13 Things To Do At Home This Halloween

1. Carve pumpkins!

2. Attempt some Halloween nail art, try an eyeball accent nail, a cute cat design or this simple lash embellishment. Or, opt for a fail safe vampy pick like Essie Wicked!

3. Wear comfy, festive pyjamas. I love this cute witches tee, this Lazy Bones set is adorable too! 

4. Add a set of cat ears, like this rose gold set!

5. Build a spooky den and fill it with ghostly fairylights, treats, garlands and mini pumpkins.

6. Add some candy corn to popcorn and drizzle with melted chocolate for a Halloween treat!

7. Whip up a batch of Butterbeer (or hot chocolate with butterscotch syrup) and binge watch Harry Potter.

8. Or pop on some fairylights (if you dare!) and re-watch Stranger Things.

9. Bake spooky gingerbread skeleton men, I normally use this recipe at Christmas and add a tsp of cinnamon, decorate with fangs or with a skeleton design and they're ideal for Halloween (and for dipping in hot chocolate!). 

10. Melt into a long Lush bath by candlelight. The Lush Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar is a divine, comforting and uplifting treat, with citrus and cinnamon it's ideal for Halloween!

11. Start a new book, opt for a magical read like The Night Circus or a fantasy pick with spellbound witches and centuries old vampires like A Discovery Of Witches.

12. Follow a make up tutorial on youtube to re-create a look, I love Katie's fortune teller tutorial!

13. Browse the Halloween sales, pick up a bargain like these cute flats or this adorable phone case!

What are your plans this Halloween?

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Crisp Mornings And Spooky Nights

With a little over a week to go before Halloween, it's certainly feeling quite festive around here. Pumpkins scattered in front of stores, dew-dripped cobwebs draped over almost every surface, early morning mists and clowns...let's not talk about the clowns *shudders*.

The crisp autumn mornings call for steaming mugs of cinnamon tea, laced with honey and with a splash of fresh almond milk for a comforting brew. I've been bundled up in cloud like robes, enjoying early Lush baths (the autumn leaf bath bomb is divine!) and marvelled at the rainbows and light dances in my home as the tree's whip wildly in the biting breeze and multicoloured leaves drift past the window panes.

The evening's are spent wrapped up in blankets, reading by candlelight and indulging in Halloween treats. I've revelled at the return of vampy make up and splurged on glittering rose gold eyeshadows, stocked up on Lush treats and filled my home with festive decor!

My shelves are decorated with pumpkins, candles and my beloved Quiddich Harry. The West Elm brass Love object and rifle paper co print aren't really too fitting for Halloween but I thought they looked cute nonetheless!

With plans to carve pumpkins so that they can flicker eerily on our balcony, re-watch stranger things and bake butterscream cupcakes this week, I'm really looking forward to Halloween!

Autumn Dressing Table

As you can probably see, I've been getting into the Halloween spirit quite early this year! I normally throw up a few decorations on the week of Halloween but with an upcoming move on the horizon I'm enjoying the decorations before they have to be tidied up and packed away.

I bought the cute gold Trick or Treat banner for a steal from paperchase in the summer sales (they're available now here), I cut mine to size before hanging it above my dressing area - I love the way it looks!

I've also planted a few diptyque candles atop my dressing table, they look beautiful flickering in the low autumn morning light and help to brighten up the space. Pomander is a favourite, with orange, cinnamon and clove it's ideal for frosty autumn mornings!

For beauty, I'm still so drawn to blush and gold's but I've also added burgundy tones, berries and hints of copper for autumn. 

The Nars blush in Dolce Vita is a beautiful pigmented berry red blusher that packs a punch, you only need a small amount for rosy, flush cheeks!
I'm all about dewy skin this autumn and the Topshop Glow in Polish is a heavenly pick - it's a gorgeous iridescent highlighter, the pearl pink/peach tones lift the complexion and give a divine, luminous glow. 

My eyes are made festive with a smudge of purple along the lower lash line, ideal for the lead up to Halloween. Or, for an every day pick the silvery, sparkly rose gold tones of the Illamasqua eyeshadow in Jubilance brightens up tired eyes and looks unreal paired with a berry lip!

Lastly, I've pulled out my favourite nail polish picks for this time of the year, Essie Sole Mate, a glossy vampy berry is an autumn staple and Essie Summit of Style is a gorgeous bronze glittery pick, ideal for an accent nail! 

What do you think of my autumn set up?

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A Halloween Wishlist

With just over a couple of weeks until Halloween, the shops have flooded with spooky, festive buys. Although my plans on Halloween normally consist of pumpkin carving, baking and a film or two in Halloween pyjamas, I like to sport a vampy lip, cute tee or lbd leading up to the occasion! Here's a round up of some of my favourite picks - I just love the cute cat ear headbands, the tulle skirt and the Lazy Bones Pyjamas!

