Black Swan Makeup

I went to an awesome Halloween party with my friends Faustina and Brett on Friday night, which is where I debuted my Black Swan masquerade costume. At the last minute, I decided to wear my mask as a tiara instead of an actual mask. Why? One, because I realized that I didn't really want my face covered all night, and two, because I just couldn't resist attempting this gorgeous makeup.

When I say "at the last minute," I really do mean at the last minute. I stopped by Target to buy silver eyeliner and black liquid eyeliner with literally one hour to go until the party. I managed to pull off this look in about half an hour. Not too shabby for a rushed makeup job, right?

Anyway, this is just a preview and I will definitely do a proper Style Post to show all of you my full costume. Stay tuned!

Products Used

• Liquid Eyeliner in Black: e.l.f.
• Eyeliner in Silver Lightning: L'Oreal Paris
• Matte Lipstick in "Diva": MAC (This was the darkest matte color I could find and it still turned out a little too bright in most pictures.)

FBFF: Pinspired!

This week's FBFF topic is hosted by Gina of Mommy Posh. For today's topic, I was supposed to share a pictorial review of what inspires me, mainly images from Pinterest. Since I do posts like that relatively often (see my Lovely Things via we♥it series), I decided to do something a little bit different. So then I thought, why not share inspiring pictures and words? After all, words have just as much power to inspire...

...That's the English major in me speaking. :)

All of these inspiring words (and their sources) can be found on my LOVE Words to Inspire board.

Want to see more?

Black Swan, White Swan

Halloween is three days from now and I am beyond excited to finally show all of you my Black Swan costume. But of course, I'm going to have to prolong the suspense a little longer. In the meantime, enjoy these beautiful photos from my huge we♥it collection. They all inspired me while I was creating my costume.

[all images from we♥it]

Revlon Teak Rose

By now, I'm sure it's no secret...I LOVE pink. I have been looking for a shade of pink (but not too pink) nail polish for a while. I was at my local Rite Aid pharmacy a couple of days ago, looking for Halloween candy, when I discovered the beautiful Revlon Teak Rose.

I already have a modest collection of Revlon nail polishes, but as soon as I saw this color, I knew that I had to have it. I wanted something rosy with subtle gold or brown undertones - something that would be perfect for fall - and this brownish rose hue delivers. I love how this warm shade looks with my skin tone. And so far, it hasn't clashed with any of my outfits. :)

I also loved how smooth the application was. I used two thin coats of Teak Rose and then one coat of clear nail polish (Extra Life No Chip Top Coat, also by Revlon). No bubbles and no streaky mess, even on my left hand, which is rare for me.

I usually keep my nails pretty short for simplicity's sake, but I think from now on I should have them a little longer, as pictured. Longer nails seem to look better with my incredibly small hands and short fingers.

What about you? Do you have a favorite nail polish color?

FBFF: Halloween Edition

Yes, I am a day late in finishing this FBFF post. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy reading my thoughts and plans for this Halloween. P.S. If you aren't a member of Fashion Beauty Friend Fridays yet, I strongly suggest that you check out this amazing group. Answering questions every week is fun and a great way to be part of the blogging community.

Now, with no further ado, I give you FBFF: Halloween Edition...

Halloween 2007 - I recycled one of my old color guard costumes. I was a tree spirit. :)

1) Do you have plans for Halloween? It's funny because I have my Black Swan costume pretty much finished, but I still have no concrete plans for Halloween. Last year I just stayed home and passed out candy to trick or treaters. This year however, I really want to go out and have fun. If not a Halloween party, I'd be happy with just dressing up and walking around a neighborhood to check out the awesome decorations. My BestFriend and I are already making plans to do this.

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2) Where do you go for costume and makeup inspiration? Many of my costume ideas come from movies. After I watched "Black Swan," I immediately realized how gorgeous and amazing this costume would be. Then I found a pretty black mask at a boutique in the mall and I got it into my head that I could be extra creative and create a Black Swan masquerade costume. I can't wait to show my full costume to all of you! :)

Probably my sexiest Halloween costume to date. ;)

3) What's the best costume you've ever donned? Pardon the snarkiness, but I really don't like how so many girls in my age group seem to think that Halloween is synonymous with "Dress Like a Slut Day." That being said, one of my favorite costumes I've ever worn was my French Maid outfit. I thought I looked pretty darn cute. Hehe.

