The hell called Carousell

I'll be totally honest here. I love online shopping a bit too much. I remember scouring eBay, Lelong and wherever whatnot for stuff that I probably shouldn't be buying or at least things that I probably won't be buying anyway. I find it oddly theraputic, just scrolling about looking at stuff.

Then I discovered Carousell.

The app has been around for a fair amount of time and I had some friends using it. At first I was really skeptical about it (I prefered Mudah.my for selling things tbh, its a lot faster) but decided to try it out anyway because it seemed like a nice lazy way to get things sold fast. Preloved makeup especially.

All was fine at first when all I did was just buy stuff. I'm not a particularly fussy buyer (well, aside from the fact I refuse to buy lip products because ew, unsanitary) and I like to get transactions over and done with fast because less things hanging loose means I get my stuff faster right?

Then I started selling stuff, that's when I got a lot of weirdness coming out of the woodwork. In any user to user selling site, you are bound to find one of these people:

1. Lowballers
2. People who joybid then disappear
3. Extraordinarily fussy buyers
4. Sellers selling fake goods (and claiming they are real)
5. HEY LETS SWAP (when you aren't open for swaps to start)
6. People who don't understand how to behave when doing a transaction, e.g reserving something then dropping out due to "lack of interest" or simply disappearing without a word after you respond to them.

NOT EVEN A "NOT INTERESTED, TQ" out of them!

Bonus: Singaporean Carousellers following my page even though there's no way for me to actually sell them things O___O

Bonus 2: I actually got sold fake stuff thinking they were real, and paying the actual price for it. Something I will detail in another post.

But I DO like Carousell for a few things:

1. Easy way to search for listings
2. Simple way to upload listings
3. Straightforward and eyepleasing
4. Often goods are a fair bit cheaper than on the shelves
5. Good for lazy old me I suppose.

I've purchased a fair bit of things (for one I seem to like samples) for cheaper and I honestly don't mind preloved makeup as long as its not something used on the lips. Heck, this is where I get most of my funky hairdye.

Bottom line is, I REALLY HATE CAROUSELL AS A SELLER but at the same time its too convenient for me to give up as a buyer =_= for the most part I've become inactive but I still check time to time...

So what do you think about the app? have you gotten a taste of the crazy too?

[Review] Portland Black Lipstick Part 3

Hi everyone,

We're back with more Portland Black Lipstick Co colours! This batch is a fairly eclectic mix of colours that I mostly haven't seen or tried myself which arrived with my latest order courtesy of the ever awesome Kim Damio.

A quick overview of the colours as per their website:

Goodbye, Little Yellow bird : Not available,because I can't find anywhere that sells it besides Beauty Bohemia. It's not a new colour though.

Lux Et Voluptas : Lux et Voluptas is a two-toned lipstick. It has a top layer of metallic gold backed by a charming carmine-based pink. It is somewhat more translucent, light and sparkly than most of our other colors, which works well for those who prefer more subtle lip wear than we usually offer. And, yes, this is a personal tribute to the restrained decadence of the 1990s, to Hakim Bey, and to this year's long awaited spring season in Portland. Look forward to the launch of our new autumnal color -- 'Nox et Veritas'!!!

Imitation Cherry: This colour has been around for a fairly long time, but doesn't seem to be for sale anywhere as far as I can find it. You should still be able to order it though, by contacting the sellers via email or their FB page.

Graey: None either, because I'm highly suspicious this is a new colour ( or at least not one that has been updated anywhere afaik). Only place stocking it is yet again, Beauty Bohemia.


Imitation Cherry

It's a very deep dark cherry red. It's a fair bit brighter and seems to have more of a true red base than compared to say, Undead Red which is a bit more of a plum colour. Seems to be great for making a statement or hitting the right note for that film noir style. Might be a tad too fierce for work though, but I love it all the same.

Goodbye, Little Yellow bird

It's a cheerful yellow as expected, is creamy and a bit minty as all their stuff. I personally find the shade a bit weird to wear, and it's like a matte non metallic version of Gilded Lily. I had some issues getting it as opaque as I wanted with my brush. Slightly pastel too. It's oddly not available on either their Etsy or website pages but I've seen people purchase tubes of it before.

