Xteeener

October 13, 2011
by xteeener
17 Comments

Zombie Look! with MonsterBuster Entertainment

So I may have expressed this numerous times already but I love Halloween and anything horror! This year for Halloween I wanted to do it bigger and better than ever before. I of course needed help (a lot of it!) to reach my goal.

I have been anticipating this day and am now so excited to share this finished product with you guys! And this is only the first of ‘em! I have to give Torey Haas a special shout out for collaborating with me on this project! He leads such an amazing team with everyone at MonsterBuster Entertainment and without everyone’s efforts this would not have been possible! I’m so excited and humbled by this experience. Please check out the first video: Zombie Makeup!

The kind of zombie look I was going for was one who had awoken from the dead and crawled out of her grave. She is more of a “fresh” zombie if that makes any sense haha

So here’s the low down:

List of products used:

-Urban Decay De-Slick in a Tube mattifying gel

-White Make-up Cream mixed with Make Up For Ever HD foundation in #117

-Ben Nye Camouflage and Rainbow Wheels (you most certainly can use eyeshadows/powders/eyeliners/lipsticks/etc whatever you have!)

-FaceFront matte black pressed shadow

-Black lash glue! Any kind will work but if you have latex glue that’s even better! (Just remember to manipulate it as it gets tacky to create the gashes!)

-Various brushes from Sigma Beauty, e.l.f., and Sedona Lace were used as well as a sponge wedge

Notice how I didn’t use very many products at all? Anyone can easily achieve this look!

To prepare beforehand, I did a quick trial on half of my face to mess around with the lash glue!

The hair?

I simply ratted up her hair with a teasing brush and then sprayed a little bit of Kryolan Color Spray in Gray in various parts of her hair.

The outfit?

I bought this dress at a local Goodwill and believe me my heart sank a little when I noticed that the original price tag was still on it! I was looking for a dress in a hurry and this just fit the part almost too perfectly! Since there was a half off sale I believe it turned out to be around $6. I was also a newb as far as how to distress it. I originally only had it doused in cocoa powder to imitate the look of “dirt”.

The rest was left to Ricky Hess, MonsterBuster’s very own Special FX Artist, and I thought I would quote him for those of you who may want to DIY (do it yourself) a zombie costume:

“Well, since she needed to look like she just crawled out of the ground, I figured there’s no substitute for the real deal (dirt that is!). I took a fork and roughed up a patch of earth and sprinkled a little water on it and rubbed the dress in it. Occasionally I would put a handful of dirt on the dress, fold it over, and rub it together. Mixing it up with dry dirt rubbing and wet dirt rubbing adds a little variety. Just remember that dry dirt doesn’t transfer as easily and will require a little more effort (but it adds a cool subtle effect). It only took about five minutes to do her dress.

Note: If you want to get a good shredded look, lay the dress on pavement or rough concrete. Then step on it and pull the dress through. You can also step on the dress and scrub your foot around on it for a scuffed look. This adds a realistic worn effect and only takes seconds to do. I didn’t do this for her dress because she was a fresher zombie but for older zombies, this is perfect.”

Sounds fun doesn’t it??

Once again a huge thank you to MonsterBuster Entertainment and everyone involved with this video!:

Torey Haas
Nick Lauinger
Ricky Hess
Jay Holloway
Fred Grant
Hsiang-Ming Wen
Brandon Jolley of MOBOC Productions
Morgan Drake
Ashneel Ali
Quyen Tran

Thanks to the amazing talent!

Greg Garrison (actor)
Ariel Gruczkowski (model and actress)

Last but not least the MonsterBuster Film Festival!!

I would really love it and appreciate it if you could come!

Time:
Monday, November 14 · 7:30pm – 9:30pm

Location:
Atlanta Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema

More details to come soon! Also, stay tuned for more videos this month!

October 9, 2011
by xteeener
8 Comments

More of Paris

Hi everyone! How has your weekend been so far? I’ve been meaning to post up the rest of these pictures for a while now. I spent time editing them (color correcting and brightening mostly) to try to do Paris more justice Feel free to click on them to see an enlarged image!

And of course check out the video for more footage if you haven’t yet!

My Paris Trip!

September 30, 2011
by xteeener
15 Comments

The Louvre

When we arrived at the Louvre Museum I was truly in awe of how beautiful it was outside. I literally could have stayed out there for hours shooting away. Of course as well all know there are so many hidden gems once you enter the museum by going down that spiral staircase in the pyramid!

