Winter Wonderland Makeup Tutorial

Now, for my first real post back, I thought what better to do than a tutorial! This one is a fairly simple, and although this is a winter look, the base shapes and techniques I feel can be used in many makeup designs (I'm actually planning to use it in my next college project, an Alice in Wonderland style fashion shoot).

I apologise for 2 things.
1: The photo quality. I was on a time limit, so could only take quick snaps on my phone. Sorry about that.
2: The dark under eye circles. I must admit, I've been unable to sleep much lately. Too much going round my mind I think!

 Start with your regular base, then powder everywhere except the cheeks and outer sides of the forehead.

Apply a white colour in a block on your cheeks, bringing it around the eye and up onto the outer sides of the forehead (basically wherever you didnt powder!)

 Blend out the edges of the white. I tend to use the same stipple brush as I'd used to put on my foundation.

 Apply a dusting of a glimmery eyeshadow. I put some on my lips too. (I used Sugarpill Lumi loose eyeshadow).

 Put a light colour over the top of the white. I used Illamasqua's Chasm pigment, a light turquoise, as it went quite well with the winter theme, but feel free to pick your own colours. Just I suggest starting with the lightest, and building up with the dark.

 Now build up the colour, remembering to blend it out. Use a mix of colours to prevent it from looking too blocky. I used Sugarpill Lumi (again), more Illamasqua Chasm, and Lime Crime Atlanteal & Nautilus Prime (from the Aquataenia pallette) and Divination & Spellbound (from the Alchemy pallette).

 Using a small brush and your choice of media (I used an aqua colour: Snazaroo sparkle white) create a snowflake deign over the top of the colour.

 I did a different design on each side, but you could match it up if you want. I also added some white dots, to give an impression of snowfall.

 Brows. Now I decided to go with colour, light blue insides, dark blue outsides (using the Kryolan Shimmering Vision Interferenz pallette), but you can do your normal brow, or a single colour brow instead.

 I then put a mix of Sugarpill Lumi and Illamasqua Chasm on my lips to give a sparkly, icy look.

Just a lick of mascara, and that's the makeup done!

Then it was just a case of sorting the hair. I used a wig, hence the dodgy wig cap look that was happening in the makeup pictures. The wig is "Merida" from Geisha Wigs.

I think for my next post, I may do a little picture spam of some of the things I've done since I last blogged. It may end up spanning 2-3 posts (I've done a lot, and dont want to overwhelm anyone with too much at once!)

But there we have it! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It feels great to be back, I have to admit.
If anyone finds this interesting, or you try this out yourelf, then do comment below! I'd be interested to see what you make of it! =]

Love B xxxxx

Aloha!

So I decided that a welcome post was needed, seeing as I've been AWOL for so long that you all may have forgotten me.

Hi.
I'm Bekki, 20 years old, red-ish hair, blue eyes, completely mad.
For those of you who do have no clue who I am (complete blog revamp), then I am from what was formerly called "The Ghost of Dragons Past". Wow, that was a bit of a mouthful.

So now I am "Tophats and Trousers", although it could equally have been called "All Cool and Possibly Slightly Unusual Headwear and Comfy/Awesome Legwear" (don't worry, that was never really in the running for blog title!)

My last post was all the way back on April 1st. I always planned to do another, but never got round to it. It's been a very busy time.

What have I been upto since then? Finished one course, started another, entered a competition, did some work experiencey things, spent lots of money, enhanced my hair skills, acted in a couple of plays, had a tea party, baked a lot, bought some art, made some art....and the list goes on!

Right now:
I'm near the beginning of a foundation degree in Theatrical Makeup.
I'm a World Skills Media Makeup UK Finallist (didn't place in the finals, but got into the UK top 10).
I'm discovering myself and embracing the positives.
I'm enjoying doing hair more often, and very often sport a retro look.
I'm working working working.

So yes, this is my "HI, I'M STILL HERE" post. Hopefully this is the start of me getting back into the swing of things. But I'll still not be blogging quite as much as I would ideally like to be (busy times, y'know) but it will certainly be more often than....well...than not blogging. Haha.

How have you all been in my absence? Have I missed much?

Love B xxxxx

Bye Bye March!

I realise I haven't done a post for over a month. Was ready to do a makeup challenge post, but it really wasn't the best time for any of us. All 3 of us had been so busy, that one of us didn't have a look, one was having to recycle an old look, and I did one that looked awful, but never had time to change.

