Favorite Youtube Channels | February 2017

I love youtube. It's my TV, my carefree alone time, my relaxing evening time in front of the monitor. Despite the controversies and my harsh opinions (on goth youtubers especially), I still love to follow certain youtubers that are just very creative, entertaining and very good and making you smile.
And not just people, corporate youtube channels too.

I follow a lot of channels, so for this list I've decided to include only the channels that inspire me most; that make me really anticipate their next videos, and that most of which Boris and I watch together. And considering how much Boris doesn't like individual youtube bloggers, it's saying something...

If you like watching various youtube bloggers/channels as much as I do, then I hope to put some new names to your subscriptions.

In alphabetical order:


1. Amber Scholl

How to make cheap clothes look expensive

This is perhaps the most unexpected entry on the list. Amber is a relatively new youtuber, she makes mostly diy videos about how to be fabulous and extra on a budget. If there's a person in the world more Kardashian than all the Kardashians put together - it's got to be Amber.

Why am I watching this?
You know how you watch certain youtubers not because of the content but because of their personalities? Exactly. I might not have the same style and not be a Kardashian (or any other mainstream pop culture icon) follower to say the least, but there's something very sincere and honest about Amber that drips through any camera editing. I love her perky personality, and I loved her story too. You can tell she's being herself with integrity, plus her fancy diys are actually very good!



2. Angela Benedict

I have mentioned Angela in a separate post a while ago, which should tell you how much I love her channel. Again, this is a combo of content and personality for me - I absolutely love the way she tells stories from her baby bat years as a teenager in the 90s. Her way of reminiscing on the past is very romantic and sincere. This is another good example of sincerity maintained on camera (an interesting thing, since Angela has a past in acting ;) ).

This is the only goth youtuber I have been watching for  along time without getting bored, cringy or disgusted. It has been but the opposite of that, and I am very excited whenever a new video from Angela is out. She even makes me like 90s goth music, haha!



3. Ask A Mortician

Do hair & nails grow after death?

I have mentioned Caitlin Doughty's book Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: and Other Lessons from the Crematory in the past and have been following her channel ever since. There's not much explanation needed - it's pretty much history lessons about death around the world, and as much as her book was fascinating - so is her channel. I love learning about all that fun and gruesome stuff, plus she gives nice book recommendations from time to time on the subject, so you can start building your own spooky library.

This is a great example of an entertaining and informative channel. There are more to come on this list.



4. CineFix

One is not simply a music nerd without being a cinematography nerd. I rarely write about movies here, but you can sure count on me being a movie snob. I was so happy to come across this channel to find various videos dedicated to the art of film - from top 10s to reviews to random facts, these guys really do their job. If you're into analyzing what you're watching, I highly recommend this channel, plus you discover a bunch of new movies in the process. The editing of the videos is great and the guy narrating is funny.

The video above is one of my favorite youtube videos ever (yeah, that much!) - dive into different color palettes and how they're used in different movies, and what it does to your perception as a viewer. Marvelous!!!

5. Nerdwriter

This guy does visual essays, and this was a new medium to me as much as it maybe it for you right now. I discovered him through his essays on movies, but he has a lot more on art, music and politics. I do not know much about this guy, but he was on TED, so that's saying something.

Nerdwriter can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, because it really makes you think and get in touch with many personal subjects that he so skillfully integrates in his essays. It's not really a channel for mindless viewing, for a change.

Again, I marvel at the beautiful editing and on the thought being put into his youtube compositions. You can tell the guy is educated on every subject possible. If you wanna get your culture on, grad a cup of tea and discover why The Beatles changed cover album history; why Melancholia pictures depression on film and many, many more.

6. Simply Nailogical

Personality over content? This is another one of those youtubers for me. Not that Christine doesn't have great content - hell, she's probably one of the most entertaining, creative and hilarious nail art youtubers out there! The chance of me attempting any of these nail tutorials is very little (though that one above is absolute killer!), but it's just so satisfying to watch her do her own nails. Needless to say her character wins it all. You can tell there's a very shrewd person behind that camera! I just admire her wits sometimes.

7. theneedledrop

Continuing with the review-type channel, this is my favorite music reviewer, Anthony Fantano, aka theneedledrop. This is the guy that has been inspiring me to make youtube videos more than ever lately (and sadly I will probably never find the time to do it). I absolutely love the way Anthony critics... everything! He's hilarious, witty, sarcastic to the core but also serious and gives great attention to the various music components making a good song/album. This is music nerd soul food for me.

One of my personal favorites is his review of Miley Cyrus' album. I have never laughed so hard (I had to give the album a try after this, and he was right!).

