Lime Green Eye Shadow Swatches!

After procuring the latest Sugarpill lime green, AcidBerry, from the Heart Breaker collection I decided it would be a good time to swatch some of my lime green vegan eye shadows.

I swatched (from left to right in the photo below) Sugarpill Acidberry pressed eye shadow, MTcoffinz Acid Reign pressed eye shadow, and my own Zombify Margarita loose eye shadow.

Sugarpill's Acidberry is definitely the closest to a classic green, it has more blue in it out of the three shades swatched and slight sheen/shimmer. MTcoffinz's Acid Reign is more yellow green and very shiny, near metallic compared to Acidberry (I suspect the two would look amazing in a look together!). My own Zombify Margarita loose shadow is more of a golden/yellow lime green with shimmer. The swatches were done on bare skin (right) and over MTcoffinz Under The Rainbow primer (left), so you get an idea of how the colors look with and without primer.

I'm excited to play with the colors together to create various looks! All colors can be built up or toned down for bold or subtle looks. 

I'll be sure to post what I come up with! :) 

Stay Spooky,

Gothcupcake

Tonight's Makeup

MTcoffinz Under the Rainbow primer, MTcoffinz pressed eye shadow in Nocturne, Sugarpill loose eye shadow in Hysteric, e.l.f. cream eyeliner, Manic Panic Creature of the Night mascara.

Hooray For Mail!

Received a package from MTcoffinz today packed full of vegan beauty goodies! Can't wait to try them out!

Try them out for yourself too by visiting www.mtcoffinz.com!

Stay Spooky,
Gothcupcake

The New Zombify

To those of you that have been with me and Zombify since the outbreak thank you for all of your continued support and encouragement with the line. I never expected Zombify to be as successful as it has been. Thank you to everyone for sticking with it through the highs and the lows. I'm looking forward to the relaunch as being another high for the line.

After the recall I decided that I was going to use only unblended ingredients. My original formulations were all orginal mixtures, but the base ingredients were blends of micas, oxides, and chemical preservatives or additives. While all of these blends were vegan-friendly and cosmetic grade, I didn't feel comfortable with some of their ratings on Skin Deep and other sources. I vowed to make the line better, safer, more pure.

I have since found new suppliers (my main supplier being one that is all natural and vegan!) The cosmetics for the relaunch will be Zombify's signature fresh and bold colors, but they will no longer use blends that contain fillers, additives or FDC colors. This poses a bit of a challenge for me to find new ways to create the same bold colors as my competition, but I enjoy a good challenge and I love getting creative.

The few test colors I've mixed have received positive reviews. The price of each eyeshadow however will reflect this ingredient change. Raw ingredients actually cost twice the amount of the watered down blends I used to buy. Those of you that have visited my shop may have noticed this new price reflected in my preview sale of the yet-to-be-named Midnight Blue. The original 5g jar size will now sell for $8.

However, in order to ensure that my original goal for Gothcupcake products to be both cute, goth and affordable stays true, I have decided to offer more ways for Zombify cosmetics to be purchased. With the new all-natural ingredients will also come the options to buy Zombify in sample bag form, affordable 3g jars and in the original 5g jar size. This way, no matter what your budget you can still afford to be Zombified.

I look forward to this new chapter for Zombify cosmetics and I hope you all stay on board for the ride! I have a lot of new and exciting things in the works for the line as well as for Zombify's soon-to-be-announced sister line of cosmetics.


Love and Brains,
Gothcupcake and Zoe Zombie

365 Project 24, 25, 26

Thankfully sketching can be done lying down, from the comfort of my couch. I feel really icky today, but found some energy to draw in between naps.
This first picture (Day 26) is a reworking of the "zombify" logo from the makeup jar sketch from the other day. I can't decide if I like 2 eyeballs in the gooey words or not.

This second sketch (Day 25) is for yesterday, since I didn't feel up to drawing. It's a zombie punk girl eating the heart of her date. Just in time for Valentine's Day.

This final sketch is Day 24's. I drew it on the 2nd but didn't have the energy to take a picture and post it. She sort of looks like Draculaura from the Monster High series, but it wasn't my initial intention.

To keep my fluids up Frankie Stein lended a hand in making me some raspberry vegan jell-o...

And now I think I'll take another nap.

Hope you all are enjoying your week!

Stay Spooky,

Gothcupcake

365 Day 4 and Vegan Sneakers!

My Gothmas gift from the s/o came in the mail today! My vegan sneakers from MooShoes. I'm really chuffed that this particular pair of Macbeth's even say "vegan" right on the sneaker!

I also love that these ones are all black and have super cushion-y insoles (and song lyrics printed under the insoles!!) I can't wait to wear these tomorrow ^_^

For day 4 of my 365 project I'm really having great fun drawing these spooky lasses! I'm also really digging the silhouette in this sketch and the cute little bat!

It's late and I'm too tired to post the muffin recipe tonight, but I will be sure to post it soon...promise!

