*Halloween Party Ideas

Images from Pinterest

Halloween is almost here! I used to go to so many Halloween parties as a child *and Halloween discos were a thing for me as I grew up in the 90's*. I was always a cat for some reason even though I don't really like cats but I did love Halloween discos and dressing up. In England, trick or treating isn't really a thing so watching Halloween films, going to friends Halloween parties and my school Halloween disco were our Halloween activities but as an adult I don't really do anything for Halloween. However, I want to throw a Halloween party this year, even though it's on a Monday, and Festive Lights have a great post full of ideas for an adult Halloween party! This is a collaborative post.

Costumes & Makeup

For the past couple of years I have been creating Halloween makeup looks for my blog which is one of my main Halloween activities around this time of the year and it's SO fun! You can't have a Halloween party without costumes and halloween makeup. I have quite a few ideas on my blog for makeup looks including the Cheshire Cat,  a mermaid, a sugar skull and much more - my most recent Halloween look was a vampire witch look! You could create a costume or makeup competition and whoever has the best or the creepiest makeup or costume would win a prize.

Snacks & Drinks 

Festive Lights and also Pinterest have amazing Halloween food, drink and snack ideas! Festive Lights have some fantastic cocktail ideas such as 'freak show lemonade', 'Witches Coven' and more all of which are inspired by the TV show American Horror Story (I really need to start watching it). I have one Halloween recipe on my food blog for Vegan Coconut and Chocolate Muffins with Vegan Jelly and I also have some more healthy Halloween food ideas on my blog too.

Decor 

Halloween decorations have to be some of the best homeware decorations ever, can you tell that I love Halloween? Wilkinsons and Amazon have some fantastic Halloween decorations at great prices. Also you could go down the DIY route and use the templates on the Festive Lights Halloween party PDF to create a creepy bat silhouette on a lamp shade which would be so easy to do but so effective.

Games & Music

We never did apple bobbing as children at school but you could make a more adult version using punch or cider instead of water. Pumpkin carving competitions, telling scary stories and drinking games would be perfect for a adult Halloween party. Halloween music is an essential; here are some of my Halloween music picks: Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett, Thriller by Michael Jackson, Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show film and Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.

Films + TV Shows

Now for more of a hygge inspired Halloween party were it's more intimate with close friends and family. A Halloween TV/film night with candles and spooky snacks would be perfect for me, here are some of my recommendations: Beetlejuice (it's one of my favourite films!), Hocus Pocus, Sleepy Hollow (the Johnny Depp film version) and Pan's Labyrinth. My TV recommendations: The Strain, The Frankenstein Chronicles, The Living and the Dead, Sleepy Hollow and my favourite Halloweenesque TV show which is Penny Dreadful - it's quite distributing at times!

Definitely check out the Festive Lights Halloween Party PDF! 

What do you think of these ideas? What are you doing for Halloween this year? Any Halloween TV show recommendations?

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Halloween Makeup Look: Pop Art Zombie

Here's my third halloween look of the year and I had a lot of fun with this one as it is not is typical look - it's a mix between rotting zombie and pop art and I love how it turned out on the whole but there are things I'd like to change as I would have preferred the brows to be thinner. Here are the products I used for this look:

- Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Correct Palette

- Barry M White Creme Foundation

- Colorsport Rapid Lash Gro Eyeliner in Black

- Duwop Plumping Lip Styxx in Chop Styxx and Night Styxx

- Eye of Horus Goddess Liners in Black and Teal

- Rimmel Smoke 'n' Shine Liner in Blue Steel 

- Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow Collection Palette

- Makeup Revolution Viper Mascara

- Real Techniques Sculpting Brush

- Spectrum Eyeshadow Brushes
- Essence Fixing Powder

- L.A.B2 Brushes

1. I always prep my skin well before halloween looks as white foundation and bases can make my skin look really dry. I applied the green and lilac shades as a base all over the skin making sure to stipple as otherwise it will look streaky. 

2. I used a black pencil liner to map out the shape of the mouth, tear, brows, brain section and teeth. I then filled in the pink flesh/muscle parts of the mouth and the lips with the two Duwop lip crayons - I fill in the brows and brain with the same pencil. I filled in the tear with a blue pencil liner. 

3. I added various lip liners and shading to the brain section to make it looks more textured and 'realistic' in a pop art way. I added detail to the tear with the white foundation. I used the same white foundation to fill in the teeth with a tiny liner brush (don't worry if you go over onto the black outline as you can go over the black at the end). 

4. Now onto the eyes, I used Makeup Revolution shades to create a bright smokey eye with a bright teal shade across the inner third of the lid and a navy on the user two thirds in a winged shape. Finish with winged liquid liner and a black pencil on the upper/lower water line; then mascara and lashes if you want to add them. 

5. Finish by adding expression lines with a black pencil and or liquid liner. Then set the base with a small face brush and a white or transparent powder. 

Overall, I think this simple and easy look is so effective and quite unique! You don't have to use all of the products I did but if you don't have specific face paints or halloween makeup products then this is a great halloween look to create with products you already have in your collection - the Makeup Revolution corrector palette is amazing as face paint! Coloured contacts would be great for this look - check out my Cheshire Cat look to see some in action. Also check out my quick and easy sugar skull look!

What do you think of my pop art zombie look? What are your plans for halloween?

