Saintly Death

1. I found the best/spookiest candle in the world! It says La Santisima Muerte, Saintly Death. My roommate picked it out for me and that's how I knew we were going to get along very well.

2. My favorite kind of manicure: high-impact, low-effort.

3. My go-to makeup look (when I'm not too lazy in the morning). Strong brows, dark lips, a bright pink flush, and loads of mascara. Messy hair and snake earrings a bonus. My Thor pez dispenser makes an appearance in the background (fun fact: I'm obsessed with Thor and I have pretty much no self control when it comes to Thor merchandise. I'm pretty upset that I left my plastic Thor helmet at home).

Isn't it nice to take a portrait every once in a while? It's pretty cool that I'm getting to the point where I can take photos of myself and like the way I look in pretty much all of them. It's so fun not to be camera-shy anymore! Now I'm just regular shy, which is okay with me.

I hope you all are well, and I hope you're brainstorming some brilliant halloween costume ideas! Now to get back to a towering pile of reading...

Recent Observations

1. Some of my delicate clothes being hand washed in the sink, resulting in an interesting pattern.

2. A bunny at the state fair that is my eyeliner inspo for fall

3. my current manicure. Peachy nude polish with a matte top coat that makes it look kind of like putty, almost kind of medical-looking if that makes sense? Accent nail is Sally Hansen Sugar Coat, which has the most amazing texture of any nail polish I've owned.

4. The sky at the state fair

I've just moved back into my room at school and started classes again. I'll hopefully get back to outfit photos soon, but for now here are some pictures I've taken recently. Good luck to everyone who's going back to school!

In the dark of the night

thrifted shirt, hand-me-down sweater, vintage skirt from Tunnel Vision, Spotted Moth tooth ring, self-made necklace, Illamasqua lipstick.

This purple lipstick from Illamasqua is the best makeup investment of my life. It can make a relatively boring outfit look so much more special. Same goes for this necklace, which I fashioned out of an old hair extension and some thrift store ribbon. Is it gross to keep my old hair extensions for crafting purposes? What about wisdom teeth? I'm disgusting oh well

It seems like I can only take blog pictures after midnight anymore. It's finals week for me, so of course I'm spending my time taking selfies. My best friend is coming to visit later today, then a few days later I leave for winter break. When I get back to school I'm moving into a house full of feminist ladies (and possibly one dude?), so that's cool. I hope everyone is feeling the holiday spirit (read: eating yummy food) and having a lovely winter so far!

War Paint

I usually don't have a very elaborate makeup routine. If I can muster up the energy in the morning, I put on some mascara and add some liquid liner if I'm feeling extra adventurous. Sometimes I'll do a badass cat eye a la Rookie or some smudgy bronze eyeshadow, but never anything too exciting. I need a kick in the pants to my everyday makeup looks. Fortunately, the internet has got my back! I found a bunch of interesting new styles to try. The looks I like the most are smudgy, shimmery messes that are undone, pretty, and darkly ethereal. 

First of all, check out the makeup from Erin Fetherston. And the clothes. Amazing!

Images from here.

Dramatic and interesting, but still doable and wearable. I'll be experimenting with my silver and black eyeshadow.

Tumblr also has a plethora of pretty girls wearing pretty makeup. Here are my favorites:

Christian Dior S/S 2008 RTW, Coco Rocha

Charlotte Free (thanks, Ethan! I didn't even recognize her!)

Grace Gao, Vogue China - February 2012

Sasha Pivovarova at John Galliano fall winter 2007/08

My gurl Anjelica Houston

John Galliano Fall 09

Sam Ypma by Wilkosz & Way for Fashion Gone Rogue

 All images from my tumblr.

Also, I just ran across this brand of false eyelashes called paperself, and I'm salivating over them. Just look at them! They're mind-blowing!

Images from Paperself.

They're cutout paper designs! So cool, amirite? Effie Trinket wears some of these in the upcoming Hunger Games movie (which I am OMG SO EXCITED for!), so that's cool too. I wish I had money/an excuse to buy some of these!

What's inspiring you lately?

Now I Feel Celestial

Me playing dress-up. Note that my hair is partially green now! I'm so happy with it! Slowly but surely I'm transforming into an internet alterna-girl stereotype. U mad bro?