8. ThreadBanger

I have been oblivious to only one of the very first diy youtube channels until a few months ago, and I instantly fell in love with both Corinne and Rob. This is my fun TV time - they are both hilarious, their projects are hilarious and mostly just very exciting to watch. I follow their individual channels too, which if you found yourself entertained amongst all the swearing and sarcasm - I can only recommend. Will I attempt even one of these diys? Probably the food diys some day, but this is just plain fun. I think they totally rock their channel, there's a reason why it's their job!

Let's leave this list for now, but I might do another one. Tell me if some of these channels have sparked your interest?

What are your favorite youtubers of any kind?

Maria

Film Reviews: Fantastic Beasts, American Honey & more...

I have the feeling I've been watching so many movies lately. I also recently went to the cinema alone, we can cross that off the "things to do before you're 30 and such" list.


1. The Lone Ranger

Ok so when this movie came out and after it received all those horrible reviews I had no intention of ever watching it. A movie with Johnny Depp that's supposed to be bad, why add insult to injury? But I found myself home alone one evening and really wanted to watch something with a dark western atmosphere to it, another Deadman if you will, but not so calm and moody perhaps.
After reading some of the very positive comments on youtube I watched The Lone Ranger and didn't regret it one bit. It's anything but a dark western - it's just a comedy, people! Seriously, the trailer is so misleading!
It had so many hilarious moments where I was laughing like crazy. The setting is beautiful, the music is cool and it's basically an action flick allowing Johnny Depp to play himself all the time (that's why we love him, right?). I recommend this movie a lot for some good laughs and a positive, western heroic vibe.


2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Of course it's all over the theaters and I had to see the next Harry Potter related film! Even though I consider both main characters to be a bit underdeveloped (with all my love for Eddie Redmaybe), this movie was a lot of fun. There was action, awesome fantastic beasts and a glimpse into a different wizarding world, the latter being my favorite part. I loved the plot too - suppressing your magical powers will erupt in a big, dark, depressing black mass. I could queer that part of the film easily. The 20s theme was also charming, so just go and watch the damn thing!
Spoiler!!! Spoiler ahead!!!
Sadly the most wtf part of the movie was the revealing that the bad guy is.... Johnny Depp! Did he really have to be in the film for that 1 minute? Did he?


3. Inside Out

Somehow I missed that Pixar movie, so Boris and I sat down one evening for some animation fun. Well, the title doesn't lie, cause we very much felt "inside out" after watching this one. This is basically a crash course in psychology for the whole family. You can analyse the kid to such depths you end up asking yourself if this movie is fit for kids at all. And inevitably, you analyse yourself, your childhood and how it affected your adulthood and how things can turn a lot darker than what the movie depicts. On top of it all you are left with hope, just like the little Joy character in the kid's head, and that if all fails you will always have a little fairy-like character telling you you're the best who will love you no matter what.
Boris and I were crying like crazy through the entire film and a bit afterwards. I think I actually broke my record and cried after a short 1 minute of the movie's start.


4. Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

Enough with the crying, time to get tough and mighty! I can't believe I've never seen this one either. Aside from being a nice documentary about the history of metal music, it was endearing to watch interviews with musicians who are no more - Dio and Lemmy. It's also very contemporary to it's time, and the year 2005 is being given away by Cradle of Filth, Slipknot and Korn albums populating the stands at Waken: people having their hair colored red/black, girls wearing crop tops and black cargo pants. It was mostly a movie encapsulating a period of time where - in comparison to the years to follow - metal was at its peak.
The interviews with Mayhem and Gorgoroth were the highlight for me.


5. American Honey

Another new film I was very eager to watch. I thought this was going to be a Spring Breakers copy (loved that film btw) but I think American Honey had a lot more depth. It's not just about a poor girl going down the criminal road to get some money to have fun. It's about a different kind of poverty - a social one; trying to find a new family, a place to belong and fill the spaces that were previously hollow.
I admit the ending was underwhelming and it didn't feel like a proper ending to me, but the film is beautifully shot and is relatable on many levels.
I would also like to note the music - trap/hip hop was mostly used, like those songs about being swag, nobody's bitch, a badass... yet it reeked of desperation at the same time, and it was the combination of the 2 for me through the entire film. It left me with a lot to think about.

Maria

The Pleasure and Sorrows of Prog II

Click here for the previous post.