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easy halloween Makeup: The Joker

Here is the first of my halloween/fancy dress makeup look series and this first look is my female version of the joker from Batman - I love the batman films and cartoon, even as a child! I did show a preview photo of this makeup on my instagram (heathernixon4) and Twitter (ofbeautyand). I love makeup and this series was so fun to make but I am not a makeup artist obviously. 

This makeup is inspired by the joker from batman but it has a kind of frankensteins monster vibe too with the 'stiches' around the mouth - out of the makeup looks I have done for this halloween series, this is definitely my favourite - I love the smokey eyes, very strong brows and cartoon like lips. 

Firstly, I started with the Barry M Creme Foundation in 'white'. I layered it up a bit more with this look to make my skin look even whiter and a bit more perfect as a base to contrast with the dark makeup. I then filled in my brows with a matte black shadow from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette and I did fill them in quite a lot here and I thickened them and made the arch more promanent. Then onto the eyes, take a matte black and matte brown and just apply, blend, apply, blend, apply and so on until you get the colour intensity and smokiness you want. It is so easy, just blend well. I took  a matte brown quite far under my eyes. To finish the eyes, some black liner from Pixi.  

Now the fun part, the lips. I messily apply a red lipstick (101 framboise by Yves Rocher) then I smudged it at the edges onto the skin with my fingers as the joker always has messy bloody lips/makeup in the dark knight films - If I remember correctly, the cartoon joker and the older films have quite perfect red comical lips. Then I started just lining my lips lightly with a matte black eyeshadow and my Ecotools eyeshadows brush then extending the line outwards at the corners of the lips to make a smile of sorts. Then with the same matte black shadows make small crosses along the line, like stiches or barbed wire which give a new twist on the joker/batman look. To create a slightly bruised/purple lip, I patted some of the excess black eyeshadow on top of the red lipstick focusing at the edges and sides of the mouth. 

To finish the look I use the excess black shadow on the same eyeshadow brush in the hollows of my cheeks to create a contour and I blended it out well with the real techniques expert face brush which is the brush I used for the white foundation. I also use the Elf 'cool' bronzer which has a white shade in it to set the makeup. 

I hope you like this look! Stay tuned over the next week or two for the other halloween makeup looks in this series x

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Skull

This is the third post in my halloween/fancy dress makeup series, I think there might be one or two more, if I have the time and the ideas! The other two looks were: Clowns and vampires - well the previous look could be adapted for a lot of outfits. The look today is a skull/sugar skull which is a mexican thing I think about the day of the dead.  As I have said before I am obviously not a makeup artist and these are just for fun. The makeup is also quite similar to jack skeleton from the nightmare before christmas film. 

Here is my skull/sugar skull inspired makeup, it is quite simple but you can add detail around the eyes if you want and with a costume it would look great I think. As with the other two looks I started this one with the trusty Barry M Foundation in the shade 'white' and I contoured my face with a matte black shadow as before from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette. I then added some black shadow to my brows to make them a bit thicker and longer. I also added matte browns and blacks around the eyes to add depth and shadow. 

I drew a small black scar on the cheek and I drew straight black lines down the lips and cheeks to form a smile - well the lines of a smile - a bit like the joker from batman. I made the smile/lines a different lengths and a bit crooked so it wasn't so perfect as halloween makeup shouldn't be. I use a small amount of the elf liquid liner in black before applying a matte black shadow over the top. You can add detailing around the eyes if you want like sugar skulls and you can make it quite colourful, although I love dark, monotone, macabre halloween makeup. Messy, shiny hair is also great, I used the Bumble and Bumble thickening creme contour which I love. 

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Easy Halloween Makeup Looks x4

Here are four final Halloween makeup looks that are super easy to copy and alter to suit your style and costume to wrap up my Halloween makeup series, I hope you liked the series - it was so fun to make, I love experimenting with makeup and this was a great excuse! If you have recreated any of the looks from my series, leave your link in the comments below!

1. Patchwork Doll: This is really quite Tim Burton inspired (he is definitely my favourite director). I have been watching Corpse Bride and Nightmare Before Christmas over the past week and I decided to create a look inspired by those films but an easy version! Firstly, I didn't use white makeup I used my new favourite foundation - Max Factor Smooth Effect Foundation in the shade 45 Creamy Ivory. I then just took a matte black shadow from the Sleek oh so special palette and drew lines and crosses over the face and filled them in with different coloured shadows from the MUA Undressed palette and the Sleek palette. Filled in my brows with a matte black shadows and I applied a small amount of the Revlon Balm Stain in the shade Crush to the lips - and that is it, so easy!

2. Vampire Queen: This is my favourite makeup out of these four looks, love it! I used the Barry M Creme Foundation in White and I contoured my cheeks with a matte black eyeshadow and I used the same black shadow on my brows to thicken, darken and lengthen them. I applied the illamasqua cream pigment in the shade 'hollow' as a base - love this product it is great as an eyeshadow and or contouring. For the eyes, I use a couple of matte browns from Sleek and MUA palettes and applied them all over the lids and along the lower lash line. I just applied and blended until it looked smokey and a bit sultry. I use a black shadow along the upper/lower lashline and in the outer corner for more depth. I use a little of the sexy plump mascara by Yves Rocher on the upper lashes only. On the lips I have Yves Rocher Framboise. 

