Iron Violet

The title looks a little like a variation on "Steel Magnolias," doesn't it? Just me? Ok. I just got back from seeing "Iron Man 3" and I'm actually not disappointed, although you know I went in with pretty low expectations. In my opinion, it was the best in the triology, although a couple of the highlights for me were just Rebecca Hall and Pepper's white suit. I'm half joking. I might also have enjoyed it more simply because I haven't seen a superhero movie in quite a while and sometimes it's nice to just watch a really, genuinely cool action flick.

I almost titled this post "Lobsta Killa" which probably won't make sense to anyone here. One of my favourite films is "Julie and Julia" (starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) and there's a scene in which Amy's character has to cook a live lobster. She imagines a voice calling "lobster killer" to her, which her husband chooses to haunt her with as he lurks around the kitchen watching her cook. How did I just make the story of two foodies into a movie that sounds like it was directed by Hitchcock? It's actually great and so hilarious, and what inspired me to buy the sweater I'm wearing in these pictures.

MAC zoom lash mascara in "Black"

Eyes: lighest grey in E.L.F everyday palette, MAC pigment in "Violet"

Jeans: American Eagle

Sweater: F21

Any big movie plans on the horizon? I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks because of "Star Trek" and "The Great Gatsby" coming out back to back!

-C

Standing out as though sugared

Today's title is an adapted quotation from A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun, which I am currently reading. I found the idea of something "sugared" a pleasant one, evoking sweetness and a sort of frozen brilliance; the arrested beauty of the rose from "Beauty and the Beast" comes to mind. I spent this morning dealing in equal parts with something "frozen" and "brilliant." At my mother's behest, I was out picking raspberries at a local farm. Seeing as this has been the first cooler day for a while, it felt quite comfortable to be out in shorts and a t-shirt. However, this sensation quickly evaporated as the weather turned from just pleasantly cool to pouring down rain. I was totally drenched and chilled to the bone, but at least I have a whole container of fresh raspberries to show for it!

I took this early one just to demonstrate how amazing this mascara is! The flash made the colour a bit stark. Face: MAC select SPF 15 foundation in NW15; Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo"

Eyes: a purpley-taupe from the E.L.F. everyday basic palette; Lancôme hypôse drama mascara in "Black"; E.L.F. liner in "Brown"

Luckily, I wasn't planning on taking any OOTD pictures outdoors today because the weather would definitely have spoiled that idea before it even got off the ground. Instead, I'll leave you with some quick FOTD shots I took to go with the outfit images I posted yesterday.

Lips: EOS lip balm in "Sweet Mint" (because the lipstick is a bit drying); MAC creamsheen lipstick in "Speak Louder"

Hope you're all staying warm and dry! Do you have any plans for getting outdoors this weekend?

-C

Only my eyes, for your eyes only

Today's title is a combination of a description of this post and the title of a James Bond film/short story (the second, by Ian Fleming). It's another stifling day here and I spent the afternoon at an outdoor cultural festival. My skin is not always a big fan of the hot weather; I have combination skin and the top of my nose gets quite dry thanks to the recent oppressiveness of the sun. Because of this, on days when it's so sticky and hot outside, I typically use a fairly limited amount of makeup, and hardly ever any face products. 

To provide a fresh FOTD (I realize I haven't done one in a while), I thought I'd do my eyes anyway, just keep in mind there are no products on the rest of my face. Also, I have a lot of freckles, which is something I never try to hide. I accrue them copiously during the summer months and absolutely love them!

Eyes: a very pale purple from the E.L.F. everyday basics palette; Lancôme hypôse drama mascara in "Black"; MAC eyeshadows in "Amber Lights" and "Creme de Violet"

I don't wear as much eye makeup as often as I used to. I usually try to during school, but I find that my attempts peter out around second term. I really like wearing it though, so I thought today I might as well! The above picture doesn't quite do justice to the vibrance of the two MAC shades I've used. From what I've seen, "Amber Lights" is a fairly popular colour, so for those of you who use it, you know how goldy-orange metallic it really is. "Creme de Violet" is a very beautiful purple, but I've built it up because I find it fairly sheer otherwise. This might look like a crazy amount of colour to some, but I happen to have what I've seen described as "hooded eyes"; basically, when I open my eyes, I have a small space of eyelid below my crease so it's difficult to see eye makeup there unless I pull the colour up higher. . .

