You can never remove the past, but you can learn from it

In 2016 I learned,

- Don't get ahead of yourself, and know your limits. There is only so much you can do, and don't feel bad for being human - 

- Make memories, you never know when you'll loose someone from this world, or dying yourself for that matter -

- That you need to take care people who are good for you, and block out the noise from anyone else, not everybody is as good as they say they are -

- Continue to explore the world, and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Life start on the end of your nose -

- Set boundaries for yourself and demand the respect you deserve, and most importantly don't feel bad about it. Nobody will set limits for you. - 

- Continue to work hard, and prioritize what's important for you - 

My new years resolutions

- Blog twice a week, Wednesday and Sunday - 

- Bake more- 

- Publish a video once a week-

- Eat vegetarian for the entire of February (And vlog it), and continue eating more vegetarian friendly forward -

- Try and reach 500 subscribers on youtube, and set yourself plan to achieve this - 

- Update the portfolio with at least 4 pictures in each category -

- Start swimming once a week, and step up your game as you get used to a routine - 

- Cut down on the soda and general refined sugar intake - 

- Wear well done makeup at least once a week - 

- Explore more -


2017, I'm ready for you

The five types of people you'll meet in a makeup store

In a makeup store (the more high end specialized ones), there is a number of different people you'll meet. Makeup enthusiasts are the most colorful, fun, bitchy, annoying, nice and arrogant people you'll meet.

The secret makeup artist

These are the girls (and boys, but for the sake of this post, I'll generalize a tad) that are slaying the makeup game. And they do not bother to apply makeup to themselves on a day to day basis unless they have to. These girls often get overlooked by the cashier if they haven't shopped there before a lot, many don't want help and find everything out themselves and because of their makeup-less face they can often get seen as a customer that isn't going to buy anything. When these girls walk around the MAC counter, they're screaming "You have no idea what I am capable of" in a icky serial killer voice. 

"I have no clue"

These are the people who has no idea about makeup, and more often then not do not bother to take the time to learn it or to apply makeup. They just want to look like the women in magazines without putting in the effort, and blindly trust the poor saleswoman to give them exactly the products they want without telling them. Because apparently when you work with sale you're supposed to know what a person want, even if they don't know it themselves. These again divide into two categories, the sweet clueless lambs, who'll be happy to be guided and once they've found their favorites they never change. And the second is the bratty ones, they often insult the cashier and other costumers by ensuring everybody they're not vain, that makeup is a waste of time and that they're only here because *Blank* told them to. They'll get good recommendations, but only follow half of it, like buying a foundation, but not a concealer because it's so expensive, and then complain about their dark circles not getting covered later. 

The painting canvas

These are the people who has not gotten the quote less is more. You do not need seven layers of foundation, drag queen styled contour, over lined lip, false lashes and a black smokey eye combined on a day to day basis. I love a full face makeup, I do, but when your face look more like a mask then your actual face, it's time to re-evaluate your makeup choices. On the other hand, these get flooded with attention from the cashiers, because they can see it's easy to make a sale. So I guess it's a perfect technique in a crowded store. 

The swatcher

I am so guilty of this. I come in looking for one item, and I am walking out like a Picasso piece. The swatcher needs to see every single shade of bubblegum pink there is, before buying the one they picked in the first place. And they take up so much space, room and frankly, there is a limit to how different a bubble pink shade can be. 

The boyfriend
Dear ladies, if your boo buys you (the right) makeup, keep him forever. 
But in the store? Poor fellow. This is the guy who can not see the difference between a royal blue and a turquoise. He's probably buying his girl something for a celebration, or he messed up real good. But either way, you can't help but feel sorry for him as he looks at the MAC lipstick counter like a lost puppy. 

Saturdays occupation

Weekends are the perfect time to unwind, relax and work on different projects, I'm currently making a nose mould for a witch look I got going on. And I know my cast is ugly, it's quite worn, so this will probably be it's last use before tossing it and making a new cast to work on. I'm thinking about making a sculpture over it (with clean, unused clay) and use it as an art piece, I haven't decided completely yet. Anyways, this sculpt isn't finished just yet, it still need some final touches, but the shape is in now. Have you been working on any creative projects lately?

