First day of Spring look: Road testing Etude house Base Makeup

Hi Sweethearts,

I thought I'd do a quick little post about my first dabble with my new Etude house Products from my hauls!

This is going to be pretty brief since I didn't get any good WIP shots of putting on each product, but I hope to do a video look using all of them together to come up with something nice :)

Here's what I used:

Primer: 

For my Primer I used the Etude House FaceBlur - this is heralded as a great product, and to be honest I totally agree.

It goes on a like creamy colour with pinky tones through it, which gives a youthful glow to the face.
I do feel like it does improve the look of my skin tone on its own, and some times I just use the product as a stand alone item when I'm in a rush.
It also leaves a dewy finish to the skin - nothing mattifying here, ladies! 

 BB Cream:

This my new BB cream that I chose from their online store.

   This is quite a medium - full coverage product and is quite thick and very creamy to apply. I got this product in the lightest shade, which is beige no.2 and was pleasantly surprised that it matched my skintone extremely well! I had a moment of panic that it would be far too dark for me and I'd have wasted my money and time on it.

It leaves the skin with a lovely, healthy, glowy, dewy finish, much like the face blur, so again it's not a mattifying product - but you can do as I have done and lightly powdered over it to set it in place.

Whilst I love the effect it has on the skin, my only gripe with it is that it doesn't stay so well on my problem area - my nose. I do have issues with a lot of products not lasting well on the tip on my nose since it's quite a combination type area - sometimes its super oily, others its super dry ....I can't win with it. >.<
 You also kind of have to be careful if you tend to rub your face randomly like me - it may rub off if you do so, so I think giving it a good powder/"bake" is going to be very useful to keep it perfect for longer.

I wonder if a setting spray might help it a little, but then again it's a pretty dewy, moisturising product, so maybe its better to 'bake' it a little. 

Concealer

This was a fun thing to apply!
 I'm very used to western concealers where I have to use a fair amount when they're liquid types with the wand, so I tried to apply the same amount as usual on my first try with this product...big mistake!

Massive mistake!

Seriously, this is super deceptive - Asian concealers and bases tend to be more creamy and spreadable than the western counterparts....which I have learned the hard way!

If you're heavy on the concealer like me, whatever you use normally - half it! I only needed to dot a tiny amount in the problem zones, and padded it out with my ring finger. I really love this - it concealed really really well and only uses a little bit of product, so it doesn't feel 'cakey' like my usual concealer can do if I'm having a particularly heavy handed "oh god my eyes look like rings of black death" morning >.< 

Blush

 I was absolutely itching to play with this! I absolutely adore the Play101 range, and have been wanting to get one of the sticks to try out since they came out - I might end up getting a few more!

This is pretty handy in regards to application - dot it on your face and blend it out with your ring finger, or beauty blender, or brush, or whatever you choose to use.

It goes on a pretty vivid colour that may make people wonder what they've let themselves in for, but once you blend it in it tends to sink into your skin and create a light, really natural tint of colour. It will apply brighter for lips and eyes, but that's down to not blending/less blending compared to using it as a blush.

I really like it for giving my skin a natural, glowy tint - I'm pretty sure these products make me look more youthful....in fact, I'm convinced of it.

I always feel a bit "ho hum, I'm getting on a bit" when I put my makeup on, but the effect these give, it makes me feel lighter, brighter, fresher and younger - can't knock that, can we?


For the rest of the look I used my regular max factor pan stick for contouring (I want a play 101 one now instead) and my sleek cream highlighters (won't be parting with those)

For my eyes I used my 144 makeup revolution palette, with their golden lights highligher powder in the middle of the eye,
etude house crystal tear liner (which I cant stop buying), 
brown play 101 pencil for under eyes,
black play 101 pencil for my top waterline.
Maybelline Colossal Mascara
Rimmel Eyebrow pencil and w7 clear mascara

Lipwise, I used a combo of the lip tint and lipstick that came with my haul - but I'm going to do a separate post on the other items, and a more in depth look at the play 101 stick.

Hopefully you enjoyed this little run down of my simple little look, and if you have comments, questions etc, then you know what to do! Let me hear your thoughts!

Love,
         Kasumi x

Onee-Gyaru Makeup (Tutorial)

Hi Sweethearts,

Sorry for the lack of post last week! I was off on a trip back to visit my family in Germany, so didn't really have time to finish up my video posting, sorry! >.<'
(I'm going to post about my Germany Trip once I finish sorting through all the pictures that I took over there!)

So, after my eye incident, I've been having a break from Circle Lenses to let my eyes get back to fully functioning, and also having to avoid bottom lashes at the moment as they make my eyes water T_T

With that in mind, I've been seeing a good few Gyaru makeup looks that haven't used any bottom lashes, so I decided to give it a bit of a whirl and make a tutorial to go along with it!


Here are a couple of pictures of the makeup look (sorry, I didn't get round to styling my hair as it was a loooooooooooooooooooong day!) 

Here is the video to the tutorial, where I also put captions for my work process:

Link to Video incase you can't see the embedded version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXgtsSj2eSY&list=PL0edgT-pdM0BaSF0Oxhc19qZlsSnIFUWh&feature=player_detailpage

So, onto the products!


For the base (In order):
+ Etude House CC Cream
+ Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation
+ Max Factor Pan Stick (For contouring foundation)
+ Rimmel Hide the Blemish Concealer (also used for highlighting a bit)
+ Etude House Cupcake all over colour (Blush)
+ Rimmel Stay Matt Powder
+ MUA Bronzer (For contouring powder)
+ Make Up Revolution Baked Highlights (Highlighter)

Eye Makeup: 
+ w7 In the Nude Palette (cream/ light brown/ mid brown/ darkest brown)
+ Make up Revolution Liquid Liner (Black)
+ Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil
+ Etude House Play101 Pencil (Black)
+ Makeup Revolution Baked Highlights (Highlighter)
+ Etude House Crystal Tear Eyeliner
+ Miss Manga (top)& Miss Manga Punky (bottom) Mascaras

Lashes:
+Brit Rocks Perfect Girl - Drama Queen

Lips: 
+ Mua Lip Liner
+ Etude House Dear my Wish Liptalk Lipstick

Wow, now that I've written it all down, it looks like a LOT of makeup, right?
 I do have to confess to being a product fanatic, though I never really realise just how many items I use until I have them all written down...oops!

Anyway, I hope that you watch and like my video tutorial - I was also thinking about doing pictorials for my looks to go with my blog postings if anyone is interested in that? Let me know your thoughts below!

Love,
          Kasumi x

Monday night at the movies

Hi Sweethearts,

I haven't done a lifestyle update in a while, so I thought this would add another side to my blogging. Also with my upcoming trip back to Germany that I'd like to blog about, it's a chance to see what I like doing in my free time.

Last Monday my BF & I arranged to go on a date evening after I finished work.
 We haven't been out to Glasgow for a while, so took the free evening as a good opportunity to do so.

Like an excited child, I desperately wanted to see Jurassic World at the Cinema. However, because I'm a ridiculous childish person at times, so I really wanted the full Dinosaur experience at Cineworld....not only in 3D, but with D-Box seats! Everytime a Dino stomped, our seats would vibrate - it was so cool!
*stomp stomp stomp*

I really enjoyed the movie, even more so with the full experience, and have totally decided that I need a Raptor in my life....but the Mister says I'm not allowed T_T

Before the movie, we went for a Blue Monday trip to Yo!Sushi at House of Frazers.
 For anyone that knows me, this is usually a bad (and costly) idea as I will eat everything in sight, and fight with you over the last piece on the plate >.>  <,<
 My Absolute Favourite thing to eat is Takoyaki, and this time we settled on getting 2 portions so that we didn't fight over them!
 They had a few new things on the menu, one of which was Pumpkin Katsu ....and oh my, it was absolutely delicious! I'm not usually a pumpkin person, but it was so tasty that we had to get another round of it!

Here's a little collage of our evening, including a sneaky pic of the Mister (please excuse the obligatory bathroom selfie)!

Love,

 Kasumi x

Hair Transformation time - my first time getting extensions!

Hi Sweethearts,

So, this week I really wanted to chat about my latest transformation: My hair makeover.

