So today's post is about this paint that I did on my friend James a couple of weeks ago for my final project of my photography project. I kind of had a bit of a nightmare with it in that my original photos got wiped because the SD card got corrupted so I had to do the whole thing again. I tell you I was legit crying, so when James offered to model for me so I could do it again I was literally so happy!

So I was kind of playing with the concept of being inside out and the idea that we're all the same underneath our skin. Originally the piece was meant to be a lot bigger, like it was supposed to go over a shoulder and on the stomach but we just ran out of time which was SO annoying.

Overall I was pretty happy with how the photographs turned out and the exhibition looked pretty good, but for me, the actual piece could've been a lot better. But I'm so bad when it comes to self-criticism I literally hate myself and my work so much, I don't think there's a single thing I've done that I'm actually 100% happy with! I just think I could have taken more care over the shading and actual skeleton, it just didn't work out quite how I wanted but there we go. I like painting this sort of thing quite a lot though because it really does force me to work on my "artistic" technique a lot more, like with shading and highlighting and all of that.

The products I used were pretty simple, just a Rimmel Scandaleyes nude eyeliner for the initial outlines and then painted the roses using the black from my Ayliss iMagic flash palette (really good dupe for the Makeup Forever one, which fyi is $99 which you know, is a tad expensive when you're 17!). For the skeleton I just used Mehron Paradise Paints in white and black, just because they're quicker to use than cream paints, and then the red parts I used the Mehron bruise wheel. Any other shading I did with the Sleek cream contour kit in light which is a new one I picked up a couple weeks ago and so far so good. I don't tend to contour on a daily basis just because I don't have the time for it but on other days I've tried it it's been pretty good!

Well lads, that's all for today, hopefully I'll be posting a little more frequently now, but then again I've said that before and it hasn't happened so I'm making no promises!

Emilia xx

Talking Frankly About Nudes | #IAmMoreThanMyBody

Today, I'm going to tell you a story. This is a true story, everything in this blog post happened exactly how I tell it.

Oh, by the way, if you want to skip the story, just scroll down to where the screenshots end. Some of you might be in a hurry and there's a lot of screenshots involved in this.

I have a dating app that you might have heard of. It's called Tinder. Now, I don't feel like I should justify why I have it, but the main reason is that I like talking to new people and meeting new people and just having different conversations with different people. Most of the time I make some pretty good friends and most people on there (both guys and girls) are nice.

But then, every maybe two in ten, think this is okay.

This was nearly a year ago...I wonder why he never replied...

And this is where the main part of the story begins.

So I'm happily swiping away in front of 24 Hours In Police Custody (which you should all watch, by the way, it was very good) and then this comes up. You can imagine my reaction.

"Oh. My. Lord."

Quickly followed by

"That can't be a real photo of him."

I took my chances and swiped right anyway, and nearly screamed when this happened.

Ten minutes later, this pops up and I'm like "I am on my way to a long relationship with a hot guy full of love, happiness, good sex and beautiful babies."

Things didn't exactly work out that way.

I was going to go on a feminist rant at him about how it's not okay to ask for nudes etc, but then  thought a bit more, and decided I was going to troll him...big time.

Upstairs my little legs carried me and out I whipped my Naked 2 and Naked Smoky, MAC Hue (woud've used Velvet Teddy but it was in my bag lol), Rimmel Kate Moss 45, Rimmel The One in "Naughty Nude" and NYX Butter Lipstick in the shade Pops.

And then this happened.

After a response (and a couple of dick pics which I really did not need to see) asking to "send real nudes", I decided that yes, I would go on my feminist rant at him.

In response to the question "Why are you sending me pictures of lipsticks?"

And on a parting note...

And just to prove I actually did this...

Ahh, the joys of screenshotting.

The End.

To ANYONE who has EVER asked ANYONE for nudes,

My main question is what makes you think it's okay to ask for nudes? Boys or girls, this is. It's not, alright, it's really not. Asking for nudes is rude, degrading, objectifying and frankly a really horrible thing to do.

Think about the implications about asking for nudes. 

You're telling a man/woman that their body is only in existence for your pleasure. 

You're telling them that they aren't worth talking to and actually getting to know.

