Sunday spotlight...

I thought it would be fun to start a new weekly feature, spotlighting fabulous bloggers that I love... You know, bloggers who are exceptionally creative and stylish, and clearly love what they do. Sounds good, right? Well, voila! Sunday spotlight is born.

First up is the lovely Natalie of I Heart This Blog... Nat is a friend of mine, and I couldn't think of a more perfect candidate to kick off this new feature. Not only is she beautiful and incredibly stylish, but she's super smart and witty, which is evident throughout her charmingly written posts. With her impressive accessories collection, mid-century modern decor, and beauty product knowledge, Nat is a blogger after my heart... and hopefully yours as well. xx

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NEXT bloggers styling challenge

As part of the NEXT bloggers event, We were all give a piece from the spring summer collection to style with items of our choice from the mock shop!

I was given some 70's style wide leg jeans and I styled them with a brown blouse, necklace, belt and these gorgeous shoes and tan brown bag!

We had about an hour to choose out outfits and get the pictures taken! here are mine...

After having a lovely lunch the winners were announced and here are their winning outfits & blog names!


What do you think of this challenge? How would you have styled these jeans?

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You know you want to

I don't know how much you are all into the Christmas spirit-thing or if it's just about trying to avoid being dragged into a Secret Santa-exchange, but a lot of beautybloggers have giveaways this season. All in the name of giving. Most of the time you don't have to believe in poor baby Jebus, you don't have to decorate your home all like Rachel Ray does or even own a single Christmas sweater to enter.
I know a lot of bloggers are doing this, but the two I am keeping my eye on are the Lipgloss-girls:

Today they both have items I not just wouldn't mind, but would probably give an eye or a thumb for:
the swedish Lipgloss have a NYX-themed giveaway while the british Lipgloss have a Sleek-themed giveaway. You know you want to enter, don't you? Click on the images.

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That's some heavy-duty nailpolish

While the Depend-polish might have been a pain in the butt(hole surfers) to apply, it's been kicking my arse in the durancy-test. Applied it Monday night and a 2nd layer Tuesday morning. It's Saturday, noon, and it has barely chipped. Survived the allotment, the playground, the amusement-park and several dogs. I guess the thick plastic formula has it's purpose.

It's now to the point where I am getting tired of it. The humidity is off the chart so plaing around with makeup is useless and the nails, well, they don't need nothing from me. What to do? It's not like I have money to go shopping....

And, of course, the photo is a homage to Nihrida. I was thinking about making this a linklove post but I really don't have the time and you can see a bunch of my favorite makeup/nailpolish-blogs to the left on my blogroll. They're might be almost 140 listed, but they'e all good.
While the Wicked vixens might be my all-time favorite bloggers, I just have to point you to the direction of one vixen in particular, Lisa, as her nails are truly work of art.

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To blog or not to blog

A lot of my friends and acquaintances still find it odd as well as rather amusing that I have this blog. That I, the girl who looks like she slathers on foundation with an Ikea roller-system and rather spends money on records and books than beauty-products, writes about colors, formulas and brands.
I rarely get what it is they find amusing about it, but then again, I do read a lot of so-called beauty-blogs. Or rather, I read makeup-blogs as well as nailpolish-blogs. The word beauty doesn't seem fitting, it's not beauty-blogs I'm reading.
And by stating that, we're back to the chicken or the egg-dilemma; would there be a makeup-industry if it wasn't for our obsession with beauty? Or did the makeup-industry kickstart our obsession and does it keep us consumers like puppets on a string? Are we all helping them along with our blogs? Who are we supporting, customer or manufacturer? Is there even a distinction any more?

I know this is the type of entry most readers rather skip, but I think it's most definitely something to keep in mind when we read all these blogs. I am starting to think less and less people are thinking about  

• what they just read
• what  impact it had on them  
  
• why it was there for them to read

Do blog-readers question what they read or are they just a little bit naive thinking it's all about love, peace and happiness?
How much material on a blog is based on pure interest and how many posts are influences by companies sending out material, goodies and review-examples? How many entries are written as a way to get listed by the PR-companies, to get noticed? How many readers read the disclosure policies and how many bloggers truly believe what they're stating about their own blogs?

These last few days, I've seen a lot of entries that I have found quite out of place. Where you can't help but ask yourself - Are these entries are paid for? Where's the fine print I am missing?
It's also quite common that you see the same information spread over a wide range of blogs but everybody's pretending like they just made it up. A brand gets massive coverage in blogs just by sending out an email stating that if said blogger give the brand some space on their blog, they can expect a massive goodie-bag and to be on the list.
I've seen it explained by bloggers as "People want to know / We're just giving them the information / It's just news" but is it really? What would be the difference between an ad and news?

What would you like to see in a blog? What do you avoid? Do you read blogs that have paid ads? That have paid posts?

