Pros:

• Wide range of colours
• Easy to sharpen
• Works on upper and lower lash line
• Great for brows

Cons:

• Too much pull on eyelids
• Hard to get desired pigmentation on eyelids
• Requires touch up throughout the day
• Doesn’t work well on water line

Price: $2.50US

Rating:

Where: Cherry Culture & Nonpareil Boutique

I’m pretty torn about this review because I really do love NYX products, and I actually do like these pencils, but not for their intended use.

These NYX Eye/Eyebrow pencils are designed to either fill in brows or act as an eyeliner, and I just can’t use them as an eyeliner. I can’t achieve the desired pigmentation and they keep pulling on my eyelids which can be painful and is bad for long-term use.

However on my brows, they work great, but they also work amazingly well when I’m trying to draw out designs on my face for different intricate looks. In other words, these pencils work best on a harder surface. Such as cheek bones, foreheads etc. They can work better on softer areas such as eye lids if you warm them up first, but given the huge range of fantastic naturally softer eyeliner pencils out there already, you shouldn’t need to be wasting your time warming these up.

So take or leave these liners, I know I have an crazy number of them, and that’s exactly because my makeup for Fables tends to be very outlandish and creative, so it’s normal for me to be drawing pink hearts on my cheek bones, however this isn’t the case for most people, and if you are looking for a good eyeliner pencil, move on.

But if you’re in the market for a brow pencil, check these out!

A couple of weeks ago I went out to The Meat & Wine Co for dinner (fantastic food btw :9) and was inspired to do a bohemian look when I saw their beaded curtains with the orange night lights filtering through. So I went home, pulled out all the beads I had in storage and created my own “beaded curtains”, and there you have it!

Special thanks to Toby for taking the photos for me, I was holding reflectors in both hands during the entire shoot, and it took a bit of time to figure out how to set up the background, lights etc! It was both frustrating and rewarding <3

Hope you enjoy the look, I'm really enjoying stepping up the Book of Fables to a new level and am already hard at work creating a bunch of props for future shoots, but please don't expect them for every chapter! I work both a full-time and part-time job so I don't always have the time

OH! And before I forget, today is the last day to enter Fables in Fashion’s First Giveaway! Finishes at 5pm, Melbourne, Australia time! So be sure to enter if you would like to win some cool prizes, I’ll be throwing in a few other samples for the winner

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 PA+ – Sand
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer – Beige
Face of Australia Loose Powder – Outback Translucent *
NARS Bronzer – Laguna
NARS Powder Blush – Orgasm
e.l.f Eyelid Primer
Savvy by DB 10 Color Blush & Eyeshadow Essential Palette
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils – Electric
MAC Eye Kohl – Teddy
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Canmake – Highlighter
NYX Auto Lip Pencil – Coffee
Christian Dior Lipstick – 355

_{Product marked with * were sent for consideration}

Face
Prime, apply foundation, concealer and powder to set. I wanted my skin to appear more “warm” and glowy, so I applied a bronzer to my temples and jawline, applied blush to my cheek bones and a highlighter to the cheeks, bridge of my nose and forehead.

Eyes
Prime your lids, then take a light tan shadow and apply all over the lid, up to the brow bone, inner 1/3 of the lower lash line and inner corner of the eye. Take a medium brown and apply directly on to the eyelids, pat down the colour to intensify it and only blend out the edge closest to the crease.

Take a deep brown and apply to the 2/3 outer parts of the crease and the outer corner. Blend up towards your brow bone and wing it out. Take a brown eyeliner and line your upper lash line and follow the shape of your winged eyeshadow. Next take a black eye liner and line your water line.

Take a teal coloured eye liner and apply directly on to the lower lash line, really pack on the colour, you can set it with a teal eye shadow powder if you lack lower lashes to help keep the colour in place (I should have done this!)

Fill in and extend your brows with the deep brown eye shadow. Curl your lashes and apply black mascara.

Lips
Line and fill in your lips with a muted pink lip liner and coat with an electric pink / red lipstick.

