Section: Articles, Blogs, Poll and Contests

 

Did you think we’d get tired after just one contest? Oh, no! We’re just getting geared up! We’ve got a brand new contest we think you’ll enjoy.

Want a $250 Lip Service Gift Certificate? Yep, thought you might!

 

Do you adore your new Lip Service costume, all packaged and ready for some Halloween sexiness? We thought so, too.

 

Want to show off how hot you look out with your friends in your killer Lip Service Halloween costume? We figured you would.

 

Now, bring those all together and you’ve got the Lip Service Costume photo contest for Halloween 2010!

 

Here are the details:
First you must get yourself a packaged Halloween costume from the Lip Service Costume Vault 2010 collection. And, we know many of you already have (which we LOVE about you!). Then, you go out for a night of fun and perhaps debauchery with your friends and take some photos of you in your Lippy costume. Pick your absolute favorite, the one you REALLY want to show off to everyone, and post it to our Lip Service Facebook Fan Page. That’s it … that’s all you’ve got to do!

From there, we’ll check out all the photos posted and pick our three favorites. The 1st will receive a $250 Lip Service Gift Certificate. 2nd will receive a $100 Lip Service Gift Certificate. 3rd will get a free costume of their choice, so they can rock an extra look whenever the dress-up urge strikes!

The nitty-gritty:
- Only photos including a Lip Service Costume Vault 2010 packaged costume will be included. (Costumes include: Black Panther, Captain Blackheart, Gangster Vixen, Maid of Lace, Major Mayhem. Midnight Vamp, Molten Metal Devil, Night Nurse, Officer Vice, Queen of Hearts, Roaring Flapper, Sassy Sailor, Teacher’s Pet, Troop 666 Scout, and Wonderful Alice.)
- Contest is open now, so no need to delay in posting your entry pic!
- Photos must be posted by no later than 11:59 PM November 1, 2010 (Winners will be selected and announced 11/2)
- Please, no multiple photos per person or multiple entries for a single photo. If you’re in a group, please select a unique photo for each participant.
- Please reference the Lip Service Costume Vault in your photo description comments!
- Winners will be announced (by FB user name) via our Facebook Fan Page and the Lip Service webzine.
- Please … keep it clean and within the Terms of Service for Facebook.

Have fun and best of luck, everyone! Happy spooky, sexy Lippy Halloween!

“What Fear Fears Most,” is the slogan for this year’s Universal Halloween Horror Nights. This annual event has people flocking from all over the world to attend for a night or, if you’re lucky and live local, with a pass that guarantees multiple days of horror.

I get a pass every year for a few reasons: 1) The lines often take up so much time you can’t get to everything! 2) A pass makes it much easier to go with friends when you want. 3) It’s so much fun you’ll be dying for more!

This year, like most others, there are 5 haunted mazes including:
-Nightmare on Elm Street with new Freddy Krueger
-Friday the 13th with new Jason Voorhees
-Saw featuring horrific new traps
-House of 1000 Corpses in 3D Zombie vision
-Vampyre: Castle of the Undead

multiple scare zones featuring:
- La Llorona
-Nightmarez
-Klownz
-Lunaticz
-Freakz
-Pigz

The Terror Tram: Chucky’s Revenge

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure

Most of the main rides are open, too.

You’ll be happy you got there on time when you’re waiting in line for both security and to get into the park. Finally, once through the turnstiles, you’re greeted by Freddy in the middle of the fountain and 2 smokin’ Freddy go-go girls. You know you’re inside, though, when you start hearing those chainsaws go off and the screams of scared tourists. All the rest of us can do is feel like we’re home and sit back to watch the show. Huge pyros go off above a clown ringleader and his army of evil chainsaw welding clowns. Of course, you can’t miss the giant jester towering over you.

Vampyre: Castle of the Undead is the first house you come across, being that it is inside Universal’s year-round House of Horrors. Not much is changed to the actual houses, just a bunch of vampyre girls and guys that actually make a nice addition. If you head toward the left of the park, you walk into “Lunaticz”, where the dangerous and demented asylum inmates have taken to the streets of London on a murderous rampage.

If you make it out of there, you come across your next task, making it through House of 1000 Corpses! Here you’re taken through Captain Spaulding’s and his Murder Ride, The Firefly house where you see Baby, Odius, and Tiny … all in Zombievision. The house is so realistic, you find yourself taking off your 3D glasses just to look at everything. Without even noticing, you exit into Paris where the “Freakz” have set up camp, anxious to get their hands on you food.

