Back To School for Halloween

Even if I've been experimenting so much with special effects makeup in my makeup posts, I never really went to school for it, for the reason that it was more of something that I just want to do for myself and most of what I do is usually beauty and bridal. It was a very expensive course too to take on its own so I figured out I'd wait it out first and put my money on other things. However, when the time and opportunity came for me to attend a Basic Special Effects workshop at the Center for Aesthetic Studies last month, I decided to go and grab this time. Although I'm not doing makeup as much as I did before, I still couldn't say no to this seasonal skill. My heart, after all, beats for special effects.

Literally I stepped into this school 10 years ago when I first had my very basic makeup training. Right now, it's in a different location.

Back then, the Center for Aesthetic Studies (or CAS) used to be in Jupiter Street and I used to walk from de la Costa to Jupiter with my makeup bag to get to class. Now, it's located along Gamboa Street in Legaspi Village on the other side of Makati, a walking distance away from Greenbelt 1.

We now have director's chairs! I recall the time I would hoard monoblock chairs to stack them together so I have a relatively high chair.

BYS Philippines has a special FX line to cater to your Halloween looks

We just had to bring our brushes and some other tools which fit a way smaller and lighter makeup bag. Makeup products were provided by the school with their partner brand, BYS Cosmetics, even for their special effects line. Yes! BYS also has a special effects line now!

Thanks to my student/friend Moe who agreed to be my practice model for the day despite the fact he had little sleep the night before. This is his photo before the crazies happened.

We started out with an introduction to special effects. We would learn ageing, bruises, cuts, lacerations, and burns. Already with the outline and my heart was pumping like doing cardio. Making stuff like these is so much fun. Also, we would be doing the other end. If in beauty makeup we hide flaws, here, we enhance flaws and make flaws. It's like my mind did an inversion.

For every segment, there would be a demo. Here is Teacher Bo giving a demo on the model. He has worked in countless TV productions and horror films (including the iconic horror movie series Shake Rattle and Roll). He even has a page in IMDb! Yes, being the nerd that I am, I actually researched this.  Teacher Bo has been my forever teacher in CAS since he was my teacher in basic makeup before.

ageing using cream/powder shading, stippling, liquid latex, and white greasepaint.

One important tip I learned from him is less is more. It's better to layer on products and blend it evenly to make things look more realistic. This holds especially true in bruises where it's not supposed to be one mask of purple paint but there should be a gradation of colors and the skin underneath should show through. I also learned that it's not just showering a fake would with red makeup and fake blood. There's a bit of other colors thrown in as well. If you get a real bruise, take a good look at it and see the different colors.

Nose laceration created with scar wax

Scar wax was a tricky thing to work with especially with spirit gum. This gets really sticky sometimes.

In special effects, we use old brushes and paint brushes (yes, the ones we buy at National Bookstore). This also puts to good use our powder brushes and other brushes that have seen better days. The sponges we use in beauty makeup can still be put to good use. Just give them a good wash and use them to apply liquid latex or tear them to create texture. We can even use old mascara wands to create texture or brush color on brows and mustaches or so on.  This is a good take on upcycling and lessen the turnaround time for a lot of sponges and brushes to be thrown out. 

blisters and third-degree burn

I had the most fun in creating burns because it involves layering of products. If you are not that squeamish, you can search actual photos of burns and wounds to make your work more realistic. If you're like me who's a bit squeamish, just type "special fx burn makeup". The search engine will give you graphic images, but at least you know that these were made by other makeup artists using fx makeup and not medical cases, so less chances for the stomach to turn.

I must admit that doing special effects was longer than doing beauty makeup. I usually do like a full glam makeup in 20-30 minutes (excluding hair). However, for special effects, it usually takes me an hour or more. Sometimes it takes even two hours depending on the concept. I do love it still because of the challenge and also, each look has a story. Like for a burn, how did the character get burned? What kind of burn? Is it an acid burn like Harvey Dent in Batman or was he burned by an angry mob like Freddy Krueger? If it's a cut, what kind of a cut is it, who or what made it, and so on. There are different kinds of fake blood to use and I already wrote ways on how they are used.

Of course this would not be complete without a photo-op with my teacher!

He even gave tips on how we could fine-tune our skills and how to store products, like pre-prepped prosethetic gelatin. He also gave tips on special fx equipment shopping should we start building our kit, like what to look out for, what colors to buy, and so on.

