In Search of Smudge:My Quest For the Perfect Eye Liner!

Is there no longer such a things as a smudge-then-set eyeliner pencil? 150 years ago (or perhaps somewhat more recently) my holy-grail eyeliner, a Victoria's Secret shade called Black Berry, was reformulated. Ever since then, I've been on the hunt for a replacement- to no good avail.

The list of attributes that I require for success on this mission:

• The Correct Color. Black Berry was the *perfect* shade. Definitely a plum-not-brown, but earthy enough that it doesn't quite read as "purple". Leans red, so it brings out the green in my eyes, but it's not so red that it made my eyes look tired or bloodshot. Deep enough for good definition. Just. Perfect.
• Smudgeable. It is essential to me that a pencil liner be smudgeable. Softening the harsh lines of a pencil is great for more natural looks, but it also lends a hand in creating dramatic, sultry, smokey eyes. A diffused line is also friendlier to those of us that have small or hooded lids- a thick, heavy line weighs the eye down and makes it appear closed and small. Not to mention, a little smudgery can virtually erase the flaws of a hastily drawn (and perhaps not quite, exactly, perfect) line. 
• Non-transferrable. As previously mentioned, I have hooded lids. That means that when my eye is open, my top lash line touches my upper lid. Too many liners stamp their imprint, leaving an arc of color just above my crease, where the two parts of my lid touch. Not sexy.
• Decent Wear. Does anyone out there touch up their eyeliner mid-day? I know I'm not going to. Just stay on there, eyeliner. 

So, really, I'm not asking for much (or am I?) Yet the perfect replacement for my old-faithful has eluded me for years now. Here are just a few I've come across in my search, and why they won't be taking that place of honor in my makeup kit.

From top left to bottom right:

1. Victoria's Secret Eyeliner in Black Berry (Discontinued): If they still made it, I'd wear it every day. I adore the color, and, as I believe the above swatches prove, the superior smudgeability. All of these strokes began as a 1/4 inch mark in the center of the swatch, which I then smudged out on both sides with my trusty Lancome #10. You can actually see that the original 1/4 inch on some refused to blend out, leaving an unsightly "line of origin", but not my Black Berry. It smudges out evenly, without disappearing, skipping over creases, or flaking. And this sample was taken with a stub that's (I'm guessing) 7 years old. 
2. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in 1999 (Discontinued): This has been my go-to lately, but it's far from my favorite. The color isn't bad, but the shimmer tends to migrate when you smudge the liner. That is, *if* you can smudge it. There is a very small window of opportunity with 24/7 pencils: try too soon and you'll wipe it all away, too late and it won't budge (as evidenced by the blotch of unblended color in the center of the swatch). Oh, and when I went to add the link to this, I found out this shade has been discontinued, so I guess it's good that I didn't love it! 
3. Tarte skinny smolderEYES™ Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liner in Golden Tiger's Eye: This is one of my newest acquisitions. The color is a little less vibrant/more brown than I like (which may have prevented my purchase, if the Ulta I visited had had a tester available). Of course, this isn't a strike against the pencil itself, it's just my personal preference. The liner itself smudges fairly well- evenly spreading the color without sheering out too much. My biggest gripe about this pencil is how damn soft it is. The tip broke off the first time I used it, and even after sharpening and reapplying with very little pressure, the lead was still smushed in to one side. Not totally a deal-breaker, but it definitely takes some adjusting.
4. NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Deep Purple: as you can see, this doesn't smudge at all, it simply wipes away. Color wise, I liked it, and the price is definitely nice, but if it fails the smudge test, it's not my holy grail.
5. Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in Matte Black: This one is obviously not in my desired color range, but I felt it deserved comparison as such a coveted and well-known product. It's definitely intense pigmentation wise, and smudges relatively well. I recently ordered two of the plummier shades in the line, Shimmering Plum (4L) and Burgundy (18L), and I'm excited to see how they stack up!
6. Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Lionfish: Again, the shade isn't at all close to what I'm looking for, nor is there really one any closer in the range. But, since this is actually called SMUDGE stick, I had to try it. As you can see from the swatch above, the name is a bit of a fib. Yes, the pencil smudges, but not at all evenly- the original line will stay in place, and blending can get flaky and patchy where color pulls away from the skin completely. Boo.

So, that's it for now. Of course, I have others that I've tried, but these were the notables. I will definitely post an update when I get my new Make Up For Ever liners, and my internet search has told tale of a Cover Girl liner that may fit the bill- that's going on my list too!