Graey

It's a creamy bluish matte light gray. It takes a few more layers to get it opaque compared to the rest, the consistency reminds me of Abominable. It is a very nice steely light grey colour but I can't think of an application for it at the moment unless you are a cyborg or something and have metal lips.

Lux Et Voluptas

One of PBL's more 'recent' colours, it's a very wearable pinkish colour with gold flecks in it. The flecks aren't very visible once it goes on but it's a very cute colour. Similar in vein of shade with The Coral is Coming Out of the House.  It's also available on their site! Whoo!

Rating: 4/5

Pros: Creamy, tastes nice, has staying power. Wasn't as hard to remove as the darker colours.

Cons:
Save Lux Et Voluptas and maybe Imitation Cherry, I have no clue what I would do with these colours outside of costume use. Lux Et Voluptas contains natural carmine and might prove to be an allergen to some people.

Six things I learned while working with a hot knife

I tend to work with foam a lot. Same goes for closed cell PVC boards too, plastic stuff. Mainly because I've grown too damn lazy to make things out of wood anymore.

Last month, I got one of these babies:

Hot knife, I am.

Set me back about RM 60 from Multifilla which I felt was a great investment; clean cuts! There are other models available which are probably better but this was the only one I've seen for sale so far that didn't look like it was made to cauterize dinosaur bites.

But alas, it wasn't as perfect as I thought it was going to be. Over the last couple of days of playing with this monster, I've learned a few things, so I'm going to share it with the interwebs so you guys don't make some of the same idiot mistakes I did.

1. It's bloody sharp and hot at the same time

Ever heard of the phrase 'like a hot knife through butter' ? a hot knife pretty much sums up that experience. The first time you stick that knife through some foam feels pretty amazing, but you tend to forget that the blade tends to be of the 'extremely sharp, will make your fingers into bacon' variety and since the material you are working on is melting, it's pretty damn easy to slip if you put too much force in it.

So far I've been lucky that the only two times it slipped the knife only hit the table, but who knows when that luck is going to run out.

Or you could pretend it's a lightsaber.

2. Protection, please.

This goes out to people using a hot-anything. Hot glue gun, heat gun etc, I don't care if you're doing it on the table or on the floor, cover your legs with something. Wear a thick pair of pants, cover them with a towel, newspaper, ANYTHING.

I've learned first hand that melty things tend to drip, and those drips also happen to be damn hot, the last thing you want before a con is to have a mighty blister on the inside of leg because a rogue bit of plastic decided to say hello to your pale fleshy thighs.

Also if you can help it, wear gloves. Manual dexterity will be compromised but its better than having damaged digits.

3. Do it in a ventilated area

In case you forgot, foam and plastic are made of chemicals. Chemicals that are pretty damn bad for you if you inhale them in fume form. In other words, it stinks. A lot.

Wear a face mask and do it somewhere that has lots of ventilation, like next to a window or something. Get a fan, blow that stank outside. You'll thank me when you're not inhaling little particles of plastic.

4. Lighting!

I can't stress this one enough. What part of working with a hot ass, sharp knife should you be doing in the dark? none of it. You're likely to cut or burn yourself if you can't pay full attention to what you're doing. I've cut myself plenty by using a boxcutter while not paying attention to what I'm doing, and having shitty lighting doesn't help either. Work under a lamp or something if you have to get your stuff done at night. Which you likely will, the night before the con.

Which brings us to our next point...

5. You will destroy your shit if you're not looking

I don't know about other models of hot knives, but this one is basically a modified soldering iron that has a knife on the tip instead of a rod. The blade portion is removable for replacement purposes but the barrel of the knife is also hot when it's in use.

This has lead to a lot of scarring and burn marks on the Sintra I happened to be cutting (because I wasn't paying attention to what the rod was touching) and it has outright melted some of the foam I was working on. Watch where you're poking that thing and you'll be fine.

6. Wipe often.

Plastic gunk can and will accumulate on your blade. With avengeance. It might burn, it might just bubble or it might just sit there and muck up everything it touches.

Get a rag or a wad of newspaper you're willing to destroy to wipe that stuff off with. If you're too scared to touch the knife (as you should be) you can just rub the knife against the cloth instead to get stuff off, but it will be harder to do once it's cooled so it's the first thing you want to do once you turn the power off.

Oh, your knife will also start to turn black the moment you start using it. This is because of oxidization or flammable stuff getting in contact with your blade. There's nothing you can do about it besides embrace the soot.

