Posts with tag cosmetics

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

It was only a matter of time before some entrepreneurial spirit noticed that geeks and gamers wear makeup, too. Enter Geek Chic Cosmetics, a growing cosmetics lined based on natural ingredients and made for geeks and gamers, by geeks and gamers. Creators Chantel Eldredge and Deborah Margarella have both been WoW geeks since vanilla -- long enough to make a WoW-themed set of eye shadows seem like a given. "It seemed only natural to base them off the class colors," Eldredge notes. "We hope others dig them as much as we do." We do -- and we're so enthusiastic that we're giving away several sets. Make sure to visit our giveaway post for your chance to win a full 10-Man Raid eyeshadow set from Geek Chic.

15 Minutes of Fame: How did a love of gaming and geekery lead to cosmetics, of all things?

Chantel Eldredge: Geek Chic Cosmetics was an idea born from both my and Deborah's mutual love of makeup and gaming. We both were introduced to gaming at very young ages, and it has been a lifelong passion for both of us.

The birth of Geek Chic is a result of a conversation we had one night shortly after I quit my job at a large, chain crafts store. Deborah is a college student with little time to spare, and I hadn't had very good luck in finding anything in the job market where I live. It just clicked. I was talking about this idea I have had for a little over a year about wanting to make my own makeup and how I thought it would be cool to make makeup that payed homage to all things geeky. She looked at me and said, "Let's just do it." If it weren't for her tenacity and willingness to hop right in and make it happen, I don't know that I would have had the courage to do so by myself.

If you've ever looked at your class's nameplate color and thought, "I sure wish I could decorate my face with this," then do we have a contest for you. We're proud to team up with Geek Chic Cosmetics (recently profiled in our 15 Minutes of Fame feature), purveyors of fine geek-themed makeup, to offer one lucky winner a full 10-Man Raid eyeshadow set (worth $49). To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post between now and Friday, Aug. 20 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. We'll randomly choose a winner once the contest ends.

There are some official rules, though! For example: you can enter only once. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. Make sure your email address is up to date in your commenting profile, because that's how we'll be getting hold of you if you win.

Also? It'd be really cool if you liked makeup. That's not a rule, though. More of a request.

We talk a lot about the features we want in the game. What about the features we don't want? I don't know about anybody else, but I've been watching the news surrounding the release of Everquest 2 Update 38 with horror. Read with me from the press release.

"Upon reaching level 20, you'll be able to access new appearance item slots on the inventory window! Have favorite pieces that are an important part of your style? You can now keep wearing them for looks while continuing to upgrade your primary gear!"

Are they out of their freaking mind?! Sure, I like to look good as much as the next player, but let's shift to World of Warcraft for a minute and consider the ramifications of such a change in our world, especially to our PvP-loving brethren. Do you really want to go into a battleground or an arena match and see a paladin standing there smiling at you buck-naked (perhaps wielding a Pitchfork, and wearing overalls for effect) when in fact he's actually wearing a full Tier 6 set?

Rattlesnakes have a rattle for a reason. Cobras have their distinctive hood for the same reason. You should be able to look at a player in-game and be able to with some degree of certainty be able to assess their threat to you. I don't think it's such a wonderful idea to allow people to masquerade around as noobs when in fact they may count themselves among the best-equipped players in the game. How many times do you actually target somebody or mouse-over them to see their class? So if you see a dwarf in a robe you think priest, right? If a change like this was ever implemented in World of Warcraft, that could be a deadly assumption. I've got nothing against the Orbs of Deception and Savory Deviate Delight and other such items. Their effects are temporary, and easy to spot. Hallowe'en should be contained to one day of the year.

You may wonder why am I freaking out over this when it's not even something going in World of Warcraft. I'm freaking out about it because this is a novel idea that I think will catch on in the MMOG genre. As Blizzard looks to add hairstyles and other cosmetic changes in the future, Sony has approached the same issue from an interesting and novel direction. This is one direction I hope Blizzard never takes. What things do you hope Blizzard never introduces in the game?

[Special thanks to Olandu from "Guardians of Azeroth" on Gnomeregan for being my photo model for this article!]