Xowie Brandt Feature !

What I admire about Xowie is her originality, you will never see the same look from this lady. I am not one who enters makeup contests but when I saw that this was Xowie's first contest, I had to give a shot. I didn't win but I was honored just to be a part of it. It's my pleasure to bring you Xowie's feature. My real burning passion for makeup only started relatively recently. When I was young, one of my sisters tried in vain to teach me how to apply makeup as I was hopeless. I was the queen of looking like a distressed panda. Around about 15 years old, I started wearing makeup more but still wasn't particulatly interested in it. For the last ten years or so, I have been interested in bright colours and combining them and have always been a fan of intricate eye liner. Over the last 4 years or so, I have really tried to develop my skills and improve.

 

Every day is a learning curve and, although that may sound cliché it is absolutely true. You see something inspiring and try to either recreate it or incorporate an aspect of it into a look of your own making and realise that, actually, that's pretty fiddly or whatever the issue transpires to be. You practice, you research, you trial and error, you learn, you grow, you develop. At the moment, I am looking to develop my portfolio. I was privileged to be asked to do the makeup for a bride and her bridesmaids in August 2012. That was an incredible experience (and utterly terrifying!) and I would really love to do more in the way of bridal makeup.

 

My bugbear at the moment is getting a really sharply defined cut crease. I'll get there! My inspirations for looks come from all over the place. Let's face it, there isn't much you couldn't translate into a piece of makeup. I really enjoy themed pieces and love the use of colours which really grab the eye. Having said that, I also love just letting loose and creating something from nowhere. That can be really liberating.  

 

I had a spell recently of loving makeup but not really bothering with it. I find that wearing glasses doesn't help with that because you just can't see the makeup for the frames! I stumbled across Jangsara's blog and saw her Avengers inspired looks. I pored over her page and soaked it all in and it was like a switch tripped and my makeup love was alive and well again. Her work blows my mind, and the presentation of her work is really, very good. I would say that she certainly gave me the kick up the butt I needed and got my passion flowing again. It's good to see Jangsara is back after a brief hiatus.

 

I think my favourite look so far was one I made for a Tim Burton themed collaboration. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the girls used Beetlejuice as their inspiration. I was originally going to try and make a look based on Edward Scissorhands as effects makeup is something I am really interested in too. In the end, I decided to use the film Dark Shadows. I recreated Helena Bonham-Carter's makeup but tweaked it to make it two tone. I used brown under the eye for Johnny Depp's character. It was a lot of fun to do, and a style that I hadn't tried before.

 

The question of my favourite beauty brand is a difficult one for me because I use different items from different companies. I guess that overall I would have to say MAC. I adore their brushes and their foundations. It makes my bank account cry when I shop there but I can't help myself. I also love what I have used from NYX so far and have recently made steps into Sugarpill and Lime Crime.

 

What can I say? Some people play sports, some tinker with cars, some do cosplay, some bake. I make up. It's expensive at times but it makes me so happy. I love it and love to share what I do with everyone.

 

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