Ever since I first went back to basics with my hair colour, I've felt increasingly upset and unhappy about it - sadly, it ruined my self confidence.
Gone are the funky, bright, fun coloured looks, and instead I feel like I've been fading into the background...and my bpd traits don't like it when I'm not in the spotlight (despite hating the spotlight at the same time, it's a strange cycle.) 
So I finally bit the bullet and went for a hair overhaul!

Sadly I can't risk bleaching my hair again, so I decided to finally give into temptation and get some extensions from the lovely Bracken at Candy Locks. (Click here to go to her page)


How my hair looked before (and a outfit pic) : 

Cardigan: Ebay
Top, belt & shoes: Primark
Jeans: New look

What Type of Extensions did I get?
After my initial consultation, I got 18inch long Keratin bond extensions as my hair is fine, in 2 shades of reddy-brown.

These Extensions are UK-based, Beautyworks Celebrity Choice bonds, and should last up to 6months, provided I take good care of them (which I will, I absolutely adore them!) 

Here are a couple of in-progress shots of the bonds being installed. Having them installed was completely painless (for some reason, I had expected it to hurt) & they don't show through my own hair at all.

 As you can see, I couldn't help taking pictures as I was so excited to finally have the long, thick locks that I've been lusting after for years!

Finished Results: 

I took a little picture of them when they were first installed and all straight, as I knew instantly I wanted to have them curled or in waves for the duration of the time I have them in.

Please ignore my fringe here, as the style part hadn't happened yet! 

Now for some pictures of my amazingly lovely princess locks all styled up! 

Pros & Cons: 

Pros: 

• Long, thick, lovely locks
• Easy to style & holds curls/waves well without hairspray
• Lasts a good amount of time (usually the same amount of time it takes me to get bored of something) 
• Painless installation
• Blends well with own hair
• Massive confidence booster for me
• Silky smooth feeling

Cons:

• I'll miss them when they're gone
• Requires proper aftercare/maintenance to keep them looking lovely
• A bit tender to sleep on to begin with due to being new
• Not for those on a tight budget as it's a pretty big investment. 

Final Verdict:

I think we all know what I'm going to say here - I'm absolutely besotted with my new locks, and can't thank Bracken enough for doing them for me!


Love,
          Kasumi 

Etude House Review pt2 - Mint Choc Chip & Coral

Hey Sweethearts,

Finally getting round to part 2 of the Etude House Makeup & Skincare product reviews...trying to use them for different looks instead of just a swatch and a chat.

This time round, I created a mint-choc-chip cut eye makeup, and then teamed it with a coral lip. 

So, for this look I used these Etude items from my Haul:

Mint Green (left) 

Firstly, for this look I wanted to test out the Look at my Eyes eyeshadow in that lovely minty green.
When I first tried to apply this to my eyes without any primer or a base, I found that whilst it was easy to come onto the brush, it looked barely there on my eyes which is a little disappointing.
 The most that you could see was the shimmer, as the colour was pretty much non-existent.

However, I then decided to apply a good base to my lids to give the shadow something to stick to, and pressed it on. When I applied it to my eyes in this method, that lovely light, minty green shade came through really well and it lasted the entire day which is really pleasing. 

Brown (shade 50)

Next up, I wanted to see how well I could create a cut crease using the play101 pencils as a base.

For this, I wanted to complement the green with a brown tone, so used the brown play101 pencil to draw in my crease. This went on extremely well, and created a nice thick line for me to blend out to create the base of the cut crease. Where possible, I like to use an eyeliner or eyepencil of some description to create a nice sharp crease.

Thereafter I set the play 101 pencil with a couple of shades of brown eyeshadow (from the w7 palette in my previous postings) to add a little depth and shimmer. 

 

For my lips, I was so excited to Try out the Dear my Wish Lips-talk in the Coral coloured shade.

I've never really thought that I would suit a coral lipstick, but I was quite surprised by how much I like it! It's a really lovely shade, and much like the shade23 play101 pencil, this just glides on your lips in such a strong, lovely, smooth consistency! It really is a total joy to apply.

I found that this lasts really well throughout the day, and only needed 1 top up during the day,after eating! Definitely looking into getting some more of these in various shades...I think there will be tears when this runs out!


Final Look: 

Here is the look I came up with, what do you all think? Have you used any of these products?
Let me know in the comments below! 