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4) What's the most creative costume you've ever seen? I have mixed feelings about dogs dressed in silly costumes, but I will admit that I laughed out loud when I saw this Imperial Walker costume.

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5) No holds barred if you could dress up as anything, what would it be? Since I love Pride and Prejudice so much, I thought that a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies costume would be awesome for Halloween. The only thing that stopped me from donning this costume this year is the makeup. For one thing, it looks incredibly elaborate (even more so than Black Swan makeup). And honestly, I hate how stage makeup feels on my face. I wore it many times back when I was active in theatre arts and I always dreaded putting it on. This is such an awesome costume though, so I may just have to suck it up and try this for next year.

Awkward and Awesome 10.20.11

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Awkward:

• I'm sure everyone can relate to this: not hearing what someone told you the first - or the second - time and not wanting to look like an idiot by saying "What?" over and over again. I still have no idea what my professor said to me. It must have been something good though, because he seemed pretty happy.
• Speaking of "happy," the cashier at Del Taco kind of creeped me out. It's one thing to be enthusiastic about your job. It's a completely different matter to constantly have a wide, fake smile on your face. ::shudder::
• And here's something that other personal style bloggers can relate to: getting strange looks while taking outfit photos. I took my last outfit pictures right next to the gate at my grandma's apartment complex. I got plenty of stares from senior citizens and their visiting families. One nice old man did tell me that he liked the bright, cheerful colors I was wearing though.

Awesome:

• My fourteen-year old brother is currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird in school. I managed to convince him to trade his gorgeous hardcover edition for my old, beat up copy from high school? How did I convince him? I pointed out that my copy has copious passages highlighted. :)
• I made a lot of progress on my Black Swan costume this week. Now I just need to add embellishments to my skirt and find a tiara.
• Oreo ice cream cake for my mom's birthday yesterday. Yum!

Style Post 10.19.11

Sorry about the nearly week-long delay between blog posts. Anyway, guess what today was? It was my mom's birthday! We didn't do anything extravagant this year; just Round Table pizza and cake at my grandma's apartment, which is where these photos were taken. Even though we didn't go out today, I wanted to wear something special anyway. One, because it was my mom's birthday and she deserves a semi-dressy outfit from me. :) And two, because I believe every day should be considered worthy of dressing up.

I had been eyeing these color block platform Mary Janes for months before I finally gave in and bought them. They're so different from all the other shoes I own. Instead of basic black or brown or tan, these shoes are a gorgeous combination of cobalt and brown. I am SERIOUSLY in love. I'm already imagining the different color tights I could pair with these beauties.

Camisole: Stargazer. Cardigan: Donna Morgan. Shorts: Charlotte Russe. Tights: Forever 21. Color Block Mary Janes: Vince Camuto (buy them here). Feather Necklace: unknown brand.


Has anyone else gotten into the color blocking trend lately? Post your links because I'd love to see your outfits too!

A Black Swan Masquerade

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I have been completely enamored with ballet-inspired outfits for as far back as I can remember. And like many other ladies, I fell in love with the dark, yet romantic costumes of Black Swan upon watching the film. So it's only natural that I'd want to be the Black Swan for Halloween, right? Well believe it not, I was a Gothic ballerina for Halloween one year before the movie came out. ::facepalm::

Rather than repeating my costume from two years ago, this year I decided to try a different interpretation: A Black Swan Masquerade. Picture a feather-accented corset paired with a long billowing skirt instead of a short tutu. Here are three of my favorite inspiration pictures:

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Is this a black wedding gown? Vera Wang's designs always make me swoon. What I really like about this dress is the tulle detail on the bodice. But the skirt? Not so much. It is gorgeous, but not for me. Not only would a huge skirt like this swallow up my 5'2" frame, but there is simply no way I could ever sew something this huge.

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I didn't even see this gorgeous ballgown until Stephanie of love&lace posted it on her blog. How perfect would this be for a Black Swan masquerade? It has everything I'd need for my costume ideas: a sweetheart neckline, black feathers, and the wild, floating tulle details that I love so much.

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I'm really leaning more towards this Monique Lhuillier dress design though. I love how it's not too poofy, but still reminiscent of a black tutu, especially with the shorter top layer and the sheer, longer layers. I would just need to add black feathers and this design would be perfect.

So is anyone else dressing up for Halloween?

I'd love to hear about your costume ideas!