Warpaint Beauty is Warpaint II [picture laden]

Good afternoon, everyone. Somewhere last week all my time went into the centennial Cherry Blossom in D.C., which is strange because it was only involving Saturday. It was very beautiful, and the weather was so pleasant [in comparison to last year, where it was, what 40 degrees? Aaah], I met up with friends and old teachers, and got to see JASA's Soran Bushi, a great Japanese fisherman dance. Sunday was the recording session for GSO [the Smithsonian isn't able to provide us with quality recording on the day of our concert], courtesy of a fan of the orchestra. As for Friday and yesterday, well... work. Or something, haha. But~ now I think it's time for some more Warpaint.

So when I went on my Tall Shoes Outing with M-san, we made a short hop sudden stop to Hot Topic. I was looking to see if any Versailles albums had come in, but really, HT's music schedule for foreign titles is sort of random. Warpaint cosmetics were still on sale, so I thought, okay, while I'm here, I'll grab that darker blue lipstick I saw. Again with my misconceptions of cosmetics.

Looks vaguely familiar...

No real loss, purple IS positively the best color ever, so I'm okay with that. To match, I decided to get another color of the powder eyeliner and nail polish. Psychedelic neon blue? No~ it actually goes on sparkly, and glows in the dark. I couldn't quite get a picture of that, but it does glow pretty well [especially if being on top of a solid color layer gets in the way of the phosphorescence]. I'll try again if I can think of a good way.

It's even in my eyelashes, haha.

I don't know if the first batch I got is just defective, or if this batch is defective; the purple goes on less opaque than the blue--even though it's darker--and the gold comes out like crazy. I barely need a full pass to get it entirely over my eye. But I am immensely fond of it [gold on darker tones go well], so I'll deal with the overflow and swipe it up.

The purple appears slightly darker here than in person, unless it was just the lights.

I tried to emulate the poses from the first Warpaint session, to mixed degrees of success. I don't know why part of my face is shiny, too, or looks like I've been crying. I swear I wasn't. Also, please excuse my crow's nest of hair. I've since tamed it much better, ugh.

For your skin tone, does gold or silver suit you better? Do you like eyeshadow to go up until the eyebrows? What colors work best for your lips~?

Things are getting so busy again, bah~ but it's fine, I suppose. I'll do my best to play keep-up.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Blog Music IV

Good afternoon everyone, happy weekend~. It seems that this has become the regular instead; I will take what I can, so that when other things come up I can add to the frequency of posts. A short post today, but I'm hoping to get to some cosmetic reviews next. And I think I'm going to just count the music changes in the roman numerals unless it's a very special interlude. Hopefully I'll remember how to keep track of them like that, ahaha.

Alas~ I didn't end up changing the music for February, but perhaps it's better to give it a month or two. March is here, so I thought, oh yes, I'll definitely do it at some point. Thus, the selection process began. I don't think I have a method to this madness either, yet right now there is still a video game theme [this might be a subconscious leaning due to the increased amount of GSO related things happening this year]. I hope this does not deter anyone, rather, on the contrary, is a means to broaden the range of musics you might enjoy. 

This game in particular, is also a highly lauded game for it's style as surpassing regular game expectations, and becoming a work of art.

In Japanese: 'Wander's Journey'. The OST is titled 'Roar of the Earth.'

Shadow of the Colossus is now one of my favorite games, and this soundtrack does play a part in my love for it. The story is straightforward, but at the same time ambiguous, the graphics are good for the time [already a game 7 years old, though recently re-released in HD], and as a game, it is still rewarding as far as gameplay. The track I selected is 'To The Ancient Land', the prologue/intro piece. I'll admit, I wouldn't be able to relate this much to the fashion roots or content of this blog, so perhaps it really is just my gamer subconscious being channeled into it, ahaha. Nonetheless, I hope you all will enjoy it. 

Do you have a few favorite songs outside of your usual listening zone? What's a genre that you don't generally listen to, but still found an exception? What are your thoughts on video game music as a separate genre?

Into the new week, everyone~ take care. ^_^

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

And now for something [else] completely different.

Good afternoon everyone~ how's the weekend been? Obligatory mention of Sunday relaxation. I'm trying to be semi-productive by straightening my hair, replaying Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, sewing a button back on, reading Noblesse, and going over GSO music in some sort of cohesion [Noblesse is winning]. Another week down. What am I counting down to? [Hmmm... I guess Otakon now, so very far away...] Well, that aside, as the title states, I had some fun on Friday.

This semester at least, I don't have class or work on Friday, so more often than not, I'll be staying home. This past Friday though, two of the student groups on campus I'm involved in were having fundraisers, so I came out to lend manpower and promotional support. In hindsight I think I somehow managed to mash both aesthetics of the groups [Japanese American Student Association (the ever popular JASA) and Satanic Mechanics Theater Company (no affiliation with Satan or car repair)] together without trying.

Yukata: Handmade

Hakama: Japan

Armwarmers: Hot Topic

Boots: Demonia

Of course, no day dressed in hakama is complete without a few pictures with Yasumisame. Ever faithful, simple and elegant, Yasumisame is my ferocity in modesty [...whut?].

I do know basic kendo strikes, but this is just posing for the camera, haha. ^_^

With one sleeve pulled up, I actually feel more like an archer.

The hakama and boots combination was apparently a somewhat popular style for ladies after the Meiji Restoration in Japan [around the 1860s]. That was the thought I had in my head when I was thinking about what I wanted to wear on Thursday [it is a rare occurrence indeed, for me to plan my outfits, especially a whole night beforehand]. It's hasn't gotten back to being cold enough to snow, but it was still chilly, and it rained [so I'm glad I threw on the arm warmers as an extra measure]. I suppose if I had to type this, it would be a neo-fuedal, cyberpunk samurai style. I will probably wear this again come Cherry Blossom season, if not sooner.