Lush Halloween Treats

Last weekend I popped into Lush to pick up a few pieces from their Halloween collection, I wasn't too drawn to the spooky pieces like boo or the goth fairy, (although I've heard great things about them!). Instead I gravitated towards warm autumn hues, cute pumpkins and pretty leaves. I only picked up a few things from the new range, (I'm saving my pennies for the Christmas collection) but I'm so happy with my purchases, they've already filled my home with an incredible scent - fresh, sweet and spiced fragrances, so festive!

Autumn Leaf

This magical treat creates beautiful pastel yellow, red, orange and green clouds as it slowly fizzes and melts away. The scent is ideal for autumn - reminiscent of fresh, crisp autumn mornings and crunchy falling leaves! With sweet Japanese maple, soothing sandalwood oil and uplifting bergamot and neroli, it's the perfect pick me up!

Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar

A repeat purchase for me each year and another uplifting pick for colder, darker days, I simply adore this sparkly little pumpkin! The scent is heavenly, a comforting, bright citrus and cinnamon mix, it lingers on the skin and creates mounds of bubbles!

Pumpkin

This is the main pick that's filling my home with the most delicious fragrance - although it's not really the vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie scent that I had hoped for. Instead it's a sharp fruity, citrus, fragrance with just a hint of spice that transforms the bath into an orange lagoon, it's not my favourite of the bunch, but a great pick for Halloween nonetheless! 

Sea Salted Caramel

I just love the heavenly scent of this buttery, sugary toffee pick - it's sweet, salted caramel notes make it smell good enough to eat! With moisturising ingredients like agave and coconut oil, this pampering soap is ideal for the colder days, it's filled my whole bathroom with it's dreamy fragrance and lingers on the skin!

Have you picked up anything from the Lush Halloween range? 

8 THINGS TO DO THIS HALLOWEEN

1. Have a Harry Potter film marathon with salted popcorn and Halloween treats.

2. Bake something spooky. I'm planning on making skeleton gingerbread men, but these marshmallow Rice crispy brains or Pumpkin spiced cupcakes with butterscotch buttercream icing are great to make too!

3. Check Asos and Topshop for early sales creeping in on their incredible Halloween items. I'm keeping my eye on this Velvet Playsuit!

4. Paint your nails in a dark, vampy shade, like Essie Midnight Cami or Essie Wicked.

5. Eat a lot of sweets. Candy corn, Witches Hat Fancies and mini Mars bars are my favourite!

6. Start a new book, The Bone Season and A Discovery Of Witches are great, slightly creepy but non scary options for Halloween. I've just bought The Night Circus to read, it's seems perfect for autumn and Halloween.

7. Have a pumpkin carving competition, me & Alex have one every year, he normally wins!

8. Indulge in a long Halloween Lush bath by candlelight. Lush Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar is full of uplifting oils, it makes soft bubbles and has a hint of sparkle making it perfect for Halloween!

THE LEAD UP TO HALLOWEEN

Each year, on the week of Halloween, I pull out all of my vampy make up, decorate my home with pumpkins and spooky things and indulge in as many Fiendish Witches Hat Fancies as I can manage. 

I've added halloween touches to my make up, opting for purple eyeshadows, berry lips and dark nails and have even decorated my dressing table for the occasion. Dark, vampy hues like MAC Rebel and Nars Cruella have had a permanent place in my make up bag and I've pulled out my favourite Zara flats (similar here) for the occasion!

In my home, my pumpkin garland is still hanging proudly above my bookcase with my Roberts Radio, Copper lamp, Harry Potter Funko and pumpkin and bat decor atop to give it a festive feel. 

Most likely, I'll be spending Halloween inside, with sweets at the ready for the trick or treaters whilst carving pumpkins before settling down for the night with a Lush bath using the Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar. Then I'm planning on watching Harry Potter films on repeat whilst feasting on leftover sweets and chocolate.

What are your plans for Halloween?

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SWITCHING UP MY MAKE UP FOR HALLOWEEN

With Halloween right around the corner I've been pulling out some of my favourite vampy shades to wear for the lead up to Halloween. Although it's not always the most wearable type of make up, I love adding hints to my make up routine for a festive touch throughout October.

On my eyes, I've been smudging purple eyeshadow under my lower lashes for a soft, smoky effect. Mac Quarry is a beautiful muted plum brown which is perfect for every day wear and for something a little more bold I reach for MAC Nocturnelle, a deep aubergine frosted purple. It works well paired with berry lips and spidery lashes.

Each Halloween, Illamasqua Pure Pigment Powder in Static, a mesmerising pigment with violet and pink micro glitter, makes it into my make up bag. It's ethereal, iridescent pigments are perfect for Halloween, it looks great brushed lightly onto the tops of cheekbones, dotted onto the inner corner of the eyes or onto the centre of the lids.

