One of the first books I checked out of the school library was an old picture book filled with still scenes from Tod Browning’s Dracula along with a brief recap of the story. I read it so carefully, so thoroughly that I needed to renew it twice to fully soak it in. I was convinced that if I so much as brushed the cover the wrong way, the monster within would find me in the night and whisk me away from the life I knew. My six-year-old brain turned the story over and over again, obsessively cataloging and memorizing each detail in case I ever needed to call upon the characters’ triumphs and tribulations for my own monstrous encounters–and the more I read, the more I couldn’t help sort of wanting one.

I found books on werewolves, ghosts, creatures of folklore, faeries, zombies, and aliens, some meant for children and some clearly intended for adult audiences, each one providing valuable information. I kept notebooks with important points, sketched diagrams, even photocopied particularly vital pages for my records. While I was still terrified of the things within those pages, I was arming myself with the most dangerous weapon of all: knowledge. There was something thrilling about diving headfirst into the darkness that had stopped me cold for most of my brief life. It was as if I was uncovering forbidden wisdom from an ancient world–perhaps because my teachers encouraged me to read more “age appropriate” material, perhaps because my parents wanted to make sure I wasn’t giving myself nightmares. The monsters became less of the hideous beasts they had once seemed and more alluring denizens of the nighttime world.

But the first monster I truly fell in love with was completely and entirely human.

In the summer before the fourth grade, I found a copy of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. It took me all of two months to finish the story, pouring over every word and phrase as if trying to commit them to memory. The prologue professed it to be a true story and I hoped with every fiber of my being that it was indeed the case–I had fallen madly in love with the masked madman in Box 5. My first crush was on a monster. I went on to not only do my Summer Reading book report on the Phantom, but also re-read the book twice before the year was out. For my birthday that year, I convinced my parents to take me to New York’s Majestic Theatre to see the Broadway show. I watched the Rupert Julian film, riveted to the screen as I watched my favourite characters come to life: but Lon Chaney’s Erik lacked the tragic romance that had attracted me to the book and other adaptations. He was certainly monstrous, but not the mad, brooding genius that I had come to love. And just as I loved the beast, I came to hate the beauty: I simply could not fathom why Christine Daaé, the story’s wide-eyed, innocent heroine, would reject her mysterious admirer. Certainly her love was handsome and wealthy, but he lacked the complexity and power of the so-called Opera Ghost–he admittedly also lacked the homicidal tendencies and obsessive inclinations, but was that not part of the thrill?

As I grew older, I found myself surrounded by a slew of new monsters–modern vampires, shape-shifters, creatures from other worlds–but to this day, I still have a soft spot for mad Erik. He was the first to instill a darker sense of romance in my heart and the first to show me that the monstrous can truly be beautiful.

Reading this post, you may be wondering what this has to do with makeup. Metamorphosis did not begin as a cosmetics blog, but rather developed into one: it began as an exploration of my personal and aesthetic preferences. My love of monster movies and novels my have nothing to do with eyeshadow or lipstick, but it does have a good bearing on how I turned out as a human being and how my personal aesthetic developed. When Annie Walls announced her May Monster Madness blog hop, I thought it might be a perfect way to incorporate something a little different. I highly encourage you to do some hopping, check out some of the other posts written by participating bloggers, maybe even get a little inspired and do some monstrous writing of your own.

Meet Bob. Bob is a green iguana that I got when he was about the size of his own head. He’s been a member of my family for eleven years, and I love him dearly. On Saturday morning during frantic holiday cleaning, I noticed Bob didn’t look well. He was laying head-first in his water bowl, gulping down mouthful after mouthful. His eyes looked sunken and his scales were greyed. The bowl of collard greens I had given him the night before sat untouched. To coax him into eating, I cut up a banana (his favourite) and some strawberries: he sniffed at them and promptly turned away, when I noticed his back legs appeared to be dragging.

I took him to the vet without a second thought. When the vet felt an irregularity in his abdomen, Bob was swept away for an X-ray. What they found was astonishing.

