A Beginner's Guide To SFX Makeup

Now I don't claim to be a SFX makeup artist, but I first picked up some SFX makeup two years ago and I haven't looked back since. I used good ol' Youtube to teach myself the basics, starting with simple bullet wounds and abrasions, and after two years of practice and a lot of aspiring to be like my new Youtube queen Mykie, I can now make it looks like my entire face is peeling off to a rather convincing standard. No biggie. I really, really enjoy everything gory and squeamish isn't a word in my vocabulary, so around this Halloweeny time of year I'm totally in my element.

I've done quite a few basic SFX videos in my time on Youtube, but I figured I would compile a blog post consisting of everything a beginner in SFX makeup would need to help all you guys out there who don't know where to start. It's a bit of a minefield. 

Wax: Wax is my best friend when it comes to any special effects look, it's the best choice for creating those realistic deep wounds and cuts. I'm a big fan of the Ben Nye Nose and Scar Wax nowadays, but when I was starting out the Snazaroo Special FX Wax was my go-to.

Latex: This is a bit of a must-have multiple-use item, but it's particularly useful for blending out the edges of wax to a more natural finish and combined with a little tissue, it's my favourite way of creating burn looks. I use the Kryolan Liquid Latex.

Fake blood: Duh. This one is self-explanatory. Where there's gore, there's blood. I'll admit I'm a bit of a fake blood snob, and I have found that the cheaper fake bloods do tend to look orange and they peel when they dry. Shudder. The Ben Nye Scab Blood is where it's at, it's more of a congealed, thicker, darker blood and it's just the best.

Cream colours: Now you can totally just use eyeshadow for any SFX looks, however I personally couldn't do any gore looks without my trusty Kryolan 4 Colour SFX Wheel in 'Old Age'. The red shades are just perfect for creating that burnt/crusty/dead/anything gross look on any SFX look ever. 

Red lipstick: See above; if you can't afford a proper colour wheel, get the right shade red lipsticks and you're laughing. I relied on my red lipstick collection for a whole year when I was doing SFX makeup and it served me well. The experts may have a different opinion on this, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?

Foundation: Whether you're using wax or latex or anything else, it's not gonna look natural unless it's the same shade as your skin now, is it? I've had a lot of trial and error with finding the perfect foundation to use over SFX makeup; liquid is too wet, mousse looks like you've just layered, well, mousse over everything, and powder ain't going to be covering anything. The Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick is the best, it's just the right consistency and the stick form makes it easy to use around the awkward contours of your new grossness.

Vaseline: Strange, but true. You handle wax too much, it's going to get too warm and then it's no good to use for anything. It's a whole sticky messy situation. A trick I picked up on is when handling wax, put a bit of vaseline on your fingers and it's so much easier to shape and use. Trust me, wax and vaseline should come hand in hand. 

I hope this helps some of you, and have a look at a couple of my Halloween tutorials on Youtube for some inspiration on how to get started:

A Week In Dubai

I took my camera to Dubai with me with full intents to vlog and photograph the entire holiday, but when I was there I realised that I didn't want to. I decided (for the most part) to cut myself off from technology, to not worry about shoving my holiday all over social media and just live in the moment, something which is really foreign to me. I found it so relaxing to leave my phone and camera locked away in the hotel rooms safe, grab a book and just have some time out. So I apologise for the lack of photos, and for the only photos I do have being hurried iPhone snaps, but they do bring back some lovely memories.

We stayed at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and I would totally recommend it to anyone. I have a severe phobia of lifts and they were every single staff member was accommodating and helpful, giving us a room on the first floor and throwing in an upgrade to a beach-view suite (?!?!) while they were at it. The hotel was incredible and I'm counting down the days until I get to go back. It has it's own waterpark and I miss sleeping my days away in 40 degree heat on the lazy river.

The only time we needed to venture away from the hotel was to pay a visit (okay, two visits) to the Dubai Mall. Let me tell you, you ain't ever seen extravagance until you've been to Dubai. They had more shops than I've ever seen in my life, a entire floor dedicated to food (the dream), massive waterfalls, a dancing fountain display, an ice rink, and it's own souk. I felt like a kid in a toy store. Or an adult in the biggest freaking mall in the world. 

I love Dubai.

Shade & Light

I went into Sephora to get the Tarte Tartelette palette and I left with the Kat Von D Shade & Light palette; my logic being that as they didn't have Tartelette in stock, I couldn't leave matte palette-less. Duh. I was a little bit disappointed when I left the store Kat Von D-in hand, but let me tell you, it's been one of the best disappointments I've ever experienced!

The Shade & Light Eye palette consists of 12 matte shades, all of which I would describe as very autumnal colours, mostly brown and reds. The thing I love most about this is the base colours being in bigger pans, they base shades are usually always the first to run out and I think Kat (yeah that's right, we're on first name basis) has really listened to the needs of us beauty consumers when designing her makeup range, something so refreshing.