Pros:

• True white shimmer
• Strong pigmentation
• Can be used both as a face highlighter and eye shadow
• Light, compact packaging
• Works for all skintones

Cons:

• Not readily available in Australia

Price: $20 ~ 25AU

Rating:

Where: Yes Style

So if you are a long time Book of Fables reader, you’ll know how much this product gets used. Canmake is a Japanese drugstore brand, and I purchased this particular highlighter last year when I was visiting the country (along with a stash of other stuff I really need to review soon).

This is an incredibly pigmented shimmery white highlighter, unlike the NYX Mosaic Powder which I use for more toned down looks, I always head over to my Canmake Highlighter when I want a more dramatic look. When used with a heavy hand, it can really help sculpt your face amazingly well, in fact the sculpting is probably too strong for in person (but perfect for photo shoots).

But if you want a more subtle finish, just use less! If I were to compare this to another highlighter, it is much more true white than NARS’ Albatross, which has a more yellow tinge to it. As a true white I find myself using this a lot as an eye shadow to highlight my brow bone, inner corner of my eyes and centre of my lids.

It does come with a brush applicator, but I hardly ever use the applicators that come with products, so I have it stored away in a pencil case.

No surprises here, I’m a huge fan of this highlighter! I’ve used it a ton and you can still see the original criss-cross pattern on it, so I can see it lasting me a very long time (and yet being the true addict I am, I’m sure I’ll purchase a bunch of other highlighters…. to review for you guys of course!.. *cough*) If you get a chance, try this out! It’s versatile and pigmented enough to be used as a highlighter and eye shadow in one!

Pros:

• Eye shadows last all day
• Comes in a range of shades
• Little goes a long way
• Glides on smoothly

Cons:

• Very thick
• Wand applicator

Price: $24US / $42AU

Rating:

Where: Kiss and Makeup, Adore Beauty, Myer or David Jones

I seem to be on a bit of an eye primer kick at the moment, but then who doesn’t love a good eye primer? I’m a massive fan of the Laura Mericer range, I’m just a bit sad at how neglected and unloved the counters at Myer and David Jones are every time I pay them a visit. On the other hand it does give me lots of uninterrupted play time

Their eye primer comes in a range of shades, which is something I really love because not everyone has fair skin. But what struck me as cool is that it comes in a pale blue shade that is designed to brighten and highlight your eyes~ That is something I want to try once I’ve finished the primers I’m working through at the moment.

As you can see in the photo above, the product is very creamy and thick, which caught me by surprise at first and I accidently applied way too much. So if you were to try this, just remember that fact, a little goes a very long way for this particular primer.

The primer managed to keep my eye makeup intact for the entire working day (10 hrs+), it glided on to my eye lids without any drag

A tube version might be nice for hygiene reasons, but if you don’t share it with anyone then it probably isn’t an issue.

Overall, love this primer, would certainly buy again~ Laura Mercier is one of my favourite brands for my work / everyday looks, but also Laura Mercier herself is an artist, a title I loosely identify myself with

Pros:

• Deep pigmentation
• Easy to draw thick and fine lines
• Very long lasting
• Dries quickly

Cons:

• Challenging to draw precise art lines

Price: $8.95AU

Rating:

Where: Priceline, Kmart and Big W.

This is currently my everyday liner, when I first received it from the lovely Tina of FOA I was a bit doubtful since I prefer felt tips for my liner, but after using this for about two weeks straight I can honestly vouch for how amazing this is, especially given the price point.

I love how inky and pigmented this liner is, and how easy it is to create an ultra thin line that can be built into a thicker line. The drying time on this is pretty fast too, probably 5-10 seconds better than MAC’s Superslick Liquid Eye Liner.

The only thing I would prefer, and perhaps it is personal preference is a more solid applicator. Whilst I don’t tend to draw designs on my eyes, for some photo shoots I like literally having a pen liner to draw intricate designs, which I would find difficult to do with this (imagine trying to write this liner, that’s pretty much what I mean).