Next you come across Friday the 13th and the campgrounds of Camp Crystal Lake, where you see desperate campers in a bear trap and a sleeping bag. Various versions of Jason from the new movie come at you as you go through scenes such as the barn, The Vorhees house, Jason’s lair, the forest making you feel as if you were right there in it. As Jason chases you out, you come across the scarezone of La Llorona weeping for her children. They pushed this on the advertisements over the Vampyre House,why I will never know. It was a pretty big let down, with ghost children running around trying to scare you.

If the scarezone puts you to sleep, you’ll be right where He wants you in the next maze. The notorious Freddy Krueger is back in this new vision of Nightmare On Elmstreet where you see his world, the preschool, the highschool, Nancy’s room, and other familiar scenes from Springwood in the new movie. The sets are very well done, but I’m still a fan of the original Nightmare on Elmstreet editions.

The last main Horror Nights thing to do upstairs is, of course, the Terror Tram, where the legendary tram takes you and lets you out on the back lot. This has always been a thrill, featuring such big names as Jason, Leatherface, and Freddy. This year the theme was Chucky’s Revenge, with a huge hand from La Llorona. Besides the usual things they do to it each year to enhance the back lot (i.e. lots of dead bodies and Psycho with Normal Bates) the rest, sadly, was a disappointment and wasted a lot of space. La Llorona wasn’t scary and the Chucky guys were a little less than horrifying. Although the idea of Chucky being responsible for the fire there so long ago was really funny.

Downstairs more chainsaws, drawn by the ever-haunting Saw Pigs, come after you. The Saw maze awaits as you make your way through the fog. It’s became last on our to do list because of how similar it is to the previous year it was done and, of course, the horrible smells are sort of overwhelming. Although it’s cool to see a few updated traps and realistic set designs, I recommend it for first timers rather than frequent goers.

It is a fun night that keeps your heart pumping and you guessing what’s around every corner, nonetheless.

Remember, the crowds usually hit what they see first, then make their way to the bottom, so the lower lot is more packed later, leaving the front houses less full, with the exception of House of 1000 Corpses! Also, if you scare easily and show it well + happen to be female, they WILL chase you! Just a warning =]

Hope to see you guys there this weekend!

Horrific Dreams!
Rebecca a.k.a Sage Sin

modelmayhem.com/rebeccasage

halloweenhorrornights.com/hollywood/2010

Okay, yes, there’s a good chance we’re just plain crazy from all this LA heat. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of us. Do you want a free $100 Lippy Gift Certificate? Just place an order for $200 or more at Lip-Service.com before 11:59 PM (Pacific) Sunday and you’ll be one step closer to some free Lippy gear! We’ll select one random order from all orders over $200 placed between 2PM Thurday (that’s NOW) and 11:59 PM Sunday and give that lucky Fashion Freak a Lippy Gift Certificate for $100!

Here are the nitty-gritty details:

Orders must be placed at Lip-Service.com between now (Thursday 9/30 2PM) and Sunday Oct. 3 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Sales total (not including tax or shipping) must be over $200 to be enterred into the drawing. Winning sales order will be selected at random and the winner contacted via email. Please make sure you have included your most current contact information on your order. Prize is in the form of a $100 Lip Service Gift Certificate code to be used toward purchase at Lip-Service.com.

So you want your parents to buy you some killer Lippy goodness, but you have your concerns. I can commiserate, having been young once myself. You can just imagine them surfing the site … the various thoughts that might well pop into their heads … thoughts that might stand between you and the receiving of that kick-ass gear you’re itching to find when you tear open the wrapped packages awaiting you this holiday season:
“Why do they have to use the ‘F’ word so much?”
“What sort of naughty, naughty people wear all those dirty, perverted fetish outfits?”
“My word! Those skirts are awfully short!”
“If our little __________ (insert your name here) wears these sorts of clothes, they might actually *GASP* do nasty, sexy things in them … we can’t have that!”

You get the picture.

So, being as we’re remarkably sensitive to your needs (and we kinda like to sell stuff, too *heh*), we’re here to help you in your quest to get some new Lip Service goodies from the people least likely to give you hot, sexy gear. Here, you’ll find photos with direct links you can forward, so they will have no need to navigate around to things we don’t want to trouble their worrying minds about.

You’re welcome.

Now, this means that a few of the tastier naughty styles need to come off the table. We must be realistic here. Bottom line: The purpose is to get them to kick in for gear, not frighten them, so we’ll keep to the bare essentials. The stuff that will still look hot but not freak out the grown-ups.

