My StyleShake Collection

This falls under neither topic of joysticks or lipstick, but seeing as how I haven't used a joystick in around a decade (thumbsticks do not count as joysticks) and I'm using lipstick as an umbrella term for all make up and generally the girly fashionable side of me, I think it can be allowed, and I think I can file it under lipstick.

Ever since I got engaged, oh... almost 3 years ago, now.... I have been thinking about my wedding plans. (I'm still engaged, we're still poor!) In my search for a perfect bridesmaid dress, one that would suit all my bridesmaids in terms of colour and cut; and look good, thank you very much, I'm not a bitchy bride who makes her bridesmaids hideous, these are my friends; I came across a website called StyleShake. I started messing around with designs and while I never settled on a design for my wedding, I became obsessed with designing dresses, thinking about which ones I'd get if I could afford the pricetag: low for bespoke clothing, high for me and my wardrobe from Asda and Peacocks.

So have a look at my designs, and try designing some yourself. You'll be hooked in no time.

http://www.styleshake.com/SearchDesigns.aspx?keyword=hell13

The Eyeko Polish Range, some hints and tips to get the best out of your nails.

I hate nail polish. Polished nails are pretty, no doubt about it, but hell, I hate the polish itself. It's gloopy, it goes everywhere, it's hard to remove from the skin, and even if you do apply it perfectly and keep your hands in a bubble for hours after, the second that you go to bed or get changed they have cloth imprints, or smudge, or smear. You have to make a decision to get them done in advance of any outings and risk chippings before you get to wherever you're going, or you do them at the last minute and run the risk of turning them into mutant nails, bubbled and twisted.


I never wear the stuff. When I do, I leave it there until it all flakes off.


But Eyeko have such a vibrant pink (Punk Polish, £3.50) that I had to get it and try it out. It was awesome. The colour was worth all the faffing about not touching anything.


This was back when Eyeko Polish was in those little jars, like Miss Selfrige used to do? Anyway, they started bringing out a new range of polishes, and it just keeps on growing. There are now 16 shades available from Eyeko.com and there is something for everyone.


One thing most people don't realise is that the slight translucency of a single coat of eyeko polish can be used to create a whole new range of colours. For example (and I was praised on this by one of Eyeko's founders) I had a pale dusky purple shirt on, and I made my nails match by going over a layer of Lilac polish (for lovely nails) with a top coat of Nude polish (for perfect nails).


Here's the result:

Very similar to the result of using Nude polish, but with a very slight purple hue. You can just see the corner of my shirt below my wrist, the colours match up really well. I wore this to the Eyeko 10th anniversary cocktail party for ambassadors and bloggers. It was a wonderful night, and I got to check out loads of new products and had a lot of fun.


The next week I had a birthday party to go to at the Intrepid Fox, and nudie-nails were less suited to the metal bar. So I layered up again, this time going for Saucy Polish (for naughty nails), a very sexy pillarbox red, topped with Vampira Polish ( for gothic nails), which is a black polish with red glitter floating in it.
The result?

So sparkly, it flares under flash!

I love the sparkles, but I wish my cuticles didn't look so messy. Looks a bit like my nails are bleeding!

Without flash.

I love vampira polish, it's so beautiful, glossy and sparkly!

After that night out, I started testing out the other colours, seeing as I've the full set now (minus Military Polish, which I gave away. Not big on the khaki green).
I put Coral Polish (for resort nails) on my pinky over Vampira, it kind of just came out red because it's a very translucent shade, but on bare nails it comes out very reddish orange, a dark coral colour. I'll have to do a proper two coats and put up a pic. I put Posh Polish (for ladylike nails) on my ring finger, Tea Rose Polish (for country nails) on my middle finger, left my index with vampira and put Chi Chi Polish (for girlie nails) over black on my thumb.

Here's a swatch:

The all-seeing-Eyeko, drawn using Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner in purple and navy blue.

The British Manicure

My friend Kitten has set me off on this trip, I've started doing a twist on the French manicure. I think of it as the British manicure, because it certainly isn't French, even though a lot of the vocabulary comes from France.

Here's an example.

Start with any shade you fancy. No need for nudes here, but you can if you like.
I went with Tea Rose (for country nails).

First coat

Second coat.

Then paint the tips with a different colour. You could do white, I did one hand in Petite Polish (for french nails) and the other in Posh Polish (for ladylike nails)

TOP TIPS!

