☀ ● Nice to Meet Y.O.U. ● ☀

Kimevamay / / 7,621 Comments

 

Bladdy Ell, 2016 went like a thunder bolt and now we’re sizzling into 2017 with new beginnings, resolutions (if you believe in any of that stuff) and all new adventures this years about to throw at us.

I never do the resolution kind of thing, you know the “I won’t eat chocolate” because, I know I bliming well will. Or the “I won’t drink for the whole month of January because I’m a strong ass individual”, because lets be honest, I BLIMING WELL WILL.

Instead, I have my own way of doing resolutions. Let’s call it, more mental, experience style things. If that was even a “thing” to begin with. Yep, I’m one of those hippies that wanders my flat with incense and has Chakras, stones and shit and I’m pretty darn happy about it.

Last year, I made it my mission to say “YES” to more things. Instead of hiding away or putting things in the back-burner, I went for whatever I wanted straight away, did things I knew were out of my comfort zone and started doing before I started thinking. You see, to be honest, I’m a little bit of a natural worrier. I care deeply for things, if not, perhaps too deeply, and I learnt that sometimes you need to let it all go and give it to the hands of someone else. There’s so much we can all physically, emotionally and mentally do and although selflessness is a beautiful trait, it can also inhibit you from doing so much you truly want.

So, I started to go for more things and whilst people I knew complained that their 2016 had been shit, I looked back with only happiness and positivity. Of course, I’m human and I had a couple of down times, losing my Godmother but It also made me live my life to the full for her. So much can be said for the “outlook” you have, that gives so much to the experiences you make. Instead of treading on your tip-toes or sprinting your way to the finish line, try and take everything in, day by day and if you want to do something, DO IT.

There’s a quote that goes something like “your vibe attracts your tribe” and as cheeeeessssy as it may sound, I couldn’t agree more. Whatever you give off, you get given back and it’s actually pretty amazing what a simple smile, a shit joke or the ability to let yourself go can do for other people and likewise, for you.

So, although I conquered my 2016 plan, I have set myself another; To do things slowly. My mind flickers in all directions and I’m either racing to get something done once I have an idea or making a tea so fast I smash the cup. And although, I like the flicker, taking a step back and enjoying the ride is my new endeavour. I’m also gonna be learning a couple of new things ie: The Guitar I have which is such a lost cause and to start up an Exhibition of some of my work both written and Art related. Because there’s a great sense of freeness when you do what you want for you and you alone with no great accolade but personal achievement on the other side.

Enjoy the ride. You only get one.

 

 

 

◎ ◍ ◉ A Little Piece of My Mind. ◉ ◍ ◎

Kimevamay / / 3,023 Comments

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The other week my Mum and Dad came to visit me up in London. They’d been living it up at the weekend with their mates drinking and partying at a ‘Bowie’ Themed do (which, if you know me, I’m OBSESSED WITH DAVID BOWIE. OKAY, I’LL CHILL WITH THE CAPS). I met them the next day, as they nursed their hangover with more wine and I sat their with my strong coffee. I was definitely starting to think the parenting game had reversed for a second. Anyway, we started to talk about who we were. Yeah, I know, deep for a Sunday booze up.

But it was more than that. It was about who we identified ourselves to be. You see, when we think about what kind of person we really identify ourselves as, we get abit stumped.  Take people on Social Media addressing themselves as “funny, go lucky Chocolate Connoisseur” or “Rabbit Whisperer” (yeah, okay, i made those ones up, but you get the point). And you wonder, where did that “self-tag” or phrase come from? Is that first and foremost who you are?

The trick is, the more in-depth you think about it, the more you loose the truth because then you’re searching for some answer. But the answer should be instinctual. The answer isn’t in your job or all the things you like, it’s inherent in you. How you communicate or express yourself through things, that’s, I think, where the real answer is held.

My Dad answered without a second thought, “Artist” he said. My eyes lit up, because that was exactly my answer for myself. Largely because Art can be whatever you want it to be and is one of those mediums we both use to create visions, ideas or to appreciate/experiment within its vastness. I see people walking around with their head down, looking at their feet or straight ahead with an aim to get from A to B, and my little secret is…I always get to things early with plenty of time to kill because I get to walk with my head and my eyes circling around the space, trying not to miss a dam thing of what the world has to offer. Think about the moments that could of been missed because your eyes were fixated at your shoelace or the fact you saw rain as a bad thing, when it made the most beautiful puddle in the shape of a heart you just walked over.

Obviously, that can’t be all we are and shouldn’t be. Because we are all more than one thing, we can be a ton of things which is the common ground that we all stand on.

For example, I’m a massive advocate of positivity and self love. I want people to feel good about themselves and yes, who they are, because if there were clones of ourselves or if the word “unique” became extinct, then where would we actually find the Art? It would just be a pile of generic people who don’t live their lives to the full because they’re afraid to mess up or fail because of their inadequacy. I can’t vouch for anyone else, but I don’t regret the things I’ve done and every time I’ve ever made a mistake, I’ve always found myself stronger for it. I even, get comments daily (as a Makeup Artist) about my pale skin. My skin colour was never anything I ever thought about, and I’ll be honest, I started to hate being fair because I thought beauty was painted as looking like a “bronze goddess” you saw in the adverts I watched as a fourteen year old teenager, but actually….i was happy just as I was. For one, being tanned doesn’t even suit me and secondly, I saw being pale as offering others, like my fourteen year old self, an opportunity to inspire them to be confident in the cards they’ve been dealt with. We are all bloody beautiful in a list of ways I couldn’t even begin to fit on a page and our differences allow the world to be more interesting and that favourite word “unique”.

So that’s a little piece of my mind. A mind that you have and I  hope you’re not afraid to share with others and get thinking about our own possibilities and opportunities that lie before us just by filling it.

And on that note, I leave you with a song that’s been playing ON MY MIND.

Peace x

Angel Olsen-Sister.

Source: Youtube. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose Bud Moment.

Kimevamay / / 8,381 Comments

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Little Rose Bud. That was one of my nicknames growing up. I can’t really tell you why, but i’d sign off any letters i wrote under that name like it was my destined alias. Weren’t i cool? Then, after my invisible pen pal days were over, i decided to think about its literal meaning of growth and how many might be discouraged by it’s thorns, rather than the bloom inside.

And hey, not everyone is gonna want a bunch of roses, are they? Some might be a sunflowers kinda gal or daffodil kinda guy or they might hate every living plant, butttttttttt each to their own. We’ve all got our acquired tastes don’t we?

It’s only now reaching that big (for me), not so big (for others) age of twenty five, that I’ve found my own place of calm and really concentrated on what i think, rather than being blurred or undeterred of others thoughts..so i’ll tell you a secret.

At School i was bloody terrible at everything. Real hideous. I failed pretty much everything and spent more time drawing pattern ink on my hands pretending i was a tattoo artist and throwing paper aeroplanes around the room, than i was listening in a classroom or watching a historical video about Egyptians. My teachers thought I’d fail and i thought i’d grow up being this old lady with no real life success but with a strong entourage of cats around me. But what they didn’t know, is that i had my own ideas for the future and watching that Egyptian video was not a part of it. But the cats probably were.

I grabbed every opportunity by the hands, said yes to everything, (especially alcohol) and worked hard for what i wanted. I made decisions based on instinct, went out of my way to do things outside the box and allowed my passion to navigate me to where i needed to be. In essence, i learnt to risk take. That to me, became my true rosebud moment. The moment i realised that it takes time to take everything in, digest and experience things in life before you can set off on your adventure alone till the bud is just a symbol of the past.

Obviously, i have a long way to go and my mind pretty much never switches off into thinking about my next project or idea, but rather than be more like something else, be more like whoever the hell it is that you are. As you can tell, i’m a massive advocate of self courage and i am all in for those that stick their middle finger up to tradition and do something a little different regardless of what everyone else might think. Even if people might think this post is lame, well then, great, you have an opinion. Good for you- vocalise it, chat about it, make use of that dam thing that connects your brain to your vocal chords and let people know your voice exists. But please, please, please, don’t go hiding or allow others to decide what you’re gonna be or who you are. Because we’re all on this little journey together, getting it right, getting it wrong but your willingness to search, learn and find your own rose bud moment will be enough and will take you to exactly where you need to be.

