A Quick Creation || #2 - Jungle Fever!

Hello! I'm sorry it's been a while since I last posted, it's taken a while for everything to settle down since I came back from my holiday (which was fabulous by the way!). So this isn't really a 'quick' creation, but it's one I'm super proud of! A few weeks ago I ordered a couple of pairs of paper eyelashes from a Hong Kong based buyer on eBay for around £1.29 each with free postage, and I had a sudden flow of inspiration from looking at a pair earlier and got creative!

So I started off using the colours 'Acidberry' and 'Midori' from my Sugarpill Pro Palette as a base of the greens. The SP Pro Palette is one of THE favourite things that I own in my kit and has to be a star buy from when I went to LIMATS London. The colours are beyond amazing and super pigmented, meaning they'll last me a while, but when they run out I know I'll be re-purchasing!

For a lot of the detail work I used a mix of greens, blues and oranges from a 120 palette I bought a while ago from eBay for around £5.99 mixed with my ever faithful Illamasqua Sealing Gel.

I used a few other colours for detail and a jungle green metallic liner for finishing touches and the brows and waterline are Stargazer's UV Eye and Lip Pencil in Shade 26. 

The lips are of course my ultimate favourite lipstick brand Lime Crime in 'Serpentina'.

I've always wanted to do a precise eye look, after swooning over every single creation I see Kirsty Childs post on her Instagram and Facebook (Kiki Makeup). It's nowhere near as good as any she's done, but she is so inspiring to me and makes me want to better myself more and more! I'm going to try and do a few more 'precise' eye looks and try to get better and better so one day I might have people swooning over my work! But I'll have to work super hard for that to happen, but a girl can dream and I'm a super driven person and I know that one day I will get where I want to be!

I hope you enjoy this look! What do you guys think? Any feedback means a lot to me as it helps me improve! 

Thanks for reading!

RubyXO

A Few Photos | Whitby Goth Weekend

So I thought I'd get another quick little post in before I go away. I think I might end up having withdrawal symptoms from Blogger, i'm getting into this regular posting! 

So this photo set is from the last couple of years that I've been to Whitby for their Goth Weekend. All the makeup was designed and done by me. (minus the skeleton, but they all look the same anyway).

 Myself (right), my Aunty Vicky (left) and my boyfriend Marvin last November.

A shot of Marvin and myself sent to me by one of many photographers who attend every year.

My Aunty and myself again in November last year, this time as Witches.

Marvin as a skeleton last November.

My Aunty and myself in October 2011.

It is the most amazing weekend ever and I'd recommend anyone to go and just experience the atmosphere. The people are so friendly and cheery all weekend whether it be raining or the sun shining. I can't wait for this years 2nd one from the 1st-5th November. And I can't wait to reveal what we're all going as, but that won't be until after as it's a complete surprise!

So I guess I'll see what you've been up to once I come back from my holiday! I'll do a photo diary post once I'm home and settled.

Thanks for reading!
RubyXO

A Quick Creation | #1

So, I'm going to try and do one or two of these 'Quick Creation' posts every week, to try and get my work out there and show people what I can do. This weeks is one I rustled up yesterday while I had nothing to do. (there might end up being more than a couple per week as I get bored a lot) It was spur of the moment and I created the entire thing based around my new Lime Crime lipstick, 'Mint To Be'. 

To start with I just had on a base of Illamasqua Skin Base (shades 01 & 08 mixed 1:1) and then 'Mint To Be'. I added dimension to the lip using 'Serpentina', also Lime Crime, around the edge and blended in. 

Left: Serpentina - Right: Mint To Be

For the eyes I used various shades of blues and greens from a 120 palette bought from eBay for around £4.99, and 'Velocity' and Midori' from my Sugarpill Pro palette. And used a Stargazer Kohl pencil for the brows.

I used 2 pairs of lashes for this look. One pair, from a set of 10 from eBay for 99p (top lashes), and another pair from a halloween set I got about 2 years ago (bottom lashes).

So here you go! The finished look!

I'm so happy with how it turned out and I love the contrast of the colours against my hair. I enjoy doing these quick looks so much, and I hope you like looking at them! I'll try and post an older one at the end of the week before I go away so I don't feel like I'm neglecting my blog for the week.

Thanks for reading!

RubyXO

Hello July! | My Year So Far

Hello! I genuinely can't believe it's July already. I go away in 6 days, It's gone so quick! It feels like it's been forever since we booked it. The first 6 months of this year have been absolutely amazing for me. I've had a competition win, been with my boyfriend a year, won Student of the Year and passed my makeup course with a full board of distinctions. 

Clockwise from top left: On the coach to London/IMATS | Starting up my blog | At the theatre in London | My second tattoo | A year with Marvin | Student of the Year | My End Of Year Show | 1st Place at Matchfit | Whitby April 28th 2013 |

I'm so proud of all my achievements so far and I can't wait to crack on with my Level 4 Make-up Management Foundation Degree in September. I've met and grown close to some of the most amazing people ever, and I'll be so sad to not see them all for the next level! 