What's your favorite pencil liner? Is smudgeability a factor for you, or is something else your make-it-or-break-it trait?

Happy Summer Giveaway! Winner Announced!!!

Finally, summer is here (though I'm not sure 103° in the first week was exactly what I was envisioning!) But, what better way to celebrate than with a summer must-have giveaway? I gave my Facebook followers a chance to chime in on what kind of prize they wanted, and makeup was the clear winner, so here are a few things you simply can't live without this summer:

• Bronzer. This NYX Bronzer & Blusher Combo in Marbella is a great choice: use the shades separately to add a sunny glow or contour, or swirl both colors together for a luminous burst of color for your cheeks.
• Shimmering Dry Oil by Nuxe Paris is a powerhouse product that's great for face, body and even hair! Skin-friendly oils and vitamin E nourish skin after-sun while the gold tint gives you a beachy gleam! You can even smooth a drop or two through the ends of your salt-water and chlorine ravaged hair to smooth, soften and boost shine (we won't tell!) 
• Great summer colors like coral and marine blue are stand-bys for me. I adore pigments like these from Dark Heart Designs for their versatility- dust Coral Fang on cheeks or mix it into clear gloss for a goes-with-everything summer shade. Use a wet brush to line eyes in Starstruck, or add to clear nail polish for a perfect pool-side pedicure. Of course, they're both great on the lids too!
• SPF SPF SPF. Need I say more? I couldn't do a summer must-haves giveaway without sunscreen. This one by Origins uses antioxidant super-star White Tea to protect skin from environmental damage while broad-spectrum sunscreens protects against the aging, burning, cancer-causing rays of our nearest star. 

I've made entering as simple as possible, just use the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the directions carefully. You must be a follower of this site to win, so make sure you click the little button to your right! Also, if you didn't already know, Outinapout is now on Facebook with exclusive content, swatches, contests & more, so you can earn quite a few bonus entries by "Liking" us there! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest is open internationally, pursuant to your local rules and regulations.

NYX 12th Anniversary Debacle

This past Saturday I was one of (I'm guessing) thousands of people who got an email from NYX Cosmetics announcing a phenomenal 12th Anniversary Sale. For 12 hours only, a select range of items on NYX's website would be available for the unbelievable price of $1.20. I, like many others, set my alarm and was on the site at full noon on the dot...and...nothing. The site overloaded so quickly, I wasn't even able to refresh it to load the sale prices when the clock struck 12. I tried, and tried...and tried...and tried...and still, nothing.

Due to the modern miracle of mobile internet (and the fact that I had relatively nothing to do yesterday) I was on the NYX site literally (like, literally literally) from the beginning of the sale until the bitter (and I do mean bitter) end- over 24 hours when all was said & done. Six hours into the sale, when it should have been more than half-way to over, no one I'd spoken to had even been able to log in. At some point, it was announced by NYX that the sale would be extended, and instead of ending at midnight, it would continue until noon the next day. So we all kept trying.

Luckily, I'm able to subsist on very little sleep when I need to, so I sat with a book and my laptop and pressed refresh for hours on end. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, the page partially loaded for me and I was able to begin shopping. After several hours and what seemed like thousands of hits to the refresh button, my cart was filled and I was ready to checkout. But no.

I tried for about 5 hours to get past my cart page, and never even saw the NYX checkout page load. According to NYX's Twitter representative, "several hundred" people were able to make purchases. No, Really...

Now let's ignore the oddly placed apostrophes in those tweets and think about what this means. NYX has over 56,000 people following their Facebook page, so it's safe to assume most of those people knew about the sale. We'll never know how many emails were sent out, but NYX sure does- and it seems like a mighty big oversight to tell tens of thousands of people about a sale that you're only equipped to honor to several hundred people.

It's pure conjecture, but let's say "several hundred" means 500 people (I doubt it was much more than that or they would have said "almost a thousand"). Looking at the number of Facebook fans (at this moment, 56,398) That means less than 1% of their readership was able to participate in the sale. After asking my 1000+ Twitter followers if any were able to complete a sale, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON stepped forward to say they had. I also notice thousands of comments on the NYX Facebook page; I only saw ONE that mentions a competed sale.

