Violet Chachki Inspired Makeup - I'm Still Obsessed With Drag

So, I love a good gay club, and recently loads of Drag Queens from Rupaul's Drag Race have been appearing at my favourite one. A couple of weeks ago, the winner of Season 7, Miss Violet Chachki herself was there. I got to meet her and get a couple photos. It was brief and I was super drunk, but she said my makeup was cool, so it was pretty awesome.

The makeup look I did was inspired by a look she posted on her instagram. Very pin-up and cool as heck. (Also, the nose ring is fake, for the record).

Let's start with the skin. I primed with Benefit's Porefessional, which I still adore, and then I used Mac's Studio Fix Powder Foundation in NW20, which, again, I still adore. I then used Revlon's PhotoReady Cream Blush in Coral Reef on my cheeks and contoured and highlighted with Sleek's Contour Kit.

For my brows, I used Mac's Cork eyeshadow with a small, bristly angled brush for the inner part. I then used a dark brown from Inglot with a tiny, sharp angled brush, for the rest of the brow. Next, I used a cotton bud to crisp up the lines. I finished with No7's Lash and Brow Perfector, to set the brows, and tidied the hairs with a spoolie.

Now, the eyes. I primed using Two Faced Shadow Insurance. In the crease I used a red eyeshadow by Inglot in 382 and darkened it with a black eyeshadow, also by Inglot, in 391. I used the same black to draw a thin line under the lower lashes, winging out under the tear duct. On the lid I used a base of Nyx's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk - which I also used in the inner corner and on the waterline - and set it with a white eyeshadow, again, Inglot, in 373. I then did this giant ass wing, using Bourjois's Liner Pinceau  Liquid Eyeliner, á la Violet Chachki. I finished with L'oreal's Volume Million Lashes for my mascara and a pair of thick, flared out, Eylure lashes.

For lips I used Sleek's Matte Me Lip Cream in Rioja Red, cleaning the lines using No7's Lip Pencil in Fire, and then going back over it with the Lip Cream.

And there we go. I love this look, like a whole lot. And Violet was an absolute darling. For reference, the nose ring is from River Island.

Bonus picture with Violet and me.

Adore Delano Drag Makeup - The Newest Time Sink In My Life

So a dear friend of mine introduced me to a little show called Rupaul's Drag Race, and, well, now I'm sort of obsessed (I may be watching it whilst writing this). The show is camp, glitzy and right up my alley (cos makeup, fashion, puns and the camp, all the camp). I am simply in love.

One of my favourite Queens of all time is Adore Delano. She is so damn funny and her lips! I live for her lips. This here is my interpretation of her look. It's a fairly tame one, cos I'll be damned if I'm gonna really go for those brows, I am too lazy for that shit. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with this look.

Lets start with the skin. Drag Queens wear a whole lot of face products, mainly because they are men painting to look like women, but also a lot of them are performers, so they need makeup that stays through sweat and looks good under harsh lights. That means heavy and matte.

To start I applied a primer all over my face, as my pores are pretty awful and need covering - I used Pore-fessional from Benefit, which I got as a free sample from a magazine and actually need to buy a full thing of, as it's pretty great. Then I used my usual foundation, which is 123 Perfect by Bourjois. It's a matte foundation, as I have oily skin, it's also a long lasting one, so it fits the bill.

Next is the contouring, which is a big deal for drag. I used a Sleek contour palette and a large, angled, fluffy brush to apply colour in the hollows of my cheeks, under my jaw and at my temples. I then used a smaller fluffy brush to deepen the cheek and then to contour my nose. For the nose I blended a thin line down either side of the bridge, joining up the lines under the tip of my nose. You don't want to darken the sides of the nose too much, because it can actually make the nose appear wider.

Then there is baking. Baking (also known as cooking) is where a product is left to settle into the skin before being blended in. I used this technique to emphasize my cheek contour. I took a translucent powder - Mac's Prep and Prime Transparent Finishing Powder - and patted it underneath my contour using a makeup sponge, you want to create a really sharp line. Then you leave it for five minutes or so, I tend to leave it on whilst finishing off my eyes, or something like that. Then I just blend it away whilst finishing my skin with the same powder.

Now highlighting. So, you still want it to be matte, but also to be noticeably there. For this purpose I used a matte, white eye shadow from Inglot. I used a small fluffy brush to apply the colour to my cheekbones and under my eyes - Kim Kardashian style - then on the tip and bridge of my nose, on my cupid's bow, the top curve of my chin (to hide my butt chin) and above the arches of my brows, blending upwards. I then built a little more colour on my cheekbones, as I want them to be highlighted the most.

Now for the eyes. Start with a primer - I use Two Faced Shadow Insurance. Now, the liner is the main focus of this look, so the shadow is fairly minimal. I used an Inglot eye shadow that is three shades of a warm brown in one pan. I started with using the medium shade in the crease, blending it towards the nose. I then used the darkest shade to darken the crease. I then used the lightest shade on the lid. Next, I used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on the waterline and in the inner corner, I used a white eye shadow by Inglot to set this.

For the brows I used a small angled brush and a black eye shadow. Adore's brows are amazing, so I couldn't fully replicate them. However, the gist is very dark, very angled and big on the front part. I used the shadow to create a boxy shape for the front part and a very fine tail.

Now the liner. I used Rimmel's Glam Eyes Liquid Liner, some people would use gel liner, not me, I hate that stuff. I've tried, I really have, but it does not work for me. If it works for you, use it, but I'm sticking with my liquid liner honey. Now, you want the liner to have a sharper angle at the outer edge than you would typically do, and go longer, and thicker. Start at the outer corner of the eye and draw a line towards the brow. Then draw a line on the lashes and then keep building that line until it basically fills the mobile lid. Join the line up with the outer line, creating a curve rather than a straight line.

For underneath the eye start with the exaggerated tear duct, making sure the point is very sharp. Then draw a line very closely underneath the lower lashes. Draw a line out from the outer corner, leaving a large V between the two lines, this basically going to be a horizontal line from the outer corner. Now thicken the line, taking the outer flick as a starting point. To finish the eyes, mascara and the biggest lashes you own.

Now those amazing, amazing lips. I wanted to go matte red, because a matte texture will help disguise my natural lip line. Now, I started with a No 7 Lip Pencil in Fire. I started by drawing a line just outside of my natural lips, I then built on this, not straying too far away from the actual shape of lips, whilst straying very far from my actual lip size. I then used the liner to fill in my lips. I then applied Sleek's Pout Paint in Pin Up over this, but I'd actually recommend using a lipstick. To finish, I patted a translucent powder over the top to mattify the lips, using a small flat brush, for precision.

 And there we are. A drag makeup look. I had to open the door to a pizza guy wearing this, he looked a little shocked, to say the least. Despite this, I sort of want to wear this out. Maybe I'll skip the lips.