You're telling them that they are their body, and there is nothing else to them.

You're telling them that they are worthless.

It's not okay.

I am a woman and I have boobs. I am a woman and I have a vagina. I am a woman, and do you know something? I have a brain. I have a personality. I have intelligence, curiosity, imagination, ideas, views, opinions, thoughts, dreams, hopes, cares. I am so much more than my body.

My body is not there to bring you pleasure. My body is not in existence for me to show you my boobs as soon as you ask. And there you go, acting like you have a right to my body, a right to ask me to show you my body like I'm not a self-respecting girl who is saving my body for the right man/woman when s/he comes along. I am a self-respecting girl who has a lot more to her than her body, but no, you don't care about that, do you? You only care about satisfying your own needs. You don't care about how it might make a girl/boy feel when you ask her/him for nudes. You don't care that s/he might look at herself in the mirror and ask herself. "Is this really all people see in me?". You don't care that she might look at the recent A she got through working hard in an English essay and think to herself "Is this really worth anything?"

And as a note to any girl who has ever gone through that - you are more than your body. You have beauty, brains and intelligence that far surpass any gorilla of a teenage boy/girl who thinks that asking for nudes is okay.

Maybe one day, boys and girls alike will learn to respect other people's bodies and their privacy.

And anyway, what's so satisfying about nudes anyway? Surely taking the time to get to know someone and seeing it in real life is better than just a boring old picture...

#IAmMoreThanMyBody

Emilia xx

"Flowers Bloomed From Her Skull"

Have a feeling the title is from an R.M. Drake poem, if you're wondering :)

Snazaroo Clown White | L'Oreal True Match Foundation shade 1C | Ayliss Flash Palette Black shade

Credits to Vic for the title by the way - I painted her face a while back and she made a blog post about it and called it that. For about a week now I've pretty much had it buzzing in the back of my head like a little bee and I wanted to do something to sort of literally represent it, so I decided to finally do it with a few spare hours I had yesterday.

All it took was three products - white cream makeup mixed with foundation and black cream makeup. That's literally it.

I started by mixing the foundation and white to create a really pale but still sort of skin coloured colour and basically put that over my entire face, neck, chest and shoulders with a Makeup Revolution sponge. I swear by makeup sponges for applying base coats of face paint with - you get a much more even, smooth finish with them than you do with brushes and it takes waaay less time! 

I wasn't really sure how I was going to do the actual details on the piece. I knew I wanted a rose type flower on the shoulder, around one eye and on the chin, but apart from that I honestly didn't have a clue where I was going with it, I just sort of made it up as I went along.

The roses actually weren't that hard. I practised for ages all up and down my legs and arms so I basically became a walking rosebush for a day, but I generally starteed with a sort of flower shape and went from there really. Adding triangles, rectangles, swirly things here and there randomly and creating a sort of flower shape. Wasn't too happy with how the eye one came out - I feel like I should've taken a lot more care over it but oh well, next time! For the shading I just used whatever was left on my brush and just pulled the colour from the outline down into the middle and then went back and redefined the outline with more black. I then decided to paint an actual skeleton on myself - not at all anatomically correctly but there we go, biology students don't murder me please! I just sort of drew some wiggly lines and then used the same shading technique as before.

The face - pretty much the same. Flower round one eye, I did it on the eye opposite the shoulder to balance it all out, flower on the chin (was so proud of how this one turned out - I loved it) and just some wiggly lines really. I wish I hadn't filled in one eye socket, I should have left it blank with some shading and smoky eyeliner. Next time maybe. The wiggly lines are sort of meant to be thorns but they didn't really turn out that way. 

All in all, I was pretty happy with how it came out, there are obviously things to improve on for next time I try this but overall I do really like it. 

It's also my first post on my new Facebook page called Emilia Rachael MUA - if you're interested in keeping up with my work I would really appreciate it if you would go and give me a cheeky like. I also have a special Instagram now called @emilia.rachael.mua so you can go give that a cheeky follow too.

The video tutorial for this will probably be up sometime this week - don't hold me to that because I do go back to school tomorrow so I'm not sure just how much time I'll have this week!

Have a wonderful Monday my loves and I'll see you soon!