We couldn’t tell from the image whether the mass was attached to an organ or had caused damage of any kind, so we were unsure of how to proceed. I took the scans to the 24-hour emergency vet and waited to see the exotics specialist.

Luckily, he knew exactly what was wrong: Bob had a massive bladder stone. He was confident it could be removed but we wouldn’t know what sort of damage we would be dealing with until it was out. With teary eyes and a heavy heart I left my scaly green baby at the vet for fluids and antibiotics and waited for news.

I got the call on Sunday afternoon that Bob was out of surgery and doing well. No internal damage was caused and he was expected to make a full recovery. But the doctor couldn’t help but mention how shocked he was by the stone. It filled his entire bladder and was covered in nodules that were likely causing more discomfort than originally suspected. Needless to say, I feel awful that I didn’t notice this sooner. Reptiles notoriously don’t exhibit symptoms until things are very bad, but as a pet owner, it’s hard not to blame yourself for being negligent.

The next day, assured he was doing well and able to return home, I went to pick him up. I was greeted in the lobby by the exotics tech. “Hold out your hand and close your eyes,” he told me. This is what I received:

This grew inside my iguana. From the x-rays, I had anticipated something monstrous but this was beyond anything I had imagined. It was dense, irregularly shaped, and shockingly heavy. The animal hospital regularly removes bladder stones from all animals, many far larger than my (relatively small) iguana, but this was the largest stone they had ever removed. Some of the nodules are as big as stones removed from cats and dogs.

In case you thought my hands were just really small, here is the stone next to a quarter. It weighed in at around a third of a pound. While I had asked to keep the stone for my collection of odd and slightly morbid things, the staff had hoped to add it to their Museum of Things Retrieved from Animals. When I saw their jar of bladder stones, I felt an odd swell of pride knowing that Bob would go down in history as the Little Lizard with the Big Stone and donated it to their exhibit. The tech said Bob would get his picture on the wall next to it and promised to e-mail me the shot the doctor had taken after surgery.

Bob is home now, and while he’s still lethargic from the anesthesia (reptilian metabolism is so slow that it can remain in the system for days), he’s all ready looking better. His back legs seem stronger than ever, and he’s moving with more agility than I’ve seen in a very long time.

Needless to say, this is why I have not written about lipstick or clothing or shoes or any of my regular material these last few days. I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule shortly. Thanks for understanding.

]]> http://queencicada.com/2012/04/metamorphosis-143-0/feed/ 4 http://queencicada.com/2012/04/metamorphosis-142-0/ http://queencicada.com/2012/04/metamorphosis-142-0/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:48:53 +0000 Luna http://queencicada.com/?p=1890 If you had asked me as a child what colour I liked most, I would have responded, “odden my wooaaaaah dodden.” For those of you that don’t speak nonsense, that would translate roughly to “orange is my faaaaaaavourite colour.” It might have even meant, “I’m obsessed with the colour orange.” I was. As a kid, I wanted everything orange: orange clothes, orange backpack, orange highlighters, orange notebooks, orange ribbons for my hair, heck I wanted orange hair. As I got older, the obsession waned. It was still my favourite colour, along with it’s more grown-up, peachy cousins, but it didn’t factor so heavily into my life. Aside from a brief flirtation with orange streaks in my hair as a teenager, orange sort of fell completely out of my rotation. These days, it’s rare I wear colour at all and when I do it’s some shade of blue or green…

But back in November, I laid eyes upon Pantone’s official 2012 Colour of the Year: Tangerine Tango. Suddenly, my love for bright, vivid, retina-searing orange came rushing back. I wanted an orange purse, orange shoes, orange gloves, orange scarves… but above all, I wanted an orange lipstick.

via Pantone

Unfortunately, it was harder to find these things than Pantone would have you believe: designers might have been all over this shade for 2012, but in late 2011, it was still an elusive beast. That is, until Sephora announced it was teaming up with the iconic colour company to bring us a line inspired by this year’s hottest swatch.