Do you have any clothes from a different era of time? If so, do you get to wear it that often? What would be your favorite crossover styles of old and new?

March is almost upon us now, look forward to some new music~

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Playing with Polyvore: White Marquis

Good afternoon, everyone~. Here I am starting this in afternoon, but we'll see if I can't somehow manage to distract myself and end up doing this in the evening anyway... No~! NO! Come now me, snap out of it. *Pat pat.* This is procrastination at it's finest, my friends...

Recently, I've somehow become absorbed into a longtime dream of mine to make an all white Aristo, to contrast the usual all black that goes with the type. This isn't necessarily something I'm wanting to do to prove that all white Aristo exists, because I think it does, more of compiling the ensemble just to have it [like anything else I do, really]. Then I can go out no matter the weather, and I can choose which way to match or contrast to my Lolita counterpart companion [or Goth or Gyaru, etc.]. Reaching into a lazy late night and dabbling around with the nifty--but sometimes thwarting--tool Polyvore, I constructed a guideline white Aristo goal.

The cane is a Luscious Malfoy replica, haha.

And silly me, I didn't take any notes as to the brands or such. I suppose since I wasn't looking for replication, I didn't think about it, but you all might be interested~! Next time I will remember, and jot them all down.

As with a default Aristo, accessories in color [even white] aren't a no-no, so I highlighted the white with red and black [and ohhhhh yaaaaaaaaay PURPLE~!] where it would look classiest. If I ever make a chrome colored cane, I might use that for a white ensemble instead. I couldn't find any white jackets that I liked [with the methods I was using to search], so I just picked the one shown on the right, imagining it to be white. White jackets even in regular styles are hard to come by, me thinks... Shoes are also a toss-up, one half dozen of the other, but maybe this summer, I'll have a good pair [...right, in the summer, when it'll be hell to wear them]. Since I already have a few, I think instead of white belts, I'd also use chrome or stainless steel link belt in the place of a straight white belt.

Do you use online tools to help coordinate? Got any advice for using Polyvore [or can recommend other sites]? Or do you like the old fashioned way of laying all your clothes out/holding them up to you in a mirror?

Come to me, all white Aristo~! Same for all white Visual-Kei, too.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Marquis cooks Breakfast [for dinner]

Good evening, everyone~. Even though it's Monday night, it's not entirely unpleasant, I hope. There's some fabulous music playing beside me in the form of UMD's Gamer Symphony Orchestra rehearsing a selection from Shadow of the Colossus. Our concert is going to be fabulous~ but more in a music post to come. For now, perhaps I can help you decide on a late night om nom with a simple and delicious fix.

It's not often I'll have breakfast for dinner, but when I do [...strangely reminiscent of a beer commercial, ne?], it's usually pancakes or waffles. Wait until I get my hands on some bacon though. Then something delicious truly happens.

Although I do advocate healthy eats, deliciousness is always a huge plus.

The potatoes and sausage are left overs from a great party over the weekend and the mother marquis' high school friend's house [the same one for Halloween and Christmas parties of great grandeur]. I verily enjoy my starches at all times of the day, but the home fries can substitute easily with some sliced fruits or a nice tall glass of juice or milk. Toast the bagel, cook the bacon [or as I have here, roast beef], fry the egg in the bacon fats, layer a nice cheese of choice, and enjoy~

Do you like breakfast for dinner? What do you crave at night? Ever to vice versa, with dinner for breakfast?

Into the rest of the week~ good luck all.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante

Blog Music III

Good evening, everyone~ and here's to the brand new 2012~! Whether you had a big party, went out to see your big city's ball drop, or toasted with champagne at home with a few loved ones, I hope things have begun to start off right for you all. I know I'm looking forward to some changes myself, big and small; I can only hope I keep my motivation up for it after all is said and done.

To start things off, on a list of a bunch of smaller changes, hooray, new musics~. The new feature song is entitled 'Baljhet Mountains', borrowed from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness [hmmm... I somehow managed to keep the same series without even thinking about it...].

Hector, our protagonist, is noble and gentlemanly, even with his former alignment with Dracula.

It is a field theme, so it does have it's loop properties common for such, but it's got such cool exoticism to it not so often used by the composer, Michiru Yamane, until then [and beyond]. I find myself wandering around even after I've gone through every place on the map because I enjoy this theme so much [I envision Isaac, Hector's counterpart and primary antagonist, tapping his foot impatiently at the castle wondering what's taking Hector so long to get there...].

As part of my changes in the new year, I hope to keep up with a music roulette for the blog every month, or every two months. Here's to hoping the HTML won't die on me soon and leave me wondering why nothing is happening...

I hope you all will enjoy it~!

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Mini Post: Technical Difficulties

Good afternoon everyone. Oh shame on me again, shame on me, I had such a nice little roll going. And then, che trouble. *Points to title.* Yoshimaru almost flat out died on me, and even though I brought him back from the brink, I feel as though he's teetering every day. After that, Yoshimaru suddenly stooped recognizing my camera memory card [Google is helping me work that out, slowly]. Separate from that, it seems as though Blogger does not recognize that I am logged in when I visit others' pages and try to comment, resulting in, che horror, no comment.

How will Aristocrat Elegance-san and Victorian Kitty-san know that I love all their new outfits and stuff now? Che catastrophe! [really, it's quite a pain, I'm more annoyed at Blogger and Firefox than anything else.]

If anyone is in the know for how to fix these things [the Blogger problem and computer failing to recognize memory card], I take any and all tips and suggestions. I just want to come back to you all with pretty images and stuff, you know~!

Sebastian is well, but also is doing this, too.

Thank you everyone~ I hope your holidays will continue to be enjoyable.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak