OOTD: Dinner Lady

According to my Dad, anyway. Thanks Dad. I wore this last weekend when I went to visit the folks.

Clothing:
Dress: Tups Vintage on eBay
Cardigan: Primark
Narwhal necklace, aka Neville: Callooh and Callay
Pumps: Primark

Face:
Eyes: Shadows from Sleek Bohemian
Cheeks: Almay blush in 130 peach
Lips: Morgana Cryptoria Vegan Lipstick in Twinkling Rubies (thanks Rach!)

The dress is 70's, but the shape and the collar does give it a bit of a wartime feel. I very rarely wear red because of my hair, but I thought this dress called for it so I went and raided Primarni to find a cardi. I'd check the shop I bought the dress from out if you're in the UK and in to vintage as she's got some lovely bits and bobs up there - this was only £18! Alright, still quite expensive for something that someone probably died in, but whatever.

I did rolled bangs!!!

Or as we'd say in Jolly Ol' England, guv'nor, a rolled fringe.

We had a big joint birthday do last night and all went out to Volupté, which is a cabaret/burlesque lounge in London. The food and service, to be honest, were so shit we complained, which we never do because we're wimps, but the show itself was really good fun. There was a excellent jazzy trio - the compere/singer was fabulous - the burlesque dancing was beautiful and there was a cheeky topless acrobat which is always a good thing.

Anyway, I managed to make my hair do something good!



Eyes:
Lid: Shimmery whitish colour from Wet N Wild Lust Palette
Crease: Taupe and charcoal from e.l.d Day2Night quad
Brows: Rimmel Brow Pencil in Hazel/Dark matte brown from Sleek Storm palette

Cheeks:
Darling Girl Fuji

Lips:
Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Vixen
Barry M Lipgloss Wand in Cherry Glitter

I wanted to show you more pics of this but I only took this one off of my memory card, and now my memory card won't read. Sigh.

Anyway... I don't have many tips on achieving this hair-do, to be honest, except that you need a lot less wide a section of hair than you might think. Section some hair at the front of your head from your ears, and then probably the same width as your pupils are apart. Comb it straight, grab the ends and roll then up and toward your forehead (not your crown.) Keep it tight, pin it underneath with long bobby pins. Let it fan out slightly, secure further with bobby pins and annihilate it with hairspray. Add victory rolls/hair flowers/cute pigtails and you're done!

Robyn x

Robyn's Rockin Retro #8: Roaring Twenties!

Twenties make-up is weird! I watched a lot of YT vids (imo, the Pixiwoo vid is the best, you get a lot of info behind the look.) Basically they did everything totally different to how we would today - straight brows, all the darkness on the inner corners of their eyes as opposed to the outer, 'spots' of blush and those Clara Bow lips:




Despite being a bit 'weird', I think it looks pretty awesome and you can see the period actually has quite a lot of influence on style today:



Christian Dior - I looove this look. Dior definitely has my favourite runway makeup, it's always aaaaaaahmazing.



The amazing Alex Box often references the 20's in her work



And of course, our Lady! This site - makeupforlife.net - claims the lips to be Geisha inspired. Only Gaga knows but I think it's interesting that when on a geisha, these lips probably are supposed to give an illusion of youth and innocence whereas on a gal in the 20's, they would signify liberation!

Wanna see my take?








Please, please excuse my brows. I'm really having trouble covering them! Also, I think my brows should have been more straight. I mixed up the colours to make it a little more modern. They wouldn't really have had purple cosmetics back in the day - shadows were mostly grey and sometimes paler blues and greens, with blushes and lippies variations of red and pink. I wasn't sure what to go for for the blush, so I went for rusty! As for my hair, I did it very quickly but I took a tip from the ever-fucking-amazing ilovegerado and pincurled it up to get a bobbed look.


Eyes:
Sleek Black
MUA Shade 3 (sliver/grey)
Darkest matte purple from Wet n Wild Lust palette

Lips:
Evil Shades lipstick in Corruption (Wasn't sure about this lippy at first, LOVE IT now!)

