DIY-Trash into treasures

It's Sunday!!! a.k.a CRAFT DAY !!! yes this is the day where I put on my fuzzy pink slippers, my black with silver star house coat and I craft like it's nobody business. Todays inspiration started with me cleaning out my fuzzy pink jewelry box that I've had since I was a pre-teen, containing jewelry I've also had and have never worn since I was 13. Instead of letting it sit there unworn and collecting dust for another 8 years I decided to revamp and give them all a makeover, transforming them into something new.

The before: A collection of all my old treasures that have been neglected and are in need of revamping.


Subject 1.) This is a large decorative pendant that fell off the middle of one of my favourite black v-neck shirts. I still wear the shirt pendant less and me being the little hoarder Iam kept the decorative piece for a rainy day. I never knew what to do with it until today. Today were revamping it into a original hairpiece.

 

Here's what you'll need:

                 Recycled decorative pendant

Black craft feathers (optional)

Thin Jewelry wire

Glue gun

Thin black head band

To give this future hair piece a bit more edge and decor I decided to add some black feathers. So my first step was to glue the black feathers to the back of the pendant. I kept the feathers minimal and simple so it will accent the piece without over doing it. 

After your happy with your pendant the next step is to simply glue the piece to your headband in the position you'd like it to sit on your head. I decided to give it more stability by wrapping and securing small pieces of the jewellery wire around the headband and pendant.

Before: A plain simple hairstyle 

 

After: Re-vamped and fabulous

Subject 2.)  This is a netted floral decorative piece that had also came off another one of my shirts, I  had also tucked it away for a rainy day and today it will be transformed into another fabulous hair piece to add to the collection. hair pieces are a great way to recycle and reuse while having the potential to vamp up, accent and orginalize (a made up word from yours truly) any outfit.

Here's what you'll need

Netted flour

Glue gun

Hair piece

Red feathers

I wanted to add something more to this simple black netted flower piece so I decided to add red feathers to accent and vamp up the black. 

Turn the hair piece over and glue two or three red feathers to the underside, I also tucked and glued the longer pieces.

After simply just glue your flowered piece to the hair piece in the position you would like it to sit on the head.

No Iam not naked I have a tube top on. 

What was once a decorative piece of a shirt is once again transformed into a fabulous hair piece. I love black and red together I think this colour combination is very sensual and sexy. This will be a perfect hair piece to pair with a classic little black dress and sexy black pumps.

Subject 3.)  A collection of bracelets that have been neglected over the years and are in need of a transformation.

These bracelets have been neglected for to long so I decided to recycle the beads and transform them into...

A elegant beaded necklace with matching earrings, I even had beads left over to create other goods :D

sorry I don't have a step by step for this one it's a bit more complicated to just put into pictures and words but if you keep in touch I will eventually be turning all my DIY blogs into tutorials for youtube :D

Subject 4.)  I've had this necklace with matching earrings for years and have worn them maybe once, and I only have one of the earrings because I lost the other one. 

So I decided to give this piece a makeover and decided to transform them into....

I kept one of the earrings and I decided to piece apart the necklace and create another earring with more length and feathers to it. I cut the necklace to the length I wanted and added the earring hook using jewellery wire. I also attached the feathers to the middle and end of the earring using jewellery wire. I still have some of the remaining necklace put aside for a rainy day.

Subject 5.)  These are various necklaces I've literally had since I was 13 and have never worn. I decided to cut them and use them for their beads to create other pieces.

This is what I've created so far with the recycled beads

Notice the metal beads, metal stars, and the pink beads from the necklaces above. And the pearl beads are from the previous bracelets.

Subject 6.)  Since christmas is around the corner star decorations are everywhere. I purchased this gold sparkly star from the dollar store but I didn't buy it to decorate for christmas but to give it some originality and hang it year round in my house. (I like stars :D I have Purple, Pink, Turquoise and LIME GREEN! stars tatoo'd behind my ear)

Now you can't really go wrong with gold and sparkly but I decided to take it to the next step and give this star some Relish swagger. I like bright pastel colours, Lime Green being my favourite colour of all times, Purples, fuchsias and turquoises quickly following the list. I decided to go for a aquamarine colour for this particular star. 

