So I was doing one of those random, time-wasting searches on YouTube, when I stumbled across a video on how to apply makeup to look like a particular star (notice I failed to mention which one I stumbled across). In this video was this smiley, unassuming girl with a funny little accent, who was very natural on camera, and very skilled at makeup application. I saw that she had tons of makeup tutorials on YouTube, so I spent a good couple hours watching them.
Turns out this friendly face was Lauren Luke, who has been putting these videos up online for over a year now. Lauren (panacea81), 26-year-old mother of one, got tired of her job and decided to do something she loved. She started selling cosmetics and makeup brushes on eBay, and instead of putting pictures of the say, mango-orange eyeshadow, she took pictures of herself wearing said eyeshadow. Then she began to get requests for tutorials. Her videos became more and more popular, and she soon began getting requests on how to look like Leona Lewis in her new music video, or say, Britney Spears in the video for Toxic. Now she’s one of the most well-known makeup artists in the world, and her videos are some of the most viewed on YouTube, with over 8 million hits.
Lauren was completely self-taught, a lover of makeup and crazy colors (much like myself) and experimenting with them. She’s recently began taking beauty school classes, to ‘brush up on the basics’. Off camera, she is quiet and timid, and admits to having few friends.
I think she came up with a million-dollar idea that has global appeal for women who want to learn how to use makeup. YouTube has recently begun a partnership with its most popular channels, and through this Lauren could potentially bank. Not to mention that her viral popularity has caught the eye of cosmetic brands like MAC, Stila and Barry M Cosmetics, the latter of which has her making videos for their own website, reviewing their products and using them in her tutorials. She is such a personable, humble girl to be such a huge YouTube star-one of the most popular channels in the UK. And myself being of the ‘non-stick-sized’ variety, it is so refreshing to see someone real succeeding in the cosmetics/beauty industry.
I personally want to thank Lauren, not only for setting an example for people afraid of pursuing their dreams, or for being a role model for the real girls out there, proving that you don’t have to look the way movies or magazines tell you to look in order to be happy and/or successful, but most of all, for bringing a little color into the world, and helping others feel beautiful and confident. Girl power, rar!
If you have a time machine, you can always kick it old school.
In my top 5 movies of all time you will find Back To The Future, which I saw in theatres back in 1985. I didn’t want to go, the Dark Cauldron was out that weekend as well. But my Mom dragged my sister and I to see the movie… and I think I never opted to see a kids movie ever again. And I’m a dork. It should also be noted that I live 150 feet from the Hollywood United Methodist Church (the actual location of the ‘Enchantment Under the Sea’ Dance where Marty plays Johnny B. Goode). But we’ve already established that I am a dork…let’s move on.
I saw BTTF:2 on New Years of ‘89/’90 and after witnessing the future scenes it wasn’t just a new year once I left the theatre… it was a new world! Well up on ebay right now is a working prototype of one of Marty McFly’s Nike Air Mags. Bidding began at $1,000 and is now at $2,025 with 8 days left.
This comes shortly after Nike themselves introduced the Back To The Future II inspired shoe which may be a little more affordable, but not much more wearable in public unless you have an orange vest and suspenders. And although they don’t even light up or autolace, they will probably match your Delorean.
But the real question is when will they sell us the hoverboard?
[ADDENDUM: SUN: JULY: 13 2AM]
Today I recieved an email from the folks partially responsible for getting the Nike 2015 Hyperdunks into production. Namely the Maloof brothers @ www.mcfly2015.com {link is down: click here for cached version} gathered 41,000 signatures online and the Prez of Nike still wouldn’t hook them up with a pair! They’d asked him if Nike was planning to produce a faithful McFly “Slamball” shoe (with working autolace and glowing logo) to which CEO and President Mark Parker responded, “The voices have been heard. Stay Tuned!”. Read about their press here.
Thanks for the tips Mickey Maloof and good luck on your quest! I share your dream and hope it becomes a reality. You know if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.
Presenting the best white guy with a black guys voice since Adam Levine, Sam Sparro.
His album drops June 24th if you still buy CDs but you might want to snatch up a Vinyl of this because you will be playing it at your dance parties!
This is the kind of album that people will dance to and fall in love with each other. Wear a condom, kids; I don’t want to see a dance-inspired baby boom.
The singles “Black & Gold”(download) and “21st Century Life” will be the ones that suck you in. They’ve been spinning all over L.A. radio for the past month and I didn’t even figure out who it was until last week. This kids voice has an amazing soul quality reminiscent of the 70’s heavies! Hear for yourself…[myspace]. And he’s only 25. Jealous?
