aestheticcontradiction

Body Jewellery portraits.

I seem to keep things in my long-term goal pile for years until one day something just clicks and they work. Easily, with hardly any effort, as though this was the day they was supposed to happen and that’s why they didn’t make sense any of the times I had considered them before.

Self-portraits are one of these things. The idea first occurred to me about 6 years ago but whenever I thought about trying it (or even set up the self-timer as an experiment) it just never seemed right. Until last week.

I had been sent some new pieces of body jewellery and decided to present it on a series of beauty portraits in different colour schemes.

The first one I tried features dark red eyeshadow and a nude lip (which I never wear out due to my lips being naturally darker).

silver piercing 2piecing portrait 1 copyBlackline captive ball septum ring, jeweled labret ball by bodyjewelrypiercing.com

tragus ring with star, small jewelled labret balls bodyjewelleryshop.com

Chainmail necklace: Richard Ayres

For the second look, I opted for a classic cat eye and dark red red lip, using my favroutite Dior lip gloss and pencil.

piercing red 1piercing 2 redsmall blackline internally threaded gem, black wooden plug, crystal ball septum ring: bodyjewelleryshop.com

 internally threaded star: bodyjewelrypiercing.com

For the final look I used soft peach and gold hues to create a glowing complexion.

gold piercing 1new gold piercingSmooth segment septum ring and large crystal labret ball: bodyjewelrypiercing.com

glass plugs and small crystal labret balls. bodyjewelleryshop.com

Gold and steel dragon-scale necklace: Richard Ayres.

I think the last set is my favourite at the moment. I’d love to hear which you guys like and also if anyone has any tips for making sure the colouring remains the same accross all the images you are retouching. I’m getting more into retouching recently and this is one of the things I find most challenging.

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aestheticcontradiction

Current Obsessions #29

currentobsessions29This week I’m inspired by arch shapes (which will feature in my next collection) and 3D flower backdrops. I have a few projects different versions of this would be good for but I think I need to wait till I have £100 to spend on nice card in order to get the right results.

I’m hoping to draw up some more inspired illustrations of my A/W 14 collection and figure out where to find some good hanging pots to add plants to my sunny window.

I’m also planning a new hair tutorial featuring braids. I have a few styles I’ve learned to do well and my Marie Antoinette hair tutorial is still my most viewed post on here.

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aestheticcontradiction

Style update: Long earrings

Since starting to stretch my lobes 4 or 5 years ago I hadn’t really been interested in “conventional” earring types. This may have had something to with the fact that I’m allergic to a lot of the cheaper ones and can’t wear them for long periods of time. When I was younger, I always had to find real gold or silver ones. As I got more piercings and moved over to body jewellery I found that I was fine as surgical steel and titanium don’t irritate my ears.

I recently realised that as I already have permanent body jewellery in the holes that doesn’t irritate me, it’s fine to put other “fashion” earrings through the same hole for effect. After experimenting with a few different types I decided long earring really complement my current style. I love them so I decided to share a few of my favourites with you guys.

1. Feather earrings

These were the first ones I got so the feathers are a bit battered now but I thought they lasted quite well. They are from Topshop and cost £18. They weren’t on the website but might still be available in store. If not there are loads of similar ones around, though I must admit I haven’t seen any I like as much.

2. Spike earrings

As you can see these aren’t both the same. They were custom made for me by Cloe from Life’s big canvas at Bird’s yard and I couldn’t decide which one I like best so I got one of each to try them out. I think asymmetrical earrings can look really cool and I’m glad I got them like this but matching pairs are also available. At £9.00 they are very reasonably priced, just like the rest of the life’s big canvas ever-growing jewellery collection. I find something new and interesting every time I go into that shop!

3. Long multichain earringsThese are pretty simple but also something I’ve wanted for a while. They go with almost everything and are a great compliment to other earrings. I made them myself and it was really easy, all you need it the earring hook, a jump ring and an assortment of chains in different lengths. For those who are too lazy to DIY there are available to purchase for £8.00 and will also be added to my site soon.

4. Bird claw earrings

These are definitely my new favourites and were custom made for me by the lovely Sophie Adamson. I’ve wanted some earrings like this for a while but couldn’t find anything like them. Obviously people sell the straight bird feet ones but I always thought they looked a bit naff so when I heard Sophie had some pheasants in the freezer (yes, they are real) I had to commission a pair. I only gave her a description and a really crude sketch to go by and she did a really amazing job. I would definitely recommend her for taxidermy accessories commissions.