On the whole the price is great for a fantastic liner that lasts an entire day without fading or smudging, and I wouldn’t hesitate purchasing this myself once I run out

Essie is my official go to brand for everyday nails to wear at work, or just when I feel like being natural / presentable Celina, as opposed to cosplay crazy Celina XD;

Essie always seem to have the best nudes and crèmes in their range, and their Wedding Collection is no exception. The formula on these are great, very pigmented and easy to apply. I’d recommend 3 coats for the two nudes, and 2 coats for the coloured shades, no top coat was used in the swatches below.

Better Together

A ballet pink like nude, which I find better suits lighter skin tones. I really enjoyed wearing this, it made me feel very refined and polished

Borrowed & Blue

A pale crème blue, which I also really loved but cannot actually figure out when I would wear this particular shade. It’s very pigmented, in fact probably one coat would have been good enough if I’d manage to do a better job. Maybe this would be a good alternative if you’re used to wearing crème whites and want something with a bit of a twist.

First Dance

A cherry red crème, we’ve seen this shade a couple times in the last few weeks, and my opinion stands firm, it doesn’t really matter what brand you go with, everyone needs a red like this in their collection.

Made to Honor

A dusty pink nude, similar to Better Together but more muted. I think this would be less attention grabbing than Better Together (as attention grabbing as nudes can be!) more subtle and more versatile too since I can see a larger range of skin tones being able to use this shade.

Overall, another cute and inoffensive collection by Essie, I wouldn’t expect anything less from them

I know Essie is available from Myer, but I have no idea if they’ve released this collection or how much it is. If anyone knows and could let me know, I’d be very appreciative.

Pros:

• Variety of colours
• Good pigmentation
• Long lasting on upper lash line

Cons:

• Best only used on the upper lash line
• Slight pull on lid

Price: $10AU

Rating:

Where: Priceline

If you’re a regular at Priceline (Australia’s version of Ulta?), then you most likely will have noticed the Models Prefer range, which is known for providing a wide range of colours and palettes at a very affordable price. I decided to give their eyeliner pencils a shot.

The range of colours is attractive, very useful for someone who loves to experiment with colours. I found the pencils to be a bit too small for comfort, but I’m willing to over look that given the price.

The one annoying thing I found was that these pencils don’t work well on the water line (hardly any colour appeared!), and tend to fade after 1-2 hrs on the lower lash line. They did however last a considerable time on the upper lash line, but after 8 hrs I did notice that colour slightly smudging as well as fading out.

Overall, these eye liners aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either. I’d recommend them to teenagers starting to get into makeup, but if you’re a bit of an addict like me and want the range of colours, I’d point you towards Urban Decay or Makeup Forever in terms of pencil liners.

Pros:

• Subtle highlighter with a slight sheen
• Great for adding dimension to matte foundations
• Can tone down blushes

Cons:

• May not show up on darker skin tones

Price: $6.75US

Rating:

Where: Cherry Culture

NYX’s Mosaic Powders are a fusion of five shades that are to be blended together to create a luminous blush / highlighter or bronzer depending on the mix of colours. The shade that I’m reviewing today is called Highlighter.

You can tell by the photos that I’ve been using this compact for a while now. It’s my go-to highlighter when I want only want my highlighter to give a very soft sheen. Most highlighters I own give off a very shimmery finish, but for more toned down looks I love using this.

Unfortunately to achieve this the colour pay off needs to be light, and so I’m not 100% sure how well this would work on people with darker skin tones. At only $6.75US, I think it’s worth taking the risk for, but if you have a chance to try it in store first, I’d recommend that!

If you want you can use the colours individually, though the colour difference between them is so subtle I’m not sure why you would. NYX Mosaic Powders come in a wide range of other colours that I’m hoping to review soon. So far I’m really in love with this highlighter and use it constantly with various Book of Fables and more day to day looks.

It is also a fantastic way to tone down blush if you’ve gone a bit overboard.

