Swatches: Shiro Nestyr and Butts

These colours are not available any more, but Caitlin has done clear-outs of leftover Colour of the Month stock before, so I thought I'd swatch them anyway. FOR SCIENCE.

Review and swatches: Zoya Harlow

This was gifted to me, which is excellent because I never would have bought it myself and I LOVE it! The Zoya matte velvet range come in a frosted version of their regular bottles.

Becca Brush Soap and where to get it!

After reading Pink Sith's review of this brush soap, I knew I had to have it. I HATE cleaning my brushes! It takes so long  to do and then you have to wait for them to dry and just bleeeergh no thankyou. Consequently I hardly ever clean my brushes (bad, I know!)

This isn't a review so much as it is a heads-up that A) this stuff is amazing and totally does what it says it does, and B) it retails for $15 USD on Becca's website but I found somewhere you can get it cheaper.

See, Becca's Brush Soap is actually $18 AUSD just about anywhere you can get it where it will ship to Australia. I found a place selling it for $14 AUSD. I was skeptical about the legitimacy of the place and whether or not they would actually ship in a timely fashion, but after receiving my order within the week of placing it, I was quite impressed.

I had an attack of Lonely Cart Syndrome and grabbed the BeautyPro Eyebrow Brush. BAD IDEA. This has to be the scratchiest makeup brush I've ever encountered in my entire life. It's actually horrible. I thought about using it for manicure clean-up or even nail art instead, but the bristles are so splayed it would only create a mess and with the bristle stiffness, you'd have to use it on completely dry polish or else it would create dents.

Verdict? Get the Becca Brush Soap. If you have an interest in any of their other products (which are discounted by Aussie standards but still a lot more expensive than you can find online) then go forth and spend money, but for now I'd avoid the BeautyPro brushes. Unless you like poking your eye out.

Rimmel haul & reviews!

I should really stop filling my prescriptions at Priceline. I always walk out of there with 2-4 extra things, i.e makeup, that I hadn't planned on getting when I went in! Anyway, in the last few months I have bought a lipstick and an eyeliner from Priceline that are from Rimmel, and been gifted a lip gloss and a blush as well (as in gifted from someone, not given/provided etc for review. I'm not that lucky!)

Rimmel pricing at Priceline is pretty good - it's not as cheap as, say, BYS but it's definitely nowhere near as expensive as something like Bloom or even Kit. I would say that they fall within acceptable 'impulse buy' parameters.

The lipstick is from the Lasting Finish range, and is shade 166, simply named Temptation. $9.95

ignore the white line for now!

It's a slightly darker blue-based red with an almost metallic finish. It goes on very opaque, and slightly glossy, then stays on amazingly - as long as I don't eat anything I can go at least 4 hours without having to touch up (it loses its shine but the colour hardly even fades). It's absolutely non-drying as well . Whilst I wouldn't consider it moisturising per se, it's definitely one of the nicer lipstick formulas I've ever tried. Also it smells faintly of caramel in the tube. I can't smell anything once it's been applied. It's fairly hard to remove - it smears everywhere and leaves some glittery bits, but it doesn't stain.

The eyeliner is a Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil and is 071 or Pure White. $8.95

EWWW shiny forehead

now you can look at the white line!

It's probably a little bit harder than you'd want a "soft" pencil to be, but it's easier to apply than a Nyx jumbo pencil and has more colour payoff than Illamasqua Vex, which I originally bought to use for water-lining and doesn't go on my waterline AT ALL. This one does go on a little patchy, and tends to cling to my lashes more than my actual waterline, but for a cheap pencil I can't complain too much. It is still visible by day's end even with me sweating all over it!

The gloss is called Stay Glossy and is in the shade Endless Night. $14.95 (gifted) You can tell by the tube that I've had it a while!

and back to ignoring the white line.

Look at all those pretty little shimmers that don't show up at all in person! This gloss is not hugely pigmented, and because my lips are naturally beige-y it doesn't really add any colour to me. I have used this over a red lipliner to do a wear test. It stays on for a couple hours and leaves a nice moisturising sheen on your lips if you eat or drink. I also noticed the lipliner wore 'down' quite evenly under its gloss layer. The doe-foot is now a bit pinky but you can see it has a non-traditional shape.

It has a scooped-in portion on each side, kind of like those 'lip-hugging' ones, and is very flexible. I was quite sceptical of those new-fangled applicators, but it's actually really nice to use! Between the formula and the applicator, I actually went back to Priceline a few weeks ago to buy another, pinkier gloss which I promptly lost and so can't swatch for you.