Cheeks:
A mix of three rusty/reddish colours from the 120 palette


Well, I think that's my Retro Series done for a while, kinda bored on it, but there'll be a post here and there, I'm sure!

xxx

Robyn's Rockin' Retro #7: Cheaters Victory Rolls - First Attempts

Here's a couple of pics for those of you who don't know what victory rolls are:



Old school, as modelled by Rita Hayworth...



...and new school, as modelled by... er, this lovely model on Daddy O's. (Don't click on it, it'll make you very sad indeed.) This version is more of what I'm going for.


Nice, right? Basically, the style is two upswept rolls on either side of your head. I cannot do them. Well, I sort of can. I can't physically roll my hair up and under into a long roll, like Rita up there. Its too long and thin, plus I'm crap at hair. But I found this awesome 'cheaters' video for long hair on Youtube and I've made a couple attempts so far. It claims to be quick and easy...



...and it was, sort of! I managed to do one side and have it look ok, but I think perhaps I parted my hair too far to one side, and I couldn't get a nice roll with the thinner side, and it was Work Teim.

Onto the second attempt:




Do you like my little skellyton necklace? He's got a top hat and a guitar to keep him company :D

With more practice I think I could get these looking really nice!I think the rolls should have been a little further forward on my head, but I'm pleased I managed to get them more even. If anyone has any tips, knows what kind of styling product I should use to keep my hair smoothy smooth and not crunchy while I'm styling this kind of thing, or has ideas what to do with the rest of my bloody hair when I have the rolls in, I'd be more than grateful!

xxx

Robyn's Rockin' Retro #6: Some Kinda Psycho

I absolutely love the psychobilly style, although I find it really, really hard to define. I guess I'd describe it as rockabilly plus punk plus hot rod with a bit of a zombie twist! Think amped-up old Hollywood style make-up and dresses with massive pompadours, leopard print, skulls, brothel creepers, tattoos, blah.

Anyway, I've seen girls rocking the psychobilly look with all kinds of make-up, but the classic black/liner red lips is still pretty common. So here are my pin-up looks with a bit of a twist!

Sexeh:





There's been a distinct lack of red lips in this series! Basically this look is just amping up the classic pin-up look - I winged my liner out a lot more than I normally would, packed grey and black into the crease and gave my lips a lot of love!

Eyes:
NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Pearl (highlight, lower lashline)
Evil Shades Glooming (outer crease)
MUA Shade 3 (crease)
MAC Gesso (lid, blended with the grey shades)
Collection 2000 Fast Strokes Liner

Face:
MAC MSF in Stereo Rose (thanks to Secret Beauty Blog!)
Collection 2000 Fast Strokes Liner (beauty mark)

Lips:
Maybelline Moisture Extreme lip liner in Royal Red
OCC Lip Tar in NSFW
Milani Buzz Worthy gloss in Bee-uitful (centre)
NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Pearl (highlight cupid's bow)

Mmmminty:



This look was inspired by hollywoodnoirmakeup's Green Smoke tutorial, which I absolutely adored. Did not have time to do a proper cut crease, though, this was done super quick but I really liked how it came out. I paired it with a red gloss - I am still really afraid of red lips for the day, I don't know why! I think it's quite a lot with my hair, perhaps.

Eyes:
Hi-Fi Sweet Dreams (lid)
Sleek Black (crease)
Nyx White Pearl (highlight)


Pretty in Pink:



I wanted to do the same style/technique of make-up I've been doing with my pin-up looks, i.e., simple eyes, strong lips, but with different colours. I think you can still tell what era it was inspired by, especially with accessories like hair flowers, bandannas, etc. Dita Von Teese often uses a purple in her crease, but less girly and bright than this! I may do a Dita look if I have time this week with purple shadows.