So cheers for that nickname. I kinda like it.

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-Photo’s by TS Photography.

 

 

 

 

 

Take it all with a pinch of salt, wash it down with Tequila and just Roll with it.

Kimevamay / / 3,105 Comments

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(Wearing Mac’s Retro-Matte Liquid Lipstick in Bengal Tiger on the lashes and lids using the wand only.)

I’ve been holding back writing about this for a while, but I finally had a fuck it moment and decided to roll with it.

As you may or may not know, I work as a Make-Up Artist. It totally wasn’t in my “career plan”, though I should have read the signs the minute I was 18 and started drunkenly crying in a club toilet cubicle surrounded by smelly piss sobbing over the fact I lost my Chanel Lipstick (which I totally couldn’t afford) that had been discontinued. Forever….Suffice to say, I got over it, puked out the tragedy and started my search for my next perfect shade of lippy. The search turned into a bag full of make-up of all different shades and colours and I got really excited at this land of colour I never knew existed before. My mates would ask why it would take me so long to get ready, especially when they knew I never did it to try and impress or look conventionally “pretty” for those uni boys.

The older I  got, the more experimental I became with my make-up and soon followed my love affair with fashion and play with textures, prints and styles, that reverted to Canvas Mixed-media work along the way. Maybe it came from my background as a trained Actor that inspired my love of dress-up or maybe it was my years of being a suppressed teenager who wanted to fit in and wear that basic staple of a hoody, trainers, and simple cat eye-liner flick at school. I still don’t know-but something installed me to inspire other people to try different things and step outside their comfort zone, when I so craved a figure like that for myself when I  was a kid. When you see others rock outfits you never thought would work, or see the elderly with this level of swag that comes from confidence, it gives you permission to follow suit and find whatever it is you want to explore yourself.

For me, and as Cliché as it may sound Make up is ART. Infact, I think that the majority of what we do can be classified as Art in a way that means something to you personally. Go to a Museum and each piece you see is individually interpreted by something the Artist has been inspired by or felt at that moment in time and it’s relayed to you for you to read in your own way. Listen to a piece of Music and you’ll hear and take from it what you want and every moment you listen it will change to your ear. If you start to think of it like that and see this incredible multitude of people that have fought all there lives to express and to have the giant balls (not literal, some literal) to do so, in generations of change and differing cultures, is so inspiring and brings a total smile on my face of its revolution.

But more recently, I’d been starting to think. Wait, have I taken this too far? Was I trying to make a point using the visual as a guise to do it? Open up my wardrobe and you will see, what I’d probably call a jungle. Admittedly, I really need to chuck out some of my clothes that now feed no purpose but the majority of my stuff is eclectic and unafraid of colour and print (which is very much the opposite of how I used to be).

Working in the industry I work in now, a massive selling point of my work, is, well, myself. I need to believe and be honest in who I am, for the things that I do in my life to be as authentic as they can be. So with that, I explore shape, colour and come up with new ways of using products to keep myself interested and the people too. But. This all comes at a price and the price is that it won’t be everyone’s taste and you have to open yourself up to that possibility and the possibility of it being deemed unappealing or unattractive by others eyes of appreciation. And that’s really okay. Because you have to ask yourself, why do you do it? I mean, why do any of us do it? If you’re doing it to be accepted by others or to appeal to the masses, then maybe that’s not for the right reasons. But hey, we’re all guilty of it and I will be the first to admit that. I had the worst time at School and felt like the ugliest, blandest duckling alive and sadly tried to do everything I could to fit in; to wear the skirts I hated and grow my hair to appear like “The Hills” girls I used to watch on MTV with perfect tans and beach bodies that I never felt I possessed. But truly, that isn’t me and in hindsight it never interested or motivated me. I’m pale regardless of my European roots where my Dad’s side have annoying tans and I was blessed with boobs and a bum that won’t be shrinking down any time soon until I’m 80 years old and super saggy…oh god. Lets erase that thought. And then the more I thought about it (not about the saggy boob part) , the more I thought how long it took me to be where I am and for the people I’ve met and come across who have enabled me to have the authority of doing what I  want to do and admiring me for that. And that’s pretty bloody special and I’m really thankful, especially to those people who I look up to and yes, even the elderly with that undeniable swag. Like my Nana. She absolutely owns her 87 year old title with a swish of the hair and a fearless laugh that makes her captivating for her own reasons.

