Etsy Special ~ In the name of the moon!

It's been a while since I've done an Etsy Special but it is now 2013, the year the Sailor Moon remake comes out! To be honest I'm always a bit conflicted about my love of anime, it makes me feel like a massive dork, but the fans of Sailor moon have produced loads of cool, cute paraphernalia to make me feel a bit more at ease as an adult Sailor moon fan. Some fanmade merchandise can be a bit tacky but hopefully I have found some more tasteful things but affordable things for everyone's preferences!

The Rabbit's Den, Moon and Star 14K Gold Filled Necklace ~ £12.93

Of course the things you can buy can be a tribute to Sailor Moon without making a direct, fan-specific reference, take this adorable crescent moon and star necklace for example. So precious. Special mention to this more elegant version by E. Ria Designs.

Lolita Tortoise, Sailor Jupiter Pastel Pink Rose Stud Earrings ~ £3.56

How about secretly, subtly emulating your favourite character? Sailor Jupiter's little rose earrings will do nicely! Saturn's earrings by KPONOS are pretty cute too.

Affray Patchwords, Sailor Moon Symbol Patch ~ £3.27

I love everything about this patch! I love the idea of customising a 90s inspired denim jacket with it. Plus, there's a patch for every character, apart from Pluto...is this delibrate isolation due to it no longer being a planet? So mean! They're also super affordable!

LesserKey Shop, 6 Assorted Stickers ~ £3.24

I've already shown you an example of super pretty, indie, Sailor Moon stickers, so here are some more cartoony but equally adorable ones. Special mention to these cuties by Little Paper Forest too (plus they're on sale!).

Danny Brito, Teen Witch 5 x 7 Illustration Print ~ £6.48

Supporting independent artists whilst showing your love for Sailor Moon? That's Win-Win right? I absolutely love this print. So much. It is perfection! Special mention to this badass print by Teacup Bee and another quirky take on two of the coolest villains; Black Lady and Mistress 9 (am I being too geeky? Sorry I'm not sorry!) by the Glucose Girls.

Daily Lacquer, Lovely Moon Nail Varnish Collection ~ £31.09

I absolutely love the idea of a nail polish series inspired by Sailor Moon and the inner senshi, and luckily it's been done by a couple of Etsy sellers. This set of 6 is my favourite, they do a really cute father/daughter duo as well, for Chibi-Usa and Mamoru. Obviously the collection is sold as singles too (at £5.83 each). This set by Kawaii Nail Lacquer gets a special mention for being oddly visually accurate, if that makes sense.

Ge3ekUp ~ Sailor Crisis Compact Brooch or Cosmic Heart Compact Brooch ~ £19.49/£16.24

So, we know how much I like laser-cut acrylic jewellery and all of a sudden a bunch of shops have come up with awesome designs which replicate compacts used for transforming. Starlight Deco Dream did some (my favourite design is linked) but all their designs are sold out, same applies to Kuma Crafts (who used to be on Etsy) who had loads of varied designs! Unfortunately Japanophile UK are on hiatus at the moment but they do some really cute designs as well - I should know, I have one!

Manifested Dreams, Saturn Phone Charm ~ £3.24

On the same theme as laser-cut acrylic, I love these simple, cheap little phone charms available in all the senshi's planterary symbols. If you prefer that with a really pretty mirror effect and on a chain then there is another option by Mercury Henshin.

CR Sparkle Galaxy, Sailor Moon Inspired Bow ~ £16.19

I just like this, plus it's available in silver, but if you're paying homage to Luna gold is the way to go! Or if you feel like copying Venus' cute red bow, I really like this one by Ruby and Sue.

 Pink Sugar Shop, Sailor Moon Bow Shirt

I also wanted to mention these super cute tshirts - unfortunately there are none for sale at the moment but I thought they were a cool idea, and if you really want one for yourself then there is this non-etsy seller called Meatball Head also sells tshirt of all the different bows.

Last but not least, special mention to Anime Couture Jewelry who do really sweet, imaginative charm necklaces, each with charms that represent a specific character (even a lot of minor ones too). Also Southern Moon Creations who do tiny little sculpted jewellery based on items like the henshin rods and Pluto's Garnet Orb, this little star locket pendant is my favourite.
So, that's been my little collection of moonie things. Did I geek out too much? Anything you like? Is there anything I missed you guys think I should know about? Let me know!

A Comprehensive Collection of Purple Lipsticks.