Love,
          Kasumi x

Etude House - Korean Cosmetics Haul!

Hi Sweethearts,

Sorry for the delay in getting this blog post to you - I've been hard at work lately and feeling really tired so haven't been able to focus properly to sit and write, sorry! >.<

I got a wonderful parcel from my super lovely and pretty friend Sah, who had been back in Korea and picked me up a surprise mix of Korean Cosmetics from Etude House! 

Those that know me personally, know all too well that I wax lyrical about Etude House, and get ridiculously excited every time I get some new products from them.

The reason?

The products are FABULOUS! Seriously, the quality of their products is amazing, especially given the extremely budget friendly price tags - and the packaging is ADORABLE!
    Etude wants to give ladies the Princess experience, and make applying makeup fun again, and not so much like a daily chore, and they've definitely got that down to a tee!

( C'mon girly girls - all the packaging is pink, cute and super feminine...what's not to love?)


I've recorded an un-boxing video to complement this post, which will be going live on my YouTube Channel later on in the week, once I've finished editing/clipping & removing all the terrible bloopers!
This is more of a general, show&tell, haul post, but I'll be going into details about the products with example looks that I've created using them over the next few posts - so please stick around for that!

So, let's get to it! 

Here is the package that arrived for me (I tore out the addresses, so no dodgy mail sending opportunities folks!) and I was SO EXCITED when the Postman arrived with it - I ended up running to the door with a yoghurt in one hand and the spoon in my mouth frantically trying to sign the electronic pad.

 I received this on a Thursday, but didn't have any time to record a video until Sunday, so I faced the super hard challenge of not opening it for a few days...I'm not quite sure how I managed it! >.<'

Packaging:

This is where the magic starts to happen! Sah also included the Bag that Etude pack your items in when you buy in store - and it's so cute!!!! It's an Etude House, House Bag...and it's pink & white!

One day I'll definitely travel to go into a real, physical Etude Store as they look just like their packaging!  Have a look at some of their stores on their story page:

http://www.etudehouse.com/index.php/brand/etudestory.html

I mean, seriously? How can you not find this utterly irresistible? 

Inside the Box:

The first thing I saw inside the box, was a cute Blue Rose, that I ended up clipping onto my jumper (sadly I didn't take a photo, but you can see it in the video) - it now lives on my living room table ^_^


Next up are these awesome looking Pomegranate Face Masks!
I haven't gotten round to trying these yet, but I'm looking forward to trying them out when I get some "me" time. Pomegranate is really great for you, and these masks are the cotton sheet variety which means they won't be a nightmare to get off (unlike other masks I've tried) which is even better!

This is the 2nd type of Face Mask that I got - Dr. Ampoule Dual Mask Sheet.

This is a 2 part face mask, where you first apply a serum to your face before applying the mask.
There are a few variants of this, but this one is the "Lifting Care" mask which I am really interested in trying out. I'm in my mid 20's, so I should really be paying more attention to my skin and doing my best to prevent the age related sagging/wrinkles that are already making an appearance. Unfortunately I'm really lazy with keeping up a proper routine, so I'm hoping these new products will give me the motivation I need to keep myself in check!

The last Skincare product from the box is the Baking Powder BB Deep Cleansing Foam.
 This one was actually a free gift that came with everything, so plus points for a freebie!

I've been looking for a cleanser to try and deal with my skin and properly remove makeup, so this looks promising. It's meant to be designed to remove BB cream from what I know, which is pretty hard to remove at times, so hopefully this will take off my inch thick makeup and shrink my pores a little.

Onto the Makeup Section!

First up on the makeup front is this adorable Dear My Wish Liptalk lipstick in a Coral colour (See top of box - OR201) 

This looks super adorable in its' pink container with a little bow in the middle where it opens! This is totally princessy and right up my street. Before I discovered Etude House, I didn't think such cute makeup was available - I definitely fell in love at first sight!
 I have a look in mind that will fit perfectly with this, so please stay tuned for it.

Also from the "Dear My" range is the Crystal Gloss in shade CPK001 which is a lovely sparkly pink colour.

