Fables in Fashion

“What did you do on the weekend?” or “Got any plans this evening?”

Conventional questions I get asked at work all the time, whether out of sincerity or to fill the conversational void, they get asked. And my never failed response is, “oh nothing much”.

And yet we all know this is far from the case. In fact if you took a glance at my schedule, you’ll see every night I have something planned. And more often than not has to do with either cosplay, this blog or working on my portfolio.

Lookbooks take up a lot of my time, not just because I like to shoot in advanced, but because I tend to re-shoot them several times before I have a set of photos I feel are good enough to be put on this blog. But how exactly do you tell someone, who most likely isn’t that interested in your evening to begin with “I’m going to put on a lot of makeup, sit in my bedroom and take photos of myself”. Hmm… suddenly, “Going to work on my blog this evening” doesn’t sound as social inept anymore!

Yes, I’ve always wondered how dedicated bloggers with full time jobs outside of blogging even introduce the topic of their “other life”. Do you guys even bring it up? Or are you like me, juuust keep it to myself and not mention it at all?

P.S: Props to me, I finally linked Fables on my FaceBook page, where I’m linked with all my co-workers. So… step 1 right?

Preparing for Manifest is so easy feat, especially when your day job consumes so much of your life. Luckily, this particular client I am happy to be working with.

It’s a large Australian fashion house, in fact just this morning I stumbled into one of their design rooms and it is everything like a fashion magazine in the movies. Walls and racks of shoes, handbags and clothes! Twas like a dream, if only I was the person in the room, rather than the one staring in lol, I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy myself here

So like I said, when time is limited, stress levels are high, I turn to fun things to maintain my sanity. Laura completed this survey on YouTube, figured I’d post my answers here

1. Would you rather go out with messy hair and nice make-up or Nice hair and no make-up?

Nice air an no makeup, I already constantly go out without makeup and feel fine, but I cannot stand leaving the house without at least neatly styling my hair!

2. Would you rather shave your eyebrows or have your eyelashes fall out?

Shave my eyebrows, cause I can always draw them back on, but I would hate to have to wear false lashes everyday.

3. Would you rather be forced to shop at only MAC or Sephora for the rest of your life?

MAC, because we don’t have a Sephora in Australia so ignorance is bliss

4. Would you rather wear lipgloss/lipliner look or 80′s perm?

Lipgloss/Lipliner! I… could never rock an 80′s perm, just not me.

5. Would you rather leave the house with an obvious foundation line or overdone blush?

Overdone blush, because I think it can be really adorable depending on the shade and blending

6. Would you rather wear MC Hammer pants or biker shorts in public?

Biker shorts, at least I’d give people the impression I was fit?

7. Would you rather have a bad orange-y spray tan or really weird tan lines that can’t be covered?

Weird tanlines, if you know me, you know I hate tanning. So this was the better of the two evils.

8. Would you rather have a bad haircut or bad hair color?

Bad hair colour, cause you can always work it with a great haircut

9. Would you rather have youtube or twitter taken away forever?

Twitter, Youtube feeds me more.

10. Would you rather give up using makeup brushes or mascara?

Mascara, I can fake lashes with a good application of eyeliner and individual false lashes (or even lash extensions)

So if you’ve been following me on twitter, you’ll know that this morning I woke up to find myself on the front page of The Sunday Age M Magazine! Which honestly left me in shock for a good few minutes :O

The article was about costuming in general, and I was lucky enough to be selected to represent cosplayers!

If you want to read the article, feel free to see it here online. It was a fantastic experience! Complete with my own hair/makeup artist, shooting in a massive studio! And for some reason despite all that, I was under the impression it would be a small article somewhere in the back of the magazine hehe.

I’ll be uploading some behind the scene photos from the shoot on my cosplay site sometime soon, so I’ll be sure to announce that here!

And I figured since it’s been published and completely out there, I’ve decided to go by my real name Celina instead of Sirene (a nickname I made up for my fashion/beauty blog). The original reason I decided on a nickname was because I didn’t want my IT websites to be confused with my fashion/cosplay, but I kept getting my friends so confused, I thought meh! Celina it is for everything

I need to send out my love and thanks to Sefie, one of my best friends! And it’s all thanks to her support and love that this happened in the first place!

Oh and for kicks, I went down to my local newsagency and took a photo, so I know it’s real! ahaha.