If not doing special effects makeup for Halloween for movies/tv or for Halloween, there are ways where I can apply this:

Gorify a vintage-themed party with a sexy zombie pinup girl look.

• Christmas parties. I know of some people who would extend Halloween gore to their themed Christmas parties. I once did a makeup on a friend who went for a drowned zombie look for her under-the-sea themed office Christmas Party. They had a standout zombie with the mermaids and fish.
• Prenup shoot - Some couples get creative beyond the usual HH-WW photos by the beach or garden or the staple flower crown smiling photo with a flowy skirt. You can have a Doom, Call of Duty, Walking Dead, or Zombieland - themed prenup shoot. Get your entourage in the fun and transform them to zombies in a zombie apocalypse themed shoot. 
• Recitals and performances - My brain has gone somersaults with conceptualizing a look with my friend Ronnie during his pole competition looks. Just in case he would have a zombie-themed competition look going, I am fully equipped. 
• Plays  - doing special effects makeup for stage requires a bit more heavy hand and less blending so the look can be seen from afar. Last 2015, I did an ageing look on veteran actor Bembol Roco for his role in the play Arbol de Fuego. He had to look around 20 years older than his actual age.

This is a tad more crude and the lines less natural for stage purposes.

I have more special effects makeup looks on Instagram. You can search for them via the hashtag #bambidelacruzmakeup on IG. Have fun coz I did!


Image Directory

Center for Aesthetic Studies Facebook page (workshop poster and school demo photo)
facebook.com/centerforaestheticstudiesph/


Store Directory:

BYS Cosmetics
www.bysphilippines.com / facebook.com/BYSPhilippines; instagram.com/bysphilippines

Center for Aesthetic Studies
Unit 103 1st Midland Condominium Gamboa St., Legaspi Village, Makati City ; 897-0383 / 897-0307 / 0917-8970383 / 0918-8970383 ; www.cas.com.ph ; facebook.com/centerforaestheticstudies.ph ; instagram.com/centerforaestheticstudies

Know Your (Fake) Blood

I love beauty but of course, I would want to stretch and exercise my creative mojo so sometimes, I like to go crazy. Here comes Halloween, a more proper excuse to get crazy with my craft and my outfits, my face, and my posts.

I've had fond memories of Halloween starting with trick-or-treating starting with crude costumes (basta black and mask OK na) then asking the neighborhood mananhi to make me a witch costume. It was fun, the houses were really cool and scary and I'd go home with so much candy, which I would then sort into jars according to flavor.

When it was my nieces' and nephews' turn for Halloween, it became more awesome because the houses we went trick-or-treating had so much themes, not limited to just scary. Costumes also have evolved and there were more costumes that were readily available in the mall, although some still DIY. It just didn't limit itself to candy but other houses gave out popcorn, cotton candy, fries, mini sandwiches, etc.  Even adults played dress-up, making it an entire family affair.

As a makeup artist, this season gives me the challenge to use not just traditional or airbrush makeup that I use for beauty, fashion, or glam but also special effects makeup and other materials such as tissue paper, cotton, string, etc. Zombie makeup is one of the things I enjoy doing the most. It's a challenge because we have to make it look realistic going from beauty to scary and gory. It's also fun because it's a time where I can let go of symmetry  and just be messy and super random. The bloodier, the better! Now, whenever I watch horror films and look at the zombies and monsters, I go, "Hmm... I wonder how the artist created that?"

Several fake blood I use to create my special effects wounds

What is zombie and gore makeup without blood? It's the key for really awesome, crazy effects. When I did that blog post on fake wounds and all as a practice, all the special effects makeup  were not yet available here in the Philippines and had to be ordered online. Back then, I had to make do with lipsticks, face paint, Elmer's glue, and lash glue. Now, I do most of my special effects makeup shopping in Purebeauty, Kryolan, and Make Up For Ever. I went DIY with my fake blood and substituted liquid latex with lash glue and Elmer's glue (yep, the same Elmer's glue we put on our hand then peel off when they dry when we were kids). I'm so happy that I now have special effects makeup available here!

When I went shopping for special effects makeup, I found out too that there are several types of fake blood, depending on the effect you're going for. Mix and match and you can get a real fun, gory Halloween look. Although I can go DIY on my fake blood using pancake syrup and some red and green food coloring (why green? A few drops of green food coloring can make the color look more realistic and earthy), the problem I have with this is that it can get really sticky, especially if you're wearing your special fx makeup at a party. The food coloring also can stain the skin. I reserve this DIY fake blood for blood that I place in the mouth, since this is edible anyway (it's pancake syrup!).

