Twisted Romance FOTD

Twisted romance, eh? Yup, I wanted a fun and appropriate name for this impromptu look I did. It's partly inspired by my hair and partly by the makeup look. It's soft and sweet but with a touch of edge and rawr. Kind of like me! :P

First up, let's take about hair. I recently got my hands on this amazing hair curling device - the Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium MiraCurl Professional Curl Machine. It's not a flat iron or a curling iron, which are what I've always used in the past to add curl to my hair. This is a slightly intimidating gadget that sucks your hair into it, applies heat and ta-da! glorious curls. I'm not great at styling hair, and while I can manage well enough with my day-to-day hair, I wish I could do more with it. Enter the MiraCurl Curl Machine. Wowza y'all, this thing makes it easy to curl your hair! 

While I've only used it twice (as pictured here), and I still need to figure out how to create the best curly-look possible for me, I'm in awe of how perfectly it works. 

The MiraCurl has three buttons: one for setting the temperature your hair will be curled at (375 F, 410 F and 450 F). It's recommended that for fine hair you use the 375 F setting, and for coarse hair, you use the 450 F setting, but you can set it however you prefer.

The second button allows you to set the time (8 seconds, 10 seconds or 12 seconds). This is how long your hair will be curled for and you can alter this depending on your hair type (finer, damaged hair will want to use the shorter time) and the curl type (shorter for looser curls, longer for tighter curls). You also have the option of turning the timer off completely and curling your hair for as long or short a time period as you like.

The third button lets you choose the direction of the curl (right, left and alternate). You can choose to curl your hair on one side of your head all one direction and on the other side, all the other direction, which is how your hair grows and curls. The right setting starts the curl to the right, clockwise. The left setting starts the curl to the left, counter clockwise. The alternate setting alternates between the two - one left, one right, etc. 

With so many choices, you can really just let the MiraCurl do all the work. All you need to do is start with dry hair and apply a heat protectant spray (I like the TRESemmé Thermal Creations Heat Spray - mentioned in this review of the Rusk Thermal Str8 Protective Flat Iron Spray). Take a small section of hair - Babyliss recommends no more than 1 inch - and make sure it is snag and tangle-free. With the MiraCurl opening facing your head, open the "tongs" and lay your hair through. Close the "tongs" and the MiraCurl will suck your hair into it, which is a little freaky at first, but you get used to it. The MiraCurl will beep in even sequence until the time you've set it to is reached when it will beep four times. Then you open the "tongs" and release your hair. Marvel at the perfection of the curl and how easy it was to achieve. Repeat.

All I did to achieve the look in these photos was apply my heat protecter spray and some some mousse for volume. I separated my hair horizontally at my ears and pinned the top half at the top of my head (this helps with volume as well), I started at the front and worked around to the back all the way to the other side, creating curls. It gets a little tricky to maneuver the MiraCurl at the back of my head so the curl chamber opening is facing my head and the top of the MiraCurl is facing up, and the MiraCurl does get heavy after you use it for awhile. I repeated the process for the top half of my hair and honestly, got a little lazy towards the end, because it does take a longer time to style than I'm used to and it's easy to miss pieces of hair so I had to go around to catch them all. But this will improve with practice. And I quite like imperfect hairstyles anyway. 

The curls the MiraCurl creates are so lovely. They're tough suckers, glossy and strong. They hold their shape so well, better than any I've been able to create with my flat iron or a curling iron, and without hairspray. In these photos, I combed gently through them with my hands to create a messy, more natural look and to add volume. I then applied my favourite Jonathan Silky Dirt Shine and Define Cream for some definition, frizz-killer and shine. If I was wearing this look out, I would add hairspray, but from my limited experience using the MiraCurl, these curls hold up very, very well without it. Even waking up the next morning, I had intact curls. I am hella impressed with the MiraCurl!

And now for the makeup. This is a look I put together for my review of the Makeup Revolution Flawless Ultra Eyeshadows Palette and I liked how it looked all together with the hair so I decided to do full photos and do a separate post!

For my base, I'm wearing MAC Face + Body Foundation applied with my hands. I've got a bit of Make Up For Ever's Full Cover Concealer on areas that need more coverage and MAC's Pro Longwear Conceler under my eyes. MAC Prep + Prime Powder is dusted over my t-zone, apart from the very center of my nose, and on areas where there's concealer to set. 

I used Anastasia DipBrow in Auburn with a tiny angle brush to add colour and definition to my eyebrows. My blush is Benefit Rockateur (I'm mad for this blush!) applied softly high up on my cheekbones. It's a beautiful soft rose-gold shade with a touch of shimmer that I end up reaching for more often than not. It's such a sultry, sophisticated and easy shade to wear.

For my eyes, I used eyeshadows from the Makeup Revolution Flawless Ultra Eyeshadows Palette. On my eyelids, I applied Highlite, a shimmery silver-rose shade with a large eyeshadow brush from lashline just up to the crease. With a smaller eyeshadow brush, I smudged some Cheerless, a dark purple frost shade, starting at the outer corner and up into my crease. To add further definition to my crease, I applied Darkest Shimmer, a shimmery dark red-brown with a crease brush and then I blended with a fluffy crease brush to soften all the shades and blend them together.

And then comes the real colour, a flash of red when I blink. I used Red Night, a shimmery cranberry with a smallish eyeshadow brush starting from about the center of my lashline and working it up in a diagonal line towards my crease, following the line I did with Cheerless. I went back with a bit of Highlite to soften the line. For my lashline definition, I used a combination of Green Stars, a blackened green and Burgundy Nights, a shimmery burgundy and an angle brush to smudge along my lashline. 

For my lower lashline, I used a thin, flat brush to smoke a bit of Universal, a shimmery dusty rose, softly along along my lashes for some definition. Finally I popped a touch of Highlite into my inner eye, which adds a glow and makes the eyes look larger and more open. 

I curled my lashes with my She Uemura eyelash curler, and applied Benefit Bad Gal mascara to both top and bottom lashes. Finally, I applied a Becca Lipstick (an old one that the label has worn off of so I don't remember the name and they don't make anymore!) for a soft, nude effect.

So that's my soft, shimmery, twisted romantic look. What do you think?

C.