Chances are it will look like this after a few uses:

Yuck.

At the end of the day safety is still tantamount to you getting your props done on time so I hope the article was useful, and stay safe!

[Tutorial] Quick n' dirty steampunk goggles

This whole thing is 90% foam. Believe it!

Need a pair of steampunk goggles on the fly? making these would set you back a couple of hours at most, and can be made of random junk lying around your house.

The goggles I made were meant to be pinned to a top hat I made (no tutorial sorry, not unless I decide to make another hat!) so they CAN be used on your face but they're nowhere near as comfortable and can be kinda flimsy for actual wear. But they definitely work if you just want a pair for show.

NOTE: This tutorial does not include any measurements whatsoever, because your base materials might vary.

Materials:

A reasonably sized cardboard tube (any tube shaped material would work actually)
Foam (two thicknesses, preferably between 2mm - 5mm)
Scrap cloth or faux leather
Scrap transparent plastic sheet, mine came from a plastic file
PVA glue (or favourite foam sealant)

Tools:

Scissors/ boxcutter knife
Contact Glue
Rub N' Buff in Antique Gold
Acrylic Paint
Needle and thread
Brushes

Optional:

3D paint
Tiny screws or thumbtacks
Elastic
Stapler
---
Research!

The first order of business is to find a reference for what you want to make your steampunk goggles looking like. I wanted something more vintage looking (without all the extra fancy stuff) plus I need to do it really fast (because, I tend to do shit last minute) so I picked a very basic design.

Cut the tubes and fit the first foam layer

These will form the main 'body' of your goggles. Take your tube and cut it in half and then cut the other end slightly slanting so they will fit around your eyes comfortably. If you aren't going to wear them you don't have to cut them to an exact fit.

Next cut out two larger strips of the thinner foam and wrap it around both tubes, glue them down and trim off the access. Once they dry, coat the outside of the foam with a sealant and let it dry.

While waiting for them to dry, measure out and cut adequate amounts of scrap cloth, elastic or leather to make into your 'strap'. Make a short one to act as the nose bridge of the goggles and a longer one that will go around your neck/head/hat/whathaveyou.

Make the lenses

Use the 'front end' to measure

For the 'lenses' cut out circles from your transparent plastic sheet and then glue them onto your tube. Don't worry if they're too big, you can trim them off later. You can use tougher plastic or even coloured material for this step, as long as it's semi transparent anything works really.

They will more or less look like this

Optionally, you can also paint the inside of your tubes if you don't want people to see that they're actually made of cardboard rolls :P I painted mine black but at a later stage than I should have. Lesson learnt!

Rims!

Once you have trimmed them, cut out a pair of 'rims' for your goggles. I wasn't super careful when cutting mine out so they're a little uneven but I did trim them down somewhat. Once they're ready place the outer rim on top of the goggles and glue it down. 

This will act as sort of a 'sandwich' to hold the lenses in place and make it look cooler/hide all your ugly glue. You can also glue an additional ring of foam on the back of the goggles to simulate padding or to just make it more comfortable if you do intend to wear it later.

Here is where I added little drops of 3D paint to the outer rims to simulate rivets, you can also use 3D paint to make them look all regal by painting decorative patterns on them if your character is of the fancier persuasion.

Coat the outer rims with sealant as well. You can add little screws or thumbtacks as well but do it after you've sealed everything.

Paint paint.

Paint up your goggles to be with a base coat. Black is preferable. You may need 1-3 coats depending on how thick your paint is, just be careful to avoid dripping any on your lenses. Allow to dry thoroughly in between each layer.

Now here's the fun part.

I LOVE THIS STUFF

After the base coat has dried, break out your Rub N' Buff and use your finger or a brush to start painting the entire body of the goggles, buff them out when done.

If you don't have/want to use Rub N' Buff, regular copper coloured acrylic paint will work just as well.

Take a bit of care to avoid painting on your lenses as usual.

Strappage

Once everything is done, take your straps and either glue or staple them to your goggles. Optionally you can cover the staples with a bit of paint or foam, though bear in mind that glue is not as good as tacking the straps down and should be treated as a temporary measure.

After that you're pretty much done! I might write a more proper tutorial later because I am going to be making more goggles, hopefully with more comprehensive instructions.