So if I’ve learnt anything and if I were to end this in anyway…I would ask you to just take it all with a pinch of salt and wash it down with a Tequila and just roll with it, because what else are you gonna do? Drink water? Now that’s just boring…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skin Talk

Kimevamay / / 3,575 Comments

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Yup, that’s me bare faced letting my skin breathe during the summer sun and boy, it felt good and pretty bladdy exposing at the same time.

Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies, an organ that we might spend years getting to understand, discovering how it adapts and changes to climates and with age.

Skincare isn’t exactly the most fun thing to buy for, well it’s not for me because I want to be buying colourful things filled with pigmented lipsticks and glitter shadows. But investing in the RIGHT skincare for YOUR skin will make a greater impact when it comes to buying those colourful things you want to put on top of it.

Working within the Make-up Industry I’ve met a lot of people that either use the wrong skincare for their skin, don’t use anything at all or don’t know where to start.

So lets begin with the fundamentals when your uncovering what you need to treat your skin and it all begins with your Skin Type.

SKIN TYPE. 

The top layer of your skin is called the Epidermis, and this is the part that absorbs and takes in benefits of whatever you decide to put on it. Everyone’s requirements are going to be totally different based on skin sensitivity, texture and pigmentation. Usually the skin is going to be equated into different sections:

Dry/Dehydrated

People with dehydrated skin are often mislead to believe it’s dry. The characteristics may be dry for short breaks of time but overall your skin is close to normal. Dry skin will feel rougher in texture and can be a result of environmental factors, genetics or the medication you may be using.

Oily 

The key thing to note with oily skin is shine production and enlarged pores. You may also find your foundation slides off more easily throughout the day than those who have dry or normal skin. Oily skin is also a trigger of blemishes and can be a sign of hormonal imbalance which will occur in teens and women during menopause.

Sensitive 

Sensitivity of the Epidermis can result in redness or patches that itch or burn after use of a product. I would advise to avoid heavily perfumed products as this will only irritate the skin even more. It’s also good to check the ingredients first and discover if you have any repeated allergies to a specific product you’re using.

Combination

A huge percentage of the population has combination skin and you may find yourself having similar symptoms of all skin types listed. Typically combination may leave your skin with an Oily T Zone (I.E shine on the Forehead, nose and chin) and you may be dry around the cheeks, although it will differ for everyone.

Normal

If you have normal skin, your skin will be neither too oily or dry and you won’t suffer from any major reactions to any skin products you use. Your texture will remain relatively smooth although you may still have pigmentation in areas due to blemishes or ageing.

So what skincare products do you use once you’ve assessed your skin type?

If you are a lover of thick, creamy moisturisers but you have oily skin then you’re not using a product that’s right for your skins needs. You need to be using products that counteract it, so you’ll need to swap that moisturiser for a thin, light one or even a serum if you’re a wiser woman.

I started taking care of my skin at a young age but for a long time I didn’t know what I should or shouldn’t be using based on my skin type. As I’ve gotten older, my skin has changed and it’s needs are different to when I was a teen. So, with that, I decided to compile a list of products I’ve tried and tested throughout the years that I would recommend to those that have differing skin types to inspire the search of your own! The best advice I would give is to get SAMPLES from the Brands and products you’re interested in and try, try, try.

Dry/Dehydrated

Oily

Sensitive 

Combination

Normal

You’ll notice some brands I have repeated and that’s because they’re honestly my skins beauty saviours that I couldn’t find an equivalent of that works as good.

So, go ahead and share some of your favourites with me or even ones you’ve felt didn’t work the way you wanted and why. Cause once you’ve investigated you can experiment…and that my friends, is pretty fun.