This week's Inspirational Interview is with the fantabulously talented Lilian from Funny Face's Place - a wonderful blog full of swatches, reviews and stunningly creative looks!
Thank you so much for letting me interview you! Firstly, can you tell me a little bit more about yourself please?
Thank you so much for asking me, I'm honoured! I'm Lillian, I've just turned 23 and I'm an artist and illustrator (though let's just say work is slow :P). I live in London in a crazy houseshare with my Mum, older sister and girlfriend and a myriad of animal friends. I have social phobia/social anxiety disorder which effects me very severely so in real life I'm a very shy, timid person. Other than that I'm quite silly, perhaps a bit odd, a little arty and pretentious, a tad lazy and obsessive.
How long have you been blogging and what was it that inspired you to start a blog?I've just checked and I started my blog in August 2009. I had just graduated from art college and to be honest was feeling a bit lost. I can't remember how but I came upon some beauty blogs and something just instantly clicked with me. I loved seeing all these girls (and some guys) chatting about products, sharing tips and looks and reviewing so others can read up before they buy. So, seeing as I have more makeup than should be allowed by law, I decided to start my own. I was absolutely overwhelmed by how lovely and supportive everyone was towards me, and I still am.
What are the best and worst parts of being a beauty blogger?The best part is meeting people who read my blog, interacting via comments or reading their blogs if they have them and learning more about them. And it makes my day when I learn that I've written a post that is interesting or helpful to someone.
The worst part to me is feeling guilty when I haven't posted enough or haven't replied to comments.
The worst part to me is feeling guilty when I haven't posted enough or haven't replied to comments.
You took a bit of a break from blogging for a little while - is it good to be back? It really is! I never planned to take a break but the fact of the matter was at one point I was putting my blog ahead of things like my painting and spending too much time on the internet was making me feel very unmotivated and unhappy. I love my blog but obviously I can't let it take over my life. Luckilly now I think I've managed to get everything in perspective. I love writing in my blog, it's fun and I love interacting with the whole beauty blogging community and I really missed the friends I made blogging on my break.
One of the things I love the most about your blog is the creativity behind so many of your looks - where do you find your inspiration for them?Thank you! It's very hard to describe where I get my inspiration from as usually ideas just pop into my head. But I think my looks all come from a combination with my obsessions: certain movies, pop stars from the 70s and 80s, bad sci-fi films, Pantomime Dames, Silent film stars, music I love, Dr Seuss, 1700s fashion, Pop art, magicians, circuses, music hall performers, makeup styles from the 20s to 80s and of course beauty blogs and makeup artists.
You often post pictures of your amazing outfits as well - where you do you find such unique pieces of clothing?Oh goodness, unfortunately the answer to this is 'everywhere'. Quite often I get my clothes from regular high street stores (H&M, Topshop and Miss Selfridge are probably where I shop most often) I'll just pick up the most garish, over-the-top items they sell and pair them with my other garish over-the-top items :P I love asos.com which often has quite quirky unusual pieces and is generally affordable. I also buy handmade stuff on etsy, vintage on ebay and the occaisional expensive piece from Bettie Page Clothing, who make fantastic faux-vintage clothes. Also my girlfriend and I both sew, so a lot of my clothes have been made by us.
You're a big fan of indie makeup companies - what is it that you love about them and who are your current favourites?Well the first thing I love about indie companies is the prices! Nearly all of them are in a similar price range to high street brands despite the fact that they're being handmade by people. That's anothing thing I like, with indie brands you can actually interact with the people who make the products, most have blogs or are on twitter. If you follow them not only do you get to learn about them as people but it gives you an insight into what goes into running a cosmetics business.
And I like the idea of supporting a small business. Also basically all the indie makeup I've tried has been incredibly high quality.
My current favourites are Fyrinnae, who made some of the most complex shadows I own (you would not believe the multichromatic joy of some of their colours), Morganas Minerals for their wild coloured lipsticks, Hi Fi cosmetics for lovely shadows and hard to find glitter, shimmer and gel products, Sugarpill who make some of the most pigmented and beautiful eye products I've used and Haus of Gloi for fantastic body products. There are still hundreds of amazing looking companies I need to try and more popping up all the time!
And I like the idea of supporting a small business. Also basically all the indie makeup I've tried has been incredibly high quality.