Store-bought fake blood, on the other hand, is less sticky and tacky and won't attract ants. They easily wash off with water and soap and the color doesn't leave a stain on the skin. You can wear this in a shoot, and just peel off the prosthetic and use makeup remover or wipes and you're good to go to your next appointment.

Should you want to go all gore and zombify the life out of you for Halloween, I'll be showing you four types of fake blood that I have with me and what I use them for.

Blood Paste (shown: Graftobian Blood Paste, Php 380)

Blood Paste comes in a jar and it has a super thick consistency, The color is almost real, and mimics real blood. The look of this is blood that has sitting too long and already gelled or coagulated, but still looks wet. I use this on scabs, deep wounds, or on the corners of wounds or burns, or the wound openings, to look like blood clots.


Blood Gel (shown: Graftobian Blood Gel, Php 480)

Blood Gel is really thick blood that looks almost like thick honey. It's super viscous you can tilt your hand and it won't drip right away. It's got the shine we want in our fake blood (it looks awesome in photos and film).

We can use this if we want the "run" or "drip" effect without the blood getting all over the place.

Stage Blood (Graftobian Stage Blood, Php 380)

This one is really watery. Actually, I use a cotton bud or thin art brush to apply this. I use this to create splatter effects on wounds with a stippling sponge or paper towel, just to make the look more messy. I find this red though a bit too orange for me, but I guess on camera or film, it does look brighter. This one can be placed on capsules as well for gunshot-type shots or when blood comes out of the mouth, from what I read in the directions.

Artificial Thick Blood (Make Up For Ever Artificial Thick Blood Php 800)

When it comes to thinner type of blood, I actually prefer using this because it's less orange and runs less. I can use a really thin brush to apply this on "wounds" or create blood "tears". The color is also more realistic. It's more on the brownish or earthy side and this one really looks nasty on wounds. I like using them on zombies as well since the blood here looks "old" and more oxidized, since no fresh blood runs on zombies as they have been dead for a long while (unless of course, it's a newly-born zombie that you're making).

Combining the fake blood can produce awesome and realistic effects like the infectious boil study I did over here:

Sorry for those who are eating. It actually looks pretty cool with the blood and the greasepaints all coming together. I applied blood paste on the crevices with a small spatula and created texture using a barbecue stick. Then, for a slower pour and drip, I used blood gel and splattered out some stage blood and draged with a thin brush. The messier, the better! The colorings were done using Ben Nye bruise and cuts wheels and foundation and I used my gelatin-glycerin mix to make the boils. The feel is actually soft and almost flesh-like it's freaky.

How crazy are you going this Halloween? What's the story behind your zombie?


Store Directory:

Graftobian
Available at Purebeauty Serendra, Glorietta 4, and TriNoMa; facebook.com/PurebeautyPH; shoppurebeauty.com; graftobian.com

Make Up For Ever
2/F Mega Fashion Hall Building D, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, (02) 631-5681; G/F Greenbelt 3, Makati City, (02) 621-5248; 1/F TriNoMa Mall, Quezon City, (0915) 990-9571; 2/F Main Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City (0919) 273-4805; makeupforever.com.ph; facebook.com/makeupforeverPH

Harley Quinn Makeup Tutorial

Suicide Squad was released a few weeks ago and clearly one of the favorite characters is the super hot Harley Quinn.

#suicidesquad #harleyquinn

A photo posted by Excel Yosep (@excel_yosep) on Aug 13, 2016 at 5:18am PDT

She may have bad taste in men but still, she's super hot as she is badass and she's got mad skills. She's also literally mad  and she isn't afraid to show it.

Do you want this look for Halloween? Then read on below:

I styled my hair in high pigtails and defined the curls in each tail. Leave two locks of hair loose in front of the face, just like in the movie (I pulled all my hair back though in this tutorial, for illustration purposes). If you have bleached hair, you can color the tips of your hair with blue and red colored hairspray if you want.

Harley has pale skin after falling in a vat of toxic chemicals. I used foundation paler than my own complexion. You can also mix white stage makeup with your own foundation. Remember to set this with powder to avoid the sticky feel.

Make the brows strong and super defined. I used a dark brown eyebrow pencil.

Apply primer to eyes so that the eyeshadow would hold longer. Contour eyes with matte brown shadow to create a defined, deep set crease.