3. Undead Zombie: This look is really quite messy and it is supposed to be - I started with the Barry M white foundation, then I buffed in a small amount of the matte purple/brown/black shadows from the Sleek oh so special palette over the skin to make it look bruised and undead...I took the matte brown and purple over and around the eyes too to make them look sunken. I then applied some lip balm and wiped of the excess and applied ELF lipstick in the shade Fantasy. I the patted the matte purple and black shadows over the lips and smudged it. I also lightly filled in the brows and contoured. 

4. Evil Witch: This was a complete impulse, look I wasn't even going to make a witch look as it is so overdone but this look just happened while playing with makeup! A lot of Barry M white foundation, fairly heavy contouring with a matte black shadow and strong dark brows. I applied the same matte black from the sleek palette onto and around the eyes then I use a shimmery gold from the MUA undressed palette over the lids. I used a ELF liquid liner as a base for the eyes so the black shadow would be more intense. I took the gold under the eyes too and the black lines around the eyes are optional. For the lips, I use some lip balm again and I wiped off the excess - I applied some of the gold, tan and pinky shades from numerous palettes to the lips to create a gold/burnt orange shimmery lip - smudging is optional. 

I hope you liked the looks in this series! Happy almost Halloween x

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week in photographs #40/41

Yet another two weeks has gone by and it is time for my week in photographs post - my fortnightly life update. The main things that happened over the past two weeks: Shopping (surprise, surprise), dying my hair, autumn has arrived, halloween makeup and nails, writing blog posts/reviews, writing my CV, blog milestones, facetime with my sister, being a bit ill still and eczema flare ups! 

Firstly, shopping! There have been quite a few new releases recently from makeup brands such as the new Vaseline limited edition lip balm which I love! Revlon have also released their chalkboard nails which I am interested to try out and their have been a few exciting makeup releases that I am super excited about - the Chanel winter collection (I am getting that gorgeous palette) and I saw that Hourglass are bringing out a ambient lighting powder trio set - I haven't tried any of those infamous powders but the set would be a great way to try them out - I need! 

Also this week, I dyed my hair as you will have seen in my Autumn lookbook post, click here to see the post. I used the Schwarzkopf colour mask dye in dark brown and I love the colour but I don't think I would buy this dye again which is a shame because I love the other Schwarzkopf dyes I have used in the past. As it is getting closer to halloween I have been experimenting with some halloween makeup looks such as clowns, dolls, vampires, and the joker from batman which is the look above - it has been so so fun, I love experimenting with makeup and I hope you like the halloween makeup series I will be posting over the next two weeks! 

Favourite TV shows: 2 Broke Girls - I cannot express how much I love this series, I have series 1 on dvd from amazon, love it!I have also been loving the BBC series Peaky Blinders. 

Favourite skincare items: Ren hydracalm cleanser (a recent repurchase and I am so glad I have it again), the Organic Surge super intensive moisturiser and the Avene water spray. I have had a horrible eczema flare up the past week or so and these products have been helping.

Favourite makeup items: Vaseline paint the town lip balm (a gorgeous shade!), Dr Jart Platinum BB cream and the Sleek oh so special palette.

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Halloween Makeup Picks ft. Makeup Revolution

The brand Makeup Revolution seem to be taking the beauty world by storm recently and they have released some pretty amazing new products, just in time for halloween! I was very kindly sent the products for review and I have been using them for my halloween looks, as well as party eyeshadow looks. 

First up, the new *Makeup Revolution Atomic Lipsticks (£1 each), I have all five from the Atomic Collection and I have to say, the colours are gorgeous - especially the 'serpent' and the 'magnificent' shades! The packaging is simple and I love the colour showing through the top of the tube. The lipsticks apply so smoothly to the lips, even the ones with fine shimmer, they are really pigmented although they can be worn quite sheer. 

Here are the shades, the 'magnificent', 'serpent', 'ruby' and 'make it right' shades are just so gorgeous, smooth, pigmented and really pretty on the lips! The only shade that I am not keen on is the 'make me tonight' shade which isn't the most flattering shade and it is quite patchy on me but the others are fantastic, especially for the very affordable price tag! Also most people won't want to spend a lot on halloween makeup that will not be worn for the rest of the year. Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5.

Next we have the *Makeup Revolution Give Them Nightmares Salvation Palette (£6) which contains 18 eyeshadows, yes, 18! For the price you get so many eyeshadows and the pigmentation is fantastic for the majority. Swatched above is the second/middle row of shadows which has to be my favourite, the 'the hunger', 'wicked' and 'I am watching you' shades are gorgeous and so metallic! This palette is just perfect for halloween or fancy dress, although some shades would be perfect for a smoky eye. The shadows blend well, they apply evenly and the shimmery shades look gorgeous on the eyes. Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5.

Have you tried the new releases from Makeup Revolution? Are you dressing up for halloween? 

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Easy Halloween Makeup: The clown

This is the first time I have ever done any kind of halloween clown makeup tutorial/idea and I did scare myself a little while taking these photographs but it was a lot of fun - I LOVE experimenting with makeup and this was a great excuse! 

No photograph effects, natural lighting

Well here are my attempts at a halloween clown makeup - I am not a makeup artist a fact that is obvious but this is just a bit of fun and I love makeup and the past couple of years I have loved halloween and the build up to it. 