Point one … Keep it (seemingly) clean.
Parents love to see you in new clothes, just not ones they know will make members of the opposite sex think impure thoughts. So, the strategy is: Make it SEEM clean, but still have sexy appeal.

A few choice examples:

Note how all of these skirts SEEM just a hint longer than they really are, just long enough to pass parent muster. Yet, you will notice that the added length is an illusion. In most of the skirts, lace or tulle creates the FEEL of more inches while you get to still show lots of leg through that sheer non-cover. And the Dark Desires skirt can be adjusted to slide just a bit further up the thigh … once you’re safely out the door, that is!

Point two … Safe Lolita sexy
The next “safe” area is mostly easy, if you think strategically. YOU know that certain “little girl” looks are über-hot, yet your parents are blissfully unaware. You’d like to keep it that way, wouldn’t you? So, stay away from the bits of that look which will set off red flags in their minds (that means, sorry, no sexy schoolgirl on their dime). Pick your Lolita-inspired looks with care … they’ll think you’re just darling in them and, most importantly, you’ll get to rock the sexy.
A few good examples:

Note, in particular how the Gloomy Doom hoodie, in addition to its girlish goodness, is also cropped (YEA!). The Bat Attack skirt has the illusion of length, but that’s just tulle. Then, the tunic … don’t you just love being able to wear something your folks would NEVER approve as a dress, simply because it’s a “long shirt” worn with your best sexy, butt-hugging friend, legging? And, when looking at the War of the Roses dress, don’t forget to notice that lovely keyhole back opening, to add a little seemingly-safe skin to the lacy girlishness. Overall, I’d say it’s a big collection of parent-friendly-yet-sexy-as-hell WIN!

Point three … Give them “light” dark
Okay, you know you’re a creature of the night. But it freaks them out a little … or a lot. You don’t want to suggest styles that will make them head someplace else for *gack* bright colors and *wretch* festive patterns, do you? Of course not. If you give them something that FEELS like middle-ground to them, they’ll kinda feel like you’re coming out of this “phase” you’ve been in and … as parents are wont to do … encourage your emergence from the black darkling cocoon that so disturbs them. We can find a happy medium, particularly one that still gives you lots of gothy goodness, can be blacked up with other pieces, and -again, most importantly- will pass parent muster.
A few examples:

You’ll notice the Bat Attack Dress, when requested in the purple color, is a two-fer. Not only will you get bats and a still-rather-lovely dark color, you get a bit of length-based illusion as well. Epic win! And, while there are phrases which might be parental hot-spots in the Tokyo Trix jacket and Dark Desires dress, trust someone who’s been there (and heard, “Why do you have to wear black ALL the time?” more times than I care to recall). They’ll be so glad to see something on your list that’s not black, they’ll barely give a passing second thought to “evil” or “blood”. It’s color, so it’s all good. And, of course, you also get some girly-lacy Lolita-like goodness from the Perfume and Lace shirt. Not too bad for not-black, eh?

Last, but certainly not least …
Point four … Look for skin that’s not “being exposed”
Let’s face it, there are a lot of ways to do skin … and your parents are really only mainly concerned with one or two ways of you showing it. So, take advantage of that by showing them styles that are low on rack-baring cleavage but still high on the sexy skin meter. You’ll still look hot and they’ll think you’re demure or something. It’s nice when they delude themselves like that, isn’t it?
Here are a few choice examples:

See what I mean … skin, but not what will register to Mom and Dad as “skin”. Take the Gangsta Pranksta bodice, for example. It’s not a dramatically scooping neckline like the padlock-collar shirt in that group, yet is still low enough for some sexy. It has that little bit of back peeking through the ribbon lacing (which you can always replace later with slimmer stuff after your folks see it with more coverage – like the site photo which is also parent-friendly). best yet, it is made of yummily body-hugging bengaline and, with the backless silhouette, is not bra-friendly. SKIN WIN! The Desensitized jacket speaks for itself. Clingy, stretchy with little hooks which can be undone lower once safely out of the house plus panels of sheer netting that don’t look sheer at first glance, but are tastefully skin-forward. And, well duh, the super-sheer of fishnet and spiderweb lace. “Why, of course, I’ll ALWAYS wear a tank or shell under it, Mom!” *HA!*

One of the wonderful things about most parents of teens … they tend to hear what they want hear and try not to think about what you’re really up to when you’re not at home. Hopefully these links to seemingly “nice” Lippy will get you the stuff you really want to get … not the awful, “good girl” crap they’d get you without a gentle guiding hand toward the Lippy they’d consider buying. Let them feel like they won in this. Let them enjoy their serenity, thinking they have gotten you nice, appropriate clothing instead of all that “trashy” stuff you really wanted.