Aquamarine is created by mixing blue and green together, I love mixing paint and making your own colours. Colour theory in general is such a fascination to me. Being a hairdresser you learn all about the colour wheel and colour theories and how colours can complement each other and also neutralize each other. When purchasing paint all you need is the three primary colours (colours that cannot be created) Red, Blue and Yellow. You have these three colours in your craft box and you can make any colour by combining them for example. 

Color theory 101

Red+Blue=Purple

   Blue+Yellow=Green

  Yellow+Red=Orange

Combine all three primary colours and you make Brown.

This is the colour I came out with. I have to be honest I did want a brighter pastel aquamarine colour but I like the subtleness of this. I hope to do a couple more in pink and purple.

 I love recycling old treasures and turning them into something new!  Or even giving new items some originality. Find inspiration anywhere and I encourage you to go through your old treasures and give them a makeover. Its a great way to recycle and get your creative juices flowing, and when people complement you on your fabulous one of a kind treasure's you'll proudly be able to respond "thanks I made them" 

                                                                             Happy Sunday!!!
                                                              XOXOX
                                                         Relish

Product review-Full coverage foundation

Hey everyone!!!!!
Iam here today to introduce you to one of my all time favourite FULL coverage foundations. We all know that the essential part of any work of art is a well prepped, clean canvas to work from. Makeup is no different.
There are hundreds of foundations out on the market today with various coverages and formulations. Your typical everyday foundation is usually a sheer to medium coverage foundation, designed to give you coverage without your complexion looking "cakey" however sometimes these foundations don't meet the needs of people with certain skin conditions like redness, scaring, acne ect...

Let me introduce to you vichy derma blend corrective foundation. This stuff is FULL coverage, when I say full 
coverage, I really do mean it. This foundation is very heavily pigmented as it's specifically designed to cover
and correct certain skin conditions. It is hyper allergenic so it won't clog pores and for a full coverage foundation it 
doesn't feel heavy or cakey at all! I stumbled across this stuff at my neighbourhood drugstore where Vichy productsare sold. I had a photo shoot so I needed a good full coverage foundation for photos I discovered this stuff and
haven't looked back!
Like I mentioned it is a full coverage foundation and therefore may not by practical for everyday use, so for day looks I simply use a touch of this to my everyday moisturizer to create my own tinted moisturizer. A little goes a long way with this stuff so be careful not to use to much or it can be hard to blend because it it such a thick pigmented formulation. There are some cons to this foundation, the colour choice is very limited and it can be a bit more pricy then your typical everyday drugstore foundation. Given the coverage and how little you have to use i think the money is well worth it. This stuff is perfect for when you need a full coverage without it feeling greasy or cakey. It works great mixed with your daily moisturizer to create your own tinted moisturizer with good coverage as your everyday foundation. I definitely recommend this product if you need more coverage for redness, acne, scars act.. or for performance or photography where  full coverage is a necessity. 

Do it yourself- Feather earrings!

Hey everyone!!! so as you can probably notice I've been given'r in the arts and crafts department. I LOVE! arts and crafts. It's such a great way to get your creative juices flowing and keep you busy during the rainy snowy months of winter. I have been addicted to creating anything out of anything! some people drink smoke, party.... I do crafts.. I guess you can call me a Crafthead ;) lol now moving on from my lame jokes to my latest crafting addiction making your own earrings keep reading I got your fix ;)

Keep going ...

Here's what you'll need:  Everything here I got from my favourite dollar store but most of this can be found at a craft store.

• Earring hooks (I dun really know what their called lol, the part that goes into your ear)
• Fine jewelry wire (this one is 15 gauge, it's what the dollar store had, feel free to use what you can find)
• Scissors ( For various cutting and trimming)
• Various Glass beads of your choice 
• Craft Feathers of your choice in colours 
• Small fine needle nose plyers ( I just used my fingers but you may need these)

1.) First start by Cutting two pieces of jewelry wire (one for each ear..obviously) at about 3-4 inches, this really depends on what length you want your feathers to be.

2.) Take the wire and hoop it through the end of the earring hook at about a quarter of an inch or so. Using your fingers, twist the smaller piece of wire around the bigger end of the wire very tightly so that it is secured to the hoop of the earring hook. 

