A Hoot of a Time | Dinosaur Soiree

The thing I love most about makeup, is how it can completely transform your face. I've always been interested in fancy dress/theme/special effects makeup, and would absolutely to experiment a bit more with my makeup. My ultimate dream would be able to work on something like 'The Hobbit' or 'Doctor Who' and be able to fully transform someone into a character. I realize I'm definitely a long way from that, I doubt I'd ever get to do something like that. So for now, I'll settle for turning my face into an owl.

I did this look for a fancy dress birthday party under the theme 'Party Animals'. My costume didn't add anything to my character, it was literally just a dress (I do the makeup part, not the costume) I remember being called a moth at some stage, but I like to think it looks at least a little bit owly!

It was actually very simple and easy, and because of the various 'feather' strokes (I used different coloured eyeshadows and eyeliners) I was able to make it a bit messy and uneven, and that just added to the look (I love when mess can look good!) The feathers were stuck on with eyelash glue, and let me warn you, I would not do that again (I think I ended up ripping some skin off!) The 'beak' was just simple black eyeliner and I used fake eyelashes just so the white eyeshadow wouldn't look too overpowering.

So if you ever fancy being an owl have a go at this and post your picture on my Facebook fan page! What do you guys think? Would you want to see some more character type makeup? Let me know!

Off with her Hair! | Dinosaur Soiree

I've wanted a pixie cut for the longest time ever, but always put it on delay. The problem I have with my hair is when I had it short (I had a 'bob' haircut previously) I wanted to curl it and style it, but it was too short. But when it's long it's way too thick and unmanageable, so I just dry it and leave it be (oh the woes of thick, course hair!) I danced for 10 years and during that time short hair was kind of secretly banned, or at the very least hard to work with. So after about 4 years of wanting short hair I decided to cut it all off!

I didn't really think too much about what I was actually doing until my hairdresser was about halfway through my head.  It suddenly dawned on me. All my hair was going to be gone! At this stage I had a mini internal breakdown but that wore off after a few minutes. When my hairdresser finished my hair I was a little indifferent. I was a little worried that I looked like a boy, and I thought I would have to pile on the makeup and wear dresses everyday just so people would realize I was actually a girl (I can think very irrationally at times!)

It has since been a good few weeks since I've gotten it cut and I can safely say that I looooooove it! One of the best decisions I've ever made, and I'm proud of myself for going through with it. One of the best things about having short hair is the money I save on shampoo! I need the smallest amount to do my whole head and I actually find myself styling it more than I ever have before. I can load up the product to make it look crazy or tame it down a bit, the cut is a lot more versatile than I thought it would be.

What are your thoughts? Would you ever consider short hair?

Purple Smoke | Dinosaur Soiree

So I'm not much of a clubbing person, in fact I've never been to a club in my life. But I love smokey eyes, so I thought I would have a crack at it even though I just stayed in my house all day (I live a thrilling life!) I like to think of this as a wearable coloured smokey eye, as I always find black too harsh. Ever since learning about complementary and contrasting colours in art, it made sense that this could be applied to my makeup as well. However the contrasting colours of blue (the colour of my eyes) are pink and orange, and I don't know about you, but I'm definitely not brave enough to rock bold colours like that on a day-to-day basis. 

The good thing about a colourful smokey eye however, is that you can still play around with different colours and it won't look like a clown threw up on your face! I used a dark browny colour to smoke out the pink and lined my eyes with black eyeshadow (using eyeshadow as eyeliner adds to the smokiness of the look) and then used pretty much the entirety of my mascara tube all over my lashes (I would recommend using false lashes if you can apply them).

Once again all the eyeshadows I used came from my much loved 'Naked 2 Palette' with a 'Maybelline Color Tattoo' underneath as a base. Before I started my blog I didn't even use the Urban Decay palette that much, but now that I have forced myself to use it more (I hate starting eyeshadows and making dents in them, call me crazy!) I am fearless in my shadow selection.

When I finished and looked at myself in the mirror, it was clear that this is definitely a full on look, and it certainly made my bluey/grey eyes stand out. If you have a go at this look tweet me a pic! (@DinosaurSoiree)

PS: I'd like to have a go at some more concept/fancy dress/costume makeup, plus maybe some costumes, is that something you'd like to see? Let me know!