My daily blog routine

As a blogger we develop certain routines, consciously or unconsciously. In a day to day basis, I honestly think about my blog, new posts, things I should have done at least 10 times a day.. When I wake up in the morning, I'll check in on views and comments that have come during the night and catch up. I don't normally wake up too early (hehe..) so I usually do this while waking up, in my bed dreading to get out. But if I do wake up earlier, then I'll check up while having breakfast and coffee. If I have some minutes to spare I'll check in on bloglovin and comment/view other blogs. And when I head to school I usually take a break, but in some classes (EDIT! We have long breaks on Wednesdays, I was thinking about this when I wrote it, I stay out in class of course, haha!) where I don't sit with my friends I'll check in and write a little bit.

After school time depend on how much spare time I've had 

Now the routine after school changes depending on how much spare time I've had that last week. If I haven't got a lot of time to spare then I don't have any photos already taken or pre-written posts. That means that when I get home I'll start photographing for my daily post and writing it. I have a calendar with blog posts, so I don't need to spend time to find a topic each day. To spice up my blog and fit in some everyday posts I can alter the way I want if something exiting comes up, but sadly I'm very bad at carrying around my camera. This is why my blog posts this year has been published quite late, simply because I don't have as much spare time as I used to. (*Ehrm* I hate math)

And if I have had more spare time I'll already have a couple of good articles pre-written and ready to be published. So I'll sit back and make myself a cup of coffee, and start on next the days posts or photograph product pictures. This enables me to write better articles and hang out with family and friends right after school, I so try to make time for this whenever I can. 

Moving on I'll make dinner, do homework, meet friends and family, sculpt/draw/doodle and just have a couple of hours doing other things then my blog. And again at night I'll check in, write a bit on some blogposts and comment on more blogs. 

I hope you find this interesting, I sure love seeing other peoples routines around blogging and youtube filming, but then again I could just be a curious Georg. 

One month of blog post ideas

1. Blog about a restaurant, cafè and so on you like with potential for great photos

2. Write about a bad experience with a brand or store

3. Share your favorite dessert recipe

4. Share your skincare routine, for summer, winter, spring and autumn

5. Share your reading list

6. Write a book review

7. Your best hair care tips

8. Review your styling irons

9. Makeup with glasses

10. Your lipstick collection

11. Pictures from your latest travel

12. Review a beauty product

13. Write about current cult products

14. Add a favorite of the month slit

15. Share your favorite blogs, instagram, snapchats. 

 16. Have a desk tour

17. A makeup collection video

18. A makeup tutorial

19. Share some of your latest artwork (if you have any)

20. Do a testing of a product and share your experience

21. Similarly, try a miracle cure or hack and see if it works

22. Share an everyday experience (make sure to write it interesting)

23. Make a jewelry collection tour 

24. What styling products you use

25. What's in my bag

26. How-to post (how to make your eyes look bigger, nose smaller)

27. Your packing tips

28. Your music playlist

29. Your travel essentials

30. Your beauty emergency kit

31. Your all time go-to product

Advice on creating without fear

Every artist goes through that stage of hating their own work. This is a very important capability to have, because it's what pushes us forward and seeing the faults in our work and improving it. But it's also the capability that makes us scared to fail, dissatisfied and constrain our work.  

Recognize your fear. In the end, creating art is a way of being validated. We want to be good enough and creative enough. But the keyword in this is we. Every artist face this fear with every single artwork, so you're not alone, and your biggest idols are also just as scared as you. But the difference between the locked artist and the successful artist, they recognize their fear, and deal with it. Doing something regardless and putting it out there is the way to deal with your fear. 

Someone will always hate you regardless. On the contrary to the point below, even though nobody cares in the end, there will always be a person who dislikes the fact that you're sticking out, the fact that you do something better then them or that they simply have decided not to like you. You can't please everyone. Fuck them, and do your own thing. When you're successful the people who were "embarrassed", will come crawling back. Use this motivation and the frustration of hate, and transform it into something great, and use this to improve yourself.

Breath. Take a breath and relax. So what if your work is shit, in the end nobody really cares. And the general public is often very impressed with the most amateurish work. So don't worry, it doesn't really matter, and you can just toss it or wipe it of out if you don't like it. You got the practice and that's what matters. 

Discover different styles. Try an artstyle you've never tried before, fear of creating can often lead to artblock, so keep your skills intact and don't get pushed into a routine. Maybe you even discover some tricks to use in your personal style. 

