The Perfect Dress Found.

Yes, I finally found the perfect dress for Christmas. We're visiting family on both days: eve (when we give gifts and celebrate Christmas in Finland) and on Christmas day so it has to be something I want to wear for two days in a row.

So, I was browsing around the net again. Wasn't actually even looking for dress and apparently that's the best way to find what you're looking for. The dress is 50s style from Soho's and it suits the Christmas with it's black-red colouring. And I just love the rara-skirt that comes with the deal. Now I just have to wait the mail to deliver it to me but here's a sneak-peak of the dress on a model.

Don't luckily have to think about shoes much since I'm not wearing any inside the house and the only time I'm outside is getting into the car and getting out of it so my winterboots can work for that time.
I was actually thinking about two Collectif dresses I had bought few months ago but hadn't worn yet. But I have to let them wait for their moment to shine. These are the dresses:

And this in purple:

 I'm relieved now! Hope it's as easy for rest of you to find out what to wear to Christmas/New Year.

Golden Dawn.

I told in one of the previous posts that I prefer to have brown make up for work so I thought I could actually put some photos of the make up here. I also made an evening version of the make up that just took about 3 mins to put on - on top of the excisting make up.

So here's what I normally wear:

 

 

And this is the result after adding some eyeliner and black eyeshadow:

 

And these are the make ups I used for the whole look (without foundation and powder):

Urban Decay Baked Bronzer: Gilded

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Ammo Shadow Box (Sin, Smog, Maui Wowie and Oil Slick)

Urban Decay Matte Eyeshadow: Perversion

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express 100% Black

Gosh Eye Liner Pen (Black)

Gosh Light'N Shine Lipglaze: 03

Today I've been quite bored since I've been home alone after taking to my daughter to her grandmum's. I've been reading The Southern Vampire Mysteries' Dead as a Doornail and then watching some episodes of True Blood (season 1 since I prefer the books over the tv series). I made a strawberry margarita à la me which contains Iceland Reyka vodka (only booze we had), strawberry juice and icy strawberries (so I don't need to crush ice). And it turned out to be quite yummy!

Also it's time to start to wait for Christmas. I've done most of my Christmas gift shoppings and now the only thing to ponder is what to wear. And with this I wish you all a great rest of the weekend!

Add Sparkle To The Holidays.

I've been browsing around the online stores... again. And there are nice new clothes and accessories out there that I'd like to introduce to you.
If you still don't know what to wear for Christmas or New Year's then check these out!

Spanky on EMP
Spanky is apparently EMP's new range for clothes. At least it's not available on other stores except those that are part of or supported by EMP.
There are 3 products on stock now: 2 tops and 1 dress. Indu-shirt is something that even I could wear to work, it has really short sleeves, shiny collar and front with buttons. Hita-dress looks comfortable and is really plain but still works. It's gathered on one side and has Spanky's logo (star) on it. The most impressive item is Imayi top that has sequined front and straps that cross on the back. Explaining is boring so here is a picture of the top:

And it can all be bought from EMP.


Iron Fist
More sequins! I honestly don't usually wear anything with sequins but I have to admit I would really love to have Iron Fist's Black Diamond platform shoes. Also they add that extra something to any outfit. These are also available in red under the name Ruby Slipper platforms.

Speaking the truth: any Iron Fist shoes will make you feel absolutely gorgeous! If you want more edgy shoes try Digi Skull or Muerte Punk platforms.

Available to buy from Iron Fist official website (US) or in red from Oneposter.com or KinkyAngel.

Bordello by PleaserUSA

And speaking of shoes: you can never go wrong with Bordello shoes and boots. They have vintage touch in them and heels go from 2" to 6" so there's something for everyone.

There are new products added mainly to Tempts which now have great looking boots too.

Probably most known shoes from Bordello are Teezes. Since purple and sequins (again, yes) are hot this year here are the perfect shoes for black, purple or silver dress:

You can browse Bordello shoes & boots on Pleaser's website. You can order the shoes from one of their retailers which in UK are for example IntrigueBoutique or Kate's Clothing.

Vintage Stories by KappAhl

Vintage Stories has vintage looking clothes and accessories. If you want to feel old Hollywood glamour then dressing to a see-through lace dressing gown will most likely add that. There are also some cardigans, tops and underwear available, mostly in black.