Happy building!

[Tutorial] Super easy foam claws

I happen to like claws, nails and other pointy things. Hell, I have an entire costume lined up that's practically nothing but foam spikes (ugh) so this time we're gonna talk about making some foam claws (or teeth) for yourself. It's an easy project but it requires a lot of elbow grease if you're going to do it by hand. So lets get to it.

rarawrawrawrrrr

Please read through the entire project before collecting material!

Materials:

4-5mm foam, colour irrelevant if you're going to paint it
Glue sticks (for hot glue gun)
Contact glue (or similar contact cement) I prefer Shelley's Kwik Grip.
Newspaper (for blueprinting and stuffing)

Tools:

Scissors
Boxcutter blade or X-acto knife type cutting implement. Sharper the better.
Hot Glue Gun
Pencils, markers, etc for marking the foam

Optional:

Sandpaper 150- 600 grit depends on need
Heat gun
Dremel or equivalent rotary tool with sanding bit
Filler or latex acrylic based caulk (get gloves for that shit! its bad for skin)
--
Template and cut

First, draw up your claw blueprint and make a template out of it before you get to cutting. For tracing it out I used a yellow sewing chalk pencil to outline it because it's easier to see.

The way I do it is by drawing three shapes (bottom, top and the middle piece) and then cutting the 3rd piece in half. The 3rd piece will form the 'walls' of your claw. Of course you could make it taller or shorter depending on your needs.

Chop chop!

Sticking it all together

There's two ways you can glue up your claw.

The first method is to use hot glue to connect the pieces together. This way can be a little tricky if you aren't using high-temp hot glue sticks as it can sometimes cool before you finish sticking them together. But this method is good if you want to get it done VERY FAST.

The contact glue way is to apply glue on both the sides you are connecting and letting them dry just a little till they're tacky. After that jam both sides together firmly and they should stick almost seamlessly.

Before sanding and trimming. Yes I used a satay stick to get glue into all those little corners :)

The results are roughly the same, it's just a matter of your personal preference and how strong you want the bond to be. Just remember that the closer and more accurately you glue it, the less visible the seams will be!

When it's done you can then trim the corners, carve notches, shave it smooth with sandpaper, stuff it with newspaper for strength, the possibilities are practically endless :)

Finishing

If you need to paint it, just seal it up in your preferred method of treating foam and paint away!

Also if there are tiny cracks in your foam, you can always go over it with some caulk or filler and let it dry overnight. This in turn can be sanded smooth or you can smoothen it with water before letting it dry, roughly same results.

Alternatively, if you're bothered by little hairy bits left behind from sanding or uneven cutting, you can run your heat gun over the foam to remove the unwanted texture. Just remember not to leave it there too long! it could cause your glue to melt.

I used the claws to make teeth for these boney shoulderpads I made for a client LOL

That's pretty much the entire project in a nutshell. Hope it was helpful!

A little inspiration :)

It's amazing what you can find in random places.

[Review] Portland Black Lipstick [part 2]

This time, we're taking a look at Portland's titular Black lipstick, Metallurgy, Artificial Amethyst and Chaiborg.

A quick overview of the colours as per their website:

Black: The best ever! A perfect blend of black iron oxide and mice in a moisturizing base, this colour is opaque and long lasting.

Metallurgy: This unique lipstick is forged from black, green and gold colours to produce a truly unusual metallic experience. The results are surprisingly sophisticated - but with the primitive boldness you have come to expect from Portland Black Lipstick Company products.

Artificial Amethyst: We introduced this dark purple lipstick at this year’s wonderfully fun Portland Hallowe’en Bazaar. In true modernist fashion, we celebrate the fact that it is not made from real gemstones, but from FDA approved mineral pigments. After all, have you ever *tried* to stick amethysts on your lips? They fall off and bounce around on the floor…

Chaiborg: This futuristic lipstick is a cross between the metallic silver gray of industrial robotics and the warm light brown of milk tea. Neither too warm nor too cold, Chaiborg is a cosmetic life form all its own!

Time for swatches!

Artificial Amethyst

Looks like a rich metallic dark purple like it's namesake The colour goes on beautifully, producing a very deep purple colour with a faint metallic shimmer. I would call it within the same family as Indigo Bridge in terms of looks. 