The ladies!

I really enjoy behind the scenes and candid shots as you will see in some of these pictures

Look at how blue the sky is! Ugh I swear it was just so perfect and beautiful that day!

That’s right..the Mona Lisa! You can imagine how many people were crowding around to see this one!

Josh getting his pictures taken by the amazing Rasun!

Look! Beauty products from the past

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Stay tuned for more! If you haven’t seen the video there are a lot of pictures in it too!

September 29, 2011
by xteeener
16 Comments

Paris: Where’s My Luggage?

Wow I don’t even know where to begin.

Well I did mention on the video to come here for a funny story so let’s start with that! It’s actually really not that funny but this was the only mishap we ran into regarding this trip. Me and Tiffany were luggage-less for the first and second day that we were in Paris! It’s funny because we had previously discussed how we would freak out if this ended up happening to us. Our luggage didn’t make it on the right flight to New York (since this is where the whole group met first) and then it took forever until they made sure it got on a flight to Paris. No one really is to blame here but it was just unfortunate because it was a hassle to try to sort things out multiple times with the staff at the airport to ensure that our luggage would eventually get to us. We both stayed positive and were happy to know that at least our luggage wasn’t lost.

What was my first thought when we realized that we would have to make do the first couple of days? UNDERWEAR

I can live with wearing my clothes twice but wearing the same pair of undies twice..uhh yea i’d rather go commando!

We made a one stop shop at H&M (I seriously love H&M) and I ended up getting 2 whole new outfits, one for our cruise dinner (dress and shoes) that night and one for the next day (top and skirt).

Luckily our luggage did finally arrive at our hotel the second night we were in Paris

More pictures coming up soon! In the meantime check out this video that I finally uploaded!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ustt7F_jW2Q

September 24, 2011
by xteeener
23 Comments

Who Am I?

How often do you ask yourself this? Did you think I was going to blabber on and on about myself? Actually that would be a little uncharacteristic of me but what I used to really enjoy about blogging was that it was often a time to reflect on my life and who I am.

Funny story (well funny to me anyway now that I suddenly look back on it), I used to date this guy who felt he didn’t know me enough and didn’t know how to tell others about me just because I couldn’t always give him definitive answers to questions like: What animal would you be if you were to turn into an animal? What’s your favorite this and that?

Can you imagine how puzzled I was? I felt those questions were silly only because it came to a point where it frustrated him. Can you feel the chemistry between us? Oh yeaaa XD He made it seem like I was unsure of who I was but in hindsight I think it was the other way around. What do you guys think? Well i’m pretty certain it was but I don’t want to bash him. He doesn’t deserve that. Sometimes we all just need to be more self-aware and oftentimes the best way to learn is through experiences. Let’s just say I was the first girl he really dated And perhaps i’m too nice because I like to see the good in people and I enjoy learning about them.

UPDATE: To clear up confusion, this all happened a long time ago and I didn’t date this guy for very long because we didn’t have a strong connection (clearly right?). I’ve never spoken of him before so nope it’s not referring to someone you know!

I guess what i’m trying to say is don’t let people/society define you and influence you to be what you think they want you to be. It’s not worth it especially if you think that’ll make you happy. You’re better than that and you deserve to be happy.

Whenever you’re feeling down, stressed, or frustrated, question it. Like reallyyy question it and then think about your next course of action. Think about if sitting there and feeling negative will do you any good. Why waste your energy feeling this way when you can allow yourself to feel positive? It’s easier to push forward and live the life you want for yourself this way.

Wow so this ended up being much longer than I expected but I hope that’s not a bad thing.

September 21, 2011
by xteeener
24 Comments

Wicked

Tonight I went to go see “Wicked”, the broadway musical, for the first time! I’ve heard so many great things about this show and it did not disappoint! My boyfriend got us pretty good seats because we both appreciate all of the little details down to the emotion in the performers’ faces, the subtle movements and body language, and the conductor passionately directing the orchestra. You want to let it all sink in and pretty much get lost in it.

These pictures were taken with my new Canon Powershot S95 that I also took to Paris with me. Of course it doesn’t compare to a dslr but it’s very handy and powerful for its size! I love how it has manual settings similar to a dslr which sets it apart from other point and shoots. The images turn out quite vibrant and it has pretty good video quality too!

Heading downtown to the Fox theater!

When we entered this walkway after parking I immediately knew I wanted a picture here.