The first look (far left) is a toned down makeup, I wanted to show the stages of how you can make a simple clown makeup more dramatic and dark/bruised. I started everything off with my Barry M Creme Foundation in the shade 'white' which has medium coverage and I makes my pale skin even paler. I used black and brown matte shades to contour my nose, cheekbones and jaw. I added some black and brown shadows over the lid and all around the eye for depth and shadow - I use the Sleek Oh So Special Palette and the MUA Undressed Palette. I filled in my brown with a black shadow and made then darker and a bit more thick and angled but in a kind of messy way. 

I drew black lines in a cross over the lids and quite far down for the traditional clown eye look, the pink scar is just a extra for another makeup but added extras like that can make the generic clown makeup look more unique and quirky. I use my Yves Rocher lipstick in the shade '101 framboise' on and around the lips - for a batman/joker look I extended the lipstick to the side of the face - like the jokers smile (aka. heath ledger). 

To darken the makeup I just added more browny shadows around the eyes, along with some dark pinks to make the skin look a bit bruised and worn - all shades from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette. Black liner is from Pixi. I added some black shadow to the lips again to make the lips look bruised and kind of dead in a way. I also added a circle of red lipstick on the nose for a more clown look as it was starting to look a bit zombie like. All shades were matte as I glittery clown or zombie wouldn't be right!

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First Halloween Look of 2018: Quick + Easy Gruesome Mermaid

I'm so behind with my halloween content this year! I did hope that my first halloween look would be live on the 1st October but I've had an eczema flareup and I'm being weighed down (almost literally) by all of the christmas products I have for my gift guides! It seems that sadly christmas is taking precedence over halloween this year but today's post is finally my first halloween look of the year and you'll be glad to know that it is incredibly quick and easy!

I love halloween so I've already posted a fair few halloween looks on my blog already but for my first of 2018, I wanted to do something very simple, quick and easy but still fairly dramatic. You will need one or two specifically halloween or SFX makeup products such as a gorgeous wig and the Ben Nye nose and scar wax as well as fake blood; however, you probably already own the other products or they can be bought very cheaply.

*Hot Hair Mint To Be Wig (£88 - sale)

I think there are two striking aspects of this very easy look and the first is the gorgeous turquoise blue wig from Hot Hair. I'm not a very good wig styler or wig wearer...so don't judge me too harshly but I love this one. I have tried a couple of halloween wigs in the past and they've been very cheap so naturally they were all very itchy, uncomfortable and quite thin but this one is much thicker, it's more comfortable and it isn't itchy, thankfully!

My look is a mixture between a simple mermaid inspired makeup look with glitter and a gory caught mermaid with a slash across her face were she's been hooked...it's definitely not the most original but I like combination of pretty glitter and fake blood! The shade of the wig is perfect for any kind of mermaid or fairy look this halloween. It's a great size and length which with a wig cap is fairly easy to put on although I did struggle a little with the styling of it especially as I was trying to not get fake blood in it *obviously I ended up with fake blood all on one side*. Hopefully my skin will turn to normal soon and I'll be able to create more halloween looks soon with this wig. If you're looking for a halloween wig or a new autumn style then definitely check out Hot Hair as they have an amazing range to choose from, some of which are currently 20% off including this one!

I started with my regular makeup routine with the amazing Dear Klairs Illuminating BB Cream from Koja Beauty followed by the NYX contour in Taupe and the Essence Fixing Powder. For the Next onto the brows and I filled them in with a dark blue shadow and added a light blue on top then my trusty Tweezerman brow gel.

For the face all I did was take a selection of pretty blues and purples to create areas of multicoloured and shimmery skin with a little of the Makeup Revolution Skin Kiss highlighter in Dream Kiss over the top for extra shine! I added glitter, gems and dots to those areas but in an ideal world I definitely would have used some fishnet tights stretched over the skin to create a mermaid and scaly texture as I have done previously but I couldn't find any - it would have make the look so much better!

Now for the fun and messy part! I love using the Ben Nye nose and scar wax as it creates the most interesting textures to the skin like torn, mottled and scarred skin so it's great for halloween looks. You should use spirit gum with it beforehand so it sticks well but I use a combination of the tackiness of the wax and lash glue to DIY a solution - just buy spirit gum though.

I started by using the back of my tweezers to push and mould the wax to the skin where I wanted it and carried on until I got the shape that I wanted then aded lots of glue to help it stick more securely but I personally like the torn look the wax gives as it makes the look more 3D and textured. I filled in the wound with red lipstick, black eyeshadows and fake blood then blended reds and purples around the outside of the wound to give a bruised appearance.

It was a very quick and easy look to create but if I recreated it I'd definitely use fishnet tights for the scales, I'd add more to the eyes and use more fake blood, it is halloween after all. I hope you liked this quick and easy halloween look - hopefully there will be many more, if my skin behaves (fingers crossed everyone).

What do you think of this quick and easy look? Do you celebrate halloween? 

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Halloween with Home Bargains

Halloween is my favourite time of the year but this year has just been so busy in terms of Christmas content so halloween posts are few very and far between but I have already posted my first halloween look of the year which you can read and I will have a second halloween look post very soon too! Today's post is featuring some of the spooky halloween goodies from Home Bargains.

Growing up, the only thing I liked about halloween was the candy and the halloween school disco in primary school but over the past four or so years I've come to adore halloween. I don't know why it changed but I'm glad it did and now I love anything halloween themed, whether it's books, TV shows, movies or having an excuse to eat candy!