Plum, lilac, lavender, aubergine, indigo, violet, royal purple.
There are a lot of purple lipsticks out there and I am particularly fond of all of them. Following my reviews of a few pastel (including Lime Crime's Chinchilla, Portland Black Lipstick's The Purple Cloud, Stargazer's Glitter Violet and CeeYourself Cosmetics' Unicorn) and dark purple lipsticks (including Rimmel's Kate Collection 04, Revlon's Va Va Violet, Stargazer's 133, CeeYourself Cosmetics' Gothica and Portland Black Lipstick Company's Artificial Amethyst) I thought I would include as many swatches as I could find as well as any links that haven't been swatched. For some of the shades I did find swatches but I didn't think they were good enough to really represent the lipstick and also I ignored lipsticks I didn't think were purple enough (e.g. too blue, too pink or too red, such as Barry M's palest lavender which was pretty sheer and quite pink). Also, eventually this will go out of date, already Lime Crime's Kaleidoscope is discontinued and so are a few of the Mac shades, but I trust ebay won't let you down if you're desperate.

Dusty, Heather Pink Hued Purples

 
1. Mac ~ Goes And Goes (source), 2. Lime Crime ~ Airbourne Unicorn, 3. Mac ~ Up The Amp (source)

Lilacs, Lavenders & Pastel Purples

 1. Mac ~ Fresh Amour (source), 2. Secret Kisses ~Sade (source), 3. Ka'oir ~ Racquel, 4. Lime Crime ~ D'Lilac, 5. Stargazer ~ 115 (source)

Medium Purples

1. Beauty Addiction ~ Paranormal, 2. Fierce Magenta ~ Grape Parfait, 3. Flawless Beauty ~ Pastel Purple, 4. Secret Kisses ~ Rockstar (source), 5. Secret Kisses ~ Popstar (source), 6. Mac ~ Go For It (source) 
 
Deep Dark Purples

 1. Lime Crime ~ Kaleidoscope, 2. Mac ~ Potent Fig (source), 3. Nyx ~ Seductive (source), 4. Sweetpea & Fay ~ Musidora, 5. Illamasqua ~ Kontrol (source), 6. Manic Panic ~ Deadly Night (source)

Plum Purples

1. Lime Crime ~ Poisonberry, 2. 17 ~ New Black (source), 3. Maybelline ~ Midnight Plum (source), 4. Nyx ~ Egglant (source), 5. Nyx ~ Medusa (source), 6. Mac ~ Cyber (source)

Metallic and Duochrome Purples

1. Sobe ~ Purple Rain (source), 2. Stargazer ~ 103 (source), 3. Sobe ~ Monster Mash 

Blue Hued Purples

1. Ka'Oir ~ Rude Girl, 2. Morgana Cryptoria ~ Catheral (source), 3. Morgana Cryptoria ~ Darkwave, 4. Morgana Cryptoria ~ Fallen Angel (source)

No Swatches
Freak Laboratory ~ Foxglove - £8, Cassia - £8.50
Stargazer ~ 130 - £3.50
Manic Panic ~ Plum Passion, Purple Haze
My Beauty Addiction ~ Stargazer, Paranormal - £4.65 

Spectrum Cosmetics – Pocketful Of Posies, £3.82

Evil Shades ~ Dark Princess, Last Dance - £2.79

Morgana Cryptoria ~ Midnight Plumeria - £7.44, Violet - £3.10

Milan Rowe ~ Lavender Lust, Material Girl, £8.69
Sleek ~ Mulberry - £4.99
Muylinda ~ Purple Pumps - £3.81
BL Soaps ~ Jester, £7.12.
Moi Cosmetics ~ Paranormal, £3.75.
 
If you happen to stumble upon a good swatch that I didn't see or just a new shade I missed, let me know and I'll add it! And that is it! These posts have taken ages but were also super fun. I am now absolutely lusting Illamasqua's Kontrol, Lime Crime's Poisonberry and Morgana Cryptoria's Cathedral. What about you?

Face of the Day ~ citizen of the Capitol.

This week's makeup tag look is Hunger Games themed, specifically drawing inspiration from the citizens of the Capitol, because let's face it, we should all take a little bit of inspiration from their insane looks. I flicked through all three books to find all the descriptions I could to get some ideas. Joyously there is a lot of mentions of super unusual lips; powder blue, purple, white and also dyed skin, which is such a cool idea but I don't think I could pull off Octavia's pale pea green skin somehow. I'm also kind of gutted I don't currently have turquoise hair (like I used to), it would have been really useful for emulating Venia's look. Whilst I was looking up inspiration for this look I found Illamasqua to be a great source of ideas, some of the looks they create for releases are so Capitol, and amazingly gorgeous to boot. If you didn't realise I was heavily inspired by/copied a little bit this look (I know, cheeky). I also liked the idea of gem-encrusted skin which also gets a mention in the book, so I resorted to my trusty pearls instead of typical rhinestones.
All in all I quite like it...although I don't think it represents Capitol fashion as much as I'd like it to, it's kind of slightly robotic, really. One area that definitely failed was my attempted at reverse stencilling - you can just about see it on my cheek by the pearl. Although, having said that I am pretty pleased at one of my first attempts with blusher. Also, I wish I'd used more colour! Which I know sounds ridiculous but the look just doesn't seem bright enough to me for the theme. Finally, this took much longer than it should have, I was so indecisive I kept trying things and wiping them off and then trying and wiping. So many times.