Just when frustration with being a lonely progressive rock lover leaves you with enough emotions to write lyrics for an entire Van Der Graaf Generator album, there is suddenly hope ahead.
Let's begin with what I first stumbled across - an entire Wiki How on the subject of "How To Enjoy Progressive Rock (with pictures!)":

Let me get this straight - someone took the time to actually write an 11 step article about how to enjoy progressive rock, with descriptions on key genres and bands, their albums, the "meaning" of progressive music both musically and conceptually and here I am sitting here speechless!

A part of me was forever grateful, but that was a small part, since writing a post this long without mentioning Van Der Graaf Generator is a fucking crime. Hello, theye're only one of the best prog bands out there! 

As well as recommending a 3-disc compilation of Genesis as a first step is a hell of a bad idea. If I'd have started with Genesis' more popier songs I would have never given that band a chance. Thank you for directing me to the point where Phil Collins ruined the band, I will hate this band forever now. Any Genesis fan who's in their right mind will tell you that the core of Genesis are a few albums like Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound, making them indeed to be "the" prog band.

Secondly, I really do hope most of the info there was written in tongue-in-cheek, because of sentences like:
"did you know that Led Zeppelin's classic track "Stairway To Heaven" is actually a progressive rock song?"

But seriously, I was so happy to come across that Wiki How, some of my favorite steps are:

- Before listening to the music, learn and memorize the various and styles (or sub genres) of progressive rock.
Did you hear that? FUCKING memorize!
- Watch performances by progressive rock groups on YouTube, to further appreciate the talent involved.
- One of the best ways to immerse yourself in the progressive rock community is to attend a progressive rock music festival, if one is held in your area.
You know, my town in Israel had one like, every month. Great times, great times...


But wait, there's more - I have accidentally found a Facebook page dedicated to prog memes! Memes! Of course! Why haven't I thought of that?! There are so few of us we might as well gather online, hate on popular music, post about the same fucking 10 bands religiously and worship musicians who play as fast as their hormones can take them!
I was very happy to see people worshiping Opeth the same way as I do, but every meme phenomenon calls for exaggeration, and this page is no exception.
Inevitably, it's called Prog Snob:

this is how you truly make a Genesis meme!

I adore the Spongebob references

I could go on, but I have spent way too much time on that meme page laughing hysterically. So when you're ever feeling alone, just remember there's someone out there who spent their time doing this:

That's enough internet for today, so here's my favorite one:

Maria

Goth Youtubers - 90s Goth with Angela Benedict

Some of you loyal readers will remember my "Why I Dislike Goth Youtubers Post" back from last year (and I also remember the majority of you agreeing with me, than you, thank you...) but I've been spending so much time on YouTube lately that I feel like it would be hypocritical of me to say that I dislike ALL goth youtubers (which I have disclaimed in the mentioned post, but still).

Yet recently I have discovered a relatively new youtuber that has been doing something no other goth youtuber that I know has done - educating you on the past!

The thing is, most (goth) youtubers are either teenagers or in their 20s, and rarely do you get a person above 30. Not to mention the topics usually addressed by most youtubers who claim to belong to a certain subculture are not exactly versatile.

But what I was happy to discover were Angela Benedict's many stories about how the gothic subculture looked like back in the 90s (note: in New York). Being someone who only discovered goth from 2005/6 and on, I find it fascinating to listen to a person who has actually been in the scene in the 90s to tell you how things were, ranging from what music was played, what clothes and styles were worn and how the people were like. I wish someone from the 80s would have done the same thing!
I wrote a "Beginning of 00s Goth" post in the past as well, so the style recaps definitely spoke to me.

I guess the thing with youtubers is that the personality and way of speech of a person can affect your liking/disliking them, and in this case, I absolutely love how Angela tells stories and the way she's communicating, I find it very straightforward and relaxed. I also love the old school video editing, I get annoyed when youtubers have an intro that can kill a PR expert.


One of my favorite videos is Gothic Fashion as a 90s Teen:

For the record, she doesn't even know that I'm writing this post, so it's not sponsored or anything (I will tell her as soon as this gets published).

Her Hairfalls tutorial is also quite the thing. It's not my style of hair but the spirit of the 90s is definitely there:

Have some of you been goth in the late 90s/beginning of 00s? What was the gothic subculture like back then? I hope you found Angela's videos entertaining as much as I did.

Happy Halloween to those who are celebrating!

Maria

The Big Bad Bass Pedal Wishlist

Here I am sitting alone at home drinking cream liqueur while watching bass pedal tutorials.
Hate to be the one to write a post completely off topic, but this is just how I roll...

For those of you who don't play guitar (as was I, until a year ago) - guitar and bass guitar players use different effects to achieve a various sound: distortion (mostly in metal music), chorus (for all you The Cure and post punk lovers) or fuzz (for the stoned ones) and the list goes on and on.... The effects come in pedal form, to be pressed on with the foot while playing (as you will see on).

