Okay, so here's the post I was actually going to put up yesterday but decided to write something else lol

I did this bodypaint a few weeks ago in an evening when my parents weren't home (it sounds worse than it is - it's easier to do when they're not around because they laugh too much at me!), and I wanted to do something really kind of intricate and detailed and just pretty because I hardly ever do things like that and it's something I enjoy doing. I'm getting my fair share of disgusting SFX stuff from Phantom of the Opera at the moment, which we're putting on at school and yours truly is making all the prosthetics! It's the biggest piece of prosthesia I've ever done so I'm very excited. But as I said, that's fulfilling my slightly twisted, gory side so I thought I'd try and do something a bit prettier.

I've been super inspired lately by the work of Elsa Rhae, who's a bodypainter I watch on YouTube, and she's so ridiculously talented and I'm in love with her work. She does a lot of henna/menhi inspired art and I've kind of fallen in love with it too. It does test my artistic ability a lot more than my normal art, as it's so detailed and intricate, but that's what I love about it - it really pushes me to try and do the best I can.

So hold your breath, lads - there's a long product list for this one.

Eyes:

- Urban Decay Half Baked on the lid, Blackout in the crease and Snakebite to blend it all out and repeated on the lower lashline, with Half Baked in the inner corner

- Zoeva gel liner topped up with L'Oreal Superliner

- Diego Dalla Palma Lash Booster mascara (literally my favourite mascara ever)

- Eylure and Fleur De Force Fleur Loves lashes (yep, still in love with these eyelashes)

- NYX Tame and Frame brow pomade

Face:

- Revlon Skinlights Photoready Illuminator to prime

- L'Oreal True Match foundation in 1C (still the only drugstore foundation that matches my skintone)

- Seventeen Stay Time concealer in Extra Fair to highlight under eyes, chin, nose and forehead

- Sleek Cream Contour kit in Fair, darkest colours to contour and lightest colour to highlight

- Sleek Solstice highlight palette, Equinox mixed with Subsolar on nose, cheekbones, forehead and cupid's bow

Lips:

- MAC Half Red lipliner

- Bourjois Rouge Edition lipstick in Shade 14

- Black from iMagic flash palette for the ombre

- Urban Decay Half Baked on the centre of the lips

Body:

- Mehron black Paradise Paint

- Gold from iMagic flash palette (because I don't have $99 to spend on the real deal haha)

I really hope you all like this look and I might just try and do some more for you in the near future, maybe when things calm down a bit!

Emilia xx

"I'm Known For Being Quite Vexing."

Hey there puddins it's ya girl Harley Quinn!

Okay so who's excited for Suicide Squad?! I can't wait to go and see it, I've been waiting for so long and now that it's finally here I'm itching to go! I thought I'd have a lil go at the Harley makeup from it because I honestly adore it so much, being a makeup designer on that film must have been so much fun! For those of you who didn't know, that's basically the exact job I want - to be doing film and theatrical makeup on things like Suicide Squad where I can really push myself and test my limits. I love working under pressure, for some reason my work is always better when I have a time limit, it just gets my adrenaline going and my creative brain just works so much better. Working on film sets would basically be a dream come true for me.

Anyway, here's the products I used for this (if you want to know exactly how I did this look, the video will be up sometime this week hopefully, it depends on how well I get my life together lol)

Face
- L'Oreal True Match foundation in the shade 1C
- Seventeen Stay Time concealer in Extra Fair for highlighting under the eyes, nose, chin and forehead
- Sleek Cream Contour Kit in Light (bottom right for cheekbones and jawline, bottom middle for temples and nose, top left for highlighting under the eyes, nose and middle of forehead)
- NYX High Definition blush in Glow (the prettiest dusty bronzey pinky colour)
- E.l.f. Translucent Setting Powder under the eyes
- Sleek Contour Kit for highlighter
- Rimmel Stay Matte powder to set everything in place