I’ve been enjoying my envelope clutch from asos.com! It just goes with a lot of what I wear ^^

A couple of the dresses that Elphaba and Gilinda wear in the show!

Breakdown of what i’m wearing: statement necklace from H&M, tank from Express, chiffon top from Marshalls, belt from H&M, bracelets and ring from F21 and H&M, clutch from asos.com, skirt and tights from Marshalls, boots from Nordstrom

It’s hard to see these in the pictures but I love these Steve Madden two tone tights!

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures during the show. You can totally see that lady eyeing us lol it was such a beautiful set!

Boyfriend sneaked a shot at the end of the show Don’t those vibrant colors just make you feel happy?

Let me know your thoughts! Have you seen Wicked before? If you have what did you think of it?

September 7, 2011
by admin
22 Comments

Bright Blue Bottoms

I was hunting for red skinnies and ended up getting both red and blues ones at American Eagle this Labor Day weekend. They are super comfortable jeggings. I’ve been enjoying brighter bottoms lately and I’ve been telling myself to incorporate more color into what I wear day to day so perfect! I also can’t seem to get enough of slouchy casual tops.

top from Marshalls, necklace from asos.com, jeggings from American Eagle, shoes and bracelet from H&M, belt from Goodwill, purse thrifted

Check out my California vlog if you haven’t!

Here’s a bonus picture from our trip

September 3, 2011
by xteeener
23 Comments

Plum Passion FOTD

Autumn has always been and still continues to be my favorite season. For the spring and summer I wore a lot of coral, namely on the cheeks and lips, and kept the eyes soft. Now as Autumn inches closer and closer it is time to start rocking the smokey eyes more often again. Every Fall plum and purple hues are always on trend.

Products used:

face:

-Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup in Natural Beige

-Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector concealer in Light/Medium

-Bobbi Brown Pressed Powder in Pale Yellow (to set)

-Graftobian HD Powder (to contour and bronze)

-mix of MAC blushes in Desert Rose and Cubic

eyes:

-Urban Decay Primer Potion

-Sigma Flare palette

-Milani Liquif’eye automatic propel pencil in Purple

-Milani Liquif’eye metallic eye liner pencil in Brown

-Maybelline the Falsies waterproof mascara

-Hard Candy concealer pencil (used as a nude liner for waterline)

lips:

-Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick in Airy Fairy

Enjoy the tutorial! If you are interested in the giveaway please enter on the video on youtube here:

August 31, 2011
by xteeener
26 Comments

Hair and There

Hi everyone! As some of you may already know, I colored my hair for the first time a week ago. A lot of the red (which was supposed to be more of a plum red) has inevitably been fading. I don’t mind the shade but I see a little brassiness here and there that I could definitely do without. I’ve also been wearing my hair wavy lately with most of the back pieces clipped up for a change. It is reminiscent of the angled a-line bob that I used to have and did love! I’ve always envied those with dimension and color in their hair because when styled you could really see the texture and movement of the hair.

My trip to California was a great getaway and I just recently got back. Can you guess which beach i’m at in the picture? Stay tuned for more pictures and a video from my trip!

August 14, 2011
by xteeener
86 Comments

Thoughts on Thrifting

I was intrigued by the idea of thrift and vintage shopping a few years ago when I started to explore fashion message boards. People would post their outfits and I would be drawn to some of the thrifted shoes I would see. They would often look battered up or masculine but they had character. Funny that even though they appeal to me, I still haven’t been able to try on second hand shoes and buy them.

If you know me, I love great bargain finds more than anything. Many times when I go thrift shopping I end up with very few items or empty-handed but yet it’s still an enjoyable hunt for me. I love the idea of possibly finding unique items or vintage pieces that could be brought back to life. The most challenging part is finding things in decent to good condition for less. Nowadays, they jack up the price on anything that “looks” vintage so sometimes you just have to be creative or dig deep!

One day when I told my Mom that I had just gone to Goodwill, she was horrified. My Dad told me he used to go there back in the day to buy pants since we were quite poor. They don’t understand why I would want to buy second hand clothing when we can afford new clothing. I can’t blame their way of thinking considering how hard they’ve worked and how far our family has come ever since the beginning. It’s not a matter of spending frivolously, but rather it was always their goal to ensure that we live a more comfortable and healthy life.

My Dad also started telling me stories about how people have gotten sick from wearing second hand clothing kind of going along the idea of haunted clothing. Sound crazy? What are your honest thoughts on thrift shopping? Would you or do you do it?

Here is one of my favorite vintage pieces in my closet.