Overall, this is a great product, one of my favourites, not to mention the amazing price! I highly recommend it

If you live in Australia, then hope you are enjoying your long weekend~ I figured most people will either be on holiday or at least enjoying their break away from their computer (except for me because let’s face it, I’m a bit of a nerd / geek), so I decided to bring in a pretty simple look I’ve had in mind for a while.

CLAMP are a group of talented women who have written some amazing Japanese series such as Card Captor Sakura, X/1999, Chobits and of course Magic Knight Rayearth. CLAMP’s illustration style for female eyes tend to be very similar throughout all their series. And so I wanted to present a simple tutorial with my interpretation of CLAMP female eyes.

I had actually recorded this as a video tutorial, but… I’m not 100% happy with the results, so I’ll hopefully re-shoot it again soon Enjoy!

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation – 4
Giorgio Armani Micro-Fil Loose Powder – 1
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer – Beige
Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder – Pale Yellow
NP Set – New Neutrals *
NARS Powder Blush – Orgasm
e.l.f Eyelid Primer – Sheer
MAc Fluidline – Blacktrack
DUO Lash Glue – Dark Tone
False Lashes
SHU Uemura – Lash Curler
NYX Mosaic Powder – Highlighter
MAC Lipglass – Cruise Control
Maybelline Brow Styling Gel – Clear
NYX Felt Tip Liner – Extreme Black
Prestige Eyeliner – White

_{Product marked with * were sent for consideration}

Face
Nothing too special here, prime, foundation, concealer and powder to set. When cosplaying, your makeup will be thicker than usual just because you will be photographed often and you want absolutely flawless skin . Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks and a white shimmering powder to highlighter.

Eyes
First prime your lids, for my Shidou Hikaru photo shoots I went with red eye shadow, but for the sake of making this tutorial more general, I went with a neutral eye. You are trying to make your eyes appear larger than they are, so the most important thing to remember is where you set the crease. Even tho my eyes are large, I tend to apply the crease colour -just- above my actual crease. It’s not clear in the photos (hence why I want to reshoot the video), but it does make a big difference.

Next would be the liner, CLAMP eyes tend to go very heavy on the liner, but the exact same you want will depend on the character you are portraying. You want to make sure your liner is thicker and less winged out for younger characters, and wing it out a great deal more for vampy characters.

Curl your lashes and apply mascara and make sure to apply a good set of false lashes. I’d go as far to say that the majority of female characters, no matter what mangaka needs to wear false lashes.

Lips
The colour of your lips will again depend on your character, Hikaru is youthful hence why I settled for a sheer pink shade. But naturally vamper characters will require a darker colour.

I will do my best to make sure my video is as comprehensive as possible, please let me know if there is anything you would like to see in it!

For Supanova this year my original intentions was to actually cosplay Stitch from Lilo & Stitch, with Sefie as my Lilo. However a few weeks before the con the lovely Jess & Tess contacted me asking if I could be Snow White for their disGlee group. Given that I already have a Snow White costume, this wasn’t a difficult decision to make, especially since work as usual was picking up and demanding some stressful long hours of me

Turns out it was the perfect decision because we had such a blast on the day, and I met some of the most amazing people ever!

Whilst rehearsing our skit in the exhibitor car park we were approached by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for photographs. Sadly I have to admit I didn’t know who they were at the time, but the rest of the girls seemed to because they were screaming the minute they saw them! I will upload images as soon as I have them <3

After that, the Herald Sun asked if we would consider chasing Captain Jack Sparrow for a photo, which was a no brainer We ended up appearing both on the Herald Sun's printed newspaper and online website!

And yet despite all this, my favourite and most cherish memory of the day is just meeting so many lovely new cosplayers, both local and interstate. Cosplay is such a unique hobby, and it’s even harder finding friends who are as committed as I am to it, so I want to give thanks to Tess and Jess (who btw will be representing Australia in the World Cosplay Summit this year!!) for bringing us all together~

You can watch our skit here if you are interested~

To the disGlee girls, thanks so much for the lovely day! I hope we can do many more cosplays together and am looking forward to our official photo shoot <3