Eyes:
Wet and Wild colour icon palette in Lust (light pink on the lid... oh, I can't remember)
Face:
Almay blush in Peach
Lips:
Milani lipstick in Rose Hip

Psychobitch Outta Hell:






Sprry about my eye bags! Anyway, I looooved this look. I think its such an awesome psychobilly colour combo - purple and green is very zombie glam, no? I did try red lips with this, and I sort of liked it, but I had to go to work in my lovely bright pink work shirt, and I really wasn't feeling it.

Eyes:
All 120 palette shadows (kelly green on lid, Stars-and-Rockets like purple in crease and deep matte purple in outer crease)
NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk on waterline
Collection 2000 Fast Strokes Liner


Hope you girls liked, it feels like I haven't posted any face for ages! xxx


P.S: I'm not going to bother listing certain make-up items any more. I always use Revlon Colorstay in 150 Buff, I always use UDPP, I generally always use NYX JEP in Milk and at the moment I generally use Lancome Hypnose. I don't think we all care that much what foundation, etc each other uses unless we're looking for a new one. And, you know, I'm lazy.

Robyn's rockin' Retro #5: Nails!

Obviously I had to do some nail art for this little series of mine. They're all modern designs based on retro or pin up stuff - your average fashionable 40's or 50's chick, from what I can discern, had pretty pointy nails, which I can't deal with even thinking about trying to attain, and there weren't many nail colours available back in the day.

Anywoo...



I tried my hand at the ol' half-moon mani, which the lovely Dita quite often sports. However, having seen a picture of the equally lovely Patricia Day wearing black nails with white tips, I decided to do a black and white one. Not the best, but for my first attempt I wasn't disgusted with my own incompetence. I just did them freehand (here's an Illamasqua tutorial!) and cleaned up with a Q-tip. I thought this looked punky and cool.



Conversely, this is the worst mani I've done ever. Raggedy cuticles, pooey Konad and my hair dye stained the white base pink! Fail. Oh well. You get the idea, cherries, pin up, yadda yadda.



A quick sailor mani - the colours and placement were my boyfriends idea. I think he did a good job, no? Sorry for the one crappy picture. Bad light that day!



Polka dots ftw! This was my sisters idea. I had no idea what to do for pin-up nails and she said do a pair like a spotty pair of knickers! I wish I'd had time to put little fimo bows on, but I didn't. Still, it was super easy and I got more compliments on this manicure than I've ever gotten for one before. Thanks Bones :D (That's my sister, fyi!)








I'm in two minds about this one. I love swallows, I love their use in tattoos (I have one myself) and seeing how - probably because of the tattoo thang - they're pretty synonymous with pin-up culture, I had to do a swallow mani. I chose red and blue on flesh-coloured nails to mimic early tattooing. I think I did an ok job - I used acrylic paints but I can't find my nail brushes so I had to do these with an orange stick.





Poodle skirt mani! Yeah, I know the lead doesn't really join up, but whatever. The bottom poodle looks a bit butch, which is odd because he was on my left hand, but I really liked the other one. I decided butch poodle takes care of cutesy poodle. I loved this mani even though I lost one of my nails - ouchy!


Sorry for my lack of posts with actual content. I do have another hair post to come, but I've only done half of it, and I have some more pyschobilly looks but I need to do one or two more to flesh out a post a bit. Also I need to do my 20s look! Gah!


Snogs xxx

Robyn's Rockin' Retro #4: Pin Curls.... fail?

I looooove the look girls get when they pin curl their hair. I can never get that look with curlers, and I do try not to use heat on my hair much because it's not good for the colour. So following this tutorial by the utterly stunning hollywoodnoirmakeup, I tried my hands at pin-curling!

I didn't take photos during, but the process was a bit of a pain in the arse. My hair is different lengths at the back which made it hard to tuck the ends into the curls, and I also found it a pain in the arse keeping the rows uniform. Anyway, here is the result - bear in mind this is my first try!