The Hump & Grind Rhythm and Synths in “Cottonmouth” will get you sweaty. “Recycle It!” is like an 80s PSA gone mad! “Clingwrap” eats a Parliment groove and throws enough Prince and Michael Jackson synths to choke a 10-year-old. This whole album plays to my vintage Roland Synth fetish in all the right places.
This record is CHRONIC! Apparently Mr.Sparro did a “Secret Show” at the Echo the other night but I missed it because of some minor alcohol poisoning and the accompanying personal guilt. I will be enjoying this album with a maximum of 3 drinks. What have I become… really!?
I don’t know what they are actually called. Hipster Holster is just the first name I came up with, or Guido Gizmo Gunbelt for the fans of alliteration. It set me back a bit one night following a short punk down Hollywood Blvd into Tiny’s K.O. and seeing black holster straps over his white sleeve-removed button up; until I saw that the holsters were not for a .38 snubnose but rather for a Sidekick and a Camera.
For all practical purposes they make total sense. Between my Razr and Casio Exilim I have 2 of the thinnest pieces of tech out there and I still feel bogged down by technology. I’m on the fence about bringing a small messenger bag with me when I go out. And its hard enough to get laid without having to carry around a man-purse. Even if I got an iPhone (which could happen) that still wouldnt be enough of a camera to replace what I carry now so I’d still be hauling the same amount of junk around. Why not free up my pockets with a holstervso I can get some tighter jeans? (j/k…sorta)
So are these Hostlers so lame they are hip, so lame they are lame (because really I think they are lame), or are they so functional they are ironically hip? I think this design is the offspring of a mobster and a tourist. Because the first thing it reminded me of what a fanny pack.
I have a sad Mac. I fucked up the screen, and it’s getting a “not covered under warranty” repair. So that’s why I’ve been sans-posting. I am expecting an email from the Republic Tigers soon, I caught them at Ribfest Chicago last weekend-review/interview/story to follow soon.
Anywho, the July 08 issue of Elle Magazine is incredible, and whilst killing time at my soul-crushing job, I stumbled across a mini-article about Ketamine.
Apparently it is now on the list of recreational drugs that shows promise as a remedy for mood disorders. With testing, it is proving to be a potential treatment for depression, more specifically, overcoming one of the greatest obstacles in treating depression: the ‘crucial lag time before medication takes effect’. That period is considered particularly high-risk for suicide. Most antidepressants can take weeks to kick in and take effect (while sometimes not working at all), while ketamine takes hours.
According to an experimental trial published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, 71% of subjects had a significant reduction in their symptoms after an infusion of ketamine. I’m interested to see any follow-up research on this theory. Apparently, those crazy club kids were on to something. I’m gonna go watch Party Monster.
Fashion has lost its visionary. He was the first to put women in pants, the first to put them in tuxedos, the first to put them in masculine clothes, and the first to employ black models. Women around the world owe Yves Saint Laurent a debt for revolutionising their wardrobes.
Geez yo, I haven’t posted here in forev! Not since intr0vert’s/my joint postings (and by joint I mean me throwing in my two cents while napping on the couch as he typed) during my visit to Hollywood. Speaking of, I thought maybe some of yous (anyone?) would be interested to know about my goings on in the city of angels and dirtbags.
intr0vert was an excellent tour guide and host, my experience wouldn’t have been half as enriched if he hadn’t been my guide. I must admit, when he made the trip to Chicago for my birthday, I probably wasn’t the best tour guide-I’d only been there 7 months and didn’t have my tour guide/public transportation chops up to par yet. (I’ll do better next time, I promise!)
Let me share with you a few misguided misconceptions I had about L.A.:
-You can’t smoke anywhere in L.A.
Mostly I got this idea from Sex & the City, when Carrie goes to L.A. to meet with a production company , and is prevented from smoking wherever she goes, even on the outside deck of her hotel room. (”I have an addiction sir!”) I guess I also had this impression because of the whole Hollywood health/physical appearance obsession that I read about in the news on Perez all the time. I was surprised that a few places we went to had smoking rooms, some were not even open air. Chicago is not down with that shit. You can’t even smoke in outdoor seating areas here. Anywho-doesn’t really affect me, just an observation.
-Nobody walks in L.A.
Again, another thing I’ve heard through the grapevine of pop culture media. I was assuming that since everyone drives in L.A., that nobody walks. Not so, my friends. Oh, we drove almost everywhere…but then we parked 10 blocks away. Parking in L.A. is just as bad as most parts of Chicago. Any parking you find here is either permit parking only or will cost you $50. Not a big deal, I don’t ever wanna be the girl that bitches about how far away the car is, but it did limit my cute shoe options. You see, its a delicate ratio. Typically as the cuteness of the shoe goes up, its comfort level goes down.