• Keep your nail polish somewhere cool, like in a shelf on your fridge door, to stop them from going all gloopy after you've had them a while.
• While you're waiting for your nails to dry, play on your XBox for a while. It keeps your mind off testing them (and accidentally smudging them because they aren't set) and it's easy to keep from smudging them on the large controller.
• Make sure you don't have to do anything straight after you've done your nails, and for heaven's sake, go to the toilet before you start! There's no more surefire way to bugger up your paintjob than trying to pull your knickers up with wet nails. Not to mention getting toilet paper stuck to the polish.
• Rub talc over your tacky polish to stop it being quite so sticky. Helps with the toilet paper problem.
• Go get some Eyeko Polish. It's chip resistant, they don't use Toluene, Formaldehyde, DBP or Camphor, and UV absorbers stop the colour from fading. All that and it strengthens your nails. Mine have been cracking and flaking a lot less since I started using them. Go to www.eyeko.com and make sure you use Ambassador Code E2825 when you're checking out for a free gift when you spend £10 or more. What's more, this offer CAN be used in conjunction with Eyeko's Offer Of The Week (this week it's a free Vampira Polish - enter VAMPIRA in the special comments box)so you get TWO free gifts. I love free stuff. Oh, yeah, and you get free delivery in the UK and Europe X-D

Eurogamer Expo 2010

Ok, so I went to Eurogamer last weekend. Not for long, but long enough to check out a few new games. Here's what I thought.

Enslaved

I don't think, honestly, that this will be a game to write home about. I'm gonna get it at some point when I have nothing else to play, and I'll enjoy it, but I don't think I'll love it like I do other games.

I loved Uncharted, sorry Yahtzee darling but I thought it was fun, and better than Tombraider, whilst everyone slagged it off for trying to be a manly Lara Croft. I don't think that a game or anything else should be slammed for being similar to something that's been done before, so long as it does it better.

Admittedly, I had just gotten my PS3 a few months earlier, and when I got my 40in 1080p lcd (Samsung) I was drooling over the beauty of it. I saw the detail and the difference the motion capture and simultaneous voiceover recording had made and I loved it. I really liked the cover based combat, because it may have been done before but not in many of the kind of games I play, and that made it brilliant.

I'm talking about Uncharted here because Enslaved looks like a cross between Uncharted and Final Fantasy. Gameplay was very Uncharted, art was very Final Fantasy.

That's about all I have to say on the matter, other than that I did have a hard time stopping playing. Even when I wanted to, I couldn't let go of the controller.

Fallout: New Vegas

What can I say? If you liked Fallout 3, I see no reason why you wouldn't like New Vegas. Simple as, really. If you've never played Fallout 3, then I'll explain.

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic America following the Great War between the US, China and other countries. The Great War was a conventional and nuclear war that occurred on October 23, 2077 and lasted less than two hours despite causing immense damage and destruction.
Fallout 3 was set 200 years after the Great War, once the background radiation levels had lowered considerably. The water is still 'dirty' - a term for being irradiated, and the world is a very hostile place.

It's an RPG focused on exploration and interaction. Gameplay is very similar to another Bethesda series, The Elder Scrolls, but in a sci-fi setting rather than a fantasy setting. The two are to Bethesda's arsenal as Dragon Age and Mass Effect are to Bioware.

I love Fallout, I think New Vegas looks great, and being an RPG bunny I look forward to Dragon Age 2 (also featured at Eurogamer but I never got to try it out), Mass Effect 3, and hopefully a new installment in the Elder Scrolls series? Please?

Fable 3

Fable 3 is looking really good. The addition of John Cleese to the voices and having a base of operations where you can equip your weapons is a nice touch, and I particularly like the change in the spells to being magic gauntlets that you can mix and match for different effects. I'm really looking forward to playing it in depth.

And finally, Little Big Planet 2.

This looks amazing! I just wish my PS3 hadn't been afflicted with the blinking red light of death. I loved the quirkiness of LBP and made a thing out of playing through it with my fiance trying to get every last sticker. We played a few levels together at Eurogamer and I can't wait to get my teeth into it.
They've made a lot of improvements, there are more gadgets to play with, they've managed to make (almost) weightless levels where you soar into the air and glide back down. They've even included retro - I won't call them minigames, they're more like microgames.

Anyway that's all I can type today, I'm knackered.
Logging off...



Joysticks and lipstick: What I'm about

Hi there!

My name is Hell. I am into two things above all else: Gaming, and beauty. These two subjects encompass my love of art, music, creativity, craft, technology, and hitting stuff.

I'm currently studying for a degree in game cultures and I plan to make my career in that industry, be it making games or sharing my thoughts on the ones other people make.

During the rest of my time, I love to experiment with makeup. I'm an absolute mascara junkie. I don't wear makeup every day, but when I do, I like to do it right.

This will be a blog of intermittent gaming and makeup reviews, telling you what I'm playing, and what I'm putting on my face.

I don't claim to be gorgeous or some kind of It Girl, I'm no icon. I'm just a girl who likes makeup. And videogames.

Oh yeah, and I'm a bit of a maniac.

I like to be a little different, and I like to dress up. I also like messing about with a camera. I'll try not to be too pic heavy.

See you later!