The powder blush is called 04 Pink Rose. $9.95 (gifted)

This is probably the only packaging gripe I have - this one can be a bit hard to open at times. I guess if you're the kind of person who likes to touch up their blush during the day that's a good thing, because it means it won't open accidentally in your bag. Anyway, this is a light, shimmery rose-pink. I'm not great at undertones but I'd say it seems fairly neutral to me? It's fairly sheer and heavy-ish on the shimmer. It's a great blush to use if you're in a hurry, but I personally prefer my blushes to be either matte or have fine shimmer in them. The shimmer in this is a wee bit too chunky for me and becomes even MORE apparent when you try to blend it!. I have considered using this as a highlight (see above re: sheer and buildable) but haven't got around to that yet.

straight swatch

rubbed down

ohai freckles!

ohai pores!

IN CONCLUSION. Rimmel - lip products YES, blushes and eye pencils... eeeeeh. They do have some stripy bronzer/blush thingies out that are quite cute though.

Skincare and empties and favourites!

This is a combined mini-review, empties, wishlist and recommendations post. Because I can.

Products I am re-buying:
Dove Clinical Protection anti-perspiration deodorant

I'm on my... fourth one of these? I'm one of those lucky gals who inherited my father's sweat glands, i.e I sweat prodigiously in winter and let's not even talk about summer, please. While I usually remain fairly un-smelly, I can quickly turn a cute blouse or funny t-shirt into an embarrassment of pit-stained-ness. Suze did a review of the Rexona equivalent to this deodorant here. The Rexona version has the exact same packaging and works the same way (I bought that one once too) but the Dove version smells much better to me. Pricey for deodorant but I'd pay nearly anything to be able to lift my arms in summer!


BareMinerals Multi-tasking SPF20+ Concealer in Bisque

I put this here although I cannot imagine when I'll need another one! This little pot of magic goes a looooong way and has absolutely revolutionised my face. I don't wear foundation to work any more - it's BB cream, a dab of this concealer where it's needed, some translucent powder and I can leave the house looking smooth-skinned and well-rested. Mega props to the beautiful salesgirls at Kit in Perth city who put me onto this (during my little demo I said "wow" about eight times). Worth every cent of the $24.95 I paid for it.

Palmer's Olive Butter with Vitamin E Concentrated Cream

I am on my... fifth tube of this? I still have two nearly-empty ones lying around the house. This, as I have mentioned before, saved my cuticles. You can use it absolutely anywhere (the tube recommends "hands, elbows, knees and feet") - but be warned this is super-rich and thick, and leaves a film of olive oil for about 10 minutes afterwards. Great protection, bad for actually *doing* anything! I keep a tube in my handbag and I usually apply it at least twice a day, once on the bus and then before bed.

Products I am not re-buying:
Sportsgirl Protect Me! Sunscreen SPF 30+

Ok. This is a great sunscreen. It is affordable, doesn't leave a white cast, isn't overly oily and smells like coconut. But that last part is the issue for me. I HATE coconut. I didn't realise this was scented when I bought it. The smell does fade pretty quickly, but I am going to be looking for an alternative when I run out of my (HUGE) tube. So Aussie ladies, if you're on the market for a good daily body sunscreen (or even face if your skin isn't oily) and you actually LIKE coconut, then go forth to Sportsgirl now!

Batiste Original Dry Shampoo

I don't know if this just doesn't work for me, or if I'm just using it wrong, or... I mean, I followed the instructions really carefully! And just... bleh. It's entirely possible my hair's just too thick for dry shampoo. I've heard so many great things about dry shampoo in general, and batiste in particular, but... nope. Not for me.


Products I have just bought:
Olay Complete Defence Daily UV Moisturising Lotion SPF 30+

I was previously using an Olay SPF15 moisturiser, but after having read so much about preventative skincare (i.e using sunscreen ALLTHETIMEONEVERYTHING) I became worried that wasn't doing enough to protect my skin from the harsh Aussie sun. This lotion smells a bit sunscreen-y, but that smell quickly dissipates, it doesn't leave a white cast and isn't too oily. I need to use it a bit longer to see whether or not I'm completely 'sold' on it, but it's already edged out my old moisturiser packaging-wise. This one has a pump which can be twisted securely closed (so great for if you need to take it with you for sleepovers) and the pump is SO neat. One does my face, and one more pump is plenty for neck and décolletage.

Garnier BB Cream (or 'Miracle Skin Perfector') in Medium

Honestly, I have had this for a while, but I'm still not 100% sure about it. It's a little bit orange on me, so I put it on my neck as well, and then dust with powder because I am teh oilies even without the dewy finish this cream gives.

Products I want to buy:
Maybelline Dream Matte Powder (see here)
I'm nearly out of all my Indie mattifying powders since I use them every day, and I was thinking about getting something pressed that would be a bit less messy to use on the go. Suze recommended this one a while ago, and although it's not translucent, it sounds promising.