On a side note: I also thought that there was no worthwhile public transportation there. I met an actual human being that took a bus to work everyday. Even intr0vert was considering trying the train out as a daily commute. And my experiences on the subway were fairly pleasant. Although, I’m not sure the idea of an underground train on a fault line sits well with me. I’m just sayin.
-Everyone in L.A. is beautiful and glamorous (thanks to Fergie, I can spell that word now).
Oh, there were plenty of beautiful people there. But there were a lot of really unspecial people there, too. The air in Hollywood was thick with ego, which didn’t surprise me so much. What surprised me was that I was expecting the clothes to make the man a little more. Actually, the woman. The chicks there seemed to fall into two categories: The strapless tube dress complete with hooker shoes (do hookers call them ‘work shoes’?) and makeup applied with a paintball gun, or cutesy, hipster chicks. I’m typically the type of girl that prefers to be overdressed, rather than under dressed. And don’t get me wrong, I wear a lot of makeup. A drag queenish amount. On a daily basis.
So…famous people. I was promised by intr0vert at least three sightings. The first was only half a sighting, as it was just Jael from America’s Next Top Model a couple seasons ago. She was a hot tranny mess on Hollywood, trashy outfit, crazy pink furry hat, and I’m sure was operating on one or more psychiatric drugs. We also saw Janeane Garafalo walking in Studio City and Vincent Kartheiser (from Angel-I’m a vampire nerd, remember?) at the Magic Castle. Some others too, I can’t remember. Some dude from a teen movie bummed me a smoke. Good shit, huh?
I will have to make this a to-be-continued post. Even though it was like two weeks ago. Lots happened, and I’m sure people are riveted by my recounts of my vacation. Long story short (too late!), Hollywood did not disappoint. More soon, I promise.
Not many people can pull off purple but you both do so beautifully, Congratulations. I would like to know, Is bisexuality the fountain of youth? I think that if you two had a baby it would live to be 150 years old and would die looking 60 at the most. And if it held a guitar it would simultaneously give boners and moistness to everyone that laid eyes upon it without playing a note. Better yet, you should have a hot set of wonder twins. And tell them it’s ok to make out cause we will want to see that anyway.
Sincerely,
intr0vert
I was watching something really stupid on YouTube and in the video cue there was Joan Jett’s version of “Do You Wanna Touch Me” from 1982 so I had to watch it and she really doesn’t look that much different even though it’s been 26 years since that came out. Of course i had to Wiki her age because my internal calculations were telling me that she had to be a teenager when she was with the Runaways in the late 70’s and still doesnt look nearly 40 but logically had to be at least 45 and I found out that she was born in 1958! She will be 50 years old in September!
And It made me think of equally ageless Mr. Purple. AliUptown and I have had the pleasure of seeing both immortals live in the last few years and they of course have barely lost a step or forged a wrinkle. Prince Rogers Nelson, for the record will be 50 on June 7th. Were they dumping fluoride in the great lakes in 1958? Or has nobody reminded them that human beings typically age.
Sorry there was no insight to this post, just an observation.
If you can say anything about Ladytron its that their style has always been constant. There will always be great vintage synth sounds, good beats, and some hot Bulgarian-Glaswegian tag team vocals. 604 and Light & Magic are unquestionably hipster masterworks good enough to make anyone dress in black and go to indie fashion shows. It’s certainly what kept me up at 3am sculpture and ceramics labs in art college. But in the last few years I as a fan have been questioning the potentcy of their trademark style. When Witching Hour came out I started noticing less and less scortchers like “Seventeen” and “Flicking Your Switch” leading me to think that Ladytron might be losing their cool. This is more apparent on Velocifero, which seems to work really well as background working music and not the dancefloor ragers of just a few years ago. Maybe one of the differences is that the songs have gotten so much longer. The music that used to seem like a glimmer for dj’s to build off of is now a drone to be swallowed by white noise. Velocifero is not unlistenable, just hard to praise. It comes out June 9th but if possible catch them on tour this summer with Norway’s Datarock. The highlight of the album may be their current single “Ghosts” now available on iTunes with a bevy of upscale remixes. I’ll say this about the simplicity of Ladytrons music, it lends itself very well to remixes. Sometimes, you can hardly tell which was the original.
Ladytron may just be what they’ve always been, an amazing band to shop to.
Ladytron’s Velocifero (Nettwerk) gets a 4/10 with hopes that the next album brings a bit of an overhaul to their sound (like more guitar).