Believe it or not, I actually wasn't mad at all through all of the site crashes and slow loading. Once I got on to the site, I was pleased with how much was included in the sale and how little had sold out. Then I started reading the tactlessly worded responses NYX was sending out on Twitter, and, even worse, hearing accounts of horribly rude customer service interaction when frustrated customers called NYX. What finally set me off was when I realized, 15 minutes before the sale was scheduled to end, that NYX wasn't going to attempt to honor their offer for those of us that literally spent all day trying to give them our money. When the Twitter rep posted that the sale would be ending at noon and that any sales not completed by then would not be honored, it was basically like NYX had just looked me in the face and said "your time isn't worth anything to us, so fuck off and deal with it."

Now, in a career spanning over a decade managing retail cosmetics, I've planned events and promotions and I know how uncontrollable things like this can be. I've dealt with irate customers and know that the customer is not, in fact, always right. HOWEVER, I firmly believe that what sets companies apart is how they deal with things when things don't go as planned.

NYX has offered a 50% code as retribution for this mess, but in my opinion (which seems to jibe with the prevailing pubic opinion) this is not honoring the spirit of their advertised promotion.

During the sale, my 37-item cart subtotaled $44.40. After the sale ended the site was rebooted and the sale prices were cleared from the system, taking my cart up to $248.50. This means that my original savings was around 82%. To purchase the products in my cart, even after a 50% discount, would cost me almost three times as much . This is simply not acceptable.

I hate to go all "the truth is out there" with this one, but after seeing the company's response to this mess, I have to wonder if there isn't a little more to this fiasco than meets the eye. I find it unfathomable that NYX did not anticipate these issues, especially after a similar fate fell upon Sleek cosmetics last fall (the Sleek sale garnered a lot of attention, and I'm sure NYX was aware of the event). Yet where the Sleek response, botched as it has been, was to attempt to honor the original deal, NYX has made no such concession. It seems to me that NYX promoted a sale they had to know they might not have the resources to handle, only to offer a lesser retribution when the entire thing fell through. That, folks, is called "bait and switch" and it's illegal.

I feel I have been mislead, and I have filed a complaint for internet-related false advertising with the Federal Trade Commission, the California Attorney General, and the Better Business Bureau. I understand that many people feel like they've already contributed enough time to this- but really, how much time have you spent reading this & other posts, talking about it on Twitter, Facebook, etc...spend another 10 minutes & tell your story to someone who may be able to make a difference! For reference, here's NYX's info (you'll need it to complete the forms):

NYX Cosmetics

2230 S. Tubeway Ave

Commerce, CA 90040

1.866.699.1004

If you're stumped about what to say, contact me (there's a button for that up at the right hand corner of the page) & I'll forward you a copy of my letter to use as a template for your own!

I sincerely hope NYX reconsiders it's current course of actions swiftly and somehow finds a way to honor the $1.20 price for those of us who spent hours of our valuable time trying to patronize them. I will not be using the 50% code, and if this situation is not rectified, NYX has lost at least one customer.

Drugstore Dupe:MAC Penultimate Brow Marker Vs.NYX Eyebrow Marker

Little known fact about my brows: due to a naturally occurring bald spot just after my arch, I have the fortunate ability to brush the inner half of my brows up and look like a Vulcan. True, but don't be jealous. As beneficial as this may seem, I don't always (or really, ever) want to look like a Vulcan. As such, I'm always on the look out for natural looking brow grooming solutions.

When MAC released their Penultimate Brow Marker ($16.50), I snatched it up right away and it's been a daily-use product for me ever since. I even ranked it among my 2010 Best of Beauty for it's ability to create a clean, precise line without looking harsh or overly drawn-on. It applies easier and stays on better than any pencil, powder or gel I've ever tried and I've never had it smudge or smear. Love.

So, of course, when I saw that bargain powerhouse NYX had their own version of my beloved brow mainstay, I had to try it. At $9.75, the NYX Eyebrow Marker rings in at a nice discount over the MAC version. I actually picked mine up for a minuscule $4.87 during a Cherry Culture sale; Ulta often has discounts that can be used on NYX as well, so it's worth it to keep an eye out.

One difference that's hard not to notice is that the NYX version comes in two shades, Medium and Deep, versus MAC's one "Universal" shade. I chose the NYX Marker in Medium, which turned out to be a pretty decent match. When swatching, I feel like the NYX version (bottom) is more neutral in tone and maybe a hair lighter compared to MAC's marker (top) which leans a little bit to the red-brown side. Honestly, if I were going to label one of these "Universal" it would be the NYX version. I will say that these difference were slight on my hand and unnoticeable on my brows. Also, the feathering you can see in this swatch never occurred on my brows, with either product.