I'm a huge lipgloss fan, so this is a perfect addition to my collection. From previous experience, I've found Etude's glosses to be great quality and lovely coloured, so I believe this will be no exception.
 Layering lipsticks and glosses is something that I like doing quite a lot, so it will be interesting to try this out and see how it goes.

Following on from the Lip specific products, this is the Sweet Recipe All Over Colour Cupcake in OR202 - Peach Sugar Cake.

This is ridiculously cute! Packaged in a mini cake box, the all over colour is in a cupcake decorated tin that's easy enough to pop into your purse and take with you.

 I absolutely love multi-purpose products, and I've had my eye on this for a long time now. As it says on the packaging, it's an all-over colour - so you can use it as a blusher (which is mainly why I picked it) a lip balm, or eyeshadow. It's pretty much the whole package.
 I've given this a little try, and it's defintely fast becoming something I'm going to use most days. It's a light creamy product, much like a good lip balm, but blends really well and feels completely weightless. I had wondered if it would be sticky, but it's absolutely perfect and gives me a wonderfully natural glow.  

These are the Play 101 Pencils, which I first heard about from a friend in Korea last year.
Play 101 Pencils are much like the All-over colour Cupcake, in that these can be used across your entire face/makeup look.
They can be your eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, blusher, lipliner, lipstick, eyeshadow - the choice is yours!
I will go on about these in a specific post, because after trying these I am completely in love. Seriously, these things are absolutely AMAZING!
 With 50 different colours/textures to choose from, you'll never be bored or out of inspiration!
I got these 3 in the photo below, 2 of which I intend on fusing together on my lips, after seeing a look on the main Korean Etude site, and a black as I had ran out of my last black liner pencil
Some of these products, whilst versatile, are slightly more geared towards certain elements of your makeup look, but they can still be used anywhere.

Having sampled these briefly because I couldn't help myself, I can honestly say that I need to collect all 50!

Lastly, I got a couple of eyeshadows from the Look At My Eyes range.

On the left is the from the Jewel Range, in shade GR705 which is a cool, minty green pearly shade.
The right hand side is also from the Jewel range, the shadow sparkly and a deep purple - shade: PP505.
 What's really sweet about these single shadows, is that the pressed shadow itself has little heart details on it! I tested out the mint one, and wow it's sparkly! It does require you to prime your eyes with either a primer, concealer, white eyepencil etc to give it something to adhere too and allow the colour to really pop, but they're such pretty colours and only a couple of pounds each so it's well worth experimenting with different colours.(there are loads to choose from!)

Final Thoughts: 

Phew! -_-' That was quite a lot to go through, right?

I am actually so grateful to my lovely friend for bringing me these back - I'm so excited to take some time to pamper myself and try out some really sweet new looks with my goodies!

Please stay tuned & subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the Unboxing video of me going through this for the first time - expect squealing, bouncing around and general excitement. (I get a bit over excited and sound like a small child...I promise I can be mature sometimes >.<)

I hope this little haul run-down has been good reading for you all, and maybe you've seen something you'd like for yourself? Please also stick around for the looks I create with my new supplies, including more in depth details about the products!

What products do you like best? Have you tried Etude? Let me know in the comments!

Love,

           Kasumi x

Love is in the Air - Valentines Day chatter

Hey Sweethearts!

I hope you're all doing well! ^_^

Love was most definitely in the air for Valentines' Day - did you all have a good day too?

VDay Gifts:

My lovely Bf surprised me this year with a card and a beautiful bouquet of flowers when he picked me up for our date on Saturday. I absolutely adore flowers, so this was super sweet!

_____________________________________________________________________

Makeup & Hair

I really wanted to have a romantic, girly look for our date this year, so drew my inspo from HimeKaji looks to create my Vday co-ord.

I used the same high ponytail that you all saw in last weeks blog, as I feel it suits me really well, though this time I kept my fringe full and curled the sides of my hair to add some more fun to the look. My makeup is my current favourite style of Gyaru makeup, using Princess Mimi Sesame Grey circle lenses, and a super cute pink lipstick and gloss that I picked up from Miss Sporty.
_______________________________________________________________________

Outfit/Co-ord

Moving on to my outfit choice!