Face:

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF133

Collection 2000 Pressed Powder in Ivory

Eyes:

Sugarpill Pressed Eyeshadow in Acidberry & Mochi

Collection 2000 Dazzle Me! in Fairy Dust

Collection 2000 Fix Me Up 

Maybelline Master Precise liquid eyeliner in Black

Yves Rocher Luminelle Eyeliner in Noir 

No7 Amazing Eyes pencil in Black

Rimmel Volume Flash mascara in Brown 

Lips:

Collection 2000 Dazzle Me! in Illusion & Fairy Dust

Have you seen any good Capitol inspired looks?

Don't forget if you want to join in with our bi-weekly make up tag just email my babilicous friend Bekki (where you can also see the other entries into this week's theme) with your look before Monday the 4th - the next theme is mermaids!
 

Fashion Dupes ~ the same for less.

The other day I was trawling Missguided whilst deciding what to get with my 15% student discount and I came across a few dupes that I think will delight you just as much as they delighted me - Missguided is just so much cheaper than all of these brands and the products are basically the same.

Left: Topshop Geek Sweater, £29 

Right: Missguided Selisa Geek Sweater, £11.99 (usually £14.99)

Both shops offer the jumpers in different colours and the same print on t-shirts too. For whatever reason I vaguely prefer the filled in black letters to the empty white ones, but at more than half the price that's the kind of difference I'll willing to ignore. I wish Missguided did a Dweeb dupe, I love the word Dweeb. Also, anyone else noticed the new trend of this sort of geek-culture labelling going? Apprently faux geek (a.k.a geek chic) is back again.

Left: Black Milk Matte Black Suspenders, £72 (110 AUD)
(or Nasty Gal Mesh Garter Leggings, £30.29)

Right: Missguided Kareena Suspender Leggings, £14.99

Seriously. SERIOUSLY. I have loved and yearned for Black Milk suspender leggings (or anything of theirs really) for so long but they are just so expensive and as far as I can see, I can find no other dupe anywhere else for this particular style. I have in fact already bought them and obviously the quality is no where near those of Black Milk. The material is pretty thin and leg is a little short, not to mention the suspender effect only goes half way, the back is just plain. BUT having said that, I love the style and it is such as discount from the original version, so I'm going to let them off.

Left: Motel Penny Babydoll Dress, £45 

Right: Teneale Striped Dress, £18.99

I don't know if this counts as a dupe or not but the general idea is the same; monochrome striped dress, horizontal then vertical. Simples. I also love that the models' poses mirror each other, model dupe!

Left: Topshop Speckle Roll Sleeve Mini Dress, £26 

Right: Missguided Aliveta T-Shirt Dress, £12.99

A pretty simple dupe, and probably one you can find in a lot of other places, but I definitely would not pay £26 for it. I'm actually not so hot on this style (probably because it absolutely doesn't suit me).

Left: UNIF Hellbound Platform Shoes, £152.45 ($244.95)

Right: Missguided Darby Ultimate Platform Boots, £40.99

Again, these are not an exact dupe. The Missguided version has more seams and a leather look, but the overall effect is there, if you want bloody massive platform shoes, here's a cheaper option for you. One of the more expensive Missguided items actually but again, less than quarter of the original price!

And that's it for my little selection of dupes. I know I'm making it sound like Missguided is just a brand that copies other companies but actually, they do a lot of really cool designs that are 100% their own. I'm loving their selection of crop tops (which you may be seeing on here very soon since I bought two) and also their suspender dress.
So, what is your opinion on dupes? Better to pay the full price for the original or is cheap and cheerful more your thing? Found any good dupes that I should know about?

Outfit of the Day ~ emerald lilies.

 Off shoulder dress ~ Urban Outfitters

Crochet tights ~ ASOS

Spiked wedges ~ New Look

Noah's Arch bracelet ~ gift

Wing necklace ~ Tatty Devine

Lily ~ H&M

Emerald green lipstick ~ Lime Crime in Serpentina

This is a variation of the kind of thing I wore during the festive period. I've been experimenting with victory rolls at the moment, and although I need a lot more practise (especially when it comes to placement) I quite like how it looks. These photos were taken during my holiday in France, our view was stunning, as it always is when we go and see my gran - she lives way up high in the alps and you can pretty much see snow at the top of the mountains all year round.

