Red Velvet Kitty

Cold weather, clouds, and darkness. My entire wardrobe has gone from brightness to nearly all black in the just one month. I've also noticed that my face is starting to lose its color too. No, no. This will never do. Although I love deep autumn tones, my beauty habits don't need to turn grey and boring. I was digging through my closet the other night and I found this great pair of cheetah print heels with scarlet stems that inspired me. Why not try a sort of spicy red with a hint of pink on my lips? Rich golden honey-kissed skin, messy brows, tempting eyes with a flirty red velvet pout. Yes please.

Normally I just wear a bit of gloss. It's easy and never gets old. But a red lip is so classic. It can take any outfit and automatically kick it up a notch. Now I know what you're thinking. How do you find the perfect shade of red? This decision not only has a lot to do with your complexion, but also your mood. I like to think of it as "The Hunt for Red October". You don't want something too springy but you also don't want a red tone that does nothing to complement your face. I stray away from reds with too much blue that will make me look more dead than alive. I also wait to put on lipstick until I'm fully dressed. You've got to make sure the red matches your clothes, right.

For this look, I literally grabbed an affordable lipstick from a drugstore when I was heading out for the night. The color is Red Velvet by Wet n Wild, and it's perfectly priced when you just want to try something but don't want to invest too much money. It stays put so I don't have to reapply between cocktails. Like with any other bold color, keep the rest of your face simple. I always do a bit of bronzer on my cheeks and my eye lids, a little black eyeliner on my lower lashes and then lengthening lash mascara. Throw on this cute little kitty mask, and I'm purrfect. See how just the right red lip can make such a difference. Kiss-kiss.

Halloween Glam

The thought of getting dressed up for Halloween is super exciting. I start planning like a month or so in advance. "Ooo, what should I be? I could do this. I could do that." After talking about my ideas amongst friends, I come up with a killer costume. And then a few days before, I ditch the whole idea. This is exactly what happened this year. I was dead set on being George Michael from the Faith album complete with stubble and aviators. Then earlier this week, I wasn't feeling it. So today, I panicked. "What the freak am I going to be?!"

I know I'm not the only one who's done this. Or, even better...you've got the greatest costume figured out in your head, let's just say Karl Lagerfeld as an example. Sorry to any of my friends who are actually dressing up like this.
You've got the wig, glasses, gloves, suit...so you think you're all set. But before you can even vocalize your grand plan your BFF says she's going to be Uncle Karl but she's taking it even further with a stuffed white cat. Ugh. Foiled again. So what do you do now? Don't fret, my little pretties.

Go for what inspires you. Maybe it's a color or an animal. Maybe it's your favorite song or movie. If you're totally into Frank Ocean's album, throw on some tangerine makeup and a dress of the same color and call yourself Channel Orange. If you're an 80s kid, find a cute auburn bob wig and a pink dress and say you're Molly Ringwald from Pretty in Pink. Just make sure you pout a lot. Wink, wink.

Search through blogs or flip through magazines and let awesome style grab you. I was totally moved by Jean Paul Gaultier's Ready-to-Wear Women's collection that honors some of music's biggest icons. Think about how easy it is to pull off Grace Jones or Boy George, but how fun it would be. Or maybe there's just a fantastically dark makeup look you've been dying to try. Halloween is the holiday to do. I really love vamp makeup with deep violet lips and cat eyes. Super sultry.

I wandered around a costume shop for hours today trying on stuff until something moved me. If that's what you have to do to find your Hallow's Eve mojo, then do it. But don't let the lack of an elaborate outfit put you in a funk. Sometimes, you got to get creative. However you decide to masquerade, do it with style.