About Alchemy

Comics, Beauty and Video Games? Oh MY!

If anyone had told me that I'd be starting a beauty blog, I would not have believed them. Here I am though, doing just that, especially after the encouragement from a co-worker of mine.

The truth? I'm not very good at about me pages. I'm not one to really give much information about myself, nor really talk about myself. Even when I started work I got tongue tied when my co-workers wanted to know about me. But that's who I am, I'm more of a question girl than an answer girl, and when I do answer, I tend to go overboard with details (character flaw right there). I'm going to give this a whirl though.

First off, for years I have always gone by the internet nickname of Alchemy (or the full name AlchemyRikku). The nickname came from when I was obsessed with Final Fanasy X/X-2 and has stuck ever since. The only thing that isn't attached to that name is my twitter account, which falls under a different name. 

I started to get into make-up when I was in junior high, always drugstore make-up because I didn't know about high end make-up brands. Truth be told, I didn't even know what Sephora was! I wasn't familiar with make-up as my Mother was highly allergic to it, so everything was based on trial and error, plus relying on friends. Of course, I often would come home with raccoon eyes because a friend went a little heavy with the black eyeliner.

Then came the nails, which later on down the road became a type of therapy for me. I nearly ruined my nails after allowing a friend to take acrylic tips I had done, off. I didn't use polish for along time after the trauma my nails went through, and when I did it was just plain colors. Sometime after my Grandfather passed away in 2005, I started with nail designs (I'm going to see about putting a gallery together of my older designs). Looking up Japanese nail art. Rhinestones, pearls, bows, I went from there and started. Using mostly rhinestones that I'd get from the craft store, hits and misses, until I found the perfect ones. Changing the designs and polish up every week or so. This became a therapy for me in coping with the loss. It may sound strange, but the concentration that would go into a design, kind of took my mind off everything. 

This continued even when I got a new job, where they didn't like my hair color (it was a very intense copper color) nor my nail designs (well, one person didn't). I went from one department to another, and along the way my interest grew when it came to make-up. I didn't know how to do a smokey eye, or how to do cat eyes (I STILL can't figure this out, my eyes are defective I tell you!), I started Googling terms, which then directed me to YouTube users.This is how I was introduced to the world of beauty gurus and beauty blogs. Learning along the way.

I still consider myself an beginner, maybe years (and years) from now, I'll get out of that category and be a make-up artist. That would be a dream come true.

Some quick facts about me.

• I'm 29 years old, born December 21 (yes my nickname leading up to my birthday last year was doom's day baby!)
• I'm from New Jersey, USA
• I'm insanely camera shy. 
• My Mom helps me pick out nail polishes, especially when I'm not sure if I have dupes or not. However, it should be noted that she has monochrome color blindness.
• I work for a four star restaurant and it's sister restaurants/banquet facilities.
• I have a dog named Kaos and a cat named Kit, plus a stray cat named Tiny.
• I do have a degree, in Floral Design, but this isn't what I do for a living.
• I'm a hardcore Oncer (Once Upon A Time). I could talk all day about this show and not get bored of it.
• I'm also a comic book fan, Iron Man, The Avengers, X-Men, Dawn. I'm partial to Marvel Comics.
• Music preference is all over the place, from Japanese Pop to Symphonic Metal.
• I stick mostly to Sci-fi/Action/Fantasy movies, me liking a romcom is rare.
• My very first high end make-up item was a M.A.C. holiday gift set (Naughty Noir Eye Bag). I was so excited that I even kept the box.