Halloween Costumes: Spooky Vampire and Darth Maul

For Halloween this year, much like last year, I did mine and my boyfriend's makeup!  Unfortunately I did not get to be as detailed with our looks as I had planned as we were accidentally running out of time during makeup application.  Regardless I still think we came out pretty adorable!

Here is us! My boyfriend is Darth Maul from Star Wars and I am a generic vampire.

My costume was pretty easy to put together. I also wore a little belt with the dress as it was baggy around the waist but I took this picture before putting it on.

Ears: Aradani Costumes High Elf Ears

Dress: Wish.com Lace Dress

Teeth: Scarecrow Vampire Fangs

I bought the teeth at least 6 years ago from Hottopic so I'm not sure if my exact type even exists anymore. I should probably get new ones....

My eye makeup was also really easy and pretty quick to do, which was good as my boyfriend's face took forever.  

On my lid I applied Urban Decay's Blackout as thick as possible.  I also blended this onto my lower lashline.  I then applied Blackbird Cosmetic's Ruca into my crease and all around my eye.  I also took a very little bit of Mary Kay's Iris and blended it between the black and red of my crease to help blend.  I drew on a wing with my Jesse's Girl liquid liner then took a small brush and drew out some faint black veins with Blackout, and then lightly went over them again with the liquid liner. 

I was going to put on some false lashes but my eyes were so dark they weren't even noticeable anyway, so I didn't bother.

 On my lips is Shiro Cosmetic's Red Wedding because it seriously looks like blood so I knew I had to wear it. As you can see here I also blended Ruca up to my temple to create a neat effect.  I patted my entire face after my usual foundation application with a matte white eyeshadow by NYX.  My contour and eye brows were also done with NYX's blush in Taupe.

This is unfortunately the only shot I have of my teeth.  the other one I took got blurry and I didn't realize it.  I forgot how big and uncomfortable these were so I ended up only really wearing these for pictures and the costume contest.

And here is one more angle of my face.

Here is my mom's costume! She did her own makeup and was just a generic ghoul, however she took some of her makeup inspiration from Sally of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

While I was doing my makeup my boyfriend was carefully covering his face with NYX's Primal Colors in Hot Red. I got this shadow just for his makeup look and it worked like a charm!  With a slightly damp sponge it applied opaque and evenly.  I am pretty impressed for a $5 product.  He covered it entire face and neck and the powder doesn't even look like it has a dent in it!

Then I went and traced the outline of the design with a black gel eyeliner that my mom had.  Unfortunately I did not look at the brand.  I then filled in with Urban Decay's Blackout.  This is when we started to run out of time so I did not get to do the black design above his lip or around his jaw.  Even without this portion his costume was very recognizable and looked really awesome from far away. I didn't get closer around his eyes with the black because his eyes don't take it well and I didn't want to risk his eyes watering and ruining the makeup.

Here is a mirror selfie of our full outfits! Even though we didn't do a matching couples costume I think we were still pretty awesome looking together.

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!  Now to plan my costume for next year!

Blackbird Cosmetics Haul

I had heard nothing but wonderful things about indie makeup brand Blackbird cosmetic's matte eyeshadow formula.  They recently started a new website blackbirdcosmetics.com and in celebration gave out a 30% off code.  I jumped at the opportunity and made my first purchase!

I bought a full size of their green Magic Trick Super Powder and matte eyeshadow in Vintage.  I also bought a sample of their matte eyeshadows in Imogen and Gravity.  Lucid and Dim Tradition were free!

I'll start my review with the green face powder.  I had bought NYX cosmetic's green concealer which is great for acne spots but when I tr to rub it on my face it gets in my pores and looks weird.  This powder is designed to be used all over the face under foundation or alone.  I was nervous to get a full size but the reviews I read were positive so I went for it!

And I'm so glad I did! I love it! I dusted it over half my face with a kabuki brush and instantly noticed my skin looked smoother and a bit less red.  You can build up the powder on areas that need extra coverage and it reduces the red even more.  I'm pretty sure I could wear this alone because I could not see any noticeable green, just reduced redness. So far I'm loving this!

It was kinda hard to get a good picture of this stuff in action.  The place I could see the most noticeable difference was on my nose.  The top image is my bare skin with moisturizer and primer.  The bottom is with the addition of the green powder.  Less red and more even skin tone! I'm so excited to use this every day! I put on my liquid foundation and usually I finish with a powder foundation but I had so little red showing through I didn't even feel that I needed to.

Next up are the eyeshadows!  I needed to have vintage as it looked like a super beautiful matte purple.  I also picked Imogen and Gravity because they also looked to have purple in them and I love cool toned mattes. I put a strip of eye primer down the middle so you can see the difference between the shadows over bare skin and primer.

I swear these are the most butter smooth easily blendable mattes I have ever used in my life.  Usually putting a matte shadow in my crease results in patchy blotchyness.  Nope. These are amazing and perfect. I'm so glad I finally understand what the hype is about.

This was a freebie.  I don't really have a use for a matte white as I already have two but oh well.  It is actually pretty light and barely shows up on my skin.  Maybe I'm too pale? I kind of like it as an under my eyebrow highlight as it isn't too obvious.

Imogen looked to be a nice matte pink, which it is.  On my eyes it looks much lighter than when  heavily swatched on my wrist. If I place another order I think I will be getting a full size of this. Its simple, cute, and pretty.

I got a sample of Gravity as it looked to be a taupy purple.  However once its on my skin it is mostly just taupe and loses the purple.  I was a bit bummed until I decided to try it as a contour.  Wouldn't you know it works pretty well with my skin tone.  I may experiment more with this and if I like it enough I might get a full size to use as a contour because it is so hard to find good colors for cool toned pale skin.

I bought Vintage in the full size and I have no regrets! It is a very beautiful deep matte purple.  It is half way between natural and vibrant.  I feel it could easily go both ways depending on what its paired with.  I love this color and can't wait to use it in more eye looks.

Finally, Lucid is a matte black and was another freebie.  Once again I already have two matte blacks so I didn't have a need for this. I may keep it at my parents house so I have an emergency matte black if I need to do my makeup back home.

And here is a quick look I threw together using all my eyeshadows!

On my lid is Imogen, in my crease is Gravity, under my eye and as a crease definer is Vintage, the liner is Gravity, and I used Dim Tradition as a highlight. Gravity is also being used under my cheekbone as a contour. 

I'm loving these shadows and I can't wait to use them some more!

I think next time I'm getting a sample of Ruca, that deep red looks gorgeous.

Where to buy: blackbirdcosmetics.com

Price:

Magic Trick Super Powder: $12

Matte Eyeshadows:  $6.50