Walgreens Haul

Recently Wet n Wild released its new Spring collection: Goth-O-Graphic. Let's be real though, the name is stupid! The colors are quite opposite of the mainstream perspective of the goth culture. Although I guess one could argue it's representative of the pastel goth scene...but anywho. And it is neither holographic, minus accents on the packaging.

After seeing the reviews and a few early swatches, I knew I wanted the Megalast Liquid Catsuit Eyeshadows in Goth Tears and Mystic Dreamer. Although based off of pictures (and once I saw them in real life) they're kind of reminiscent of the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow liquid eyeshadow in Sea Siren and Sunset Cove that I own. However, I can say that they are not dupes. Or at least judging from the packaging... Perhaps I should actually swatch and compare for myself, but I'll do that later and hopefully report back...especially if anyone it actually out there reading this and wants to know! ;)

Originally I didn't care for the highlighters because I have a gold one (which the MegaGlo Loose Highlighting Powder in Moon Tears reminded me of), and a few duochrome highlighters that looked similar to the two Mega Glo Highlighting Powders: Purple Ashes and White Raven. I thought I wanted the MegaLast Liquid Catsuit Metallic Lipstick in Wicked Pink, but the consensus seems to be that it's super sheer. I think they're intended to be more of a lip topper, which I like if they have a certain pizzazz, but these seem to be lackluster. 

I thought the White Raven highlighter was a white that flashes blue. But then while I was browsing *coughlurkingcough* the MakeupAlley message boards (love love LOVE!), a lot of people were recommending to get White Raven because it's kind of more unique and it flashes purple in pink as well. SOLD! 

Again, I haven't swatched anything yet...but soon! In the meantime, here's a couple of shots trying to capture the prettiness of the goods!

Yep, WnW is definitely one of my favorite drugstore brands of makeup!

Beading Loom Bracelet

Some interesting beaded cuff bracelets popped up on my Pinterest feed last week. Long story short, I wound up on Youtube watching videos about bead looming. I've had a couple of bead looms over the years since I was a child. I remember being so confused by the included instructions as a child that I just used the beads and thread that came with the kit and occasionally would string some beads whenever I felt in the mood. I became inspired again, years ago, and happened to stumble upon a child's plastic loom kit for a discounted price. I THOUGHT I had it all figured out. But for some reason some of the beads would dangle loosely away from the warp threads. I decided to stick with off-loom bead-weaving. Peyote has been my primary go to, especially since the free-form possibilities are endless!

While watching the videos, I realized that I had been bead weaving on the loom all WRONG! Smart little me thought "It's a bead loom, I'm bead weaving, therefore I must literally weave the beads through the warp threads." I mean, that's what you do when you weave on a loom in general, amirite? Then I'd take the needle and go back through the opposite way, alternating whether I did it from the top side of the beads or bottom side, each row. Turns out, you don't literally weave at all! You line the beads up on the underside of the loom, and then pass the needle back through on the upper side! *head->desk*

Anywho, here's my attempt at using the bead loom with the correct technique! Woo!

Btw, I used crochet thread as the warp threads and plain ole sewing thread for the weft. I've actually been using cheap sewing thread a lot in my bead projects over the past several years and haven't experienced any quality problems yet...

Just finished weaving the end threads and then glued up the threaded weaving to secure if for the finishing touches. Scotch tape is my bff when creating tension on this thing, which is why I moved the scraps to the base, lulz.

Finished the bracelet with ribbon clasp and lobster claw clasp.

I wish the camera could pick up all the real life sparkle of this beauty!

Stay tuned for more DIY projects, y'all!