Día de Muertos

Ah...  Halloween.  The best time of the year because I can really spread my wings (or makeup brushes) and be a creative makeup artist.  This year seemed especially hectic with creative costumes, Halloween parties, festivals, etc.  My parents even surprised me with being Wolverine and Storm from X-Men.  I definitely did my fair share of smoky eyes for whatever sexy costume the ladies were planning to wear downtown.  And hey, no judgement here!!  I remember wandering around downtown a few years back  in a pillow case and stilettos.  This year I opted for a spider theme as I was too busy with work to actually go out and celebrate.  It was creepy and earned me a few head glances throughout the day but still manageable for work attire...

  

I was able to pull off a few Day of the Dead makeups this year.  Fantasy makeup is always fun and allows me to think creatively as well as consider facial structure, etc. 

And this little dollface wanted to be a Latina Barbie...  she was a gem to work with and kept hugging me as she left.  People like her and days like these, I have to pinch myself because I get to do what I LOVE!!!

   

just catching up...

I can't believe I never posted a pic from Halloween?!  Crazy how times flies...  SOOO much has been going on that I guess it just slipped my mind.  October was a crazy busy month with a few weddings, Halloween makeups, and working the Park Avenue FashionWeek Show!  It's a tough life living the dream, but someone's gotta do it!  Actually, it's not tough at all. Anyways, here are a couple shots from October worthy of sharing...

First, HALLOWEEN:

sunburned FL tourist

my brother as a dead FL tourist

Then, Park Avenue FashionWeek:

the walking dead

And so it begins...

HALLOWEEN!!

I'm way too excited about the start of fall weather, candy corn, pumpkin cookies, scary movies, costume parties...  all of it!  Side note:  if you haven't tried the M&Ms White Chocolate Candy Corn flavor.  DO IT.  and make THESE cookies with them.  AMAZING.  I'm obsessed.

 

So I started off my celebration of the undead by meeting up with my parents last night at a Halloween party!  They are newlyweds and so appropriately decided to be a zombie bride and groom.  I attempted to be their zombie kid... but with only 20 minutes to get ready, the costume turned out OK.  For the makeup, I simply put white clown makeup all over with a dense sponge.  Then mixed gray/black tones where I would normally contour (under cheekbone, along jawline, temples, laugh lines, etc.)  Then outlined my lips with a black eyeliner and smudged it out.  The eyes were basically a lot of black cream and powder shadows.  Killer. 

pug life

 

 

argh!

Tubby's getting ready for Halloween too...

who you calling a dummy?

It's my favorite time of year!!  FALL!  You can practically (or literally) feel it in the air...  loads of pumpkin and apple recipes, college football (GO GATORS), wedding season, and of course, HALLOWEEN!  Words cannot express how exciting Halloween is for a makeup artist (especially a trained FX makeup artist).  It's like better than that "better than you-know-what cake"...  Know what I mean?!  Anyways, I typically have my costume planned a year in advance so I can geek out come October.  This year I have been tossing around a few ideas but have yet to commit to anything in particular.  So...  practice I must.  Here is my first attempt (ever, actually) at ventriloquist makeup.  It ended up being a lot easier than I had anticipated and took me less than an hour to complete.  The only thing I would add to this makeup is lashes (top and bottom).  Anyhoo, what are your thoughts?  Like?  Dislike??

gotta start somewhere... sans makeup

getting there...

hard cheek

dummy

just add lashes!

the mess

day of the dead

It's that time of year again!!! Cooler weather, pumpkin treats, and of course... HALLOWEEN!!! My absolute favorite holiday ever. I think I'm going to leave my costume plans a surprise for now though...

In the meantime, here are a couple pics of a "Day of the Dead" makeup look I did recently at work. I had to be a little creative since I was at the M.A.C store and didn't have all the items I would normally use but if you have any questions about the process, just ask...

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!

Oh, my favorite time of year!! Halloween. The one time where it's OK to wave your freak flag proudly. HA! I was busy doing makeup most of the day and of course, I LOVED every minute of it!! Here's a sneak peek...

kristen as dead alice

me (as magenta) with the BF (dirty old man)

me with the brother (uh....)

HALLOWEEN!!!!!

It's that time of year again!! And my personal favorite holiday. I love dressing up for Halloween. I've been a fairy, an evil doll, mother nature... the list goes on. This year I have been inspired by one of my all-time favorite movies "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" to be Magenta!! Pictures of my costume will surely be posted soon. In the meantime, call ME to help you plan and create a costume for yourself. If you are thinking cute, sexy, scary, funny...chances are you are going to need makeup. And that's where I come in. Discounts are available for groups so gather your friends and let's plan! Here are a couple pictures for inspiration...

more than a pretty face...

Makeup isn't always about the pretty. There are so many other things to be done with makeup, which is why I never get bored with it. Here is a pic of an evil clown makeup I did recently. It can be tricky getting a smooth application of the white cake makeup and then setting it with powder to maintain the white color but it was fun playing around with the different colors. I was inspired by the clown zombie from Zombieland (love that movie!) in that I wanted a more dishevled look. I never realized how many people have a legitimate fear of clowns until this project. I think clowns faces are freaky but I've never been afraid of them.

dead and gone

I've said this before and I'll say it again. My friends are phenomenal! For practicing any look, my friend Callie is always game! I know zombie makeup is pretty simple but I wanted it to look really messy and disgusting. I didn't have red food coloring or chocolate syrup so I tried using canola oil, corn starch, and cocca powder. It didn't quite achieve the look I was hoping for as it seems to resemble mud moreso than blood. Oh well... Practice makes perfect, am I right?! Regardless, it was a lot of fun!! Big Ups to Callie for being a good sport even when the "blood" mixture got in her eye. Ooops...

I've done a few different makeup effects for the Film Dept. at Trident Technical College. This kid is currently enrolled in the program and is interested in Special Effects makeup just I am so I attempted to teach him a few tips and tricks...

i heart halloween

Halloween is without a doubt my favorite holiday! I look forward to it all year and start planning my costume usually mid-September. This year I decided to be Mother Nature. I bought a simple dress from Forever21 and decorated it with leaves, butterflies, and flowers. It ended up looking very fall-ish but I was happy overall with the results. The crazy lashes were from Makeup Forever (purchased at Sephora) and surprisingly easy to wear. I recommend using Ardell glue instead of the glue that typically comes with false lashes though. It just works better. For the rest of the makeup look, I wanted things to be very earthy and neutral with all the emphasis on the lashes/eyes.

Even my pups got in the halloween spirit...