I know it’s still a few day’s before Halloween, but as usual I got into the spirit early.  I held my annual Halloween party last Saturday.  It was a fairly subdued affair, with only a few guests.  But those who attended had an awesome time scoffing lollies and playing Silent Hill with the lights out.  Spooky!

This year I opted for a more glamorous Halloween costume than what I would usually go for.  The past few years I’ve dressed as The Joker and Corpse Bride, so it was a nice change to wear something that wasn’t quite so gruesome.

I took my inspiration for this year’s costume from the film Pleasantville and also from the work of drag queen Detox iCunt.  I have been playing around with special effects makeup a lot lately, and I wanted to see if it was possible to make it look like I was in black and white using only makeup and clever wardrobe choices.

I’m pretty flippin’ happy with how this turned out.

My costume didn’t photograph all that well.  While I still like the pictures, I feel that the effect was much more striking in person.

I did have loads of fun putting this outfit together.  I had originally thought that I would use a wig, but I couldn’t find one that I really liked.  In the end I twisted my real hair up into victory rolls and a french roll at the back and they sprayed the heck out of it with black hairspray.  It didn’t budge all night, but my hair did feel awfully helmet-like.

For the makeup, I mixed a very light grey body paint and used this over my face and any exposed skin.  As is typical of store-bought face paints, it was extremely difficult to apply a smooth and even layer.  One day when I’m rich, I’d love to try this look again with some professional quality products to see the difference.  I set the paint with a generous layer of Smashbox Photo Set Finishing Powder.

Then came the fun part.  It was so weird doing my makeup all in shades of black and grey.  I started with my eyes, creating a slightly smoked eye with a selection of blacks and greys.  I used a gel liner to create a big wing at the corner of my eye.  I was very generous with my mascara and was sure to add a lick of waterproof grey liner in the waterline of my eye to cover up the skin there.

For my lips I used the NYX cosmetics Macaraon lipstick in Chambord.  I am head over heels with this lip colour, and I now want to wear it as part of my every day look.  My only complaint is that it is a very emollient lipstick which tends to slip and slide all over the place.  I used a black eye liner to line my lips and a lip fixer over the top, but it still shifted all about.  Ah well, it was only $4 so I really can’t complain.

I coloured in my brows with a black eyeshadow and a stiff angled brush.  Then I used a mid-grey colour to contour my cheeks, jaw and brow.  I added a well-blended swipe of MAC chromagraphic liner to the bridge of my nose, my brow bone and the tops of my cheeks for a bit of highlight.

Even though my party wasn’t big or elaborate, I had a brilliant time.  It was awesome to catch up with some of my favourite people and just chill out.

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?  Are you having a party this year?