Upon looking at the felt-like applicator tips on the markers, again, we're talking almost identical. The MAC version (right) appears tad bit longer than than the NYX (left) but this could be due to the slight fraying on the tip. Otherwise, the broadness of the marker and the fineness of the tip are carbon copies, and apply as such.

Aside from a slight color difference on my hand, and of course, the color of the packaging and the slight difference in size (MAC's marker is 1 gram, NYX's is 1.04 g) these two products are more alike than they are different. Even the plastic tube is startlingly similar; in fact, I noticed that both the MAC and NYX version have similar, 3-digit embossed factory codes on the end of the marker. According to the packaging, both items were manufactured in Germany. Interesting. A quick peek at the ingredients proves that these two formulas are identical, with the possible exception of colorants. I say possible exception because whereas NYX lists the colorants on their list without qualifiers, MAC's packaging lists colorants as "+/-" (in other words, "may contain any or none of these, we're not telling cause it's a secret").

While I'm not saying the MAC and NYX are the same exact product, for all intents and purposes, they perform identically. Given the similarities in packaging, manufacturing and ingredients, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were discovered that these originated from the same vendor. So, which would I buy again? You'd better believe it's gonna be the NYX version!

Calaveras de Azúcar

For those of you who aren't familiar, Dia de Los Muertos (which translates to day of the dead) is a Mexican holiday to honors, remember and celebrate those who have passed on. The holiday is marked by festive eating and drinking, sometimes on the grave site of the dead, where colorful altars are set up with favorite foods and drinks of the departed loved ones. Among the common decorations are calaveras de azúcar (Sugar Skulls).

In commemoration of the holiday, which is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd (to coincide with the Catholic holidays All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day) I thought I'd share with you my Halloween costume from this year: my very own pout painted up like a super sweet sugar skull!

This was my first crack at a calavera de azúcar, but luckily for me, they come as basic or as detailed as you'd like, so I had a wide range to work from. I started out by applying Ben Nye Cream Foundation in P-1 White over my entire face using an ELF studio powder brush. Next, I applied a fine white opalescent glitter all over (I'll be washing that out of my hair until next year!) I used a good craft store glitter; unfortunately, you really can't see it in the picture, but trust me- it's there. This gave a nice effect that was reminiscent of actual sugar, though were I to do this again, I'd spray a sealer over the white cream before applying the glitter. I didn't this time and I found that the cream makeup somewhat coated the glitter and reduced its shimmer.

Next, to make my face appear more skeletal, I used a MAC 109 brush and NYX Black eyeshadow to carve out the hollow under my cheek, angling the line down along my chin and then blending it out toward my neck. An inverted heart painted on with MAC Blackground Paint Pot mimics the nasal cavity of the skull.

For my lips, I chose a red lip liner (Ben Nye in Plum LP-24 which, despite its name, is a cherry red shade) and traced a small, heart shaped lip inside my natural lip line, slightly exaggerating the line up over my Cupid's bow. Once I was happy with the shape, I filled in with MAC Lady Danger lipstick and a tiny bit of OCC Lip Tar in NSFW. For the stitches/skeleton teeth effect, I used Lancome Artliner in Noir.

The first step for my eyes was a good primer- I used Urban Decay Primer Potion this time, but I like Too Faced Shadow Insurance just as well, so if that's what you have, use it! Using my orbital bone as a guide, I then used a synthetic concealer brush to fill in the entire ocular cavity with black. I ended up using the same MAC Blackground Paint Pot that I'd used on my nose, so in the end I may not have needed a primer, but better to be safe than sorry! When I finished filling in my eyes, I topped of the black area with a dusting of Sugarpill Chromalust pigment in Stella (an awesome black base with vibrant rainbow sparkles!)to add a bit of interest.

To do the "petals" around the eyes, first I took a liner and lightly traced the area- the same Ben Nye Plum for the red petals, and Urban Decay Ransom for the purple. I did the smaller, red petals first, basically placing one above and one below my pupil, and then one at the outer corner of my eye. Then I went back with the purple and drew larger petals in the gaps. For the red petals, I used Sugarpill Love+ to fill in, on the purple petals I first filled in with Sugarpill Poison Plum and then made a center highlight and blended out to the edges of the petal with Sugarpill Dollipop.