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Don't be bullied by the Money

As you might have read in comments or on twitter, there's been yet another incident where a company threatens a blogger through their lawfirm. A lot of us would probably take a cease and desist-letter not only as an insult, but as a reason to stop blogging. Why spend your hard-earned money writing about something you like, love and praise when the companies that are getting your money, don't value or respect you as a customer?
There's been a couple of companies doing this but I guess we don't hear about them all because frankly, a blogger can't afford a potential lawsuit and even if the threat isn't legit or will hold up in court, who dares to face the dragon?

Daily Polish just did and I love her for it.

I also adore Lacquerized. I want a superhero-toy that looks just like her. She wrote an excellent post about the matter and added an illustration that I can't help but make into a permanent button on my page. It's going into the layout, that's for sure!

Remember, a blogging community isn't just about linklove and being a GFC-follower, but supporting your fellow bloggers. Do that! Even if they don't say anything you might agree with, support their right to say it without being bullied or silenced by companies.

Others that have written on the matter are
Magic Maid, Of faces and fingers and Addicted to all things pretty.
Edit:
As well as A polish problem, Lola Blue blog and My Lucid Bubble

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Not for the fainthearted golddigger

I know that there are some people that consider freebies cheap and sure, if it's free it doesn't cost a thing, so yes, it's better than cheap! I don't think cheap is a bad word, I embrace cheap. I have little to no budget and when a blog I like is hosting a giveaway with things I like, chances are I am participating.

I know that some blogs have recently been ranting on and on about how giveaways are a way for bad/lousy/uninteresting blogs to gain popularity and therefor find themselves on the PR-companies' lists, but I personally think that's trunk full of bollocks.
Who cares what does what and why? If somebody buys products with their own money to host a giveaway, how can that be considered a yell for freebies and attention? Even if it happens to be furnished by a company, who cares? It really irks me that the cool kids are so anti giveaways. Why is that? Should we all pretend we're all high-end creatures that can't stand anything that isn't gold-plated? Is there's some hierarchy where only the cool VIP-people should be on the send-list?

If you haven't gotten it by now, this is a PRO-GIVEAWAY post.

Above you see my latest winnings. I rarely win, but when I do, it feels like Christmas! I get to try things chances are I couldn't afford or wouldn't be able to get my hands on. I like makeup and nailpolish for what it is, color for the face and not must-haves for the hip, so winning some Wet'n'Wild (through Facebook) is just as amazing as winning some Aussie haircare products (through Makeupoholic). The highlight so far though, was winning products from Stem Organics which is a company that I have read a lot about but couldn't afford to try myself. So far, it's the greatest skincare products I have ever come across and that thanks to a giveaway.

And hey, while we're on the subject of giveaways, darling Feline over at Alizarine claws is putting together a giveaway but needs some more followers to meet her goal of 333.
The Hungry Asian has an ongoing giveaway ('til this Wednesday) where you have a chance of getting your hands on some lovely polish by Eyeko as well as Color Club and some frankenpolish made by herself.

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What are you reading?

My newest favorite is one with a name that's brilliant -  Vintage or Tacky. It's all that I am about and love.
How could you not love a blog that's all about animalprint, vibrant color and hey, she's even done a Barbie tutorial!
On the right you see a makeup inspired by Avatar but you can also find some inspired by Sailor moon, Invader Zim and the Watchmen. Inspiration for all of us and I for sure need some. I'm stuck in beige-land and I am desperate for a vaccation.

So, what's your latest blog-favorite?


(Picture used for Poladroid belongs to Vintage or Tacky)

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I wasn't born with a lipliner in hand

One thing that I was thinking about more than once before I started this adventure, ie Rugby beauty, was

Do I really want my face out there?

It's not like I am hiding underneath a rock and sure, I have a picture on Facebook, Twitter, yada yada.....But, do I want my head on a blog about superficial things? About beauty? Do I want my appearance questioned and scrutinized by other women? My lack of skills turning me into an attachment to emails for all ages to come?

I know that to some, this sounds off, but remember that I am the nerd-girl, the outcast, the rocker that didn't really care all that much about what a girl should and shouldn't do. I wasn't born with a lipliner in hand. I still rarely wear lipstick because I want to be able to make out with my man without him getting a nice red up his nose.
Then again, that was the purpose of the blog - makeup-geekery and not makeup-snobbery. This is not a blog for the cool kids that want to be Nicole Richie, it's for the kids at the freaks-table.

These days, this kid wear a whole lot of aubergine. I guess goth hit my 20 years too late? Aubergine, purple and red for eyeliner, except most of the time I don't wear eyeliner but lipliner. Oh yes, I said a lip-thing on the eyes - It's easier to smudge and I can find it in the colors I want.
All smeared and smokey to my perfection.
Below is Bare Escentuals Lipliner in Wearable wine mixed with a Mexx lipliner in dark brown/aubergine (#04). On top of it all, a no-name offwhite eyeshadow to blend.

Zooming out (and not brightened for detail, my skin isn't that white), we get this which isn't at all very goth but quite.....soccermom with lipliner all over her head.

