Phoenix Blood Cosmetics Review

Of course, I can't do a review of my own products; that is not ethical and usually not the kind of review people want to read.  Instead I have for you a review from a lovely lady who recently bought a bunch of samples and gave me the link to her blog.  Her name is Bobbie, and she's a sweetheart.
You can find her review here.

On another note, I am currently testing recipes for an eye shadow base to make my shadows last better.  I have tried several companies' bases, plus trying multiple  DIY remedies.  I want my base to grab onto shadows so that they show up nice and vibrant, but I also want the base to prevent creasing (my lids are dry, but in a shape that encourages creasing) and extend the life of my look.  I'll keep you posted!

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

My Vanity Setup

I am a messy person.  I get so frustrated because, regardless of how civilized I feel, I seem to leave chaos and dirty teacups in my wake.  However, I was finally able to impose some order to my perfume and personal jewelry stash.  It's so unusual for me, I thought I'd share it.

I love old-fashioned perfume misters.  I found the fleur-de-lis one at Hobby Lobby (functional!) and filled it with inexpensive but yummy body spray (EDIT: I later found that the glue in the mister had been dissolved by the perfume, and the top came off and doused me.  Do not do this.), and I found the short one with the pink bubble at Goodwill.  It doesn't work, but it's still cute.  You can tell I have eclectic tastes; my scents range from a Bulgari unisex fragrance (which I love) to a silly $1 cotton candy-scented spray.

I keep my necklaces on my closet rack because they tangle so horribly in my jewelry box; that is now reserved for rings, earrings and decorative hair clips.  

I got this cool seance card in my last Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs order.  I thought the (broken) mirror slot in the box would be a perfect frame for display.  I just taped it in.

Anyway, have a marvelous summer everyone.  Goth on!

Rosy Nude FOTD

Finally, I am sharing with you a look done with makeup I made.  I didn't make all of it-there's still store-bought mascara and pencil eyeliner.  It will probably be a while before I try to make items that ambitious.  However, here is one of the favorite eye shadow colors I've made so far.  I named it Romanza after an Andrea Bocelli CD I like (it's not Goth, but I don't care! :) )

I also used it as blush.  It's a little frostier than I like my blush to be, so I might reformulate it with less shimmer to suit my tastes better. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Goth Crafty Haul! Plus DIY Tips

My box from JoAnn's arrived only a day or two ago, and I've already nearly finished one of my 1-pound skeins of yarn.  I made some crocheted hair bows (pics coming soon) and the first two rows of my granny-square afghan.  It was originally going to be a little throw for the couch, but Hubby wanted to be able to snuggle so it will be closer to 5'x7'.  Yes, it will be enormous, and I might have to get yet another 1-pound skein of yarn just to finish it.  I'm really excited about the hair bows-new colors and variations are definitely in the works.  Two of them I embellished with little skull charms.  This is an example of how a little ingenuity can turn any cute little pattern or item into something deliciously dark.  I got my hair bow pattern from Crocheting the Day Away, a really popular crochet craft blog.  It's a super-simple, quick pattern, the original picture was of a bright yellow bow, and still my finished result is wonderfully Gothic Lolita in spirit.  Yes, I am a bit proud; I haven't crocheted anything in at least a year and a half and had no idea whether the skill had left me or not.
Keep expressing yourselves, and have a wonder-filled day!

Antsy, antsy, antsy...

I have more things in the mail, this time crafty ones.
It wasn't intentional, but somehow hubby and I managed to dress our bed in nothing but ugly beige and gray plaid, with a side of graphic checks and hubby's beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  It doesn't look like a female even visits this bed, much less sleeps in it every night.  So, I decided to crochet a lovely black, lacy throw to give the bed some feminine, Gothy flair.  I decided on granny squares, because a) they are easy b) they are portable c) in one color they look fairly lacy without complicated stitch patterns d) each square is fairly small, so you get the "I'm done!" thrill many times during the course of the project.  I decided to order my yarn in huge one-pound skeins because it's less pricy that way.  Unfortunately, I accidentally ordered three of these ginormous skeins instead of two.  So, I will be making little hair bows to embellish and sell in my Etsy and Shopify shops.  I'm kind of glad to have all the extra yarn to play with, but...trust me, I'm never going to try to shop online using mobile devices again, that's for sure.