Of all the colours tested I like this about as much as Indigo Bridge. Photo doesn't entirely do it justice.Very pigmented as well, it took very little to get it this opaque. If you want it slightly lighter, a blotting would bring out more of the purple hue.

Black

Ahh yes, the colour that Portland Black Lipstick is most famous for. It's a very rich black that goes on opaque with minimal amount. It stays on pretty well too and is one of the darkest blacks I know on the market. The caveat: it's a bit hard to get off and might stain lips a little bit. Time to break out the makeup remover! it's rich and pigmented but it really isn't a huge favourite  for me though I can see why lots of people love it.

Chaiborg

Is a  metallic silver grey with a warm brown tone, like it's namesake chai. It's very similar to the other metallic lippies but being one of the more neutral shades, it's pretty wearable. Makes you look kinda like you have iron -robot lips, and it straddles the line between being a warm and cold shade too. Photo sadly doesn't really do it much justice either. 

It's nice but it's not one of my favorites because it looks a little odd against my crazy pale yellowish skintone.

Metallurgy

Is a deep greenish gold, metallic colour. I'd say it's somewhere between black and pewter cauldron with a hint of gold sprinkled in. A nice shiny metallic colour for those who don't want to hit full on black. It goes on great and it's crazy pigmented. In terms of metallics I still like chaiborg more in terms of the cooler metal colour options.

I think I was a little unlucky with this sample that it had gone off a little. It smelled and tasted weird so after the review I got rid of it. I've tried it before with another friend who introduced me to the brand and I didn't experience this. We HAVE very hot weather and I hadn't stored the sample properly so that's likely the cause of it. According to Portland Black Lipstick Co. each lip stick colour has a different shelf life and if it smells sharp and a little like crayon or has dried out, it's probably reached the end of it's lifespan.

Rating: 5/5

Pros: Creamy, tastes nice, has staying power.

Cons:

All these colours save for Artifical Amethyst were very hard to remove without any form of makeup remover. Artificial Amethyst has natural carmine and might prove to be an allergen to some people.

[Tutorial] Repainting an MLP Blind Bag pony

Hi everybody! Hope the Halloween weekend was fun ;)

About a week ago or so I decided to take one of my spare MLP Blind bag ponies to modify into a present for a friend's birthday. I thought it would be nice to customise him his OC and I pretty much like to paint too so it was a win-win decision on my part.

I do enjoy painting miniature stuff, believe me. But I never got into the Wargaming scene simply because well, I don't enjoy Wargaming and it is a rather expensive hobby (says the cosplayer, lol). I'm more of a pen and paper kind of person at heart.

Anyway, here's the things you're likely to need to repaint your own blind bag pony.

Materials:

Nail polish remover or acetone or dettol disinfectant (the yellow one)
Acrylic paint (as many colours as you need)
Water
Tissue paper, cotton buds or cotton balls
Matte paint varnish of some kind (I used Pledge Future Floor Polish)
Soap

Optional materials:
Ultra-fine black permanant marker
Spray primer coat (white or black)

Tools:

Brushes. Preferably a few different sizes ranging from medium to fine because blind bag ponies are small and they tend to have lots of tiny nooks and crannies that your brush needs to fit into.

Toothbrush

A few small Tupperware or storage containers (like the kind you use for storing condiments)

A jar or a cup to wash your brush in

Optional Tools:

Pallet
Piece of old cloth for wiping brushes on

--

Ugh, so sparkly.

To start off, I used a Glitter Mosely Orange as my base. For the most part he was shedding glitter like nuts and has a transparent base with a solid mane and tail. As far as I can tell you this method would work for a large majority of blind bag ponies though I'm not sure what the Breezie variants are like yet because I haven't had a chance to see them in person.

Removing the paint and glitter

There are multiple ways to tackle this, but first you will want to determine how much paint you want to remove. Removing the glitter is a bit difficult and it tends to leave behind a rough surface thanks to the glue that Hasbro uses on their ponies. This may not be necessary if the pony you're using isn't one of the glitterbombs I got.

Slow

This is if you have a lot of time to spare and/or you don't want to harm the pony base or yourself by using harmful chemicals.

