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?
