Monday, January 30, 2012

Vorse - Rocko's in Manchester, NH 1/28/12

After ages of my friends trying to get me to go see Vorse, I finally had a chance to. You see, my friend is the drummer and his girlfriend is also a good friend of mine so I kind of owed them.

Anyway, apart from the venue's horrible sound system (and their douche sound guy turning their bass down to practically nothing), it was a fun show. Angelos' drumming was fantastic and I would've never guessed that their singer, Andrew, had such a big voice hidden in that scrawny little body. What little bass could actually be heard, I enjoyed but then again, I am a total bass whore and always want more.

We left soon after Vorse left the stage. Shitty local emo bands are not my thing.

Bonus: Denny's for three hours afterward!

I'm looking forward to seeing these guys again.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Mask & Raid Masquerade Eye Makeup - Sludge


1. Apply foundation and such like usual. Primer isn't necessary but it makes your eye makeup last longer and colors appear brighter. If you don't have any primer, you can just use a little foundation on your eye lids to create a base for the color to stick to. Since we were only going to be at the show for a few hours (and were pressed for time) we left our eyelids bare.

2. Take a black/dark gray/charcoal shadow (make sure it's shimmery, this is NOT a day time/work look - unless you don't mind looking a little crazy, then go for it) and apply it to the crease of your eye. You're welcome to make it as light or as dark as you like. It's fine if you get some on the lid and/or brow bone. You can easily blend the edges. You are free to extend the shadow a bit beyond the length of your eye but be sure not to go too far! In my case, I didn't extend it at all.

3. Using a lime green/electric green/any bright neon green you want, apply a thin line starting at the inner corner of the eyelid and begin to widen said shadow line as you reach the other end of your eyelid and extend it beyond the end of your eye (pretty much as far as you want it to go). Continue applying shadow until the shadow is noticable as these shades can be very sheer until layered several times over.

Sheer


Layered


4. Apply a nice bright green (not like the neon color from the last step) shadow to your eyelid, starting at the inner corner and working it into half moon on your way out so that from the inner corner of your eye to about the middle of your eye are covered. Beyond this point, blend the shadow into the neon green shade to create a nice fading gradient on your eyelid.


5. Using a slightly brighter green (while still staying away from the neon shade), line your lower lashes. Make it as light or as bright as you please.


6. Grab some eyeliner - I used Rimmel's Black Gold pencil which can be difficult to find so if you can get your hands on a metallic green liner or black mixed green/gold/brown, great, if not, go ahead and use black - and line your upper lashes, extending the line a bit past your eye and turning it upward to form a cat eye.


7. Using a green eyeliner (or black if you lack one), go over your lower lashline. You can do this as many times as you like.


8. Curl your lashes with an eyelash curler and apply black mascara to your upper lashline. Apply a second coat.

And you're done!

Open


Closed

Mask & Raid Masqeruade Eye Makeup - Violet Decay

Note #1: My camera was acting up so some of the pictures for simple steps in the tutorial are missing but I've mentioned them in the explanations.

Note #2: I like using my fingers to get lots of color on my eyes but brushes work just as well, you might just need to keep applying the color until you get it to the shade that you're going for.

Alright, so my friend L asked me to do her eye makeup for the show with using purple somewhere in there as her only requirement. This is how it turned out:


Want to give this look a try?

Violet Decay Tutorial

1. Apply foundation and such like usual. Primer isn't necessary but it makes your eye makeup last longer and colors appear brighter. If you don't have any primer, you can just use a little foundation on your eye lids to create a base for the color to stick to. Since we were only going to be at the show for a few hours (and were pressed for time) we left our eyelids bare.

2. Take a black/dark gray/charcoal shadow (I always use something shimmery as it catches light beautifully but you're free to experiment with matte shadows and see how it works for you - I'm thinking it'd make this look much more day time/work appropriate) and apply it to the crease of your eye. You're welcome to make it as light or as dark as you like, depending on if you're going to be using this look during the day or night. It's fine if you get some on the lid and/or brow bone. You can easily blend the edges so looks nice and smokey instead of harsh and awkward. You are free to extend this a bit beyond the length of your eye but be sure not to go too far!

