Body modifications and some of my favorite music

I've always been interested in body modification, tattoos and piercings specifically. They can be quite controversial, but luckily I haven't gotten into any trouble for having them :D

      

Left ear: 6mm stretch and two regular cartilage piercings (they're technically not helix -piercings because the angle is different)

- Actually I think that stretching has hurt more than any of my other piercings. The cartilage ones weren't that bad, only about a 3 on a (painless)1-10(hurts like hell) pain scale. If any of you've tried stretching your piercings I guess you know what I'm talking about - I'd say the pain was somewhere near 5 or 6 and it would be sore for days after a new stretch.  It took me a bit more than half a year to get to 6mm, trying to stretch about 1mm per month. I'm happy with the current size and I've stayed the same for almost three years already. The reason I didn't stretch it any bigger is that some day I want to go back to the original size, and after stretching it over 10mm it might not go back to how it was before. More than anything, stretching requires lots and lots of patience if you don't want to screw it up.
- I got my first cartilage piercing about 1½ years ago or something, and the other one I think I got like half a year ago. Anything on the cartilage is a pain in the ass for a few months because it affects the way you sleep and you need to be careful not to accidentally knock them when brushing your hair - or that's how it was for me at least. When it comes to pain they're fine now, but the only problem I have, that's very common with any cartilage piercing, is that they easily develop those little "bumps", called keloids. They're treatable with for example tea tree oil, but at the moment I don't have any because it's so damn expensive :|

Right ear: Two regular earlobe piercings and a rook

- The rook was the first thing I got on my ears except for the regular three earlobe piercings I already had. I've actually had it done twice, because the first time the piercer was still a bit of a newbie and she didn't pierce it in the right spot. So, it was difficult to see and clean it and everything and after about 8 months or so, it started to grow out and I took it out, waited a couple of months and got it repierced by another person, and I've had zero problems with it since. Some people say the rook hurts like crazy, but after having it done two times I have to say it wasn't too bad for me. Again, maybe a 3-4 on the 1-10 scale. I'm not sure why it didn't hurt like I was expecting it to but I'm just glad that it didn't, not even the second time.

I also have my tongue pierced, it's been a little over three years since I got it done and it still is probably my favorite piercing, even though I don't spend my day looking at it :D I don't have a good picture of it at the moment but it's not that special. I was extremely nervous when I went to the shop to get it done, since it was my first "professional" piercing that was done with a needle, and not just an earlobe with the piercing gun ( by the way, don't get even your lobes pierced with the gun, it's the worst way to do it and I hope I had known earlier ). Lucky for me, I feared for nothing because it literally didn't hurt at all. The only thing I felt was a little bit of pressure on my tongue and that was it. But the part that sucked, was the aftercare. Okay, aftercare is the worst part with any piercing. My tongue swelled up and it was hard to eat and talk for the first week, I drank a lot of ice water and took some painkillers to ease the healing. Finally after two weeks it was fine and I changed the jewelry to a shorter barbell - that felt good.

Tattoos

                                                        (this picture was taken when the tattoo was only a couple of hours old, 
                                                                             that's why my skin looks irritated)

- At the moment I only have one (or two, depending how you count it) tattoo, it's on my back behind my left shoulder and they're the actual paw prints of my two cats. The tattoo pain was pretty much what I expected it to be, an irritating scratching feeling. It was tolerable since the tattoo only took like 10 minutes for the artist to do, but I'm sure that if you're getting tattooed for more than a couple of hours it can really hurt. There were only a few about five second parts when the tattoo machine was closer to my shoulder bones and it hurt more, but just for a while. I would definitely get it done again if I had to :) The tattoo now isn't as black as it is in the picture, because it was done with different tones of grey and not just plain black but that's how it looked like when it was fresh. I should take a new picture of it, it's even prettier now..
- I'm quite sure I'll get more tattoos in the future, but for now I have nothing specific in mind. I'd like something inspired by the Lord of the Rings, some script in elvish or something like that.