3.) Take the beads you have selected and pull them through the wire to the top of the earring in your choice of pattern. After you have pulled the last bead through and placed it to where you want near the top of the earring hook, take the end of the wire and pull it up and around through the top of the last bead. This will secure the bottom bead in place, therefore securing all the above beads in place as well so that they don't slide down. Use as many or as less as you would like, whatever you think looks best.

4.) Take the feathers of your choice and wrap the end of the wire VERY tightly around the end of the feathers in the same manner you did at the beginning. This is where the needle nose plyers may or may not come in handy. I just used my fingers just remember to wrap the wire around very tight and secure so that the feathers won't come out. This is why I chose to use jewellery wire as opposed to anything else, the wire holds it's shape well and does all the work as long as it is very secure and tight. Feel free to try securing it afterwards with a small strip of black tape, maybe wrap it with some glue from the glue gun?? use your imagination!

BAM! Can you believe its four simple steps and you got yourself a pair of one of a kind feather earrings!

You don't have to stop there as always I encourage you to get creative, make mistakes and get messy!!

thats the best part of craft time, it's your time there are no rules and theirs no such thing as a mistake. 

Try using different shapes and colours of beads and feathers and let your imagination run wild. My boyfriend even had to agree that these were pretty cool. At this pace I'm sure a few of my friends will find a pair of these babies in their stockings this christmas there so easy and cheap to make and they look beautiful!

Happy Crafting Everyone :D

xoxoxox

Relish

Do it yourself.. Feather Hair Pieces!

Hey everyone!!! ..Get out your glue guns, put on your creative pants and lets get started!

Hair accessories can vamp up any hair due and add a personal touch to any outfit. With these creative hair pieces your sure to get fabulous compliments of which you can proudly reply "Thanks I made them myself"


Heres what you'll need:

• Glue Gun and Glue gun refills.
• Plain black hair pieces, I got a 12 pack from the dollar store !
• Craft feathers, colour of your choice.
• Sequins or bejewells, colour of your choice(try choosing colours that are gonna compliment the feathers)
• Scissors (for various trimming)
• Black tape (I used black electrical tape)

First start by placing your hair piece in the centre of your work area. take your sequins and lay them out in a organized line according to which they will be glued on the top part of the hair piece. Working with glue guns can be messy so try and stay organized to ensure a clean finished result. 

Continue and glue the sequins to the top of the hair piece.

Turn the hair piece over so that the back of the hair piece is facing upwards. Again, lay your craft feathers out in an organized row. You may notice the feathers have a curve to them, lay the feathers with the curve facing upwards. You initially want to glue the feathers to the hair piece with the curve of the feathers going with the curve of the head.

Continue to glue the feathers to the back of the hair piece.

Using a strip of black electrical tape, tape over the seam of feathers and glue for a clean finish.

WALA!!! all finished..see how easy that was!

Get creative and try using different combinations of sequins and feathers to go with any outfit.

These hair pieces are perfect to spice up any up-style.

xoxoxox 

Happy crafting

Relish

Do it yourself nail tutorial!

I love that self expression can go beyond hair, makeup and fashion, but nails as well. There are some very talented nail artists out there that can do unimaginable things on such a small surface.


this is just a sample taken off google of how intricate nail art can be.

 Today's nail tutorial! 

I have to admit personally I SUCK!!! at doing my own nails. Usually my left hand always seems to look better then my right, because Iam right handed, and as soon as I'm done I always get antsy and while their still trying to dry I'm all over the place using my hands. Resulting in not so pretty smudging and chipping. So my number one and completely obvious advice to you is wait till their completely dry to continue.

Considering my lack of experience in doing nails this design was easy enough that even I could do it!!! and I've gotten so many compliments and people asking..did you get your nails done?? to which I proudly reply "Nope I did em myself" :D yayyy!!!!!
This is done on my natural nails but I'm sure you can do it over fake ones as well.