I'm excited to just have time off and a (fingers crossed) good, warm summer. I hope I can get together with some friends I haven't seen in a while and have a good old catch up as we all work at opposite times to each other and it's such a pain. 

I'll probably spend most of my time playing with all my makeup and creating some exciting new looks to make posts of and preparing for my trip to Whitby for their Goth Weekend in November. 

I'll be trying to post a lot more over the summer, so watch this space!

Thanks for reading!

Ruby XO

My IMATS Haul

Hello! So this weekend I've been to London for the annual International Make-up Artist Trade Show.

It was my first IMATS and definitely not my last, it was like heaven!

For those of you who don't know what it is, it's very much like Clothes Show Live, but dedicated to make-up and make-up artistry. Some of the stands there included MAC Pro, Crownbrush UK, OCC, Stargazer, Love Makeup, NYX, Kryolan and so many more. As well as stalls there were demo's going off all over the place, and it was some of the most amazing work I've seen. 

I had an idea in my head what it was going to be like before I went and it went way beyond my expectations. 

So, here is my long list of purchases!

Sugarpill Pro 12 Pan Eyeshadow Palette - £58 (show price)

I saw Sugarpill post this on their Instagram page and wanted it so much because it's all my favourite shades in one. I only found out on Saturday morning that they were selling it at IMATS and was determined to buy it. It took me a few times to go and look at it before I bought it as it is pretty pricey, but when the individuals are over £10 each, it was worth it. I can't wait to put it to use and have a play!

Crownbrush 28 Nude Shadow Palette - £21

I'm not a person who is into nudes and neutral shades, but being a Makeup Artist, clients will want natural looks, and for £21 I couldn't really say no. It's a perfect palette to take on Bridal and Prom jobs and the colours are so pigmented, I love it!

Crownbrush Cream to Powder Foundation Palette - £23

I'd been umming and ahhing over this online prior to IMATS as I love the fact it has mixable shades and the two corrector colours, and when I saw it I decided to give it a try. It's so much easier to carry around rather than ten million bottles of foundations in every shade, and cheaper overall too. I can't wait to give it a go the next time I have a production/client. 

Lime Crime Opaque lipstick in 'Mint To Be' - £9.20 (show price)

I absolutely adore Lime Crime products and now I'm home, I'm gutted I didn't buy more. I already have the darker, limited edition green shade 'Serpentina' and this one was my favourite of the colours they had to offer this weekend. I'm hoping that with the buzz that was around the stall all day, that they'll come back next year with even more products. I'm all for crazy lip shades so why not!

OCC Lip Tars in 'RX' (blue) and 'Feathered' (white) - £12 each

I've heard people rave over these on my Instagram feed and Twitter, and once i'd tested them I knew why. They're super pigmented and stay put for hours. This is another brand that I really hope come back next year so I can add to my collection.

Stargazer Kohl Pencils in 29, 11 & 26 - 3 for £5

I think I tested nearly every single pencil on this stand and these were some of my favourites. I fell in love with how soft they were when applied, and I love my brights. I got the orange mainly for the fact that sometimes I like to try my eyebrows out in orange to match my hair and never had a pencil to do them properly, and then the others just look so good on!

Stargazer UV Loose Eyeshadows in 204, 203 & 201 - 3 for £9

I'd looked at these a few times while I passed the stall and while I was testing out pencils, a girl next to me was trying these out and as soon as she had them all on her hand, I fell in love! She beat me to the last yellow one and I was super gutted because it was absolutely beautiful, but they aren't that expensive so I can always add to the collection myself. 

Stargazer Lipsticks in 105, 116 & 130 - 3 for £9

Lipsticks... again! I have such an addiction to unusual colours. They were all so amazing, I wanted them all. I bought so much from here and kept going back for another look and had to pull myself away. The staff working there that day were so nice and willing to cover themselves in the products to show you what they were like. I could've stayed there all day.

Crownbrush selected brushes - £42 for all (roughly)

I had to pace myself at Crownbrush because I wanted everything! But I have 2 brush rolls already so I limited myself to only buying a few. Although I do wish I'd bought the Syntho set, but there's always online.

Crownbrush Brush Cleaner 8oz - £10

I usually wash out my brushes with Fairy Liquid or shampoo, so I thought i'd give a proper cleaner a try and see the difference.

Bloody Mary Blood in a Skull - £2

This is the cutest thing ever and I just had to buy it. I didn't aim to buy and Special Effects makeup there as it's not what I want to go into right now, but I couldn't resist this cutie.

Eyeshadows in 'Hot' and 'Alter Ego' and Lipgloss in 'Busy Bee' - £5 each

I'm not entirely sure what the place was called where I got these and there's no indication on any of the packaging. The lady was super nice who worked there though and i'd definitely buy more products once I find out what the brand is.

