DO YOUR BROWS || Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Caramel

Hi everyone! Brows are an essential part of everyday makeup as they create the frame for your face. You don't want to put beautiful artwork in a janky frame, right? No! So do your brows!!

There are multiple ways to go about it, there are tinted and not-tinted gels, powders and pencils which you can use to define the edges of your brows as well as fill in any sparse areas. In my case, I have very light coloured, thin and sparse eyebrows with patchy areas. If I don't fill them in, in most photos it can appear like I don't have any brows at all and especially in photos that used flash (not good)! Some girls are gifted with full, coloured brows and only need to worry about maintenance, but for me, any more than tweezing on or two hairs might do more harm then good.

For the sake of this post I'm going to present to you one kind of product from the brand Anastasia, which is well-known for their eyebrow powders.

In general, the packaging reminds me of some Korean brands with the elegant and feminine brand logo and sleek packaging. Very chic and pretty.

In colour Caramel

With this particular powder line you get two shades in one. This is really nice as it gives you more choice and range to create a more natural brow look. You can use one, the other or a mixture of both to make your brows look less one-dimensional. In my case, I use the left shade for the inside of my brow and the right (darker) side for the tail in order to give it a really clean definition. With Anastasia's powder duo you also get the bonus of a mini-mirror just so you don't need to be squinting in your bathroom one (or wherever you put on your face in the morning). Pigmentation is also good.

If you don't want to spend money on a separate eyebrow product, feel free to experiment with eyeshadows you have! Try finding a neutral that's close to your eyebrow colour. Obviously stick to matte shades and try to avoid anything with shimmers or glitters. You don't want your eyebrows looking like a disco ball!

Anastasia's doubled-ended no. 7 brush with angled and spooly ends

If you decide to go the powder route you're gonna want to pick up a couple of useful tools (pictured above). The first is an angled brush of some kind. There are dedicated eyebrow brushes that are smaller than your regular brush so that it can really get in there for the fine details. An angled eyeliner brush could also do the trick. You use this in applying the powder to the brows, especially for filling in any sparse areas or defining the tail.

Next is a spooly brush. This is gonna help blend in the pigments as well as groom any unruly hairs. This should probably be one of your last steps in doing your brows since some hairs can be looking a little spunky after having brushed through them with powder. To set brows you can use a gel formula, but if your brows are pretty tame a good comb-through with a spooly is usually enough.

For travel, I recommend a dual-ended brush to save on space. The spooly end might also help to identify what is your eyebrow tool and what is your eyeliner tool at first glance. (No thanks, I would not like to have black eyeliner on my eyebrows please!)

There are many different ways to fill in your brows for different effects and there are tons of photo guides online as well as stencils you can purchase if you're still unsure. The best thing is practice though, so don't feel discouraged if you end up giving yourself giant rectangles the first time!

Pokémon X Photo Diary and Review

So it's been a good two weeks since the new Pokémon X and Y games came out for the 3DS. While I really didn't like Black and White 2, I have to say that these editions to the franchise really seemed to breathe some life into the pokémon world for me! In my file as of today, I have beaten the Elite Four and Champion and so I think I can provide an educated opinion if you're still on the fence as to if you should get it or not.

First of all, I think the general consensus is that X and Y both provide an experience that is both fresh and new. That is to say, the standard pokémon formula is still there (that we know and love), but they've made significant changes that make it feel a little something more than the next standard edition of pokémon you need to keep up on. A few of these changes include: the new look to combat (not just sprites anymore!), the new EV-training system (Super Training), Pokémon Amie (which actually has some impact in battles based on a pokémon's affection towards you), customizeable main characters and of course the new edition of pokémon added to this generation.

Such cute clothes!!!

In general, the new generation doesn't bother me nearly as much as the past couple of generations. Some of them still look a bit too out there, but just the look of them seems to fit more in with Generation 2... what do you think? Also, I really enjoy the variety of pokémon you can encounter in the world right from the beginning. In past games you'd have to unlock the national dex in order to have access to any of the Kanto pokémon, or others would simply be missing unless you transferred them from past cartridges. Here, you can encounter all sorts of surprises which I thoroughly loved! They didn't just focus on rubbing your face in the new generation, but shared the love, haha!

Team Flare (the newest team of baddies) are pretty weird. That's all I can really say about them. They're not too hard to beat, they want to make the world beautiful and yet they look like a disaster and the overall storyline attributed to them isn't all that provoking. To be honest, I really liked Black and White's storylines by comparison.