Then go out, smile, and style it the way you rock it best!

Fashist Fishnet Total Package

Want to see as much of her as possible?
We’ve got you (but not her) covered!
Want to give her a total package look but your wallet is a little light?
We’ve got that handled, too!
Check out the Fash-ist Fishnet Tease Me Easy Cami Top paired with the Super Sexy Mini Skirt, which probably doesn’t REALLY qualify as a skirt if you’re judging coverage, but that’s a very good thing, right? She’ll feel super-naughty and want to be very, very nice in this smoking hot barely-there outfit. Bonus über-sexy points for the garter straps so she can hook on her slinkiest stockings and be ready to play Sexy Santa and the Hedonistic Helper!
48-152 Tease Me Easy Cami Top $15.00
———with———
48-155 Ultra Sexy Mini Skirt $21.00
TOTAL PACKAGE: $36

 

 

 

 

Patent Vinyl Total Package
She likes the schoolgirl look
But prefers to go a bit more badass.
You really don’t mind
so long as there is lots of leg showing
and a good possibility of more.
She wants to look naughty
and you think that’s very, very nice.
You want her to feel spoiled and showered with prezzies
but your budget is not as flexible as you hope she’ll be.
Pair our gunmetal Itty Biity Micro Mini with the black and gunmetal Schoolgirl Shirt and you have a winning combination. She’ll feel pampered and, most importantly, like the sexy temptress she is and you’ll have a few bucks left to take her somewhere where you can explore that naughty side in earnest!
38-401 Itty Bitty Micro Mini $24.00 – $28.00
———with———–
38-260 Chicks Collar Shirt W/ Tie $34.00 – $39.00
TOTAL PACKAGE (as shown): $58

 

 

Starfucker Fishnet Total Package
She loves shiny things. You love giving her what she likes but don’t have a lot of cash to spare. Never fear, the batwing hoodie is here! Slinky, sexy, shiny, and (FTW!) see-through! Paired with our Itty Bitty Micro Mini, that’s an epic gifting win! Want to really make her eyes sparkle? Add some killer vinyl gloves from 4 on the Floor Vinyl or our brand new vinyl O-ring bra. And, if you really want to give her the gift that will keep on giving (in lots of naughty thanks to you) give her the huge package! (And maybe give her another package later that night!)
48-159 Galaxy Of Foil Batwing Hoodie $29.00
——–with——–
38-401 Itty Bitty Micro Mini $35.00
TOTAL PACKAGE:$64
———– for bonus generosity points – add——–
38-614 D-ring Gloves $29.00
TOTAL PACKAGE:$93
or
38-586 Vinyl Bra With O-ring Details $43.00
TOTAL PACKAGE: $107
GET THE HUGE PACKAGE: $136

 

 

Gangsta Pranksta Total Package
She’s got a straight-up bad-girl style with just a touch of vixen thrown in for good measure. Her favorites hug her curves and reveal just the right amount of skin, a little of her knock-out legs. You want to give her the perfect outfit to make her smile, but there’s a gap between her fashionista sensibility and your budget.

We’ve got just the thing to make you both smile!

Now that we’re going back to basics in our Gangsta Pranksta group, there are kick-ass tasty colors available at budget-friendly discounts.
Pair our back-baring Gangsta Pranksta bodice with sexy criss-cross lacing with curve-hugging bad-girl boy shorts in our red color to suit the discerning tastes of your fashion siren and the realities of your bank balance.

And get ready to find traces of matching red lipstick in the wildest places!
53-161 Lace Up Bodice (select colors)$41.00
———with———
53-162 Boy Shorts$26.00
TOTAL PACKAGE (as shown): $67

 

 

Dem Bones Total Package
He’s a bad, bad boy and you love him that way.
But you’re over the droopy, worn-out jeans and oversized t-shirts already.
You’d love to see him in something a little sexier.
Maybe something that shows a bit more of those tasty muscles.
Something that hugs his awesome butt and looks deadly with a pair of killer boots.
You want to give him an outfit that screams, “Look at how fucking hot I am!”
Can’t you just see him in the Dem Bones Muscle Shirt, his biceps rippling
(and you drooling).
Pair it up with our new Dagger stitched Junkie fit stretch twill in basoc black
for a total package look he’ll be comfortable in and you’ll enjoy year ’round.
Bonus gawker points for the Lippy dagger on the back pocket to give you another excuse to look at that great ass!
M56-021 Bad To The Bone Sleeveless Top$33.00
——-with——–
M62-075 Junkie fit Dagger Stitch Pocket Stretch Twill$39.00
TOTAL PACKAGE: $72

