On being a recovering goth; alternatives to black.

My friends always joke about how I'm the "goth" one. I have tons of black clothes, I love death metal, Dracula is my favorite thing ever, I'm see through and my hair has been dyed black since I was 17.

Holy hell that was a shit idea.

does this look "soft natural black" to YOU, Revlon?!

...That's me before going to my quaint senior homecoming in what could very loosely be defined as a "dress".

I looked pretty damn good. I was also REALLY getting into makeup around this time, which of course meant the thickest layer of foundation humanly possible and the blackest eyeliner and mascara I could find.

Ultimately, I began to associate my black hair with a part of my life I really did not like. I had to change it. But........too late. Nothing I tried would make it budge (damn you color oops!). So I admitted defeat and chopped off my hair, settling for that as the change I wanted.

A few months ago I bit the bullet and got my hair professionally stripped. I told her I wanted a very rich, dark brown that was just a few drops above black. And........I couldn't see a difference. I waited it out, through many washings, and I began to notice a very brown/red tint to my hair I didn't care for. I dyed my whole head with a "medium ash brown", hoping to get some sort of dark brown color with NO red.

It kinda worked! This is taken in front of sunlight. My hair isn't uneven!

...I happen to wear this Black Sabbath shirt every time I do pictures here. I have a lot more shirts, promise!

Well, I'm rambling, but what I'm trying to get at is if you have dyed black hair, don't bother with drugstore shit. Black dye is very different than other box dyes. You need to just go to a pro. Saves you a lot of trouble. 

I started looking for other alternatives to black eye makeup recently. I still love the darkest blacks I can find (Urban Decay Perversion, MAC Feline, L'Oreal Carbon Black...) but I just don't use them daily. 

I found some keepers. 

MAC Teddy: I love this more than I was planning to! I love the shimmer in it that keeps it from being the plain boring brown I was afraid of. Smudging this into my lashlines and slightly thicker on the top one, it has that Audrey Hepburn/Keira Knightly effect I always wanted. It makes my brown eyes look bigger and browner. I can't be without this one!

Onto my mini Urban Decay collection:


Smoke, Sabbath, and Perversion

Smoke is a dark slate gray, obviously much softer than the stark black of Perversion.

Sabbath is gorgeous! It's a deep but vibrant navy, and very glossy. Still dark but interesting.

Perversion is the blackest black eyeliner I've been able to get my nubby hands on, other than MAC Feline (which I lost....ah well. Same color, really). It doesn't have the same staying power the other UD liners have, though.

And, my newest favorite, Chanel le Volume Mascara in Prune (I see more burgundy than purple, though.) It doesn't build very well, so I slap on a few coats and go through it with a lash comb and it's perfection. I've batted my eyes in everyone's face going "Notice anything different about my eyelashes?!" "Uh...they're..long? A little lighter? I dunno." 

I've tried to photograph it and it just doesn't show up, haaha. It's subtle but effective. With MAC Teddy, it gives perfect eye definition without ever being too much, or too subtle. My new favorite combo!

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and Illamasqua Box

Ugh, it's been so damn hot. In Pennsylvania, we complain when it's too cold, and we bitch when it's too hot. But at least when it's too hot I can yell into the fan "I AM IRON MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!" Don't pretend you haven't done it. I know it's not just me.

That being said, I've been searching for a light weight foundation for awhile, even well before it got so damn hot. Since using the infamous Clarisonic (the brush for acne prone skin is my favorite) my skin is in much better condition than it used to be. I still get some mean hormonal breakouts, but overall my skin doesn't need a thick blanket of foundation anymore.

I never thought to use tinted moisturizer since my skin is so oily, the thought of adding moisture with my foundation kind of scares me. They usually come in very limited shades anyway, most of them too dark. After reading a shit ton of reviews on both the Laura Mercier and the NARS TM's, I settled for the NARS, since it supposedly has more coverage and is matte.

I got the newly released shade, Terre Neauve (is that a place? Sorry Francois Nars, I'm not as cultured as you!) which is pale and slightly pink based. Many complained that Finland was too dark for them, so I'm glad I chose this one.

I'm not about to show you my face without concealer, but the coverage of this is fairly good and covers redness very well, especially around my cheeks and nose, while still letting most of my skin show through. It's  practically undetectable. I still had to carefully conceal my bad spots, but the overall effect is so much nicer than smothering my face in foundation. It feels much nicer, too. Sometimes with my favorite full coverage foundations, I feel like I can lift incredible weights with my forehead and cheeks. I feel nothing at all with this on.

It remained dewy and porcelain like on it's own, but as an oily skinned gal, I prefer to powder with (also from NARS) the light reflecting loose powder. It's gorgeous, glowy, not chalky at all and most of all, not glittery. I'm in love with this combination.