Halloween decorations aren't really my thing, unless they look quite specifically how I want them to but I do think these cute halloween decorations from Home Bargains are great, especially for the low price point. I love the cute, slightly spooky banner as well as these eyes which would look very creepy in a vase! I don't currently know the prices for everything but when I do, I'll update this post.

However, my favourite halloweens decorations from Home Bargains have to be the huge pumpkin punch balloons which not only look cute but they remind me of the punch balloons we used to have at my primary school for the halloween disco and for the Christmas fare! If you are hosting a children's, or adults halloween party then look not further than Home Bargains for cute, creepy and very inexpensive decorations.

It isn't halloween without these two things: getting dressed up and candy. Getting dressed up is one of my favourite things about this time of the year. You may have already seen some of my halloween looks over the years on my blog, you can check them out if you are in need of makeup inspiration but if you don't have time to get out the brushes, palettes or SFX makeup then face paints might be the way to go and this family set from Home Bargains would be great either for a party or getting ready on the day.

When it comes to treats, I'd much rather indulge in something savoury than sweet as I'm not a huge cake, biscuit or chocolate fan but I do love sweets, especially sour sweets and candy so halloween is the perfect excuse to eat some - the best vegetarian sweets have to be the Colin the Caterpillar or Percy Pig sweets from M&S. However, Home Bargains have so many sweet treat options, you're bound to find something for trick or treaters (or yourself) this year.

Last but not least, my favourite products from Home Bargains have to be the skull glass that I adore! The second favourite item is a plastic skeleton which is perfect for halloween and it is currently sitting on the fireplace with all of the pumpkins I've acquired over the past few weeks! If you're looking for some inexpensive and spooky halloween decorations, candy, costumes accessories or face paints then definitely check out Home Bargains!

What do you think of these halloween items? Do you celebrate halloween? 

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Halloween Cheshire Cat Look ft. Vision Direct

Halloween is almost here *squeals*, it is one of my favourite holidays, closely followed by the mother of all holidays - Christmas. For the past couple of years I have been creating Halloween looks of varying success...and I couldn't wait to create some this year. As Alice in Wonderland was one of my favourite cartoon films as a child, I had to create another Cheshire Cat look but unlike my previous look, this one is based on the Alice in Wonderland film featuring Johnny Depp. 

I received the *Freshlook Colourblends Contacts in Turquoise (found here at £14.48 per lens) which are prescription coloured contact lenses from Vision Direct. I chose the turquoise shade as the Cheshire Cat does have teal/turquoise eyes in the film but if you didn't want this shade then there are a range of others to choose from including amethyst (which would be great for the original purple Cheshire Cat look), Honey and Gemstone Green which looks amazing! 

I've been wearing contacts since I was 17 so these were quick, easy and fuss free to put in, remove and wear for hours and unlike other coloured contacts I have tried, you don't see the colour while you're wearing them which makes them feel like my regular lenses. They look so vivid and bright on my eyes and are perfect for this look. They may be a little expensive but I think they are the most comfortable and bright coloured contacts I've tried. 

Here is my step by step guide to achieve this easy but effective Halloween look:

1. I prepped my skin with my daily moisturiser and applied a mixture of the green, lilac and silver shades from the Makeup Revolution Corrector Palette with a combination of my Real Techniques and Spectrum brushes until the base is even. Stipple the foundation/base you are using to add more coverage. To add extra colour, I used the blue shade from the new Makeup Revolution Unicorns Unite lipstick collection around the perimeters of my face for more depth. I then set the base with the Essence Fixing Powder but you can use any white powder so it won't affect the colour. 

2. Next up, I used a range of black liners from Essence and Makeup Revolution to draw in the nose, mouth and teeth as well as a swirl at the end of each corner which makes it looks a bit like a Tim Burton character to me. It is a little time consuming but it is a Halloween look so it doesn't have to be completely perfect. I filled in the nose with a purple/plum lipstick from Duwop; I also filled in the teeth with the yellow shade from the same Makeup Revolution Corrector Palette but a white face paint would be better. 

3. This step is the one that makes the look, in my opinion, I used so many liners of different shades and textures to add the effect of fur. I used a silver shimmer liner from Rimmel as all as navy and blue liners. 

4. Now onto the eyes and brows. I used the Eye of Horus Teal Malachite Pencil to fill in my brows and the Makeup Revolution Salvation Palette to create a winged out blue smokey eye with most of the deeper blue shades under the eyes and the outer corner - blend, blend, blend. Lastly, I lined my upper lash line with the Colorsport black liquid liner and my upper/lower waterline with a black kohl pencil. Then the best step, add the contacts! Make sure you hands are clean and free of makeup before you add the contacts. 

Overall, I'm so happy with the way this look turned out first time round as it is simple and easy to create but so effective. I have to say, the contacts are comfortable to wear and they really make this look! Vision Direct have a great range of coloured contacts which would be perfect for halloween or fancy dress parties. This is a sponsored post. 

What do you think of my first halloween look of the year? Have you tried any coloured contacts?

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First Halloween Look Of 2017 ft. Johnny Loves Rosie

Halloween is my favourite season, not just because of all the scary and creepy books, TV shows and films I can watch but because of the time of the year and makeup looks I get to create. Over the past couple of years I've created halloween looks on my blog and this year will be no different although I probably won't create quite as many this time around.

So far I've created a vampire witch, cheshire cat, mermaid, joker, skull, pop art, zombie, doll and corpse bride look so I wanted to create something a little different to those but still keep it easy to create and quick using widely available products.