My current favourites are Fyrinnae, who made some of the most complex shadows I own (you would not believe the multichromatic joy of some of their colours), Morganas Minerals for their wild coloured lipsticks, Hi Fi cosmetics for lovely shadows and hard to find glitter, shimmer and gel products, Sugarpill who make some of the most pigmented and beautiful eye products I've used and Haus of Gloi for fantastic body products. There are still hundreds of amazing looking companies I need to try and more popping up all the time!
How do you spend your free time when you're not blogging?
Well firstly I'm sort of the housewife in our house, I cook dinner basically every day, do the majority of the cleaning and I walk our dogs twice a day. Then I paint, sculpt and draw and sew clothes. But for fun I love playing video games, going out dancing, shopping, watching films, comedy programmes and Eastenders, going to gigs, reading and generally sitting around on my bum being unproductive.
Am I right in thinking that you recently had some of your illustrations published? What was the book and how did that come about?
Yes! It was very exciting. The book I illustrated is called Cox's Fragmenta it's a collection of odd and funny newspaper articles from the 18th and 19th centuries. I have about 5 or 6 ink drawings in the book illustrating the articles. I was browsing Gumtree looking for work and the author had left an advert asking for an illustrator. So I replied, sent him a link to my website and he liked my work! Then I was sent selected articles to illustrate and I would send him back the finished work. It was all done by email which was great for me because of my shyness. Some of the drawings that made it into the book don't represent my best work, some of my favourites were left out and it would have been great to get paid (I did it for the experience) but overall it was a great experience and I'm very proud of myself. My Mum gave copies of the book to various people as presents this Christmas, which was a bit embarrassing! If anyone's interested you can get it here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coxs-
You post about quite a few different things - do you have a favourite type of blog post that you enjoy writing (e.g. swatches, FOTDs etc)My favourite type of post to write is positive reviews, I love gushing about how wonderful something is and sharing pictures of great products! I'm not a writer but I studied English for A level and do like writing, so reviews are good because I can waffle on for ages :P I also like posting really creative FOTDS and tutorials, only I think I've only ever written one!
What can readers of Funny Face's Place look forward to in the next few months?I've been inspired to document my entire collection of lip products to make a kind of database. I'll be posting them both by brand and colour. But because this will involve me doing lip swatches of (what I guess is) well over 200 lipsticks/glosses/pencils it's gonna take me a while! I've got some reviews and swatches of indie brands coming up shortly and other than that I'll just be continuing my usual reviews, FOTDs and OOTDs and the occasional rant :P
Ok time for some quick fire questions:
3 Favourite Items of Make up:Lipstick
Mascara
Liquid eyeliner
Mascara
Liquid eyeliner
3 Favourite Foods:Ice cream
tomato pasta
meringue and cream
tomato pasta
meringue and cream
3 Desert Island Items:A computer with internet dongle, all my music and favourite films loaded on. Or if that's cheating then I'll have some Durex lube and just indulge myself :P
Sketchbook and pencils
An endless supply of factor 50 spf
3 People who've inspired you:My friend Foz
Dr Seuss
Liselotte Eriksson
Sketchbook and pencils
An endless supply of factor 50 spf
3 People who've inspired you:My friend Foz
Dr Seuss
Liselotte Eriksson
3 blogs you'd like to recommend:Don't make me pick just 3! D:
One of the first beauty blogs I ever encountered was Mizz Worthy's and it holds a special place in my heart. Also she's just a great blogger! http://mizzworthy.blogspot.
Sparklz and Shine is an amazing woman and often does amazing avant garde makeup looks:http://www.sparklzandshine.com
Messy Carla is an amazingly, wonderfully fun fashion blogger http://messycarla.blogspot.com
One of the first beauty blogs I ever encountered was Mizz Worthy's and it holds a special place in my heart. Also she's just a great blogger! http://mizzworthy.blogspot.
Sparklz and Shine is an amazing woman and often does amazing avant garde makeup looks:http://www.sparklzandshine.com
Messy Carla is an amazingly, wonderfully fun fashion blogger http://messycarla.blogspot.com
3 words of advice:Make life magic :)
Great interview and I love the perfect Desert Island Items answers! :P
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for doing this Emily :)
ReplyDeletei love lillian! xxx
ReplyDelete