Prepare a mixture of dettol in a 1:1 ratio with water and pour it into a jar or container that you can afford to get dirty. Submerge the entire pony and leave it be for 1-2 days. The dettol will cause the paint to flake off, so get your toothbrush, dip it in the dettol and soap and scrub off the paint. It should come off quite easily, just don't use water till the paint is all off because plain water will cause the paint to coagulate on your brush and everywhere else. Repeat this till there's absolutely no paint left. Can take anywhere from 1 to 3 days if the paint is stubborn.

Moderately fast

Put your pony on a surface that won't be damaged by nail polish remover or acetone (like not on a varnished table for example) and soak a cotton pad in your choice of remover. Place the soaked pad on the pony and leave it there for a minute or so then rub. Repeat this process with more cotton pads and cotton buds to remove the paint. You will need to repeat this a few times till all the glitter and paint comes off. Glitter is particularly hard to remove and tends to leave behind a lot of glue so this is actually better for the solid coloured blind bag ponies.

Soak

Rub

Scrub

Very fast

For the impatient and those who really know what they're doing, this method works as well. You will also need protective gloves for this because repeated exposure to acetone and other similar spirits/thinners can have an adverse reaction in the long term.

Pour out just enough acetone to cover the pony into a small plastic or glass container. Drop the pony inside and swish it around. You might have to rub and scrub it a bit by hand or alternate with an old toothbrush and soap till the pony is completely clean. This will take just a few minutes at best, but is smelly and potentially harmful to your skin.

Partial removal

This is good if you just want to change the mane colour or a few small details on the pony in question. Simply dip a cotton bud into some nail polish remover and rub on the section you want to get the paint off. Note this will remove cutie marks and eyes at the slightest touch so you need to be careful still.

Regardless, unless you're only aiming for partial removal, you should completely strip it of all it's original paint before moving on to the next step.

Squeaky clean!

Painting

Before you start, you want to prime the pony. Normally I would suggest sanding it first, but this might destroy any finer details on the pony (because it's pretty shitty plastic) so we're skipping that step. The method I'm using basically uses acrylic paint the whole way but you can also do this step with spray paint primer.

Base coat 

Mix some white acrylic paint with some water so it's slightly runny and paint it over the whole pony. Nevermind if it drips, this would make it a smoother application. Let it dry completely and repeat this step two to three times for good measure, or until the pony's plastic colour is no longer visible.

First coat will look roughly like this.

2nd coat!

To make life easier, you can make use of the little hole in the pony's foot to prop it up. I used an old paintbrush stuffed in a bunch of foam in a cup to hold mine up as you can see here.

Adding colour

Next is the part where the Tupperware will come in handy. If your pony is a color that has to be hand mixed, these will help out a lot. Mix your colours directly in them and add just enough water for it to be runny, these containers will prevent your colours from drying out over the few hours/days you need to paint your pony, especially if you're using custom colour mixes. Prepare as many of these as you need.

Once your base is properly dry, paint the pony's coat colour and main hair colour. The pony I was working on only had flat colours so it was fairly easy, it might be slightly trickier if your pony had colours like Rainbow Dash for example.

You can go either mane first or coat first, it doesn't really matter.

Paint the coat and mane as needed and let it try. Again do it until the base coat is no longer visible under your colours. Don't worry if you miss, you can always use a cotton bud dipped in a bit of water to wipe off mistakes and access. It's important that you allow each coat time to dry because too thick coats that aren't allowed to dry can run or bubble leaving your pony with warty surface.

Keep repeating with coats till you're satisfied with the result.

Cutie mark and eyes.

Now here's the hard part. You will need your finest brushes here.

Prep the area that you want to paint on your cutie mark and eyes with white paint. You will need between 2-3 coats of white till the area becomes solid. This is to make the colours stand out when you paint them on later. Also bear in mind that the paint needs to be smooth because if it's lumpy it will show in the final product.

This is also a good time to do details like hooves/crowns/wingtips if your pony has those features.

Almost done!

For the eyes, first do the black outline for the eyelashes with black paint. You can also do this with a thin black marker as well. Paint the colour of the iris first and let it dry. A couple of coats might be needed before you paint on the pupils. Allow each section to dry. don't worry if it's not perfect. You can always retouch later. Add the 'eye sparkle' and let it dry thoroughly for at least 4 hours.

As for the cutie mark, paint individual colours one at a time till you're done. The paint here need not be as runny as the base coats because it's quite small and you're likely to need a ton of dexterity to handle it.