Walk around with a notebook. Our brains will often stop ideas flowing if it's stressed. If you can't come up with an idea, then unconsciously you'll stress about the fact that nothing comes up. And when you relax, there is a good chance a good one will come up when you least expect it. The famous J.K. Rowling said her idea for Harry Potter came to her whilst the was on a crowded train.

There is a beauty to the process of creating, and how boring would it be if we were all great from the start?

Going au naturel

In these dark and gloomy days it's important to find time to unwind and relax. I've been meeting up with my parents a lot lately and it's so calming to have a good cup of coffee, a chat and re-assurance that you're going to be fine. 

A needed break

Me and my dad, decided to grab a bite at Dromedar Kaffebar. If you're ever in Norway and crave a good cup of coffee, make sure to head into this place, they won Café of the year this year. 

I met him right after school, and I was having a chill day, so I didn't wear any makeup. I've recently had a breakout, so I gave my skin a day to breathe after treating it with the skincare from Picaut, and the breakouts have calmed completely down. 

I haven't even dyed my brows yet, so I don't have the usual definition in my face I at least get. But it is so nice not wearing makeup to school, no worries about rubbing it off or feeling like I have a mask on. 

Social media round up

INSTAGRAM

On instagram I post inspirational photos, and snippets from my everyday life. Perfect if you're on my blog to see photos. I won't publish all of my blog content on there, but if I am doing a makeup look or review I'll sometimes repost it. I'm getting back into instagram, so be prepared to see more exclusive pictures throughout the year as the lighting get better. 

Click here to get to my instagram

Pinterest

Pinterest is the perfect place to follow me if you're looking for inspiration. I know a lot of you click on my "Sharing is caring" slit, and on pinterest I pin the work I love and find inspiring and distribute them into category folders. 

Click here to get to pinterest

Facebook page
I haven't really gotten into facebook just yet, but I am going to use this page more then just update on my daily post, like memes, small chit-chats, polls, exclusive content and more. 

Click here to get to my facebook page

Youtube page
Youtube is my favorite platform, after blogging depending on my mood. I love creating videos and show you guys different looks. I post a mixture of beauty and sfx videos, but during halloween time I only post costume related videos. Make sure to hit subscribe if you want to see me create my creations or you want to learn how to do it yourself!

Click here to get to my youtube

Booking page

And lastly my booking page. Definitely the nicest and most professional looking page. This is of course only understandable to my Norwegian readers, but on this page you can book my services, check prices and take a look around on my portfolio work lined up. 

Click here to get to my booking page

Five lipstick shades every woman should own

As a makeup enthusiast, I've collected quite a range of colors to have on my lips. These are for reference the MAC lipsticks I had in August.. So my selection is quite huge if you know this is only half of them, and more than anyone would ever need. But there are a few shades I think all women should have have in their kit. Note the fact that these aren't necessarily my essentials, as makeup artists tend to be a another species than humans when it comes to how we want to dress up. 

A cold brown

Every woman should have some sort of cold color, light almost grey taupe to a dark chocolate brown depending on your preferences. The monotone color gives a strict, chic and stunning look, and is great for an everyday basis when you want to be extra fly, but can't or won't wear a red lip. 

A seductive red

The forties and fifties, need I say more? A red lip looks gorgeous on anyone as long as it's applied properly, and can be adjusted from vampy to fun depending on the deepness and undertone of the red. 

A lighthearted pink

The lighter shades will make your lips look fuller and bigger, top it of with a lipgloss and call it a' day. This shade is appropriate for both work, chilling and clubbing, there is no other such universal shade. And you will never waste your money on a good light pink, because it's so wearable. 

A vampy berry

My personal favorite, purple lips. A good berry lip is perfectly edgy and seductive. It makes you look sexy, but doesn't stand out like a more crazy color would, so you can wear it anywhere. For a sexy smoldering look, go for a berry shade. Take a berry gloss and make yourself look newly kissed and sexy, or vamp it up completely with Arianda Grande Viva Glam and look super cool and mysterious. 

And the eighties gone wild

Every woman should have the "This is so cool, I'd rather hang out with my bright blue lips, then listen to you all day". A crazy color you love, no matter what, to have on those 3am long nights and for dancing "Single ladies" with your girlfriends. You may not wear this to a first date, but hell of an icebreaker, isn't it? 