The lipstick I'm wearing is borrowed from my sister (unknowingly. Hi, Laura!) It's blue and glittery and amazing, but unfortunately also really crappy. You have to pile a bunch on to get a good effect and it's extremely difficult to get off. Extremely. It's nice for pictures though, and it matched the dark, cosmic vibe I was aiming for. I affixed some silver star sequins to my face with eyelash glue, put on a ridiculous moon tattoo, and went to town with the hazy pictures. I'm still trying to figure out how to take good pictures inside, so the haziness is only a little intentional. I may have to start venturing outside to take pictures, even though it's freezing out and I'm a huge wuss. THE THINGS I DO FOR YOU PEOPLE.

Do I have any IB diploma candidates reading this blog? I'm having huge extended essay stress right now. The whole "senior year is easy" thing does not apply to me, possibly because I have no time management skills, as evidenced by the fact that I'm making a post right now instead of working. IB friends, know that you're not alone!

One more thing: I jumped on the 8tracks bandwagon and am really enjoying making playlists. Here's one with some dreamy music that makes me happy. I don't know if anyone listens to these, but I thought I'd put it on anyway because it has a ton of my favorite music. Note that I included a song from Cloud Cult, my favorite band EVER that happens to be from Minnesota.

Love Lost- The Temper Trap I Hope You Die- Wye Oak Hide And Seek- Imogen Heap Love You All- Cloud Cult In My Room- The Beach Boys Green Mossy Ground- Deadly Nightshade Family Singers Half Asleep- School of Seven Bells Cosmic Love- Florence + The Machine Human Qualities- Explosions in the Sky Gold Dust Woman- Fleetwood Mac

Together we'll face the world

Thrifted lace shawl, Mikkat Market top, DIY faux fur stole, headband, and dyed jeans, thrifted jewelery and boots

I'm a little ashamed to say that I had been planning this outfit for some time now. I had to dye the jeans three times to get them the color I wanted, and while I was working on them I kept revising the outfit in my head. YES OF COURSE I HAVE A LIFE WHY DO YOU ASK?

The makeup for this outfit was this picture that I ran across on tumblr. I love everything about this picture! The muted metallics, the silver at the corner of the eyes, the Tim Burton-y vibe I get from it. Perfect. I made an attempt to recreate the look, but it wasn't as dark and creepy as the above photo. I'll try to make it look scarier next time.

Apparently I've perfected the vapid sideways gaze.

Also: I now have 50 followers! How did  that happen? All of you guys are amazing. Much love. <3

P.S. I've been really enjoying Irish and Scottish tunes lately. Here's one of my favorites from Silly Wizard, one of the many random bands my dad has in his enormous CD collection.

Harvest

Thrifted blouse and brooch, target pants and tights, thrifted boots.

I wore this to my school's harvest festival today. I had a great time! I performed a few songs for everyone, and I came home with tons of food that  was grown and made by the 9th and 10th graders at our school, including maple syrup and habanero jelly. Habanero jelly. It is an ingenious and delicious idea, I tell you.

This outfit has some serious fall vibes. It seemed appropriate to wear a pumpkin-colored shirt to a fall festival, but unfortunately I have approximately zero things in my wardrobe that match it. Or so I thought, until I remembered this amazing brooch! I think it adds the perfect finishing touch to the outfit. I'm also digging the gold eyeshadow (actually worn on my eyes, for once) with the plum lips. Yay rich fall colors!

Stay tuned next week for some less sporadic posting (hopefully)!

Gilded

Gifted dress from Sears, old white cami, target shorts, urban outfitters sunglasses, homemade earrings, forever 21 necklaces, medallion from the state fair years ago.

There are a bunch of little things in this outfit that make me happy. The fringies on the hem of my dress, the piled-on necklaces, the little bits of white poking out of my braids, and especially the decadent gold lipstick. It's actually eyeshadow! (L'oreal H.I.P. in gilded, if you're wondering.) I used a base of lip balm and just brushed the eyeshadow on over it, and it went on really thick and pigmented. I wasn't feeling bold enough to wear it to school this morning, but it went so well with this outfit that I couldn't resist putting it on to take pictures!