Yay!

Once you're satisfied, use your sealer, let it dry properly and you're pretty much done.

And remember, if it doesn't turn out out well, you can always dump it back in acetone and try again.

Hope you found the tutorial helpful!

[Review] Home made lip balm!

Hi everyone! I know things have been a bit quiet lately but it's mostly because I've been pretty busy at work ^_^ but that doesn't mean I haven't been up to my usual shenanigans. For starters I just started a YouTube channel sometime last month so all the recordings have been keeping my time jam packed too.

Anyway, lets get to the crux of things.

A friend of mine recently started making her own home made lip balm! she makes both tinted sheer lip pots as well as the clear kind using food grade ingredients so they're not chock full of weird chemicals and other oogey stuff like that.

I got to try out the clear one, in a pot of course, because she hasn't quite nailed getting them in tubes yet but it's all part of the process ^_^

Here's the full ingredient list:

Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (cold-pressed), Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Grapeseed Oil, Chocolate Flavoring (food essence), Cosmetic Grade Mica Pigments (not in the clear version).

Verdict:

The lip balm feels quite velvety without being too oily or melty, which is great for our rather hot local weather. It melts to the touch which makes it even easier to apply. The primary ingredients are beeswax and virgin coconut oil so you get a nice coconutty scent alongside a whiff  of mellow chocolate essence.

It feels quite moisturizing without that oily feeling so I like that part. But I'm not sure if I really like the chocolate scent but I'm still waiting on the peppermint one once it comes out XD I pretty much leave it in my office because the air conditioning is pretty cold and causes my lips to dry out so it's great I've got this heavy duty balm just sitting there when I need it.

Pre-con/shoot/cosplay/whatever protips

Animangaki is looming around the corner being just 2 days away and I'll bet you're either excited or dying trying to get your stuff done on time.

It's probably a little late to read some of this but I hope it's helpful all the same :D most of this I had to learn from experience...the long and hard way lol.

1. Always start your projects early.

This is one of the more important ones. Yes, I know that sometimes you get fantastic ideas a bit too late but are adamant on getting it done (guilty!) but starting early gives you time to test out your stuff and get adequate rest and practice. You'll thank me later.

2. Try to get enough sleep the night before.

The blind rush to get your costume and props done tends to leech your sleep and push you till the last possible moment. Yes, you finished your stuff in time for your event!

But you are tired, grouchy and have the worst eyebags ever.

No amount of makeup can hide eyebags and trust me, it's hard to have fun and/or really stay in character when all you can think about is a quiet corner to pass out in.

3. Clean up where you're able!

Scrub up, shave, moisturise, pluck your eyebrows, clean behind your ears if you have to! Treat it like getting ready for prom, you want to look your best!

Give your hands some attention as well, especially if you've been propmaking and they're stained with paint.

4. A little makeup never hurts.

Yep, this applies to the guys too!

A little bit of face powder can make a whole ton of difference in photos.

You don't have to go all out either (unless your character has obvious makeup) but cons tend to be sweaty and faces tend to get rather shiny.

A bit of strategic eyeliner also does wonders if your eyes aren't dramatic enough (too big, too small, not alien enough etc) and eyeliner makes for decent temporary face/body tattoos and even fake facial hair :D

PLEASE DON'T USE A SHARPIE I BEG YOU. I've seen cosplayers do this and not only is the shit toxic, it's hard to remove later x_x

5. OMG EAT SOMETHING!

In the excitement of a con it's easy to forget to eat; or at very worse forgetting to drink. It's very important to have SOME hydration in you at the very least. Given the stressful conditions of a con (heat, overexertion, energy sucking crowds etc) you can be in loads of trouble if you're running on an empty tank. Have a good breakfast before you go at the very least!

It can also be hard to get ahold of food depending on your con location so make sure you have some snacks/water on hand or stashed with someone who can hang on to that stuff for you. Your saikang is your best friend and rescuer.

6. Don't let people play with your props if they're fragile.

Props are flimsy. People aren't always aware of this. Also, some people get excited and crazy when you put your lovingly crafted props in their hands and they do stupid things with them.

7. Be mindful of your stuff.

This goes out especially to props that are long or have sharp edges. I can't even count the amount of times I've been scratched and smacked in the face by sharp shoulder plates/wings/large-stuff-on-your-back and tripped by spears/otherlongthings.

