Vogue, Superhero Style and Retro-futuristism

I don't usually buy Vogue, but I'll be buying several of the May issue- check out some of the photos posted today in the LJ community 'fotodecadent':







This last one especially thrills me- what a wonderful piece of art that dress is!
It looks like she belongs lives in a retro-futuristic world where all the policemen carry
Atomic Disintegrators.


And of course, all the bad guys would carry guns like the one below by Weta Collectibles.



It is such a good thing that, at $690, this is out of my price range. Because if I could get my grubby paws on this baby, I would totally spend my days jumping out of alleyways and from behind parked vehicles, aiming this at passerbyers and making obnoxious, "PEWPEWPEW", 'raygun shooting sounds'.

Candy Review- Pocky Strawberry, Cute Fabrics and Totes from Japan

I'm not sure if Pocky can rightfully be considered a candy, but I'm going to stick it in that category. In my mind, the cookie sticks only serve as a vehicle for the candy-like outer coating.
I bought these over a month ago at Cost Plus World Market, totally in love with the packaging- they make me think of Strawberry Shortcake in Strawberry Land.


The box came with four packs with six sticks in each one, 
each pack has a cute print of little strawberries and the Glico logo.
When I opened the first pack, the strawberry scent hit me right away. The scent was so strong, I was surprised how mild the strawberry taste was. The ingredients list includes both dried strawberries (you can see the little bits suspended in the cream coating) and artificial strawberry flavor. The taste of the cookie stick actually stood out more than the outer coating.
I was a bit disappointed, but since I bought the box for the excellent packaging, I really can't complain.


I am trying to decide on what I'll order from Shinzi Katoh's website. If I had the money, I would order one of every item, but I can't do that. The tote bags are oh-so-adorable, and there are aluminum bottles to match quite a few of the totes. They also have some vinyl-coated bags, they cost quite a bit more than the totes 
(around $50 compared to about $18 for the totes) but seem like they would be sturdier, and they are a nice, big size. This one with the Elephant/ Oranges is too cute!

 

I use tote bags all the time, since I like to carry my sketchbook with me. Tiny purses just don't do it for me, and I don't want to run into anyone with even a similar bag to what I'm carrying.
Here in Phoenix, it seems like every other girl and woman has a real or fake Coach or Louis Vuitton bag on her arm. It all strikes me as being so unbelievably boring.
Shinzi Katoh has a selection of fabrics, not a lot but the ones they do have are darling.
Another online shop carrying some Shinzi Katoh products, and a much wider range of cute fabric, is Nuno-plus, they have a lot of teeny-tiny adorable prints. The fabric can get expensive, over $20 for a yard, so check Reprodepot first if you are in the USA, they carry quite a few of the same exact fabrics at cheaper prices.

Candy Reviews- Hot & Cold

I bought a bar of Frey's Hot Chilli Pepper chocolate (described on their site as, "Extra fine dark chocolate with an extra hot kick".) last week. I've been holding onto it, because my dentist warned me about eating spicy foods after having my wisdom teeth out. I decided it was safe today, and tried my first square.



I let a small piece of the chocolate dissolve in my mouth. The dark chocolate is extremely rich and smooth. A few bits of dried chili (the fourth ingredient after chocolate liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter) trickled to my throat along with the melting chocolate, and created a slight 'burning' sensation. Once most of the chocolate had dissolved, I was left with most of the dried chili pieces in my mouth, and then I could actually taste the chili instead of just a plain 'hot' flavor. 
The next piece I chewed and ate, and that created a better effect- the heat of the chili and the smoothness of the chocolate combined perfectly, and afterwards there was the slight flavor of chili in my mouth.

Now, Frey's website claims they are Switzerland's #1 chocolate. I have to wonder, does that mean they are the best? Or, if I were to tell a Swiss person I like Frey, would they think, "EEEEEEWWWW. Nasty."? I mean, here in America, certain things that are popular and considered to be '#1' are NOT always the best, they just appeal to the lowest common denominator. So I wonder....

