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

Sources of inspiration

I've been thinking lately of the things that inspire me.
Even though I can create -and have created- on demand, there are things that inspire my creativity to be expressed through different mediums.

When it comes to writing poems and lyrics, I usually get inspired by sadness, trauma, negative feelings and situations (either mine of other persons').

When it comes to writing stories I get inspired by any experience (mine or someone else's): negative, positive, funny, grim, mysterious...

When it comes to photography I get inspired by my surroundings or concepts I envision.

When it comes to drawing I usually just let my subconscious guide me.

When it comes to music I get inspired by my lyrics, as I write lyrics first and create music after.

When it comes to makeup I get inspired by other people's work, nature or specific themes, and of course, anything spooky and gothic.

But isn't that interesting? We use different mediums, a different language if you like, to express different thoughts and sources of inspiration.

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.

Cruelty free makeup in Europe

Please remember that you don't have to be vegan/vegetarian to go cruelty free on your makeup.
I know that most of the major companies test on animals and it can be hard to find cruelty free companies that work for you and your budget, but animals are being tortured daily for no reason.In 2017 there is absolutely no need to test on animals.
But unfortunately, China forces any brand that wants to sell beauty/skincare products there to test on animals. And since China is a huge market and companies are greedy, they sell there and test on animals.
The more of us go cruelty free, the more affordable and available cruelty free makeup will be.
Of course you can't be perfect all the time and you may make mistakes along the way as it's impossible to always know if a brand is cruelty free or not. But making the effort to find out and not supporting brands that you know test on animals is a huge step forward!
I understand that in some countries it may be harder to find cruelty free makeup than in others, but if you look into it there are options!
Here are some cruelty free brands available in Europe:
-Gosh
-B.
-Collection
-Sleek
-Makeup Revolution (Revolution Pro & iHeart Revolution)
-Neve
-Caked Cosmetics
-Nyx
-Urban Decay
-Milani
-LA Girl
-OCC
-Gerard Cosmetics
-LA Splash
-Sugarpill Cosmetics
-Kat Von D Cosmetics
-Jeffree Star Cosmetics
-The Balm
-Korres
-MUA
-Elf
-Golden Rose
-Barry M.
-The Body Shop
- Pixi
-Anastasia Beverly Hills
-Too Faced
-Eco Tools
-Real Techniques

Here are some places where you can find them:

• http://www.feelunique.com/
• https://www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk/
• http://www.beautybay.com/
• http://www.superdrug.com/
• http://www.boots.com/
• https://buyaboo.gr/
• http://www.sephora.com/
• http://www.sephora.gr/
• http://www.debenhams.com/
• https://www.muagreece.gr/
• https://www.muastore.co.uk/
• http://www.sleekmakeup.com/
• http://www.sleekmakeup.com/eu
• http://www.urbandecay.com/
• http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/
• https://www.barrym.com/

I'm sure there are other ones as well! Feel free to leave me a comment with more sources!

Websites with lists of cruelty free and vegan brands:

• http://voodoo-blonde.tumblr.com/cruelty-free
• http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/
• http://features.peta.org/cruelty-free-company-search/index.aspx
• http://www.leapingbunny.org/
• https://logicalharmony.net/
• https://veganrabbit.com/list-of-companies-that-do-test-on-animals/

There are so many other websites, but I included the most known ones and a personal blog.

Hope this helps!

x

ps. If at any point you discover that any of the above-mentioned brands aren't cruelty free anymore, please leave me a comment, to update the list. Thanks!

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.
Needles 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.