Another unique selling point of this palette - the different shade ranges. The palette features cool-toned shadows all grouped together, the neutral tones together and my personal favourites, the warm toned shadows together so you know which shades are going to match. Being an olive-skinned gal - yes I have got olive skin, I have a medical condition that makes me ghostly pale okay - the warm-toned shades are where it's at. 'Lucius' is a warm reddy-brown which I have been throwing on my lids near enough every day for the past month, and it gets bonus points for it's Harry Potter-esque name. 'Laetus' is also a really unique shade. Peachy eyeshadows are hard to come by and this one is really flattering on the lids! Of course they're my two favourites but I genuinely don't think I have a least favourite shade in the palette, they all get fair usage from me don't you worry. 

All in all, it's a wonderful palette. The shadows are super buttery and blend like a dream, and the majority of them are crazy pigmented. I do however find 'Shax' to be a bit lacking on the pigmentation front, it's very difficult to get a black shadow to please me as they all tend to lean a bit to the grey side. If you're a matte shadow lover then this is the palette for you, and the gothic-style packing is giving me all the feels. I'm just a little vamp at heart.

Georgia

xxx

12 Things I've Learnt From RuPaul's Drag Race

Welcome to my newest obsession and all round new lifestyle: RuPaul's Drag Race. If you love the gaudy, the bitchy, the fabulous, darling, then this is the show for you. I've always been an advocate for literally anything LGBT and anything camp so really it's a surprise it took me so long to jump on this bandwagon. I'm really not kidding when I say this is possibly the best TV show of all time (sorry Vampire Diaries). Formatted like America's Next Top Model, but with drag queens. Like, duh. There's the showgirl, there's the avant-garde, there's comedy queens, there's the fashion queens. They're all freaking awesome.

So here are the following things I have learnt from my back-to-back binging of RPDR on Netflix, and I don't regret a single second. I'm on season 4 so I've got a while to go, but this journey truly is fierce.

Makeup is magic. Seriously. You learn how to apply that contour, you get that cut crease on point, you figure out how to make your face work for you, and you can be literally anyone you want to be. The more makeup the better, just shove it all on, beat that face. Makeup can give you the power to enhance what you already have, or turn what you already have into something else entirely. Screw natural, drag is where it's at. And if in doubt, glitter. You'll look sickening*.

 'If in doubt, freak 'em out'. Nothing good comes from being ordinary. Queens win because they're different, because they're extraordinary. Dressing like a pageant girl ain't gonna get you nowhere, you've got to be creative, you've got to be adventurous, and you've got to stand out from the crowd. Even if it means bleeding from the mouth as you sashay down the runway a la Sharon Needles. You better werk, girl.

 Drag truly is an art form, it's a visual art. Drag has a reputation as being totally camp (which is can be) and a bit of a joke (which again, it can be), but it continues to blow me away how these men transform themselves with nothing more than experimentation with makeup, fabrics and well thought-out personas. You forget that in the majority of cases, these are purely characters. The creativity astounds me and I can only hope that put in the same situation, I would be able to match up.

Wigs should be a thing. Why aren't wigs a thing? My hair would be truly fabulous every day if wigs were a thing. Just look at Ru.

Raja is the Queen. Yes they're all drag queens, but Raja will always be number one. If you haven't watched the show yet (erm, why?), the beauty of Raja will not yet have been bestowed upon you. She is everything I want to be: fierce, talented, fearless and out there to win. (Top tip: season 3 is the best season, thank me later) (Also, Manila Luzon)

Learn to read. In drag terms, the art of 'reading' is throwing shade to someone's face. Being passive aggressive to a person, instead of behind their back? That's something I can get behind. It's the skill of using your wit to call out another Queen's weakness, but it's all taken lightheartedly. I'm actively practising not being two-faced and telling someone when I have a problem, but for some reason that's more frowned upon than the former. The library should be open for all. (For the best reading, just see Jujubee)

Learning how to lip sync may just save your life. For those unfamiliar with the show, the contestants in the bottom two in each episode have to 'lip sync for their life'. A skill which few perfect, but get it right and you too can be a fully fledged queen. Even if you're just having a down day, put on 'Champion' and lip sync fo' yo' life.

If in doubt, pineapple dress. Manila got this one so right.

Know your own strengths. Something I've picked up on season after season in Drag Race is that each Queen comes in with their own personal style. They then get criticised for doing the same sort of thing every week, so they change it up, inevitably end up in the bottom two because they're not working it, then go back to their original style and (mostly) end up winning. You need to know what your good at and you need to stick at it. Everyone has their personal style, it's just you.