Apply red eyeshadow on the right eyelid and blend this to the crease.

Smudge some of the eyeshadow on the bottom lashline and create a sort of smeared, smudgy look

Do the same with the left eyelid using blue eyeshadow.

 Apply black kohl pencil on the waterline and smudge this with your finger downwards to make the look more smudgy and messy. The lines don't have to be clean, and that's what's great about this look.

Create a cat eye on the top lashline using liquid eye pen or gel eyeliner. Curl lashes and apply mascara and falsies, if desired.

Contour the face for a more sunken look. Prison didn't give Harley the best of health.

Line lips with lipliner and fill in.

Apply a super bright red lipstick. You can smudge it like she had during the later part of the movie but I chose to leave it as it is.

Finally, recreate her face tattoos using eyeliner pen or gel eyeliner. Harley has a heart tattoo on her right cheekbone and the word "ROTTEN" tattooed on her right jaw. You may have a friend do this for you if you're having a hard time writing the word ''Rotten" on your own jaw.

For Harley's costume, wear a baseball shirt-type of top with red sleeves. You may cut holes on the shirt to get that worn look. Wear cheeky shorts or pole shorts in sequined red and bright blue. For footwear, she wore high-heeled sneakers. Accessorize with bling and the "Puddin" choker.

Hopefully that will get your Harley game on come Halloween or a costume party or any time you want to unleash your inner crazy. Have fun playing dress up! Let me know as well in the comments below if you have any tutorial suggestions - clean, glam, or outright crazy.


Products used

Celeteque 24-Hour Photoready Liquid Foundation
Maybelline White Superfresh Powder Foundation
Revlon Brow Fantasy By Colorstay in Dark Brown
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC eyeshadow in Espresso
MAC eyeshadow in Cabaret Red
Suesh blue eyeshadow
MAC Eye Kohl in Smolder
Revlon Volume + Length Magnified Mascara\
L'Oreal Superliner Superstar (cat eye)
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen (face tattoos)
Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette 
Revlon Colorstay Lipliner in Red
Pink Sugar Creamy Matte Lipstick in Bombshell

Store Directory

Celeteque
Available at Watsons, SM Department Stores, Mercury Drug, Landmark, Robinson's Department Stores, PCX, Shopwise, and Rustan's; celetequedermoscience.com; facebook.com/Celeteque

Kat Von D Beauty
www.katvondbeauty.com  ; sephora.com,

MAC Cosmetics
click here for a complete list of stores; maccosmetics.com; rustans-thebeautysource.com; maccosmetics.com.ph; facebook.com/MACcosmetics

Maybelline
Available at all leading department stores and drugstores nationwide; maybelline.com; facebook.com/maybellineph

Pink Sugar
Available at SM Aura, SM Makati, SM Marilao, SM Manila, SM Fairview, SM MOA, SM Clark, SM Lanang Premier Davao, Landmark, and Watsons Ayala Center Cebu; pinksugar.com.ph; facebook.com/pinksugarph

Revlon
Available at all leading department stores nationwide; revlon.com; facebook.com/revlon; facebook.com/RevlonPhilippines

Suesh
34 Wilson St. Greenhills, San Juan, (02) 806-8013; L/GF TriNoMa Mall, Quezon City; L/GF Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa; suesh.com; facebook.com/pages/Suesh-Makeup-Toolkit/230391965594

Urban Decay
www.urbandecay.com; sephora.com

My Barbie Costume in Detail

So for those who want to know in detail how I put together my Exercise Barbie costume, here's how:

This Exercise Barbie can Gemini yes? :P

outfit:

Top: Forever 21

Shorts: Sassa Swimwear

Shoes: Fila

Headband and Socks: Landmark

As you can see, the original Exercise Barbie is in a full bodysuit. Obviously, I can't pole in a full bodysuit since I need my skin to grip the pole so I thought of a pole fitness adaptation but it had to be still close to the original. Thankfully, I had aquamarine blue pole shorts and sports top so I didn't have to spend much. And one of the two sneakers I owned was a happy lilac color, which sorta matched my gear. In place of leg warmers, I wore rainbow socks. I wasn't able to find a sky blue headband so I used white instead. safe. :)

For the makeup, knowing that I'll be pole-ling, I made sure that's makeup to last from warm up till cool-down. I used pastel pinks for my eyes and cheeks and finished off with cat eye style liner (using the Barbie gel liner from Stila, and I'm so glad they're still with me) and brown mascara since I had to take note that I'm blonde. Taking that into consideration, I made sure my brows were also matching to my hair so I used MUFE eyebrow corrector in 0 topped with MAC Charcoal brown on the ends and used MAC Brow Set in Sophisticated to groom my brows in place. I know Sophisticated has been phased out worldwide, so I think Girl Boy would be a good substitute in case you want to recreate this or Shu Uemura Eyebrow Manicure.