 

 

 

Trash and Dagger Total Package
He has a body that makes you overheat.
You want to be able to check out those biceps and pecs and (sigh)
that awesome six-pack no matter where you are.
He’s got an adventurous, sexy style and you love that.
He’s not afraid to pull out the stops and show off
the killer fashion sense with bad-boy flair.
Give him a pair he’ll love and you’ll love seeing him in
without maxing your plastic!
Match the Fash-ist Fishnet O-Ring Shirt with some killer Dagger junkie fit stretch twill and you’ll have a gift he’ll love and you’ll love seeing him in. It’s a win-win, really!
M48-004 Sleeveless O-ring Top$30.00
———-with———
M28-114 Old School Junkie Fit Pants (Dagger print shown)$58.00
TOTAL PACKAGE: $88

 

 

Bat Attack Total Package
She is a sexy creature of the night.
Her style is a touch dark, but light on the goth drama.
You want to give her the outfit that will give her her style and give you something yummy to look at.
And bats … it needs to have bats.
Yep, we’ve got that, too!
Give her a casual, yet super-hot, look that will make her giddy with bat-loving glee while you get a girlfriend rocking curve-hugging stretch twill. And, best of all, it’s all within your budget!
Then, go enjoy the dark together!

16-499 Detachable Sleeve Hoodie$45.00
—————with————-
28-219 Junkie fit Stockings Print Stretch Twill$45.00
TOTAL PACKAGE: $90

Oct. 1, 2009

Wow, I can’t believe people actually find me interesting!  First off, I want to thank Mich for the AWESOME announcement on the website – I was expecting my name and maybe a little picture, at the most :)

Today was definitely a day when the cameramen would be plotting fake dramas to spice up the show, were I to have my own reality crew following me around.  Highlights are as follows:

12 Noon

I show up at Lip Service’s bargain basement, after sitting in the parking lot called the Los Angeles freeway system for far longer than anyone should EVER be in traffic.  Felt a little out of place walking in, as today was the first day of my new part time job teaching violin at an elementary school, and was thus carrying a giant violin case and dressed like… well, a school teacher.

Nonetheless, after narrowly escaping being trapped inside a pair of legging-like pants from the Psycho Circus Act III line, I walked out of the warehouse with the most awesome set of blue vinyl pieces for my show tomorrow night, a benefit for the Support the Troops organization, who sends care packages to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

2:08pm

I arrive at the elementary school I am to start teaching at.  This school happens to be in a rough part of LA, and a famous home base for gangs, so understandably I’m a bit nervous.

So nervous, in fact, that when I see parents crowding the school’s lawn, watching intently for their offspring alongside a few police officers, and children being escorted out in single-file lines, I immediately panic and call the school to inquire if everything’s ok.

Too bad I forgot that 1)I’m teaching an after-school program and 2)there are quite often officers monitoring various aspects of public school workings, these days.

An awkward meeting with the school principal (who answered the phone moments before) ensues.

5:13pm

My dog encounters a rock garden on our evening walk.  I spend the next ten minutes trying to introduce him to the large rock in the center of said garden, as he scrambles to run, terrified, from the big scary rock.

10:34pm

Now, as I write this, my insane puppy (who often prefers playing games on his own) has thrown his current toy of choice under the couch and is frantically digging for it.  Delicious vegan peanut butter chocolate chip ice cream is churning in the kitchen and I’m getting ready for a long weekend.

Oct. 3, 2009

I AM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND.

Before elaboration on that statement, our show on Friday night was AWESOME.  We raised our goal of $500, and had a blast partying with some awesome people!  Earlier that day, my amazing friend Laura Kaye came into town with her son, Elijah, on business with their company, Wood Violins (who I rep for).  We recently picked up two new artists, Jesse Spencer (House) and  (Smashing Pumpkins), two amazing musicians and all-around people, and Laura came down to personally present them with their instruments/see Jesse’s show tonight, with his band, Band from TV.