That elegant touch

                            |1.|2.|3.|4.|5.|6.|7.|8.|9.|

As winter comes I love a low key and more elegant touch, I've been lusting over these items for quite some time. Especially the tartelette palette as I can't get a hold of it, and so many are raving about it, so I want it even more! Today I've been buying some comfy clothes on Zara, studying (again, as always) and had a delicious meal with my dad, so even tough it's a bit stressful lately I'm having a good time either way. I am also reading "How to be a woman", so we'll see if I stop wearing sweatpants after this ;)
____________________________________________________

Have a lovely night and I hope you find yourself something nice for this upcoming valentines from the collage!

I've got the blues

There is nothing better then a well done cool toned eye makeup. I personally love the variety within the cold side of the color wheel and love both green, blue and purple, which are all so different shades compared to the warm side where everything melts together, it's the side that makes the rainbow. And even though it's cold, blue is the color of the winter, and the winter is indeed beautiful. 

This week I felt really inspired by the blue hues of the winter <3

Product picture

Pots from an old set at makeupmekka

Heavy metal eyeliner by Urban Decay in "Glam rock"

EK Glitter in "Icing"
Barry M "Teal"

Mermaid hair

Well hello there. I am Elise and I'm an elf, not really my hair is just green.
After growing out my hair and keeping it my natural color for a year I finally decided it was long enough to dye it again, and I really haven't had the chance to test green even though I've wanted it for a long time.

The upside to this dye is that I don't have to bleach or anything so it is very gentle on my natural hair, but if I wanted a more vibrant color, bleach would have been needed. So I used two rounds with Joico K-pack peacock green and it looks more blue in the daylight and green in indoors lightning.

I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you again tomorrow! 

Thank you for a wonderful 2015

This is the text I read every new years eve and hold dear to my heart. And now I am passing it on to you <3

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself" 

It is a new year, and I am sure this is going to be a good one. I already have so many great experiences lined up in 2016 that I can wait to take this year on. But first I want to look back at 2015 and even mention some things I didn't think about making a post about. 

January 

I can barely remember this long ago and I thought this was a lot longer ago, but in January and February time was my first experience with alginate, casting and proper sculpting. If you're not an SFX artist yourself you probably don't understand how big of a deal this was to me, but it's basically me taking the step from a hobbyist to starting professionally and actually making proper appliances. 

February

I didn't think February was such a busy month, but after reading some of my old posts and remembering I realized a lot happened in February. First of I started my first step into making my portfolio and started working with costumers and models and I got Kinkx it's facebook page.

Personally I lived with my grandparents on my fathers side cause I needed peace to work and my grandma had operated her hip so I helped her with cooking and cleaning. I also got confirmed what I am allergic to in hair dye, so I could continue with crazy colors. And lastly I held a lecture at my school about SFX makeup. 

March and April

It didn't happen very much in March, so I am taking it with April as well. I did do a lot of SFX and read a lot of books in March/April time. I was kind of low in March because I hated the studies I was on and there was a girl there who was constantly making me feel bad because of my values and the fact that I preferred our regular classes over hairdressing. I did have a lot of friends and my days wasn't lonely at school but it was quite hard to see. But in April both the days and I lightened up, I visited my best friend in Oslo and we had so much fun. Even though I found out medium rare steak makes me vomit because of the bacterias. Yuk.

May

In May I have birthday, I turned eighteen years old this May. I was offline and had a break from my blog because so much where happening I couldn't keep up the schedule of posting everyday. I was graduating hairdressing and in Norway we have a tradition of being "russ", so I was out partying and having fun for 17 days. 

June and July
I was traveling a lot this year so I went to Oslo one more time with my best friend, and then I went to IMATS London, which I've talked about so much this year that I will leave it with that. In July I created my own booking page for makeup which is a huge step in my freelance career, at eliseolsen.com. I was hired by some students to work with SFX on a short film and I also started working freelance for Trenpånett.no, both as a makeupartist and food video editor.



August and September
August was pretty exiting as I started a new school with different subjects to get my general admission. I life casted an entire face for the first time with proper materials and technique. In September it didn't happen so much exiting, I was and am working a lot with school, but I did get my first sponsored post and I posted my first video to go over 500 views (Pop art halloween makeup).
 


October 
I went one month with only SFX posts besides my dark halloween inspired makeup, which I plan on doing again this year if I get the time for it. It was such an exiting month because of that. And I ended up really wanting bright orange hair so I am dyeing it once it get a bit longer.




November
In November I was asked to work on the project with Helmet so I was in a planning face, we were developing the concept and I was testing out techniques and different looks for the makeup. I was also caught up with school and struggled to make posts with the limited time and limited sunlight.