8. BE MINDFUL OF YOUR STUFF!!

In regards to your personal belongings this one.

A con is pretty much a public event. There will be thieves, pickpockets and other opportunists.

So don't be careless, granted there aren't always good places to keep your things (esp if you have a lot of junk. It's not fun :( ) but I think that when I find a PSP sitting next to a wall in a con unguarded it's already putting too much trust in the people around you =\

Check in advance if your con has a storage area. If it doesn't, try to go as light as possible or bung your stuff with someone you can trust. Lots of stuff go missing during cons and the people who find them don't always send them to lost and found.

That's all I got for now. I'll likely make another posting when I can think of more things to add in XD till then, stay safe, stay awesome!

[Review] Portland Black Lipstick [part 1]

Hi all!

Seems we'll be doing more reviews off and on when I can get my hands on interesting things to talk about!

Recently I was introduced to the world of indie lipstick. Especially that of weird colours that you'll never find on the shelf of any drugstore or regular makeup brand.

I'm talking about Portland Black Lipstick Co. an indie brand famous for their long-lasting lipsticks that come in hues both strange and wonderful that are cruelty free!

The review will come in batches, simply because I don't like making super-long posts and it's a better idea to break up the contents because it's easier to post. We will be trying out more Portland products (we've already reviewed their Corpse Paint) as we get them so stay tuned for more :)

Today we'll be looking at Cthonique, Indigo Bridge, Undead Red, The Coral is Coming from Inside the House and Abominable. We got Abominable, Coral samples and Cthonique free from Portland as they love to give out extra samples in your order and the full-sized Cthonique was an extra due to an order slip up ^^;(Thanks Kim! :D)

A quick overview of the colours as per their website:

Undead Red: A dark, dark red that wants to be called 'plum' or something

Indigo Bridge: This is a dark, metallic blue that verges on black

Cthonique, Abominable and The Coral is Coming from Inside the House have yet to be listed on their website and I recall seeing somewhere that Cthonique is a limited edition colour so you may or may not be able to purchase these online as of yet.

I think the Abominable and Undead Red melted in the mail. Curse our hot weather >.>

Before we start, I have to say that any smudging and uneven application is basically my own fail on part of being very clumsy with a lip brush. The vast majority of product here isn't smudgey at all!

Onwards to lip swatches!

The coral is coming from inside the house

Looks a lot like a deeper, pinkier shade of Lux et voluptas minus the gold sheen. It has tiny, tiny multicoloured sparkle bits in it and it looks well, coral. Appears to be a pretty useable daily shade, but dang it's a cute colour. Freaking goreguous shade of metallic coral. It's creamy like abominable, but notably thicker.

The full size is not for sale yet on portland's site, free sample. If they ever update the site with the full sized one, I'm getting it on my next order!

Indigo Bridge

Probably my fave of all time. I love how deep the blue is and how metallic-shimmery it is without being a glitter bomb. A popular fan favourite, Indigo Bridge is a very rich, deep blue that can function even for daily use, for the days when you don't feel like wearing your black ;)

Undead red

This is a staple among the PBL users I know. It's a delicious dark red, the kind that you wear when you want to scream 'I mean business!' at people. Without the actual screaming of course. It's a bit cooler and darker in colour than most reds I've had and very pigmented, needing little to get it opaque.

Chthonique

A very metallic dark green. It's quite subtle in colour but it certainly will make heads turn as green lipstick still is nowhere near the norm but it's not 'in your face' enough to knock people's eyes out. Like the rest it's got a nice minty feel and it's wonderfully thick. Blends very well with Indigo Bridge for a rich blue-green.

Abominable

Very creamy and it went on easy, but being pure matte white I have no idea what kind of applications you could use it for, aside from giving yourself spiky teethy lips on halloween. Might have potential for certain cosplay characters, I don't see how it's possible for daily use.

It looks like the lipstick version of corpse paint. It's very moisturising and buttery, but doesn't seem to have as much staying power as the other lippies I tried (own opinion)  but takes a LOT to get it opaque.

Rating 5/5

Pros:

Very pigmented

Thick & smooth

Minty

Moisturising

Cons:

Lip balm format makes it rather clumsy to apply

Some colours are hard to remove