There's also available this fantastic purse that will carry your personal belongings wrapped in style.

Available in KappAhl stores in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Poland.

Collectif

One of my favourite online stores and they will provide you absolutely gorgeous range of 40s and 50s styled dresses. If you want to be noticed before even stepping in to the party from the cold outside and reveal your outfit, Collectif provides you show-stopping Leo Jacket that will definitely get interested looks.

Available from Collectif.

I'm myself struggling still with what to wear for Christmas since apparently we're having a bigger family meeting (grandparents, their kids and us grandchildren plus my daughter). I have few Collectif dresses which I could wear since I just bought them and haven't wore them anywhere. But we'll see if the itch to get new clothes gets over.

My Beauty Must-Haves.

I just thought of making a little list of what I normally use for my everyday skincare and make up. Few of these can be found from the list of shops I prefer to use but let me tell you more about each product here.

Something about my skin first: I've suffered from acne which was mostly cured by Roaccuttan which I had to eat for a year. I also burn really easily since I have really white skin and freckles. On winter the freckles are hard to be seen but when the first rays of sun shine on spring my face is mostly covered in freckles.

So I shall start then.

SKINCARE

Dermosil Cleansing Mousse E
Fantastic pink liquid that turns into satin-like white foam when you press it out of the can. It cleanses thoroughly yet still doesn't dry skin or leave it greasy. I can get even the thickest eyeliner or few days old mascara washed off with this.
Also available in 50ml bottle so can take it easily to airplane or other trips.

Dermosil Primo Facial Peeling Cream
The grains aren't too small or hard so can use this easily every other day or sometimes daily if needed. The smell isn't the best but it's not too disturbing either, sort of cucumber-like even tho it should come from mint and melons.

Dermosil Arctic Berries Concepts Rasberry Mask
This is a normal clay mask that you wash off after 10-15mins. It's not as drying as most clay masks and I don't like masks that you peel off so this far this is the nicest mask I've found with this cheap price (6,20€).

Avon Anew Retroactive+ Day and Night Lotions
I really like the night lotion since even tho it has really greasy feeling to it, it still isn't too thick on skin. Day lotion is fantastic for winter since it's thicker than most day lotions and still doesn't leave skin too shiny.

Avon Anew Retroactive+ Repair Eye Serum
Looks quite shiney and pearly when you get the serum to your finger but absorbs quickly when tapped on skin.

The reason I didn't list any toner since I tend to change the brand a lot. I've used Avon Solution Pure Pore-Fection but I haven't really kept much conctact with the only friend of mine who is Avon representative.  So now I need to quickly find replacements for some of the Avon (and Oriflame for that matter) products I still use. Also Avon has stopped making Retroactive+ series so anyway I couldn't get them anymore.


MAKE UP

Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion
I simply love this stuff! It's glides to your lids easily and stays there. No greasing, no running eye shadows. My eyelids get greasy easily but haven't had any problems with that after I started using this.
If I need to recommend only one thing that everyone should try then this is it!

Joe Blasco Ultrabase Cream Foundation
I don't use this daily since it's too thick to use especially on summers. But it's a really good concealer as well and I mainly use it to my chin to hide all the possible spots. I've had it for a year and it's nowhere near finishing soon. If you use it daily for whole face then it would probably last for about a year. I like to use it with moist sponge as a foundation and with dry sponge or with my fingers as a concealer.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Ammo Shadow Box
I mostly use only these eyeshadows for everyday use. It has nice natural tones for work and then something extra if you want more colour to the make up. Sin is great colour if you want a bit sparkle but not much colour, it's almost identical to my skin tone. Polyester bride is shiny white that adds a bit of sparkle to normal make up when used under eyebrows. Smog is nice bit sparkly brown that will finish a natural look.
The whole box is kept shut with magnets so I haven't had any case when it would've opened by itself even when I carry it around in my huge bags without any other protection.

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express
I've used this mascara since it was launched and I haven't met any other mascara that can make my blonde and quite straight lashes looking that good with no curling or other help. And believe me I've tried :D

Gosh Eye Liner Pen
I like the fact that it's pen-like and not soft long brush with only few straws like most. Easier to get nicer and thicker lines. And it stays on lids nicely.