This is my first halloween look of the year and I wanted to start with an easy but striking look featuring products from Johnny Loves Rosie. It was very easy to create this look as most of it is just my usual makeup routine with some halloween extras. Here's a list of the products that I used:

Too Faced Hangover Primer (review)
Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation (review)
Essence All About Matt Fixing Powder
Eye Of Horus Brow Pencil (review)
Eylure Brow Pencil (review)
TheBalm Schwing Liquid Liner
Glossier Stretch Concealer
NYX Taupe Blush
Crown Brushes Matte Lip Stain (review)
Ciate Wonderwand Mascara (review)
AHB Cosmetics Highlighter Palette (review)
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (review)

I also used the *Johnny Loves Rosie Skeleton Face Tattoo (£16) which I was kindly sent a couple of weeks ago - it's part of their halloween collection along with so many other great halloween accessories. The design came pre-laid out as to how you should use the stickers but I changed it up a bit and I'm really happy with the outcome!

Firstly, I started with my primer, foundation, concealer and powder as my base. I added more coverage than normal; I also used my new Glossier stretch concealer (which I'm really liking on my dry skin). Whenever I apply my makeup, I always use my contour products as my face would look like a beach ball without them and when halloween comes around, I can get away with a strong contour.

Next up, highlighter, powder and then the Johnny Loves Rosie skeleton face tattoo. Instead of using the red rhinestones around the eyes, I added most of them to my lips and as they were adhesive already, they didn't need glue. I cut up the mouth section and just added it to the sides of my mouth and I used the chin decoration too; the only items I didn't use were the eyebrow stickers.

After filling in my brows as I normally do, I applied the shades 'YDK', 'Chopper' and 'Foxy' to the lids and blended well as this is quite a neat look. I also added winged liner with TheBalms Schwing liquid liner which is so easy to use and applied my mascara.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, it was very easy to create and the stickers were easy to remove although for the stickers, not the rhinestones, I did have to glue them down with eyelash glue. I think it's a simple but striking halloween look that will go with so many costumes and you can just add the Johnny Loves Rosie skeleton face tattoo over the top of your work/school makeup.

Have you bought anything from Johnny Loves Rosie? What are you going as for halloween this year? Do you celebrate halloween? 

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Halloween Look: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Every year I create a few halloween looks within the month of October and I adore creating them as it gives me a chance to experiment with makeup, unleash my creative side and wear colour contact lenses! I haven't been able to create as many as I'd wanted to this year *cries* but I do have a couple more coming very soon!

I've already created one halloween look with the help of Vision Direct and here's the second look which is inspired by one of my favourite films, Beetlejuice. If you haven't seen it then you should on or before halloween as it's perfect for this time of the year. Beetlejuice is one of my favourite characters in the film, as well as Lydia and it was great to create a halloween makeup look inspired by him.

I used the *FreshLook Colourblends Contact Lenses in Gemstone Green (£14.99 per box) for this look as even though he doesn't have green eyes *I don't think...*, it makes the look more interesting and halloweeny. I also used a range of highstreet makeup that is easily substituted as well as a homemade SFX hack! Before we get into the tutorial, here's a list of the products I used:

Bourjois Sleep Effect Foundation in 71
The Body Shop Lightening Drops
Essence Fixing Powder
Eylure Brow Pencil in Dark Brown
Tweezerman Brow Mousse + Eyelash Curler
Eye Of Horus Brow Pencil
Ciate London Wonderwand Mascara in Black
Freedom House Of Glam Dolls Palette
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Zero
Kiss Lashes Eyelash Glue
Makeup Revolution Lipstick in Make Me Magnificent
Cotton Wool...

This look is so quick and easy to create, it can be created using cheap products and it looks really effective, in my opinion, especially with the textured green areas and the coloured contact lenses from Vision Direct. You can take parts of this look and create something else, for example, the eye look or the textured effect I created.

Step One: 

I started by applying my foundation as I normally would but then I when over it with a little of the lightening drops as Beetlejuice has pale skin on the whole. I also filled in my brows as I normally would but a little bolder and set them with brow gel.

Step Two: 

Beetlejuice has random green mould or texture to his skin in places so I wanted to create that but at the time I didn't have any specific SFX makeup so I created texture with cotton wool, eyelash glue and eyeshadow. I took a small amount of eyelash glue and applied it where I wanted the texture, I then stuck the cotton wool over it with more glue and let it set before applying a range of green shades over the top to hide the white cotton wool. I think the effect turned out so well, it was easy to create and very easy to remove! Hopefully the texture is visible in the photos as in 'real life' it looked 3D and textured.

Step Three:

I used the same palette for the textured areas as I did for the eyes as it contains a range of fantastic purples, blacks and greens that are great for this look. I started with a deep purple cream shadow over the outer half of the lid and blended it into the crease, outer corner and lower lash line with a dark purple/black eyeshadow. I blended further with lighter purples into the inner half of the eyelid and under the eye; finishing off with a red/pink around the blended edges and up to the brow bone.

Step Four: 

To finish the eyes, I applied black liner to the upper and lower waterlines and smudged it into the lower lash line. I used mascara on the upper and lower lashes to finish the eyes and made sure everything was blended but Beetlejuice is a very messy, unkept character so it doesn't really matter if it isn't fully blended as it will just add to the look. Lastly, I put in the green contact lenses which I love! They are very easy to put in and take out, they are just as comfortable as my regular lenses and they look so striking.