Here are some pictures of what they look like on:

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Marie antoinette inspired hair

I have always found Marie Antoinette inspiring but I must say that Sophia Coppola’s interpretation has helped me understand how her style can be modernised and become more appropriate to wear today.

I tried a hairstyle inspired by ones in the 2007 film for my party last weekend and was asked to do a tutorial so here it is!

First of all, as most of you know I have thin, bleached hair so it is probably more malleable than most hair. If you have thick hair you might need more product to achieve this look. It also might help if you leave your hair unwashed for a couple of days.

You will need:

  • A comb (suitable for backcombing)
  • a bottle of hairspray (the brand or type is irrelevant but strong is probably good)
  • hair pins
  • curling tongues
  • 2 mirrors

Start with you hair down and your comb in your hand. I know some people use lice combs for backcombing, I think just a standard plastic fine toothed comb is the best. Also please forgive the lack of eyebrows, I draw them on so I actually look a bit like an alien in the morning.

Start on the crown of your head a basically backcomb a large section in the middle of your head, giving as much volume as possible. I advise spraying with hairspray both before and after. If you have soft hair spraying before hand with help you backcomb more effectively and help the section stick together.

This should give you a large backcombed section that looks kind of like this with straight hair all around the outside.

Next, take the remaining hair, a section at a time and backcomb and spray it. In some cases it might be helpful to curl each section first. I did this on my first attempt at this style but then realised it wasn’t necessary for my hair.

The objective is to get your hair to easily form a little curl which you can then pin to the backcombed body of hair.

They should look something like this to start with. If you curl them them might be a bit more wavy.

After you’ve done a few it should look something like this.

To do the back, I moved into the bathroom where I could use two mirrors to see what I was doing properly.

I started sectioning, spraying, curling and pinning the back of my hair.

Take care to pin lightly so the hairstyle still looks light and puffy.

At the end I left two small sections to  curl into ringlets.

Side view

Top view

Back view.

On one side I have a shaved patch so I just put a curl over it.

And this is what it looks like from the front.

I’m particularly pleased with this style because it does resemble hairstyles worn by Marie Antoinette without requiring a hair piece, extensions of a wig. I’ve seen loads of people buy Marie Antoinette inspired wigs that look terrible as soon as you get them home and this is a cheap and more effective alternative.

If you have dark coloured hair it might be a good idea to use some white hairspray for this style. I liked the colour of my hair as it is for this one but I use white hair spray quite a lot. I love the dusty effect it leaves on the hair, which is in fact quite reminiscent of the powdered look of 18th century wigs.

I know my pictures aren’t fantastic but hopefully they still show the process accurately and clearly. If in doubt, use more hair spray and I’d love to see pics if anyone else tries this.

I’ll try and do it for a shoot and get some better pics at some point!

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Hair piece tutorial

After the interest in my horn hair-piece, I decided to do a tutorial for anyone who was inspired to make their own.

The base is made out of chicken wire. I find it a convenient material to make large hair pieces out, it’s easy and quick to shape and can be covered with virtually anything.

I used wire cutters to cut a triangular shape out of the chicken wire and joined it into a horn shape by sculpting it twisting the ends round. (each horn was formed separately)

Then I joined the two horns together in the middle by twisting the wire.

I thought Kanekalon fibre fake hair would be best for this project. I used about three packets for this in two different shades.

Basically, the idea is to wrap the hair around the chicken wire till the whole thing is covered. I found that backcombing the hair first gives better coverage and helps it stay in place. I used a few hair grips to secure the hair in some places.

After the whole hair piece was covered, I poured hot water over the hair piece so the hair set tightly around the base (only kanekalon hair has this property), this also combated the amount of fluffy hairs sticking out that were previously quite evident .

The unicorn hair-pieces I used in the VAU VAU fashion show were also made in a similar way but there I backcombed and twisted the hair into a tube before attaching it in a spiral. The way no need to pour water over these as the desired effect was already achieved and the twisting meant there weren’t that many stray hairs.

Ezra by Arien Specter at VAU VAU.

If anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer them and if making is not for you I am also happy to make hair pieces to order, please contact me for details.