“The way I look is just part of it. It sounds affected but I do see myself as a piece of art. People do accuse me of being just decoratve or an escapist. Well, I am. That’s what I do. So long as they realize that I am other things as well.” – Klaus Nomi

Today as sitting eating snickerdoodles with Blue Mayhem soaking on my hair. I thought about all us women go through everyday between makeup, hair to create an image of ourselves. I personally lurve cranking up the stereo, heading to the bathroom and creating new versions of myself through makeup or hair color, I feel almost a sense of therapy as I brush a bright new color onto myself. For many years now, I have been personally fascinated by cosmetics and makeup art. Every time I see someone with amazing facial bone structure and strange features I want to kidnap them and make them up a’la Klaus Nomi. I believe that EVERYONE has something beautiful about them.

In my search for the perfect visage for myself, I have tried out endless amounts of beauty products to find some of the best ones that would be worth my money spent and give the best results. Some of these products may seem expensive, but in the long run could save you time and money of not having to try a bunch of products that don’t work.

Now, I know many of you guys are going… “Argh Miss D! This has nothing to do with me!” Well, hold your horses… read on for you many find great gift ideas for any of those females in your life. A great present for any woman would be a gift card to Sephora.com or to her favorite hair salon.

Now on with the show…

Hair

• Styling Tools: CHI Iron- I’ve tried the all the rest, this is the best straightener out there!
• Hair Dye: Special Effects- Great color selections and lasts the longest compared to other brands such as Manic Panic and Raw. Since I have had a spectrum of different wild hair colors, I have used many different combinations of their dyes. In the future I’ll do a post on hair color and how to’s sharing some of my dying tricks and favorite colors!
• Conditioner: Aussie Three Minute Miracle “Deep”- Since put my hair through so much after all the straightening (im naturally very curly!) and dying I need a powerhouse of a conditioner to fix the damage. It’s cheap and three minutes with this and my hair is saying THANK YOU!
• Deep Conditioner: Coconut Oil! It may sound strange but it works so well, if you want to get that high gloss shine. Set some of this on your head for a few hours and then rinse out with some clarifying shampoo! So soft and shiny!

Makeup

• Powder/Foundation: Mac Studio Fix- After a search for the perfect powder MAC Cosmetics once again proves to be the best, a tad bit expensive but worth it due to it’s amazing coverage, matte/non oily formula and almost photo shop like results….it’s a wise investment with a wide range of shades with names like C3 (that’s me!) and NC15 sounds like I should be looking for John Connor but it’s a technological wonder than should not be feared! Use a kabuki brush for best results.. plus it’s fun to say kabuki.
• Concealer: Benefit Boi-ing- Party hard? No worries…Best under eye concealer!
• Moisturizer: Nivea Creme- Just can’t get enough! Use a little to put on before makeup application, helps keep skin plump and powder set. Can get at any CVS or drugstore!
• Mascara: Max Factor Volume Couture-Waterproof and give you doll like lashes without the clumps and mess. Fake lashes in a tube!
• Matte Powder: Coastal Scents Silica Powder- I’ve tried that expensive HD powder and this works exactly the same. Stops all shine, all night. $4 for a huge jar. A must have for Florida humidity!
• Primer/Sealer: Mehron Barrier Spray- For all you folk that do performance or for ANYONE who wants their makeup to last ALL day. I HIGHLY recommend Mehron Barrier Spray, first introduced to me by a female impersonator. I have used this spray for years now on the most humid, sweaty days and hottest Florida nights. It’s awesome, non pore clogging and keeps all that hard work from sliding off.
• Eye Primer- Coastal Scents Eye Primer- Light, cheap and works like a charm!
• Stage Makeup: Kryolan- When I went to Berlin (where Kryolan has their HQ) it was the mecca of amazing makeup. My favorite is their UV creme eye shadows that glow under black light, always sure to get complements and come in BRIGHT neon colors. Just make sure you get a pack of nylon brushes from any art store to apply these cremes since they can be quite tricky to apply with normal natural bristled brushes. You can buy these in America from Shrinkle over on Ebay.
• Face Wash: Shea Moisture Black Soap- I am bananas for this soap, it’s done a miracle for my skin. It’s made from plaintains, tar, ash and shea butter. It’s not only cleared my skin up but has toned it and shrunk my pores. I don’t know but if I could get a gallon of this I would never stray. It’s amazing and you can pick it up at Target for $5!
  

Do you have a beauty tip you would like to share? I would love to hear any of your tips, tricks or favorite holy grail products and might feature it in a feature Destructo Deviation post. I am still looking for an awesome hairspray and color care shampoo! Let me know your recommendations!

Sanyo VPC CG10- Not only does it look like a weapon, this camera is a media powerhouse ready to destroy the competition. I have been oohing and ahhing over this little gem for months now, forget the Flip Mino. This is a HD Mini Cam you want, not only does it take HD video but it also takes 10 Megapixel still shots and amazing macro shots. Something that this cam has that the Flip and other camera doesn’t have is a 5x zoom! It has been sold out of stores for months but starting this July is being stocked up again for around $199. Once I get a job, this will be the first thing I buy in celebration yes, there will be video of my celebration dance in high definition.