To achieve this design here is what you'll need
            1.) 3 Nail polish colours of your choice. One will be your Base Coat, Another the colour applied to the tips of your nails, and lastly a colour for the poke dots. Feel free to use whatever colours you have, however try working with colours that compliment each other as your bases and use a neutral colour for the poke dots ( ex. white, silver, black)


2.) Bobby Pin, toothpick, small paint brush whatever you can find to create small dots, I used a bobby pin and it worked perfect!


Lets get started :D
(my camera didn't take very quality pictures but you get the idea)

First off start by applying your base coat. Apply about 1-2 coats to get the intensity of the colour.

After your base coat has dried. Apply the second colour to the tip of your nails in a diagonal design. This may look complicated but it's pretty simple just try and keep a steady hand, if you feel uncomfortable using the regular nail polish brush try using a very small, fine paint brush. I got mine from the dollar store. Also try using a straight edge of a paper or business card as a stencil or guide. I haven't tried this but thought about it afterwards.

Take your bobby pin and stretch it out like I have above. Place some of your poke a dot colour on a piece of paper. Dip the end of your bobby pin into the nail polish and practice a couple of dots on the paper, get the feel of how to create the dots. After your comfortable continue the same technique on your nails for the most part I kept my dots mainly on the tips but feel free to get creative.

Apply a clear top coat afterwards And TADA!!! all finished..

 I decided to get a little creative on my thumbs and continued the poke a dots all the way down. 

Who says you have to go out and spend a fortune to get your nails did..get creative and have fun :D

Happy polishing 

xoxox 

Relish

Basic Smokey eye

Of course makeup is becoming more and more expressional. Entertainers like lady gaga who constantly are pushing the boundaries with makeup and fashion encouraging others to stand out and express themselves and their individuality. Personally I love that times are changing where now rarely anything is out of the ordinary.


However that being said the classic smokey eye will always be timeless and admired by all.
A smokey eye can be achieved, interpreted and tweaked in so many ways using various colours,textures and techniques but the fundamentals of a smokey eye will always remain the same that being the darkest point is at the lashes, blending outwards to create a smokey effect hence smokey eye ;)

Foundation: Foundation, conceal, powder as usual. highlight and contour if desired.

Eyes: Like I mentioned before a smokey eye can be achieve and interrupted in so many different ways, this is I think one of the simplest and fundamental ways to achieve a typical smokey eye. but of course feel free to adventure and add your own touch, everyones eye shape is different so work with your eye shape using these basic techniques.
First conceal and powder the eyes providing a stable base for our products. Take a creamy black eyeliner, By this I mean use a eyeliner that can be easily smudged and manipulated, some eyeliners can be to stiff and dense. If this is the case simply take a regular household lighter and hold the flame to the end of the eyeliner for just a second. Obviously wait for it to cool before applying it at the base of your lashes like you normally would. Make the line as thick or thin as you want but keep in mind this is the base of our smokey eye and where all the magic is going to be concentrated.

Don't worry it doesn't have to be perfect. Now taking your angled brush, finger or even a Q-tip blend the black eyeliner up towards the lid still keeping most of the black towards the lashes. To create more shape to the eyes blend some of the black liner out towards the outer corner of the eye creating a V shape from your lashes to your outer crease.

Again it doesn't have to be perfect, this is going to be the underlying base for the rest of the look and will be blended out. That being said grab a dark brown eyeshadow. I used a mixture of Espresso and Charcoal brown from MAC, but any darker brown you have will work. 

Taking your flat eyeshadow brush pat this colour on top of the black eyeliner and blend it out onto the eyelid. Like with the black you want to keep the most color at the base of the lashes.

 For a more intense look feel free to use black eyeshadow. I just like to use a mixture of browns overtop the black base to create a more softer look, I find to much black can be overdone but feel free to experiment. Continue patting, blending and working the brown into the lashes, blending outwards. Blend the brown over the V shape as well softening any harsh lines.

Feel free to keep layering the browns and blacks at the base of lashes and continue blending out to get the darkness and depth you wish. To really bring out depth and dimension don't be afraid to go back over intensifying the colours and adding depth where you feel its needed. The more layers you create the more dimension the look will have.

After your satisfied with the lids, apply a matte white eyeshadow under the brow bone highlighting that area.

 line your inner waterline with black eyeliner. Line the top of the lids as well and go over with black eyeshadow, remember we want the lash line to be the darkest point. 