Stay Spooky,

Gothcupcake

P.S. Yes, those are khaki pants, I was too excited to change out of my normie work uniform before taking a picture of my awesome new sneakers :P

365 Day 2 PLUS Cupcake Recipe!!!!

Here is my sketch for day 2 of my 365 project. I like drawing tentacles and I saw this great picture of a woman with an octopus on her head that inspired me to draw a woman with tentacles for hair. I may play with this idea further as I also think it ties in nicely with my cthulhu women.

Many of you asked for it on facebook, and after bringing them into work I got many requests for the recipe from coworkers too! So here is the recipe for Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes! Tweaked slightly from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's wonderful book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World.

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe

Ingredients

1 c. non-dairy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar works too)

1 1/4 c. wheat flour

1 c. granulated sugar

2 Tbs cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder (I was out so I subbed 1/8th tsp baking soda+1/4 tsp cream of tartar)

1/2 tsp baking soda (If you use the baking powder substitute still add this too!)

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 c. olive oil (or Canola oil or pretty much any vegetable oil so long as it isn't flavored)

20 drops red food coloring (I actually substituted purple)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line cupcake pan with liners.

2. Whisk together the non-dairy milk and vinegar. Set aside to curdle.

3. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.

4. Add the olive oil, food coloring, almond extract and vanilla extact to the curdled non-dairy milk. Whisk to combine. Gently fold in and mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until there are no large lumps.

5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full to give room for the cupcakes to rise. Place in your preheated oven and bake 18 to 20 minutes checking with a toothpick for doneness.

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 nonhydrogented margarine, softened (NOT melted)

1/4 c. vegan cream cheese, softened (Tofutti is vegan and tastes great!)

2 c. confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

*2 Tbs water (This is optional, and only used if your frosting turns out a bit too dry)

Directions

1. Cream together margarine and cream cheese until just combined.

2. Add confectioners sugar in 1/2 c. batches. (This step is easier with a handheld mixer, but I just mixed by hand with a wooden spoon!)

3. Mix until smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla extract. Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to put on your cooled red velvet cupcakes!

Stay Spooky,

Gothcupcake

My Trip to L.A. and Sweet Streets 2!

I had an amazing long weekend trip to L.A. for the Sweet Streets 2 opening night and got to spend some quality time with my awesome West Coast family in California :) I had never been to Los Angeles before, only San Diego, so our first stop was Little Tokyo, where I saw this awesome cream puff sign.
I also picked up these sweet heart shaped glasses while we were in Little Tokyo too!
Next we were hungry, so we stopped by this sushi restaurant since it was near the gallery where Sweet Streets was opening. Watch out it's craaazzy!
We were amused to find an elevator to 'De Club' inside before the entrance to the sushi place. This only added to my amusement when our waiter dropped off the menu with his name scrolled at the bottom as Heavy "D". Of course, inspiration struck and I ended up writing a mini rap song.

My name is Heavy "D", I'm your Emcee
When we in De Club we get Crazy
I use my wok, to make you rolls
These rhymes so hot, they come in bowls!

My cousin Lolita and I couldn't resist, we had to pretend like we were checking out Ladies Night at De Club before we left.
Next up was gallery nucleus for Sweet Streets 2 and the 6% Doki Doki fashion show!
I spotted Twinkie Chan and chatted with her a bit, it's strange meeting people in person that you only talk to on-line! I realized how much of a spazz I am in social situations, but hopefully I'll get better! (It was also a million degrees inside the gallery, I have no idea why I wore a hoodie!)
I also got to meet Amy of Shrinkle in person after communicating with her since the start of Gothcupcake. I was chuffed that she remembered me by name, also yay for hugs.
This girl had the *coolest* goth unicorn outfit on ever. I never thought a unicorn could be bad ass, but this girl pulled it off! She had skulls on her shoulders and 7" heels that she sawed the heels off of to look like she had fetishy hooves!
Of course, there was the fashion show. Which included local girls as models (shown here) and 2 6% Doki Doki shop girls! The models hopped and danced down the runway.
Here are the shop girl models, dancing down the runway with their neon teddy bears.
Then the runway models started pulling up people from the audience to dance on the runway with them...I got pulled up (see me in the back there...)
There was, of course, a man dressed as a giant unicorn who joined in the ruckus.
Me shaking my groove thing.
The runway. The next day was the 6% Doki Doki Talk Show with designer, Sebastian Masuda.
My cousin Loli and I were ready to have fun at the Talk Show before heading off to see Linkin Park play for the VMA's!
It was *very* interesting listing to Sebastian talk about the history of Harajuku and how the street fashion it is known for started out. He equated the kawaii fashion movement to the hippie and punk movements as a way for youth to rebel against war and authority. It was really enlightening!
There I am behind the blond guy, soaking it all in.
The shop girls wearing shirts from the world tour and of course, decked out in 6% Doki Doki accessories!
After the talk show I played Rock, Paper, Scissors with the shop girl models (and lost *pouts*) and then bought some 6% Doki Doki cuteness! Here is me having my picture taken by a photographer at the event XD I was less spazz-y this day.