Naturally, I rushed out to purchase the set. I thought long and hard about what to buy, but the Collector’s Edition included a little of everything. And everything is what I wanted.

Under a shiny shield of protective plastic, the set includes the Color of the Year eyeliner in Tangerine Tango Twist, eyeshadow quad, Prisma Chrome blush, blush duo, creme lipstick, and lipgloss.

The Color of the Year eyeliner pencil is packaged in a self-sharpening plastic tube, though the base does come off to reveal a small plastic sharpener to reshape the tip of the liner.

The tip is smooth and the formula is creamy, so it does not pull or snag on the delicate skin of the eyes. I was actually quite impressed with the formula: I expected this to be a bit messy and smear easily, as most of the Sephora-made pencils I’ve tried have, but once set it stays in place amazingly well and lasts a good 12+ hours until I choose to remove it.

You can see that there’s a bit of silver sparkle to this liner, but it does not come off as gritty or flakey in the least. Swatched here over bare skin, I applied the top line thicker and heavier and the bottom line with less pressure.

The Color of the Year Eyeshadow Quad was the one product in this set I would not have purchased on its own. I haven’t been terribly impressed with Sephora’s pressed shadows in the past and I have tons of both orange and neutral shades. However, Sephora’s partner collections are always significantly better quality than their standalone shadows, so I thought I’d take the chance anyway. This is packaged in a sleek, magnetic palette much like the Inglot packaging I love.

Each of the shades in this quad correspond to Pantone colours, which I do find interesting. Clockwise from top left, Sparrow (Pantone #18-1404), Pavement (Pantone #19-3900), Carnelian (Pantone #16-1435), and Scallop Shell (Pantone #12-1010).

Used over a primer, these shadows are actually quite well-pigmented. They’re soft and easy to blend, and with the design of the palette extremely portable. I wouldn’t say these shades are particularly unique, but they are true to the theme of the collection.

The Prisma Chrome formula is fairly new to Sephora, though I admittedly have not tried their Prisma Chrome eyeshadows. It promises a soft, pigmented formula with eye-catching, light-reflecting shades. The Color of the Year collection came with this Prisma Chrome blush in Apricot Brandy (Pantone #17-1540).

For some reason, I expected this to be more of a creme-to-powder consistency, but it reminds me more of a baked powder in texture. I tried first to apply it with my fingers as I would a cream blush, but found that the super-fine powder stuck to my finger tip  and did not transfer well onto my face. That said, when applied with a brush, I get a shimmering wash of colour that lasts all day without transferring or fading in the slightest.

Of the blushes, this is the most orange. It’s a warm coral-orange with a strong gold shimmer. Swatched here heavier towards the top, blended out towards the bottom.

In case that wasn’t enough blush for one set, the Collector’s Edition also contains the Color of the Year Blush Duo. Packaged in the same sleek, magnetic palette as the eyeshadow quad, it consists of two large pans of blush in different finishes.

Desert Flower (Pantone #15-1435), shown here on the left, is a matte finish and appears significantly pinker than Coral (Pantone #16-1539) on the right, which has a gold shimmer.

Desert Rose, applied heavily at the top and blended out towards the bottom, is the lightest, pinkest shade in the set. It definitely leans peachy, but if I saw this shade on its own I wouldn’t consider it “orange.”

Coral is a bright peachy shade with a heavy golden shimmer. I have a few blushes in my collection that are quite similar to this one, but it does have a strong colour payoff that sets it apart.

However, my favourite products in this set by far are the lipstick and lipgloss. In fact, I feel like they deserve their own post. Stay tuned later this week for a full report!

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine

But then I got an idea.

via

Lilies have always been my favourite flower. I love their velvety petals, their grassy leaves, the array of colours they grow in, the distinct perfume they exude. While white lilies are by far my favourite, their more colourful cousins are just as beautiful to me. And a recent influx of yellow and orange shadows reminded me of the tiger lily.