Do whatever it is you need to do to feel fabulous. Nobody ever quite got me when I was growing up, I think a lot of people always thought of me as that weird kid who was too shy to speak. But through fashion and makeup I've learnt how to express myself even when my brain doesn't quite let me get the words out. When I'm wearing the right clothes, I find I can put on a persona and be who I want to be. I think that's the beauty of drag, it allows you to be whoever it is you feel like you are inside.

If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen up in here? RuPaul's mantra, and perhaps the most important message from the show. You've got to love yourself, no matter how weird and wacky you are. You do you, and you love you.

And finally...

Georgia

xxx

(*sickening: when someone looks so good it makes you feel sick)

(Gif overload? Sorry bout it.)

Aruba Blue

Today's post is just a quick heads up on possibly my favourite nail varnish ever. I know I say that a lot but I really mean it this time, okay?! I was on one of my lunch break browses around Boots and spotted this beautiful pearlescent blue shade screaming out to me on the Essie stand, and of course I had to have it.

When I say I have no other shades even similar to this, I mean it. I'm usually more of a mauve-y, dusky pink, 'granny colour' kinda gal, but for some reason this called to me. Two coats leaves you with a perfectly opaque royal blue with a pearly shine and it lasted three whole days on me before it began to chip, which is completely unheard of on my brittle nails. I even got compliments on the shade and people asking me where I got my nails done! Crazy, because my nails are all kinds of gross.

I just figured it's my duty as a general internet-beauty-person to share this beauty with you. Go buy it, I dare you.

'Georgia Pops Into Boots...'

In this week's edition of 'Georgia pops into Boots', I went in to grab a new Soap & Glory Archery Brow Pencil as mine had run out (that's right, I actually used a product up). What ensued was a rather mad dash around Boots on my lunch half-hour and £35 very swift disappearing out of my bank account. But it's all totally justifiable.

As mentioned, I picked up a new Archery from Soap & Glory. This pencil/spooly combo is a dead-on dupe for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz and comes in at about £8 less, and I find it lasts a lot longer too. I can get one of these babies to last at least 2 and a half months of daily use before I need to buy a new one.

Also on the make-up wavelength, I decided to pick up a couple of the Rimmel Lasting Finish lip liners as I've heard rumours that they rival the MAC liners. The shade 'Spice' looks vaguely similar to the elusive MAC 'Soar' and 'Black Tulip' looks as if it will be the perfect pairing for my autumnal berry lip shades.

My trip to the Essie stand was a short one. The shade 'Aruba Blue' immediately caught my eye and was in my basket faster than I could blink. A beautiful pearlescent royal blue and the perfect summer - autumn transition shade.

Another product that I genuinely needed to pick up (promise) was a new Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. I do prefer Bioderma but the £5 price tag on the Garnier means that it tends to win out every time. It's gentle, good for removing eye makeup and doesn't break the bank.

Finally (and possibly most exciting) is the Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Gel. I haven't seen this in store before and I haven't heard anything about it online, so I figured it's my duty as a blogger to pick this up and see what the deal is, right? My last brush cleanser has just run out so it's the perfect time to give this a go and I'll let you know my verdict when next brush washing day comes around, which is more than overdue and probably still won't happen for a while. We all have our beauty vices and mine is not washing my brushes. Ugh.

Let me know if you enjoy these mini blog hauls or if you'd rather I waited and did massive hauls on my YouTube channel!

Autumn Berries

With Autumn just around the corner, I feel like it is only right that I give you all a heads up on the ultimate autumnal lip colours. Deep red/plummy/purple-y/autumn-y lip colours are my thang. I'm a bit of a baby vamp at heart.

First up we have MAC 'Rebel', the ultimate autumn lip. As you can tell by the teeny tiny nub of lipstick left, I wear this a lot. Slightly different from the other two lipsticks, it's more of a pinky purple and one that never fails to get me a compliment every single time I wear it. You can dab it on for a stain-like colour, or layer it up with lip liner for a real punch of colour.

Topshop lipsticks are crazy underrated in the beauty world, they have a huge range of shades and they definitely rival MAC in terms of formula. 'Beguiled' is my absolute favourite shade from the range and it's a nightmare to get my hands on so whenever I see one on the shelves I make sure I snatch it up quick. It's more of a deep wine shade and has a beautiful pearlescent sheen when it sets on the lips. You can keep laying it for a really deep vampy shade, which I love to do for nights out.

Finally, we have L'Oreal Colour Riche lipstick in 'Mon Jules'. I've done a full review here so I won't ramble on, but it's the most 'red' shade of the three but leans more towards the berry side than your classic red. The first time I used this I was amazed at how long it lasted on my lips and it's perfect if you're going for a classy meal out and don't want to worry about the embarrassing faded-lipstick situation. 

What's your favourite autumn lip colour?