vast collection. Also it's my first dabble into Asian cosmetics which I've not really tried before (made in Japan).

Lastly sorry for the absence of make-up looks, I'm currently involved in a really cool project where I'm doing 3 looks for a fashion film/commercial. I'm just gathering together photos so it'll be a whammy of make-up for you guys!