Looks okay in these pictures, I think...




... but you can see here how the sides have gone a bit weird. I think my hair is either too long, was too wet or got crimped by the bobby pins I used to pin it. I have some of the flat alligator-style clips but not enough for my whole head. I'm going to buy some more and try it with my hair drier than this time and see if it works. Anyone have any idea?

My camera died at this point, but obviously I couldn't wear it to work down. I tucked it up and under to one side of my head, which looked pretty, and luckily at work the man came to change the flowers so I left work with orchids pinned in my do!

Shall I try victory rolls, girls? I've semi-successfully done it once, ha ha! Please let me know if you try pin-curls, they're surprisingly comfy to sleep in!

xxx

P.S Swap post tomorrow or the next day...Wendy sent me lots of goodies AGAIN :D

Robyn's Rockin Retro #3: Cheaters Pin-Up Hair

I'm sure we're all familiar with Rosie, yes?



Thank the Lawd and Baby Jesus for Rosie the Riveter because I am shit at hair. Thankfully, a couple of bobby pins and a bandanna have given me something to post about.









This is sooo easy to do, and if you can get the little curl at the front nice, then you can have a stab at doing pin-curls, no problem. All you need to do is section off the hair at the front of your hair and make sure it's all nice and smooth. Then making sure the ends stay tucked in, and that you don't let go, wrap the ends of your hair around two fingers and roll under, towards your hair. When you reach your head, twist the roll back on itself and pin in place! Done! You can do more than one but my hair is quite thin and doesn't look so good with two. And then you can do whatever the hell you want in the back - a french twist, a high pony tail, pigtails, whatever. The last pic is me attempting to do sort-of pin curls, but I started from a pony-tail which was a bit of a fail. Anyway, bung a bandanna on and you're set! Instant Rosie! I've been wearing this a lot lately - good for greasy hair, ha ha!

I also tried my hand at a pompadour, using this tutorial by ilovegerado on YT, who is freakin' awesome.





Anyway, I hated it. I look like a fucking egg. My head, as my lovely "friends" repeatedly tell me, looks like a thumb and I don't think this did me any favours. Still, it was pretty easy to do and it only took me 5 minutes if that. I think that if I had spent some more time I could have got it perfect. I also think that I should have done a higher pony.

I'll be doing another post documenting my troubles with pincurls and if I can face it, attempting to do some victory rolls. I *can* do them, but only if I don't have to go anywhere, and that is a fact. If I'm going out, then guaranteed they'll look like ass. Also going to be posting some retro-themed manis and a 60's look :D


Off gallavanting this weekend, see you soon!

Robyn's Rockin Retro #2: Dresses!

Yeah, I have some more make-up and some hair posts coming, and hopefully some retro nails too if I can find the time. But while they're in the making, I thought I'd show off some of my retro/vintage dresses! Yay! Sorry for the quality of these pics, obviously you can't use a flash in your mirror and it is dark as hell today!



-Sailor Jerry style tattoo dress.

My mummy bought me this a couple of years ago down Portobello as an earyl birthday present. I think it was only about £15, which is a bargain as I've seen identical dresses in Camden for about fifty. Anyway, big love for this dress, I've worn it both clubbing and just around and about.



-Vintage Sailor Collar Dress

I think this is my favourite dress ever! I bought it in a vintage shop in Vancouver for about $50, I think. A little expensive for something old but it was my birthday! I'm not sure what period its from, probably 70's, but the sailor collar and the colour scheme means it goes great with a pair of anchor earrings and my Irregular Choice sailor shoes. Ahhh, I just love it :D



-Embroidered Sailor Collar Wiggle Dress

Again, this dress is a present from my mummy. I love sailor style collars and this one is huge, going into two points at the back with another identical embroidered part. I haven't worn it yet because it has a maaaaaaaassive slit up the back and its a bit...well, a lot cheeky. I need to get a slip for it and then I can wear it on my next night out.