Back to my brain.  I volunteer at an animal sanctuary, and, as of late, they’ve lost one of their three employees.  All of the volunteers are back to school for the year, so I went from volunteer status to full-time employee, temporarily, as the other half of the staff is manning a booth at the LA County Fair.

Breathe here.

I didn’t go in today thinking the other employee would be running the shop, so I could make a gig at 3:30pm and Band From TV at 9pm.  Turns out, he didn’t know he was supposed to go in, and has class at 3pm.  So, no one’s running the shop.  Then, on my way to my gig, I find out I have the date wrong, it’s TOMORROW (and no one else can run the shop then either).  I feel like Stuff Smith, one of the first electric violinists, who was said to have only been on time to a gig once – but was a week late!!!

However, I’ve only seen Laura and Elijah for a couple minutes so far, when they stopped by to get some presents from me (clothing, Universal Studios ticket/coupon, a LS catalog ;-P), and now I have time to go to dinner with them before Band From TV tonight!

Oct. 5

With “Dr. Chase” and Laura Kaye!

So, first off, Band from TV was certainly not disappointing, and Jesse’s new Sabre violin sounded awesome – everyone kept complimenting him on his tone (and he was definitely not too shabby himself)!  Laura was thrilled because, even though Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) wasn’t there, she got to meet hottie James Denton from “Desperate Housewives”!

Sunday was a blur of giggingness, as I played nearly 2 hours straight in 5 inch stiletto patent gladiator sandals on the marble stairs (with VERY uneven and ankle-breaking runners) of an enormous mansion in Beverly Hills.  The staircase alone was most likely the square footage of my house!

As for today, at the animal sanctuary you meet some very interesting people.

Last week, I had the pleasure of a seemingly homeless woman falling into the back door screaming, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!”  That help, of course, was because she was completely insane and couldn’t calmly tell me that there was an infant squirrel in a box in her car (who I got to hold while being bottlefed later).

Or the guy who ran in, screamed, “KITTIES!!!”, ran out, then ran back in again to throw chicken nuggets at the cats before once again dashing off (yes, he was an adult).

Today, a Beverly Hills Bitch came in and demanded to know where all our dogs were.  I informed her that we were split between the shop and the LA County Fair and were temporarily housing our animals in foster care, to which she replied, “Why don’t you just go to the pound and stock up on animals?”, as if they were merchandise.  This led to her babbling to me and the dog: “What does it do?  SIT.  SIT.  Why doesn’t it do anything?”

When I explained that she was hit by a car and couldn’t use her back leg and thus couldn’t sit, she commented on how animal sanctuaries were just so much more convenient for her than the pound, but how the Bel-Air animal sanctuary actually had GOOD animals, they must get top-of-the line pick, whereas we get the leftover “junk”.  Fortunately for her, someone stepped in to tell her about all the pedigree animals we’ve rescued, as I probably would have otherwise strangled her with a leash until her fake boobs and Botox exploded.  She then ran from a shop, as a cat had touched her (she’s afraid of them, even though she has one).

Tomorrow is the new job I dread, as my 5^th grade violin students have a behavior level less mature than the 4 year old class I used to teach (of which one boy refused to take lessons without wearing a Superman muscle suit, which had a hole in the crotch, something he wished to point out quite often).  Must prepare so I can go in tomorrow and take charge!

In closing, I leave you, dear readers, with the final event leading towards my dog’s official breed name becoming “Pinchehuahua” (“pinche” is Spanish slang, and translates roughly into a colorful adjective in the English language rhyming with “trucking”):

Thank you again to Alyson for letting us follow her around for the week!

Next week, On the Road with Stretch Fuck’n Jeans goes to Europe to hang out with Kevin Preston and Prima Donna, while they tour Green Day!

See you then!

This world is bleak.

There are several things that can account for the state of things but in the end, we are here because hardly anyone is honest with themselves anymore.  Most people are just one giant ball of repression and self hate.

Believe me, I’ve been there.

And then somewhere around 16 I let go of that junk. I became honest with myself and who I really was. It’s still a daily practice but 9 times out of 10, I really do love myself. There are a few people who are really intimidated by that and I find that really sad. You are the only one who wakes up with yourself and will die with yourself for certain. You better learn to love yourself while you’re at it.

And it’s with this mentality that I began to relish in taking gory/fucked up photos of myself.  In time the photos turned into more traditional fetish work but I like to think they always held their own creepy undertone. To this day I still engage in many blood soaked sets. (Note the brand new ones I’m sharing in this post!)

