my mind runs, I could never catch it even if I got a head start

I saw Grown Ups last night, it wasn't great. Sure there were plenty of really funny bits, but lots of the jokes fell flat. It was far too cheerful and feel-good too, I'm too much of a grump for all that. 

I forgot to post my photos from Electric Picnic. 

Janelle Monae and her amazingly cool guitarist. 

 

 Festival makeup! I was pleased with how this came out. I only brought my cheap Barry M eyeshadows with me because I rarely use them and wasn't too bothered if I lost them. I must use them more often, they're far more bright than I remember! I did have to foil them to get this look, which was a bit of a hassle. 

I don't remember who this was, but I like the photo. 

I got my face painted. 

I Poladroided some of them

 

I'd love to get a real Polaroid camera.

it's been a while

lots has happened though.

I got a fringe. wow, excting! be excited, yeah

it snowed a bit yesterday, which was a bit crazy for march.

^ a not very clear photo of the snow from my bedroom window

it was only a bit of snow and it didn't stick but it never snows here, so even a tiny bit is exciting.


my little brother turned 12 yesterday. mum made him chocolate cake.




I cooked some carrot and sweet potato soup for lunch

don't you just love giant cups/bowls with handles. also, new hair!


I basically did nothing yesterday though, except lounged about and went to the supermarket for yoghurt. didn't even go into uni. yes yes yes, I'm an awful person.

I had some yummy lamb and rosemary stew for dinner though, which mummy made.



ooh, I did do something yesterday, I went to the library to pick up a book. no. 6 in Stephan King's
dark tower series - Song of Susannah. I haven't read much of it yet but it seems pretty good so far.

I wore my silver docs, a black topshop vest top, black vero moda skirt, black topshop leggings, studded river island belt and a leopard print cardi from a-wear.




today wasn't much more exciting. i went to uni for a while, to an english tutorial and a lecture. fun stuff. I couldn't make out what was going on in the lecture and the guy sitting in front of me was on google earth on his laptop and reading cyanide and happiness so I just looked over his shoulder rather than listen to the lecture.

i wore make up today for the first time in ages. no clear pictures of it though. just the green and brown eyeshadows from the MAC warm pallette from their Colour Forms 08 collection with diorshow and my usual face makeup and 17 balmy beige on my lips.

clothes-wise i wore these new trousers which i got in topshop in dublin at the weekend for €15, reduced from €53. with my silver docs, green topshop top and grey cardi borrowed from my mum. along with the brown leather bag on my bed, which i wear pretty much everyday


x. Sorcha

primer, the beginning of it all.

Today I thought I'd talk (write, even) a bit about the importance of using a primer when you're wearing makeup.

Primer keeps your makeup on and looking nice for longer. It can also aid in its application and intensify the colours used. It prepares the skin and creates a smooth surface for the makeup to stick to.

Think of it like paint. You wouldn't paint a wall unless you'd primed it first, you also shouldn't apply makeup unless you've primed your skin. Some people just moisturise and leave it at that, but I'm going to show you now why you should go one better.

I'm going to show you pictures which will hopefully illustrate just how important it is to buy and wear a good foundation and eyeshadow primer.

I use Sephora professional makeup base as a foundation primer. It's quite nice, it has a bit of shimmer in it so illuminates your face a little. I want to try a silicon primer next, the Smashbox Photo Finish is supposed to be good.

For my eyes I use Urban Decay Primer Potion. Most people have heard of this one I'm sure, if you don't already own it I highly recommend it.

Right then, I'll stop harping on and just get the photos out, shall I?

First, these are some very, very old photos from before I owned a primer.

I don't think I'm wearing foundation in those, so lets just look at the eyes. See how the eyeshadow barely shows up and it's creased and horrible in the first picture? In the second picture there's no creasing but I'm sure there was later in the day.

These photos were taken last week at around 3am. I had applied this makeup the previous morning with both my Urban Decay primer on my eyes and my Sephora primer on my face under it. These photos were taken after spending a day in college, going shopping, going to the pub for a friends birthday, drinking lots of Guiness and then spending 2 or 3 hours dancing in a hot nightclub. In between all this it was lashing rain. I touched up my eyeliner in the pub, but other than that it all stayed the same for well over 12 hours. Here are the pretty blurry photos I took when I got home.

Do you see the difference?

This time, the eyeshadow is vibrant and uncreased, even after all those hours.

My foundation has come off my nose a bit, but considering how long it was on that's understandable I think.


So there you have it, go buy a primer and use it.

If you really don't want to fork out any money, there's some chafing gel that supposed to work like a silicon primer. I'm not really sure of the details, try googling it.

If you really don't want to buy an eye primer (do it!) try using eyeliner pencils to create a base. The soft creamy ones tend to work best, such as Urban Decay's 24/7 liners. You can either use them in the same colours as the eyeshadow you're using or in white which will intensify all colours. I'll blog about coloured bases another time though. :)