3. Take a purple shadow and apply a thin line starting at the inner corner of the eyelid. About 1/4 the length of your eye in, begin to widen said shadow line and extend it beyond the end of your eye (pretty much as far as you please depending on if you'll be using this during the day or at night). Continue applying purple shadow until you get the shade that you want.


4. This is similar to step three. Using a shimmery red/rose shadow, start with a thing line between 1/4 and 1/2 the length of your eye (closer in allows you to widen it more gradually where as starting further towards the outside of your eyelid makes the widening more dramatic - it's all about what you prefer) and widen it as you move towards the end. Again, extend it out a bit as you did with the purple shadow.

5. Grab your favorite black eyeliner (I used a retractable one) and, starting at the corner of your upper lash line, line your eye and extend the line out (as far as you are comfortable with) and with a little curve upward to give yourself a cat eye. Feel free to make your line as thick or as thin, light or dark, as you please.


6. Curl your lashes with an eyelash curler and apply some black mascara to your upper lashline. Wiggling the brush a bit will help it get in between your lashes as well.

Optional Steps:

7. Line your lower lash line with black eyeliner.

8. Add a second coat of mascara to your lashes to make them even bigger.

Lower Lashes Lined


Eyes Closed

Mask & Raid Masquerade - 1/13/12 Limelight Lounge in Haverhill, MA

This was a free show so of course we had to be there! It was my first time ever even going to Haverhill but I had a blast! It was a tiny venue but those are always the best and it was great to make a few new friends while enjoying drinks (maybe a few too many), free food, and great music. Also, the Cemetary Dolls were there promoting their new pin up calendar.

On to the live music of the night!

Robot-Clean - A Misfits cover band. Now, I am not particularly a fan of punk but they really knew how to bring the energy and can anyone really resist singing along when someone randomly plays Bliztkreig Bop by the Ramones or Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen? If you said yes, you're wrong.

Bonus: Got free tickets to the gun show courtesy of the lead singer who also let me feel his biceps after their set. I'm a sucker for beefy arms!

Wolfbane - I had heard of this MA metal band before but never had the chance to actually check them out in person. Let me just say this, I definitely became a fan within their first few seconds on stage. There are a lot of metal bands out there that claim to be great and/or original (why wouldn't you just say great too?) but few can actually bring something to the table that impresses me, much less grabs my attention. That being said, Wolfbane was a welcome change from the Oh-God-A-Shit-Local-Band torture that I expect at local shows. I can't wait to see them again!

Bonus: One of their guitarists was fascinated by my coloring changing LED mohawk.

Mask & Raid - The headlining band of the night. I really enjoyed these guys, seemed to veer more into the progressive side of metal which can be very hit or miss with me but they weren't bad. They're no Mastdon but they've got some serious talent.

Bonus: I was too drunk to leave the bar and get up to the stage. Red headed sluts all around!

All in all, my favorite band of the night was definitely Wolfbane. They brought the energy (their singer wound up inches beneath the ceiling at one point), they were loud, and they were brutal. All things I look for in good music.

Bonus: Guys in masks are hot. Especially in gas masks. Just saying.

Monday, January 9, 2012

A Taste of Things to Come

Looking back on all of the concerts that I have been to and looks that I've created using some simple makeup techniques over the last few years...I can't help but wish that I had thought of starting a blog sooner. After all, the next time someone asks me about something, I can just send them here for information and/or pictures.

Anyway, this blog will be pretty simple. I plan on posting reviews of any and all future shows that I go to (hopefully with pictures) as well as what my make up for the event will look like.
Ideally, I will also be including pictures of my makeup as I do it along with what you need to do to accomplish a similar look and a list of the products that I use.

First show since starting this should be on Friday. Here's to the future!