After savoring the last of my square of Hot Chilli Pepper chocolate and pondering over what the Swiss like, I decided to finish with my last Ice Cube.

With an ingredients listing of: "partially hydrogenated coconut oil, sugar, low fat cocoa, whey powder, soy flour, hazelnut paste, lecithin, spice, and natural flavor", one might expect these to taste sort of nasty. One would be wrong.
These are the smoothest, meltiest chocolates I've ever had.
I used to get these all the time, they were easier to find when I lived in the NorthEast. 
Here in the SouthWest, especially at this time of year, if I want them I have to order them online and pay extra for the shipping option that keeps them cold. So, I savored the last one in my stash. What makes these great is how they manage to make them taste cool.
It has to be that hazelnut paste.

Rescue Beauty Nail Polish

I recently ordered a nail polish from Rescue Beauty Lounge- Recycle, a deep green.

I've been wanting a dark green ever since I wasn't able to get Nars Zulu last winter. I don't usually like paying a lot for a nail polish, MAC is usually a splurge for me at $10 or so.
Recycle ended up costing me about $25 after shipping, but I figured I deserved
a treat since I'd just had my wisdom teeth out, and my face was all swollen, lopsided and painful.
I have to say, I'm very happy with this product- two coats are enough for perfect coverage, and it dries fast to a high shine.
I'm already planning my next purchase- they have a great violet, Purple Haze, that is tempting.


Ah, and MAC's Dress Camp collection is out today.


This is the lipstick, "Too Fab":


Too Barbie-doll pink for me, I can't see putting that on my lips, it would make me look like a preteen. I love the package design with those zebra-stripes, though.

The compact is another story, however:


Bright pink blush usually works really well on my place skin, as long as I don't go crazy with it.
And the shadows look very usable for summer.

The Lipglass lip glosses are nice colors- a gold and what looks like a more silvery pink, but I don't like super-shiny lips, so they wouldn't work for me.

EDIT: Awwwww, same day and EVERYTHING is already sold out? I can't believe it, honestly. I suppose I will keep checking back to see if they miraculously restock- I know that seems unlikely but I've seen it happen at least with the little Fafinette figures, Ermine was marked sold out but then was available again (and now is sold out again, glad I got her when I did!). *prays to the makeup gods*

Lipstick Tube Art

I have a problem buying makeup. I have quite a bit of makeup that I will never, ever, use, because using it would ruin the pretty design. Most recently I bought the new Relvon "A Floral Affair", the color looks like it is perfect for me, but I'll never find out because one
 swipe of a blush brush and the pretty embossed design would be ruined forever.
I have a powder compact from Physcian's Formula that I can never use, because I can't bear to ruin the design with Marilyn Monroe's face on it.
So, I really prefer products with pretty PACKAGING to those where the product itself is decorative.
I'm noticing decorative lipstick tubes everywhere recently, I'm hoping this trend keeps up, because some of these designs make the product into miniature, collectable works of art.

First, from Cargo (off topic, but they make a great blush), we have Planet Love lipstick:

"A lipstick tube made entirely out of corn - a renewable and abundant resource. This environmentally-friendly innovation also emits less greenhouse gases, which many scientists believe to be the major cause of global warming. The outer carton is made of flower paper embedded with real flower seeds. Simply moisten, plant, and wait for a bouquet of wild flowers to grow!"
How awesome is that? I think it is just crazy- almost the equivalent of a lipstick tube you could eat once the lipstick is gone. Except, with pretty design printed on each tube, I'd be saving mine.

Next, from Paul & Joe, check out their 2008 spring collection's packaging:

Such pretty designs, I had a bit of a hard time finding a shop that sells these. 
One online store hqhair.com has their products, including the ones pictures above. 

Besame Cosmetics has their exquisite little gold lipstick cases that could make anyone feel glamorous:




I'm in love with MAC's Fafi line, a lot of the colors are sold out on their site by now, but not HighTop, my new favorite lipstick color.


