This is Halloween! This is Halloween! La La La La La!

*Editor's Note: This was written early in the day on Monday. Unfortunately, the editor was well in the car, on her way to deliver tricks or treats, when it dawned on her that she had completely and totally forgotten to post her blog. She is an idiot. Please use this as a reference for what to look up on Hulu or YouTube in the future. Our apologies, The Management.
 

Happy Halloween!! I know everyone is super busy finishing their costumes and...oh, who am I kidding? It's Monday, and we're all at work. Because of that, as far as I'm concerned, 5pm is the new "Witching Hour". My costume (#2 o' the day. See below.) is hanging on the closet door, the jewelry is laid out, and the makeup is packed up to take to my Mom's. I am ready and rearing to go!

So...did anyone remember to set the DVR?

Here's what I'm recording tonight (all times Central):

6pm: SyFy, Ghost Hunters Live. This year, the TAPS team investigates a former asylum, Pennhurst State School and Hospital. Online viewers can help with the investigation via a "panic button"--see something? Hit the button! If enough people hit it at one time, the team'll go check it out. The show runs until midnight, so you can watch other shows and catch up as needed.

7pm: CBS, How I Met Your Mother. Ted finally reconnects with the "slutty pumpkin" (oh, it's a day for quotation marks!), played by cutie-pie Katie Holmes.

7pm: Fox, Terra Nova. I love this little show. It brings back fond memories of Jurassic Park, and mixes them with a sweet family drama. If you haven't watched it before, I urge you to give it a shot. While it's not specifically Halloween-y, this week's episode features a murder mystery...murder by dinosaur!

11pm: Nickelodeon, Cry Baby Lane. Honestly, I have no idea if this is going to be any good or not; I'm just curious. See, the only time this has ever aired was October of 2000, and, according to urban legend, parents were so outraged by the scary content (on Nickelodeon? Really?) that it was never re-shown, never released on video, and only recently made it to the Interwebs. The film has developed a cult following online, so Nick has decided to air the movie one more time. According to a synopsis on Wikipedia, the basic storyline concerns conjoined twins--one good, one evil--who were left by their parents to die. Now, thanks to a seance (those are always a great idea, right?), the evil twin is possessing everyone in sight. If nothing else, a banned Nickelodeon show should qualify as an oddity. It might be fun to check out.

Alrighty. So, I mentioned above that tonight's costume would be the second of the day. The first came early this morning, when I went on a local morning show to give some last-minute Halloween costume and makeup tips. Talk about an honor! I'd do that again in a heartbeat! Anyhoo, since we were discussing things that could be thrown together in a minute, I went as an 80s High Schooler, and my friend and model, Soren, was my zombie companion. I tell you, it's a good friend that will let you put zombie makeup on them at 6:00 in the morning.

In case you're still fumbling for ideas, here's what went into each costume:

80s High Schooler: I already had a second-hand letterman's jacket from 1984, and that's where the inspiration for this costume came from. It's not the greatest costume in the world, since it had to be put together with stuff from my closet, but I did the best I could with what I had to work with. I wore the jacket with a jean skirt (Old Navy), white t-shirt (Mudd), bright blue tights (Missoni for Target), black legwarmers (gift), silver sequined belt (not a clue. I'm sorry), big hoop earrings (Target, but ages ago), and purple Converse tennis shoes (Ross, actually). I curled my hair with hot rollers, then teased as high as I could and sprayed. The humidity killed it by the time this picture* was taken, but for a while, I was hot. (No, not really)


 *A picture was supposed to go here, but it refuses to show up. Should I ever get it to work, I'll add it and a picture of the zombie makeup. Sorry for the inconvenience. (Blogger! I give up!)

Makeup was baby pink and plum shadows from Smashbox (Burlesque collection), and holographic lavendar (Desire) from LORAC. Liner was the plum Smashbox on bottom, and a deep black with purple (After Party) from LORAC on top. Black Buxom Lash on top and bottom lashes. Hot pink blush (Delight) from LORAC (all LORAC from the Be Mine collection). Hot pink lipstick (Mauvelous) from MAC.

 Zombie: For the show, we did easy peasy zombie makeup. I used all Ben Nye products, since that's what I had on hand, but the entire look could be achieved with drugstore foundation and eyeshadows. Basically, I brushed on pale foundation (one shade lighter than actual skin tone), then used a plummy brown in the eye sockets and hollows of the cheeks. I also applied a little white highlighter to the cheekbones to help them stand out a bit more and make the hollows look more sunken in. The same plummy brown was then layered on to darken the eyelids and define the most sunken areas of the eyes. A little red was used as liner under the eyes and blended. Then I stippled a little of the plummy brown (very little), along with some ice blue and pea green onto the face with a sponge, then blended lightly with a fluffy brush. This was to add a little texture and create some discoloration from decay, but that's a very optional step. The lips were colored in with the ice blue, then layered with plummy brown. I finished the look by creating a bruised cut with smeared blood on the forehead, and another blood smear at the lip. The bruise was created by blending red, purple, plummy brown, dark blue and lime green into a circular pattern (start with the red in the center, and blend in the other colors as you move out. Kind of like a warped rainbow). Then the cut was made by drawing a gash with black eyeliner. The smeared blood was red that I, well, smeared on. Finally, I sprayed a little silvery-gray hair paint (Not Ben Nye! Walgreens!) onto a messed up hairstyle, to create the illusion of dust and dirt. This looks crazy hard written out, but I swear, the whole look took 15 minutes, and I made up most of it as I went along. As long as you look sick and gross, you're probably doing just fine. The costume, itself, was a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and an undershirt made to look like a skeletal chest cavity. All came from Soren's closet.

Good luck, and I hope you end up with tons of candy!