Modeling has always been a positive experience for me.  I didn’t get into this  to impress anyone. I didn’t starve myself. I never felt “ugly” or “unwanted”.  I know many men/women who have done all of the above and much worse. They are very unhappy with themselves and their careers. – And that’s no way to be.

I’m not sure what’s out there after we die but I do know what’s right here, right now, right in front of me. It’s called life and it’s amazing.  It’s also far too short and there’s no point in wasting it on hate. Espically if that hate is directed at yourself and what you are doing.

So cut it out!

Sometimes life is as simple as covering yourself in red liquid and standing in front of a camera. – That’s the Gore Manifesto!

Get out there and find something that makes you feel alive and never give it up. Challenge yourself and embrace who you are.

Then report back to me.

<3

Nos

There is little we love more than beautifully executed photography. When the artist masters the subject, composition, lighting, mood, and all the little nuanced intangibles, there’s a wonderful magic in it. This is why we occasionally shine a spotlight on emerging artists whose work we love and want to share with everyone.

You may remember Saida Inkeri’s work from our photo contests, back in the day. Her eye for a great photo stood out then, with great shots like her self-portrait in Teach Hit Me with a Ruler. Her post work in photoshop was also apparent, especially in her Summer submission. We’ve kept an eye out for her and are so glad we did. Her recent work shows a fatastic gift for visual storytelling, with exceptional beauty.

When I asked Inkeri whether she would like to be featured here, she sent me an in-depth and lovely letter about her photography, inspirations, and thoughts about the process of creativity. It really would be a crime to edit it down, so I am keeping the whole thing intact for everyone to appreciate the thought that goes into her process.

You can view more of Inkeri’s work on her pages at DeviantArt and Model Mayhem.

I’m from a small town in northern Finland. I’ve always wanted to work in some creative field. When I was small I wanted to be a dancer, a ballerina, and did go to ballet lessons for a while, but I guess it never took off (My sister got more into dancing and things, she’s now an aerial acrobat. I suppose the artist’s life runs in the family or something.). Later on I wanted to be a writer, a comic book artist, an actor, director, the list goes on.

I arrived at photography by accident, I guess, since I was never really that good at drawing and photography felt deceivingly easy compared to that, though it really isn’t. I photographed nature a lot at first, nature is always at hand and I just wanted something to do. Finland is a pretty good place to start, the seasons are very varied here so there’s a lot to photograph. Eventually I started liking photography more and more and went to a kind of a community college/vocational school/trade school. I graduated from there about a year ago and, now, am starting at the University of Applied Sciences, focusing on becoming a producer.

As for photography, I like symbolism a lot in mine. I like to photograph secret or surprising things that might not be immediately obvious to the casual observer. Photography is often either about showing something others might not have seen or preserving something you feel is precious to you or somebody else. Today’s digital photography has changed that a bit; you can preserve almost any moment, no matter how insignificant and it is a bit of a challenge to try to make your photograph special in that atmosphere. I’ve tried to be more subtle, not so ambitious, and just want to photograph things I feel are just pretty or nice.

Small moments.

I like details and macro shots a lot, textures like wood or peeled of paint, and have a huge love for abandoned houses, factories etc, and the same idea in nature, places where you can feel that nobody has been here for ages. It feels like time has stopped and like maybe you can sort of look into some other era. In nature, I like how it’s sort of eternal, it’s always been here and it goes on despite what people do. In abandoned houses, I’m fascinated not only by natural light and textures (which both are awesome and often unique) but also by why people left and what they left behind. Did something of them stay behind? I’d like to explore that in photos even more that I’ve done now, the feeling of peeking, almost without permission, inside somebody else’s old life.

But, then again, I’m kind of superficial. I really love fashion and clothes, so I obviously love photographing them, too. I feel there are a lot of contraries; I like the gentle, subtle, organic feel of nature, but also simply love pretty, artificial things like lace and frills and shiny things. I want to photograph people wearing lovely clothes. I chose a lot of fashion/glamour photos for this article, because I felt those would be what Lip Service Webzine readers might be interested in the most. I tried to but in some nature photography, but I don’t feel they work well in the same context. Nature has a completely different feeling.