Emilia xx

"One Does Not Simply Deadpool And Chill"

Quite right, Clarence.

Um..hello?? So you may have noticed that this ol' here blog of mine, started lovingly in 2013 with a mass of daily posts about my extraordinarily boring life as a Year 9 student, got somewhat abandoned. So I've decided a rebrand and a new lease of life is almost definitely needed, so welcome to the new reformed Emilia Rachael. I'm very sorry I've gone back and drafted all my old posts, they're somewhat embarrassing to read now!! Anyway, to kick it all of I thought I'd share a nice body paint I did a few days ago...

A couple of days ago I attempted a Deadpool inspired face and body paint. Armed with black, red and silver paints, ten paintbrushes, three sponges, two false eyelashes and one red lipstick, five hours later I ended up with this...

I'm not too sure what I was going for in this, I sort of took inspiration from the film version of Deadpool and also Bonnie Corban's version of Wanda Wilson so it's sort of a mashup of a lot of different looks. The lipstick and hair ribbon aren't technically included in it but I thought it added something a bit more feminine and pretty to it.

I also uploaded a tutorial to my YouTube channel that I go into a lot more depth in, and I would love it if you could check it out and if you like it, give it a thumbs up and a comment and maybe even subscribe?! 

You guys are the best :*

Emilia xx

The Summer Edit

I struggled doing this edit, I really did! I have so many things that I love doing in summer and stuff like that and it took all my willpower to stop myself writing a ten page essay for this blog post!

Makeup – I never really wear a heavy base in summer, I generally leave it at eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner and a touch of concealer. In summer you obviously sweat more (I won’t bore you with all my GCSE biology knowledge here) and a lot of foundation blocks your pores, trapping the sweat underneath and making your skin even worse than it already might be! I didn’t show my favourite concealer at the moment because there is a massive review coming, but it is the Seventeen Stay Time 18hr concealer.

First we have this eyeshadow palette, which is a Makeup Revolution Redemption palette in Iconic 3. I’m loving the matte shades in it to create a really soft, natural smoky eye. Paired with a slick of black or grey eyeliner and a lot of mascara – Black/Brown, I find black too heavy for summer! – it makes the perfect summery eye.

Then, my favourite lipstick ever! The Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry. Somehow I always find myself going back to this. A lot of people prefer matte shades in the winter but I just love this colour. It looks quite dark but comes out pretty bright on me. After not wearing it for ages because I thought it was too dark I’ve since rediscovered it and I’m using it almost as a sheer tint.

Nails – I don’t really like wearing bright colours on my fingernails, but for toes I go all out! For toes I’m loving this mini Nails Inc polish in Blandford Street, it’s a sort of corally-orangey-reddy colour and is perfect for summer. So bright, it makes me so much happier and confident (for someone who doesn’t like their feet very much) whenever I wear it. For my fingernails I love nude shades, and at the moment this Bourjois So Laque polish in Indispen-sable just bites the bullet for me. The only slight irk I have with these polishes (I have a couple others) is that the “up to 10 days” claim isn’t really true, it lasts for three at the most without a topcoat. Admittedly I haven’t tried it with a topcoat but hey, stay tuned for that one!

Fragrance – I’ve been loving Next’s Sparkle at the moment! One my and my younger sister share (I wear it more than she does) but it’s so summery and floral. But it’s also got undertones of citrus in as well, making it the most perfect blend of fruity and floral in the same bottle. Would highly recommend.

Other  - I’ve been reading so many books lately, and this one is one of my favourites at the moment. It’s a rewrite of Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope, originally by Jane Austen. The difference? It’s set in modern day. Because of this, Trollope manages to incorporate some real-life issues into it, such as the issues surrounding inheritance and females, and things like that. It’s so good! If you’re looking for something a little more light then I’ve also been adoring the Princess Diaries series – they are so funny! And the pair of sandals I have shown are these ones from New Look - so so so so so comfortable. It's good to have a comfortable pair of sandals for summer for those days out where you know you'll be doing some walking but still don't want your feet to overheat! (that rhymed)

I’d love to hear any summer essentials you have too! Comment or drop me an email ^.^

Emilia xx