We were going to postpone it until today, but we've all been just as busy as ever. So instead I shall stick with the end of March post, and let you see our lovely faces as soon as possible.

1/ Sort Out My Life

I didn't get into acting school, so instead I'm going to spend 2 more years doing makeup (a foundation degree), during those 2 years, do a load of small acting courses, then after those 2 years apply to lots of acting schools. Hopefully at that point, if all goes to plan, I'll have more experience and more chance of getting in. I think this is a reasonable goal for the next few years.

2/ March College Work

1940's Makeup. This was really nervewracking seeing as my model was my teacher from last year. But I needn't have worried: she had a great face to work on, lovely long thick hair, and we had a lovely catch up.

 Big Fat Gypsy Wedding inspired makeup for our end of year show. As I was lacking a model, the lovely girl who was doing the hair for my "film" look, stepped in at the last minute.

 This was my "film" look for my end of year show. I teamed up with a hairdresser who styled the hair, and I did the makeup and body art. This look won me first place in the theme. Hurray!

 And a couple of snapshots from the day. On the left there's the 3 of us on the catwalk. And on the right, the hairdresser, Jess, and I working on the film theme makeup.

3/ Band of the Month

I've been re-listening to Gorillaz lately, especially "Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head" because it's less of a song and more of a mini story. Quite a sad story actually. Poor Happy Folk.
But yes, Gorillaz are fab. They're quite a fun band to listen to, and very rarely get bored of.

4/ Film of the Month

I haven't actually seen any new films this month, so I'm going to go with one that I watched for the thousandth time (not literally) on the 31st. And that film is Galaxy Quest! I love this film so much. It has a fantastic cast (Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shaloub, Justin Long, Tim Allen, etc.) and is a brilliant mix of sci-fi, comedy and action.
If you haven't seen this film, I cannot recommend it enough. Yes, it's a little cheesy, but who cares! It's a family film that I'm never going to grow tired of.

5/ Event of the Month

My Nan and Grandad's 50th (golden) wedding anniversary.
It's hard for me to comprehend being with someone for 50 years, as I havent even experienced living for half of that. But it was a lovely day with all of the family there to celebrate the occasion. Nan and Grandad seemed to enjoy themselves, and they look just as lovely together now as they did on their wedding day.

6/ Beauty "Fad" of the Month

Urghhhh---beauty has been the least of my worries this month. I've been stuck in between college, work, interviews, family and money issues that I haven't bothered all too much with my looks. But one thing I have been doing is drinking a lot of green tea. Specifically Tetley's Green Tea with Pomegranite.
Yummy. It's quite lovely, and they do say that green tea is good for you. As is pomegranite. So this can go under my beauty fad. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to report on next month!

Next Month's Goal: Camp NaNoWriMo

As some of you may know, NaNoWriMo is "National Novel Writing Month" held in November (I believe) and you have a target of 50,000 words to write in that month.
In the month of April, there is Camp NaNoWriMo where you set your own word limit for a month and can write whatever you want: Novels, Poetry, Essays, Blogs, Whatever!
So I'm going to aim for 1,000 words a day on whatever I want. So one day I might write a 1,000 poem, another I might write a 1,000 blog post, and then I may spend several days writing several thousand words of a novel.

That's All Folks!

So this month has been a very busy time. April I hope holds more sleep than I've had for a while, and in turn more blogging and work done.

Hope that this month holds great things for you all! =]

Love B xxxxx

Bye Bye February!

Another month gone, a new month arrived.

And that means another end of month post (hurray, some structure on what to write!)
So here is my February Review.

1/ Prepare for my acting school audition.

This was a tricky one, because it was comprised of so many parts.
Firstly, to get fit. Well, I have been going down the gym regularly. My muscles have strengthened and my fitness has risen. I feel fitter and healthier, but not thinner at all. But my goal was fit, not thin, so I'm happy with my performance there.
Then, to learn and prepare 2 monologues. Monologue learning is one of my favourite things to do, and I find it not too hard, so that's nice. I have learnt my monologues and attempted to prep, but it's still pretty hard to judge how well I've prepped.
Dye my hair and buy my train ticket: Done and Done!
So all in all, I think I've achieved my goal somewhat, which is nice. Successful month #2.

2/ February College Work

 My first attempt at camoflague makeup. Here I've camoflagued some stretch marks. Not too shabby an outcome, I'd say.