Eyes
- Seventeen Stay Time for a base
- NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk for a white base for the colours to go on
- Sleek Ultra Mattes V1 Brights - Bolt for the blue, Pout for the pink, Pow! in the inner corner
- Makeup Revolution White Lights from Eyes Like Angels for inner corner and browbone highlight
- Urban Decay Blackout for the liner
- Maybelline Master Kajal liner for tightline and outer waterline
- NYX Milk pencil for the inner waterline
- Diego Dalla Palma Lash Booster mascara
- Eylure No. 107 lashes (cut up into outer corner lashes because I still can't apply full strip lashes lol)

Brows
- NYX Tame and Frame brow pomade in Blonde
- Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel

Lips
- MAC Half Red lipliner
- Bourjois Rouge Edition lipstick in shade 14
- Body Shop lip roll on for that shiiiineee (I've literally had it for years and it's so shiny so I hardly ever wear it but literally keep it for things like this!)

Details
Heart and "Rotten" drawn with NYX Super Skinny Marker - this was possibly the most difficult part of the whole thing. Writing letters on your face in a mirror is terrifyingly hard, hence why it looks a little crap :') ah well, I tried!

Brushes
- Real Techniques Buffing brush
- Nanshy Concealer Perfector
- Zoeva 110 Face Shape
- B. Cosmetics Angled Contour and Blush brush
- RT Setting brush
- E.l.f. Small Tapered brush (highlight)
- EcoTools Large Powder brush
- Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance brush for the blue
- Nanshy Crease brush for the pink
- Muji angled brush for the blue drippy things
- Ruby & Millie angled brush for the pink drippy things
- Nanshy angled detailer for brows
- Nanshy bent eyeliner brush for the black shadow liner
- Urban Decay Naked 2 brush (flat side) for the inner corner highlight


I'm so not used to having that much makeup on my face oh my lordy me. I was so glad to take it all off afterwards!

Hope you enjoyed this look, if you recreate it tweet me @emilia_rxchael because I'd love to see it!

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Emilia xx

My MAC Palette & Swatches

This post has been long. awaited. I slotted the last four eyeshadows into my palette yesterday after buying them with my birthday money (I've had a tough couple of days so it was retail therapy - just roll with it). I bought my 15 pan eyeshadow palette back in November at the #tbloggers meetup we had in Covent Garden. It usually takes most people a year or two to fill theirs up...mine? Nah, eight months to the day I do believe. Acheivement or what?

I bought one shadow when I got the actual palette, then I got four (!) for Christmas, and the other 9 I bought myself. You might notice that that doesn't add up to 15, and you'd be right, it doesn't...that's because I depotted a much loved Natural Collection eyeshadow and slotted that in as well...so technically I've cheated but it's okay. My mum couldn't tell the difference.

It's so satisfying having it full, not going to lie. This has got to be my favourite eyeshadow palette I own, just because it's custom and I've chosen every shade in it, it's my absolute baby.

(I've also put links to any pictures on my Instagram(s) that I'm wearing these colours in that you can have a look at!)

(L-R) Shroom, Omega, Kid, Natural Collection Milk Chocolate, Quarry

Expensive Pink, Haux, Woodwinked, Sable, Antiqued

Folie, Brown Down, Coppering, Cranberry, Plumage

Shroom - satin, soft beige with shimmer I love this colour for highlighting the inner corner and browbone when I want something a little more interesting going on up there 

Omega - matte, soft muted beige-taupe I originally bought this for my eyebrows as it's a very cool toned shadow, but I've since moved onto something a little darker and now use this as a transition colour (this photo)

Kid - matte, warm-toned brown I got this for Christmas, but now can't seem to find it on the MAC website, but I like this when I do a warm toned brown smokey eye (this photo kind of)

Quarry - soft muted plum brown This is so similar to Buon Fresco from the Anastasia Beverly Hills palette and I love this sort of colour just for a little bit of definition in the crease, and for blending out darker colours such as Folie, Sable or Cranberry

Expensive Pink - veluxe pearl, pink with duochrome This is possibly the most beautiful rose gold colour, it''s got golden shimmer running through it and it's just so pretty. I love this all over the lid with Cranberry in the crease or just on it's own for a hint of shimmer

Haux - satin, soft muted rosy brown I adore this for a simple look all over the eye or blending out other darker shadows. It's quite similar to Quarry but a little pinkier so it goes perfectly with Cranberry or Sable. It also works really well with Plumage too. (this photo)