. . . so when I open my eyes, most of the colour vanishes!

I'll be putting up the accompanying OOTD tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!

-C

Unscrewing the stars

From a movie about death and destruction in space, to one centring around an undying Italian love, I've made a bit of a jump in terms of my film choices over the past 24 hours. Surprisingly, or maybe not since it does sound a bit fluffy, the quotation I've adapted for my title comes from the latter of the two. It's actually from a rather romantic speech in the film "La Tigre e la Neve" (or "The Tiger and the Snow" in English). Since I'm studying Italian, I've been trying to give myself some sort of practice over the summer, and I find that film and music are two of the easiest and most accessible ways to do that. 


I had mixed hopes for this particular film; I knew that it was written and directed by (and also starred) Roberto Benigni, whom you may know from the extremely moving WWII film "La Vita è Bella." However, after bringing the DVD home from the library (yes, I am that cool that I rent foreign films from the public library), I read a few reviews of the film online (something I maybe should have done as a peremptory measure) and to put it simply, none of them were positive. "Oh well," I thought, "Italian is Italian, and I need the practice." Boy, am I glad I gave this one a chance. To me, the film was everything a film should be. It was topical without smacking you over the head with irate humanitarian insistence. It was touching without giving you that nearly sick-to-your-stomach feeling a glossy Hollywood rom-com might leave you with. Finally, it was funny. That classic Benigni humour had a wonderful way of tying together the other two big characteristics. His role as Attilio de Giovanni had that sort of quirky sweetness so typical of his characters, but so fresh and genuine that it just dazzles you.


Since I'm hoping this positive review leaves us all in a good place ("spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically". . . who can resist quoting Captain Jack Sparrow?), I thought I would tack a FOTD onto this post. So, this is what my face looked like on the way to see Prometheus last night. If only I had looked so calm and happy throughout, but I rather doubt that! I feel like, for the next little while at least, I'm going to stick in the much more comfortable realm of Italian romance and dream of "unscrewing the stars" rather than travelling to them and being viciously destroyed by aliens. On that note, ciao i miei amici!

Face: MAC select SPF 15 foundation in NW15; Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo"

Lips: C.O. Bigelow mentha lip tint in "Magent Mint"

Eyes: three shades from the E.L.F. everyday basics palette (sparkly white, peach, matte brown); Lancôme hypôse drama mascara in "Black"

-C
P.S. The font size and spacing on this post seem to have shown up funny after I published it. Hopefully it doesn't bother anyone too much!

Flinging it off like an old shoe

I'm finding that Vanity Fair is a novel full of colourful metaphors. I almost wish I could personally thank Thackeray for the one that inspired my title today; the comparison of casting off a social aquaintance with violently flipping a worn out shoe off of your foot. I suppose that, in the dressing room of life, some days you're the shoe and some days you're the foot. Isn't one of those elements supposed to be obviously superior? You know, like the bug and the windshield. I guess in the foot-shoe relationship there are no winners. Now that I've gotten you sufficiently confused, and hopefully a little amused, let me wander back onto the track this post was meant to take.

The thing I wish that I could so easily "fling off" is having to do almost anything to my hair. I don't have straight hair, nor do I have curly hair. I have a sort of hybrid hair which is about 50% straight-ish, 50% wavy-approaching curly, and 100% thick. Combine this with the length (I'm in the process of growing out a pixie cut) and you can likely see the problem. It looks alright if I straighten it, but this must be done just as it dries, otherwise it's a big no go. Since it is summer and I don't have to make it look too polished every day, I've really been trying to give my hair's curly alter ego a fighting chance.

To do this, I've been using Mark Anthony Strictly Curls, although my hair doesn't exactly curl strictly. This product is classed as a "styling foam," and let me tell you, it feels delightful. It doesn't make my hair feel dirty or crispy, and it smells like lemon-lime. No joke. The scent alone makes me want to believe it will work for me. I've paired pictures of the effect on my hair with a quick FOTD, so if you don't like how I've done my hair, look at my makeup (and vice versa)!

Mark Anthony Strictly Curls

Face: MAC select SPF 15 foundation in NW15; Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo"

Lips: C.O. Bigelow mentha lip tint in "Magenta Mint"

Eyes: three shades from the E.L.F. everyday basics palette (pale purple, pink, plum); MAC fluidline in "Macroviolet"; Lancôme hypnose drama mascara in "Black"

-C