Wedding Wednesday 3/5: Nail design tutorial

It's that time of the week again! (Oops, I almost missed it!!)
Man, time's running fast.
So this week it's time for my nail design. Since I'm absolutely incapable of doing anything with my left hand, and also because I can't outshine the bride, I decided to keep it fairly simple. I do have 4 different colors that look nice in different combinations, so, again, you need to tell me your opinion to help me decide which one I'm going to wear.

All I did was add a little gradient design, which is achieved quite easily:

 Start out with a base color (I used white and pale yellow).  Then you take out a little glittery polish (gold and purple for me) and drop it on a smooth, disposable surface. 

 Then you take a cosmetic sponge to dip into the polish and carefully dab it onto your nail, to about halfway down. Make sure the layer is very thin.

Note: I didn't have a cosmetic sponge at hand so I had to use paper tissues, which DOES NOT work as well.

Then you dab on another thin layer on top of the first one, but only the tip of your nail this time. Now, It depends on the nail polish you're using if you have to make more of fewer layers. For me, with the golden one, two layers made a gradient quite nicely, but with the purple I should have maybe done 3 or 4 instead to make it more smooth.

 

And that's how you do the only nail design I know =D

So here's what it looks like finished. I did a gradient with both purple and golden with both base colors, and on my left hand I just used all 4 colors plain and simple to show you what that looks like.

 Numeration for easier understanding xD

Ok, I actually don't love any of the 3-6 plain ones, maybe 6, but I still prefer the gradient ones.

Namely, I plan on doing either 1b or 2b on most of my nails, and for my thumb and ringfinger use 1a or 2a respectively. BUT I don't love 2b very much, because you can't properly see the gold.OR I could just use either of those four for all my nails.

As you can see, I'm just not sure yet, so please help me by letting me know about your opinion!

Special thanks to Miri who helped me with taking the photos when both my hands were occupied ;)

Thanks for reading, guys!

Lovelovelove

Trin

Last but not least: Products I used for this post! From left to right: Essie in "3 Marshmallow", ANNY in "455 goldfinger", ANNY in "373.10 lucky surfer girl" , ciaté in "PP141 helter-skelter"

Wedding Wednesday 2/5: My subtle pastel make-up + Tutorial

Welcome back to Wedding Wednesday!
I sent out emails concerning the planning of the BIG DAY to all guests just a second ago - it's drawing closer!

Today's post is about this make-up look that I chose to wear to the wedding and how I achieved it:
(all products used will be listed at the end of the post)

What I like about this is that it matches my color theme white, yellow, gold and purple; it's shimmery but still subtle enough not to upstage the bride and most importantly: it's almost 100% waterproof for those inevitable tears of happiness =D

Okay, so here's how it went down.
(First of all: Okay, I know my camera is crap, I hope to get a new one for my birthday *3*. Also don't comment on the condition of my skin, ESPECIALLY my dark circles. I KNOW. Trust me. I know.)
Step 1: At first I prepped my eyes with primer (a), then I started out with a base of a golden cream-based eyeshadow (b) on my entire lid.
Step 2: With another waterproof shadow in stick form (c) in pale lilac, I drew a little triangle shape on my outer V, then blended it out to achieve the look in picture 2. I also brought it down towards my lower lash line, which doesn't really show in the photo, but I forgot to take pictures with my eyes open - oopsies.

Step 3: I added a warm purple eyeshadow (from d), which unfortunately isn't waterproof, to the bottom center of my lid, to blend the gold and lilac together. Remember: The look is supposed to be subtle; I know you can hardly see it in the photo, but that's how it's supposed to be.
Step 4: Then I just lined my upper lash line with a dark purple color (also from d), to give my eyelashes a fuller look. I also lined the outer half of the lower line, which, again, you can't see, because I'm a big dumdum.

Anyways, that's it, basically. I just added pale pink pencil liner (e) to my waterline, which makes my eyes look bigger. White pencil works too, the pink is just a personal preference - I think it looks less harsh. Also I put on waterproof mascara (f), covered up my circles with foundation (g) (I basically use foundation as concealer these days) and slapped on some blush (h), powder (i) and my favorite lipstick (j) and BOOM, done.