For years I've wondered why Boris (who has at least 5 different pedals) spends so much time looking at dudes online explain about pedals and effects, their combination and variety (and then spending money on it). Well now that I've gained some experience in bass playing and made some aspirations, I've decided to check some pedals out to achieve a dirtier, heavier and less cleaner sound.

Here is my wishlist.

Electro Harmonix Nano Bass Big Muff Pi

Electro Harmonix are one of the companies whose effects I like best. Their fuzzes are great, and this is a smaller version of the Bass Big Muff. I like the crispy sound a lot, but my problem with fuzz is that you lose a lot of dynamics with it, and sometimes your clean sound. I like how you can make it completely dirty and all over the place (imagine a garage-rock guitar here, it's very similar) but it also loses the deep bass tone that I like. I think a fuzz is a cool addition to a guitar, but not for a bass guitar. So I was deliberating with this one.

Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal

Did you catch the adorable brown sock in the beginning?

This is the pedal I will perhaps purchase, since it's not so expensive and has almost entirely the sound I am looking for - there is an option to make a classic distortion, and you just go from there to how much you want the crispyness of the sound. According to the tutorial above you can achieve something close to a fuzz without losing the bassy core, which is exactly what I'm looking for. I wonder about the sustain (how long a note lasts) of it though, since I like my sustain long...


MXR Bass Distortion

Note the Americana styled tutorial above hehe. This is another good distortion that has a very deep and rough cryspiness. Yet here I face the same problem I have with fuzz-sounding effects - the original bass sound tends to get lost and you get a dirty mishmash of sound, it sounds more like a soundscape than an actual tune. So hm... I am thinking about it, though it all depends on how much you exaggerate the distortion.

Aftershock Bass Distortion

The best for last - this is my absolute favorite of all the effects I've checked, and it doesn't say "the only bass distortion pedal you'll ever need" for nothing. This pedal has it all, there is so much versatility in the sound you can make without being too much or too little. Too bad it "only" costs 179 euros... so I'll just marvel at it, but if I had the chance to buy it right now, I would.

That's about it for now. I'm a complete newby when it comes to effects and all I know I've learned from Boris. Another thing to have in mind is that a pedal's sound will change depending on the amplifier you use -  an art in it's own that I am yet to have any knowledge off.

Hope this wasn't too confusing for you, as I've never written on the subject before on the blog. If you happen to watch one of the demonstrations above tell me what you think.

Maria

Reviews: Sing Street, The Story Of O & more...

A bunch of reviews gathered in one post of recent books and films I read/watched.
If you have any recommendations, go ahead! And I hope you will enjoy this post as well.


1. Fangirl / Rainbow Rowell

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This is the story: one time when Boris and I were walking to our band rehearsal, I found a bunch of books in a pile by the road. I picked some up, the above was one of them. By the first glance it looked nothing more than a fast food literature thing, made for you to read it as a cheap Hollywood comedy movie in your head. They even had illustrations of the characters inside, so you won't be exerting your little brain too hard:

seriously, this was in the book. Can you guess who the main character is? Oh, she's already on the cover, at least I think that's she, need to double check...

Besides, what kind of name is "Rainbow" anyway?
But - I was happy, or should I say relieved, to find out that it's a very cute book. It's basically your average awkward nerdy teen who starts college, and how she writes a gay fanfic in the process (of a book that purposely imitates Harry Potter).

Now, I could easily understand why the person threw this book to the streets, but in fact reading it was a lot of fun - I was happy to read something light for a change, and honestly many scenes were hilarious. The average teenage girl in all of us would relate to this.

This is as a whole a very sweet book about growing up and about writing - I loved how the main character experiences her biggest hobby and how she identifies through it.
As someone who writes gay fiction as a hobby I was embarrassed (in a good way) of how much this book spoke to me. So if you're looking for a "popcorn read" that will leave you with a very positive feeling in the end, this is it!

2.  The Story Of O / Pauline Reage

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So the books I found by the road? This was one of them as well. 

I had no idea what this is until I read the description, which tempted the reader that this was a famous predecessor to Fifty Shades Of Grey.

Now, this is the best part - the cover above is the same as on my book, only on my book the words "before Fifty Shades Of Grey" were hidden with a white sticker, presumably to cover up the embarrassment of reading this on public transport!!!!! At this point, I had no doubt that the person who threw out the books was female (the power of deduction!).