This was a bit of a random match up in the morning as I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to wear
 >.< (girl problems) but I just knew it had to include my super cute shorts/fake skirt from River Island!
I'm pretty funny about wearing shorts a lot of the time, due to having super chubby legs, but when I saw these I fell in love - and they were on sale for £5! I think the shorts/skirt combo is great for me, as it  covers the tops of my thighs at the front which I'm most insecure about, but they're still shorts at the back.

Starting from the top: 
Hello Kitty Print Kanzashi flower hairclip from Yume Kanzashi (you can see it better in the middle of the image) 
Cream furry jacket: Jane Norman
Pink v-neck jumper: Jane Norman
White lace high neck tshirt: Primark
Watch: Sekonda
Bracelet: Won at Arcade
Crystal Belt: Primark
Tartan Shorts/Skirt: River Island 
Tights: Primark
Boots: Ebay + Self D.I.Y
____________________________________________________________________

Nails
When I picked up my last bargains from Primark, I spotted these false nails for £1 and impulse bought them in case of a girly outfit day, which turned out to be Valentines!
 I did add some cute pink crystals to the nails for that extra bit of sparkle too ^_^

______________________________________________________________

Our Date:

This year my Bf & I decided to head to Glasgow to do something fun, instead of just going for dinner. We decided to go and be overgrown children and play the arcade games at Xscape which was soo much fun!

 I've totally decided that I'm the best at the shooting games, but I fail miserably at driving/racing games... T_T It's probably just as well that I don't drive, as I'm pretty reckless and crash constantly - the idea was to race, but I decide to have dirty tactics and take everyone out on the way XD

We also won a good amount of tickets too - Bf got super lucky on one of the games and won the 1000 ticket bonus!

Using the tickets, we came out with a sparkly bracelet (you can see that in the pic of my nails), a super cute Hedgehog toy that we named Choccie, and a bubble sword!
After that, it was time to go for dinner!

We decided to go to Frankie & Bennys' for dinner to save us driving in and out of the city centre, and had a lovely meal! We had garlic and cheese mushrooms, and calamari for starters, followed by this plate of awesomeness! I totally recommend the New Jersey Chicken from there - chicken, pulled pork, bacon, bbq sauce and jalapeño cheese - what's not to love?!!?!?!

We were pretty full after the meal, so didn't opt to have any desserts from there, only a couple of cocktails for me. True to form, I couldn't stay away from a dessert - I love sweets and cakes so much!
 There is a little place inside Xscape that makes crepes and waffles, and we had a crepe to begin our evening, so this time I absolutely HAD  to try out the waffles too!

Underneath the layers of cream, marshmallow and nutella was such a delicious waffle - I'd definitely go and eat it again!

We then finished off our Valentines' day night watching movies in bed with a bottle of Champagne - it was perfect!


That concludes my Valentines' Day post - what did you all do? Stay in or go out?
As usual, leave me some comments below and don't forget to follow me!

Kasumi x

Fashion find and experimenting with Kogal

Hey Sweethearts!

I hope you're doing well?

Couple of things I want to share with you this week, with the first one being my new poncho!

When I spied this in my local shopping centre, I completely fell in love with it, and it was on sale for £20! I'm a big big fan of ponchos, and was on the lookout for a more outdoor one, as it's still pretty chilly outside here in Scotland!

I have a few ideas for outfits using this, though here I just layered it on top of my Kogal inspired look, but I think it looks pretty good!

 What do you think? ^_^

This week I finally got around to experimenting with another style, this time Kogal! (コギャル)

Unfortunately, I can't really afford to buy brand items, so made do with a little Primark haul and found items in my flat to creating a Kogal inspired look.

I really wanted to try this style for a while, though I've always been put off my closed cardigans and higher necklines, incase it didn't really suit me.

For this look, I kept it pretty basic (basic bitch?)-  it's based from School outfits, so I didn't want to try and add my own spin on it as I wasn't too confident.

For my hair, I went for a simple high ponytail using a tie on extension that I got from Ebay for 5.99 - I haven't fully experimented with hairstyles for this look, but I'm really loving ponytails at the moment so thought it would fit quite well.

Outfit: Plain white shirt from New Look, that I've had in my cupboard for a few years (I'm a hoader, and when things still fit, I don't like to throw them away)

Bowtie - Stolen from the Bfs' mother - spare from work outfit. I do want to make/buy a different type of bow/necktie for this look, but couldn't find anything to fit in time.

