Chase the devil i'll never tell

Link to: Chase the devil for money, fame, for power, out of greed
Link to: Don't ask me i'll never tell

C - Vegas, corruption and gambling were all themes which contributed towards the inspiration behind this shoot.  I also took the idea of 'having or showing your heart on your sleeve' and turned into having it on your head.  Someone is meant to be open to showing their affection if it's on their sleeve, but my definition to having it on your head is to use your heart as power and not as a weakness which love is often depicted by.  I thought of this idea while watching season 2 of Once Upon a Time which I am totally obsessed with.  I love this TV series as it reminds me of a book I once read entitled 'The book of lost things'.  Both of these plots/stories turn fairy tales around into something different and it probably appeals to me so much because I do the same here.  For example, I used an Emeli Sande lyric for this shoot, and she isn't saying chase the devil, what Emeli is actually doing is describing a guy who 'you won't find him trying to chase the devil'.
The headpiece was made out of playing cards whilst the nail art combined a clear nail varnish by OPI, with an eye shadow dust from Barry M to create this metallic glittery look.  The nails were then coated again with a clear top coat of OPI and heart shaped buttons were attached with nail glue.

D - The nail art created was a combination of OPI DS temptation and purple 3D glitter from a craft store.  The preview also shows an Illamasqua empty box which contained a set of black/purple eye false lashes.  This shoot was from the point of view of a ventriloquist doll, something that really has no voice of it's own.  Although the lyrics say don't ask me i'll never tell, what I am saying is that don't ask me, because I'll never tell the truth, or what you want to hear.  Ventriloquist dolls are almost like alter egos for the person controlling them, and they have the power to be as offensive or as polite as they wish to be, and to get away with it because it isn't really them.  The ventriloquist doll that I am portraying has a life of it's own and this idea was inspired partially by SAW, even though I've never seen any longer than 5 minutes of any of the films.  The ideas I've created here are a far cry from 'Call me maybe' - the song which these lyrics come from, but both are slightly physiological in their own way.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: saw makeup, ventriloquist doll makeup, once upon a time makeup, vegas makeup, devil makeup, queen of hearts makeup, nail art, heart nail art, glitter nail art, playing card tiara, call me maybe makeup, op nail polish, fairy tale makeup, evil queen makeup, love makeup, heart makeup, illamasqua makeup, mac makeup, horror makeup, nightmare, alice in wonderland makeup, alice through the looking glass makeup,

Electra heart fog out my daylight

Link to: Electra heart, i'm miss sugar pink liquor liquor lips
Link to: Fog out my daylight, torture my night

E - Inspired slightly by club kid culture, this shoot was to depict the messy side to glamour, while using the term lightly.  The nail art I created used a combination of Barry M glitter nail polish and red glitter segments.  The preview for this post came from one of the many images taken due to encountering a whole stack of problems during production.  I went blind temporally in one eye due to my combination of pink eye liner and face paint, and my eyes wouldn't stop crying due to the harsh fumes of the liquid latex.  It takes a whole lot of skill to produce everything yourself without any help, and while others will look at the final image, I will always see past that and remember how challenging this shoot was.

F - I create these posts because I love certain lyrics in music that sometimes get overlooked, and this is by far one of my favourites.  The song goes as follows.  Over my shoulder, running away.  Feels like i'm falling, losing my day.  Cold and dry.  Fog out my daylight torture my night.  Feels like i'm falling, far out of sight.  Mika writes nearly all of his lyrics by himself, and when not, others contribute alongside Mika.  I admire artists who create their own lyrics and it demonstrates that they have this fantastic package to offer and to share.  One of my biggest challenges during Vanity Nightmare 2.0 was something I didn't even think would be an issue, and that was digging up old feelings and emotions I had once buried.  I've come to realise that I suppress many of my emotions, some too difficult to handle still, and others I don't want to handle.  I learn and grow from my mistakes and I think it's important to not let something define you, but to allow it be apart of you.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: glitter red nails, nail art, nail ideas, liquid latex, makeup, black tears, black paint, dripping black blood, red blood, fake blood, david bowie, glam rock

Hypnotized Glamazon

Link to: Glamazon, female phenomenon
Link to: Hypnotized by your destiny

G - Drag makeup is one, if not the most complicated type of makeup to do.  It requires certain knowledge and understanding and it takes a lot of practise of which I am still carrying out.  The preview I took for this shoot shows some of the materials I use when hiding my eyebrows.  So if you want drag tips and tricks, here are some for you right now.  Kryolan makeup is hard to find if your living in the UK, but from what i've seen, it's the best, so you need to invest in these things!  I bought all my kryolan makeup and kit from a theatre company online.  There are many out there and it's really easy to find using a quick google search!  I bought eye brow plastic, spirit gum and a remover as you still want some of your eyebrows on after this process!