Woodwinked - veluxe pearl, warm antique gold This is so beautiful all over the lid with Brown Down in the crease, or if you want something a little different it goes amazingly with Plumage as they both have that sort of old-timey vintage look about them

Sable - frost, gold plum with bronze pearl This is maybe my favourite shadow from the whole palette, I'm just actually in love with it. It looks so beautiful with Quarry or Haux blending it out or with Brown Down in the crease (this photo or this one)

Antiqued - veluxe pearl, ash brown with bronze This is the most amazing coppery colour and I can't get over the beauty of this colour. It complements green/blue eyes and pale skin perfectly and it's my favourite in the palette after Sable. I wear this all over the lid with Kid in the crease and a little bit of Brown Down in the outer corner (this photo but there is a Snapchat filter so not too sure how true the colour is)

Folie - satin, reddish plum brown Because this is a warm toned shade it looks so good with an orangey eyeshadow blended into the crease. I love it with ABH Raw Sienna or Burnt Orange for a really soft gradient. It also goes really well with Sable and Haux. (this photo)

Brown Down - veluxe, teddy bear brown This is quite a warm toned brown so looks so good with orange toned eyeshadows, and I also adore it with Sable. Sable, I swear to god is one of the most versatile eyeshadows ever. As is Brown Down, actually, it goes with most of the colours in this palette and it's my go to brown smokey shade. (this photo, this one or this one)

(you might notice we now go into my brighter/more daring shades. Believe me, it's daring for me)

Coppering - veluxe pearl, orange copper OMG this colour! I think it makes me look like I have pinkeye but I don't really care, it's such a beautifully true copper and I love it blended all over the crease with Brown Down, as you can see in THIS tutorial! (this photo or this one)

Cranberry - frost, red plum with pink shimmer This was the first eyeshadow I bought for my palette so it's very special to me. This is incredible with Brown Down in the crease or just on it's own and blended out with a little bit of Haux or Quarry. (this photo or this one)

Plumage - matte, dusky peacock Possibly the craziest colour I own and it looks so scary in the pan but in reality it's not that dark or bright. This looks SO good in the crease with Antiqued or Woodwinked, or run under the lower lashline with Antiqued on the lid, and I can also imagine how amazing it'll look all over the lid and blended out with some warm orangey browns

Whew. So that's it, that is my completed MAC palette! It's my pride and joy and I genuinely look at it every day like "...wow..." It's also the most expensive makeup item (actually scratch that, the most expensive thing) I own as it collectively adds up to £162.50 which is sort of scary as it's pretty valuable! 

Let me know if you want any tips for starting your own palette and I might just do a post on that

Emilia xx

The Holy Grail Product for Curly Hair

I can't tell you the amount of times I look in the mirror and go "ew. what is this mess on my head that looks like a cowpat that's been bleached by the sun."

Yeah, so my hair really ruins my aesthetic. It's dry, frizzy, messy, untamed and frankly the bane of my life. And let me tell you, the "heatwave" (technically, according to the Times, it's not actually a heatwave yet) we've been accosted with in the UK, is not helping matters.

Enter this baby.

Recently, the parentals took a lil weekend trip to Ireland with some family friends and my mum brought me back a couple of bits, and one of them was a product from the Aveda Be Curly range. I've heard of the Be Curly range from Aveda before but never tried it out because (I won't lie) at £20 a tube/bottle thing it's sort of expensive. So you know, there was no way I would turn down a gift from my mother of something that would come close to making my hair actually aesthetically decent.

Oh and does it.

Here are some pictures, both taken after washing my hair, with and without this magical stuff.

without

Please ignore how sweaty I look, according to Snapchat the temperature is currently 27 degrees literally help me I am so balmy. This is also the reason I have no eyebrows, I've literally sweated them off wonderful.

You see what I mean? It's actually a bloody nightmare looking after this mess. You can see how dry the ends are and how my head is sort of surrounded by this layer of frizz. And oh yeah, I was wearing a black bra under a white shirt. Nope, I cannot fail at life any more than I already do. On a side note, it's such a weird colour, isn't it? Like it's not brown but it's not blonde either, there are just random bits of really blonde hair in amongst all this like golden brown stuff, it's a bit odd.