Here are more pictures of the finished look from different angles:

Sorry for the crazy eyes in the last one xD

And that's what I'll be wearing for the wedding, yay! x3 I hope you like it.
Do send me pics or let me know if you tried something similar and/or used one of the products. And if you don't, whatever. Then don't.
Thanks a lot for reading anyways <3

Lovelovelove
Trin


Just like I promised; here's a list with the products:

a) some no-name primer that works great for me.
b) Maybelline  New York "color tattoo 24hr" in "05 Eternal Gold"
c) LOOK by bipa "splish splash eyeshadow stick in "Nr2 breeze"
d) Majolica Majorca "Jeweling Eyes" in I-don't-know-what-color-because-my-japanese-is-really-bad
e) YVES ROCHER couleurs "3 in 1 eye pencil" in "08 blanc" (which is a weird name for a PINK product, but what do I know right?)
f) YVES ROCHER "lash plumping mascara" you already know I love it =O
g) I know, you know.
h) GOSH "natural blush" in "43 flower power" OMG I DID NOT READ THAT NAME BEFORE NOW, I'M SO EXCITED, I CAN'T STOP SCREAMING.
i) Maybelline New York "Pure Powder" in "015 Translucent"
j) Maybelline New York "Color Sensational Popstick" in "020 Tropical Pink"

Obnoxious Pop-Songs: The Wanted - "Walks like Rihanna"

Okay.
First off, yes, I do watch Viva sometimes, I particularly enjoy watching the charts even.
I DO NOT DESPISE POP MUSIC like some people do.
Yes, the music I really dig is more towards the Alternative Rock/Metal or whatever, but I do enjoy listening to pop music.

It's just... sometimes you come across a song that is just so incredibly stupid, it makes you downright angry.
One of those songs came up on the radio just now while my Dad was driving me home; it's The Wanted's new single "Walks like Rihanna". I had only heard this song once before, and I remember that even then I just hated it. Give it a go:

Ok, here's the thing. "Walks like Rihanna" is about this girl who is apparently so incredibly amazing, but only for one great feature: walking like Rihanna.
I just.
The first thing I thought (just by the title) was "That's kinda clever, making a song about a girl who has Rihanna's attitude and that is great, because that IS one of Rihanna's better treats and she IS a very famous icon and she IS extremely sexy."
But then the song goes on and on and all they ever say about Rihanna is how that other girl walks like her. Like, not even as a metaphor for swagger and attitude, no, the girl in the song is actually super dorky, she just literally WALKS LIKE RIHANNA.
Is that even a thing? Rihanna's WALK? Is that something people acutally say like "Check out that girl's walk over there, that totally looks like Rihanna's!"?...  No, I didn't think so.
SO WHY EVEN MAKE A TRIBUTE TO RIHANNA IF YOU DON'T SAY ANYTHING GOOD ABOUT HER THE ENTIRE SONG?????

Another thing. Here's how the entire chorus goes:

She can't sing, she can't dance
but who cares - she walks like Rihanna.

And then they repeat that a couple of times. Apart from wondering why they couldn't at least think up a few more lines for their chorus, I'm not even sure how a person really can't dance, at all, but when she WALKS it's like "BOOM, I gotta nail that". Don't sex appeal and a lot of confidence (which I still try to think "walking like Rihanna" stands for) go hand in hand with good/sexy dancing?
I guess I'm just really over thinking that. "Walking like Rihanna" doesn't mean anything; it's neither a tribute to Rihanna, nor a metaphor for something that Rihanna does. It's just a stupid line in a stupid song that is meant to make people think it's a clever song.

Which it is not.
Let's talk about the rest of the lyrics here.

Have you seen that girl, have you seen her
With the way she moves you wanna kiss her
She'll be the girl of your dreams if you can close your eyes
You can feel that beat when she's in the room
You can feel your heart going boom boom
And all the boys they crowd around

THE WAY SHE MOVES? I thought she couldn't dance!? What is this song even about? Are you really telling me I'm looking at a song that is SOLELY about the girl's WALK? What is she, some kind of super model who can't do anything else but look good as she walks up and down? I don't. AAAHHHRG.
Also, she's not even all that hot, you know, she can be the girl of your dreams, if you can close your eyes and imagine really hard. Wut? Seriously, The Wanted, you guys are not exactly making her feel so very awesome.
And all the rest is just meaningless blabber. They go "Our hearts go boom boom boom" a few more times. Yes, that is what hearts do. You guys. You can stop now. We get it!

Jesus, this song makes me angry. For a love song, it's completely unflattering unless you pin all your confidence on how you walk; for a tribute to Rihanna, it's a complete failure because it doesn't say a single nice thing about her, heck, the entire song doesn't even mention Rihanna except for that half of a line in the chorus.
It's not even catchy!! It's not. Nothing about the song made me think "Hey, I like what they did with the music there". The music in "Walks like Rihanna" is just a flat-out, boring, synthesized blob.