H - I was initially going to have a black and white stripe effect, but I ran out of black nail polish, so I went for the next best thing!  When I was creating my nail art, I thought it was going to be hard to see in my shoots, so I didn't spend as much time as they deserved.  Although this nail art is simple, it works in my shoot and I have to thank Illamasqua for such an amazing white nail polish!

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: illamasqua nail polish, big lip makeup, green lips, nail art, silver nail art, kroylan drag makeup, drag makeup, glamazon makeup, rupauls drag race makeup

I set fire to the demon

Link to: I set fire to the rain
Link to: Judas is the demon I cling to

I - This lyric shares my thoughts on life, that when something negative occurs, change it around and make it into a positive for yourself.  I think about strength and power you can create for yourself and how you can rise up from what can seem to be the worst moment in your life.  I immediately knew that I wanted to create a phoenix inspired makeup look to represent this empowerment.  The preview here shows the nail art which I created, which is a mixture of red and gold glitter in a flame effect.  This was one of my main reasons why I wanted to create this makeup look, but I just couldn't find the right image, so unfortunately for me, they never made the final cut.  It takes courage to set fire to the rain, and although the literal meaning seems impossible, the subtext behind this is possible.

J - Onto a non makeup related preview now and this is an image of the MUA Heaven and Earth palette which I used nearly completely for this look.  For those of you who are unaware of MUA, this brand can be bought from Superdrug and the single eye shadows cost £1.  I own a large amount of makeup from brands such as MAC, NARS, and Illamasqua, but I just couldn't afford to keep spending over £10 for an eye shadow if all I was going to do was to create these looks and wiping them off after.  This is when I thought lets go cheap, and as Superdrug often does a 3 for 2 offer, there even cheaper than £1!  They really are a fantastic buy and the only downside is that there aren't more shades yet!

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: mua makeup, mua eye shadow, judas makeup, lady gaga makeup, adele makeup, phoenix makeup, fire makeup, bird makeup, makeup palette, brown makeup, lady gaga judas makeup

La vie en twilight

Link to: Kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Link to: La vie en rose

K - This look was my subtle nod to the twilight saga, which has undoubtedly been apart of many peoples lives.  I wanted to exaggerate the proportions of my face and really cute fine and defined lines for cheek bones, and more subtle definition for features such as the lips featured in the preview.  The difference between the lips in the final image and preview is all down to using a flash.  Using a camera flash picks up the highlights you create, but it makes it harder to showcase the shading you create.  This was just another reason why I wanted to include these previews as it shows a different side to the makeup, and if you wanted to try it for yourself then maybe you can see how to achieve this through shadows and highlights.

L - I struggled for ages to find the right lyric, and in fact any lyric that could be used, let alone work for L.  It then dawned on me that the answer was with me the whole time and that was La vive en rose.  I have an extremely close friend who lives in the french area of Canada and we both love this song, and often play it.  The translation of this song means life in pink so I themed this shoot around vegas showgirls.  I ended up using natural daylight to lit this shot and it allowed me to work in a different way when posing.  I wanted to capture the darker nature of showgirls, the more vunerable side and add some drama, and daylight allowed me to capture this.  To create this sequinned makeup, I first applied a base of pale pink eye shadow to my skin and lips.  I then slowly added eye lash glue around my eyes and lips so these sequins would adhere to them.  People often ask me why I don't use models when creating looks like this, and it all comes down to health and safety, so be extremely careful when attempting something like this as sequins aren't designed to go into your eyes and mouth!

