Wow, it really has felt like I've been completely neglecting social media of late, but I promise that this post is the start of much more frequent activity! It's been a hectic month or so now, with my younger sister getting married and moving away from the family home to live with her new husband. But that's all done with now, and it's time to start getting back to business. First up then, is the gorgeous  Eye and Cheek palette by Stila named *Perfect Me, Perfect Hue in Tan/Deep.

I think what Stila have done with Perfect Me, Perfect Hue is commendable to say the least. It feels like a real rarity in the beauty industry, but they have actually attempted to cater for all skin tones by creating a range of four palettes. These range from Fair/Light all the way through to Tan/Deep, and each palette has it's own range of shades aimed at covering the corresponding grouping of skin tones. I plumped for the Tan/Deep palette, as it had a nice range of deep, luscious looking shades.

Upon first opening the palette, my eyes darted around like an excited schoolgirl dreaming up all sorts of possibilities. Of course, Stila have handily given a description of each individual product on the back of the packaging and what it's for, but I prefer not to work under such constraints, so I played around with the powders and used them how I saw fit. Fuck the police!

SWATCHES 

(Left to Right) - 'Flirty' (crease), 'Mesmerising' (liner) & 'Witty' (blush)

MAKEUP LOOK



For the look I've created, I used the gorgeous peach base colour 'Imaginative' for my lids, and I took the brick red blusher 'Witty', applied it in the crease and blended it out. For the lower lash line I mixed in a little more 'Witty' with the warm brown toned 'Flirty', which Stila recommend for the crease. I went with Stila on the brow bone highlight and used 'Brilliant'.
 

For my inner corners I used the aptly named 'Adventurous', which is a bang-on, opaque copper shade that I loved so, so much I just had use it as my cheekbone highlight, and wow it looks popping! For my blusher, I opted for 'Vibrant', which Stila call a deep peach, and certainly, it's darker than 'Imaginative'.

As for the actual quality of the powders, I was seriously impressed. They are all oh so soft, and unlike some similarly priced brands there wasn't even a hint of chalkiness or fallout. Not only that, they are actually really pigmented, so I didn't need to pack on the shadows at all. In fact, all it took was one swipe with my brush and I was done - very impressive!

I'm thinking that this palette would be perfect for someone who is constantly travelling around a lot, or even someone who is just looking for an element of convenience from their makeup collection. This has everything you need to give yourself a quick makeover in the mornings, whether you're abroad or heading out for work. If you're the sort who doesn't like to rummage around the makeup drawer(s) each day or travels light, you need this. 

Personally, I found this to be a lifesaver during the wedding, as I was roped in to doing the makeup for all of the women in the family, and there are a lot of us! I found that I didn't need to take too many single shadows with me, as it is well suited to the Asian Wedding look with it's burgundy, peachy and coppery tones. What I most liked about it, is it's such an easy palette to work with. When you're short for time, high on workload and through the roof on stress, a simple, effective palette with everything in one place makes applying makeup on such a big day go just that little bit smoother.

The palette comes in at a reasonable £28. Honestly, at that money I probably would not have purchased this, but now that I have it, I'd seriously reconsider purchasing when it starts to run out - and it will run out. If the Tan/Deep one isn't your bag, worry not as the other three in the range are bound to have you covered. You can purchase these palettes over on the Stila website.

*PR Sample

Hey Puddin'

I've always had a bit of a thing for Batman. When I was a kid, I was always in front of the TV on Saturday mornings watching the Animated Series - I just couldn't take my eyes off the screen for those 20 odd minutes. My favourite character was Harley Quinn, such sass, such style, so ruthless but also so cute! I actually went through a bit of a period a couple of years back where I basically re-watched every episode, and rekindled my love for Harley and Mister J.

So imagine my excitement at seeing the Suicide Squad trailers, with a real-life Harley Quinn! Obviously I was curious about how the movie would try to capture her makeup, something which plays a huge part in her supervillain disguise. And they did not disappoint. She doesn't quite look the animated series of old, which is no bad thing actually, but more an evolution on that. The look is much more flawed and less perfect than the animated version, and I absolutely love it.

Naturally, I thought I'd pay homage to Harley with a look of my own. Although I've skipped out on the face whitening part, and just focused on the eyes, replicating the pink and blue for the eyes and adding in my own style of teary streakiness. My look is also a lot cleaner, as aside from her eye makeup, her overall look is a bit too 'crack whore chic' even for me!

My method was pretty simplistic: apply red eyeshadow to the lid and lash line of one eye, blue eyeshadow to the other and smoke it all out! For the tears strolling down the face, I dipped a thin brush into the eyeshadow pan, loaded it with colour and drenched the brush tip in water, then I just used the brush to paint on the tears! It's so easy, but really effective, as the water (obviously) waters down the colour ever so slightly and gives it a watercolour effect!


// FACE //

*Illamasqua Hydra Veil
NARS All Day Luminious Weightless Foundation - Barcelona
LA Girl USA Pro Conceal HD Concealer - Creamy Beige
BEN NYE Banana Powder

// BROWS //

(dried out) Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade - Medium Brown


// CHEEKS //

NYX Cosmetics Powder Blush - Mocha
Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner - Infinity (love heart)

// LIPS //

Barry M Lip Liner - Red
Lime Crime Velvetines - Red Velvet

This one is going to be a tough write, but I feel that it just has to be done. Last night, I was threatened by an individual who seemed to take it upon themselves to act as some kind of Asian moral arbiter. In their self-appointed role, they had decided that it was not ok for me to have coloured hair or lip piercings. And because I didn't immediately back down, like all good little asian girls should, I was told:

"I'll chop up your face and 'bang' you."

Sadly it's not the first time I've been on the receiving end of such a threat. It's been one struggle after another for what feels like an entire lifetime, fighting for my right to exist as who I am and who I want to be. Whether that be through my appearance, my choice of partner, my character or just the way I choose to live. I've had it all. And all because, instead of being happy fitting in to a pre-defined, stone-age cultural mould, I want to be free to make my own choices.

This sort of thing hasn't only come from strangers though, sadly, it's come from people that I actually know. I'm not putting out a 'woe is me' post here either, no, it's just I've also noticed that the internet is no longer the safe place it used to be for me to say what I want, and quite frankly, this is my blog so if you don't like it, you're in the wrong place. As the blogging community has naturally evolved over time, I've felt that I've had to hold myself back - not just because there's more eyes on my posts, but it just feels as though I'm being watched or stalked by people with a little too much time on their hands.

But I'm not going to blindly go with the crowd. I'm not going to do what everyone else is doing, just because everyone else is doing it, and certainly not because 'it's what we've always done.' No. I'm not going to fall in to line and hate on successful women, just because they're successful, and I'm not going to be the girl the South Asian world expects me to be.

From being wolf-whistled at by a passer-by saying they'd like to 'slip a cock in that' (try growing one first), to people giving grief to my parents about how I look and having my character assassinated both on and offline as well as having each and every word and action analysed and over-analysed, it's time to stop. One of the things that has kept me going over the years is my creativity, even though as an Asian female, there's no shortage of people queued up to repress that. And as cliche as that may sound, it's true. My blog, makeup, fashion and various other creative projects I can't mention now - these are my remedies. Without them, the world would feel much, much darker.

I've had this blog since 2009, an absolute age when I think about it, and I've come and gone a few times, disappeared for a few months at a time, but I always come back when I need to release a creative burst. But one thing that has remained is the bitching that goes on: "Did you hear about this person, can you believe they did this, that or the other?!" Really? Wow, since when did you achieve perfection status? Mind if I have a dig around in your closet, I'm sure it's pristine, perfect and has the scent of innocence.

And of course people stand by and just watch. When this kind of thing happens it makes me think of those videos of racist attacks on public transport. It always starts off with a few strangers sat or stood there, not really doing anything, just letting a victim be attacked in front of their eyes. The internet is similar in so many ways, people are harassed, abused, bullied and the majority of people witnessing it just ignore it. People are queuing up to tell you their own stories or bit of gossip, but they're also perfectly happy to stand by and watch someone being taken apart.

After last night's incident, I felt liberated in a way because there were passers by, stood there looking awkward and doing nothing, but I stood up for myself at the time, gave as good as I got, and called the police afterwards, and they are currently handling the situation.

Generally though, I feel that I've been too soft - I've allowed people to guide me where I shouldn't have, I've allowed people to get away with minor indiscretions where I shouldn't have, and those people have taken advantage of my good nature. But from last night, I've decided I'm not taking it lying down anymore. I'll continue to live my life the way I want. I will breathe, I will roar like the lioness that I am and I will exist, until God decides it's my time. And actually, come to think of it, the more shit I get, the better I've always become, the more determined I am to succeed. So, who's the real winner here?