It looks more orchid-ish in the picture, but on my lips it is a cool gray-purple with aqua-blue shimmer. The art on the tube is great, the Fafinette featured on the package is Eriko, I love her orange hair.
Their Heatherette line has some nice packaging, too. I'm not into Heatherette- a lot of their designs just make me cringe- but I'm glad to see that they're not just using boring black tubes.
I'm very excited about the upcoming MAC LE lines (THANK YOU temptalia.com, such a great resource for sneak-peaks).

The orange tubes of their Neo Sci-Fi collection are making my mouth water....

Ink Portrait of Walter and his Cat

I first saw Walter's photo in a LiveJournal community. There is something about this portrait that struck me as being so sweet, and it hit me pretty hard emotionally. On pain medication after having my wisdom teeth pulled and still hurting from the loss of my cat late last year, I got all weepy and imagined a bleak back story to the picture where either the cat had died and Walter was devastated, or where the cat was still alive but very old and sick. I was inspired to attempt an ink portrait of Walter and his cat.






It didn't come out exactly as I'd hoped, but I think I captured quite a bit of the feel of the original picture. It looks quite different from most of my other drawings- I'm not used to doing portraits. I hope that if Walter saw it, he'd be flattered or at least amused by it. He seems like a cheerful and fun guy, so I'm guessing he wouldn't be upset.

But, anyway, I was inspired to try more portraits and I started an ink drawing of my Mummy from one of her old school pictures. If it doesn't come out looking hideously unflattering, she'll be getting it on Mother's Day (but don't worry, she'll get something nice, too, HA).

The Elusive Happy-Faced Mug

Early last year I found this adorable little mug on FredFlare and bought one for my cat to drink his water out of (my cats prefer cups to bowls, no, they don't pick them up and drink out of them, but only because they lack opposable thumbs. If I had me a polydactyl cat, I tell you I'd have it not only picking up their cups, but also using little forks and knives to eat with. Oh yeah.)


On the other side it says, "Bonjour! Ca Va?" Cute, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is.
Anyone who knows me very well knows I adore anthropomorphic kitchenware. I grew up in a household where we named the toaster. We named every damned kitchen appliance we had. I can hardly remember anything of one year of HS French beyond, "Bonjour! Ca Va?", but I will never forget that my family's first microwave was Mikey the Microwave.
While such an environment in my formative years may have meant a lifetime of madness for a weaker-minded individual, I am made of stronger stuff. I just put a lot of wiggly-eyes stickers on my belongings and collect stuff like the above mug.

I decided I had to have more happy faced mugs before they stopped selling them. And, Oh! FredFlare now carried them in green and blue in addition to pink. But they always seem to be sold out, and $9 seems a bit high for a little plastic mug. So I started looking for other happy-faced-mug-suppliers, and found these sites.

I've known about ReproDepot for a while, but I have no idea when they started selling housewares. Apparently the mug manufacturer is Cram Cream, and ReproDepot has a whole section of their goodies. They aren't quite the same style as the ones sold at FredFlare- these are stackable and come in a wider range of colors. Also, there is a winking happy face on the reverse side of the mug.



But even though the bottoms are tapered a bit to make them stackable, I don't think they'd be easily knocked over. So they are still suitable cat-cups. And, only $6.50 each. 

The next place I found these mugs was at The Glitter Workshop. If I wasn't on an obsessive quest for cuteness, I wouldn't have come across this little shop, and that would've been too unfortunate.
They carry the stackable mugs (in cream-color) at $6.00, and the pink and blue ones identical to the ones sold at FredFlare- for only $5 each. They had a better image of the stackable mug on their site, lookit that face. D'awwwwwwwww. Who could resist?



Besides their OBVIOUS function as cat-cups, these could possibly be used for small children as well. Not the ones in the sippy-cup phase, but the ones who can drink from a cup without making a slobbery mess who need a small cup for their little hands.