Eccentric Cosmetics Silken Lips (see here)
Beautiful new product from an Aussie indie company! Fun and traditional colours and they're offering samples too.

Silk Naturals skincare
Oh man, so many things. I want to try their toners, and I need to decide which moisturiser and which serum to try next. And duh, Kisser Slickers!!!


Burnout Sunscreen (see here)
This is what I plan on getting when I finish off the Sportsgirl one. Recommended by Jacie who is sadly retiring from blogging :(

Picture Polish flakie covers
FLAKIES. On the website here, Jacie's swatches here.

Well I think that's enough blathering from me. What have you recently tried that you loved/loathed, or what do you have your sights on for future money-throwing?

Priceline, take my wallet.

LOOK. AT. THIS.

That is a $10 black creme polish I got from Priceline, one of those really underwhelming brands - glamnails by manicare. It was opaque in one coat and ridiculously glossy. Over the top of that is a stunning flaky polish from Australis. I'm not making this up! 

The Australis shade is called "Speck-tacular". The description on their website is rather misleading. "A holographic light reflecting foil top coat that adds a new glitter dimension when applied on top of base nail colour." But the bottle says 'flakes' and when I saw it I knew straight away what it was. A FLAKIE EXPLOSION.

At $8.95 it's cheaper than the Picture Polish Flakie Covers and much easier to get a hold of than the U.S brands. I know flakies are 'in' for this year but I was extremely surprised to see an Aussie brand jumping on the bandwagon so darn fast, with something that is NOT a straight dupe of the Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure/Nubar 2010 one - this has blue flakes, more prominent red ones, and then some lovely green/gold/orange duochrome flaky action. Thankyou, Australis!

This was a fairly thick coat. The pieces are extremely irregular, as you can see by the massive one on my index finger. If you like your coverage a bit less random you could definitely add another coat or two.

GET THEE TO PRICELINE, STAT. I'm going to get a backup of both of these.

Indie perfume favourites

I'll admit it: I'm pretty confident when I review make-up. Colour preferences aside, there are qualities that indicate, well, quality - opacity, longevity, texture, presentation and to some extent, packaging. I've done some basic photography classes and I consider myself handy enough with a camera to get decent photos. I can structure a review well enough that I feel comfortable calling my posts "reviews" instead of just haul posts or swatches.

However when it comes to perfumes, I feel COMPLETELY out of my depth. I literally went from cheap-o Impulse body sprays to that weird musky ea de toilette perfume called Taboo (I still have a bottle knocking around somewhere, I think) and then staggered onto the indie perfume scene with a vague understanding of top notes and dry-downs and a definite dislike for powdery florals. Since then I've thrown money at several companies, sampled my nose off and generally tried to understand what and why some things make me smile after I sniff (since all the boyfriend can tell me is "I like that one" or "I don't like that one").

Perfume is so personal, my lack of knowledge aside, I'm just not comfortable reviewing it. But I didn't want to keep completely silent about the great experiences I've had with several indie companies, so I'm going to compile a list of favourites instead of actual reviews. This way I get to showcase the stuff I love without having to buy a perfume dictionary from Amazon, which means more money for smelly things! YAY!

For me, scents fall into four different categories. The first is tolerance. I don't mind smelling it, but I'd never use it. The second is like - those are the smells I might go for in a soap or scrub, but I wouldn't wear as a perfume. The third is enjoyment. Those are the perfumes I'll return to - that I have a strong memory of, and I get in the 'mood' to wear. The last one is something I discovered only recently - that is perfume love. When you find yourself reaching for the same perfume every day. When all you want to do is sit there inhaling its gloriousness. When you wish everything in the world would smell like that perfume. When you're tempted to drink it to see if it tastes as good as it smells. I didn't realise there was perfume love until I smelled this scent. Ahem.

Purple Almond
This is a definite enjoyment perfume for me. I adore lavender and this is mixed with the smell of sugared almonds - a rare treat. The lavender keeps it from becoming too 'foody' for me. It's such a calming smell. I turn to this perfume when I'm particularly stressed. I bought a full-sized bottle.

Nuee Ardente
I like spicy, incense-y smells and this perfume is amazingly so - but not musky or pungent at all. This scent is fierce and warm and the rose-y notes temper it into something beautiful. This is one of the 'boyfriend-approved' ones, so I didn't hesitate getting a full-sized one.


Wrestling Tigers While Calling Your Mom Long Distance
What a name! More incense-y, woody smells here, but this particular perfume opens with this amazingly realistic cola scent. It smells like a curious sort of medicinal drink. It's suggested as a perfume for "those days when you are doing absolutely everything", and I feel like I have those a lot, so I got a full-size of this one too.