Urban Decay Baked Bronzer: Gilded
I like to have natural looking cheeks for everyday life. One of the most horrible things I usually see on people is too much blush. And usually wrong blush colour for their skin tone. I just like a bit of something there and Urban Decay's Baked Bronzer: Gilded leaves a nice touch with a bit of sparkle. Looks good when used in summer for whole face or just as a blush for rest of the year.

Labello Classic Lip Balm
I'm not really into lipsticks or lip glosses. Somehow always either stain my teeth with them or get my hair stuck on my lips. But I'm addicted to lip balms and Labello Classic is the only lip balm I have been sticking to for years. Every now and then I try something different but either they taste bad (I know, I should eat them) or are absorbed too fast so I need to apply them really often. At work would look stupid to customers/co-workers to see me adding lip balm every 15mins.

Victoria Frances Giftware.

I was really happy to browse my Facebook's home page since KinkyAngel/Angel Clothing announced that they have Victoria Frances Range now in stock.

At the moment it has bags, make-up/toiletries bags & coin purses and apparently more is to come. All in black/grey with pics of Victoria Frances' paintings on them.

Great ideas for Christmas gifts!

P.S. They're also quite cheap ;)

Green make up.

Today I was just going to shop some with my sister so didn't have to put on hard make up. I settled with green make up that goes well with my red hair and freckles :D This is something I've worn to work too since it isn't too green or too hard.

After shopping we watched Bridget Jones and drank strawberry margaritas a la me which pretty much meant frozen strawberries, strawberry juice and vodka. Had to try the blender I got some weeks ago.

Somehow no matter how I try to edit pics the make up never looks as dark as it does irl.

Make up used:

Gosh Golden Moss eyeliner
Gosh Quattro Eyeshadow Evergreen
Gosh Emerald effect powder
Maybelline Colossal mascara (black)

H&M lipgloss Mood for love

Oriflame duo blush Love

Placebo <3

And now some music...

I saw Placebo live on Monday for the first time in my life. I've listened to them since 1998 at least so it was fantastic to see them live finally. I was supposed to go to their gig when they were last time in Finland but tickets were sold out so fast I couldn't get one.

I knew the setlist before I went to the gig and was sad to see the oldest song they would be playing was Every You Every Me. Sort of something that you can guess and in the end gig with 23 songs was fantastic. I can't think of anything bad to say about it. Brian can really sing live, the music sounded good, screens were great and since I like their music I wasn't left disappointed.

And of course Brian Molko is still hot ;)

Some (poor quality) pics from the gig since I didn't take either of my cameras to the gig so had to use my mobile phone instead:



And then something about me. I wore simple make up to the gig. When I go to metal gigs I usually wear darker and more dramatic make up but this was quite big ice hall and I went there with friends to see rock band so didn't feel the need. So make up was silver/grey.



And for the last I leave you with a pic of me in my new Placebo autumn tour shirt.

~Duvessa

Absolut Rock Edition

Me and my boyfriend found this bottle from our cruise to Tallinn and I just couldn't resist it so there it is, sitting on top of my bookshelf with my rock and metal LPs.

It has normal Absolut Vodka inside and if you want to drink the vodka you can always put the empty bottle back inside the leather. I like to collect nice looking bottles so this was something I had to have and will keep for long time even if the vodka will be downed.

Fantastic idea for a gift too!

(If the receiver appreciates leather and studs)

I <3 to shop!

For the start would probably be good to get you a bit deeper into what I like and where I like to buy them. I do shop a lot and browse online stores almost daily even if (luckily) don't always buy anything.

For being a woman let's start from...

Clothing and shoes

GinaTricot and H&M are the normal shops where I buy my everyday clothing. Normally don't order from their online stores since thanks to where I work I get 10% off from GT's clothing if I buy them from the shopping centre I work in. Other clothing stores I buy work clothing from are Seppälä, Vero Moda/Only, Lindex, Ellos and Halens.

Online stores I like and use are...

Kate's clothing Lovely selection of goth and 50s clothing. Mostly I shop sale items since you can get them really cheap. Bad thing is I still haven't learned what's my size for most of the goth clothing brands but that's my fault not shop's. Look for Mercy, Necessary Evil and Hell Bunny clothing.