At this point, I was running out of time and had a very impatient toddler (and perhaps a more impatient toddler's Daddy!) waiting, so I grabbed a bit of Sugarpill Darling Chromalust and mixed in a couple drops of MAC water-based mixing medium to make a paste. Using a fine lining brush (Grumbacher #1 Goldenedge Round from the craft store) I pained a freehand vine on the center of my forehead, as well as spikes coming out from between the petals around my eyes. I also used the same brush to paint a few hash marks around the inside corner of the eye, and after washing it, painted small hearts at the end of the petal spikes using Makeup For Ever Aqua Cream #7 Fuchsia. My final touch was a flower at the center of my head- the orange center is done with Sugarpill Flamepoint (which darkened a bit due to the moisture from the cream makeup) and the yellow petals are OCC Liptar in Traffic with Sugarpill Buttercupcake on top. A spritz of Mehron Barrier Spray kept the entire thing on through the night; this photo was actually taken after trick-or-treating!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and even if you're not Mexican or Catholic (I'm neither myself) use this day to remember with fondness the people in your lives who are no longer with you in body, and take comfort in knowing that as long as you honor them in memory, they'll always live on in spirit.

This Week's Sales:Stila, NYX, Smashbox, Paul and Joe...and more

I'm gonna start this post with a warning. I can not be held responsible for contributing to the delinquency of any reader's credit card balances, bank accounts or other personal assets after reading this sale post. This week is a doozy- not only are there a ton of sales, but there are actually a few seldom seen brands (a few I've never seen in the sale site arena). With fall right around the corner, I've got my eye out for a richer color palette and more hydrating skin care options. Something tells me I won't have too difficult a search!

Holy beauty sales HauteLook! This site is the heavy this week, with more sales in the first three days than most sites have all seven days! On Monday your choices are Stila, Somme Institute, Alterna, InStyler, and NuFace. Tuesday brings in DDF, Go SMiLE, Lorac, and Sprayology. Wednesday treats include NYX (not exactly high-end, but if you've never tried NYX don't let the low prices fool you- more than a few makeup pros swear by their blushes, shadows, round lipsticks and lashes!) LightStim, RapidLash and D'Arcy Skincare. Thursday the site hosts Tan Towel, Freeze 24-7, Hairdo by Jessica Simpson and Hand Perfection. Also on Thursday, but at 4:00 EST, Lorac pops up again in the form of a "Lucky's Lorac Lust Haves"event. Finally, Friday has Amika hair products, Red Ginger cosmetics, NuBrilliance, Enessa Aromatherapy. ::Breathe::

For any who are fond of ultra-high end skincare from M Lab, Dermstore will be having a 50% off private sale from 9/20 to 9/21 only! Please use the code MLABSECRET at check out!

On Tuesday Sept 21, stop over at Rue La La to peruse their selection of Smashbox Cosmetics, or hop on to Gilt Groupe for their Luminess Air feature.

Beyond the Rack has Sari by Ocean nail care (which started Sunday, so if you're interested, don't dally!) and Haute Skin starting Monday.

Beauty Story starts out the week this Monday with ATOPALM, T'Fivve and DERMAbaria. On Tuesday I'm super-psyched to check out Paul & Joe Beaute. I doubt we'll be so lucky as to see the cute kitten-headed lippies, but this is a brand I've been curious about for a while, so I can't wait to see what they have to offer! As an added incentive, the site is offering $10 off any purchase from the Paul & Joe Beaute sale! Just use coupon code BEAUTE10 when you check out! Next, on Wednesday the site features Mumma & Bubba Organics, on Thursday it's Lilibeth, and Friday's selection is Deep Steep.

So, who's in trouble? Don't be shy- share your wish list with us!

Halloween Looks: Lucent Rainbows & Pink Calamari!

As I promised on Twitter earlier this week, here's a peek of a couple Halloween looks I created this year, one on myself and one for Stacey Vest, wig guru and the talent behind Sweet Hayseed's Wearable Wonders.

This was the first year we took my daughter Trick-or-Treating (she was Abby Cadabby, if anyone is curious!) so I had a busy day on the 31st- this culminated in me having to slap on my own makeup as fast as I could, as my fiance, mother and daughter waited anxiously. I wouldn't say this is a great representation of my work- I spend a ton more time on my clients. Still, it was fun, so here it is! You'll also have to excuse me if my photo quality isn't great- I think you'll still get the gist!

