Make Up Post: Automaton Halloween Make Up

For the past couple years, I haven't really planned for Halloween. Due to a mixture of being overwhelmed with college and procrastination, my costumes have been really last minute scrambling. But this year, I wanted to do it right! I'm elaborating on the basic idea of past years, steampunk, but putting in extra effort. I was inspired by this robot make up tutorial. So here is my effort: Automaton-Human Hybrid Make Up.

You can find my full tutorial here. If you want to do a full automaton face, skip the first few steps and replicate the robot make up on both sides. It takes some time to do, but it's pretty easy and fun!

Makeup Review: Shiro Cosmetics Halloween 2013

I came across this website, shirocosmetics.com, recently and fell in love with it. All the makeup is handmade and themed around geeky themes, such as The Hobbit, Fullmetal Alchemist, Minecraft, and (in the case of this set) The Nightmare Before Christmas. I saw this collection and had to buy the full thing. I must say, I'm pretty happy with the purchase.

I apologise that some of the colours are hard to see. Those colours (Zero, Finkelstein, and Oogie Boogie) are quite sheer. Zero is a light pink, Oogie Boogie is a pale green, and Finkelstein is a shimmery white.

Here's a pic of me wearing Two Faced, Pumpkin King, and Something in the Wind.

This set will only be available through October 31st, so hurry up and order yours!

New Etsy Listing: Adventuring Portable Telegraph Bracer

Brand new listing up on TheEmporiumMechanica! This is a personal favourite of mine as it really showcases the fantastical imagination that goes along with steampunk.

Video Game Review: Alan Wake

This game isn't exactly new (it was originally released in 2010 for Xbox 360 and 2012 for Windows), but I just finished it and absolutely loved it. It's basically my new favourite game. It's dark, it's scary, it's a great mystery horror story.

The story sounds very much like a Stephen King novel. In fact, he's quoted in the very beginning of the story. But as I am pretty terrible with giving concise summaries, I'll give you the short and sweet promo from the Alan Wake website:

Part action game, part psychological thriller, Alan Wake® is a pulse-pounding thrill ride. When the wife of the best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his search turns up pages from a thriller he doesn’t even remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love.

 I love the plot of the game, but that's not the only thing that is great. The cinematography is wonderful, as are the graphics. I also really enjoyed the voice acting of all the characters (I've heard some really bad voice acting, so this is an important quality for me). The game play is super easy and smooth and the game does a good job of introducing you to how the game works, but doesn't baby you too much. Along with that, the beginning (or Prologue) of the game makes the plot instantly interesting. They don't explain to you what is going on or where you are. You are in the same state of mind as Alan is in this strange dream. You know something is wrong and it is dangerous, but beyond that you and Alan discover the mystery at the same time. The layout of the game is pretty unique too. You play through multiple "Episodes", which do feel like episodes of a mini-series. They even put a little "Previously on Alan Wake..." at the beginning of the episodes.

Alan Wake keeps you constantly guessing at what the mystery is and continues to confuse and complicate the plot. But at the same time, it doesn't complicate for complexity's sake. At the end of the game, everything finally makes sense. I really loved this game and want to play it many more times. I also am eager to check out the sequel: Alan Wake's American Nightmare. I urge everyone to watch the trailer and check out the screenshots on the website.

Update: Comments Now Working

It has come to my attention that the comment making function has been unavailable for a while. I apologise for that, I tried to change the settings for making comments so that I would not get spam comments from people that don't follow this blog. One certain person had commented a few times and those comments were quite rude. I want to encourage a supportive and pleasant community here. Of course, I want everyone to speak their mind and share their opinions, however I believe there is always a way to say what you think without coming across as a jerk.

Hopefully, the commenting is working. If not, let me now by emailing me directly (blackinkandblackcats@gmail.com) and I'll try to fix it again!