Things I'm Lovin' This Month; May Edition

This past week has been particularly stressful. I've found myself having school in the mornings, one job in the afternoon, and my second job from evening until about 2am every night. I've been going nonstop, even the weekends I've working, out of town, or have had some kind of event going on; today was the first actual day I've gotten to relax! (Sort of). In that case, I've compiled together a couple of things I've grown quite fond of within the past month, in the time that I've had to myself.

Click the photo to listen! ^

1.) Shake; by The Head and the Heart. Working in retail you tend to hear the same songs over and over again every day that you're there, and I've come to love this one by The Head And The Heart. It took me a couple of days to get the name and the artist, since the song is being played on a cd; I had to take mental notes of some of the lyrics I had heard and look it up at home. Anyway, I feel like I've heard this song somewhere before; when I heard it the first time in the store it seemed to call back to some subconscious memory. It's a beautiful song, I especially love the bridge/ending. So please, enjoy and share!

2.) Urban Decay All-Nighter Makeup Setting Spray. So, my skin runs anywhere from dirty & oily to dry & flaky. It gets oily between my eyebrows and on my chin, and super dry near my nostrils and on my cheeks. Because of this, my face makeup tends to flake or melt off, and my eyeliner/eyebrows/shadow runs and gets somewhat greasy; this all happens within 2-3 hours. I honestly thought I was going to have to buy super expensive makeup (like $60 liquid foundation!), or reapply my current makeup every hour or so; in order to make it work. But when I do SFX makeup I usually use Ben Nye Setting Spray when it's all finished, and it works great, so I figured there'd be a similar product in the beauty industry.

I bought Urban Decay's All Nighter on a whim last week. I have to admit, I totally thought it wouldn't work; but this product is so great! I've heard you should use it before and after makeup application, but I've only used it afterwards (sprayed once on either side of my face), before I've gone to work or out for a long period of time, and by the time I get home, my makeup is still perfectly intact. My eyeliner isn't even smudged to the corner of my eyes, and if I put lipstick on before I spray, it makes that last longer as well! This is probably the first beauty product that I'm actually completely satisfied with, and I'm definitely going to have to go back and get myself a full bottle before my mini applicator is through!

3.) Urban Outfitters Paddywax Glass Jar Candles. I picked these up spontaneously this week as well, when I was buying a gift for a friend, and they are absolutely fabulous. Vanilla + Oakmoss and Ocean Tide + Sea Salt were the two that I purchased and they fill the room completely! The Vanilla & Oakmoss smells of cedar and the outdoors, and the Ocean Tide & Sea Salt smells of open air and cleanliness. I just love them both, and the little glass jars are adorable; I can see myself putting them to use in the future! Maybe a DIY project?

4.) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. If you know me, you know that I'm a huge reader. My books are by far my biggest collection, and I set a goal of how many books I'd like to read per year; this year being at 40. This month I had the pleasure of reading Sylvia Plath's, The Bell Jar. It was recommended by one of my best friends, and it is also of course a classic title. I dived into this book thinking it was a book of poetry, for some reason (maybe because I have seen a lot of quotes from Sylvia Plath and The Bell Jar, and they seemed coincidentally poetic), but I was surprised to find that it is actually a novel about a girl named Esther, who is slowly falling into the grip of insanity (still quite poetic!). Though Plath introduces the girl by a different name, I had a feeling that the story had something to do with the author herself, and turns out I was right. The novel is almost completely accurate to true-life events that happened to Sylvia Plath. I find these books much more interesting, because it's not just a story someone thought of off the top of their head (though fictional books are just as intriguing!), but its actually memory upon memory of someone else's life; and that just makes it ten times more fascinating in my personal opinion. I rated the book four stars on goodreads, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is as avid of a reader as I am!

5.) A glass of Barefoot Moscato. When is this ever not a favorite? My alcohol of choice is definitely wine, or some kind of sweet wine, and Barefoot Moscato has definitely been my go-to. I don't drink often, but when I do it is usually paired with a good read, and now, my UO paddywax candle! It definitely sets the mood, and winds me down after a long day. Unquestionably something I've needed all week!

And there you have it, my top five list of things I'm lovin' this month. I'll usually try to do a book review every time I finish one, and I'd like to do a 'favorite song' and/or 'playlist' frequently too. It'd be great to know which topics you as readers are interested in as well, and what you would like to be a recurring blog post. I'm definitely open to recommendations to, well, anything! Happy Monday everyone, lets get this week started!

Bruising; an introduction to SFX makeup

As an aspiring makeup artist, I surprisingly haven't been able to practice as much as I'd like too. Mostly because special effects products can be pretty expensive, and as of right now I'm trying to get myself through school, paying rent, and eating cup o' noodles for dinner every night. Though I'm not complaining, I know it'll all pay off in the end.

From bruise wheels, to fake blood, to latex, to prosthetics... you usually need a vast majority, and a large amount, of these products just to make one look. I've got a Ben Nye starter kit, and I'm slowly adding to my collection; but as of right now I can only do a few things. For any makeup artist just starting in the special effects field, I'd recommend starting off small with some bruising. It's a basic necessity and skill for almost any wounded look, and there are various ways to make a bruise depending on how old, or fresh, it is. 

When a bruise is brand new, it will appear reddish due to the the blood that has leaked from the capillaries under the skin, it wouldn't hurt to add a few miniscule broken blood vessels to this bruise.

Photo Credit: Freakmo-SFX on Deviantart (Makeup)

At one or two days old, the bruise will be bluish or purple in color. The swelling at the site of the bruise will cut off the oxygen, and the hemoglobin will turn blue.

At five to six days old, a bruise will turn a greenish, yellow color as the area begins to heal itself.

At eight to nine days old, a bruise will then turn mostly yellow, or brown. This is the final stage of the bruise.

Photo Credit: How to Fake Bruising with Makeup video by GoldieStarling

It is important to know of the changes of color in bruising over time. If you aren't aware of these stages of bruising, it could make your character look unrealistic or inaccurate. For example, you don't want to put a green/yellow bruise on a character who had been in a fight earlier in the day, or even the day before. You also don't want to put a fresh red/purple/blue bruise on a character who had been in a car accident a week or two before.

The Walking Dead // Fight Club

Bruising is definitely an important part of special effects makeup, and like I said above, its the perfect place to begin practicing! Here are some examples of bruising I've done on my own with a Ben Nye Master Bruise Wheel, a nylon stipple sponge, a simple synthetic sponge, thick (fake) blood, and some q-tips!

Some Tips: Use a patting or stippling motion to give a blotchy or uneven look, try to make it look irregular and inflamed. You don't want to only use red while trying to recreate a bruise; this can create a rashy or burned look. You can avoid this by adding purple, blue, yellow, or green, depending on the stage of the bruise. Raised or swollen areas of the bruise should be high lighted in yellow, in most cases. For example, the cheek usually appears swollen at the high point of the cheek bone, as shown above. Use the nylon sponge and a reddish color to create the illusion of broken blood vessels. You can also use the nylon sponge to add blood to a scrape or cut near or on the bruise.

And that, my friends, is an intro to SFX bruising! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, advice; or you'd even like to share your own bruise creations, I'd love to see them! Please feel free to comment below!