Okay and then we get this magical product on it...

Can you see the difference or can you see the difference? There's still a bit of frizz but again, it was quite hot and humid today which doesn't help matters lol. But you can see that the curl is so much more defined and the halo of frizz over the top of my head has been reduced significantly.

So here's what I do with my hair, broken down into several handy tips.

- I don't wash it every day. I have very dry hair but for some reason washing it every day just dries it out even more. At the moment I do it every other day and it's actually made such an improvement.

- I don't use any more products than necessary. I shampoo, I condition, I put in the curl cream and that's it.

- I shampoo the roots of my hair and shampoo down to where it sort of leaves my scalp at the bottom (does that make sense?) and condition where I didn't shampoo. It's really important just to keep conditioner on the ends, not on the actual roots because otherwise conditioner build-up can be caused and to be honest, that's just a lil icky.

- I don't put heat on it. I straighten my hair when I need to and that's it. There are days when I do just because it's a lot easier to manage when it's straight because it's so easy to throw up into a ponytail or bun, when it's curly it takes a little longer. But I only do it when completely necessary now, not any more. For example, I did it for Rock Challenge because I was going to be doing makeup for 3+ hours  andI knew it would just get in the way and irritate me. On the rare occasions I do straighten it I use ALL the heat protectant spray just to give it the moisture.

- I get it cut when it needs it. I hate getting my hair cut but when you have hair like mine it's so important to get it tidied up every now and then. I hate it mainly because I look awful with shorter hair, the length it's at at the moment is the perfect length for me but surprise surprise, due for yet another cut *sighh*

- Another final tip - it's important to find a hairdresser that knows what they're doing with curly hair. It will make SO much of a differnce if you find a hairdresser who knows the ins and outs and how to cut and deal with curly hair so it looks decent. It'll make the world of difference, I promise.

Alright lads, that's me done. If you have curly hair, I so hope this post helped you, and if you don't but you know someone who does, buy them this product for their next birthday or for Christmas. You'll be saving a girl's life, I promise.

Emilia xx

I Wish We Were Butterflies

"I almost wish we were butterflies, and lived three short summer days - days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty years could ever contain."

What do you do when you have a load of old, pretty makeup packaging and some sticky butterflies lying around? Well, you cut out more butterflies and stick em on yourself with liquid latex, cover yourself in highlighter and white dots, paint a couple pretty flowers here and there, add in a few posey shots and you're done.

(My nose is so wonky I hate it.)

So the products I used are as follows...

Body

- Butterfly stickers from Hobbycraft (stuck on with a little bit of liquid latex)

- Makeup packaging I've had lying around forever

- Ayliss iMagic flash palette (bc cheapskate) 

- NYX white eyeliner

Eyes

- Natural Collection "Milk Chocolate" eyeshadow for initial transition shade

- Sleek Makeup Ultra Mattes V1 palette, shades "Cricket" and "Dragonfly" in the crease

- Seventeen Wild Metallic eyeshadow in "Wild Nude" as a base

- Urban Decay Naked 2 "Verve" over top

- Makeup Revolution "White Light" eyeshadow from the Eyes Like Angels palette in inner corner and browbone

- Brows are NYX Tame and Frame brow pomade in blonde 

Face

- Revlon Skinlights Photoready illuminator for that inner glow

- L'Oreal True Match foundation in 1C (still to this day the only foundation I've found that matches my skin, all about dem cool tones)

- Seventeen Stay Time concealer in Extra Fair to highlight 

- Revlon highlighting palette in Bronze Glow for blusher

- Makeup Revolution white highlight in the highlighting palette literally all over my face

- Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer 

-Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Lips

- MAC "Velvet Teddy"

- Tanya Burr lip gloss in "Chic"

I honestly think it's the most makeup I've ever had on my face at any one time, it sort of felt good to wash it all off lol. I'm not really sure of the concept behind this but I do like the ethereal, whimsical look it gives, it's so different from what I usually do so that's probably why! I never normally do pretty things like this so it's nice to do something different for a change!

Hope you like this - if you recreate it post a picture on Instagram or Twitter and tag me in it!

Emilia xx

p.s. I have a strapless bra on teehee I'm not nekked