Candy Mechanic
The backstory behind this scent was so charming, and anything vaguely oil/petrol, metallic or earthy reminds me of my boyfriend. I found the description of this perfume to be absolutely spot on. For me, this scent toes the line between enjoyment and like - I didn't get a full size of this, but I have reached for the sample vial occasionally. It's such an intriguing scent!


Visit Zomg Smells here.

Dessert Absinthe
This perfume was a surprise to me. I like liquorice but I never would have imagined wearing it as a perfume. I'm also not a big fan of citrus scents... but this perfume blends both in such a way that it becomes this sweet, effortlessly invigorating concoction. The evolution of this scent when worn is beautiful, too - it starts out with a strong anise top note, and then as it dries you can really smell the lemon - but it's a soft, sweet lemon, like lemonade cream or something. Not sour or reminiscent of cleaning products at all (which is the main reason I dislike citrus scents). The result a few hours later is this lingering sweetness - vanilla with a touch of something darker. I have a little of my sample left and also a tube of solid fragrance. I don't wear this as often as I'd like since my boyfriend hates liquorice. Lysa offers this scent as a milk bath and I'm severely tempted.


Baltus 
Offer me a fragrance with coffee or chocolate in it and I'm very likely to try it - as you'll see when I talk about indie bath goodies later. Baltus was as much of a surprise for me as Dessert Absinthe was. I wasn't sure if I'd like this fragrance... I definitely didn't expect to fall in love with it.

I want to bathe in Baltus. I smell espresso - rich and strong. I smell caramel and chocolate and a bit of vanilla - creamy, sticky, sweet. Then emerges the fig, mashed together with pumpkin - an altogether different kind of sticky-creamy-sweet, much more effervescent; pungent but not sour at all. Baltus is a wild smell. The name Baltus makes me think of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, which is fitting. This scent is indulgence. It's sexy and selfish and I enjoy every second of it. I have an empty sample vial and a full-size of this. I've been checking the shop every week or so in case Lysa does bath salts with Baltus - I'll have to buy a few packets!


I tried several other perfumes from TMTM, which have received rave reviews from various other bloggers - and they just didn't do anything for me. Not like Baltus. I also have a few other perfume vials I haven't touched. That's the problem with perfume love; sometimes you can't even make yourself wear something else!

Visit TMTM here.

Next up, favourite indie soap/scrub/lip balm scents!

September Box Battle

Lust Have It vs. Beauty Box!

I'm a sucker and signed up for both of these (don't tell my boyfriend!) Having been far too intimidated and overwhelmed by the offerings of high and even mid-end skincare and makeup brands, I've stuck solely to my indie and pharmacy brands for years. Both of these companies/organisations/offers looked too good to be true - monthly samples of various lotions, potions and sparklies, for $15 a month including postage?!

I received my Beauty Box first since the kind postie left it in the meter box. The Lust Have It box required me to go on an epic quest involving several buses and a stroll through Curtin University's campus so I could get it from the post office, but in the end I got it, only a week or so after ordering. SUCH a change from all my international goodies.

Photos of the packaging are all over the internet and I'm not patient enough to take pictures before I open things ;) so if you're curious:
Beauty Box packaging.
Lust Have It packaging (and a review of the August box, which I didn't subscribe in time to get).
There's even another comparison here at Lucinda's Beauty Blog.

I have to admit that the Beauty Box was a bit disappointing for me, but only because it contained 3 items I knew straight away I wouldn't be using. The Lust Have It box was much more 'me'.


Beauty Box for September

1. Yves Saint Laurent Beauty Sleep
I've started using this, putting it on mostly at night but also in the morning if I've forgotten. No results as yet, I'm mostly hoping this will fade some of the pigmentation spots I've noticed under my eyes from sun exposure. I'm not entirely sure that it will, the claims are kind of vague.

2. Marc Jacobs Oh! Lola!
Since discovering indie perfumes I haven't looked back. There were three incredibly generous sample vials of this fragrance and I haven't even touched one of them. I'm just... so not interested? If anybody (within Aus. since it's perfume) wants these, let me know - you can seriously have them.

3. Sally Hansen Everyday Strength Medium Nail File.
I have three glass nail files - one to use, one to lose and one to break. Only half kidding. But after reading nail blogs and doing my own research, plus testing, the benefits of glass files was just too amazing to ignore and I'm not letting an ermery board ANYWHERE near my nails ever again. Not sure what I'm going to do with this, then. Personal bias aside, isn't Beauty Box supposed to be a collection of "luxury" samples? Why is there a $4.95 nail file in here?

4. Playboy Play it Spicy Body Spray
Pretty much an echo of my Lola! and nail file complaints. This is a cheap item, and I'm not using it.

5. Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil
This is pretty much the reason I haven't cancelled my subscription yet - oil cleansing is something I've developed an interest in but haven't managed to try yet. I've only used this once since the bottle is only big enough for 4-5 uses, but is was a sample I was actually interested in.