If there isn't some fanatic cult that I'm oblivious of, that is obsessed with Rihanna's walk, I just don't understand what the song is about and why anyone would listen to it.

Thanks a lot for reading all this angry ranting, I just had to get it off my chest.

Love
Trin

Wedding Wednesday 1/5: Help me decide on my outfit!

INTRODUCING: The first ever B&B post SERIES, "Wedding Wednesday".

Obviously, I'm not getting married; what are you, crazy? My sister is, though, and her wedding is a mere 5 weeks from Saturday! =O
Great maid of honor that I am, I already helped the bride with picking a dress, an accent color fabric and a fabric for the groom's waistcoat. I also designed both the "save the date" cards and the actual invitations and I've accompanied her to the decorators and her hairdresser this past weekend, so that no detail will be lost on me, and all my sister has to do on her big day is smile and cry and have fun and, obviously, say "I do", while I take care of everything.
It's promising to be a beautiful wedding, I can't wait really.





I still lack an outfit for myself, though!
So I'm starting my series Wedding Wednesday, or WW for short, to show and plan my own outfit including hair, make-up and nail design in the form of tutorials or votes, going online every week until the actual wedding.

Part one is about my clothes:
Well, I actually already decided on a skirt from iAnywear, that I ordered a few weeks ago.
It's yellow, so it should fit the wedding's color theme "purple" just fine. (I'll have the throwing bouquet and probably also some hair accessories matching the bride's. Also, we'll be standing next to each other in a lot of photos and I just wanted to make sure that our colors don't clash)
I did have my eye on a beautiful blouse online too, but that one has been out of stock for weeks now =(
So I went from shop to shop in search of a top to wear with my skirt. I really wanted it to be white (don't worry, I asked the bride, she said it's ok), but I just COULDN'T find ANYTHING!!!
UNTIL I went into orsay, where I picked myself up 3 beautiful white pieces.
Great. Now I can't decide which one to wear =_=

I ruled out one of them already, because it didn't really match the skirt in terms of style. It's also made from pretty thick material which I'm not sure I want to be wearing to an August wedding.
But the other two are both kind of perfect...

(I apologize for crappy quality)
The left one has more of a girly feel, while the right one is more elegant. Both have great material, both match the skirt very well and, if I do say so myself, both suit me and my body type.
Only I can't wear both of them to the wedding!!



So, to finally get to the point of this post: I thought I'd let you guys have a vote. Which one do you like better?
(After further consideration I should probably have taken another photo of the right one, it really doesn't look too flattering in this. Oh, well.)
Please let me know which one you like, either via facebook or leave a comment on this post! :)
Part 2 of the WW series will be online -duh! - next Wednesday.
Thank you so much for reading!
Love

Trin

T does a tiny bit of crafting (and almost dies in the process Oo)

So.

Because I'm a moron, I'm off my meds this week (until I get to Andrea, actually) and I am a WRECK. Jesus.
BUT I still felt motivated for some crafting today, after I browsed craftgawker for like 5 hours yesterday.
I found this cute DIY and I loved it.

I happened to have red and white acrylic paint at home. I did NOT have any wooden plates or anything but I tried using cardboard and that worked just fine =)

I made the small one as a pendant, I'm not sure what I'll use the big one for... but I had paint mixed up for like 15 more of those things, making just one seemed a bit of a waste. The reason why it only turned out to be two is - like I hinted before - that I felt like my brain was trying to escape my head. Seriously, I was spacing out like some mental person - I guess the fumes from the paint and nail polish (which I used to paint the little hanger thing on the pendant) plus listening to 2,5 albums from Flyleaf didn't exactly help. By the end I just wanted to go back to sleep.
But I had to go shopping with the bf, so I picked myself up some coffee instead. GREAT idea. So for the next half hour I was super HYPER, switched the music to the OST of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (which I haven't seen since the first time with you guys and my sister, which was super epic *thrusts fist into the air*) and kept bouncing around the house.
I'm back to a headache at the moment, but it's a lot better than this morning, when I was "being crafty".

I know it's tiny, and I didn't even think of it myself, but the process was such a pain I just wanted to share with someone that I DID something today, despite feeling like a sack of mentally disabled potatoes.

the messy mess I made. Can you tell what my favorite color is?

another angle. They look kinda crappy in the photographs because you can see all the ripples in the cardboard. It's not that intense irl.

Well that's that. Thanks for reading, I hope your head is feeling better than mine.

Kisses
Tini