© 2011 Julian M Kilsby

1. How old were you when you started wearing makeup?
I started wearing makeup when I was about 14, but only ever eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow. I got into makeup properly when I was 18.

2. How did you get into makeup?
When I heard about Jeffree Star. I’m not a fan of him, but I do adore his makeup skills. I researched what products he used and found out that one of the brands he used was MAC. So, when I was 18 and visiting the USA, I went to MAC and spent $1,000 on MAC makeup alone. It was crazy but I’ve been hooked ever since!

3. What are some of your favorite brands?
The brand that got me hooked; MAC. Of course! I’ve not really ventured out into other brands much. I tried a few things by Bobbi Brown but I wasn’t keen on what I found, though I do like their gel eyeliner. My favourite mascara is by Maybelline – I really don’t like MAC’s mascaras! I also really like Sugarpill and Barry M, but don’t use them anywhere near as much as I use MAC.

4. If you could only wear 4 products on your face what would they be?
Eyebrow pencil is my number one because my eyebrows are so light. I really feel that brows are the most important defining feature on a person’s face. The other three after that would be mascara, eyeshadow and blusher! If I were only allowed to pick one colour for eyeshadow, I’d choose a pearly white colour, like MAC’s Crystal Avalanche to contour my face with.

5. What does makeup mean to you?
I really don’t know any more! I’m just obsessed. I love lipsticks. I rarely wear lipstick but I can’t stop buying it. I have to buy at least one lipstick every time I go into any makeup shop. I tend to try it on and then never wear it. I buy shades that I know I will never wear just because they look so amazing. I think that part of it is because I love looking at lipsticks in the tube when they are brand new and perfect. One thing I know I love about makeup is that I can use it to express myself. I can do anything from a natural look to a gothic or punk look to convey my mood or state of mind. I also sometimes like to do makeup because I find it relaxing and therapeutic, almost like painting or drawing does.

6. What is your favorite thing about makeup?
You can make yourself into an entirely different person in a short period of time, if you know what you’re doing! Crazy transformations are awesome!

7. What do you think about drugstore makeup vs high end makeup?
I don’t see myself ever really spending lots of money on high-end makeup because it just seems over priced. I’m happy with the mid-range stuff. Drugstore makeup is almost always a no-go for me. I’ll buy it if I see something I really like but I usually come out of a drugstore empty-handed because I know that, usually, it won’t live up to my expectations. But, at the same time, I love trying new things so do occasionally go out and buy drugstore makeup when I want to try a new type of product I’ve never tried before. I’ll also do this with mid-range makeup but I’m always on the look out for new types of makeup, or less common things. If I don’t have it, I’ll probably buy it.

8. What is one tip of advice you can give to a beginner?
Don’t always listen to what the people at makeup counters say. Although they do know how the products work and they will know what will work for you, they don’t know you personally and so if you don’t like a look they’re saying will suit you, don’t buy the product! I’ve made that mistake in the past and ended up with products I wasn’t really sure I even wanted, and come out without the product I truly wanted. Listen to their advice, but you don’t have to take it!

9. What is one makeup trend you never understood?
To be honest, I don’t know. I can’t think of one! I love seeing diversity when it comes to makeup so I really can’t think of one thing that I don’t like. I think it looks tacky when people have orange faces and light pink lips. But I think that’s more of a makeup faux pas than a “trend”.

10. What do you think about the beauty community on YouTube?
I love it! If I’m not sure about something, I can always take a look on YouTube and see how to do something. Not only that but I love watching makeup tutorials when I’m bored or feeling a little bit low. It makes a nice distraction from the things I’m meant to be doing.

I just wanted to share some of the designs I’ve been working on. What do you guys think?

Photography by Mark Fiddian. Jim Morrison tattoo by Gavin Rodrigues.

Do you have a favourite? Mine is the top left outfit. It was also the last one I made, so I was starting to get used to working with the latex.

My Lime Crime makeup arrived quite recently. I’ve only just got around to doing this review! It’s safe to say I’ve been really busy. I bought four colours by Lime Crime; No She Didn’t, Cosmopop, D’Lilac and Countessa Flourescent.

Packaging

I would like to start by saying that I’ve heard a few people saying that the tail and hooves of the unicorn don’t match up when aligned correctly. 2 of mine do, and 2 of mine don’t…Pretty weird! It doesn’t bother me or anything, but it’s something to note. I do like the packaging – when I first saw it, I didn’t. But I am always losing things in my bag, and I like that the lipsticks are easy to find because of the unique packaging. They were more of a “learn to love” thing for me. That said, they are definitely very unique. Sure, the shape of the tubes are similar to that of other brands, but there are only so many shapes for a lipstick tube you can have! Consider that. :p

Product

The first thing I noticed upon swatching these lipsticks is that they are very soft indeed. To the point where even if you are incredibly careful, they will still break. Having only swatched all of them for the first time, the tubes were messy and the lipsticks themselves no longer had the new finish to them, having pressed against the sides of the tubes. The only one that hasn’t done this is No She Didn’t, which is just fine. No problems with that one at all.