I also wanted to share some of my favorite music on here, since it is such a big part of my life. 
Here are couple of songs/artists to check out if you're looking for some new music:

                                             HIM - Buried Alive by Love

                                               Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence ( I actually saw them live in Helsinki                                                     about a year ago, it was awesome!)

and finally, something a bit heavier...or more awesome :D

                                                  Rammstein - Du Hast

Easy, neutral smokey eye - tutorial

I recently got a request from a friend to show how to create a smokey eye, so here it is! I apologize (again) for the bad artificial lighting in the photos, but that's all I have during this time of the year :D

First, here's what I used to create the look:

- Warm Palette 88 Eye Shadows by Coastal Scents

- Beauty Base Eye Shadow Primer by Lumene

Optional: other products to complete the look - black liquid eyeliner or gel liner, brown eye liner pencil and mascara

Brushes:                                                                                                                                          

     

I used five different brushes, but you can manage with just the regular shadow brush (4) and a blending brush (5).  Brushes 1&3 are from Coastal Scents, 2 is by Maybelline, 4 is by Ibero and 5 is by M.A.C "217". If you like to do eye makeup a lot, I really suggest you get it because it's an amazing brush for blending and I honestly don't know how I managed without it before :D

Finally, the actual tutorial:

 Here you can see the shadows I used from the palette (I'll be referring to the shadows by the numbers you see here in order of what I used)

                                                                                                           

- I started by applying the eye shadow primer all over my lid up to the brow and lightly powdered on top to set it. Also, I already have a bit of mascara on because I just got home from school and then did this look :D

 - Here I used shadow (1). all over the lid and a bit to the crease with the regular shadow brush "4". You could also use brush "1" to do this.

- Take a medium brown shadow (2) and apply it to the other half of the lid and slightly to the crease, using the same regular shadow brush.

( -Optional step, I used this latte colored shadow (3) and blended it softly with the M.A.C blender brush to the crease to help smoke out the darker colors we're going to add next)

 - Time to start creating the smokey effect. I used a dark brown shadow (4) and applied it to the outer corner of my eye and up to the crease with brush "3".

- I like using black (5) when creating a smokey eye but if that's too harsh for you, just go with a grey or a really dark brown shadow. Apply it carefully to the outer third of the lid, but make sure the dark brown still shows up. For this I also used brush "3" but you could do it with the regular shadow brush "4".

- Lastly, blend the crease colors together with a light brown eye shadow (6) using the blender brush "5" (to blend, use light circular motions or a "windshield wiper"- motion over the crease) and add a matte cream color (7), brush "1" to highlight under the brow and to help with the gradient even more.

- I completed the look by using a brown eye pencil on the lower lash line, then dark brown shadow (4) on top of it and added a bit of the black shadow (5) to the outer corner of the lower lash line, both colors with brush "2". I also lined my upper water line with black gel liner, and did a thin black line with liquid liner on the lid. Then just add two coats of your favorite mascara (add false lashes for some extra drama!), and you're done!  :)

Here are a few photos with both eyes done and how it looks further away:

I hope this tutorial was helpful, and sorry if it's a bit complicated but if you have any questions I'll be more than happy to answer them! :)

Winter is coming...

Yup...

- Once again the first snow came down - and I'm already over it. Every year when spring finally comes around the corner, I'm amazed by the fact that I didn't get hypothermia or break any bones because of slippery roads. You'd think that after 18 years of living in Finland, one should be used to the fact that every winter is super cold and full of snow. Well I haven't...

Again I'm faced with the problem of what should I wear? Sure I have great boots and a warm coat for when the temperature hits -10, but what about before that? It's too cold to wear a leather jacket - or any other nice clothes for that matter - but if I jump right into wearing my warmest coat I'll be an ice cube by January. 

How it looks like outside now

Sure, I like snow. But the amount of snow that's on the ground right now after two days of snowing is enough for me. It's okay if I need to walk outside in a snowy street, but what about when it's SNOWING when you're walking?

Not so glamorous, for me at least. For example, yesterday I was walking to school and it snowed right against my face and it felt like the snow was pouring down my neck and messing up my makeup - yes I do care about it :D  So, when I finally got to the school I felt like a rat that came from the sewer. 

I didn't really have anything else in my mind, especially after coming home from Mallorca (it was great!! ) apart from the change of weather. So that was my little rant about the fact that winter is unavoidable in Finland and I have no other option but to do what I do every year - get used to it.

Also, I've been trying to get my blog on Bloglovin but I'm not sure if this works - on their page it said that I need to put this link on my next blog post - <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13133413/?claim=m2hfy33dm9s">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>