Oneposter Yes, it's mainly a poster shop but you can find really good deals of Iron Fist clothing here. Most of the Iron Fist shoes I've bought have been around 20€ a pair, normally around 50€. Also some other noteworthy findings are Criminal Damage clothing and TUK shoes.

Collectif I love it! Sale items are sometimes really cheap and don't only have weird sizes or colours left. Own 4 of their dresses and all fit fantastically. Really do recommend if you like 40s and 50s inspired clothing.

KinkyAngel Can't let them out. Haven't ordered anything for a while but that's since I mainly have been ordering from the shops above. KinkyAngel has a lot of different brands including fantastic Heavy Red, Folter Clothing, New Rock boots, Alchemy Gothic jewellery etc. And the posting is amazingly fast, first time I ordered the stuff came in 2 days (from UK to Finland).

EMP.fi I use the Finnish site since well: we have one. The stuff are still delivered from Germany but you can return them to Finnish address. Sometimes really long delivery times but packages have always come and nothing's been missing or damaged.

Make up and hair


I buy make up mainly from two places: Sokos Emotion (a beauty store belonging to Sokos branch in Finland) and Boots.
From Sokos Emotion I usually buy Gosh, Joe Blasco, L'Oreal and occasional others.
Boots is mainly for Urban Decay. I just can't get over their Eyeshadow Primer Potion and the way of naming the make up. Makes putting on make up so much more fun when you can use S&M instead of silver.

My hair stuff I mainly buy from HairStore and I prefer Tigi, Schwartzkopf and Disp. Disp is the newest label I've started to use and I do love their moisturising shampoo and conditioner crom CORE plus I simply adore Deep Repair Plus.

For cleansing and keeping my face moistured I trust Dermoshop and Avon. I can deeply recommend Dermoshop's Vitamin E cleansing foam.

Books, movies and music

I have to admit I'm quite boring when it comes to shopping books and movies. I buy them when I see good ones. Books I mostly buy from Suomalainen (a Finnish bookstore) but since I read almost all of my books in English I need mostly to order them instead of just being able to walk into the store and buy one. Movies I normally buy from Anttila or normal supermarkets.

Amazon.co.uk Best place to buy a book. They mostly have it and is almost always cheaper than the books I could buy from Finland (even with shipping expenses). Also a lot of other stuff available but I think most of you know that already.

Nuclear Blast I tend to order new releases, LPs and sets here. They use couriers so you will get your package delivered to you in good condition when you want it.

Burning Shed I use them for their Peaceville store which has albums from My Dying Bride, Anathema and Paradise Lost.

Those are the shops I mostly use and believe me, I have stuff ordered from at least one of those at the moment too.

After introducing you to these fantastic sites I can start to give you more specific details of what I've been buying, seeing or living.

~Duvessa

The beginning.

I've had this blogspot for sometime but haven't wrote anything. Maybe I just haven't got really any idea what to write about or what my blog's theme would be. My everyday life isn't interesting enough to make a blog about it.

After a while of thinking I came to some kind of conclusion: I'd write about what I like. So this blog will mainly consist of random blabber about some of these:

Music: I just love music. Mainly metal. I tend to buy CDs and can make short - or longer depending on the CD - review of them or live gigs for that matter.

Books: I read a lot of books. I always have at least one book through which I'm browsing mostly 1-2h before I fall asleep.

Clothes and shoes: I am a woman, yes. I do love clothes, shoes, accessories etc. And unfortunately - for my bank account - I tend to buy them a lot too. I like pin up and goth clothing even tho I mostly buy them for special occations rather than for everyday wear.

Make up: I can't go out the door without some make up on. Mostly mascara, foundation and blush are ok but when I go out I want to get my best sides looking even better.

Photography: I like photography. I'm just not a person who likes to stand outside for 2h to wait for that specific moment, I rather take pics of things that are there when I have my camera nearby. Some of my photos can be found on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceriinthemist/ but I publish there only stuff that actually look good and aren't - mostly - about me.

Everything else: I might be writing about other stuff too in case something interesting has happened that just doesn't seem to fit those previous categories.

Without further ramblings I welcome you all to read my blog and please comment if you feel like it!

~Duvessa