So I have never read an erotic novel before and honestly had no expectation for this, other than it being very trashy. Here are my conclusions:

• It is very sexual, and very graphic and erotic and everything else you would expect from this type of fiction.
• It doesn't matter where you are in the book - open it on a random page and you won't be missing any of the "plot" - she's still being fucked, or treated like dirt, or being degraded by a man.
• There are some quite disturbing anal sex scenes, which I was very sorry to read happened through PAIN and FORCE with the consequence of BLOOD, which made me feel very uncomfortable for women who would, through the pages of this book, read about anal sex for the very first time. That's not how it is you guys, please, go watch a how-to youtube video or something.

From a feminist perspective this is a complete disaster, and while I find absolutely nothing wrong with submissive fantasies of women by the hands of men, some sentences in the book made me cringe. And well, the whole idea of the husband of the main character bringing her to this huge sex mansion for other men to torture her because he "loves her" made no sense at all. That's not how you start a healthy sub-dom relationship, let alone fix your marriage. Just go read a wiki-how, you will get more of a "hands on" approach.

And here's the juicy part: reading arouses me. Reading of any fiction, of any topic. Processing words through my mind somehow triggers something in my body, oh my! So reading an erotic novel, well - it did what it should do and it was hot as hell. I only read it till half, seriously it was enough. Unfortunately I haven't got to the lesbian sex part, silly me...

3. Sing Street

This is a movie for all 80s and/or music lovers - a group of teenagers in Dublin form a band, make music videos and style themselves up, to make their lower class lives more interesting with the dream of moving away to London some day.

It was a cute coming of age movie, with great fashion and fun new wave music, imitating acts like The Cure & Duran Duran in a sweet childish way. But that's pretty much it, I cannot say it was emotionally swooping or anything.

And from Boris' perspective: no one can play their first ever gig at a high school gym that successfully. It's all lies, the poor sound engineering will fail you on your first song, not to mention shitting your tight ass pants!

But if you are looking for some style inspo, this is definitely the film to watch.

Source

4. Hangover Square / Patrick Hamilton

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A while ago I googled "most depressing books" and this one came up. Apparently this is a world classic and I am yet to see the film adaptation.

Anyhow, there's this loser guy who is so obsessed with his female friend that through a weird split-personality narrative he realizes he has to kill her.

This is a sad book about sad people. It's filled with cruelty, alcohol abuse (resulting in more sadness and cruelty), aimlessness and low self-esteem. If all this sounds curious to you, by all means go read this book.

For me personally, this book was less about "decadent sadness" but more about "pitiful sadness". I just felt sorry for the main character the entire time. The way he talks to himself in all his changing moods is very interesting to read, great for watching the world decay through a loser's eyes. Alas, you have been warned.

That would be all for today, write me some recommendation on what to read next!

Maria

Reviews: Miss Peregrine's, The VVITCH, Crimson Peak and more...

Here are some of the things that I've read and watched in the last couple of months. Do you know any of those? Share your thoughts in the comments!


1. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children / Ranson Riggs

 

          Source                &                 Source

I was very excited to get my hands on this book because it looked very macabre and dark, and features a bunch of old eerie photographs inside! I have to say that the idea of putting a story through forgotten pictures of the past is very charming, and I think the process of writing this was exciting for the author.

Sadly, I got disappointed. Why? Because I kind of wanted it to be more depressing and less "childish". It is in the end a children's/ young adult book, and I kind of felt it. I guess the Tumblr holy grail provided by the pictures in this book got my hopes up in reading something truly painful and depressing, but this book is just another fairy tail. I wouldn't buy the trilogy, and I would probably sell the book soon. The pictures are worth it and I would love to see the film (Eva Green!!!). 

I mean, it has a lot of beautiful ideas and thoughts, but I've expected a bit more.

2.  Zootopia

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You guys - I watched this movie a few days ago and I completely fell in love with it! The thing is, talking animals in movies was a huge part of my childhood so whenever comes yet another one, it's pretty hard to disappoint me.

What I like a lot about this kind of movies is the "universe" the producers have created: Zootopia is this city where all animals live and behave like human beings (my 5 years old self is screaming!). A huge animal metropolis, made very NYC-wise, of course. The animation rocks!

Another really cool thing was the themes the movie dealt with: we have a young female bunny who wants to be a cop, a job only suitable for big animals - feminism; we have the small animals who fear and don't trust big animals, mostly predators, despite everyone in the city acting "civil" - racism, prejudice.

This movie is one clever allegory, and I know the trailer caught a lot of attention with the slots scene, but I personally think the trailer sucks! There are so many cool moments in the film, and the best part are shrews!