Something else I'm in love with is red lipsticks. I have a ton and I don't have a "favorite" in particular yet. There are so many shades and undertones of red and I love them all! However, I tend to gravitate towards blue-based or cherry reds, rather than true reds or orange reds. I never bought into the whole "cool toned girls should wear blue based reds, warm tones should wear orange based..." I think you should rock what you want. I've done them all though, and I really do think blue-based ones look better on me for some reason. 

I wanted Illamasqua's Box for years. It's famous for being the perfect red for pale skin. I took it up to the challenge and I'm sooo glad I did.

It is perfect. On me, red lipsticks are like neon signs going "HI IM VERY RED AND BRIGHT. DO YOUR RETINAS HURT? I DONT GIVE A DAMN" and I love that and always will. But Box, while being very red and blue toned, seems to just "work" on pale skin. Nothing clashes. It brings the whole thing together. I think it's the slight deepness of it. Less Marilyn Monroe, more Catwoman. I use people to describe lipstick and that's not helpful but it makes sense to me. I can't quite describe it, but it really is perfect. It wears like iron (man) too, and I'm sure the matte finish helps.

Face:

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer - Terre Neauve

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer - Vanilla
NARS Light Reflecting Loose Powder

Eyes:

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette - Venus, Walk of Shame, Naked, Crave
Hourglass Film Noir Mascara
Bobbi Brown Corrector - Porcelain Bisque

MAC - Mystery (for eyebrows)

Lips: (in second picture)

Illamasqua - Box 

Concealers for pale people!

I swear, every pale person I know has really nice porcelain skin without any blemishes. And I'm pretty jealous of them.

Also, I have mean dark circles. So even if I'm having a good skin day.......

Pictured: Me in the morning. Hay gurll 

So in order to pretend I'm like one of those people, I've bought a loooot of concealers. A lot of them too dark or just pure crap. I think companies are finally starting to realize that not everyone is a shade of tan-beige, so it's been easier than ever to find a match. I hope this is useful to someone!

From left to right: Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Bisque, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla, MAC Mineralize Concealer in NW15, Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer in CIA, MAC Studio Finish in NW15, Hard Candy Glamoflauge in Ultra Light, OCC Skin Conceal in R0

Bobbi Brown Corrector: This isn't supposed to match your skintone, but counteract dark circles with either pink or peach undertones. This actually matches me well enough that I don't need to use concealer over top. Just pat it where the darkness is and you'll be a fresh little daisy.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer: People are going nuts for this and I can see why. It has super high coverage but with a beautiful, skin like finish. No chalky powderiness that you get from many other high coverage concealers. This is the second to lightest shade. Chantilly, the first, is practically white with slight yellow undertones. I'm glad I settled on Vanilla, because it's just about perfect for me.

MAC Mineralize: This appears slightly darker here than it is. The formula is a bit thinner than I'd like, but this is ok. This is in the lightest shade and it's light enough when blended out that it should work for a lot of very pale people.

Urban Decay 24/7: The packaging for this just sucks. You have to sharpen it and you waste a ton of product, but the concealer itself is lovely. This is in the lightest shade, and they have a nice selection for lighter skins and darker. This was nice for me in winter, but I could stand to go just a touch darker.

MAC Studio Finish: I'm on my second pot of this. It was my first product that I actually finished. I used to use NC15, but as I've grown more makeup-savvy, I find that pink based face products work better for me. Both NC15 and NW15 are pretty pale, much paler than a lot of MAC foundations. Which is....weird. Get it together MAC.

Hard Candy Glamoflauge: Oh this is the shit right hurr. It's cheap as chips, extremely full coverage, long lasting, a tiny dab will do ya and you get a ton of product. I love it and this is my second tube of this as well. There are some problems though. There are soo few shades. Hard Candy released Ultra Light and another shade recently and as soon as I heard, I snatched it up. Before, I was using light, which ironically wasn't light enough. This is very light and a pretty good match for me. I worry that it could be pore-clogging, but as long as you don't sleep in your makeup or something you should be fine.

OCC Skin Conceal: Welp. This is soooo pale! I can use this on my undereyes to "brighten" the area (and it works fantastic for that) but I can't believably use this on blemishes. I'll probably end up getting Y0, which is a touch yellow and would probably work better on blemishes anyway. They also do extremely dark shades. The concealer itself is advertised as being vegan, half the reason why I bought it. And it's gorgeous. It's like MAC Studio Finish on crack.

Ok that was a bit rambly, but I'm a bad photographer and I felt I needed to be more descriptive than to give a crappy picture taken on my smartphone...I'll get a real big kid's camera someday.

MAC Studio Fix NW10

Foundations and I have a long history. I'm very pale, I have very angry acne prone skin, and a lot to cover. Oh, and I'm very oily. So I'm asking a lot out of a foundation, and that means that I've tried a shit ton. Most of them were too dark, or too oily, or they didn't cover enough. If I loved the formula, surprise, it was too dark! (MAC STUDIO FIX. urgh!)

Half the reason I'm posting is because it was difficult for me to find online swatches/pictures of this before I went to buy it. I was SO excited for this shade to come out, since my first high end foundation was Mac Studio Fix and I hated it because it was macaroni orange on me. MAC's lightest shades are too dark on so many people, it was great to see them release something lighter!