I don't have photos from the Linkin Park concert because they didn't allow us to bring in cell phones or cameras (though some people still managed to get them in), but you can watch the video, we got to see the concert from the roof top of the observatory, so look for a flash of pink hair half way through the video on the roof! :P I'm a tiny dot, but that's me!
Linkin Park - The Catalyst (Live)

I'm gearing up now for a 2 week vacation back to my home state, Rhode Island. I'm excited to get to see a *real* Fall season again, and more importantly, excited to see my family that I haven't seen in over 2 years! I leave Saturday, and promise to post more when I get back! Pinky swear!!

I may even invest in a web cam...gasp!

Stay Spooky,
Gothcupcake

Introducing Zombify Cosmetics!!

I've been hard at work getting these together and finally I have listed 13 eye shadows in my Etsy shop! The makeup line is Zombify by Zoe Zombie and is a line of vegan eyeshadows in bright colors with lots of shimmer.

If you haven't discovered it already, friend our Zombify cosmetics facebook page for exclusive contests, giveaways, makeup tutorials, reviews, photos and more!

I hope you boils and ghouls have been fangtastic, and now that I've gotten the makeup line launched I hope to have more time to post! Lots of exciting trips and projects to share with you!

Stay Spooky,
Gothcupcake

Model Offer

Let me preface this entry by saying that I have been dabbling in modeling here and there, and thusly some months ago started an account on Model Mayhem. Having an account on Model Mayhem I sometimes get model inquiries e-mailed to me from supposed agents or agencies in foreign countries offering me money to come here to shoot photos of me. It is usually pretty easy to tell just by the e-mail subject lines that these e-mails are scams. The subject of the e-mail below, which I woke up to this morning, was Model Job Offer With Good Payment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, any respectable modeling agency would have a bit more professionalism I would think, and perhaps not exclaim so much as if it were a Craigslist ad.

I would also like to point out that I have my name on my Model Mayhem account, so the opening to this e-mail was awesome.

Hello Vegan,

My name is Joy Dav my friend use to call me JAYDEE . Am The Secretary to the ( Beautiful World ) Printing house, which based in the Malaysia and has branches in AFRICA.I saw your profile and pictures at www.modelmayhem.com while searching in the internet, I appreciate it and I would like us to do some works together. Our company presently have good offer for you. I want to know if you are interested in modeling because we need pictures of a good looking person who will be on the magazine cover of some of our clients Company. Please let me know if you are interested in the deal. So $400 for a shoot and the shoot will take at your place. Let me know if you are interested in my offer and I would give you further details
Secretary
JAYDEE

Another Recipe!!!

So, being broke lately has led me to doing what my mom always said "Work with what you've got." I've decided that I'm becoming more of a hippie, because this morning I made my own granola bars. Except, this batch I made them without oats, so I call this recipe:

Cranberry Choco Sans Granola Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 c. brown rice syrup
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. vegan carob chips (or chocolate chips)
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/4 c. pumpkin seeds (I used Pumpkorn cocoa pumpkin seeds)
1 1/4 c. puffed rice cereal
1 1/4 c. corn flakes-type cereal

Directions:
1. Lightly oil an 8x8 inch baking pan and set aside.

2. In a larger pot, stir together the rice syrup, peanut butter, and carob chips on medium-low heat until melted; stir continuously to prevent burning.

3. Once mixture is evenly melted and mixed, remove from heat and immediately add cranberries, seeds and cereals. Mix quickly until everything is well-coated.

4. With damp hands, press mixture firmly and evenly into your 8x8 inch pan. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes to set.

5. Once set, use a butter-knife to slice into bars.

Variations:
-Add a handful of shredded coconut when adding cereals
-Replace corn flakes-type cereal for rolled oats
-Try different seed or nut butters in place of peanut butter
-sprinkle in some sesame seeds, flax seeds, nuts or other goodies

Cookie Recipe (FINALLY!)

The recipe for the (long ago) aforementioned melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

Vegan Melt-in-Your-Mouth Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1/3 cup nondairy milk (soy, hemp, almond, rice, whatever your poison)
2 TBS ground flax seeds (or flax meal)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup (or more) vegan chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

2. In a large bowl, vigorously mix together the non-dairy milk and flax meal with a fork. Add in the brown sugar and oil and mix until it resembles caramel, about 2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and salt. (If you don't have a sifter--like me!--just be sure you don't have a lot of clumps/lumps) Mix the dry ingredients in as they are being added. Fold in the oats and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

3. Drop dough in generous tablespoons (I like big cookies, so I made my lumps the size of golf balls), about 2 inches apart, onto the baking sheet. Flatten the tops of the dough a bit so they'll look more like cookies when they bake. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. (Extra gooey if you take them out after 10 minutes!)

4. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container, or in your belly. ;P

Recipe yields a dozen big cookies or 2 dozen weenie cookies.