It’s been a while since I’ve worn warmer colours, due in part to the fact that my hair was so cool. While it didn’t stop me from breaking out my favourite reds and golds, orange didn’t really factor into my looks despite the fact that it is actually one of my favourite colours. Earlier this week, my hair made the shift from blue back to red. I was a redhead for years before playing around with the blondes and fashion shades I’ve sported recently. Thanks to an upcoming string of events that requires a slightly more socially acceptable look, I made the leap back.

It’s taken some getting used to, but this shade is growing on me. I might eventually kick it up a level, but for now I’m pleased enough.

For the eyes, I used a few of the Easter shades from My Pretty Zombie and lined the lower lid with Sephora + Pantone Universe’s Tangerine Tango, which is a truly beautiful orange.

I’ve used a lot of crazy liner shades, but I had never thought to use orange before. It’s a bold and daring way to incorporate one of the season’s hottest colours into your beauty repertoire.

By far the perfect tiger lily orange, I layered Sephora + Pantone Universe’s Color of the Year creme lipstick and lipgloss.

While it’s officially Spring, the weather here has returned to the damp, chilly mess we had all winter. I was obsessed with the idea of tangerine accessories back when Pantone originally announced the 2012 Colour of the Year when my mother gave me this bright orange scarf. It admittedly hasn’t seen much action before now, since it works much better with my current haircolour.

Full List of Products Used:

Skin79 Diamond Prestige BB Cream
Skin79 Diamond Perfect BB Pact
Urban Decay Primer Potion
My Pretty Zombie loose eyeshadows in Deviled Egg, Ham, and Moist (lower lash line)
Sephora + Pantone Universe eyeliner pencil in Tangerine Tango Twist
.mark On the Edge Hook Up liner in Cleo
Majolica Majorca Gorgeous Lash Wing mascara
Sephora + Pantone Universe blush in Coral
Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year creme lipstick
Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year lipgloss
ELF Cream Eyeliner in Copper (brows)
Detrivore Cosmetics loose eyeshadow in Resistance (brows)

Another addition to the tiger lily theme, I wore Haus of Gloi’s Boreal today, a slightly bitter herbal blend over a beautiful burst of lily. It’s a delicate, ethereal blend that seems to suit grey, hazy days when there’s still a bit of nip in the air.

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine

PS: I simply couldn’t help but think of this song as I wrote up this post…

I wanted to use oceany blues and bright yellow-golds a la sirens and pirates and sunny salt-water landscapes.

Full list of products used:

Skin79 Diamond Prestige BB Cream
Skin79 Diamond BB Pact
theBalm Hot Mamma blush
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Detrivore Cosmetics loose eyeshadows in Brine, Kraken, and Marine
Meow Cosmetics eyeshadow in Ra
Fyrinnae loose eyeshadows in Book of the Dead, and Steampunk
.mark On the Edge Hook Up Eyeliner in Cleo
Benefit They’re Real! Mascara
Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eyeshadow in Tenacious Teal (brows)
Detrivore Cosmetics loose eyeshadow in Midnight (brows)
OCC Lip Tar in Interlace
Inglot AMC Lipgloss in 541

Using Detrivore’s Kraken and Brine, both sea-blue turquoises, on the inner half of the lid, I patted Meow’s Ra onto the outer half and  blended into the crease. Fyrinnae’s Steampunk was used in the outer V and crease and blended out using Book of the Dead on the brow bone. Detrivore’s Marine was used as a lower lash liner.

For the lips, I used OCC’s Interlace to neutralize my natural lip colour before applying Inglot’s AMC lipgloss 541 to give it an iridescent blue cast.

What you can’t see in these photos is that I’m wearing Haus of Gloi’s beautiful Selkie scent, a mariney aquatic from their Spring catalog. I hope to have a post up soon on the scents I’ve sampled from this collection, so stay tuned!

For more Seapunk, you can see Luna’s look on her site, Toxid-Lotus. I’m hoping to see more Seapunk looks from this challenge soon!