I do love the way the lipsticks smell, though. They aren’t flavoured, which is great. I really don’t like flavoured lip products because I only want to taste what goes in my mouth, not what goes on it! The smell is pleasant and subtle, which is great. No issues there!

Lastly, I want to say that for me, I did find that they were reasonably opaque in one streak. Well, they would have been if they didn’t break when I tried to apply them. The let down with regards to their colour is that they don’t seem to stay on. One night when I was out, a friend of mine, who never usually notices makeup, pointed out that my D’Lilac had come off as I took one puff of my cigarette (even though I’d applied some just before sparking up). I had problems with it coming off all evening, which was irritating. I would also like to say that the colours do stain your lips to an extent. Countessa Flourescent stains the worst and will noticeably stain your lips in seconds.

I have to say that I do love how pigmented these lipsticks are. I also adore the colours…I love bright colours, as well as pastels. Awesome.

Read more for swatches and an overall review.

Value

Good makeup has good chemistry; when developing makeup, I’d say it’s important to factor a lot of things when working on a formula. Is it possible to have a highly pigmented lipstick without staining or breaking? I reckon so. Other makeup brands have done it and charge less for their lipsticks. I would definitely say that in terms of quality, you aren’t getting your money’s worth for $16.00.

However, Lime Crime is a new brand and hopefully they will develop new formulae in the future for their lipsticks that make them worth the amount you pay.

Overall

Overall, I was very happy to discover that the colours came out on me as brightly as they appeared on the website. I have used these lipsticks for photo shoots, and will do so in the future. I won’t be wearing them out because they break and don’t stay on for long at all. Would I buy them again? Possibly. If I find other brands that have similar colours, then no. I’d sooner find a better alternative. MAC has some lovely colours that are better quality and cheaper, too.

I would also like to say that I didn’t enhance the colours of the lipsticks in the collage photo of me, above. The lipsticks photograph wonderfully. I think I’d only ever use them for modeling, as they don’t stay on long enough to wear out.

What do you think of Lime Crime? Have you had a different experience with their products? Let me know what your opinions are.

The winner for Guess the Celebrity Look was Jess. She gets to pick out a lipstick or eyeshadow from MAC.

The celebrity look was Katie Price (Jordan).

Congratulations to those of you that answered correctly. The winner was chosen at random from the correct answers given!

If you are wanting to get involved with our contests, please check out our Facebook page. A lot of our contests will now be specific to Facebook. They will be announced on the blog as well, however.

So, I was introduced to Willow Smith a couple of days ago. She happens to look very much like a friend of mine in her new video for Whip My Hair.

During the video, I noticed that she has makeup on. It doesn’t look like she has much on, but she has some interesting nails, to say the least! I then found myself wondering how old she is. I thought she might be in her teens, but she’s nine. I was pretty shocked, personally.

I’m not 100% sure about how I feel about this sort of thing, but I definitely see her being exploited to an extent. I remember being nine, I dreamed of being a pop star. But nowadays, it’s not something I’d ever want. So I do feel it’s a bit immoral that’s she’s been put out there like that.

But back to her makeup! Makeup is worn by women with the intention of increasing their sex appeal. When a woman is aroused, her cheeks and lips will become more red; hence why we wear blusher and lipstick. Sure, we don’t want everyone to think that we are aroused the whole time, but men subconsciously respond to those signs and, without realising, may be nicer to a woman. Whether wearing makeup could have the same effect or not is debatable. I’m not an expert on the matter. I just wanted to share that little bit of knowledge I do have.

Overall, I will say that I do think that the song’s catchy and innocent, as is the video for the most part. Willow is very adorable, but I’d hate to see her become another Britney Spears when she grows up. But not only that, it makes me worry about the youth of today. I remember seeing a pre-teen buying a Lady Gaga CD a while ago. I was a bit gobsmacked, as a lot of her songs are incredibly rude and about sex.

I’m certainly not one that is pro-censorship, but I really do think that people should think about the consequences of their actions instead of just money. The truth is that sex sells, and so people wanting to get to the top these days will use sex to sell things. It’s as simple as that!

As a final point, I’d like to ask what your opinions are on children wearing makeup. When do you think is a reasonable age for a person to start wearing makeup? What sort of (famous) people do you think children should be looking up to these days? Is there anyone out there that should be looked up to? Or is the world just becoming increasingly obsessed with fame and looking perfect? Some discussion on the subject would be great.

Above, is a picture of Jonbenét Ramsey who died age six. She is very well known because of being involved in child beauty pageants, and her awful murder. Just one example of a child in the limelight that wore makeup from a young age.