3. The Taxidermist's Daughter / Kate Mosse

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Raise your hand if you like And Also The Trees! Good, because this book is for you!

I am not familiar with English romanticism, but this book is exactly that: English countryside, bad weather, moody main character, untrustworthy residents and of course:
a mysterious d e a t h...

I enjoyed this book immensely, because I wanted to read something gloomy and romantic, and I got it, and I was satisfied! (unlike with Miss Peregrine's)

I swear I could hear And Also The Trees playing in the background, because everything I knew to be associated with them I could feel through the pages. Needless to say, I would die for it to become a film! And I want to read more stuff by Kate Mosse now.

All in all this is a beautiful gothic (but not cheesy!) tale and I highly recommend it, especially if the weather allows it (I read this when it was 25C degress outside and it really didn't fit the mood XD ).

4. Crimson Peak 

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Moving along the gothic category, I watched this also recently and found this film to be very "normal" for a gothic film. The director made Pan's Labyrinth which is one of my favorite movies ever, but this one was a bit weak. I don't like the actress playing the main character, and the plot was a bit questionable. This is a ghost-story film, but not only. It has horror elements that are quite good.

Personally, these sort of films don't scare me as much as they just upset me - I watched it as a romantic drama film and I liked it I guess. It's visually stunning but I would say that's all there is to it. Still worth a shot though if you still wear your Victorian skirt and lace corset to parties from time to time.

Warning/ Spoiler alert: it has the most lifeless sex scene I have ever seen.

5. The VVITCH

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Alright, this is probably the best witch movie I have ever seen. First things first, it was marketed as a horror film. and it is SO not! 

Again, I tend to watch potentially scary movies as a huge metaphor, so my review will be very subjective, but I watched it as a historical and a religious film, as a family-story, and above all: as a coming of age film.

It kept me thinking about many things not concerning witchcraft after I watched it, and that's why I like this move - because it has so much to offer.

On another note, the language in the film is a bit difficult to understand because they speak in old English there, but it's quite exciting, because the director collected the dialogues from original diary entries of people dealing with witchcraft in that time.

Not to mention it's visually beautiful. The atmosphere is very eerie and let me tell you - there are only 2 adult actors in the movie, the rest are kids, who completely blew my mind with their acting!!

I recommend this a bunch for everyone, I see you Tumblr people!

Maria

Ankh choker by Twirly Trinkets- Etsy shop review

Looking at various online stores inspired by 90s fashion made me crave for a choker, but unlike usually I kind of wanted it to be more goth.

I was happy to find an ankh choker on Etsy sold by a shop called Twirly Trinkets. Little did I know that I´ve contacted the sweetest seller in the world.
Seriously, I have been very happy about how personal purchasing on Etsy can get, but I just had fun writing to the seller, Penny, back and forth and I really could feel the person on the other side caring a bunch about her costumer. Needless to say the item came in perfect condition and looks absolutely beautiful:

It was tricky taking a picture of the ankh when facing the window light.
Also, this is a black curtain behind me to have a decent background for selfies at last. I am giving you production value here, people!

I loved a lot of items in the shop as well, I think the various chokers can go great with different styles, I loved the velvet ones especially. Also the prices are just right.

I have missed some classical gothic jewelry, but I like how simple these ones are, most goth chokers have way too much detail for my taste. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Have a wonderful weekend!

N. Finsternis

Lipstick collection part I of IV: Pinks

I love lipsticks, it is my favorite part in my makeup routine. Sometimes I wear a different shade each day, sometimes I stick to one and use specific shades only for going out. I currently own 16 different lipstick shades, which mainly consist of the following colors: pinks, browns, reds and purples/ bordeaux (aside from 2 shades which stray from the lot).
All the lipsticks I own are from a few months till a couple of years old. I have never finished a lipstick and don´t usually go crazy on buying new ones, I rather cherish the ones I have and don´t stray from the usual shades.
This is the first of four posts about my lipstick collection, going gradually from the ones I like towards my favorites.

I do not use lipliner to outline my lips, so don´t be surprised if the way I put the product on is not perfect. It works for me and looks rather well, so I do not care if some applications are uneven. Needless to say that the following 4 posts will contain numerous selfies.

2 lipsticks are not included in the picture

You can see that most of my collection is Golden Rose, P2 and Careline. A review and info on each will be given.

I began wearing pink lipsticks just this past year after mostly wearing dark shades. These are probably the colors I most rarely wear, with the exclusion of the Golden Rose No. 56, which you saw a couple of posts back. Let´s get started:

1. Random dark pink

I fucking used photoshop for this!!!

