Trolleys and Brollies

So.. in my job I spend  A LOT of time traipsing around on buses or trains and dragging my kit through town ( and Manchester is not known for its well maintained streets.. and there are still even a few with Victorian cobbles..) so you can see that hauling your make up about can be quite a physical experience, not always enjoyable... I have for the past few months had quite a smooth running suitcase with rubber wheels from IKEA that made it slightly less bumpy ( especially as there can be some make up casualties eg smashed eyeshadows, if they have had a rickety journey..) but last week the zip broke on my Ikea case, and it sent me back to using my cute old polka dot, but VERY rickety wheelie case... quite exhausting, and not quite big enough for my stuff either..boo hoo!! EMERGENCY NEW SUITCASE NEEDED!! Now many MUAs harp on about those fancy ZUCA cases with their flashing wheels and sit-upon casing.. But tbh they are freaking expensive .. like £150 expensive!! and I dont ever need to sit on my case- ill have a chair thanks, or a wall.. and I dont want to snag my tights on the hard casing,or risk not being able to squash the hard casing into overhead luggage, or be restricted in my packing, by the shape of the hard casing,or have to take the casing off and send that through to airline baggage hold anyway, coz this will be my holiday bag too - thats why we all work right? to save up for holidays? oh yeah and pay the bills ;) ... so I was looking into the Snowboard / Skate brand luggage, because Im a DEFINITE convert to the SKATEBOARD WHEELS feature .. which also means they are interchangeable should I ever want pink flashing wheels or whatevz.. This was my final choice - DAKINE a well known Snowboard / Skate brand. 42 litre capacity - plenty room, waterproof, and with it being a Skate brand I d have no problem nipping into one of Manchesters many skate shops and asking them to change the wheels for the latest colour of the season .. then whizz outside and pull a kickflip then grind down some railings for a speedy trip to work :) Oh and I got this at a snip of the  price, for £55 ... HURRAH!! Dimensions wise, slightly bigger than the Zuca too, so whats not to love!? Other brands in a similar style - Eastpak, Burton, Quiksilver, Gravis, Roxy etc.. just do search then do a best price search !! and make sure theyve got those skate wheels! Some do girly colours if thats your bag but I like black - it goes with everything and doesnt get trashed so quickly in the NorthWest weather systems :) Oh and all the 'boarders will think you are like TOTALLY AWESOME

Interview on Manchester Fashion Network

http://www.manchesterfashion.com/c/19/938/featured-makeup-artist-nikki-armstrong/

So I got asked to do a Q & A about my job, for Manchester / London Fashion Network - an online community. Ooo I do waffle on a bit! But have a read if your interested in why or how I got round to being a make up n hair person of all things!

RIDICULOUS PACKAGING! Grrrr !

This is RIDICULOUS!!!! I love Illamasqua for their make up - they acn do no wrong especially as they are very Cruelty Free and Made in England ( which we are all trying to promote this year especially ) and Pro quality and Extremely creative and all these good things.. BUT... Every package i order from them comes in this size of a box, no matter how small the item is - ie these tiny false lashes, and a previous package with ONE tiny brush and ONE eye pencil in. They seriously need to get some smaller boxes maaaan. I guess i could wait to order more stuff at once from them, but unfortunately my budget is also tiny, like the boxes they SHOULD get. Im sure ill find a use for all this black shredded paper though - make some sorta mad afro paper wig and go to my next fancy dress party as Shaft?.. Make a nest for a Tim Burtonesque crow ? .. answers on a postcard...

Brownie Points !! Top review from Kitty wink Vintage :)

Hurrah! My first proper testimonial :) .. well a joint testimonial with Alt.Studio
Read it here http://kittywinkvintage.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/what-women-want.html

1920's vamp make up and hair

Here are just two of the shots from a fab shoot we did yesterday at http://www.altstudiouk.com/ in Manchesters Northern Quarter - specialising in vintage and tattoo'd portraits.
This is the lovely Alice Kitty Wink from www.kittywinkvintage.co.uk and although she is herself a vintage make up artist and beautician, she wanted to experiment with a different look for herself and let someone else loose on her :) no pressure there then! Its like when you start styling someones hair then they tell you they are a hairdresser! instant collywobbles!!! but actually I have to say Im very proud of this makeover and I think Alison was pleased with it too ! A new look maybe..I think you really have to have the right sort of face for this dramatic era and it really suits her dont you think?

GERT LUSH !!!!!! High street shop fights the fight for animals!!

This is GREAT!!! These lovely ladies ( and one bunny ) were out in force today at Lush, Manchester, to drum up support for the campaign against animal testing in cosmetics, and they all work at LUSH !! So they cant get moved on by the police, because it is a shop campaign! hurrah!!!!! IN YOUR FACE GENERAL PUBLIC!! Sign the petition and TAKE NOTICE!! In 2013 there could be big changes to the laws surrounding cosmetic testing in Europe, meaning it could FINALLY be banned , but the big cosmetics companies are trying to stall this process.. this means it is MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER to support this campaign NOW!!
Oh and the Bunny gave me a bit of insider news hot off the press - Lush are going to launch a make up range soon YIPPEE!!!! Thats gotta be good!

HOME MADE BRUSH CLEANER!!

Yay! I just did a bit of DIY and saved a heluvalot of money on make up brush cleaner. These can go for anything from £8 - £15 in the shops if you want a good one that lifts grease and make up and disinfects too.. but when you read the ingredients its really all stuff that you can substitute at home. I found a great recipe on Youtube by an American MUA called Enkore.. he seems to upload lots of useful stuff so I tried it and it works!! hurrah! heres the recipe..

( Obviously depending on the size of the bottle you want to put it in .. )
1 measure of purified water ( you could use bottled or distilled but I boiled then cooled mine )
1/4 measure of isopropyl alcohol ( i used 70% vol as its all i could get in UK shops)
1/2 tbsp dish soap
1/2 tbsp mild shampoo 1 tbsp of leave in conditioner
I also added to the recipe with 1/4 cup of glycerine and a dash of olive oil

for scent you could also add a few drops of tea tree oil or any other essential oil

stir it gently to emulsify dont shake ( the opposite to James Bond ) to prevent it foaming

I just cleaned off my foundation brush and it worked like a dream really quickly, brush is now gorgeous and soft and clean like new. hurrah

and it cost me £1.99 for a bottle of isopropyl which will last me about 10 more fill ups of this recip and the glycerine i already had but that is dead cheap too - a couple of quid from Boots.. and that has umpteen other household uses.. shampoo,dish soap, olive oil, conditioner - already had.. and also will fill up about 20 times more than spending stupid money on 100mls of branded make up brush cleaner.

For instant dry spot cleaning on jobs I also carry some Dettol pump action foam hand sanitiser which has alcohol and glycerine in it too, and kills off MRSA in hospitals, so im happy with that for getting germs off brushes between clients. That is 99p from Quality save and lasts a few weeks too. Bargain

Dont waste your pennies !! times is hard!