Witchy Woman

I get a little tired of dressing up in the same costume for every event during the weeks leading up to Halloween, and my husband gets sick of dressing up at all after one round, so I decided to have a little fun on the 31st this year. I got to spend the evening watching my young nephews gather candy and be just as cute as they could so it was a great night!
Growing up, I obviously dressed up as a witch many times, but I can't recall ever actually being the wicked witch. So here's a little step by step of my take on Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

1. Prep the face with moisturizer, primer, etc. - whatever you would use for your normal routine.

2. Start with a dark smokey eye. I used a beautiful MAC eyeshadow over a black kohl to make this green shade that fades into a more neutral brown. Make sure to put a little bit of green in the lighter shade by your brows if you do a look like this or it will look a little silly once the rest of your complexion changes color.

3. Cover your face in green. I used Army Green creme color by Ben Nye because I know I love their products. I started with a sponge and evened out the skin tone with a foundation brush.

4. Contour, highlight, and add blush. Just because you're green doesn't mean you can't have a little more color in there too! This is really when it starts coming together.


5. Add extras like long black lashes (I love these ones because they actually have a little bit of green in them, too), black or deep red lipstick, and your costume.

I had such a blast creating this makeup and am sure I'll revisit it in years to come!

 

When Black Cats Prowl and Pumpkins Gleam...

My husband and I are lucky enough to go to an extremely fun Halloween party hosted by his cousin every year. The costumes are always really intense so we have to be sure to put on our A-game for it. This year he won the prize for Scariest Costume (2 years in a row, thank you very much). Last year we were a skeleton couple, and I loved it so much that you get to see another picture of it below.
This year we decided to dress up as an angel and demon. I wish I could say that I made his horns from my own latex, but I was a slacker and ordered them. I used mostly Ben Nye products for his makeup. I was introduced to Ben Nye during a stage makeup course, and have loved it ever since. It is amazing at lasting all night, which is exactly what you need on Halloween! A great little detail that I loved was some Decay tooth color by Ben Nye for his teeth. They looked utterly disgusting. I unfortunately didn't get many good quality pictures of our faces close up, but I used golds and purples around my eyes and made sure to highlight excessively and top everything off with oodles of glitter for myself. If you know me, you know that eyelashes are one of my favorite things, and these white lashes made me so giddy to wear.
... May luck be yours this Halloween!

2014 Halloween costumes - winners of Scariest Costume

2014 Halloween costume - winner of Scariest Costume

2014 Halloween costumes - winners of Scariest Costume

Bryan's costume - winner of 2015 Scariest Costume

And So It Begins

I love this season. Have I mentioned that before? Halloween is such a joy for me. I adore coming up with new creatures to bring to life as well as reenvisioning familiar costumes for something fresh. My adorable mom had a neighborhood party tonight and needed a low-key costume in a pinch so here's what we came up with! To really capture the autumn feel of a scarecrow, I used golds in her eyeshadows and kept it mostly neutral there, and used purples and oranges in the patches on her face.
I love how a unique makeup can really make a costume extraordinary. Let me know and I would love to help you put your own ensemble over-the-top for your party this year! (insert jack-o-lantern emoji here)

Halloween 2014

I love experimenting with fun designs for Halloween each year! This year, my husband and I went to a party as a skeleton couple and I had a ball decorating our faces like skulls! For work, I wanted something a little less dramatic and got all dolled up - literally...

Stage and Halloween Applications

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love being able to get creative and play around with different ideas, whether they be scary or just fun! I've also participated in special stage makeup courses to perfect more extreme applications, including wounds and scars.