This shade was found in a random shop, the company of it is not even written on the tube. I bought this at a chinese owned store, so I can imagine this product being made in China? I usually don´t buy miscellaneous products, but I thought this shade would be more brown. I was wrong, as it is somewhere on the scale of pink and wine red. It also doesn´t last long and is pretty transparent on the lips, so I would use it for lighter looks (but that´s what you get for 1 euro lipsticks...).

 These 2 pictures were taken a day before I worked on this post, so aside from these, all other selfies will be of a consistent pattern, as well as with closeups on the lips.

2. P2 404 Wall Street

P2 are a daughter company of the local German drugstore, DM. Their products are cruelty free and super cheap, that´s why you will see a lot of P2s in here. It is very important for me to use cruelty free products, and most of my lipsticks are.

This shade is yet another "surprise", since I thought it would look a lot browner on the lips (it did on my hand when I tried it at the store). However, this is a lovely cool shade of pink and is not that bad, but far too delicate for my taste.

Fun Fact: I hate nude lipsticks. Why would you buy a color that has no color for your lips?? Isn´t that the whole point of lipsticks?! Blast a handful of concealer on your lips for all I care. So many questions that bother me in this world....

3. Golden Rose 56 

You have seen me wearing this one lately, and I can´t talk about Golden Rose lipsticks enough. My lips are always very dry, and Golden Rose have the perfect creamy consistency which is a lot of fun to wear. They last long too. This shade I bought while visiting my family in Uzbekistan last September (Golden Rose is a Turkish company which does not sell in Germany). Other Golden Rose lipsticks I bought in Israel at the time. 

Unfortunately, there is no info on their website regarding the products being cruelty free, so I apologize for that.

I like how this color has this amusing 80s, fashionable grandma meets "I will embarrass myself with my bimbo lips" kind of thing going on. It also looks fun with my orange hair. Never would I have touched this color with a stick a few years back, hehe.

4. P2 100 Oxford Street

 Continuing with the P2s, aka - lipsticks which turned out to be not what they seem. This is the color I wear least, after 401 Wall Street (what´s the deal with those big apple names?). It is just another somewhat natural and flattering pink, looks a lot more reddish in the tube... what can I say. It´s not interesting, not even on the day when you don´t feel like putting interesting makeup on.
It does kind of give freshness to mah face, but I am a funeral-lipstick kind of person...

 5. Manhattan Lips2Last lip stain

The featured lip stain is the pink one, the red one will be featured in the "reds" post.

To conclude this post, these 2 lip staines weren´t featured in the picture above. As mentioned before, my lips are super dry, which makes wearing lips staining products impossible. Not to mention this product also has a primer-like gel on its other end, which allows the lipstick... -wait for it-.................. 2 last! (lol), which is a great deal for a very good price. However, my lips felt like having a 2 centimeter coat of cement on them when I applied this product, which after hours of them peeling off, made me stick to conventional cream products only.

But we know who likes lip stains more than anyone- Karoliina of Bones And Lilies! She also did a review on those, so if you are a lip stain kind of person I suggest you check what she has to say :)

Yet I know someone else who likes this lip stain a looot more than me. Boris wears this product very often to his concerts, and he can tell you that Lips2Last stays well, is a lot easier for him to apply than normal lipsticks and has a kickass shade.

 Boris is topless not for more sass, it´s because I just caught him before he was about to take a shower.

Naturally, Boris gave me hell with this review, so I had a lot of trouble making him look serious for a change. He will demonstrate the red lip stain in the following post, so stay tuned!

N. Finsternis

Book Review: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Earlier this month I told you about the book Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: & Other Lessons from the Crematory- the stories told by Caitlin Doughty after her working in a crematory.
Now that I have read the book I can review it for you guys.

The book is basically a memoir written by Doughty, featuring her first ever experience with the death industry, her studying in mortuary school later on and her establishing The Order Of The Good Death.

It is a book about her personal experience with working with death (as a job and concept) as well as a book about the death industry. I was happy to dive into her own confrontation with dead bodies, mourning customers of the crematory she worked at and the way she herself described the subject of death and dying and how her view on it is changed throughout the book.

Though I was also excited that the book had a lot of information about the trade in itself: what practically happens in a crematory, how bodies are embalmed (I was equally grossed and satisfied with that very detailed chapter) and how the death industry established itself in the United States.

If you are someone completely new to the subject then you have a lot to discover about the trade in this book. The historical information provided was very interesting for me, I am happy that I stumbled across a book which turned out to be so educational!

