Brand obsession: SWANKISS

Lately, my attention has been drawn completely to the Saaya Hayashida produced brand, Swankiss. I saw an outfit post of a shop staff member on Tumblr and immediately fell in love with the whole coordinate.

They tap into my cute, pastel, girly side of fashion and I have absolutely no qualms with it! 

What I love about them is that they're cute and girly, but with creative and edgy twists to their clothing. For some it may be a bit too much, but it's perfect for someone like me who can get bored of girly fashion sometimes.

Their high-waisted swan pants was what originally caught my attention. The scalloped waistline, the buttons, the back crochet lace-up detail, ughhh I can't get enough of it! All the high-waisted pants on their site have this design. It's such a cute twist and as someone looking for more high-waisted pants, I'm absolutely loving them.

I want them in every colour! (●´□`)♡

Their spring/summer 2014 collection is something I'd also like to get my hands on. One of the spring trends is nautical theme! Their spring collection is appropriately named Loliship Marine.

I'm loving the coordinate with the long navy skirt, ruffle top and matching navy beret! (´∀｀)♡ Also loving the second coordinate with the striped skirt and the all white OP (The white version has an iridescent see-through layer over a lace-ish base, making it look like mermaid scales and has gold starfish and seashell beads scattered!)

 

Another item from the Loliship Marine collection not pictured here, is the Marine OP.

I'd also love to get my hands on these, but at the moment they are sold out on their online shop.

Here it is, pictured on producer Saaya Hayashida:

Their summer 2014 collection is also adorable, though less to my taste. With a cherry theme, it is aptly called American Cherry.

A decent amount of denim and a lot of cherry.

Personally, I'm on the fence with the all red OP in the bottom picture (Comes in navy and white as well), but I'm slightly drawn towards it. Big fan of the cherry sweater in the 4th coordinate in the first picture! Also really liking the tied-up denim top with the heart in the center; super cute detailing!

The BEST part about all this is that after gushing over this brand for about 2 weeks, Anime Expo announced Swankiss to be a fashion guest for this year, along with Kimura U produced brand KOKOkim! (∩˃o˂∩)♡

They are both going to have booths in the dealer's room. Good-bye wallet, it was nice knowing you.

Hopefully they will announce fashion show details soon, and I hope they open up model applications to the attendees as well! It would be a dream to be able to model for them!

I dolled up for board game night with friends, because I can.

The title says it all.
Board game night with my close friends, and I decided to do myself up because why not?

While waiting for my friends who live in west-end Toronto and Etobicoke to come uptown for dinner, I had enough to time to put a little more effort into how I looked. I was really feeling it too since I hadn't done myself up lately. I used to put on a full face any time I went out, whether it was for food, or for hanging out. I'm just too lazy nowadays.

Anyways, I went for a rose pink + brown sort of smokey cat eye with my beloved Ayamo Rockabilly lashes from the Eyemazing x Amoyamo collection. I even curled my hair slightly (　´∀｀)

Before curling

After!

Also wanted to show off my hair colour (｡･ω･｡) I got it touched up recently since my roots were kind of really bad...

It's a high lift ash blonde colour mixed with a 40 volume developer (No bleach!), which is the same colour I did last time. Because it's done on top of a high lift colour from before, the lightening is more apparent. Next time, I'm thinking of going blonde again（*´▽｀*）

Close-ups!

Please ignore the eyelash band (⌒_⌒;) The eyeliner I use isn't entirely matte; it has a bit of a shimmer to it, so it doesn't hide the lash band as well as a matte colour would.

(Also ignore that corner that came up shhhhh you wouldn't have been able to tell in real life)

Hmm I also need to do a bit of eyebrow grooming it seems. The problem with taking photos with a DSLR is the high-def. You can see every bit of eyebrow hairs that are growing (/□＼*)・゜

Rundown of products: 

Face:
• MAJOLICA MAJORCA Skin Lingerie Pore Cover
• ETUDE HOUSE Bright Fit BB Cream in W13 Natural Beige
• MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC20
• MAJOLICA MAJORCA Skin Lingerie Pore Cover Pressed Powder

Eyes:
• SHU UEMURA 6♡PRINCESS Collection Heart-full Pink Parallel Palette
• MAJOLICA MAJORCA Perfect Automatic Liner in BR601 (Brown)
• EYEMAZING X AMOYAMO lashes in Rockabilly (Ayamo)
• INNISFREE Skinny Waterproof Microcara
• HEAVY ROTATION Powder Eyebrow & Nose Shadow in 02 Natural Brown
• DOLLY WINK Eyebrow Mascara in 03 Cocoa

Cheeks:
• SHU UEMURA 6♡PRINCESS Collection Heart-full Pink Parallel Palette (Cheek colour)
• BENEFIT Watt's Up

Lips:
• REVLON Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

Circle lenses are Dueba Puffy 3 Tone Grey.

Overdue things: Pro discounts and a website

So I finally got off my ass and re-applied for my MAC Pro account, and decided to apply for the Make Up For Ever and Nigel Beauty Pro accounts while I was at that. Last time I applied for MAC Pro, I got a letter back saying that my application didn't go through because my credit card got declined. Probably because it wasn't an actual credit card but a VISA debit card (Though I've never had any troubles making payments with it, oh well), I ended up applying for a long overdue credit card. Then I found out I could've just sent a cheque.

Well then.

Along with my MAC Pro application, my credit card also gave way to paying for another long overdue item, a website! I had created a Squarespace account to try it out and I really like the way everything is easy to use while still looking professional. Paying an annual subscription comes with a personal domain, which is obviously the option I took (No one wants to see Squarespace.com in your link when you give your website out to people, am I right?).

Check it!
PHOEBEQQLIN.com

(If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a freelance makeup artist)


Out of the three applications I've sent in, Nigel got back to me the fastest. The form on their website wasn't accepting my scanned documents (Which is odd considering they are .jpeg files) so I decided to email them all my information and credentials. Their website said applications would take 7-10 days to process. I received an email confirming my pro account the next day.

I can tell you what a pleasant surprise that was, considering I'm incredibly impatient (Where is that eBay item I ordered yesterday?!) 

So what does a pro account holder get on Nigel Beauty? 20-40% off all brands!

OCC lip tars for $10.80, Anastasia Brow Wiz for $12, not to mention discounted Ellis Faas products! Nigel is one of the only places to stock Ellis Faas, which I have been dying to try out.

List of my to-buy list:

Vincent Kehoe 18 Part Palette KO ($57.60)

Vincent Kehoe 18 Part Palete Shinto ($57.60)

Dermablend Leg and Body Cover ($24)

Ellis Faas Concealer ($32)

Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Skin Enhancer ($28.80)

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector ($32.80)

Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentrate ($22.36)

If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with skin products.
The base is the most important part of the makeup to get right, otherwise, nothing will look good.

Now I can't wait for that MAC and MUFE discount. 40% makes such a difference really.