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine

]]> http://queencicada.com/2012/03/metamorphosis-140-0/feed/ 1 http://queencicada.com/2012/03/metamorphosis-139-0/ http://queencicada.com/2012/03/metamorphosis-139-0/#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2012 02:06:57 +0000 Luna http://queencicada.com/?p=1861 Just days after making my Triumphant Return to the Internet, my touchpad was possessed by some sort of technological demon and I had to have it replaced. Thank the gods for extended warranties. But I came back to find that the ever-lovely Siouxsie Law had passed along her [Dark] Sunshine Award: I’m honored to receive it.

Rules for the [Dark] Sunshine Award

1. Post the award picture with a backlink to the person who nominated you (I have a feeling the image used to be a bit…brighter)
2. Answer the ten questions posed to you
3. Pass on the award to 10 or more bloggers

Questions

• Favorite color: Oceany green-blues and minty seafoams
• Favorite animal:  Bats, octopus, black leopards, venomous things
• Favorite number:   8
• Favorite non-alcoholic drink:  Hazelnut coffee and mint tea. Not together.
• Facebook or Twitter:  Facebook–it doesn’t have a character limit
• My passion:  Beauty. Which has many different meanings, all of which I find fascinating.
• Getting or giving presents:  They’re both thrilling
• Favorite pattern:  I love old wallpapers, like the one featured on my Twitter…
• Favorite day of the week: Saturday
• Favorite flower:  Lilies

10 Blogs to check out

• Toxid-Lotus
• Claire’s Beauty
• Sophistique Noir
• A Rainbow at Night
• Karmic Dreaming
• Crumpets ‘n’ Cream
• Midnight Poesy
• Eye Heart It
• It’s French for Staircase Wit
• Monoxious

I tried not to double-tag, but if anyone got in there more than once it just shows how much we all appreciate you.

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine

This look might not cut it in the heat of Summer, but for an unseasonably warm March afternoon, it works just fine. The long sleeves and flowing cuffs on this asymmetrical shirt replaces the need for layering, and the shorts are a heavier bouclé material that keeps them from being too chilly for the time of year.

The rest of the outfit is pretty par for the course: black tights, Doc Martens, and a pair of knee-high socks to keep the boots from putting holes in the weave of the stockings. These socks just happen to be from Sourpuss and covered in bats.

Finally, a warm Spring day calls for a lovely green scent: this pretty copper locket holds a solid version of Darling Clandestine‘s Mad as Birds perfume. The perfume itself is a fresh, green herbal with pear, marigold, and powdery amber. It’s one of my favourites and perfect for bright, warm days.

How do you dress during weather transitions? Have you shelved your winter wardrobe yet, or are you waiting out the warm spell?

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine

For my triumphant return to the internet, I broke out some bright colours that haven’t seen much love lately–I haven’t had the time or energy to devote to fun makeup looks lately, and it was one of the first things I wanted to get back to. Admittedly, I might have gone a bit overboard, but I was so excited to play with some of my old favourites that I couldn’t help it.

Products used:

Skin79 Diamond Prestige BB Cream
Skin79 Diamond UV Perfect BB Pact
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Sugarpill pressed eyeshadows in Buttercupcake, Flamepoint, and Love+
Brazen Cosmetics eyeshadows in Scorching, and Spectacle
Meow Cosmetics eyeshadow in Fire Eater
Persephone Minerals eyeshadows in Venus Crystal Power, and Rainbow Moon Heartache
Darling Girl Cosmetics spectral shift in Corpse Candle
.mark On the Edge Hook Up Liquid Liner in Cleo
Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Eyeliner in El Dorado
Benefit They’re Real! Mascara
Ardell false lashes in Demi Pixie
Maybelline Color Tattoo cream shadow in Tenacious Teal (brows)
Detrivore Cosmetics eyeshadow in Midnight (brows)
Detrivore Cosmetics blushes in Thing, and Bloodbath
Morgana Cryptoria lipstick in Goldrush
Brazen Cosmetics lipgloss in Alchemy

Sorry, guys, I don’t know where that light came from and I’m not skilled enough with the ‘Shop to edit it out. For the eyes, I used my Sugarpill pressed shadows to create a base, with yellow Buttercupcake on the majority of the lid, orange Flamepoint in the outer corner, and red Love+ in the crease and outer V. I then pressed Brazen’s Spectacle over the yellow, Meow’s Fire Eater over the orange, and used Persephone’s Venus Crystal Power to blend the two shades together. I blended the red up and out using Persephone’s Rainbow Moon Heartache and highlighted the brow bone with Brazen’s Scorching, a pale white gold. The lower lash line was dusted with pale blue Corpse Candle and lined with Urban Decay’s El Dorado. After applying my lashes, I used my usual black liquid liner.

