Fables in Fashion

A very special video, not just because it was filmed in Inverloch, but mostly because I get to feature all my friends together doing what they do best, being awesome. As you already know I was out in Inverloch last weekend taking half a holiday, half a “must film as many makeup tutorials as possible”. I was pretty stoked to achieve both thanks to my friends who are constantly teaching me to live life, enjoy life and savour each moment that passes.

As for the look, it was something I threw together pretty much on the day. It’s hard to plan looks to film in an environment you’ve never seen before which meant I basically had to bring with me everything I thought I could use and design virtually all my looks whilst there.

I will admit that shooting this tutorial was a million times more fun and entertaining for me thanks to all the people around me And I hope it shows and in turn you enjoy the video!

Special thanks to Neil Creek for the photo at the top of this post

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum – 51
MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural – Light
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder – Light
e.l.f Blush – Tickled Pink
NYX Mosaic Powder – Highlighter
BH Cosmetics 120 Palette – 01
NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base
Canmake Highlighter – 01
e.l.f Eyebrow Kit – Dark
Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes – Black
Maybelline Eyeliner – Onyx
Hello Kitty Diamond Stars – Angel Rain *
Dior Lipstick – 768

Products marked * were sent for consideration

So! I’ve been meaning to do a Day in the Life post for the longest time, but I always keep forgetting to take photos throughout the day so I had to virtually set alarms throughout the day to remind to “snap a photo, snap a photo!” I won’t be narrating any of these photos, mostly because as the clock at the end indicates, it actually is 1:20am in the morning at the moment and I need to get to bed to get up at 6:30am for work… (I know this little sleep is not good for you, everyone and their mum has told me already)

So hopefully the photos will be enough, but please let me know what you think. Whether I should do more of these? Or would you like me to narrate what is happening? Etc etc I aim to please! Enjoy~

Xin Nian Kuai Le! Well, at least it will be in a few more days I won’t pretend that I can speak fluent Chinese, so please forgive any mispronunciations in the video, I’m going purely based off my old memory of Chinese classes which I haven’t attended in well over 10 years now XD; But it’s the year of the Dragon, which is always exciting as the dragon is the only sign who is consider legendary. And the only person who I know is a dragon was my grandfather who unfortunately passed away a few years ago.

The dress was my mother’s, she used to wear it during her youth to celebrate Chinese New Year back in Singapore (where my parents are from, though most of my family is from China). In case you were wondering, I am 100% Chinese, I know I get a lot of questions in real life around whether I’m Viet or Japanese or even half Caucasian O_o;; (I… just don’t see it….) but nope. I’m quite boring I’m certainly no artist so this was my best attempt at drawing art on my face (doesn’t that just sound so eloquent?) but I hope you enjoy!

I got a real kick out of dressing up minus the last minute rush rush stress that comes with actually making my costume, so having one ready made is a nice change of pace

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation – RF 100
Revlon PhotoReady Translucent Finisher – 001 Translucent
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder – Light
NYX Mosaic Powder – Highlighter
MAC Paint Pot – Painterly
BH Cosmetics 120 Palette – 01
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Benefit BAD Gal Lash Mascara – Black
e.l.f Eyebrow Kit – Dark
Benefit Box Powder – Coralista
Topshop Lipstick – Confession

Products marked * were sent for consideration

It’s summer in Melbourne at the moment… or at least it’s suppose to be But you wouldn’t know it with the sort of weather we’ve been getting! So when the sun came out, I made a mad dash to film something light hearted and summery Which is what the weather SHOULD be!

As you now know I sketch all my Book of Fable chapters, but what translates well on paper doesn’t always translate well in person, this is one of those cases. I tried to add a bit more to it with the patterns and feathering, and whilst it help, I’m still uncertain. Anyways, it’s a happy look for sure!

This week has been pretty horrid work wise, it’s not often, but sometimes you land on those weeks or days where you just can’t stand to be at work anymore and I’m currently going through those emotions as I type :/ A combination of environment, people, work load and just bad timing. I have to admit that having my blog and YouTube channel gives me the ultimate escape, though admittedly often leaves me stressed out as well. I often contemplate just taking some solid time off work to sit at home and make videos, I think that would be an awesome yet financially poor use of time. Either way I hope I get out of my “funk” and that work comes back to being fun away, or as fun as work can be

At least I’ll be having dinner with some of my favourite creative friends tonight and I’m sure they’ll manage to pull me out~

Thanks for watching another chapter, and reading my personal venting / rants Love you all~ Have a great weekend!

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation – 51
MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural – Light
Face of Australia Face Powder – Bronze *
NYX Powder Blush – Natural
Canmake Highlighter – 01
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Coastal Scents 88 Ultra Shimmer Eye Shadow Palette
BH Cosmetics 120 Palette – 01
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
Mirenesse Secret Weapon Mascara – Black *
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick – Pink Please
MAC Lipglass – Cruise Control

Products marked * were sent for consideration

I can attest to the fact that the few seconds or minutes it takes to watch a video or look at photos is just a glimpse into the level of work and preparation it takes behind the scenes. I thought it might be fun to take you guys on a journey on how I conduct my photo and video shoots for both a Book of Fables chapter and general photo shoots. 2012 is a year for big plans and I’m hoping to really get my creative juices flowing so that I can start seriously collaborating with some of my friends.