September Beauty Box Rating: 2/5. Dollar-wise, this box let me down by including two items which are NOT "luxury" at all. Additionally, the usefulness factor just wasn't there.


Lust Have It for September

1. Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara
YES! Lancome mascaras are the bomb, though I did drop them in favour of the more affordable and still very high-performing Covergirl Lashblast. I'm really enthusiastic about this sample and can't wait to try it!

2. Pure Fiji Coconut Milk Shower Gel
I'm not a big fan of coconut, so I'm dubious about this one. I'm definitely willing to give it a go.

3. Kerastase Elixir Ultime
I have yet to find a new hairdresser so my hair is definitely in need of a bit of TLC. This has some very promising ingredients, including the much-praised Argan oil.

4. Urban Rituelle Flourish organics hand cream
Hooray, something for my poor mistreated cuticles which isn't the smelly pharmacy cuticle cream I impulse-bought a while ago and have been regretting ever since! This bottle is so cute and small I'll be able to take it with me on the bus for pre-work applications.

5. Nicole by OPI Ultimate trend setter's laquer
Personally I've never bought OPI. I find some of their names very off-putting and occasionally offensive, which may seem like a silly reason, but there it is. However, Lust Have It peered directly into my brain and have supplied two adorably tiny bottles, one a blinged-out silver and the other an amazing metallic purple. My only objection to these is that I can't wear them to work.

September Lust Have It Rating: 4.5/5. Dollar-wise an amazing box, exactly what I imagine when I think "luxury". Usefulness rating very high - a mix of products I know I will use, and that I am definitely interested in trying out.

I won't be reviewing all of these, only the ones which are either awesome or terrible. Mediocre/undecided reviews aren't fun to read or write.

I should also note that there has been a bit of controversy about Beauty Box - a few people, like me, not too impressed with the contents of the box. Also apparently there is some confusion regarding terms of membership - on the card some people received it was written that posting reviews of the box contents "guarantees your continuing membership" - aka paying them for the box does not guarantee you'll continue to be subscribed. A bit odd. Also a few people have reported being charged more than once for a single month. After reading that I quickly checked my bank account and I have only been charged the once. Phew!

Review: Furless Brushes

I am pretty bad with makeup brushes, I don’t like spending a lot of money on them and I’m not interested in brands whatsoever. My little collection of Ecotools brushes had me extremely content for quite a while. I purchased two stippling brushes from ELF, and since they were so good I decided to fill some gaps in my collection with some more ELF brushes.

A month later I was severely regretting it. They’d been a cheap buy and it showed. The crease brush was all wobbly around the ferrule and both brushes, I had to admit, were scratchy. Furless had some really lovely and useful looking brushes on sale and Suzanne had been raving about them, so I took the plunge. I got a lip brush (because I don’t have one) which was $7.95, a bent eyeliner brush (again, I don’t have one) which was $4.95 and a crease brush to replace the scratchy, coming-apart ELF one.  That was $8.95.

These are really similar to my Ecotools brushes (bamboo handle, soft dark brown synthetic bristles, pale brushed aluminium handle), which is great because I LOVE them. The ferrules are really well-constructed and the bristles are so shapely and soft. The bent eyeliner brush is seriously amazing, to the point where it allows me to create cat-eye liner! WOOHOO! The crease brush is amazing for creasework, lid application of lighter/neutral shades and for blending. The lip brush is so easy to work with, I’m actually going to be able to use all my potted lipsticks and samples now. The handle on that one is a little too long for it to be really portable, but I have a pretty big makeup pencil case so that’s ok.

I’ve had these for a while (let’s just pretend I was road-testing them and not being lazy) and have washed them twice. I experienced no loosening of the bristles and NO fall-out. They dry reasonably fast, the crease brush taking a while longer because it’s so fluffy and dense.

They sell make-up as well, but it’s at Australian prices (i.e expensive) and the last thing I need is more makeup.

All three brushes

Crease brush

Lip brush (needs cleaning, heh)

Bent liner brush

(splayed a little but I swear it doesn't affect application at all)

Close-up of all three

I am very seriously considering buying more Furless brushes, especially considering my order shipped the day after I purchased, and they’re located in Australia so I had my brushes within the week (!) They always have sales on. You can get brushes in sets, singles, and by golly are there a range of colours and shapes to choose from! On my list at the moment are the Bamboo Pencil Brush, Bamboo Eye/Concealer Brush, Fat and Furless Flat Liner Brush and the Fat and Furless Precision Concealer Brush. Those are all things I'm missing in my collection. If I was going to splurge on something kinda-necessary-but-mostly-just-pretty it would be the Purple Power Set. WAAAANT.