There are 'photo spots' now where you can take photos of your character with the 3DS camera.

Gym fights aren't too bad either. I think I got stuck on a couple for a few minutes but could sweep the other teams with just one or two pokémon. I think the reason for this is the new EXP share. Rather than attaching it to one pokémon, EXP share can now be turned on and off from the Key Items menu and will provide all pokémon in the party with EXP during the battle. That way your team levels at the same time and you don't end up with really unbalanced numbers if you just end up preferring one teammate over all the rest.

Along with this however, are the Elite Four battles. Never have I ever had such an easy Elite Four and Champion sweep in my entire pokémon career (lol). I usually have to grind my face into them until I finally get a break! To start, you don't fight them in a straight line anymore but can choose what order you want to fight them. This allows you to front-load your team for the first time going through, rather than not knowing what to expect during the first run. The types are Fire, Water, Steel and Dragon. All these types are easy to deal with, especially dragon which now cannot affect Fairy types. With Lapras I was able to take care of both the Fire and Dragon elites. Gogoat for Water. Delphox and Mega Lucario for Steel. The Champion seemed to be a pushover as well, even with Mega Gardevoir...

I haven't delved into end-game too much, but that's when you get access to the new Safari Zones. You can't access your own, but those of your friends only who only have access to one type and 3 different pokémon. The zones are uninspiring, with just a square patch of grass that's surrounded by a wooden fence. Either way start trading those Friend Codes!!!

The Pokémon League

In all I'm very satisfied with this game so far. I've already resolved to make a "Big Fatties" team, as well as an all-dogs team! I would recommend picking it up if you have a 3DS or plan on getting one.

Tiki (Fire Emblem Awakening) Progress Post #1

Hi everyone! I've finally gotten started on my Tiki cosplay and I'm super excited to share some photos with you!!

I started on the bracers first because I could get to the fabric store just then (and tbh I was a little nervous in sewing as usual so I procrastinated). This is my first time working with craft foam in making it look like.. something like... armor! I chose Tiki mainly because she didn't have too much of it, so I was able to feel comfortable in trial and error without buying too much material.

While I did prime the foam an off-white, I chose yellow in case the gold paint I got was a little too sheer (which it was). The yellow made for a good base, though in normal cases I guess you'd layer on the gesso until it was opaque. This was also my first time trying to weather something and I don't think it turned out very nice (up close) but I believe that was mainly due to the weird designs Tiki has on her bracers.

I was expecting almost elvish swirly leaf designs but instead they're these weird square shapes like a retarded leopard. I suppose they're supposed to be like scales? After I zoomed in on my reference photo I couldn't unsee the design anymore so I felt like I had to go with it. The bracers are fastened with velcro.

Initially I wanted to make a dragonstone with an acrylic ball and some paint, but when I went to the craft store the attendant said they only carried balls like that during Christmas season.. weird... So I would this glass decoration as an alternative that I actually really like! It has this cracked look which I think suits a mystical egg very well. The colour is a bit off, but i think the transparency and design still makes it worthwhile and interesting! Colour can be handled in post-processing anyways...

Next I went on to maker her headpiece. At first I wanted to make it out of paper clay (that air dries so I wouldn't have to bake it). I made an outline out of paper and judged it against my wig head. Immediately I didn't like how it looked because it didn't look dainty enough and was worried how I would attach it to my head. Finally I decided to make a craft foam version and I like the result a whole lot more (bottom right)!

The gem was really easy to do and I'm happy it didn't cost me a thing. I used some red construction paper as a base and then created the shape out of hot glue. The paper gives it a flat backing so it's easy to mount on things and won't ruin the surface (table, etc.) that you're working on. The result was a translucent pink oval that looked okay on its own, but for some added oopmh I coated it with a couple layers of red nail polish and a top coat to keep it from chipping/giving it a nice shine. I used the nail polish method for my Synchronocity Rin cosplay on a silver metal necklace and it worked like a charm there too! Definitely recommend this if you can't afford resin and don't need anything too complicated or large.

Finally I'm happy to say that I've started the dress! At this point I've cut and sewn most of it (including a zipper at the back that will be hidden by my cape). Just have to dart and adjust some areas as I've recently lost some weight. I'll do another update once the dress is finished (though I kinda wish I bought a stretchy fabric.. but the colour was nice soooo).

I'll see you all very soon! Stay cool in this heat!