Inside with flash:


Outside, no flash:

I swatched it pretty heavily so you could see the actual color. Unlike NC15, NW10 is really pink and very light. A bit too pink, if we're splitting hairs. When blended, it matches my skin surprisingly well. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Studio Fix Fluid, it smells like paint. VERY strong paint. That's my biggest issue with it. It stinks and you smell it on your face the rest of the day. However, it sets pretty much on it's own to a powder finish that is practically bulletproof and covers everything. A bit TOO matte for my liking, but sometimes when I want that flawless, matte, Dita von Teese skin, this is my go to.

For me, this passed "the boyfriend test". Every time I get a new foundation, I ask him to examine my face/neck to see if it's a match. His reply, "I didn't know you were wearing anything". 

BUT...

I don't think you need this, even if you are this pale.

I wish I still had it so I could swatch them side by side, but I don't see much of a difference between NW10 and Revlon Colorstay in Ivory. Hell, even the formulas are close, right down to the same paint smell. I think Revlon's formula is a bit more forgiving and blendable, really. They have a surprising amount of shades to choose from, and Ivory is the holy grail for a lot of pinky toned fair ladies. 

MAC NW10 is a nice little splurge that isn't too hard on the wallet, and I personally think it photographs better than Revlon Colorstay does, but you definitely don't need it. MAC also do NW10 in the Studio Fix Powder formula. Funny thing about MAC foundations...the shades are not consistent.  NC15, most of the time, is an ok match for me in powders and concealers. The liquids set a bit darker. Keep that in mind before taking the plunge!

Anyone out there love Colorstay? Man I loved that in high school. Sometimes I get so carried away with pretty packaging and luxe brands that I forget about the trusty, cheap favorites!

And a few pictures.

My makeup collection as of now....it's pretty bad. I think I might need to get an even bigger set of drawers. @__@

Yes, my brushes (the ones that fit and I use the most, anyway) are in a shot glass. I need more shots.....glasses.

Top drawer is all lipsticks/glosses. Most of them red, of course.

The one under that is special fx, a very small amount that will hopefully get bigger! Stuff like scar putty, latex, disposable sponges, blood jelly, spirit gum, ben nye cream paints....

Then setting sprays/powders that don't fit anywhere else.

Then foundations/concealers.

Then more foundations/concealers.

Then eye stuff. There used to be some sort of organization but uhhh it's gone pretty awry.

And my first FOTD pic on here. This is technically an older picture but I loved the makeup I wore that day. Probs one of my favorite lipsticks too. My hair isn't that jet black anymore, a week or so after that pic I had it lifted to a dark brown. Not too noticeable but much softer! There's hope for you recovering goths out there, haha!

EYES:

Urban Decay Naked Basics palette

Hourglass Film Noir mascara

Clinique brush on cream liner
Anastasia brunette brow gel 

FACE:
MAC full coverage foundation NC15

MAC Her Own Devices beauty powder *used as blush, limited edition sadly!*
NARS Radiant Creamy concealer
Ben Nye Cameo powder

LIPS:
Hourglass Femme Rouge in Icon (seriously the most gorgeous red I've ever seen! I just wish it lasted longer...)

An introduction or something.

I've wanted to start a "makeup blog" for awhile but didn't really know how to go about it. I'm kind of shy about taking pictures of myself and all that junk, but at the same time, I've got TONS of stuff I'm constantly trying and complaining/raving about to people who might be interested. Which is only ever like two people. I know there's people out there that get it and I'm not THAT weird, so I figured what the hell.

Ever since I was seventeen, I've spent spare change (bones....I think dollars should be bones, its fun to say) on foundations to hopefully match and cover my pale acne prone skin, mascaras, concealers, blush to bring said pasty skin to life, etc...so I've learned a lot from all this experimenting.

Then the red lipstick obsession happened sometime in late high school. There went some more bones hoping to find the perfect matte red to turn me into Kelsey von Teese.

Then I discovered the wonders of youtube tutorials.

Then I began to research horror movie special effects sometime when I was 17. I remember reading that Lon Chaney used piano wire to disfigure his face for the most realistic skeletal effect in The Phantom of the Opera (1925)..

Holy shite. People had to have been crapping themselves back then.

Then I became fascinated by Nosferatu, my favorite movie monster of all time. I don't know who the makeup artist was. Back in the silent era, there were very few makeup artists. If there were some involved with a film, they were never credited. ): 

I read about Jack Pierce and his work on Boris Karloff for Frankenstein and from then on I was obsessed with movie monster makeup. I hope to be able to do it "professionally" someday. I want to make people pretty, and make others grotesquely hideous. Hence the name gloss and gore! (Man, blog names are hard to come up with. It's cheesey no matter what you do).

Other than makeup and horror films, I love video games, animals, music, and comic books. I'll try to keep it nice and varied on here. It'll be fun. (: