PROFESSIONAL POUT

It's about damn time. I've been shooting this for well over a week now, and it's been planned for even longer. I'm happy to finally be done and move on. I had so many things I wanted to smush together in one shoot that it ended up a mess and I scrapped quite a bit. Originally, I planned on making everything look like film stills and focus on clothing, but that required much wider shots and I sadly don't have enough space at my house. I tried. The first image is the only one that worked. It's also the only one in color because I just want to turn everything black and white these days. The last nail color I used is cute though, I'll have to photograph it properly soon. Regular posting should be back on track shortly.

Inspired by vintage mugshots, Christian Dior Fall 2001 RTW, Drive, Faster Pussycat! Kill!... Kill!, Liquid Sky, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, White Zombie's La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1, Siouxsie and the Banshees' Red Light ("she falls into frame with a professional pout"), Serge Lutens, Helmut Newton, Olaf Martens, Kembra Pfahler, Cass Bird's "Most Wanted" editorial in Dazed & Confused April 2013, Inge Grognard (specifically her work for Maison Martin Margiela Fall 2003 RTW which I replicated for one of my looks), Andy Warhol's portraits of Mick Jagger, the all blue bathroom in Nowhere, and the high school girl's bathroom in Twin Peaks.

Makeup + outfit info

DRIP

A week planned to be nothing but shooting turned out to be the total opposite. It was dark and rainy almost all week. Perfect for shooting outside, not inside. It gave me a little more time to edit down looks and maybe helped me after all. Hopefully I can start the shoot tomorrow. I might try using artificial lighting if I have to.

I was also finally able to modify these boots with inspiration from these Margiela boots. I used two coats of cheap, black glossy spray paint on the main part and a third coat for the drips, then black Sharpie marker on the zippers. I realize now I should've sprayed three base coats before doing the drips and made more drips. I had a lot of issues from the wind, I swear I can never catch a break from it. I might go back and add more if it won't look too layered. Overall, a success.

For the photos, I used an old 6x cross filter to create the starry look on the highlights. I used to mostly shoot film and it's part of the small collection of filters and goodies I have for my film SLRS. I can't be assed to figure out if I could properly thread it with a step down ring onto my one of my DSLR lenses so I just hold it. I like the look of the actual filter/ring in the frame, it was intentional.

BALENCIAGA | FLORABOTANICA

Crying over the perfection of this bottle. No bottle has ever made me want to try a fragrance as much as this one. I would be okay with never smelling it as long as I was able to photograph it. However, I've had a whiff of it nearly every time I'm at Sephora or Nordstrom and finally decided to cave in and buy it. I've been doing a little spring cleaning with my makeup collection and returned a few lightly used, unsatisfactory products to buy this plus two other products. I also used the 15% off coupon so after that and the store credit, I only had to pay an extra $1.96 for everything. Good deal.

Notes (via Sephora.com): Carnation, Wild Mint, Turkish Rose Essence, Hemp Leaves, Vetiver Roots, White Amber

To me, it's heavy and rosy, but the green and mint notes set it apart from the usual floral fragrance. Freshly sprayed, it's very strong and almost nauseating (a good type of nauseating because it smells nice.) Much softer after the dry down but overall, it's still quite bold. It reminds me of something I haven't been able to figure out yet, which makes me like it more. It's kind of weird the same way that (untitled) by Maison Martin Margiela is. I actually wore both of them together and they were a lovely, fitting combination. Definitely recommended for fans of rose fragrances, especially ones looking for something a little different. Hopefully I can pinpoint what it reminds me of, or maybe that'll kill the mystery of it. Still, I'll be using it a lot this spring and summer.

QUEEN

Yes, I'm wearing a pink lip color! It's a little coral, but it still screams pink to me and for some reason, I really like it. Pink lips have never been my thing - mauve doesn't count. This shade is OCC's Queen lip tar.

The seasonal changes are giving me allergies and making my eyes swollen up and watery so I wanted to try a look where I didn't have to put anything too close to the corners of my eyes. I went with an eyeliner look, kind of with a mime or clown twist to it. It's stayed on nicely all day.

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Perversion
Givenchy Eye Fly Mascara in Black

Lips
OCC lip tar in Queen

RED & NEON YELLOW

I'm wearing Bazinga! by Dollish Polish over Factory Grey by American Apparel with a Revlon top coat. Another mixed glitter polish, however this one actually has color throughout. The yellow is much more neon in person and the base has a slightly yellow tint. Very nice.

More flowers, too! They're from my mom and were arranged with other colored roses, but I was feeling the red ones today.