I style my photos and my models myself and want to mix different styles, but mostly am in what you’d call gothic style. I’m kind of against considering gothic clothing as a fetish, just like I’m against considering models just being sexy or items for fantasies. I don’t think everything is about sex. I’d like to show people being beautiful and incredible without the idea that they’re just posing to be sexy. I’m very much a feminist, which might sound like a contradiction because I often like to photograph others as well as myself in revealing clothing. I just would like to challenge the idea that women are pretty just to please men or that they pose just to be objects. My ‘models’ are usually my friends or acquantainces and, while they’re all gorgeous, they’re not supermodels. And I don’t want them to be, I truly believe everybody can be beautiful and make a beautiful picture. That being said, I would like to someday work with professional models too, to see what somebody who’s trained in being in front of camera would react and how they’d work the photograph.

I also like to do self-portraits a lot. Sometimes I feel self-conscious about it, in our culture it’s considered very narcissistic to do that. I’ve always had problems with the way I look, I’ve never liked it and have considered myself to be down right ugly and disgusting. I guess self-portraits came from a place where I wanted to look pretty and grew more into this exploration of how I want to see myself. In self-potraits I can choose who I am, can control myself. Of course people seeing the picture will think what they think, but I still give them the tools. I decide what I want them to see and what I don’t. I read about a Finnish photographer called Miina Savolainen who had a project with girls from an orphanage, where she took pictures of them to focus their feelings of self-worth and love, to give them an opportunity to be photographed as who they wanted to be and not just orphans from bad homes and bad situations (Note from WebMistress: You can read about this wonderful project at THE LOVELIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD –PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT). Her idea felt really close to how I feel about self-portraits. It’s like I can re-create myself in my own photos, be who I am or who I want to be without fearing what others think, because in the moment of taking the picture, I’m the only there. Most of them are pretty intimate and often have some kind of secrets with myself, like some things that only mean something to me.

All in all, I like hiding small things in my photos sometimes, like puzzles.

I use a lot of photoshop, which is another thing I’m often kind of torn about. I love to bring something fantastic or dreamlike to photos, something unreal. But then again, it’s very slippery slope to start fixing people and make them look unreal too. I’m definitely against creating unreal expectations of what people should look like. Of course everybody wants to look nice, everybody wants to look their best, is it okay to fix a few zits? Take out a few pounds? It’s a very thin line.

There’s still a lot I need and want to learn about photography. Maybe in the future I will focus on studying it more, or maybe find some kind of mentorship or intership somewhere that could help me out. At this point, I’m still mostly doing it because I enjoy it. One day I hope I can make it more meaningful.

~ Inkeri

You can’t get much more dedicated than getting an awesome dagger tat! Check out the new ink that Dirty Diana in Nürmberg, Germany got on her arm. Diana, you are a hardcore Lippy addict! You rock!

Check out her Myspace page:
www.myspace.com/sweet667

Do you have a Lip Service themed tattoo? Maybe you have a dagger emblazoned on your laptop skin, modded clothes, car, wherever? Well, we would love to see it.

Send photos or video of your Lippy pride to the editor or submit them through the site.

Then we’ll be writing about how fucking awesome you are!

In this day in age, decades have become trends. We’ve had our run with with the hippies, taken our own spin on the mods, got hard with the 70′s biker look and revisited the the 80′s with much enthusiasm.

So this fall the 1990′s take their rightful place among fashion.  You remember the 90′s right? (KMFDM, Doc Martens, belly rings, Steve Urkel, etc.) It’s all been 10 years now. – Which is either gonna make you feel really old or really young.

The 90′s happens to be one of my favorite fashion decades. Grunge and rivet head styles have long been a staple in my wardrobe and don’t think I’ll ever stop wearing boots.  But this season’s revival gives me the excuse to rock an amazing hair color trend: The faded dye look.

Achieving this washed out style takes a little time and planing. The goal is to not make look too obvious, while not making it look like complete butt either.  You want to aim for the well polished apathy look.  There are several ways to achieve this, however I’ve found the below methods to be the fastest and produce better results.

#1 BLEACH, COLOR, WASH

Bleach your hair to a pale yellow, rinse, then apply the color of your choice. Leave the color on for only 5 -7 minutes then rinse. The color will be bright in some spots and washed out in others, making almost a tie-dye effect.

#2 CLAIFYING SHAMPOO

Color your hair as normal and rinse with a clarifying shampoo. (The kind swimmers buy to get the green out of their hair.) In about 3-4 washes you’ll have a great worn inlook. *My color in the picture above was achieved with this method.*

#3 ROUND BRUSH

Coat a round brush in bleach and run it through your hair. Let process as usual. Rinse. Then apply desired color. This works well if you’re going a grown out look.

There you have it!

Now it’s time to whip out that flannel shirt from the back of the closet …

XoXo

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