Jump Shoes- Bladerunner meets functional and comfortable shoes that will stay fashionable way into the future. I finally as a tall woman, found heels that aren’t ridiculously high or hard to walk in. Get the Jean Paul Gautier looks without the cost, these shoes are priced from $20 to $150, and I recommend looking on Amazon.com for cheap Jump Shoe bargains. One day my closet will be filled with these. Men, they have some incredible and sexy men’s styles as well!

Knitted Faux Boots- Make your old shoes fun and fashionable again with these Knitted Faux Boots from Lesha’s Workshop. I can only imagine the possible new shoe combinations to have with these amazing inventions. Lesha is a knitter of the future, a doll and a great new twitter friend of mine, please check out the rest of her store!

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment- I am a hair product junkie, you name it I have probably tried it to tame my unruly curly hair into submission. Even with short hair, the thing I hate most is having to wait to dry my hair to put it through it’s rigorous flat iron and dye regime.
This product I first sampled from Bang Salon is amazing, it not only cuts my drying time by half but doesn’t strip my color, I do also notice that my hair is much more smooth after using this product. Super fantastic hair technology!!!

West End Coffee- Greenville’s own West End Coffee, makes some of the best flavored coffee I have ever experienced. It doesn’t just smell heavenly, but tastes just like the description. My current favorite is the Jamacian Me Crazy, and it does. Warning: Brewing this in your house may make your neighbors jealous.

What’s got your attention this month?
-Miss Destructo

I realized something powerful sitting in the closet last Thursday, okay crazy lady what were you doing pondering life IN the closet? Well, as far as I know it was the hand of God reaching down to give me a good shake as the sky grew dark and the dog started act crazier than Richard Simmons in a Burger King. A few minutes later, a huge gust of wind (75 MPH) that lasted for about 10 minutes swept past leaving us all without power and being from Florida, I knew this could possibly be fun funnel cloud action. I grabbed the pooch and hit the closet, then I realized the power of nature not only of nature itself but the time we have in it, are we really in control of what happens or just what we do with the time in those moments? It’s quite amazing how much things can change in just a few minutes.

This was significantly poignant to me, as my hair isn’t the only thing that has blue lately, the past few weeks have taken quite a toll with all the changes that are on the horizon. I feel that the stars are finally aligning for me right now but why the heck do I still feel like the summertime blues are kicking in?

Well, I had to leave Florida at the worst possible time with my father having severe pains in his leg (herniated disc) and also the day of getting a swarming infection in his other leg. Being he’s there home by himself, I must say I have pretty worried about this. I really shouldn’t be since he’s under a few doctors care and things are being taken care of needless to say, it’s hard being so far away, especially since he has the family curse of being clumsy and accident prone. I felt quite helpless knowing, I could not stay and that it wasn’t up to me to make things change in that situation.

We also returned home in Greenville to “a new neighbor sandwich”, with new tenants above and on the side of us, this upon lots of lots of uncertainty for the future turned into a nice illness (which I swear is my body trying to get rid of Florida). Searching for new housing and still on the job search, I am keeping my head up since I have a feeling that things could change very soon for the better!

It’s funny as far as motivation goes, I have written down tons of things I would love to do right now now since my mind is still going strong (a bit too much recently) but my body is trying to work hard to regain my energy. I honestly believe that this could be happening for a reason, maybe I am supposed to saving my creativity for more useful things right now than organizing all the photos on my hard drive.

Here’s some of the wonderful part of my week that have brought inspiration to help me get back in the swing of things.

• West End Coffee- The Jamaican Me Crazy blend is caramel heaven!
• Addy’s Midnight Deviant Tweetup featuring The Brand Builder. It was a great thing to do after the storm that night! Addy the owner is super cool and I can’t wait to see what he’s got planned next for Greenville.
• Mark Malkoff- Yep he’s the guy who spent a month in IKEA, now he’s on an Airtran plane for a month! His tweets have kept me laughing all week. Maybe I should live in a car for a month to get over my fear of driving?
• Frozen Plasma- No, I didn’t get a blood transfusion. They are a synthpop band from Germany, with motivational lyrics and a futuristic sound. Looking for new music? I would check these guys out. The new CD Monumentum comes out on July 7th, you can get it in the US now through Metropolis Records!
• Carnivale- Yes, the HBO Series about the circus folk, actually it’s more about good and evil. You’ll need your thinking caps for this one and a solid religious background or wikipedia handy for this one. It’s quite the puzzle. We just got both of the seasons on DVD. My new phrase being “Don’t make me go all Brother Justin on your ass!”
• Adam Lambert- If I had I twin, it would probably end up being him. He’d steal my flat iron, my makeup and my blue hair dye. I would steal everything out of his closet. He’s a real inspiration, not just because of the whole American Idol deal but all of the personal issues and struggles he’s had to endure being a little different than the rest.

I can say though, being blue isn’t always a bad thing. This is more a transitional period with the problematic emotional conflicts that come with the choosing the right path. I have always been some what of a perfectionist when it comes to these sort of things, making sure I am doing the right thing at this point in my life. It’s okay to feel this way, sometimes we need this pause to bring inspiration back to us… there’s always calm before the storm.