You all know that I've got dark hair by nature so how did I get to be blonde like Barbie? I didn't dye my hair but used colored hairspray! First, I styled my hair in a curly high ponytail like Barbie. Then, I sprayed my hair thoroughly first with silver spray and then misted blonde spray all over. I got the idea from a photoshoot I did weeks before. Since I got really long hair, I finished off an entire spray bottle. Hahahaha. Don't worry, it washes off easily with shampoo. I'm back to dark hair now, but I had to subject my hair to deep conditioning treatment since products can dry my hair.

Barbie isn't Barbie without bright pink lips. So I used two of my favorite MAC bright pink lipsticks: Candy Yum Yum and Hollywood Nights for an in-your-face pink and topped it with Superglass for high-shine. Come on, Exercise Barbie is an 80's Barbie so she shouldn't be afraid of color. Since My my hair is pulled back, I wouldn't have to worry about my face having gloss all over.

Like I said, Barbie is my favorite doll ever! So this look was done for love. And with that, it combined with my favorite sport too. Can I not be happier? :)

Happy Pole Halloween and My Exercise Barbie Look for Halloween Lookbook

When pole and Halloween collide, my smile tends to be from ear-to-ear. As I've said, I love Halloween, and since our teachers announced a Halloween pole class day last week, I was super game to come in full gear. In fact, I couldn't even decide what to wear as I had so many stuff and ideas already.

Our teachers went as the Spice Girls! I love the Spice Girls and they're just the cutest. We danced to songs by the Spice Girls today from warm up to cool down to choreo. Viva Forever! Just a trivia, I also had Spice Girls dolls.

Anyway, I decided to come as my favorite toy ever - BARBIE! But what Barbie right as there's so many Barbie variations! I went as Exercise Barbie, since I'll be pole-ling and it was an outfit I could dance, flip, and twirl to.

I researched on workout Barbie pictures and found this darling. And she belongs to the 80's Barbie series, which is my generation. I'm not a Barbie hater and I never will be. When I was a kid, I thought Barbie was the coolest girl ever. She can be a teacher, a pilot, an astronaut, a doctor, a dancer, a rockstar, and so on. Plus her perpetual smile on her face made me stop crying whenever I'm being bullied so all I had to do was open my box of Barbie dolls and play and all would be okay. I want to be the awesome and multitasking pretty girl that she is! The abs are a bonus.

What I wore is a pole adaptation of the original Exercise Barbie costume, which had her in blue leotards, leg warmers, and sneakers. I curled my hair, put it in a high ponytail, donned bright aqua blue top and shorts to match, put sneakers on (I had socks instead of leg warmers since I need my leg skin as grip), and had a headband. The costume was dual-purpose pa. :) For the blonde hair, since I'm not blonde, I sprayed my hair with spray-on temporary hair color, which washes out with shampoo. For makeup, Barbie's tradmark pretty pink makeup down to the hot pink lips (MAC Hollywood Nights + Candy Yum Yum).

My classmates were un-kabogable as well, of course! I did makeup for my classmates too so we're all pretty in our costumes.

Our baby girl Eti came dressed as a fairy.

Grace is a soldier, but a malanding soldier. Only Col. Grace will go to war in smoky eyes, glitter, and false lashes.

Our supergirl Cheriza was very much like Chun Li. :)

We learned doubles today. It's much harder than we thought because we had to be the same speed as our partner as well as each other. But we loved dancing to the song. Kayleen did an awesome job with the choreo!

We all came in costume so we got treats! Yay!

I won best costume! Being my favorite doll and dancing to the Spice Girls got me so energized too!

Till the next Halloween. I guess you're never too old to play dress up, says me the perpetual seven-year-old.

Halloween Lookbook #2: Cheetara

Another Halloween look! I must say I got the hang of it. This happened quite accidentally since I was watching my childhood cartoons. As I was watching Thundercats, I saw Cheetara (the sole female Thundercat) and a light bulb effect came to me - Cheetara look! I'm quite torn between that and a look that I want for me for pole class later so to save and fulfill my Cheetara cravingness, I gave in and created a Cheetara look after I practiced my look for today.