First off, I love this dress. So much! Plus, I got it in the sales for £18, which is most pleasing. I have always loved the off-shoulder style (so much so that a lot of my clothing has been massacred in order to achieve it, and I like the straps which prevent it falling ridiculously low (which is a pretty common occurrence with my clothes). It's also pretty damn versatile which is always a plus, however one down side is it does cling to lumps and bumps when I move around. I also haven't had a chance to wear my Serpentina lipstick out yet, but it's so pretty! When I finally step out of my house for more than few hours for minimal human contact I might actually have a chance to have fun with how I dress again. I am currently in full-on revision mode, doing about 8/10 hours a day. I'm sort of proud of myself, since so far I have been sticking to it. Two exams, two more to go!

Face of the Day ~ fire & ice.

The second theme for the makeup tag (hosted here) is Fire and Ice! Check the others out, I think their looks are amazing (and way better than mine). I already did an icy look last time so instead of proper ice I decided the fire has melted the ice a bit so really it's water. I'm not really happy with how it turned out, especially the "melting water" element which looks like a tear and quite clownish - so I removed it and took more photos, much prefer it with just the blue lining my eye, without those ridiculous drops. I think there's a lot of ideas going on and I should have maybe focused them a bit more - I quite like the lips though, which again is repeating the idea of melting water. I also wish I'd used blusher (or done some contouring) but I don't really own many and I'm not a fan of how they look on me, that's definitely something to work on. Finally, the foundation is way too dark for me (even though it's called Ivory - Collection totally lied) which is annoying, you can definitely see the difference between my face and my neck.

Face:

Collection 2000 ~ Lasting Perfection Foundation in Ivory

Collection 2000 ~ Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light

Collection 2000 ~ Pressed Powder in Ivory

Eyes:

MUA Professional Eye Primer

Sugarpill ~ pressed eye shadow in Love+, Velocity

Collection 2000 ~ Glam Crystals gel liner in Le Freak

No. 7 ~ Amazing Eyes Pencil in Black

Bourjois ~ Metallic Eyeliner in Bleu Clinquant

Famous by Sue Moxley ~ pressed eye shadow in Elizabeth Yellow

Soap & Glory ~ Thick & Fast mascara

Chilli Pepper palette ~ black eye shadow

Sleek ~ Central, Piccadilly and Victoria from Glory Palette

Lips:

Sleek ~ Pout Paint in Peek-a-bloo and Pin Up

Sleek ~ Piccadilly pressed eye shadow

Favourite Blog Posts of 2012.

First post of 2013! Happy new year!
Inspired by Gwen from This Fashion Is Mine (and subsequently loads of other bloggers), I decided to do my own blog review for the year, looking at my personal favourite posts. I know mine's a bit later but I've been super ill so you'll have to excuse me! You can click on the photos to go to the original posts. Warning - this is a very image heavy post!

January

It's pretty interesting to see how my style has changed. I think this is when I started to really feel the gothic vibe I dig so much at the moment, although I think it's developed a bit since then.

February

My amazing retro rockabilly hairdo from my first ever (one of very few) blogger events this year.

The point when the fade of my purple was actually pretty. That phase did not last long.

Other worthwhile mentions of February: My Lipstick Rainbow, the most viewed post on my blog and my part 1 of my Review of Black Lipsticks, which is also quite popular. They're both posts I'm pretty proud of.

March

Got to try out the awesome brand that is Illamasqua, and found a new favourite lip colour in the dark navy blue of Disciple.

April

I dyed my hair turquoise which I think to this day is still my favourite colour.

May

June

Started to experiment a lot more with nail art this year and I think this is one of my favourites (even though the photos aren't great).

July

This was a good month for the blog! I pretty much like all of the posts I put up during July in hindsight, which is a rare thing indeed.

This is the year I also discovered and tried many wonderful brands (such as Illamasqua, Sleek and Sugarpill), including a new and permanent favourite; Portland Black Lipstick Company. I also did possibly the favourite outfit of the year in July, but it's a close call. And one of my few successful DIY.

August

New hair in the form of a turquoise and black cruella. Loved this style so much and I really like the outfit as well. Ah, suspender tights.

September

Let us mourn the loss of one of my favourite hats, which can be seeing being worn here.

One of my favourite nail colours of 2013 - Pink Spice by Accessorize.

October

I had my hair professionally cut for the first time in ages.
A less successful, but still kind of pretty DIY.

One of my favourite Face of the Day's (the outfit isn't bad either)

Other worthwhile mentions: I totally spotted the Emerald Trend before Pantone!

November 

Another redye of the hair, this time a sort of rainbow dip dye.

December

The first of the makeup tag, but the last Face of the Day of the year!

And that's it! I hope my blog has been at least slightly entertaining for my lovely followers and this year as always, I will strive to make better content for you all!
What were you highlights of 2012? Are you looking forward to anything in 2013?