more bits and bobs.

Yeah, I haven’t worn much makeup lately. On top of that, my computer is painfully problematic, so I haven’t been able to edit images until now, or even type up posts. Ugh.

I’m testing the Urban Decay cream eyeshadow pencils now, and did this look to test other  colors over top.  Thats MAC Reflects Red, and Sugarpill Hysteric, Decora, Lumi, and Tako.  Line eyes with MAC Waveline fluitlind, at outer edge of upper lashline.

Lips are OCC Lip Tars in Hoochie, and Anime.

Where have I been?

Apologies for spending so long without updates. It has been a fairly rough couple of months…. Started off with family illness, ended with other family issues, tossed in some photoshoots, assisting gigs, LOTS of day-job drama, and mood swings.

Unfortunately, all of that had the result of wearing me down into a state of near-permanent hysteria and depression. I generally avoid talking about personal issues on the blog, since the last time anyone should hear about my convoluted life is when they’re looking for inspiration or product recommendations.  But the two tie in together, in this case.

I dare you to find a beauty nerd who hasn’t had to justify her love of the makeup to someone who just chalks it up to vanity, or insecurity.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has asked myself whether the confidence coming from great makeup is a crutch, perfecting the exterior, while letting the problems inside fester.

So what is my makeup, to me?  It really IS my artistic side,  and I love its ability to make me remember an emotion that isn’t in the forefront of my mind, or let others know I’m feeling especially aggressive, or try out a different way of perceiving myself, as well as the obvious joy of colors, textures, composition…. But it only works for me when my bottom line is ALREADY happy and confident.  When I’m genuinely scared, depressed, or dealing with a bad bout of mental illness, the very idea of wearing makeup feeds it, making me feel even MORE insecure, and amplifying the bad emotions.  It just feels… dishonest….like I’m trying to completely redo myself, rather than enhance what’s already there.

I LOVE applying makeup for its creative aspects, but I’m a temperamental canvas, at best.  I’m much happier focusing myself on painting other people.  I’ve still been researching, and living with makeup 24/7, but I’ve directed most of it AWAY from the blog. I’m reluctant to wear makeup, photograph my face(Well, full face anyways.), and force my makeup love in a direction that is overall unhealthy for me.

So I guess I’ll try to do a lot more eye and lip macros, reviews, product breakdowns from photoshoots, etc. but there definitely WILL be a revision in the direction of thepaintedmask.  I’m sure you guys can understand.  Thanks for your patience, while I continue to figure out how to tie the beauty blogging in with my outside life!
We’ll see what the next few months bring!

Tutorial: Depotting eyeshadows in unusual packaging

I had a request for this a few months back, and it has unfortunately taken this long to get my act together.  There’s a lot of information on depotting the common eyeshadows, like MAC and Urban Decay, but the technique differs with some other specialty makeup brands, like Tokidoki, OLD Urban Decay eyeshadows(The one I had like this is probably 4 or 5 years old, now.), Benefit, Shiseido, Shu Uemura, Sephora, Ulta,  even NARS Eyeshadow duo’s.  If you aren’t sure how if the pan is on a tray that  can be removed to heat it faster, or if it feels like it’s heavy plastic, you can usually depot them this way.  Please note, if you are depotting an eyeshadow in a cardboard case(Like the Urban Decay Book of Shadows), you’ll want to avoid this method, since it uses HIGH heat and may be more of a fire hazard.  I usually set the oven for about  250-300(Fahrenheit) for those, and let it sit for longer, until I can begin to pry the pans up.  THIS ALSO SHOULD NOT BE DONE FOR CREAM PRODUCTS, since they will melt.  To depot cream blushes, you need to drip alcohol between the pan and the compact, to dissolve the glue.

As with any depotting, you will need a hot surface(The plate of a hair straightener, or an iron.  I use an iron, with a layer of aluminum foil to prevent glue or plastic from burning onto the surface), a thin knife(Or VERY heat resistant fingertips, like me), a magnet, cut to fit the bottom of your pan(You can purchase thin magnet sheets at craft stores, and some online cosmetics sellers offer pre-cut ones in common sizes, like 26mm(MAC, UD eyeshadows), and your empty palettes(ELF sells quads that fit 26mm eyeshadows, or Camera Ready Cosmetics sells YABY, zPalette, or La Femme palettes, that will fit 15-24 larger pans, depending on the size..

Experimental Lip Graffiti

These are part of an ongoing test for a shoot sometime in the future. Still refining the technique and toying with my ideas….  Yes, I know these are rough edits, and my skin is uneven(I didn’t bother applying foundation, and my skin was pretty stained by the second look!)

All of these were done with OCC Lip Tars and Loose Pigments, Sugarpill eyeshadow and loose pigment, MUFE Pure Pigment and Star Powder and(for the finish on the center look) table sugar.  Whew. My lips are STILL dry from removing all that!

Will try to do a more general update soon, it has been a ROUGH couple of weeks!