Originally, Cheetara looks like this:

[image credits]

blonde spotted hair, red eye makeup like a mask and of course, the iconic Thundercats bodysuit. My Cheetara adaptation had the red makeup (even her blue eyeshadow) but due to the lack of spots on the hair, I did a different version, making it mine.

Red makeup check! Red lippie check! Big hair check! Blonde color check! Spots... check! So the spots were above my brows. Doing the eye makeup's fun since I had to take note of the shape and make sure I look like a cat instead of a spider or a girl in a mask, because I want to use makeup and not a mask.

I practiced spraying my hair blonde beforehand so my hair was stiff enough to be teased so it was pretty easy to get it that big. A crimper beforehand also produces the nicer rar results. I used MAC cream color base for the red makeup and topped it with matte red eyeshadows. I didn't bother defining brows as cats don't have brows anyway. For the eye makeup, I didn't just dab on bright blue. I sorta winged the eye twice so I really look like a cat. This was a makeup look that required detail on shape.

If I'd want to wear that in a party, I've heard that Kryolan or MUFE cream colors can be used since those are the once that are really made for stage performances and won't crack or slide when you sweat or when the paint dries unlike kiddie face paint. For the spots, I used dark brown gel eyeliner. I used my bangle as a guide on how cheetah prints look like.

Ya huh! I'm blonde! That's just a spray. It washes off easily with shampoo. :)

Halloween Lookbook #1: Kimber from Jem and The Holograms

Happy Halloween beautifuls! Halloween has got to be my ever-so favorite holiday. In fact, it tops Christmas in my list. Why? Well, it's the only day of the year where it's perfectly okay to play dress-up and be your crazy self wherever.

Even though the long break is over, I still keep my Halloween fun spirit by playing dress-up. For my Halloween Lookbook, I donned a red wig and did 80's style punk makeup and did a mish-mash version of one of the characters from my favorite cartoon series, Jem and The Holograms, and as a refresher, here's a video of the intro:

For those who don't know Jem and The Holograms, it's a cartoon from the 1980's about an all-girl rock band group called Jem and The Holograms. Jem is the lead singer and she's got her iconic pink hair and hot pink earrings, that hold secret to her true identity - she's actually Jerrica Benton, owner of Starlight Music and Jem is her alter-ego. The girl I portrayed is Kimber, Jerrica's younger sister, the one with bright red hair.

[image credits]

I'm glad there are photos and videos online of her so I was able to study her look closely and transform the cartoon look into 3d, person-version.

I made it me by using a red bob wig (as also, that's what I have in handy), adding eyeliner, and donning a black blazer instead of white. I guess that's how Kimber looks now twenty years later: new chic style, but the punk girl remains - pink eyeshadow and blue eyebrows and all.

Yes, Kimber's got bright blue brows! And I did too! I used bright blue non-smudgy pencil and topped it with bright blue matte shadow. The shadow shape was done with MAC chromagraphic pencil NC30 to "map" out the shape before filling it in with Fresco Rose Paint Pot then topping that with bright pink eyeshadow. Alternatively, You can use white or any flesh-colored lip or eye pencil to draw it as chromagraphic pencils only come as limited edition pieces but I suggest not to skip the paint pot, as that makes the shadow color melt- and crease-proof. I used a mixture of purple and black to contour the crease and line the eye so it pops out so my eyes don't look washed out. I skipped falsies as I did this almost midnight and I was too tired for the extra step.

The lips and cheeks were easiest. I lined my lips with candy pink lip liner and topped it with MAC lipstick in All Styled Up and Dazzleglass for glittery lips (she's a rockstar, so it's okay to be outrageous, besides, wasn't it Jem who sang "Truly Outrageous, Fashion, and Fame, when you're a Jem girl you're never the same"?). The blush is definitely hot pink or a sweet raspberry color applied at an angle just like how they used to do it in the 80's, but since it's 2010, I made it more blended, in case you still want to look pretty after-party.

If you're wearing this to a Halloween party and you want to move to an after-party place, all you have to do is shake off the wig and let the hair down. Since it's Halloween, you can rock the punk makeup. To stuff my hair in the wig, I braid it into pigtails and weave it and strategically place and pin it on my head so it's flat so my hair doesn't bunch up. I don't have a head stocking here though, but it's better so the hair's hammered down and no dark hair shows through the bright red.