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Orly is my homegirl

I know, it's only polish but tell me you haven't been bummed when it just won't work? Perfect color, naked nail and it just goes down the crapper again and again? If it's just a mess, why even give it a try? Why spend time (and money) on something that won't work?
I can't help but wonder why I get so frustrated when it happens but to be honest, this last mess almost made me swear off nailpolish.

But then, I did what I always do - I picked up an Orly and was amazed at how perfect their formula is. Thin but opaque, rarely get's gooey and it's just a dream to apply. I've only come across one Orly that was giving me a hard time and that was a mini, Chocolate martini. So stuffed with tiny speckles of glitter, it's almost liquid glitter, it took ages to dry.

Above you see the Orly in question, one coat of my beloved Mandalay Ruby, and I am trying to mimic Nihrida and her pose, but either my hand's too big or my head too small, because I just can't get it to work. I guess it takes hard work and practise.

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Hilfe

On the right is my naked eye post eye-makeup remover and to be honest, before using the pads, it didn't look that much different.
I am stuck in a rut. I am old.

I need inspiration and that is mostly found on blogs, so I was wondering, would you guys like to help me add some blogs to my Bloglines as well as my blogroll on the left?

Now, I am not picky but I can do without blogs with pointers on what you shouldn't do and which celeb looked haggard on the red carpet last Thursday.
I want fun blogs from gutsy people that do their thing and don't give a f**k about the neighbors.
Think Nihrida, Scandalously polished, Maggie and Jellynat.

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Wishwashing with Polyvore

I just did what everybody did years ago and that is, I got a Polyvore account. In my case, I didn't do it to be trendy or to try to be a trendsetter (hey, come on now!) but to be able to enter the Sugarpill  contest at Gala Darling. I have followed Shrinkle for years and I love her choice of colors, but her makeup is way too expensive for me to afford right now. As much as I would like to be able to support her indie-company, all I can afford right now is word of mouth.

While trying to figure out how Polyvore works, I decided to make a set about what I want right now when it comes to cosmetics. Consider it window-shopping my way. Can't afford it but pasting item after item into a set makes me think I almost had it all for a second or so.

The problem is that the more I look at Polyvore, the more items I find that I want. It's like reading your blogs, you make me crave things I didn't even know excisted!

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It ain't no Helmer, is it?

Iggy wanted her nails done in a skittles-style and to make it easier for her to choose, I took all my polishbottles and put them in an old cookiejar. Colorful for all my color.
Not until I saw them there, all 40 of them, I realized that I am not a proper nail-geek. 40, that is hardly even a collection, is it? That's less than some of you buy in one shoppingspree.

How and where do you keep yours?


(Helmer is the storage of choice for most polish-addicted)

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Pretty in pink and raving zombie in black

There's been a couple of raised eyebrows concerning this blog.
Not about the content itself but the author - does she really care about that? She doesn't look like it. She doesn't seem like the type.
I guess we have a stereotype lurking in the back of our minds, that it's the pretty blond cheerleader-type that's salivating over limited edition eyeshadows on Ebay or the latest collections from China Glaze. That she's the one writing all these blogs on superficial matters while the rest of us are out there fighting world poverty and saving the whales.
The idea that this interest, makeup, is worth less than golfing, collecting Pez or freeform crochet.
That it's superficial, egocentric and lacks any sort of creative output.
I am guessing that the people who are of that opinion have never ever seen posts like Jangsara's, Dr Frankenpolish or Purity.

But then again, sometimes it's just about color. That color.
The color that got me hooked and back on the makeup-junkie wagon was black. More precisely, last year when H&M carried the black lipgloss pictured above. Suddenly, among the cute nude and pale pink, was a gloss that made you look like a raving zombie. Suddenly, makeup was fun again.

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It's not classic like an old Amazon Volvo, but hey, it's working

Sweet Helena over at Lipgloss bitch throws a challenge at her readers - What's their classic eyemakeup that they keep on doing over and over no matter what season, trend or weather?
Well, she didn't write that last part, I added it because that's what I do - I don't care about what and when if I like something.

My pièce de résistance is probably not something to show off but as I am pretty confident I'm going to stand out like a yellow-eyed bird among pretties, I'm posting it anyways.
It's a basic black (mascara and thin eyeliner) + something so colorful it will singe your eyes which in this case is an old yellow from Make up Store. This color in particular has been discontinued but is my all time favorite even though it's somewhat chalky and doesn't flatter me at all. Sometimes, it's not yellow I am going for, but lime (Noisy from Face Stockholm), green (Stillness, discontinued from Face Stockholm) or turquoise (Aquarius from Make up Store). The eyeshadow is smeared on the outer part of the lid up to the crease using a finger of your choice. Yes Mam, I don't even use brushes...

As you can see, I am not only staying true to my roots by only using Swedish brands (heh..), but also to my style icon of all time, Cyndi Lauper.

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