This month I didn't have many official assessments for college, but with the college I did enter 2 of the Warpaint Makeup Competitions at Professional Beauty Excel (London). I didn't win anything, but it was a fun day out, a great experience and a wonderful chance to meet some of the pros in the industry, including Gary Cockerill and Paul Merchant who both seem like truly lovely guys.

Here's the lovely Faye and her model for the competition. She came 3rd in the Illusion category. It was wonderful to see her win and achieve some recognition for her amazing work. I'm a very proud friend here, I must say. Go Faye!

3/ Band of the Month

This month: Fun. I've loved Fun for a long while, but this month I have really fallen for them. Nate's voice is fantastic, and when you watch him sing he just looks like he's enjoying it an awful lot.
The first image is linked to their Live Lounge cover of "Somebody I Used To Know", and the second one is linked to a live acoustic version of "We Are Young". Brilliant songs.

4/ Film of the Month

I was going to see Wreck It Ralph, which I was so excited about, but unfortunately due to "technical issues" the showing that I was going to was cancelled. So instead, it was a toss up between viewing Les Mis for the first time, or watching Cabin In The Woods for the second time.
This month I've gone for Cabin In The Woods! Because, unlike Les Mis, there were no points that I was bored, I was laughing hard and often, and the behind the scenes extras helped me in an interview.
If you like horror, comedy and epic cameos, then I would suggest this film to you.
If you hate gore or unicorns (yes, there is a unicorn) then steer clear.

5/ Event of the Month

Valentines Day! As much as I'm not the biggest fan of valentines day (I work in a card shop, so it's very busy. Also, I'm not in a relationship, so you'd imagine it to be a tad lonely), this year was the second year that I got to spend it on a "date". This year my dat-ee was the lovely Charley (from Glitters Like Snow). We went out for a lovely meal, gave each other presents, drooled over our pretty-boy waiter, and then went on to watch Les Mis (fairly good, but much too long. I cant remember the last time I've been to the cinema and felt bored through parts of a film. That said, overall it was a good watch).

It was a lovely and totally un-lonely evening!

6/ Beauty "fad" of the month

Natural-looking skin. Yes, not plastering on foundation all over my face to conceal my skin tones and flaws underneath. This month has been the month of showing my pink cheeks, chicken pock scars, under eye circles and sprinkling of freckles. I either used a tined moisturiser or, from about the end of the month when I took a wander down to Covent Garden, MAC's Studio Fix.

Next Month's Goal: Sort Out My Life

Now, I don't mean that in a "urgh my life sucks" kind of way.
What I mean is, if I get into acting school then I need to be looking at student finance and accomodation for September, and if I don't get into acting school then I have to figure out what I'm going to do next. Whether I am going to try for a different acting uni, stay studying makeup (either at home or elsewhere), or whether I should work for a year and try for a 4th time.
I'm not so good at organising my future, and the reality of becoming an adult terrifies me (despite the fact that as of July I won't be a teenager anymore), so this is going to be a challenging goal. I don't know how I'll do, but I shan't know until I try, so here I go!

That's All Folks!

And thats my February review. I think February was a good month, despite it being a little stressful what with competitions, interviews, etc. I'm both looking forward and dreading March. Another busy month with more competitions, more makeup, more everything!

Hope your February has been good too.

Love B xxxxx

Makeup Challenge 4: Spring/Summer Collections 2013

It's been 2 weeks since my last post. I have no excuses. I've just been busy so it hasn't felt like that long. But it has been. And for that I apologise.

Right, back to the topic. This week our makeup challenge is "Spring/Summer Collections 2013". So basically, we all looked at our favourite collections from this season and created a makeup look based around that collection.

It was good fun, especially since it is pretty much the same brief as one of the competition themes at this year's Excel Professional Beauty Show. So it was nice to get a little chance to practise the sort of thing I want to do.

Unfortunately, this time, Elle from Good Morning Angel hasn't had chance to do and photograph her look, so she wont be on here (but if she gets it done over the next couple of days, I will get the pictures on here.)

The Girls:

Charley from Glitters Like Snow.
Bekki from The Ghost Of Dragons Past (me!).

The Looks:

Charley (Louboutin)

Me (Jean Paul Gaultier for Vogue)

Our next theme will be "Cosmic" because everyone loves a space makeup!

As per usual, this is open for anyone else to have a go too. If you do want to, then comment on here and email me pics to rebecca.l.johnson26@googlemail.com by Monday 4th March. If not, then it'll be the 3 of us as per usual!

Thanks for reading. Hope you liked the makeups! =]

Love B xxxxx