DIY SEQUIN EYES

You may remember I blogged a while ago about the Givenchy S/S12 sequin eye beauty trend, well I thought I would show you some shots that the very talented Jysla Kay took where they recreated this tricky trend. How beautiful does it look? Seriously who would have thought you could take this from the runway to editorial so perfectly - and I have a feeling this would look pretty fun on the streets too!

I have recently been immensely enjoying all the beautiful pictures that Jysla has been taking of all my fellow bloggers in Australia (Gary Pepper Vintage, Oracle Fox to name a few!) and can't wait to have a chance to  meet her in person at Sydney Fashion Week. Bring it on!

DIY INSPIRATION - SEAFOAM NAILS

Spotted these nails recently and thought they looked like a very cute way to get amongst the under the sea trend - in the event that you're not down with carrying around a badazzled shell as a purse. 

Image: Grazia IT.

DIY INSPIRATION - TURQUOISE NAILS AT GRETCHEN JONES

Whoa these turquoise nails seen at the Gretchen Jones A/W12 show have seriously stolen my heart. They were designed to look exactly like turquoise stones, and are so different so anything I've seen. I think they were done using a wrap - basically a sticker over the nail - but I wonder if you could do it using turquoise shatter polish with black underneath? Any other ideas?

Images here.

DIY GIVENCHY SEQUIN EYES

Beauty tutorial inspired by one of the best S/S12 collections? Check! Easy as pie? Check! A must for the Christmas Party season? Check! How fun is this tutorial for how to recreate the half moon sequin eyes seen at the Givenchy S/S12 show (remember the uber cool giant shark tooth necklaces???). Might possibly be giving this a try this party season!

Check out the original post from Nicola of Knock You For Six.

DIY GALAXY NAILS

I have been lusting over Galaxy Nails for a while now - I saw them over at the Cool Hunter but thought they would need hand painting and take loads of time. However, I found this very simple tutorial over at one of my favourite blogs - A Cup of Jo. And it really couldn't be easier. Thank you thank you!

1. Get a dark blue nail polish for the base, plus a few lighter sparkly polishes (for stars and comets!).

2. Paint the dark blue on all your nails as the base layer.

3. Now layer the glittery colors over the dark blue, but over only parts of each nail. A swipe here, a dab there. Mix things up with each nail, since you want them all to look different.

4. Layer a lot, since, instead of your nails looking flat, you want to get that 3-dimensional look of a far-away galaxy, like you're gazing up at the night sky.

Head here to check out the original post.

Edit: Use toothpicks to dot on the bigger stars with white polish! (Thanks to Kutsamari for leaving this tip in the comments).

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DIY 1 MINUTE MESSY UP DO

Inevitably when I get ready for any sort of function (wedding, big dinner, bah mitzfah or whatever) I'm running late. This is usually because during the course of getting ready, I've decided to embark on a major DIY project - forgetting the time and imminent need for my departure from the house. Makeup and hair are usually the last priotity for me (which I am sure is fairly self evident sometimes), so my go-to hairstyle is this messy up do. Perfect for whenever I have about 35 seconds in total to get out the door. Funnily enough it's the hairstyle that gets the most comments from friends, colleagues etc. I wore it to my sister's wedding here - not so bad for a rush job right?

I thought this might be an appropriate post given my friend's wedding is tomorrow and I already have a craving to make some fabric pom poms - pretty sure this is the hair style that I'll be sporting!

It's best to do this with messy hair so that there is more body to the style. My hair was straightened when I did these pics which isn't ideal - the ends tend to stick out which isn't the look I go for - best to pin/hairspray until the pointy bits are, um, not so pointy. Day old, messy hair is key.

You need:
Bobby pins and hair spray

How to:
1. Part hair at your natural part - I go for side but if you play for the middle team feel free to do that instead.
2. Take a thick section of hair at the side at the front and lightly twist to the back, pinning in place.
3. Take the same size section from the other side at the front and twist to the back pinning together. You should have a simple half up-do happening.
4. Messily pin the rest of the hair up in sections, twisting and pinning in place. Make sure you have no little flyaways hanging down at the back.
5. Spray with hairspray.

I used to do this all the time when I had long hair - and instead of twisting I would plait the sections and pin in place. It's also a good idea to try to hide the bobby pins in your hair a bit more than I did mine (woops!)

The (lack of) Beauty Regime

I am definitely not a very good person to talk to about skin care. That's probably because dad is a doctor of natural medicine (homeopathy, naturopathy, acupuncture etc) and drummed into me from an early age that nothing you put on your skin will really change it - its more about what you put in your body that counts. I'm not sure if that's just what you tell your crazy 14 year old who wants to buy the whole Clearasil range after reading about it in Girlfriend Magazine (their 'clearasil best friends' advertising got me every time), but it stuck. As a result I have a somewhat unconventional beauty routine. I actually use a range of natural/herbal products on my skin including a herbal Calendula Cream as a night facial moisturizer, a thick yellow salve called Golden Seal overnight for any blemishes (pillowcase destroying but amazing), and tea tree oil for just about everything else. Best part? They seem to work so well and are inexpensive too! These two Kiehl's products are new additions - and one of my first forays into an actual beauty routine. The pollution and heat in HK mean you rarely wear make up, so products like these that clean and rejuvenate your skin are a must. Dad's probably reading this thinking 'urgh she's been completely conned'. But they feel so nice - and check out that scientific and honest looking packaging! How could they not work...?

That's my beauty ramble over with - sorry if it bored you to absolute death. Umm moral of the story? I would definitely recommend trying out some natural products if you haven't already. What's your beauty regime - do use anything random that actually works? I'd love to hear!

DIY Fruitsalad Lips (the ultimate in colour blocking)

These lips are so cool! Seen at RAFW at Catwalk show Dhini - with make up style by Napoleon Perdis, they definitely put the fruity into summer (or winter). If you've not been living under a rock you probably have two fruity bright shades in your lipstick arsenal - pair them together with a neutral outfit for the ultimate in colour blocking.

Images: Raw Fashion Magazine

DIY Summer Lips

OK so it hasn't been very cold in Hong Kong this winter, not by European/US standards, but yesterday was the first day when you could actually smell summer in the air. Apparently its going to be a cracking weekend, am really looking forward to tangerine and pink lipstick for some reason, paired with an amazing bright yellow skirt I bought this week - stay tuned! Ok the shopping ban is ov-ah.

Image: collection from Style.com and Vogue Japan