I find their name insulting, maybe. Like I don’t know, people get off work at 5 O’Clock? It reminds me that I have shitty hours and they probably lay around all day being British doing cocaine and getting free clothes.
Every Wednesday, Boardner’s in Hollywood becomes Club Moscow to host a few bands and then a night of 18 and over clubbing. This last Wednesday the typical Hollywood “distressed to impress” set and their “no-longer-jailbait-but-not-yet-legal” girlfriends came out to see SacramentOakland’s 2-piece dance-synth-poppers WALLPAPER. The 2 opening bands of the night drew meager crowds and seemed genuinely bored as opposed to just projecting an image of disinterest. Very little energy was expelled and hence very little applause was given, a typical L.A. Show. And then as Wallpaper took the stage it was as if the crowd had been waiting for them all week. Fresh off a successful showing at the Filter Party at Coachella, Wallpaper brought their infectious retro-electro party A-game and for an athletic 30-45 minute set and proceeded to rock the seemingly unrockable Hollywood crowd.
I’d heard Wallpaper’s songs via their myspace so I had an idea what to expect but seeing them and hearing them became as different as night and day. The songs seemed shaved down to only the meaty goodness “we were told our songs have to stay under 90 seconds” and it made for a streamlined set full of energetic originals and some well selected covers. It was very refreshing to see a band unbridled by pretension and willing to drop some recognizable songs into their set. In fact, the night started off with a rendition of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love” with Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” sprinkled further down the set. The musicianship rested squarely in the capable hands of drummer/iPod Maestro Arjun Singh with vocals/Vocoder Ninja/party startin’ compliments of the satin-to-sequined frontman Ricky Reed. There was also an appearance by T-Rex himself during their song of the same name. It was so in demand that night that they played it twice.
I think you will be impressed with the caliber of a good portion of Wallpaper’s music. Standout tracks such as “T-Rex”, “A Million Dollars” and “Everytime We Do It” have some of the best synth work that I’ve heard since Prince was hanging with The Time.
Rating: 7/10 for their live show and 6/10 for the songs. These boys show definite promise! Keep watching Avanttrash this week for a chance to take home some gear from Wallpaper!
It’s coming soon. I can feel it. I’ve noticed more and more that I’m no longer fucking broke. I have debt, sure, but I’m starting to turn into an adult that can go out and buy shit to better my surroundings. I’ve asked myself “what home furnishings and home accessories should I buy?” And god has answered my prayers with one gentle word: KNIVES!!!
God started small by saying, “Hey, how about you have some knives in the kitchen… and how about they be going through a little guy?” That’s when I asked God if he’d ever considered seeing a therapist. To which God replied, “Thats not covered by my health insurance.” “What is?” I responded. And we both chuckled. Then the almighty said unto me, “You know what? I was just fucking around about the little guy with the knives through him idea. Maybe we should just stab a bunch of knives into the wall and hang our coats on them?” To which I replied, “God, I love you.” And God curled up into my lap and started purring (cause he’s really a cat).
Then just because he likes being the guy who names things before people can invent them so he can claim that he had the idea first, God went kinda crazy and just started naming off shit around the house that could be made of knives, (Guy holding a Knife Outline Shadow Shower Curtain*, Knife 3-panel folding Room Divider, Knife Christmas Wreath, Knives for legs Coffee Table, Knife Mirror [drew up about 4 of these], Knife Bookshelf…) I kinda lost interest because it was Wednesday and South Park was on. Then it ended up not being a very good episode cause it kinda feels like the middle of the season so I watched an old one and it was a little better. Then there was a bunch of honking and bad driving outside because there was a show at the Hollywood Bowl a couple blocks away. I found out all of those bad, rude, loud drivers went to see Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige. There are too many J’s in the world. Then God told me about the Earthquake in April of 2009 and I said, “Wait, that hasn’t happened yet!” and he said, “Oh yeah, well nevermind, don’t worry about it, forget I said anything” And my attention span is short, so I did.
*I unfortunately found out this exists but compared to what I had in my head is WAAAAY poorly designed so I’m not even going to link it. and JUST SO YOU KNOW, I did sketches of about everything I mentioned and almost all of which can actually be made with a few quick welds and screws.
If Erotic Falconry didn’t get you sweaty enough. Here is some Erotic Dentistry. So sexy it eliminates 99.9% of the germs that cause the gum disease gingivitis. I’m totally switching back to Aquafresh.
I thought this was just a case of hypersensitivity when I first heard about this. But after seeing these pictures side by side, I think the jig might be up.
I found out about these guys through the Gibson website. They are called Tokio Hotel, they are 13-years-of age and damned if at first glance of this promo pic I didnt think their lead singer was a chick. And admittedly a hot one. (It took 10 seconds to figure that out.) I realize this makes me sound a bit like a gay pedophile but I swear I saw 10 girls at the Roxy this weekend who must go to the same stylist. They probably went in to their overpriced shop and told their official gay that they wanted the 13-year-old german emo-boy look.
The music is cheeseball post-glam emo-numetal and not my cup of manic panic but its pretty amazing that they are only 13 years old. Take that, Silverchair 1996! If they are making this crap now then they will either burn out in puberty or take the world by storm in 2012.*
*Just in time for the Apocalypse. Maybe their grandfathers in Rammstein will play the closing ceremony.
Sorry celebutards, but it seems that flashing your snatch is now both passe and avoidable. Thanks to Shibue Couture, there is a product that prevents not only your beev from catching cold, but also flashing your vag to the paps.
It’s like a sexy merkin.
But Ali, how do they work?” you may be wondering. I would hope the pictures are self-explanatory (okay, now I’m blushing). The panties go from your…triangle(?) to the top of your crack without wrapping around your hips. A side note to confused guys-where this differs from ordinary thongs is that on any girl with some meat on her bones, the straps unavoidably cut into one’s hips, resulting in pantylines under anything fitted. And I thought normal g-strings were torture devices.
Each cootch cover comes with a liner and spare adhesives (so you can have coverage and get a bikini wax at the same time!). The adhesives mold to your special place (ow), thus making these gems reusable. Just remove the sticky stuff (the tape, people, the tape), rinse the fabric with mild soap and water (you still with me?), put on new adhesive, and you’re ready to whore out again.
Eh, I shouldn’t be too critical. I can appreciate that this could be a lifesaver to someone wearing a formal gown who doesn’t want VPL or to go commando. The website also suggests that their product is perfect for strippers women who love to dance. But what happens when you have to pee? Similar in concept, the ‘C-String‘ looks the same, only it stays in place with the use of wire. Sort of a headband for your crotch. Yeah, these things are actually marketed as ’sexy and elegant’. Christ, what if they fell off whilst wearing a skirt? ‘Scuse me while I pick up my…thingy.
I tried to throw in as many euphemisms for the vagina as I could. Long story short, for 30 bucks a pop, I’ll DIY it with some double-sided tape. Or not.
Keith Richards may be a lot of things, but I never thought it would result in high fashion male modeling. Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, but he is the new posterdude of Louis Vuitton-probably the workings of that crazy Marc Jacobs (creative director of LVMH). The ad reads as such:
“Some journeys cannot be put into words. New York. 3am. Blues in C.”
Whatever. Apparently, Richards is planning to donate his fee to ‘The Climate Project’, an enviromental cause. The new ad was shot by Annie Leibovitz.
Equally bizarre is Louis Vuitton’s ads last year, featuring Mikhail Gorbachev in the back of a limo, being driven past the remains of the Berlin Wall, also shot by Leibovitz.
Stock up now because by year’s end Polaroids will be a thing of the past. Like flash cubes and film discs and those large format instant cameras that we pretended were boats because they stopped making film for those before we were born but our grandparents decided that their old junk belonged in the toybox.
Certain drugstores and 1 hour photo huts in my hometown wouldn’t let you keep prints of YOUR photos that contained nudity or “questionable” content. You used to have to rely on Polaroids to help you remember what that stripper that gave you the herps looked like. Now you can snap all of the digital photos that your memory card can hold and print off near-perfect photos at home. You dirty bastard.
Coincidentally while I was looking for a photo of the Polaroid 1000 that my grandma had, I came across this flickr of Stripper audition photos from the 60s & 70s. It’s actually some Classy Stuff (mostly clothed).
Turns out this friendly face was Lauren Luke, who has been putting these videos up online for over a year now. Lauren (panacea81), 26-year-old mother of one, got tired of her job and decided to do something she loved. She started selling cosmetics and makeup brushes on eBay, and instead of putting pictures of the say, mango-orange eyeshadow, she took pictures of herself wearing said eyeshadow. Then she began to get requests for tutorials. Her videos became more and more popular, and she soon began getting requests on how to look like Leona Lewis in her new music video, or say, Britney Spears in the video for Toxic. Now she’s one of the most well-known makeup artists in the world, and her videos are some of the most viewed on YouTube, with over 8 million hits.
Presenting the best white guy with a black guys voice since Adam Levine, Sam Sparro.
If you can say anything about 
