Men in makeup

I don't get the discrimination against men in the beauty community. Is it homophobia? Even though not all men who wear makeup are gay. Is it insecurity? Fearing that men can be more feminine than women? Which they can be, and it's ok. Masculinity isn't inherently male and femininity isn't inherently female. These attributes don't belong to a specific gender. Regardless of the societal 'norms' that have been imposed on us. These are social constructs. You don't have to act a certain way because you have a penis, a vagina or whatever genitalia you have.

If you want to wear makeup and are interested in beauty, you do you! Your reproductive organs, your appearance, your age, your religion, your ethnicity etc. are all irrelevant. There's space for all of us, no need for exclusion or discrimination.

Lime Crime

Why do influencers still support Lime Crime? I've never seen a more controversial makeup brand and I'm sincerely curious. It keeps on popping on my suggestions even though I've never liked an image or a post relevant to their products. I also do not buy from retailers who stock their products and don't follow anyone who supports the brand. So, why does it keep popping on my feed? For anyone who doesn't know, a few reasons why you should think twice before you support them:

-They didn't renew their security and left their website vulnerable.

-There was a data breach due to that fact and thousands of people had their details stolen (some even fell victims of identity theft or had their bank accounts compromised -one person had up to 10k stolen).

-They didn't tell their customers until months later.

-The owner threatened, blocked or sued anyone who has criticised the brand.

-There was a huge scandal about them claiming they're vegan and cruelty free when some of their ingredients weren't (they decided to remove those ingredients from their list, but not from their products).

-There were unidentified ingredients in their products. And the FDA had to step in.

-The owner dressed up as Hitler for Halloween.

-The owner had scammed people before creating Lime Crime by faking she'd gather money and donate it to an animal shelter.

-Lime Crime has been accused of repackaging products.

-Some of their products had mold/rust in them.

-The owner has insulted her customers multiple times -publicly.

Sources:

-http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/news/lime-crime-scandal/

-http://www.revelist.com/makeup/controversial-beauty-brands/7025/1-lime-crime/10

-http://www.revelist.com/makeup/lime-crime-controversies/8202/lime-crime-is-frequently-accused-of-repackaging-products-and-then-denying-it/2

-https://www.bustle.com/articles/187927-the-lime-crime-superfoil-eyeshadows-are-creating-controversy-among-fans-of-the-brand

-https://www.racked.com/2015/9/28/9392021/lime-crime-doe-deere-hated-xenia-vorotova

-http://www.refinery29.com/2015/08/93130/lime-crime-lipsticks-illegal-additives-fda-approval

-http://www.businessinsider.com/lime-crime-warning-from-fda-2015-10

-https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Doe_Deere

Colourpop Swatch & Review

So sometime I go I made two orders from Colourpop. 

Apart from the customer service drama that I spoke about here, I decided to actually swatch and review the products for you. 

Stole the show

The formula feels like a mousse. It's like a wet powder. Very pigmented. VERY!

Love it! But it can be tricky to learn how to apply at first.

8.5/10

Little Weapon

Stricky. Very. Looks amazing on pictures and camera, but not that nice in person. Clings on every imperfection and it's very runny. 

5/10

Lumiere 2

Amazeballs! A beautiful cool toned mauve nude colour. Dries very quickly though so you have to work fast.

9/10

Beeper

A lovely warm toned brown nude colour. 

7/10

Trap

Another pretty cool toned nude. More on the grey side rather than mauve. 

8/10

Viper

A dark berry colour. It's absolutely stunning.

8.5/10

Sauce on top of Viper Lip Liner

I have to say that I prefer Sauce by itself or the lip liner by itself, as combined they create kind of a dull colour. 

Sauce by itself is very similar to Viper, but slightly lighter I believe.

Sauce: 8/10

Viper Lip Liner: 8.5/10 

Final thoughts:

They're all long lasting and they can dry your lips. Matte finish does that.

But you're not supposed to put anything on your lips before application, which I don't like due to the drying quality they have.

Most of them dry quickly so you have to work fast. 

Overall worth the money if you don't have to pay for shipping and customs.