This first one is a close up of me wearing the Shu Uemura Lucent Rainbow Eyelashes that inspired the entire look. Honestly, I wanted these from the moment I saw them. When Nordstrom opened here last month and I realized they had a Shu Lash Bar, I had to get them; Halloween was really a convenient justification!

Though the picture is not in the sharpest focus, hopefully you can also see my Geo circle lenses- cute and freaky at the same time! I got them relatively last minute from CandyOps for only $10! They're just cosmetic- no script, but for that price, they could have been disposable for all I care!

Unfortunately, this was the best picture we were able to get of the actual eye makeup, but who are we kidding, the lashes were the star anyway! Still, it was a pretty rainbow look, and something I might like to re-create some day.

I created the entire look with my Sleek I-Divine Acid Palette, which is (as it promises) acid bright! It's so bright, in fact, that when I tried to photograph the palette itself in sunlight several of the neon shades (which are matte) actually glared back at the camera like a bicycle reflector!

To get this look, I started with yellow on the inner corner (I know you can't really see it, but trust me, it's there!) I packed the palette's neon orange shade onto the outer 2/3 of the lid, then added the hot pink in the outer corner and crease. To add a bit more dimension, I worked just a bit of a slightly deeper magenta into the outer V and blended it into the crease. On the bottom lash line, which is more visible in the other photos, I rimmed with purple, blue and neon green from the outer to the inner corner.

In case you're wondering, right now Sleek Makeup is only available overseas, something the company promises it's working hard to remedy. The Acid palette itself was actually a limited edition; I had to hunt down mine down on the UK EBay, but it was totally worth it. Aside from great, original colors, Sleek Makeup is ridiculously inexpensive- the palette itself retails for £4.99, which is a little over $8.00. Combine my purchase price with overseas shipping and it was about the same price you'd pay for a single MAC shadow!

This one is the lovely Miss Stacey, wearing the look she coined Calamari. Up until the day before Halloween, I was working under the assumption that Stacey was going to dress as Little Red Riding Hood. In all fairness, she had told me that something snake-like was also a possibility- knowing how kooky Stacey is, I should have known the look would morph into this!

After prepping Stacey's skin with primer, foundation and concealer, I created a mottled pattern with Kryolan's UV Purple Aquacolor. Using a piece of netting from a pair of crocheted stockings as a stencil, I sponged the pattern onto Stacey's forehead and under her cheekbones. I also used the UV Purple to fill in her brows and cut her crease. Though the picture cuts it off, the cut crease wings out and up to meet her extended brow line, which reminded me of tentacles. Keep in mind, the UV Aquacolors all glow under black-light, an effect that I hope Stacey was able to make use of!

After blending the crease upward with the purple and white shades from my Sleek Acid palette, I used the neon pink shade from the palette on Stacey's lid, forehead and cheeks. I topped of her lids with a coat of Mehron Paradise Glitter in Electric Magenta. Truth be told, I wasn't thrilled with this product- it was a plastic-like material with almost no reflective quality; it looked more like pink sanding sugar (the kind you decorate cookies with) than glitter. It's times like these I most wish we had a MAC Pro store nearby, but alas...

To finish things off, I lined Stacey's lips with NYX lip liner in Prune, filling in all but the center of her lips. I topped this off with an bright coat of true blue-based fuchsia lipstick.

As a finishing touch, I wanted to add a bit of sheen to mimic the opalescent glow that you can see on the skin of many underwater creatures. I used TKB's Hilight Violet on the center of the upper portion of Stacey's forehead. I also mixed a bit of the pigment into Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics' Clear Lip Tar, which made an incredible iridescent gloss. A pair o' big pink lashes and a quick snap with my iPhone camera later and Stacey was out the door.

Though I wasn't able to see Stacey's full calamari getup in person, she did have some images taken for promotional use. Hopefully, I'll be able to get more shots, but I couldn't resist giving you guys a peek of the look complete with one of Sweet Hayseed's custom wigs!

So, that was my Halloween. In addition to my makeup and blue wig, I wore a HUGE rainbow tutu, made by the multi-talented Ms. Vest. Though the extent of my festivities was Trick-or-Treating with Rorschach and a 21 month old fairy-in-training, it was one of the best Halloweens in memory (and not just because we got 3 full sized Reese's Cups from one house!) So, any ideas for next year?