Halloween Series: Vampire

Hey there! I'm back today with another Halloween look for you guys, and this one is an old standby. Sort of a straight up vampire look that would suit a lot of different vampire costumes. Now I'm well aware that there are looks of different kinds of vampires. This look is a take on the aristocratic/gothic sexy vampire, that's been popularized from Stoker to Rice over the years. I'm a little surprised I haven't done one yet! A little note about the eye makeup: I'm using a lot of red in this look, which I think compliments the overall aesthetic.  It's Halloween, and I thoroughly encourage stepping out of you comfort zone! That being said, I know a lot of people shy about from red on the eyes. I can understand this, and think that you could sub some warm plum tones instead if you really want to.

So for this look I started with the eyes, which is crucial for when you're blending dark colors. I started out with a eyeshadow primer all over the eye and brow bone. Then I took a matte true red on a flat brush and really pack it on the lid, you want it a bright as possible. With the same color on a fluffy brush, you want to softly blend around the eye socket. this will make a really pretty transition for the black. In the outer corner of my eye I took a little bit of a burgundy shade a packed that on, for even more of a transition.

Then with a tapered crease brush I took a matte black eye shadow I started to blend upwards and out into a dramatic V. Then back down again into the socket. Then I went around the socket again with the red on the fluffy brush. Then back with the black, you want to keep this up until the blending and intensity is where you want it. With a smaller brush a took the black eye shadow under my eye a bit and blended it in. Then I blended out the edge with a matte white on a fluffy brush. I also took a bit of the white and put it in my inner corner.

Moving right along, I lined my upper and lower waterline with a black pencil liner. Then with a black gel liner on an angled brush I made a medium thick line across my eye, it went out a little the the end but it's not super winged out. You don't want too much just enough of a line to blend in the lashes. If you aren't wearing falsies, you might want more liner. Then I added a light coat of waterproof mascara on my top and bottom lashes. Then I added a pair a very defined lashes that taper out into the corner. Just use what you have, or what ever will compliment your costume.

Moving on to the face! I started by wiping away the fallout with a makeup wipe, this is super important. After that you can start on the foundation. If you're fair to medium skinned you can use a white face paint if you like. (I don't know if I'd recommend it for darker skin tones.) For me I'm fair enough (P.s the lightening always makes me about 2 shades paler) that I didn't think it was necessary. So I applied a foundation normally, and applied concealer under my eyes and over any blemishes. (Vampires don't get acne. XD) And then I used the same matte white from before on a bigger brush and used that as a highlight. I blended that into the high planes of my face, which add dimension as well as lightening my face up a bit more. I used a taupe shade to contour a little, I probably should have used more. Finally I topped it off with the teensiest amount of a red blusher. You have just feasted after all!

Alright for the lips I applied a medium blue toned red lipstick. Then comes the best part: the fake blood! So with a blood paste I sort of dabbed it around my mouth messily, there is really no rhyme or reason for blood application. Then I mixed some of my blood paste with water to make it runny, this is unnecessary if you're using blood gel or squirt blood. Then I put it to the corner of my mouth and just let it drip down.

Products Used:

Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, Sugarpill Love+ Eyes Shadow, Sleek Burgundy (Sunset Palette), Urban Decay Blackout Eye Shadow, Sugarpill Tako Eyeshadow, Urban Decay 24/7 Liner Pencil in Perversion, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, Maybelline Full n' Soft Mascara, Red Cherry Lashes in #68.

Face: Rimmel Long Lasting Foundation in 100 Ivory, Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in Light, Sugarpill Tako Eyeshadow, Nyx Taupe Blush, Milani Red Vino Blush.

Lips: Nyx Snow White Lipstick.

Blood: Graftobian Blood Paste.

Hope you all liked my vampire look! What are you going as for this Halloween? Let me know in the comments!

Halloween Series: Super Quick & Easy Scar!