Thought I’d change it up a bit and fill out a survey

SKINCARE
How many times do you wash your face daily?
Twice. With a cleanser at night, and just warm water in the morning.

What skin type do you have? (dry,oily,combo)
Oily-combination skin.

What is your current facial wash?
Shiseido’s Pureness Foaming Cleanser, on my 3rd bottle now and can’t see myself changing! I love that it removes my makeup so easily!

Do you exfoliate?
Yes, I try to do it religiously at least once a week, but if it’s been a long week I could forget

What brand do you use?
Laura Mercier’s Face Polish, the smell takes a bit of getting used to (because I’m not a fan of scented skin care products), but I love how fine the grains are, leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth.

What moisturiser do you use?
Clinique Super Rescue Antioxidant at night, and Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense for the mornings.

Do you have freckles?
I think so! Very light tho.

Do you use eye cream?
Yes, Clarins Sun Control Eye Contour Care SPF30 for the day and Clinique All About Eyes for night.

Do you or did you have acne prone skin?
Back when I was a teenager, I had it terrible on my forehead. It was literally covered with scars! But as I entered my 20s, they slowly disappeared and I might get a pimple maybe once every 6 months now?

Did you ever have to use Pro-activ?
Nope, I find it hard to trust stuff I see on info-mercials, even tho they could very well be great products, the fact that they are on an infomercials makes me steer clear. I’m cool like that, lol.

MAKE-UP
What foundation do you use?
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser SPF 20 for “normal” life when I feel like wearing makeup. Otherwise I have a range of different foundations depending on the type of shoot.

How about concealer?
Normally none, for shoots I use either Bobbi Brown or Laura Mericer.

Do you know your undertone color?
Nope, I feel like I should tho…

What do you think of fake eyelashes?
I adore the look, but I hate feeling them on my eyes and ouch when I take them off. Pain for beauty!

Did you know that you are supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?
Yes, but I usually throw mascara out based on how well it works. Once it starts to get clumpy, I throw it out.

What brand of mascara do you use?
Covergirl’s Lash Blast is my current favourite.

Sephora or MAC?
Given we don’t have a Sephora in Australia, MAC hands down.

Do you have a MAC Pro-card?
Nope.

What makeup tools do you use in make up application?
Fingers, brushes, cotton buds, cotton pads and tissues.

Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes?
Always if I’m wearing eyeshadow

For the face?
Yes, but only for photoshoots

What is your favorite eyeshadow (color or shade)?
This is constantly changing, right now I’m loving the Honeycomb trio by NYX.

Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?
Neither, gel all the way! Pencils always smudge after a few hours, though I do use them for my waterline. Liquid liners haven’t really appealed to me.

How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
Never, but I have more often than I would like to admit, gotten a speck of gel eyeliner on my contacts, terribly irritating.

What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?
Love them! But only when I have time to actually use them.

Do you use mineral makeup?
Yes, I’ve totally fallen victim to their entire marketing scheme

What is your favorite lipstick?
I don’t wear lipstick unless for photoshoots or special events

How about lipgloss?
I don’t wear lipgloss, unless for a photo shoot and then it would depend on the theme.

What is your favorite blush to use?
Toss up between NYX Blush in Natural and NARS Blush Orgasm.

Do you buy your makeup on ebay?
Only nail polish.

Do you like drugstore makeup?
Love it! It can be very very hit and miss unfortunately.

Do you go to CCO’s? (cosmetic company outlets)
I don’t think we have any in Australia

Did you ever consider taking make-up classes?
I’d love too, just need to money and time.

Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
Not as bad as when I was a teenager!

Name a makeup crime that you hate?
Anything that isn’t flattering. I love being precise

Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick,eyeshadow) or neutral ones?
For work, always neutral. For everything else, the sky is the limit (especially when it comes to photoshoots)

Which celebrity always has great make up?
No idea, I don’t follow celebrities.

If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item,what would you use?
Eyeshadow, doubles as an eyeliner when wet!

Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on?
Of course, and I do almost all the time. I only wear makeup to work if I’ve had a long night before and I don’t conduct photoshoots everyday

Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
Sure do (I think everyone looks great without makeup), but I know I look better with it (as do most people)

In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?
Hmm…. I think each brand has a strong focus point. Like MAC with eyeshadows, GA for foundations, Bobbi Brown for concealers etc. I couldn’t live with just one brand!