Why I will never order from Colourpop again

A few weeks ago Colourpop offered free international shipping.

Since I've heard so many good things about this company I decided to place 2 orders.
One for Greece and one for UK.

I kept both orders under £15/€22 so that I wouldn't have to pay customs, Vat or any other charges (as stated by EU law).

It took them 4 days to ship my Greek order and 6 days to ship my UK order.
My Greek order arrived 5 days after being shipped.
My UK order arrived 10 days after being shipped.

Weirdly enough, my Greek order arrived in Athens first.
My mother received it, no issues.

My UK order on the other hand...
First of all the USPS tracking service showed the order as delivered, when it was not. Secondly, Royal Mail showed the order was held at customs. I contacted Royal Mail and they said the order was going through customs.
I thought, hold on, why is this happening?

I will not go through the details, as you can imagine there was a lot of phone and email ping pong to find out what was going on.
Colourpop did not respond to my emails, and when they did it was either automated emails, or their attitude was informal, and not responding to my questions.
Unacceptable.

In the end, I found out they put the wrong price on the parcel. I had paid $18 for my parcel, but they put $24 not including the discounts that I got.

So, I had to pay £14 for Royal Mail to hand me my parcel.
Needless to say this is the price of the actual parcel, so I had to pay twice!!!!

I cannot begin to tell you how upset, how enraged I am!

I did all this to make sure I wouldn't have to pay any customs, played by the rules, kept my orders under £15/€22 and due to Colourpop's incompetence I was charged in the end!

It goes without saying that I will try to get a refund from customs, but Colourpop is not co-operating and getting a refund is a long and very complicated procedure. Which I shouldn't have to go through in the first place!

I will never order from them again, and I am completely put off from using their products.

Also, one of the lipsticks I had ordered had been opened and used. You could tell if you compared it to the other ones....

Coincidentally, Colourpop has made the comments on their facebook page hidden, but if you manage to find them, all of them consist of complaints...

I'm blaming myself for falling into the trap of IG products and buying from them.
But I will never make the same mistake again.

Don't fall into the illusion

Always remember: Don't base your self image on what you see online and on the media. Those images are edited, hence not real. Also, many of the people on those images have spend thousands, if not millions, on looking the way they are. Breast implants/lifts, nose jobs, cheek fillers, chin fillers, lip fillers, fat transfers, butt lifts, ab implants, ass implants, botox, etc... Which is fine, no judgment at all, but it means they weren't born looking 'perfect.' So don't feel bad for not looking like them. They also have teams of people to make them look good. Nutritionists, personal trainers, stylists, hair stylists, makeup artists etc. If you're the average person you cannot compete with that, nor should you try to. Don't waste your time and money into chasing the illusion. Do what you want to do, for you. Don't try to look like anybody else. Fuck what society tells you. Fuck what society shows you. Fuck those who try to force their validation upon you.
Peace.

Females of the world

To any person who identifies as female:

-You do NOT need to get "dolled up" to be sexy, beautiful, attractive.

This phrase, "dolled up", is extremely harmful in my eyes.
Not only does it imply that you have to reach some unattainable standards of beauty (looking like a doll), but it also implies you are a doll, a toy and not a human being.
And by no means are you less of a woman if you don't get "dolled up".

-You do NOT need to fake being confident to attract anyone. It would be good to be confident for you, not for someone else. Because when you're confident you embrace your being and you feel comfortable in your own skin.

-You do NOT have to feel antagonistic towards other females. You do NOT need to be "prettier", "sexier" etc as this male dominated society forces you to believe. Plus prettiness and sexiness can be translated in different ways. Just be you and don't stress about how other people look like.

-You do NOT have to conform to that little box that patriarchy throws at you. You don't have to look a specific way, and you certainly don't have to try anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.You do NOT need to lose/gain weight, go under the knife, get botox/injections etc... You can if you want, but please do it for you not due to society's pressure on you. 

-Your femininity and how you express it is your business solely and no one has the right to dictate how it is manifested.

-You only need to do what you want to do for YOU!