Want a super fast DIY Halloween costume? Give yourself a badass scar with your new best friend: Rigid Collodion aka scarring liquid. It's a a clear liquid that causes the skin around it to tense, creating a 3d scar like dent. A few things I should mention first though, this product can be dangerous if misused. Do not put this directly on your eye area, the skin there is far to delicate and if it got in your eye, it could probably blind you. Also, don't use this a bunch of times in the same spot, that could potentially actually scar you. But it's very easy to use, so no worries! :D I got mine at a local makeup supply store, but a Halloween or costume store is also likely to have this.

For this look you need two things, Rigid Collodion (duh), and a pink or red lip pencil. With your pencil lightly trace where you want the scar. (Make sure to use a very light hand if you're using red like I did.) I also recommend smoothing it out with your fingertip a little bit. Next apply your first layer of the scarring liquid. Blowing on it will make it go faster, you only need about 45 seconds between each layer. Squishing the skin around it in will help it scrunch more. You will need about ten coats for full effect but you can really start to see it after three. Afterward you can leave it as is, or color it if you choose. You can't see how deep it looks in these photos, in real life it looks really deep.

Products Used:

Scar: MAC Cherry Lip Pencil, Mehron Rigid Collodion.

Hope you guys liked this, still want more? Check out the rest of my Halloween looks!

Review: Sonia Kashuk Brush and Sponge Cleanser

So darlings, quick review to add some padding between Halloween posts! So a couple weeks ago I was target and the Sonia Kushuk section set out it's siren's song. I wound up getting the Brush and Sponge Cleanser, so let's see how it holds up!

(Yes I was still in Target When I took this.)

Alright so this is a deep cleanser for brushes (I was hoping it was a spot cleaner, not gonna lie) that claims to extend the life of your brushes by cleaning and conditioning them. Directions are as follows:

1.) Wet brush hair or sponge, liberally spray on Brush and Sponge Cleanser.

2.) With your fingers gently massage cleanser into brush hairs, or sponge to form a good lather.

3.) Rinse until water runs clear (You may need to repeat step 2 with sponges).

4.) Gently squeeze out excess water.

5.) Dry flat.

These instructions seem fairly straightforward to me, although I don't dry my larger brushes flat. I followed the instructions for the purpose of this review and these are my findings. Overall this is a very effective product. It cleaned a wide selection of brushes with different products. It's very good at getting stray pigment out of light colored brushes, I was excited to see the tops of my skunk brushes actually turn white! The one thing it wouldn't clean didn't surprise me. Something about my foundation (I believe it's Rimmel Lasting Finish's fault. It has a built in aqua primer.) will not come out of my brushes unless I use dish soap! But other then that it cleaned very well. Moving along, the conditioning agent seems to be working as well. My brushes feel very soft after washing, which is not always the case with natural hair brushes unfortunately. It also has a nice scent; it smells lightly herbal, like rosemary. It reminds me a little of Aveda products. As for extending the life of my brushes, that'll take more time to tell!

Do I like this product? Yes, definitely! However it is less cost effective than my normal cleanser (baby shampoo!) but it also softens a lot more. Also I'm not a huge fan of it being in a spray format. It's hard to aim, so I mostly wind up squirting it onto my hand and then dipping the brush in. 

You can find Sonia Kashuk Brush and Sponge Cleanser at target.com or select target stores for $6.99 USD

Thoughts, questions, comments? Let me know in the comments or on twitter @SpiceDropBlog!  I wanna know, how do you guys clean your makeup brushes, and how often?

Halloween Series: Candy Corn Cutie!

Ohhhh yeeaahhh! First Halloween look of the season here on Spice Drop! I wanted something really festive and cute to start things out with. So I chose a Halloween classic for my inspiration, candy corn! Love it or hate it, candy corn is a Halloween Staple and would be a easy cute costume. I'm using mostly Sugarpill eyeshadows for this, use what ever you have but make sure it's matte!