Overall, I love the look and I don't know why I haven't tried to create a Beetlejuice look before now as it's so quick and easy to create - the main items you'll need include a palette with purples, blacks and greens in it as well as your usual makeup and cotton wool, eyelash glue and coloured contacts, the latter is optional but it looks amazing with the contact lenses.

What do you think of this halloween look? Have you watched Beetlejuice? 

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Easy Halloween Makeup: just add fangs!

This is the second part of my makeup halloween series, the first was a scary joker makeup and this time it is a lot less scary with a kind of sexy vampire makeup. This makeup would be great for a range of outfits. You could add a couple of beauty marks and some lashes and it would be a great pin up look - with out the 'blood' though! 

Here is a quite generic look - it would make a great vampire look firstly, in my opinion - just add fangs! I started with my Barry M Creme Foundation in the shade 'white' which I never thought I would use for a halloween makeup look but here it is. I use my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to blend - it looks a bit caky on the skin in real life so if you have dry skin like me then you will have to use a good exfoliator and moisturiser before use. 

I contoured my face with a black eyeshadow from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette. I then moved onto the eyes and I use the MUA Undressed palette (the first one) and I used the matte brown and applied/blended it all over and around the eyes as a base. I then used a shimmery brown all over the lid, and you can make it as strong or as subtle as you like - I took it quite lower under the eyes as I wanted to make them look a bit sunken and anaemic to an extent. I also used a nude pencil by rimmel along the lower waterline. I made my brows a bit more dramatic than normal with a black shadow. I am using the Yves Rocher lipstick in the shade '101 framboise' all over the lips, then I added a matte black everyshadow over the lips to make a black/deep burgundy lip colour - I then added quite a lot of the Giorgio Armani Lip Gloss in the shade 404 over the lips and at the corners of the mouth to look a bit like blood. 

To make this look more dramatic you could add lashes, liner, beauty marks and of course fangs and fake blood! It is a great generic look that can be adapted to many outfits - such as pinup/retro, vampire, dolls, fairy/nymph and so on.

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Halloween Look: Harlequin Joker

Here's my second Halloween look of 2016, I haven't been able to create nearly as many as I wanted to this year as I've have a couple of mini eczema flareups so I haven't wanted to cake my face in lots of makeup. However, they are really fun to create and this look is a bit of a mashup of the original harlequin and the joker (or maybe a clown?!).

This look is so easy to create and I used only products from highstreet/drugstore brands so it's an affordable look using products you probably already have in your makeup collection! I think this look would be perfect with a traditional harlequin jester outfit or a black jumpsuit or playsuit. For my hair I just used my new Anjou hair straightening brush which I love! Here's a list of the products I've used:

- Max Factor Smooth Effect Foundation
- Vichy Setting Powder
- NYX Blush in Taupe
- Makeup Revolution Lipstick
- Stila Liquid Eyeliner
- Makeup Revolution Palette (Fairy Doll)
- Benefit Roller Lash Mascara
- Avon Shock Liner

The look is a bit of a mix of different characters but it was easy to create and I'm really happy with the look on the whole. I first started with my regular foundation, powder and contour which I'm loving! Then I moved onto the brows and I used a red lipstick but you could use a lip pencil for a sharper finish and you could use another shade if you wanted but I think the red brows works well with the red/pink blended through the crease.

Now onto the eyes, I started with a matte black from a Makeup Revolution palette and applied it all over the lid, winging it out at the outer corner slightly. I then blended a pink toned red through the crease as a transition - just blend, blend, blend. Next up the liner, I use a liquid liner to get sharp, intense lines; I drew a harlequin style (or clown?) shape on the cheeks. Finish with black liner on the upper and lower lash lines and mascara.

Last but not least the lips, I used the same black liquid liner to line my lips, fill them in and draw an extended smile which was the hardest part as it was so difficult to get it symmetrical! Keep some micellar water and cotton buds on hand for cleaning up.

You could add some fake blood to the look to make it gory and more scary, I'd definitely recommend the *Bloody Marvellous Runny Blood from PAM London as it's fantastic! It's so quick and easy to use and it actually looks quite realistic! I've used it in a previous Halloween look and it worked so well!

What do you think of this Halloween look? Will you be dressing up for Halloween today? 

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Halloween Look: Vampire Witch...

This post is very exciting because I'm not only working with a website that I've been browsing for years but it is my first halloween post of the year! As you may have figured by now if you follow me on Twitter (@ofbeautyand) or if you have been following my blog since last Halloween then you'll know that I'm a bit obsessed with not just Halloween makeup but Halloween TV, movies, books and general nostalgia.

For my first Halloween look of the year, I have decided to create a more glamorous and less scary look than previous years - my creepy doll and clown looks are a little disturbing and my even my Cheshire Cat Halloween look is a little...scary. So today's look is easy to create and it looks quite glam but obviously because it is a Halloween look, there will be blood. I had no idea what to name this look as I think it is quite a glamorous witchy look but with the blood it's quite vampiric.