As for the perspective on death part, I personally wasn´t new to the subject of death, as we subcultural people do come across it in it´s philosophical sense quite often. I liked that Doughty presented the way people address death nowadays, and how the death industry profits from selling caskets and "death packages" like any other business in the world, which is a bit sad considering the different ways we can embrace death (not in the goth way of the word).

There is a lot of room for wondering about the subject of mortality in the book. Doughty´s life story and her personal development as a "character" in the book provided a sort of a plot, which is exactly what one might expect from a memoir.

It left a very touching feeling when I finished it. I delayed finishing this book, it was a lot of fun to read, easy yet deep, grim yet funny with lots and lots of juicy details. I recommend!

N. Finsternis

Lancaster skin care products review

Woah, a skin care product review! That´s too high end for me.... but when Boris´ parents visited us in December 2013, his mother brought some Lancaster products for me as a gift (she is a fan of the line). I was very grateful for receiving a dozen samples and a few masks, despite the following:

• I don´t usually use skin care products except for facial cremes. I generally have no idea what they are for/ if they will change anything in my life.
• I am a poor student and obviously have no money (and therefore no curiosity) for most quality skin care products.

But half a year has passed since then (omg) and I can now do a review for you, because why not!
Since this whole sphere is very unexplored, this is more of  "your average idiot" review ;)

Good news!

Lancaster are cruelty free, so huge thumbs up for that one! 

A list of what I´ve got as a whole, and reviews on the products I´ve used + pictures are below.

1. Flash smoothing scrub
2. Flash purity mask
3. Flash hydration mask
4. Cleansing foam
5. Purifying perfecting toner (face water)
6. A sample of eye cream
7. A dozen samples of perfecting night creme.
8. Cleanser milk

That´s a lot of stuff! I´ve tried everything except for the milk, the toner I´ve tried only once and it was weird. so here we go:

1. Lancaster Flash Smoothing Scrub

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I wasn´t "getting" almost all of the products except this scrub. It felt really good, and my face was really smooth the day after.
The scrub is very orange with even more orange sand-like stuff in. I remember having a scrub in my early teens, it wasn´t bad, so maybe that´s why I enjoyed Lancaster´s scrub as well.

So yeah, I recommend!





2. Lancaster Flash Purity Mask

ok so this was a cool mask. I normally don´t know what masks are for, not using them usually, and you know, I don´t see my skin turning flawless so why should I care?
But generally speaking this mask was very relaxing. The consistence is creamy and transparent, and when left on face either burns (pleasantly) or cools (also pleasantly). I felt my skin interacting with it, so I thought ok, it works then!





3. Lancaster Flash Hydration Mask

Now, this shit was weird. Linking the pics from the website I can now see that there is a reasonable explanation for each product, when you need it, why you need it. I haven´t red it yet and for the shear humor of this post I would say that this mask is weird. It is a light turquoise cream, which gets super hard and cemented on face after a few seconds!!! It gets so hard I couldn´t move my mouth. Washing wasn´t a problem, but I didn´t feel so relaxed and nice after it like after the Purity Mask. So I have no idea what this is for. Probably to contain the sexist imagery of women wearing green masks with cucumbers in order to scare male flat mates.


4. Lancaster Cleansing Foam

This was horrific. Seriously, I have nothing positive to say about the foam. It says on the foam that it can even be used as a makeup remover. Well I tell you it´s a damn lie. Even my cheapy cleansing gel from the drug store did a better job removing already removed makeup leftovers + oil makeup remover from my face leaving zero trace. This foam was stupid, I just wanted to finish it so I can buy my cheapy gel.....
so yeah, not recommended at all...

5. Lancaster Purifying Perfecting Toner

This is basically facial water, put it on a cotton pad, rub over face and that´s it. I didn´t really get it, it wasn´t as excited as the other products.

6. Lancaster Eye Cream

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I couldn´t find the picture of the sample online. But I guess the product would look like this? My sample was beige colored, so maybe not...
On time as a photoshoot a very unhappy model told me that I am still too young to understand the importance of eye cream in my life. So when I had to use Lancaster´s eye cream I had low expectations. Yet this cream was amazing!!!!! It really lifted the area around my eyes in very tired mornings, it felt absolutely great! It didn´t make my eyes big though, which was quite disappointing, but I really loved it still. This was the best product from everything I had, I really recommend it!

7. Lancaster Perfecting Night Cream

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I have like a ton of samples of this cream. So far so good, I still have my own night cream so I don´t use this one a lot. But I loved the texture of the cream, it is the exact fatness as I would like, and it smells lovely. I use it as a day cream sometimes.

So there you go, straight forward with my inexperienced opinion.

Do you use skin care products? Which would you recommend?

N. Finsternis