The Life of A Ladybug

Turquoise/teal eyeliners: Get you one!

This is the NARS Eyeliner Pencil in Kalisté.  It is gorge, no?  Truth is, I am always drawn to anything turquoise or teal.  It is the mixture of the colors blue and green - it's soothing and yet also bold.  It really appeals to my eye and, I have to admit, the color looks great on me, if I do say so myself.  This pencil in particular caught my eye because of its name: Kalisté.  For those of you who don't know, a while back, I was a member of a troupe called Kallisti Tribal .  Back when we first came together, we were a student troupe, Zahiya Tribal.  (What up to Lisa Zahiya!)  When we decided to go out on the bellydance circuit, we needed to name ourselves and bantered names around until (I think it was Molly?) arrived at the name Kallisti.  Kallisti means "beautiful" essentially and also has mythical links to words like discord and chaos.  Hee!  (Look up "The Golden Apple" in mythology.)  Anyhow, anything named Kallisti or close to it (Callista, Kallista, Kallisto) catches my eye.  I'm glad it did.  This pencil goes on smoothly and lasts all day and is this extra fabulous shade of the deepest teal.  Ack.  It is so beautiful.

Basic Makeup For Performance and Photography by Azhia

This gorgeous creature is my dance friend, Azhia.  As Azhia, she is a bellydancer extraordinaire, having been named Belly Dancer of the Universe 2003.  Being a wonderful make-up artist, as well as a dancer, Azhia decided to meld her love for the two arts together and created "Raq (Rock) the Camera", a unique event that offers bellydancers the chance to come in and be styled by a professional hair and make-up artist (Azhia) herself and then take some of the most flattering and glamorous pictures you'll find anywhere.  Azhia has a special ability to find that which is most alluring about her subject and using just a few make-up techniques make that dancer recognize her own sexiness.  You leave a Raq the Camera shoot brimming with confidence.

However, Azhia is not all she is.  Like most bellydancers, Azhia has her "regular" life, as Christine Millan.  Christine is not the bellydancer or bellydancer's make-up artist.  She is the industry professional, who, in 2007, graduated first in her class from the Jean Madeline Aveda Institute in Philadelphia, PA.  She has done make-up for brides, has worked with photographers and film directors, and styled dancers, actors and models.  And in addition to all that, she has decided to share all the tips, tricks and techniques she has learned over the years in her DVD, Basic Makeup for Performance and Photography.

Katrina's Bellydance Beauty Bag!

Katrina is from The Dalles, OR and is a student dancer, primarily studying American Tribal Style, with a few Middle Eastern Dance classes thrown in for good measure.  Katrina says that her personal dance style is still evolving, but she finds herself trending toward "tribaret" (also known as "glamour tribal").

Let's watch Katrina go from cute, ordinary girl to glammed up tribaret dancer!

Here's what she used:

loreal infallible foundation
loreal HIP loose pigment  : exciting
loreal HIP bright shadow duo  : riotous
maybelline shine-free loose powder
mybelline great lash mascara  : black
revlon bare it all lustrous powder  : buff love
revlon golden affair sculpting blush  : rose rapture
revlon creme gloss : wine anytime
mac glitter eyeliner : blitzed
mac fluidline  : blacktrack
mac paint pot  : bare study
lash grip eyelash adhesive

Here's Katrina before:

 

Jahzaal's Bellydance Beauty Bag!

I'm starting a new series here on The Life of A Ladybug.  If you've been a reader for a while, you know that I am a bellydancer, both as a soloist and as a member of the uber-awesome The NDC.  It occurred to me that we bellydancers are beauty mavens by nature, as we go through serious machinations to divafy ourselves before gigs.  I thought it'd be fun for you all to see the process.  Let me know in the comments what you think of the series and feel free to give suggestions for things you'd like to see or questions you'd like to have asked of the dancers.

We begin the series with my friend and fellow NDCer, Jahzaal!  Jahzaal has been dancing for over seven years and has been mentored exclusively by our director, Lotus Niraja.

Here's a pic of the lovely Jahzaal, sans makeup, no moisturizer or anything.  Isn't she ridiculously cute, even with nothing on her face?  If I didn't love her, I'd hate her.