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: showgirls makeup, vegas makeup, black swan makeup, twilight makeup, edward cullen makeup, pink makeup look, sequin makeup, sequin lips, sequin eye shadow, 3d makeup, feathered makeup, burlesque makeup

The flyest bitch tonight

Link to: Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the flyest bitch of them all
Link to: Not myself tonight

M - Inspired by the evil queen from Snow White, this look combines drag with fantasy.  The Evil Queen is one of the very few villains with no name, and is known simply as the 'Queen' or 'Evil Queen'.  Although adaptations of this brothers Grimm story give her a name, for example Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsmen, she never really has a name.  I absolutely adore the way Disney captured/created her in the 1937 film Snow White and I think both styling and Charlize Theron took the Evil Queen to a level she deserves in Snow White and the Huntsmen.  My thought process behind this look was to create a crown out of shards of the magic mirror, and my main vision was to use black liquid to represent the Evil Queens poisonous soul.  I used a combination of black nail polish and dark green/purple eye shadow dust from Barry M.  Liquid Latex was my chosen medium and I learnt a valuable lesson of shaving before using this, as the liquid binds to any hairs it comes into contact with, not matter how small.  This was my first shoot of Vanity Nightmare 2.0 and it will always be a favourite of mine because of that.

N - I actually prefer the colours of the preview from the final look here and I probably should have reminded myself of how I could have changed it.  Throughout teaching, tutors have always told me it's bad to start on a negative, and I really think that is purely up to individual choice.  What I do believe is that it's incredibly important to see your mistakes, or where you can improve, and acknowledge these issues.  Learning new tips and tricks is always exciting for me and I hope as always you can take something away from the shoots I create.  For this look I used a combination of ideas and methods of apply makeup.  I practically finger painted my torso and I loved how I would be creating happy mistakes by using a method that you wouldn't be able to achieve with makeup brushes.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: alice in wonderland makeup, cheshire cat makeup, snow white makeup, evil queen makeup, disney queen makeup, disney makeup, drag queen makeup

Only girl in the poison paradise

Link to: Only girl in the world
Link to: Poison paradise im addicted

O - Zombie apocalypse was the theme for this nail art which is a little hard to see in the final image so I'm glad I can share it with you now!  I used Barry M red glitter nail paint/polish in 42 for the base useing two coats which is normally enough to get a full coverage look, providing you wait for it to dry enough.  For the top I used OPI 'White shatter' which creates this white cracked effect which no doubt you will have seen in various colours before.  I never really thought about a white shattered effect, but it's so effective especially when the base coat is a glitter one.  I would highly recommend trying this for yourself for a day or night look as the colour pops when light hits it!

P - Christmas was fast approaching during this shoot and the nails on their own would be perfect for such occasion.  I wanted to create a messy organic look to these nails which was quite easy due to the difficulty of trying to stick down these 3D miniature glitter squares.  Poison Ivy was the main theme to this look and although the graphics speak more christmas, I don't think the underlying theme looks like something out of Santas grotto, unless were talking about Nightmare Before Christmas santas grotto.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: holiday makeup, christmas sweets, red and green, glitter lips, drag makeup, rihanna, britney spears, horror, resident evil, makeup

Barbie teen look like strawberries

Link to: Queen supreme and barbie teen dreams
Link to: Red dipped fingers look like strawberries

Q - I have a slight obsession with Barbie so she was bound to pop up during Vanity Nightmare 2.0.  The preview for this shoot showcases the nail art which I created for this look.  I used one of my favourite nail polishes from OPI 'I lily love you' as it gives a fantastic full coverage pink glittery nail.  I then added buttons from a craft store to complete the look.  During the shoot I tired various looks to achieve the end result I wanted, and looking back now it kind of resembles the Nicki Minajs Pink Friday perfume bottle.  I don't think this is a bad thing at all because we seemed to be wanting to achieve the same look in capturing a certain Barbieness.

R - Blood dripping strawberries was the theme of the nail art I created here which I think is simple yet effective.  The nails are slightly faker that I had wished, in terms of using a polish for a natural coat, but the end result looks more realistic so job done!  I love the tongue and cheek of this lyric, and many lyrics Jeffree Star creates.  Although Jeffree is not a music masterpiece, what he does with lyrics can be, and there are certain lines that are really beautiful on their own.  It serves as a fantastic inspiration for me and I think it's extremely important to recognise your inspirations, not matter how obscure they may seem.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: Jeffree star makeup, barbie makeup, doll makeup, pink friday, roman reloaded, music, single, OPI nail polish, nail art, halloween nail art, blood dripping makeup, fake blood, false nails, hearts, barbie drag, barbie big eyes  

Somewhere over the money

Link to: Somewhere over the rainbow
Link to: Teeth don't want no money

S - My aim for this shoot was to create a rainbow themed makeup look with a difference, something that I necessarily hadn't seen before.  Another aim was to try something different and this was the first time I had used lip transfers and I was pleasantly surprised.  I had allowed for mistakes to happen and I was able to fill in parts of the lips I had missed, so if you are attempting to use lip transfers for the first time, always make sure you have a similar colour to fill in with after to correct any mistakes or mishaps that may occur.