I was sent a couple of products from Ere Perez and Pam (Precious About Makeup) to create this look which is super exciting. The look is really easy to create as I first started with my regular foundation, concealer, powder, contour and brow pencil/gel. Here's the full list of the products I used:

- Lancome Cushion Foundation
- Essence Stay All Day Concealer
- Vichy Setting Powder
- Eye of Horus Brow Pencil/Gel
- NYX Blush in Taupe
- Tom Ford Extreme Mascara
- Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette
- Kiko Eyeshadows
- Threads False Lashes
- Essence Silver Eyeliner
- *Ere Perez Black Eyeliner
- *Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick in N43
- *Bloody Marvellous Professional Runny Blood

I used a combination of shadows from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and the Kiko Eyeshadow Palette that I made to create a basic black, almost metallic looking, smoky eye. Then I used a silver eyeliner as a highlight and a black liner on the upper and lower waterlines followed by mascara. I don't wear false lashes therefore they are a little tricky for me to apply so I cut up the outer corners of my Threads lashes and just applied them to the outer corners which actually gave a really pretty effect!

Now onto the lips and blood, I applied a nude lipliner all over the lips then I applied the Make Up For Ever Lipstick over the top - this shade is just gorgeous, it's a pretty and unique orange shade (I really want to try more products from Make Up For Ever!). Now the blood, I haven't used fake blood before so I didn't know if it would stain or if it would be really messy to use. The runny fake blood I have is actually really easy to use, it doesn't stain the skin and you don't need a lot of blood to get a great effect! I just used the lid of the blood tube to apply it to my face and it drips down really realistically, in my opinion. As the blood was over my mouth I did unintentionally eat some of the blood but thankfully it is safe to swallow although I obviously wouldn't recommend it - it makes the teeth look orange and gory!

What do you think of my first Halloween look of 2016? Have you tried any of these products? Will you be creating any Halloween looks this year? 

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Halloween: Mermaid Look + Cloud Nine Review

For my final halloween look, I've teamed up with Cloud Nine to create a more glamourous halloween look and quick hairstyle rather than the more scary looks I've created over the past couple of years. If you do want some more scary and unusual halloween looks, then check out my previous posts, I've created a Cheshire Cat, Pop Art Zombie and Sugar Skull look this year. 

This look is very different to others that I've created although I'm using a lot of the same products that I used in my previous halloween looks this year, here's the list of products but feel free to substitute and use whichever products you have!

- MeMeMe Seventh Heaven Facebase

- Max Factor Smooth Effect Foundation in 40 Porcelain

- Maybelline Fit Me Concealer 

- Essence Fixing Powder

- Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow Palette 

- Eye of Horus Goddess Liner in Teal Malachite 

- Makeup Revolution Unicorns Unite Lipstick in Horn of Magic 

- Benefit Roller Lash Mascara 

- Primark False Lashes in Sultry 

- Sephora Blue Liquid Liner

- Essence Body Glitter

- Real Techniques and Spectrum Brushes

- Primark Fishnet Tights

- Cloud Nine The Original Curling Wand 

Phew, yes I did use quite a lot of products for this look but most of them are quite inexpensive and easily available. If you are looking for cheap halloween and brighter makeup then definitely check out Makeup Revolution as they have a fantastic range including their new Unicorns Unite lipsticks. 

1. First I started with my regular foundation, concealer and powder, all three of which I have been using for months and I love them! However this time round as I wanted the skin to be more moisturised and luminous so I used the MeMeMe primer before my foundation. 

2. Now, this is where it gets a little weird...put the fishnet tights over your head/face...yes, this is essential to the look as when you apply eyeshadow over the top it will look like scales on the skin! This method is so quick and easy but it can be slightly unconformable and restrictive. I would recommend using eyeshadows wet and with a stiff/dense brush for the pigmentation to be as strong as possible. I used blues, purples and gold in this look but you can use whichever shades you want. 

3. When you have the scales as you want them, you can move onto the brows. I used a gold eyeshadow with a wet brush over the brows because you know, mermaids have gold brows, right? 

4. For the eyes I applied a shimmery light blue shade all over the lid and a gold into the inner corner. Instead of regular black liner, I used a bright blue liquid liner and made a dramatic curved wing. I finished with mascara then Primark false lashes in Sultry which even for a newbie like me, they were SO easy to apply but I did have to trim them. 

5. I kept the lips simple, I applied a bright turquoise eyeliner all over the lips and then the new blue shade from the Unicorns Unite range to make it more metallic/wet looking. 

6. For the final touches I used a body glitter from Essence and lash glue to add some glittery dots to the temples, this is entirely optional. I added more blue to my jaw and hairline. 

When the makeup is done, I moved onto my hair and I was very kindly sent the *Cloud Nine The Original Curling Wand (£99.95) which comes with a heatproof glove, safety mat, protective heat guard and instructions. The wand came very quickly and was packaged well so it would make a great christmas gift. 

The wand is tapered so depending on where you wind your hair around, you can get tighter or loose curls! It is unlike other curlers I've used as it comes with a plastic heat guard/cover over the barrel so you can put the curling wand in it just after you've used it so it protects the surface you leave it on. I used the mid heat setting to create beachy waves as it's the perfect hairstyle for a mermaid! 

The wand was so quick and easy to use and the glove was so useful even though it looks and feels like an exfoliating shower glove...The curling wand gave me smooth, soft and long lasting beachy waves that with a small amount of hairspray lasted all day which is very impressive as my hair is fairly thick so curls usually drop after an hour or two. 

I will have a post on my blog next month with a full review of the wand and a few hairstyles that you can create with this fantastic curling wand so stay tuned! 

What do you think of my final halloween look? Have you tried any products from Cloud Nine? 

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