For the lips, I layered Morgana Cryptoria’s Goldrush, a rich yellow-based gold, and Brazen’s Alchemy lipgloss, a sheer yellow-gold. I applied this combination before leaving my house and nine hours later, after countless coffees and a particularly epic dish of bi-bim bop, I only had to touch up a bit.

I was feeling a little celebratory after not only surviving my crazy work week but also arriving at my first day of Spring Break, so I broke a few colourful pieces out of my wardrobe. These BlackMilk leggings are a brighter alternative to my beloved black-and-white stripes, though I feel like I can’t wear them without looking like an escaped circus performer. Some days, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I paired them with a shirt-dress from Forever21 and a riding jacket from Newport News.

I’m quite sure these Eric Michael books have showed up before, but they’re some of my favourites. They’re amazingly comfortable and make the most pleasant clicking sound while walking across hard floors.

I was particularly excited about this nail polish–Harvest Moon from China Glaze’s new Capitol Collection is the perfect fiery copper-gold metallic. I snagged a few of these shades when I found them but this is my favourite by far. My manicures have been suffering the last few weeks, so the first thing I did when I got out on Friday was strip off my old, beat-up polish and apply something shiny and new.

I have big plans for this place in the next few weeks–swatches, reviews, outfits, possibly even some tutorials? Spring is coming, and with it, my drive and inspiration returns. Thanks for bearing with me, and hopefully you’ll all stay tuned for what’s to come!

Love you to the Moon and back,

Luna Valentine

I’ll only be taking two weeks, and firmly intend to be back to my regular schedule March 1st.

Thanks for your understanding and continued readership.

I found this gem literally buried in a corner, wrapped tightly in its own laces. I bought this cincher in an odd shop in the French Quarter. The label inside reads “HourGlass Corsetry,” though I can’t for the life of me remember the store’s name. I picked this from all the pieces in the store because it was patterned with one of my favourite mythological creatures, the Phoenix, in a time I felt I was “reinventing” myself yet again, or at least learning how to be truer to the person I really was. It was a perfect piece for me. I loved the black satin fabric, the embroidered birds and plumes of fire, the glittering golds and reds and greens. Yet somehow, it ended up tucked away in a corner for years.

So this weekend, needing a special outfit for our Valentine’s outing, I paired it with a HeavyRed dress and vintage cloak. Naturally, I was running late and forgot to snap pictures, so here instead are some dodgy cell shots.

This isn’t laced as tightly as it could be as I was a little afraid I’ve done some damage to it by storing it improperly: one of the steel bones is poking through the bottom seam. One day, I’ll find a better method for storing my corsets. I haven’t gone to any clubs or events in quite a while, so I miss wearing them as often as I used to. I love my sleek, streamlined formulaic outfits, but I miss the exaggerated femininity and comforting restriction of my corsets. Expect to see a few more of them in upcoming outfit posts.

Neither of these components were forgotten–the tights were brand-new, fresh from their HeavyRed packaging, and I wear the blue boots frequently. These Eric Michael boots were one of the many shoe purchases made during my culinary school years thanks to the Italian shoe boutique down the street from my building. I’d say that a good third of my shoe collection originates from that particular store.

Next time I have somewhere to be, I know I need to add half an hour to my morning for proper photos. Sorry, guys.

If you want to participate in this fabulous assignment, you still have two days to turn in your link. I can’t wait to see what forgotten treasures people post for this assignment!

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine