Last week, Stephanie Inagaki of Miyu Decay launched a new line of jewelry called Noir Filigree and asked me to model some of the pieces for her online store. Time was in limited supply the day of the shoot, but I managed to pull together a vampy look that complemented these gorgeous pieces. By popular demand, I present a step-by-step guide to the dramatic eye make-up that’s key to achieving this dark, glamourous effect. COMPONENTS Mac pressed eye shadow in Contrast Mac pressed …
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On Saturday, I spooked it up at the annual Dia de los Muertos festivities at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Been going for years and it remains my favorite Halloween-time activity. The cemetery itself is massive, gorgeous, and home to the likes of Rudolf Valentino as well as weekend film screenings in the summer. The Day of the Dead party is by far the liveliest and most crowded of the events held here, though – with hundreds of altars, a procession, lots …
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On Formspring, an anonymous reader asks: Could you please write a post explaining how you organize your stuff (makeup, legwear, clothes) ? Thank you! A pertinent question! Since our move out of the overgrown-with stuff, J.F. Sebastian-style apartment last year, I’ve cut my belongings in half and began establishing actual storage systems. Because this isn’t something I can dedicate a whole lot of time to, it’s still a work in progress, but I’m proud to say I finally have my makeup and …
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Here is a lip make up trick I’ve been employing since Ye Darque Ages, which should be useful to anyone who’s ever looked at their eye shadow collection and woefully exclaimed, “Why can’t lipstick come in these colors? I, MAQUILLAGE MASTER, COMMAND IT!”. Though, yes, it could, and does, sort of, the coverage and staying power of these products often leave much to be desired. Which is fine, because it’s ridiculously easy to create your own custom shades and, using …
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This late edition of Biorequiem Beauty Week is brought to you by a busy day and a lazy afternoon. Apologies for the delay, but life waits for no one! However, I’m happy to finally share my experience with Belle Face Salt Scrub. With correct [read: gentle, minimal] use, scrubs can be very amazing for getting rid of dead skin cells and cleaning pores. Tons are out there, and lots of peeps make their own, but, until Belle Face, I hadn’t …
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I know it’s Tuesday, but does that really matter? No, it does not, and so I officially declare this week, Biorequiem Beauty Week. This, rather broad, topic means reviews, answering more of your beauty questions, scolding some of you for asking stuff I’ve already covered, and so on. Then, it will all culminate with a therapeutic tar and feathers party on Friday. Two of these things are false. Anyhow! A couple of weeks ago, the folks at EnvyDerm asked me …
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The crimson-locked siren below is my friend, Stephanie Inagaki. Stephanie is an artist and head designer of coveted jewelry label, Miyu Decay. Stephanie has very, very, very long hair. A few weeks ago she called me up and asked if I could dye it red. All of it. I laughed, hung up, caught my breath and called back, saying that I’ll dye some of it, but that’s the best I can offer. So we got to work and took a …
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Continuing the recent red theme, here is a fiery eye shadow look I did over the weekend for the Jessica Joslin opening reception at La Luz De Jesus gallery. At a glance, it’s somewhat similar to the Strung Out look from a earlier this year, but this is actually much warmer and a little more complex. This is a dramatic look that incorporates four different eyeshadow colors, but it’s actually pretty easy to execute. We start out with a bright …
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A few years ago, I worked as a professional make-up artist. My passion was for special effects, and every once in a while I get to play with the skills I learned in those days. This year, I was too busy to plan a Halloween costume. Originally I wanted to dress as Pris from Blade Runner, then realized that Hot Topic no longer sells micro-mesh tops and didn’t have enough time to investigate further. Fail. However, since I was going …
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No Make-up Week is almost over. Already!? It’s been my most rewarding week of blogging on Biorequiem, and I’m infinitely grateful to Rachel of RabbitWrite for inviting me to participate, and everyone who had the chutzpah to share photos and speak up about their relationship with make-up, even when that meant digging up old fears and nasty experiences. I didn’t expect to have such an honest, raw and thoughtful response, so THANK YOU! Seriously getting verklempt over here. And though …
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Last week I received this email: Title: I had a girlfriend who penciled in her eyebrows Body: and you would both look a million times better if you didn’t. But then, I’m from a small town and hate the way makeup looks. Au natural! It’s no great surprise that I’d never heard from this person before, but what on earth made them feel comfortable sending me an email like that remains a mystery. I suppose the anonymity of the internet …
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Wow! Really amazed at all the make-up histories popping up in the comments of the two NMUW posts here, so far. Many similar tales, and quite a few opposing ones, too. Some peeps grew up hating make-up, some were pressured to wear it by their families, others never really liked it to begin with and don’t much bother with it now. Interesting stories to be found here and here. Also, the ladies over at Auntie Wicked have a write up …
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Hello, and welcome to No Make-up Week! NMUW is curated by Rachel over at RabbitWrite.com. Rachel blogs about sex and intimacy, and all sorts of other stuff, too. When she invited me to participate in No Make-up Week, I jumped at the idea. NMUW is all about exploring our relationship with make-up, and as a person who’s worn make-up since the age of twelve and who dedicates a fair portion of her blog to make-up tutorials and advice, it’s not …
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I know it’s Saturday and thus an officially unfavorable blorghhging time, but I seem to have gotten sick [again, I know] and must take advantage of a sudden surge of power to write, so! Next week, September 20 – 27 is No Make-up Week. A whole little network of interpeeps will be sharing their thoughts on this subject across the ‘wub, myself included. I also won’t be wearing any make up, which is actually perfectly normal for me these days, …
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Yesterday, I looked in the mirror and KNEW. The hair, it had to go. The color, too. The cut took about 45 minutes, the color [or lack there of] about an hour and half. It’s still not done – I didn’t want to burn my scalp, so the back is baby chick yellow for now, but it’s close. I used cheap-o clippers, which I had to take apart and put back together halfway through the process, on the sides and …
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