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipsticks | Dinosaur Soiree

This product has been vehemently praised by the beauty bloggisphere recently, so to see what all the hype was about I took a trip to Mecca Cosmetica and swatched all the shades on my hand. After much deliberation (it literally took me two hours!) I finally decided on 'Muse', a coral pinky red colour.

Application
The Liquid Lipsticks come with a doefoot sponge applicator which makes application as easy as if you were applying lipgloss. I would definitely recommend exfoliating your lips before application and wearing no lipbalm underneath as it can make the lipstick go patchy and cling to spots.

Formula/Wear
The texture is very creamy and not drying if you look after your lips properly, however I do feel that people that are prone to dry lips should maybe consider another option. I found myself comparing the formula to the 'Lime Crime Velvetines' a lot as they are very similar products. In terms of wear time, they claim to last a massive 14 hours, and although I think they are very long lasting, I think 14 hours may be pushing it. With that being said it lasted all day on me and did not transfer when I ate and drank.

Value for Money
Whilst these lipsticks have been raved about by everyone and their cat, I feel that this is where they fall short. They are definitely a luxurious buy at $42 (AUD) each, for only 3g of product! I find them to be very similar to my 'Velvetine', which is much cheaper at $16.99 (USD) with the same amount of product. With that being said the colour selection for the hourglass lipsticks is much larger.

Overall Opinion
These lipsticks are very luxurious and have the price tag to match, but in my opinion they are worth it to some extent. It is definitely the longest wearing lipstick I own, however for the price I would expect it to be a little less drying.

Have you tried the Hourglass Liquid Lipsticks? What were your thoughts?

Recent purchases | Dinosaur Soiree

So I have recently had a huge 5 week holiday from college/uni which means I experienced that awful internal struggle in my head battling between saving my money (which is what I should have done) and buying lots of pretty things! (What I actually did). This is the result of that struggle.

Firstly, I went into Dotti and instantly fell in love with this cute little top with tiny tiny red tulips all over. I'm an absolute sucker for anything remotely cute and I felt like the style suits my body shape perfectly! (Also I was kind of missing summer).

I also got this cropped spotty top in Sportsgirl and thought it would just be a nice kind of basic looking cropped top for layering and styling (fashion is definitely not my forté, but I'm working on it!)
Also from Sportsgirl, I got these 'Nail Sprinkles'. I thought this was a super fun idea, and considering I am terrible at doing my nails (and don't particularly enjoy it) I thought this would be a way to force myself to paint my nails more (because I need it).

I think if there's one shop that should know my name, it would be Forever New. If there was a Forever New anonymous, I would probably be the worst client there! I ADORE this shop, it basically has 'Lauren' written all over it. So naturally I had to get a few things. I managed to stay away from the beautiful summer dresses they had displayed (just!) and picked up this amazing mint coloured clutch. Mint is, I think, the quintessential spring colour, so of course I had to pick it up in the middle of winter (good one Lauren). But I justified my ridiculous purchase by buying this pack of two belts (something I definitely needed).

Priceline was having a sale when I went shopping (why Priceline, why?!) so I picked up one of the Rimmel Apocalips in the colour 'Stellar' for only $7.95 (AUD). I didn't think much of them when they were being praised around the bloggisphere, however I was pleasantly surprised by the colour and texture of this product! I will definitely purchase a few others I think.

I had a mini heart attack when I found out my local Target now stocks Burt's Bees products, as I have heard great things but haven't been able to try anything from them yet. I'm a big advocate of using natural ingredients in skin care, so I picked up the 'Orange Essence Facial Cleanser'. This is a lovely product but took a little getting used to. But my skin loves it and it is now a must for winter skin!

Finally, I took a trip to Mecca Cosmetica (another much loved store) and purchased the very hyped 'Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick' in the colour 'Muse'. I won't go into my thoughts on this much as it will most likely be my next blog post, but for the price ($42.00 AUD) I was expecting a little more.

That has been my accumulation of shopping trips and low self control! What have you bought recently that you love?