Mini-review: Ruse #1 and #2

This is actually a reprint from a small publishing company called Crossgen, which I had seen in a small secondhand bookshop a while ago. I was really surprised to see it on the 'new release' shelf of my LCS, but I picked it up.

This is kind of Sherlock Holmes-esque, but with a twist. I love the tagline, "He's the world's greatest detective. She's even better."

The comic follows Simon, a brilliant, if incredibly arrogant and socially incapable detective. However the narration is done by his assis- partner, Emma Bishop. She's his Watson, essentially, albeit a little more exasperated and intelligent. It's her wit and their interactions that make this comic so enjoyable to read, rather than being a dull Arthur Conan Doyle wannabe.

The artwork is, in all honesty, nothing spectacular but it isn't horrible either. It does its job of conveying most emotion and letting the Victorian landscape be accurate yet unobtrusive.

It's a fun read if you're into murder mysteries and banter. Issue two ends with a bit of a conundrum - without spoiling it, I'm really keen for Issue 3 to come out so I can see how Emma manages to get herself out of the rather sticky situation Simon's put her in... And what she'll do to him afterwards!

This cover is not a very accurate representation of their
relationship. If it were, she'd be glaring at him.

Reinventing the wheel? Music review!

A few weeks ago I got a text message from my boyfriend which said simply: "Linkin Park, what have you done?!"

Well, what Linkin Park had done was released their new album, A Thousand Suns. Forget Meteora, forget Minutes To Midnight: you will not recognise this new Linkin Park. Oh don't worry, they still mix heavy guitar with electronics, they still mesh Chester's raw vocals with Mike Shinoda's measured, melodic rapping. But the boys have branched out both musically and lyrically.

The best and most brutal example of the new direction and focus would be embodied by the track The Catalyst. Synthetic, raw and jarring with blunt, with very pointed lyrics. It's a bizzare combination of dance, metal and synth pop.

The only track I actually like so far on the new album is Iridescent, which is reminiscent of the soft, melancholy strains of songs like My December and The Little Things Give You Away from the 'old' LP days.

The track Wisdom, Justice and Love (as you can probably guess by the title) is extremely political, based off a clip from a Martin Luther King Jr. speech. However it is also a ridiculously short track at 1:32. There are a few of these throughout the album, which my boyfriend did not like at all. "They're just filler," were his exact words. By my count there are at least four songs which are under two minutes in length on this new album, and one coming in at two minutes exactly. Now I'm not saying all short songs are crappy, but... well there's not a lot you can say in two minutes, is there!

Fans are divided over this, with some absolutely hating the new sound, others enthuasiastically embracing it.

I for one love the new political/social drive. Lyrics are very important to me. The new LP is brash, unafraid and vehement. I agree with their message that music, being such a powerful tool and a big part of modern life, needs to realise and utilise its capability for change rather than being frivilous, or at worst damaging, all the bloody time. That's a message I can get behind. I'm really tired of mysoginistic rap, materialistic brainless pop and repetitive, empty dance music.

However, I don't like Linkin Park's new sound. Sorry. The kindest way to describe it would be to say that it sounds like an amateur remix of their old stuff.


Rolling Stones article
AOL radio blog post

P.S. Would you guys be interested in some more music posts?

Poor Asimov, he should've used capital letters

Scifi and fantasty fans will probably be quite familiar with Asimov's famous quote: "Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today - but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all." For those of you who have followed Stargate SG-1, you'll probably remember when the awesome parody character Grell expanded on this, saying "Science fiction is an existential metaphor, which allows us to tell stories about the human condition."

I definitely agree with this statement, more so when it comes to books of both science fiction and fantasy (there is a BIG difference between the two genres, and I will probably do a post about that soon). TV shows and movies are arguably more constrained by expectations of profit, and the rigidly conventional gender standards of those 'in the industry' who perpetuate the notion that Sex Sells and More Explosions Make A Better Trailer.

Science fiction and fantasy both work off the premise of creating a different world, with different rules, customs, cultures and laws. So why do the fundamental aspects of those cultures so closely reflect our own, when it comes to gender roles and expectations?

The reason I ask this, is that 'the impossible' is the core of the plot, the story and the civilisation of these books. You have people who can fly (Sarah Douglass), people who can live for thousands of years (David Eddings), sentient robots (Isaac Asimov), animals who talk and plot and come up with political slogans (George Orwell). So, when creating these fabulous and imaginitive worlds, why do we have the same damaging social tropes that plague our own society here on earth? Why, if people are shooting lasers, putting chips into their brains and casting spells to speak all languages, do Boys Not Cry and Women Belong In the Kitchen?

I have seen inspiring examples of authors who choose to step outside the gender bounds and let their characters be characters, who turn society as we know it on its head in new and fascinating ways. I have seen examples of authors who create a new and beautiful society... and then have all the men go off to war, without even giving a thought to the fact that they are not writing about humans, they may have given medieval technology to their races, but that doesn't mean that they have to have medieval-level understanding and expectations of gender, either.

