Piper Nuelle

I love writing books and reading books, but I also love makeup and all things pretty. Just before the pandemic I actually trained as a Makeup Artist, but unfortunately covid hit and then that was no longer a viable job for me at the time and my life took a different route, then I became ill with a chronic illness so I never went back to try and make a go of a job in makeup. So, I went to writing books instead because I have always loved to write.

The other day I was looking through some of my old makeup and I also had a memory pop up on my phone of makeup looks I used to create and makeup I used to play with and it got me thinking. I could do a mini series on my blog about books and makeup! Now, I know it is not a new concept, people have done makeup and books before, but I gave it a go today and found it to be a great way to keep my creative hand in my makeup but also to exercise my makeup skills and create a look based on a book and make me feel better when my body was not a happy bunny.

Of course the first book I needed to do this with is my own. Death’s Carousel… Death’s Carousel by Piper Nuelle – cheeky little link to my book if you are interested lol. Because I wanted to see if this was a cool thing to do or not and I didn’t want to butcher it with someone else’s book.

I decided to use my Tati Beauty eyeshadow palette Vol 1 by Tati Westbrook otherwise known as Glam Life Guru for my look for a makeup look based on my own book.

My front cover has an array of moody colours to set the tone for the murder / thriller it is. There are reds, oranges and black tones on my cover and so I found out this palette I had received a few years ago for my thirtieth birthday from my husband and my children because I knew inside it, it had the required tones and shades that I needed to create the eyeshadow look in my head.

The eyeshadow palette now is a good few years old, and maybe I shouldn’t really still be using it lol, but the shades are still perfection and I cannot bear to part with it because the formula was so damn good, and plus, you cannot get this anymore due to problems the creator had at the time, although, I do believe she has launched a new brand which for someone like me is nearly as exciting as new books being released… Which is very exciting indeed. And as the palette is a powder formula not liquid it’s not as bad for going out of date… Right???

The first shade I used was Aura, the white / creamy looking matte shade version to create a base on my eyelid so the colours didn’t lift or fade away so easily. The second shade I used was Soothe which is the light brown shade and in the shimmery version, I used that in my crease area. Next up I went for the black shade memory in the matte version, and brushed it out at the edges of my eyes to create a semi smoky look. Then I went in with the orange toned shade called Story and I used the matte version first, then applied the shimmery version on top over the rest of my eye lid. Then I took a fluffy brush and swept over it all to blend them in together. I then grabbed the red shade Poet and in the sequin version which is like a matte with some glitter particles in and I ran it under my lash line on my lower lashes. Lastly I added some highlight on the inner corner with Aura in the metallic shimmery version before finishing with some mascara.

I am obviously a little rusty at this, I haven’t played with makeup for such a long time properly due to my illness, but I decided to really try and go for it because it used to make me so happy. I was pleased with the outcome.

But how does this apply to my story and my cover?

In my story my main character was bullied a lot as a child and teenager, so when she reaches adulthood and those same people are still out to cause her grief she decides to take revenge… And in her mind, revenge is all the fun at the fair, and it becomes somewhat of a bloody massacre with deathly lullabies sung to each victim before their demise.

There is of course blood spilled, so hence the red shade under my lash line. There is a huge fire at the fairground, hence the burnt orange colour to represent the flames of her revenge. Then there is the smoky black shade, to represent the night time but also the smoke that fills the air from the fire and from her dark heart that was twisted by those that bullied her and turned her from a lovely quiet, nice yet unfortunate girl who not only is bullied but has a troubled home life, to the fiery murderess that she becomes. There is also the glitter, because she also leads another life, one that her voice has helped her achieve, it signifies the fame, the money and the talent she possesses.

I feel like the Tati Beauty eyeshadow palette was the perfect palette to express my makeup look that represented my book and my front cover. The shades and tones can be anything from nude to natural, to smoky and fiery. And the shimmer and glitter shades are such an added bonus and can add such a sophistication and depth to a look. And I feel that my look fully represented what it was that I wanted to show and portray. The look, although quite tame for what some makeup artists can do and can achieve felt to me like it showed off the soul and theme of my book.

I had such fun creating this eye look, being creative and making something fun and different and using some old skills and muscles I hadn’t used in such a long time. And I actually want to make this a regular thing. Maybe not all the time, but maybe every so often to coincide with certain books and makeup releases.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post and I hope that maybe you might take a look at my new book, Death’s Carousel… It could sure do with some love.

xo Piper xo