As you can see above, I do my best to list out all the dates I need to hit for my chapters, and list out the idea of the chapter at least 2-3 months in advance. That gives me enough time to make sure I have the correct costume / prop, and if not, enough time to make / buy it. Hmmm… “Sweet Rainbow” is coming up this Friday, I wonder what that is ^_~

Every single Book of Fables chapter is always first sketched out in my sketch book. You might be able to see some familiar chapters above I have two sketch books already filled with makeup looks, but many of my sketches never materialise, so many chapters are rejected (in fact there are a number chapters that are actually filmed, and never make it online as I don’t deem the quality high enough)

I am by no means a master planner, in fact I know many of my close friends will agree that I don’t actually plan enough (one of my resolutions for 2012), but planning is really and truly so essential for a strong execution of any concept and creative project.

This is especially true for videos, I have already started storyboarding a ton of videos I hope to film this year, but as all the ideas are still new and haven’t been filmed yet, I will show you those storyboards on the next post for this series

Costumes are exactly the same, but worse. It’s one thing to draw a costume out in it’s entirety, but you then need to sketch out each individual piece of the costume, whether that be shoes, pants, top, accessories etc. And worse still, it’s important to sketch out how the pieces will be made and fit together. You probably can’t tell, but I have tons of tiny little notes scribbled next to each piece of the outfit to tell me how long I think it will take to make, what sort of colour it should, what sort of fabric I need, how much of it etc.

The next process is sticking little post it notes all over the costumes. If you think I have a lot of makeup, you should see my fabric collection! Unfortunately no matter what costume I am making, I never have every piece I need already in my collection, and so the post it notes tell me what materials I need to buy to complete the costume, how much of it and where I can buy it.

I know this all seems terribly organised for some, but trust me, I could do a lot better. And the reason I wasn’t able to produce any new proper costumes last year was thanks to my lack of planning.

The next post I hope to do on this topic will be around storyboarding for my videos I’m not sure whether I covered everything you guys wanted to know in this post, or whether you would prefer it in video format? But let me know, I’m only happy to accommodate, I want to give you guys a real feel for the work that goes into every video / photo

First chapter for 2012 Something relatively simple…in terms of editing The look, well, it’s not complicated, but I certainly wouldn’t consider it wearable!…. unless you work at a circus or something then totally! Still I consider this a simple chapter in the sense that there isn’t much of a story line nor any visual effects.

I’ll be honest and say whilst I love doing those type of videos, work is making it terribly hard to not only find time to film, but edit videos to a level that makes me happy enough to upload And so I default to these simpler type videos, which I can’t admit to being terribly proud of just because they aren’t as fun to make and frankly I feel like they come across like Michelle Phan type videos, which whilst I love her, I’d rather my videos have their own voice and flair But I think missing a Friday chapter makes me feel worse… I don’t know yet, maybe I should start making the chapters fortnightly and do simpler videos in between? Any suggestions? What do you guys think of these type of videos?

Still I’ll certainly shoot for more storyline videos, that seemed to be a big request among my viewers and no surprise those are some of my favourites to make, even better if I can make the costumes and incorporate cosplay into it somehow

Oh btw! The Jill Stuart contest is over, I’ll pick a winner this weekend, work started up again this week so its been hectic In fact after I finish typing this post (Thursday night), I’m going to get back to doing some more work for some meetings tomorrow! Boo!

Enjoy the chapter!

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation – 51
MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural – Light
Face of Australia Face Powder – Bronze *
NYX Powder Blush – Natural
Canmake Highlighter – 01
Urban Decay Primer Potion – Original
Hello Kitty Eyeshadow – Desert Dore *
MAC Crushed Pigment – Stacked 2
MAC Eyeshadow – Amber Lights
MAC Eyeshadow – Black Tied
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
Lancome Definicils Mascara – Black
MAC Fix +
Milani Crystal Eyez – Glamorously Glittering
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick – Soft Nude

Products marked * were sent for consideration

Final chapter for 2011 It’s been one heck of a year for the series, moving into video format in May. I’ve had a blast making all the videos this year, it’s something I truly enjoy, but admittedly some of the videos (particularly the ones with visual effects and storylines) can take so long, made worse during periods of work that are more demanding. So one of the changes I’ll likely be implementing is introducing simpler “filler” videos to give me time to focus on the more complex videos without feeling too time pressed Either way I’m sure over time I’ll find the balance I need.

In the mean time, please enjoy my last chapter for the year, a New Years Eve look No glitter, because there already is enough glitter floating around the net for NYE (that and I use glitter so often already, I needed a break!)

Hope you all have a lovely day <3

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation – 51
MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural – Light
Face of Australia Face Powder – Bronze *
NYX Powder Blush – Natural
NYX Mosaic Powder – Highlighter
Urban Decay Primer Potion – Original
Coastal Scents 88 Ultra Shimmer Eye Shadow Palette
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
e.l.f Eyebrow Kit – Dark
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Lancome Definicils Mascara – Black
Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick – Pink Please
Chanel Illusion D’Ombre – 81 Fantasme

Products marked * were sent for consideration