Blend Blend Blend

Over the years I've been trying to get better at my makeup application skills. It took me a while to even get into just simple mascara and lipgloss and let's say I was stuck there for a while. But now I want to be able to create different looks for myself and not have to always rely on a professional service.

So off to YouTube I go. I follow a few ladies that I think are pretty amazing in their art. Beauty by JJ, Ellarie, Makeup Game on Point to name a few. I'm still very much in the beginners stages especially when you look at the quality of makeup skills people have. But practise practise practise makes perfect right?

One of my first setbacks was the lack of products to cater to a dark skinned person such as myself in stores like Priceline and Chemist Warehouse where "drugstore brands" are sold here in Australia. Foundations, concealer etc only go to "lighter, much paler" shades, you catch my drift. So I had to suck it up and go spend the big bucks at Myer, Mecca and the like. It's been a process. Currently, I use MAC, Napoleon Perdis and Nars products.

I have been able to find a Black Opal stockist recently and I'm pretty excited about that too.... Now I have to learn how to blend my foundations and my shadows and my blushes etc. 

Where is this post going. 

Right.

Jet lag led me to Beauty by JJ's latest YouTube video which I ended up having a go at. Let's just say if at first you don't succeed...

 

Beauty by JJs flawless tutorial.

My flawed result. My face says it all. Will keep trying. I'm just sharing my struggle with everybody, right.

Xo. 💋

Revamp. Holidays, Vala and Bespoken Lace.

After spending part of my summer holiday back home (summer is in Nov-March in most of the Southern Hemisphere), and having a chat about blogging with a good friend of mine, I felt the urge to revamp my blog in 2015. 

Why? I spent most of my break in Nigeria this time around and went back to Zambia with some beautiful fabric for said friend to design and tailor some outfits for me (will link her details later). And she said to me "please post pics of how you style these on your blog and Instagram and tag me". She was a little disappointed to hear I had once again gotten lazy with my blogging. So after a bit of coaxing, here I am, ready to give it a go, again. "If at first you don't succeed..." they say.

VALA

While I was home, I also got to visit the new local fashion store, Vala (located at Foxdale Court in Roma, Lusaka). I think that the concept of this store is a game changer in the Zambian fashion industry and I personally can't wait to see it grow to showcase even more local designers. I picked up a few copper rings by "Free Woman" from the store during my visit and have been wearing them everyday since. Visit the store or have a look at their website: http://valadesignhouse.com/

Bespoken Lace

Some photos of me "straight flexing" in the crop top I helped myself to. It was done by my friend Mwenge of Bespoken Lace. The top is huge on me tbh but I'm still waiting on the delivery of my "made to order" pieces that I will  later share. Visit her page to see what other beautiful things she can make for you and place an order :)https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lace/1466450546967188 .

Xo 

For Addy..

Life is a gift.
I've never really suffered a loss in my life. Well, my granny passed away when I was really little so the guess i never understood the depth of it, and dealing with loss wasn't as complicated as now is.
July 8th, i lost my uncle at the age of 23... 23! The unfairness of it all hurts so bad. He was young, full of life and making his way with his electrical engineering studies, and just like that, gone. Honestly, it still hasn't sunk in that he is gone. Probably because I wasn't home to mourn his loss so it seems surreal to me. I constantly have to remind myself not to ask how he is doing, or stop myself from sending him a message asking if he has heard a new song. I feel like when I get back home, I'll always be waiting for him to come back, like he's only just gone out for basketball training or something. And then one day, I will break down. I don't know if this is normal or not, and, I'm rambling.
So yes, life is a gift. When I wake up each morning and take that first 'awake' breath, I thank God for granting me the gift to live for anoher day. I've had to rethink my views on life and what I value most..sounds cliche, but yeah, I've had to do a double take. Life just seems so much more precious than it did before and I wanna make mine count, so that when the day that I'm not granted this gift comes, I know I'd have done what I set out to do everyday, which is live like its my last.

        RIP Adrian