What do you think of Makeup?
Makeup is art, it’s therapeutic and of course I love playing with it. It has so many purposes to many different people, and a great mutual topic for connecting with other people over

Thanks to work, I’ve moved away from the CBD for the next couple of months. This means no more mini adventures into the many clothing and beauty shops during my breaks Plus I lose about 2-3hrs a day during the week since the commute is longer; the hours are generally longer so early to bed and early to rise etc. Not to mention all the weekend work Still it’s not permanent so I’ll survive. And my wallet and credit card seem to be very grateful!

It does however make taking photos even harder. As you may or may not know, it was already tough because the only time I could do shoots was during the day aka weekend, since by the time I arrived home on weekends, the sun had completely set (and I have yet to find a good indoor lighting area, still a WIP). Now that I have to work weekends as well, doesn’t get much easier. Still, I will persist and do the best I can. I love costumes and makeup far too much to just let it slide.

In fact, yesterday I obtained a couple of new products I can’t wait to try out and hopefully review I’ve seen them popping up in my fashion magazines…. yes advertising works shamefully well on me I feel so sorry for my parents for the kind of demanding child I must have been!

I’ve got a deliciously gothic dress / look I want to put together for a shoot soon! Just need to figure out how to make fake blood, hmm… Any ideas are welcome! <3

The long weekend is over, back to work tomorrow (yay…)

It’s been a good weekend though, I spent the entire time cleaning out my bedroom and study / computer room, the two rooms I spend about 80% of my time in when at home I feel like my life to some degree has been organised! Especially now all my shoe boxes that were slowly taking over the study finally have a closet to sit in.

My bedroom is still a WIP, but getting rid of my old desk, and installing two new chest of drawers gives me a ton of new storage space, whilst opening up the entire room! I think the lighting in there will be perfect, lots and lots of white walls for light to bounce off (I will post before and after photos once I’ve finished!)

Hope you guys had a good long weekend (if you’re an Aussie!) I am going to try my hardest NOT to disappear off the face of the earth this week, but I am receiving my StarCraft 2 beta key this Wednesday so… we can only wait and see what happens >_>

Home from Japan, so happy to be with my friends and family, but I do miss Japan It is a wonderful country (I am going to miss the customer service and fashion the most!)

I spent a shameful amount on both clothes and makeup, I couldn’t help myself given the prices and the fact that finally most of the clothes actually fit me! So happy

Anyways, just letting you guys know I’m back and will hopefully be able to post a bit more regularly~!

I’ll be leaving for Japan tomorrow for approximately 2 weeks, in that time I still hope to blog as much as I can, mainly because there will be plenty of time on the plane to write up new posts, as well as on the train as I travel between cities (7 cities in 14 days, I hope I’ve got the energy for it!) So fingers crossed that will happen, if not, you’ll know why there is a sudden 2 week lull in my posts.

Photo from Getty Images

Despite the limited time I’ll have, I’ve excited to see what hidden / lesser known Japanese beauty products and fashion I can uncover! I’ve already got instructions on how to mail packages back home so I should be all set I’ll try my best to keep you guys posted!

I’m sad I probably won’t be able to post my photos from Grazia up till later tonight or even tomorrow as I have a wedding rehearsal to attend after work I really should have been more on the ball last night when I got home, but in my true style I love to put things off and watch Family Guy or play Rock Band instead.

After seeing how diverse the fashion was yesterday, I am determined to dress up for the next two shows. Problem is, I realised I don’t actually have any “interesting” clothes.

The problem with being a seamstress is that when I find an article of clothing I love, that comes with a hefty price tag I think to myself, “Oh I’ll just make that”, and on to the already 200+ long list it goes.

I find myself consistently working on costumes for cosplay or photo shoots, so not much time is dedicated to creating clothes for myself And here I am, I have plenty of shoes, hand bags and makeup, but no clothes to wear them with!

Am I alone? Perhaps I should get cracking and finally make a couple of dresses I can use this year. Hmm.

Last night whilst removing my nail polish for a new mani, I in true style, knocked my nail polish remover bottle on top of a bunch of cosmetics already sitting on my counter No real cosmetics were harmed, but it did surprise me how strong acetone really is :O These are post-war photos of my NARS blush, sorry for the poor photos! But I found it both horrifying and interesting that the product that caused this, is the same product I apply to my hands at least once a week!