So I started by applying a eyeshadow base all over my eye and  blending a white cream base all over my lids and brow bone. This'll make an even base for the eyeshadow as well as making the colors pop more. My eyebrows already have natural arch so that's where I'm putting the tip of my candy corn. If yours don't, use this time to figure out where you want the point to be. I also but a bit of the white underneath my eyes. With a flat brush and a matte yellow eyeshadow I placed the first layer of her candy corn all over my lids and out, to creat trapazoid shape. (If you have a big lid space you might want to section the layers off more) You want colors to be as bright as possible, so really pack the color on. The yellow was the easy part, as you up you're going to need it to make it a triangle shape and so you need to be careful where you place your color. To make a cleaner line you could use the tape method, but I thought that would look too harsh for this. Instead I took the edge of a paper as my guider. The next layer is orange, so I made a similar layer as the yellow but smaller. This layer also has my crease, so I had to bend the orange in with out getting it in the yellow. Don't sweat the colors mixing too much though, it happens on the candy itself! Then at the top goes the white, make sure it's very very white it needs to stand out. To clean and make the edge stand out more take a eyeshadow in the same tone as your skin (or a face powder) and cover whats left of the white base. I then applied a black gel eyeliner thinly along my lash line, and continued straight out a little ways. I filled in my eyebrows with a colored powder normally, if you want to create a faux pointed arch that'd be cool. I then applied a quick coat of black mascara then put on some flasies, but thats completely optional.

I applied some pretty standard foundation and concealer, nothing too interesting there. I then added some orange blush to warm up my complexion and continue the orange tone throughoLumut the look. For the lips I made a custom red-orange shade. And that's pretty much it!

Products Used:

(In order of Application)

Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk, Sugarpill Buttercupcake Eyeshadow, Sugarpill Flamepoint Eyeshadow, Sugarpill Tako Eyeshadow, Urban Decay Kinky and Freestyle Eyeshadows (Blended), MAC Blacktrack Eyeshadow, Maybelline Full n Soft Mascara, Jcat EL20 lashes.

Face: Rimmel Long Lasting Foundation in 100 Ivory, Bare Minerals Stroke of Light Concealer in Luminous 2, MAC Honey Jasmine Blush.

Lips: OCC Lips Tars in NSFW and Traffic.

Hope you enjoyed my first Halloween look for this year! Looking for more inspiration? Check out my other Halloween looks and my fairytale series! Don't see what you're looking for? Request a look in the comments below!

Top 5 Cold Season Must Haves!

So I've been a bit of a slacker lately, sorry about that. Part of the reason I've been so lazy lately is that I've constant bouts of allergies and colds. :( But it's inspired my latest post, my top five must haves for cold season!

1.) Tazo Green Ginger Tea. The kind of tea isn't really that important, I've just been digging this one lately. The combination of heat and tannins is exactly what you need when you're feeling crappy. I also really like Tazo Zen tea (green tea with spearmint and lemongrass), and Celestial Seasoning's Peppermint Tea. Extra points if you add honey which I'll talk about more in 3!

2.) Emergen-C in Tangerine. This stuff is a life saver! Especially if you feel like you're about to get sick, or are concerned about getting infected by those around you. This gives you a quick direct dose of vitamin C, which does wonders for your immune system. Oh but personal preference, I only like the Tangerine flavor (NOT super orange) the others are sort of disgusting. But yay tangerine!

3.) THIS STUFF! I originally was recommended this by my aunt via Pintrest. It is a sore throat game changer. Step aside lemon honey cough drops, this Lemon Honey Ginger tea base is a million times better. It's tasty and cost effective, definitely check out the link.

4.) Kleenex Go Packs. You can usually find these in the check out aisle of target in packs of three. If you have allergies like I do, you know the importance of always having tissues with you. These are the perfect size for your purse or backpack, and are resealable.

5.) Bath and Body Works PocketBac hand sanitizer. I work with people, and money. I take the bus and rail. I share a house with children. These all mean that regular sanitation is my only hope for not being constantly sick. These are cheap and come in a variety of scents. My favorites are the fresh lavender, and Warm Vanilla Sugar, but seasonal ones like this Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin are fun. (Also twisted peppermint! My absolute favorite!)

May the sickness odds ever be in your favor lovely readers! What's your go to when you're feeling ill?