Taking your angled brush and the same black and brown shadows run these colours along the lower lashes and blend. Softening the line and creating the same smokey look but along the lower lash line, feel free to make this smokey line as thick or thin as you feel comfortable however try to avoid blending it to far down otherwise it might look black eye chic ;) 

Curl and Mascara your lashes, apply false lashes if desired

Cheeks/ Lips: Because a smokey eye is so neutral any blush colour will work just try not to overpower the eyes. When going with such an intense look for the eyes the cheeks and lips should simply compliment the eyes. For my cheeks and lips I decided to go for a neutral pinky colour for my cheeks I used a mixture of BlushBaby(soft neutral pink) and Fluer Power ( soft mid toned pink) by MAC. Both these blushes I use quite often and if your in the market for a new blush I definitely recommend giving these a try they add a instant glow of colour to the face without being to overpowering. 

I first lined and filled in my lips with a neutral pink peachy colour I used Peach Pearl from Gosh. 

Lining and filling in the lips with your lipliner fills in the lines that are naturally on our lips and gives you're lips more colour and longer staying power. I used a nude pinky colour lipstick on top of the lips, I used Hue from MAC but again any nude pink you have will work just fine :D

  (teehee my false lash is a little gimped..oops)

So no matter what your style is, or what adventures the night brings you got yourself a sexy smokey look to bump up the partayy!!! or in my case I just rocked it around the house and did the dishes..gotta look good for them dishes ;) 

Get Creative! and explore! were living in a time where "normal" doesn't exist so embrace it and get creative. This same look can be alternated using colours just remember to keep the darkest colour at the lash line.

Have fun, Get Creative and Rock it!

xoxox

Relish 

  

Contouring/Highlighting

Have you ever noticed celebrities always have a flawless complexion. There cheekbones always well defined, under eye circles gone, luscious lips. Well here's a little secret, its all the illusion of makeup.

Before:


                          SHADING/CONTOURING

Makeup has the ability to transform a face giving it a whole new structure just with highlighting and contouring, also known as shading, certain areas of the face. Shading features you want to recede and drawing attention to features by highlighting. The typical rule of thumb is any feature you want to make recede shade a darker colour such as hollows of the cheeks, temples, under the chin, sides of the nose.

lol its a nice face it know ;) but here I'm just demonstrating the areas of the face you typically want to shade or contour using foundation, concealer, brown eyeshadow, or a bronzer with no shimmer! looks scary and confusing but all you need to remember is blend blend blend! with a sponge, fingers, brush ect. However keep the darker colours in the these general areas.

 Countoring the hollows of the cheeks slenderizes the face and allows your cheekbones to stand out. Contouring down the sides of the nose slenderizes the nose and makes it appear straight. shading the temples gives the illusion of a smaller forehead, and lastly shading under the chin and down the neck slenderizes these areas as well.

After:

See! all blended and notice how much definition and colour it brings to the face. Our face isn't just a flat surface its dimensional, and has high and low points that the sun naturally hits more then others. So covering it with just one colour will make you look lifeless, dull and flat.

HIGHLIGHTING: 

Before:

Light colours highlight and make things come forward bringing attention to these areas. The apples of the cheek, under the the eye, the brow bone are typically the ares you want to highlight. Here I've used concealer to demonstrate the areas, but I find shimmer and pearlized powders work great. I usually use Shell cream colour from MAC. But you can also use a light shimmer eyeshadow. 

Applying your highlighter down the centre of the nose works with the contouring to slenderize and straighten the nose, highlighting the tops of the cheeks bring attention to your cheekbones, Highlighting the brow bone as well as the inner corners of the eyes, brighten and bring attention to the eyes making them the main focus point of the face. Simply dust your shimmer powder on these areas with a blush brush. If you notice I applied a bit of concealer above the cupids bow of the lips, this makes the illusion of fuller lips without the botox!!

After:

Now you know all the secrets to achieve a flawless face. Try these techniques and play around with your features. Once you know your face and your structure using these techniques to your advantage will get easier and easier. No matter what look your going for a flawless face is essential! 

Good luck and get your flawless face on!! 

xoxox

Relish