Cardigan & Skirt - Primark. Cardie was £8, and skirt was £6.

I'm really loving the range Primark has in at the moment, a lot of it is really my thing! When I went in, they also still had some sale rails, so I picked up another couple of bargains whilst I was there.

Tights: I just went with tights that look like stockings, as I struggle so badly with knee high/overknee socks. I have chronic thunder thighs, so they always ALWAYS either roll down, or are too tight and make me look super bumpy with flab spilling out over the top. I think these also came from Primark.

Although you can't see my shoes, I used a little pair of black dolly shoes with a little bow on the front (also from Primark) to complete the look.

Here is a little shot of my makeup, although I wasn't happy with how my nose looked in the shots so covered it up T_T
I picked a brown pair of circle lenses for this look, as I'm naturally blue eyed, but love how cute brown eyes look! I also kind of think in a strange way, I look more German like my mother (I'm half German) with brown eyes. I think that's maybe just me, though. XD

                                 

That's all from me this week, as usual, please leave me comments under the post letting me know what you think, and how I can improve on this look!

Kasumi x

DIY time! Sweetie pie Princess Boots!

Hey Sweethearts,

This weeks' post isn't the most informative, but I really wanted to share my little DIY project with you all.

For Xmas, my Bf usually gives me a clothing allowance, so that I can update my wardrobe (I know, I have 4 wardrobes & 2 chests of drawers....but trust me, I NEVER have anything to wear!). Unfortunately there were a couple of items that I couldn't get from my list, so I ended up getting a super cute pair of boots!

I totally fell in love with them when I saw them, and I've been needing some nice warm boots, so figured these would be perfect to go with some cute warm co-ordinates ^_^

The only drawback for me, was that I found them to be a little plain for what I was looking for, so decided to do a little bit of DIY/embellishing to give them some impact.


                                                 

For the front, I decided to add a little swag of pearl beads, with a cute sparkly alloy heart just under the bow. I also added a little leafy embellishment to the front of the bow that I found amongst my haberdashery pots. (The lucky part about being a designer, is that I always have interesting things floating around for many a craft use)

Around the entire platform of the shoe, I added a row of pink flatback gems, and attached pearl beads to the bottom layer of lace, for a subtle addition.


                         

For the sides, I remembered that I had some pink ruffle & rhinestone trim that was looking for a project to be a part of, and figured that they'd fit perfectly to add some shimmer and sparkle, so I stitched them to the fur around the boots. Although you can't see it in these photos, it really catches the light well!

I also found some AB plastic bead trim in amongst my pots of treasures, and thought they'd be a fantastic addition to jazz up the otherwise pretty dull heel! After much humming and hawing about whether or not I had enough trim to create a swag on both sides of the heel, I tried my luck and it was a success! I got out my trusty gluegun, and placed a line of glue from the connecting seams, and started off the trim from there, and when I made the swags, I just needed to bring the trim up and glue at the back of the heel!

For the outer side of the boots, I added a couple of acrylic roses (also using the glue gun) so that it would have a little more than the inside - I thought the different pink tones worked really well for this!

As I mentioned when I talked about the front of the boots, I lined the platform/heel with a row of pink flatback gems, and I also added pearl beads all the way along the bottom of the lace to add that extra something. The glue that I'm using for the gems wasn't dry when I took the pictures, so they look white - but rest assured, the glue I used dried clear and sparkly - I was just too excited and had to take pictures!


                                          

This is the back!

I found an old pair of earrings (once again in my pots of treasures) that were pretty simple and heart shaped, so I thought that they would look alright hooked in just under the ruffle trim (which is flapping down a little in this pic..oops!)

You can see here how I've created the swags, and I love the way it looks from the back! I added another couple of pink toned acrylic roses to complement the ones on the sides, and added a little flatback gem under each of the roses at the bottom to tie in with the gem trim!

I'm super pleased with how these came out, and can't wait to find an outfit and occasion to wear them! I'm thinking they would suit a Himekaji look pretty well! What do you all think?

Did I do ok for my first attempt at DIY-ing my shoes?
Let me know in the comments section ^_^

Love,

Kasumi x