Photoshoot: Retro smudged Cateye

This is a great look if you are not used to wearing heavy makeup, or would like the look of a true retro cateye, but are unsure of your liner technique. It’s a bit more forgiving.

Photography by Rudy Joggerst, modeled by Kim K. All styling(Makeup, hair, and clothing) is my own.

2011 Rudy Joggerst

Eyes
MAC Bare Canvas paint–apply to lower lid of eyes, to browbone, with a dense brush. Blend it into the skin with a fluffier brush for a softer effect.

Smudge MAC GreenSmoke around the lashline of the eye, blending it outward slightly, and applying it densest to the outer lashline, and wing.

Deepen the center of the wing with Sephora Grass is Greener cream eyeliner. Smudge it slightly, so there’s not a harsh line, and it blends evenly into GreenSmoke.

Curl lashes and apply Buxom mascara.

Fill in brows. I used La Femme Charcoal e/s, for a not-quite-black finish.

Face

I mixed Embryolisse Miracle Cream moisturizer, and Graftobian Cream Foundation for a tinted moisturizer.

Buff NARS Orgasm into cheeks, and NARS Laguna into contour of face.  Highlight with Benefit High Beams.
Lips

MAC Hue

Fusion Lip Infatuation in Big N Bare

2011 Rudy Joggerst

2011 Rudy Joggerst

Review: How to Create the Perfect Eyebrows, by Victoria Bush

There’s a little bit of me that never left high school, and that part REALLY enjoys writing book reviews.  So when I stumbled onto Victoria Bush’s How to Create the Perfect Eyebrow, I had to review it.

Eventually, I want to cross reference this review with a post I wrote on grooming eyebrows, several months back. This book has DEFINITELY changed my eyebrow technique, and helped me learn to analyze other peoples eyebrows, for working on set.

First off–this book is DEFINITELY written with makeup artists, aestheticians, as the target audience.  You’ll find it can be a little challenging to do the practice assignments on your own face, as Bush starts off by having you measure the dimensions of the face with a ruler.  It’s MUCH easier to have someone else do this, or to do it on someone else, but you’ll go cross eyed trying to measure the proportion of your lips, based on your pupil…

While much of the basic information on face shapes, brow shapes, can be easily found online, the GREAT part of this book, for me, came from the measuring assignments.  I think most people would have a difficult time seeing a face shape chart and saying “THATS my face. I’m a heart-shape!”.  Heavens know I never really had a strong idea of which shape I had….  But by measuring and sketching the face out, you get a far stronger sense of the overall shape, overall feature size, as well as ideas for corrections.  Bush recommends several basic face shapes(Square, Long, Oval, and Round, which are universally discussed shapes, as well as less discussed shapes-Heart, Inverted Triangle, Hexagon, and Pear).   She also provides tests for determining your eye-set(Close, well, or wide), eye alignment(Almond, Even, or Drooping), Lip Size and length(Determined using the width of your nose, or the pupil of your eye)

Her discussion doesn’t just include the wealth of information usually seen on handling these face shapes(Balance a square or angular face with more rounded brows, balance a rounded face with more angular brows, use thicker brows with larger eyes and thinner brows with smaller eyes, etc.) but also includes notes on applying corrections to the brows, when one “fix” may cause another feature to look out of proportion.  It’s INFINITELY useful for looking at less than perfect faces, and brows.

 

We all have little bits of asymmetry in our faces, and features we’re insecure about.  So the information available about standard corrections may not always suit our needs.  Bush does her best to suggest corrections that may help someone feel better about their features, and give their face a stronger sense of proportion and symmetry.  She includes case studies with before/afters, including information on the womens desires, going into the appointment.  While the difference may not be as noticeable in the less extreme clients, her technique DOES work, especially on less straightforward cases where the brow may be sparse or uneven, the shape wrong for the features, mature facial issues, unusual growth patterns that may prevent some techniques from being effective,  etc.

The book includes an overview of most standard eyebrow enhancement techniques–everything from tweezing, sugaring, threading, waxing, electrolysis, laser hair removal, tinting, permanent makeup, etc. and notes on conditions that may affect the safety of the procedures.  While it CERTAINLY isn’t enough to get you through the licensing requirements that may be required to sell those procedures in a salon, it is helpful for weighing the pro’s and con’s of each one.

This book was WELL worth the money.  I wish that Bush had included more of the assignments—after the first few chapters, she stopped printing the answers in the back for the proper analysis, and stopped including new ones, outside of the client studies discussed. I would have loved more of those, since thinking analytically about them was very helpful in honing my aesthetic eye, and looking for logistical ways of managing my, and my models, needs.    It’s certainly something that you(and I) will need to practice LONG after finishing the book—I’ve read it several times, pored over fashion magazines analyzing the brow shapes in them, measured every detail of my face, my boyfriends, my models, and it is still a far more awkward thought process than I would like.

Overall, though, it beats EVERY book or website I’ve encountered on eyebrows, with the depth of detail.