An example of the former (an author who rearranged gender priorities) which is a personal favourite of mine, and thus not necessarily THE best example, would be David Eddings, in his series The Belgariad. In these books (and the follow-up series The Mallorean, and the prequels Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress), not only does Eddings create a matriarchal society (which is ironically destroyed by another society's desire for gold), but he has the women in his story actively push and mutate gender boundaries at will. One of the most powerful sorcerers in the series is a woman. During rough political times, the queens and other female characters step up and firmly tell the male ones that they will be part of the decision-making process even if it makes the men choke on their beer. Here, instead of forcing a wildly different society down our throats, Eddings uses the characters to point out the fallacies in our unbalanced thinking.

An example of the latter - an author who wrote a wonderful world, with a good plot, and then without explanation very blatantly reverted to traditional earthy gender roles: Christian Tamblyn, in his first novel, The Dragon of the Second Moon. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a first published work, it is of a fantastic standard. And yet, we have men turning away their faces because crying isn't manly. We have it pointed out that only one woman is going to war. Yes, there is a queen in the series, but she really doesn't do a lot. One of the main female characters is so busy being the Understanding Love Interest that she doesn't have time to do anything else (except get pregnant. Not that I am saying motherhood isn't a worthwhile pursuit. If my mother hadn't decided to have children I wouldn't be here).

I get that gender expectations are so ingrained into some people, that they don't think to question it. I sometimes feel that I am hyper-aware of the inequalities, because they bother me so much and other people just seem to unquestioningly accept it, even when it's damaging them. It also bothers me that people fall back on "oh, it's just biology", when science is, at its core, theoretical. It is also a huge possibility that our belief in the 'scientific fact' of something which causes behaviour may lead us to socially and psychologically reinforce behaviours which aren't biologically pre-determined. If that sentance was confusing to you, let me give an example:
1) We are told that, scientifically, men are less capable of verbally expressing their emotions, because of thinner connections between their logical and emotional halves/parts of the brain (very basic explanation).
2) The media, our family and friends all tell us that "guys can't express their emotions well".
3) Men and boys are raised without being encouraged to express their emotions verbally because "it's not what guys do".
4) Consequently, men are raised with a much more shallow understanding of how to explain their feelings. This may, in fact, be mostly biology, but it's reinforced by societal expectations, and practise. Thus a scientific belief, which may in fact be false, or at least much less significant than we think, is compounded by outside factors.
5) This seemingly widespread epidemic of men who just don't know how to explain why, or even that they are upset, reinforces the scientific myth.

That is just one very general, un-researched example of what I call a 'gender myth' - or a possible one, anyway. There are research papers, academics, scientistic and intellectuals who have done far more research and used far bigger words than I, and I will not attempt to compete with them. My point is that science fiction and fantasy authors bend the laws of science, physics and reality. They do this extremely well, and we enjoy reading it, for escapism, if nothing else. Why do so many authors fall into the trap of perpetuating society's flaws, if they're writing so far outside the world that we know, anyway? I have only seen/read a handful of examples that play with or openly defy gender and sexual expectations. Some of them do this, sadly, to the eventual detriment of the series, especially in the case of TV series. I have read one book series which attempted to create a martiarchal society, which had some of the same issues of abuse of power for personal gain. The series ended up being not only confusing, because of a really unclear chronology which eventuated in plot holes, but I was unable to even concentrate on this (until my boyfriend pointed it out) because of the horriffic amount of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that went on in the society. Women used their political power to sexually abuse men, who in turn took their frustrations out on women and even children of lower class. What I hoped would be a brave, thought-provoking look at a society where the power was in the hands of the women, and an attempt to portray how power was changed by a more feminine-driven value system, ended up being a confusing story filled with rather graphic sexual exploitation of children!

The only TV series and movies I have seen which toys with gender roles in a perceptible way would have to be the works of Joss Whedon. I will make a quick breakdown of them, and apologise if it's confusing to those of you unfamiliar with these series:
1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave immense physical power to the female lead character (Buffy). The two main male characters were put in nurturing, emotionally supporting roles. One of the main male characters, Xander, accomplishes great things, turning the plot in big ways, through his emotional contribution to the lives of the other characters. His physical prowess is negligible, and his personality is not domineering in a 'traditional' masculine sense at all, but he is still a valuable and complex character whose humanity is prized by other characters. It is his ability to engage with his emotions that actually brings back Willow from the brink of destroying the world with her immensely powerful magic abilities, which she abused in a state of raw grief (that was a beautiful episode, by the way).