December
December was a very eventful month. I moved into my own place with roommates, and we worked on the project on the actual set for 6 days straight and I was still developing the makeup. And on Christmas break I relaxed and had fun, I went out to a party with my friends and had a good couple of days with my family.

Happy new year!

Christmas cookie recipe

Baking is a crucial part of Christmas for me, and on Sunday I finally had a day off I got to spend with my grandma baking a cookie we call "cola-cake", I don't really know why it's called that because there is no coke in it. I don't know if these are used only in Norway, but they're traditional cookies around my area. These are kind of caramel tasty sugar cookies, so I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Ingredients for Cola cookies 

200 g real butter

200 g Sugar

1 table spoon syrup

2 tea spoons baking soda

2 tea spoons vanilla sugar

300 g flour 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's the first of December and a lot of things are happening for me right now! Personally, I am moving house all by my self for the first time. It's so exiting, but still scary at the same time, but basically, it's good to get some experience to live alone before I move completely away from my family, and it's also nice to get an overview over how much money I need to live.

On the second note, I am still a working bee, I've had migrene for two days now and stayed home, but today I went to work since it was only three hours filming and then most of the work is done at home. Svanhild the nutritionist made these healthy chocolate treats you can find at my work-givers website trenpånett.no for 45 kr a month. As this site is in Norwegian it only applies to my Norwegian followers so sorry about that!

When things don't go as planned..

I´ve been doing this makeup for three days straight, and as you can see, it´s massively failed three days in a row. I´ve tried gelatin, latex prosthetic, latex applied directly and none looked perfect.. But my best result was with the gelatin, so I will do this when I am redoing this in November (Only a week left of fall now!). So there is the explanation on why I've been absent these last days, that and it's too dark outside to take decent pictures already when I am home from school and work.

Goodnight!

Sculpting

 I am just giving all them sneak peaks this month! Complete serious, I am trying to hold October beauty free, but I am also going on full time school so I need to prioritize that, and I hope as well you like to see my process behind my looks as well!
This is only the very start on the prosthetic piece I am making for the video coming up on Halloween, I hope you're exited and that this is getting some creativity towards your costume going, and other then that I'll be packed over my books this evening, so goodnight!

4 tips to fight a creative block

Re-do your old work
Doing something you've already done in the past, make sure it's been a while since you've done it, enables you to see your progress, it also enables you to see what you've improved, what you do differently and generally (Hopefully!) gives you a confidence boost and you can also learn better from your past mistakes. I think this actually applies to all creative works, I personally use it for both blogging and special effects.

Copy other peoples work
Even though you're not inspired, make sure to keep your skills intact. If you draw, draw famous characters, see other peoples works, copy it or create your own twist (But if you're publishing it/sharing it anywhere, do not display it as 100% your own).

Watch a movie or go on a trip
Sometimes getting new impressions is key to fight creative block. Getting other impressions and relaxing can also treat burn-out and then make you pass your creative block.

Read a book
Reading tics of our imagination, this is because you're not presented with the actions and characters, you get a description and you make a character in your head without even thinking about it.

The importance of keeping a planner

The most important routine for the productive person is their planner. By doing something so simple as filling in homework, tests, due dates and work shifts, you have a much better overview on your workload and can adjust after that. Do you have several homework dues the same day as a test? You will already know in advance and did them the day before.

I know myself I'm always trapped by the time clench when I don't write up everything, I work, go full time study and blog full time, it gets pretty busy sometimes, that's where my planner come in.

For bloggers, or anyone who is interested in my extreme planning, another thing I do is I write down blog posts, for months in advance. I don't have everything filled out because a lot of my ideas are makeup and I don't physically have time to do that every day, so I spread them evenly. I even got some planned for July next year.. #controlfreak

I need my caffeine kick in the mornings...

Blissful Sunday mornings...

I am no stranger to my morning coffee and like sitting down with a good book and my coffee in the morning from a fancy cup. Currently I'm reading "Anna Karenina" and I'm on page 312, I'll hopefully get around to finish the last 600 pages soon. 

In a minute I'm helping my mom with makeup and cutting her hair, and then starting with my theatrical makeup. I was starting on the crank virus from the maze runner video, but the look is so dependent on the lenses that I'll wait until I get my mesh ones. 

Hope you have a calm blissful Sunday...