Basically I’m making this but using my own art instead. This will be pretty big and will take me a while to complete (I’m thinking a week), but I’m excited to see how this turns out.

My latest shironuri project, covering myself in twisted tree branches. The kicker here is that I plan to draw the branches onto cardstock, then put my head thru it.

The left drawing is how I plan on inserting my head through the cardstock & the right is my initial concept sketch.

While doing shironuri today, I tried a traditional Tajik beauty method—painting in a unibrow.

Traditionally, women used woad to dye the eyebrows (and the area in between) a dark color, emphasizing their beauty. It’s the complete opposite of Eurocentric beauty standards which are anti-unibrow.

I needed green embroidery thread, so I popped into the thrift store today (I rarely buy it new these days). Found a ton of vintage American Thread Co floss, probably from the 1960s.

Despite its age, the threads are in great condition. I can’t wait to use it in some upcoming projects!

I’ve always wondered: Were mummies ever buried with makeup?

Turns out the answer is…yes!

Here are some cosmetics found buried with a mummy from the Subeshi culture (found in modern day Xinjiang), which existed from 1100-100 BCE.

The burial goods include rouge and a stick for applying mascara.

While raiding the homes of people suspected to be gay men throughout the late 1930s-1940s, Chicago police plucked any photographs in their possession “proving” their homosexuality.

Here’s one example - a person, AMAB, wearing lip rouge with plucked eyebrows.