KCO Natural Glow Bronzer, Lipstick in 'Rose' and Mascara - £25 for all including a makeup bag

This wasn't something I was convinced in until the woman on the stall showed me what the bronzer could do. It's super light, which is good for me and many other pale people out there if you want to look like you have a summer glow. It can be used as a bronzer, contour and eye shimmer so it's super good for multi purpose to take on holiday. It took me ages to figure out what lipstick I wanted and this was definitely the shade more for me than the others. It goes on a bright coral which looks good against the tanned look the bronzer gives.

MONDA Clear On Set Bag - £20

This was from Nigel's Beauty Emporium. They were selling them everywhere but this was the cheapest and nicest looking one there. Now that I'm qualified I'll be able to get briefs and know just what the client wants prior to the event so I won't have to lug a whole load of stuff around that I won't need and this is a perfect size and has lots of compartments so everything will be easy access.

So there you go! I absolutely had the BEST time and I can't wait to go again next year. I hope you've enjoyed looking at all the things that have now made me absolutely broke! It's all worth it in the end though.

Thanks for reading!

Ruby XO

June Wishlist

So, I thought i'd do a super quick 'Wishlist' post on all the things i've seen this month so far.

Seeing as I work at Topshop, a lot of the stuff i've seen is from there. We recently had the stripe shift dress returned in my size and i'm so so so tempted to buy it, but it's £46. I do get my staff discount but still, it's a maybe! 

We also have the black high waist bikini in, but someone got to my size and bought it before me. I want it in the lime green colour but everywhere is sold out, but i'm off to London for IMATS on the 21st so I might have to nip into Oxford Circus Topshop and see. 

I've lusted after the Lime Satchel since I first layed eyes on it, and it definitely might have to be a cheeky purchase the next time I see it in Meadowhall! 

The Huey2 gladiator jellies remind me of when I was little and I love them so much! I go away down to the South Coast nearly every year with the fam, and walking into the British sea isn't the nicest on your feet so these are a must buy before I go away.

I am a super big fan of Topshop Makeup and this is the first gloss i've seen that I like. So I might have to treat myself to this as well.

The pencil ring i've only just seen on ASOS and it is so adorable, they do a black version as well but I love the yellow one. It's £16 so not overly expensive but i'm pretty sure i'd find a match on ebay!

I'm really into sunglasses this year, and the quirkier the better for me. I adore cat eye glasses and the highbrow feature on these is just amazing. These are from ASOS too, and they have so many pairs of sunnies that are super cute but these are definitely my faves.

So there it is, no doubt i'll see a million and one more things by the end of the month but these are my favourites so far.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading.

Ruby XO

A Year In The Life Of My Hair...

This is a super random post, but 3 weeks ago I had my hair re-dyed orange so I thought I'd show you all the colours I've been since this time last year when it was orange again!

 So this is me in April last year when I was an orange-head with a full fringe. By this time my hair had been orange/yellow for about 2 years and I was a little bored of it. 

Orange washes out to a peachy pink colour which everybody absolutely loves and I have no idea why. This is the main reason I went blonde as I wasn't feeling the peach and re-dying it orange so often was a little
expensive!

So then it went blonde, it wasn't this blonde straight away but I got it there eventually. I kept the blonde for quite a while, I had it done just before I went on holiday to Tunisia in June and kept it up until about September, which is pretty long for me to keep one colour.








In between it being blonde I did dye my ends a mint green, the photo doesn't really show it well but I loved it so much, but it did fade after about 2 washes, so it didn't last much
longer than a month or so.







Then just before I started college I had it dyed purple. I wanted Kelly Osbourne purple but it went Cadbury purple instead, so I tried to wash it out pretty quick.









Then I finally got it the deep lilac that I wanted and I loved it so much this colour, but because my hair has so much bleach on it, all light colours just wash off so quick, so this soon faded to a silvery blonde.









So this is the final colour it was before the orange made a comeback, I'll probably go back to being blonde later on in the year or next year, it just depends on how I feel with how the orange sticks.







And this is me now, back with orange. It's mainly down to the fact that I am a massive Paramore fan, and I absolutely adore Hayley Williams, the singer of the band. She's always been a huge inspiration to me and I admire her 'no fear' approach to trying colour. After dying my hair orange 3 years ago I started to experiment a lot more with colour in my makeup and gradually gained a passion for it and strived to be a makeup artist. Now I'm so so happy in my chosen career path and I'm soon to be a fully qualified makeup artist. Hayley also released a 4 piece limited edition range for MAC makeup, which I purchased all 4 pieces, all based around her signature colour 'Orange'. It is such a stunning collection and for my first ever MAC purchase it was the best £57.50 I've ever spent!


Thanks for reading!!
Ruby XO