2) Firefly showcased two female characters in usually masculine pursuits - one career army, a strong and sometimes cold fighter, the other a talented and hard-working engineer. Zoe, the ex-military woman, was married to a joking, and laid-back pilot. He was comfortable with her 'commanding' personality, and did not object to her protecting him and the rest of the crew physically because that was where her skills were, and his frankly weren't. (A running joke in the series is that his contribution to the war was to do shadow puppets). The engineer, Kaylee, spends a good deal of time romantically pursuing a young doctor, who has given up both career and fortune to rescue his talented sister from a sadistic government program - a clearly nurturing and emotional response he doggedly pursues throughout the series. Simon and Wash were two characters who were very family-focused, which anchored them and made them much more rounded characters than the hard-nosed, wandering Mal and Jayne.

3) Dollhouse's contributions to this trend were sadly overshadowed by the complicated and very 'grey area' sexual politics it explored. In brief, it features women posessing political and physical power (Adelle), in addition to men actually having romantic emotions, being (for the most part) asexual (Topher; until the end of season 2), and putting personal power aside for matters of social and legal justice. An awful lot of male characters are made into villains for choosing to do 'anything' to gain personal or political power; this series balanced that out by having three male characters (Topher, Paul and Boyd)) jeapordise their own prospects because they saw a wrong and did all they could to correct it. Meanwhile, one of the female leads (Adelle) is  betraying everyone at every turn to keep her position as CEO!

Science fiction and fantasy have the option of creating their worlds from scratch. The sky is no longer the limit. Yet, no matter what technology authors invent, no matter how amazing and innovative special effects makeup and CG are at creating new aliens... we seem stuck in this rut of perpetuating the narrow gender expectations of the so-called liberated, equal-opportunity Western world. It baffles and saddens me. I want more male empaths, I want more female warriors (who can be sexual without being a Xena-esque manifestation of male heterosexual fantasy), I want more societies that break these nonsensical gender boundaries that we have to deal with every single day. I want more fantastic in my fantasy.

Not a proper review: flakie goodness

This is not a review, though it contains many review-like qualities.

I don't care what you've heard about Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. Forget the hours you scoured forum boards, pharmacies or eBay pages in search of it. Feast your eyes on this!

Nubar released this piece of flakie goodness to celebrate 2010, as their "we've been creating nail polish for ten years, yo". It's just gorgeous. 'Big 3-free'* like all of Nubar's polishes, it's a clear gel-like base filled with flakes of glitter which shift from red to orange to green to yellow-gold. Toted in the blogosphere as the best Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure dupe, it looks most resplendant over black, (obviously) since you can see all the colours:

That's over China Glaze Liquid Leather, which has a weird but awesome consistency, sort of like a cross between a jelly and a creme. Sorry 'bout the sad one-broken-fingernail swatch, I'm just lazy like that! There are plenty of good reviews of this, so if you need more pics, just Google it. Or if you ask really nicely, I could be persuaded to do a full hand for you ;)

I put it over red (Mode's Racy, my absolute fave red polish, you can get away with a single coat of it if you're careful!) for work, which means on some angles it's very subtle, but the green and goldy-orange tones showed beautifully:

 
It pretty much takes one coat to get that layer of coverage - even and colourful, but not overwhelming. I have seen it swatched over purple, and I plan to try it. I also have plans to try it over green, over nude polish and maybe grey. From what I've seen/heard, putting on a bare nail is a good option if you're looking for something super subtle.

(Note: I have this over Natio Brandy now. I didn't like it at first but it's growing on me... it's very light and sparkly. I haven't taken a photo of it because A) my nails are really short right now and B) I could not get it to show up on-camera!)

The gorgeousness (and affordability) of this polish definitely dulls the sting of finding out that the only way for me to get Nfu Oh, the best and most colourful flakies in the nail polish world, would be to pay $30 a bottle - and that's not including postage! I've heard that Inglot's flakies are alright, but they are almost as impossible to find online as the Sally Hanson, and the only actual shop that stocks them around Perth is just a wee bit too far away for me to get to.

Surprisingly for a nail polish with 'bits' in it, this was really easy to remove - even easier than the glitter Mode polish I have. I thought I might have to go buy something with acetone in it to get my nails clean, but nope! It dries quite fast as well, which is always a plus in my book. I'm so impressed, I plan on buying more Nubar. It's pretty easy to find online, and they have a great big range of colours and finishes. I kind of wish they'd make some more flakies. I definitely want a purple one. And maybe a blue one.

*The 'big 3' of nail polishes are DBP (phthalate), formaldehyde, and toluene. These are pretty freaking toxic ingredients which were used in nail polish until some companies went, "Hmm, that's kind of not good... is there any way we can not use this stuff and still make good polish?" Now it's actually pretty easy to find 'big 3-free' polish, and most of it's good quality to boot.