-Collectif Poodle Dress

Dang, I love this dress, even though it's super heavy and clashes with my hair. The skirt is enormous! I wore it to a retro bowling alley. for my birthday this year. I also like that it had poodles all over it as opposed to just one big poodle.



-Leopard Wiggle Dress

Everyone needs a dress like this in their wardrobe! Oddly enough grey is one of my favourite colours when it comes to clothing, and as this has teeny little leopard spots on it I love it even more! My sister got me this dress when I went away for a year so I'd have something nice to wear if I needed to, so I rocked it out in Vegas. I need to wear a waist belt with this, though, as I am blessed with a tiny waist (in comparison to my arse, anyway) and so wiggle dresses often don't fit me well there.



-Velvet and Lace vintage dress

I've had this dress for years and years, since I was about 12 and it hung off me! I used to be a bean pole. My dad bought it for me for a Rocky Horror Party from a charity shop (Yes, my parents took me to Rocky Horror Parties - there were a lot of kids about, and who's supposed to look after them at a massive party? And why wouldn't you want to scar your kids for life by subjecting them to bikers in gold lame?) and I've grown into it. A bit slutty but looks great with tights and Docs. Not really pin-up, but it's old so whatever :D



-Spotty Puff Sleeved Vintage Dress

And this is probably my second favourite dress, which I also got in Vancouver for about $50. Again, no idea what period its from, but I love the brown and black colour scheme -it has tiny little brown polka dots all over it - and the cut. Some seamed stocking and I'm done!


I have other bits and pieces, like pencil skirts and a vintage ballgown, but I'm a very busy woman (:S!) so that's all from me for today. Make-up and hair soon, I promise!

Robyn's Rockin' Retro #1: Easy Pin-Up Eyes

Pin-Up eyes are the easiest, most simple eye EVER. When I decided I was going to do the retro theme, I initially thought, aw, crap, and spent about 10,000 hours on YouTube only to discover pin-up eyes, at least, is pretty much what I do for my can't-be-arsed/omfg-got-to-leave face - 2-3 shadows, black liner and mascara and white eyeliner for your waterline is optional. Even so, I've learnt a few things the last couple of days, its like I've been giving myself homework! So to kick this series off, here's some dead, dead easy pin-up looks:


Super simple, neutral:





Gold isn't a typical pin-up colour, in my opinion, but for me its something I class as neutral, and therefore works well as an all over lid colour for this look - I also find it softer than a stark white colour, which allows the focus to be on the red lips. Just darken it with a medium brown in the crease and a little on the lower lashline and you're done!


Snow White:





Marilyn Monroe often used a shimmery white shadow as her lid colour. - she was awesome and always did her own make-up, and she used loads of cool tricks, not that she needed them. This is the 'sexy' look out of the three, I think. Normally with a shimmery white, I would use my Milk pencil as base, but I left it out this time as it would have been too stark. I would have loved to have worn this with a red lip but I was facing a ten-hour shift and it would have been impossible to re-apply. Pigmented gloss it is!

Think Pink:





Whenever I think of a pin-up eye, pink and brown is the classic one. I don't know if its just me, but it seems the most retro and it's so pretty! Again, there is a little more colour here which is good if, you don't always have time/can't be arsed to maintain the perfect red lip. This is nice and matte, too, on the lid at least, which always seems more authentically retro to me, even though I know that is bollocks!


Lessons learned:

1-Take your time over the liner! Went too fast for the white look and the wing wasn't right. I also think I could stand to go a bit stronger with it.
2-Pluck your damn eyebrows. Look at my brows between the first and second look!
3-Related to no 2: buy some bloody brow gel, woman!
4-Also purchase an actually pigmented white pencil!
5-Can't go wrong with falsies. Less is more on the eyeshadow front for a reason :D
6-Red lipstick is awesome, but totally non-wearable for a busy waitress.

Well, basic eyes are done, something more exciting for the next installment I promise!