T - Money really does make the world go around and this look captures the throwaway nation, when money means nothing yet everything.  I really love the idea of using money for nail art and the dollar is one of the most low cost ways of creating them!  I very much doubt George Washington thought that one day he would be used as a choker on the neck of a drag queen, but there we go, we never know what our future may bring!

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: dollar makeup, new york, drag queen, rainbow, gay, pride, the wizard of oz, nail art, money nail art, green lips, illamasqua lipstick, makeup artist, makeup ideas

Vanity on the road to love

Link to: Unicorn on the road to love
Link to: V is for vanity everytime I look at me

U - This shoot was inspired by 'Highway Unicorn' a track by Lady Gaga.  The colour palette for this look came nearly primarily from computer games set in space and I created a background to match.  I love the theatrically of this song and I instantly get the feeling of being determined when I listen to it.  I often listen to it when rushing around on the underground trying to get a slightly earlier train and it always gives me the motivation to run up what seems to the be the longest escalators in the world.  This song is a prime example of why I love the combination of art and music, and why I use music as my auditory diary.

V - The concept of this shoot was using vanity as your shield, and not necessarily as your weapon.  I don't think it's a negative thing to use makeup as your own shield, but I do think it's important to own it when you do.  I used a mixture of multicoloured muted tones for the nail art created here and sadly I never included it with my final image.  On this rare occasion I used natural day light instead of a camera flash as I could see the end result wasn't what I had envisioned while shooting.  I was then able to work with the shape of my body capturing highlights and shadows to exaggerate the proportions of my shoulders, and to create a more warrior like torso.  It's good to try new things and I would love to experiment more with natural light in my shoots.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: warrior makeup, 300, rome, greece, ancient, vanity, xtina, sweet makeup, marshmallows, nail art, 3D makeup

White lips your my best accessory

Link to: White lips pale face breathing in snowflakes
Link to: X-Accessory, you're my best accessory

W - This post was an example of creating a makeup look, and having no idea how you want the outcome to be.  This isn't merely because I had no end vision, it was more the case of wanting the makeup to take over, for it to create it's own result.  I have the luxury of wanting to work that way if I want and I see my creations as an art piece and not of a makeup look.  Reasons like that is why I am so keen to create new elements for my looks, such as nail art.  The nails I created here are a mixture of Illamasqua nail varnish Scorch, and white beaded pearls I found from a craft store.

X - This look was dedicated to Alexander McQueen and I went for clean, minimalistic nails.  Adding glitter is a fantastic, relatively cheap way to create a new look from your existing nail varnishes and I often do this to create new results.  These McQueen accessories may be read as material possessions, but in reality they are much more sentimental, and although these are my best accessories, what is best about these accessories are the connotations behind them that are meaningful to myself.

Link to: Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: mcqueen makeup, catwalk, runway, nailart, mcqueen nails, snow nails, winter nail art, holiday art, silver makeup

You better work zombie boy

 

Link to: You better work cover girl
Link to: Zombie boy but his heart is cold

Today marks the start of my post and pre production posts on Vanity Nightmare 2.0.  When I was creating each look I would post a 'preview' on my instagram account and these images often showed elements that weren't on show in the final images, for example nails.  Very little retouching goes into my images and I hope you can take something away from these previews!  Now onto the first post.

Y - Inspired by beauty and drag queens, this post depicts the darker side of the beauty industry.  I decided this preview would be non makeup related, with a tiara and a wig.  Theres something magical about a tiara, it belongs on someones head yet here it has no meaning or belonging without one.  It represents the broken dreams, the beauty queens that didn't get their crowing glory, the beauty queens that were, who once were in the spotlight but no longer are, and finally, this tiara represents the beauty queens that will be.  The past, present and future.

Z - I mentioned above that I hoped these preview may help others who aspire to create makeup looks.  Makeup is all an illusion and you can see from the preview how, almost comical the red poster paint looks.  However, in contrast the final result shows a much more gruesome side.  Did I need to use fake blood for this look? No. In fact, poster paint gives a much more realistic dripping look, mainly because it is was still dripping!  Words from the wise, be carefull when using poster paint and remember this paint was developed to be on paper, not on skin.

Link to Vanity Nightmare 2.0

Tags: beauty queen makeup, drag queen, superstar, drag race, rupaul, blood, horror, tiara dreams, miss congeniality, drop dead