On my nails, I'm still flitting between the idea of creating a halloween nail art design or sticking to a dark nail polish like Essie Midnight Cami, a dreamy dark sapphire blue or Essie Sole Mate, a glossy, vampy berry.

For lips, I've pulled out Nars Cruella, a rich deep scarlet red. It's creamy, matte formula delivers impressive staying power without drying out your lips too much and looks divine paired with champagne eyeshadow and winged liner.
Another staple for me in October and for Halloween is MAC Rebel, a gorgeous berry that lasts for hours on the lips.
Lastly, Sleek Mulberry* is the perfect shade for Halloween, it's the ultimate vampy shade and an intensely deep burgundy that feels light and moisturising on the lips. I love wearing this applied to the centre of the lips and paired with a fuchsia for an ombre effect. 

Do you like to add halloween touches to your make up?

HALLOWEEK DAY #5 - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The instant Alex arrived home from work on Monday we wolfed down our tea and got started on our Pumpkins ready for Halloweek. Its become quite a yearly tradition for us to have a little Pumping carving competition, I had been secretly researching my chosen face for months now (little to Alex's knowledge) as he is really quite artistic and wins every year. This year I had it in the bag, surely...

With newspaper laid and our carving weapons of choice in hand, we laughed as pumpkin seeds bounced off the walls and our little pumpkins faces slowly came to life. I went for a feline style for my face, Alex a smirking zombie. After removing sticky seeds from the kitchen and washing up the evidence, we popped in tealights and admired our handiwork.

I think it was a draw this year, (I'll have him next year!) Right now our pumpkins are in pride of place shining out on our balcony. With tea lights flickering and dancing inside illuminating  their cheeky pumpkin faces and giving off a faint scent of roasted pumpkin, it truly feels like Halloween.

I've really enjoyed doing 'Halloweek' this year - I hope you enjoyed the posts?

Happy Halloween!

HALLOWEEK DAY #4 - PUMPKIN SPICED CUPCAKES WITH GHOSTLY BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTERSCREAM ICING

These little ghost cupcakes are perfect for halloween. The combination of warming pumpkin spice and sweet butterscotch make these cupcakes a perfect autumnal treat! I made six large ghostly cupcakes but you could also make 12 small ones with the recipe.

You will need:

For the cupcakes-

70g Brown Sugar

75g Butter, softened.

2 Large Eggs

150g Self Raising Flour, sifted.

1 tsp Vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp Milk or milk alternative (I used Almond milk)

2 tsp Pumpkin spice - (I used this recipe to make a batch but added a little more cinnamon than the recipe states as I love cinnamon!)

Pinch of salt

And for the buttercream Icing -

250g Icing Sugar

75g Softened Unsalted Butter

2 tsp Lyles Butterscotch Syrup
2 tbsp milk

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 fan oven)

Place all of the cupcake ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until well mixed and smooth with an electric whisk. Add a little more milk if needed so that the batter is of dropping consistency. Spoon the cupcake batter into your cupcake cases so that they are  half to 2/3rds full and then place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are starting to turn golden brown and the middle is cooked (check with a skewer). Once they are cooked, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the buttercream: Add all of the buttercream icing ingredients above to a clean mixing bowl and beat until thick and smooth. 
Add the icing to a piping bag and then to make little ghosts hold the bag steady and pipe down onto the cupcakes until it spreads out to make the base of the ghost. For the head, stop squeezing and lift up slightly and then pipe a smaller amount. To get the point, pull sharply up as you stop squeezing and then pop in two little chocolate drops in for the eyes.

I've made these twice now as they taste so good. I only like to add a small amount of sugar to the cupcake batter as the butterscotch buttercream icing is pretty sweet, but add more if you like super sweet cupcakes!

Let me know if you give these a go!

HALLOWEEK DAY #3 HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN NAILS

For the past two years I've created a Halloween nail art design. This year, I've been loving decorating my home with little pumpkins and drinking pumpkin spice hot chocolates so much that I decided to create a little pumpkin nail art tutorial. I thought that I would have a go at dabbling in the world of youtube and make a video tutorial this year. I'm still getting used to the filming and editing but I really hope you like it!

Products used: 

Nails Inc Savile Row Nail polish
Soigne Permission Nail Polish
Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate Nail polish
Max Factor Cactus Green Nail Polish
Sally Hansen Insta Dri Top coat
Nail Dotting Tool

What do you think of these pumpkin nails?

HALLOWEEK DAY #2 MERMAID MAKE UP

My 'I am Mermaid' make up post is probably my most viewed post on my blog. I created the look over three years ago now, I've always been unhappy with the way that the post looked and so I thought it was about time to revisit it! This is a really easy and effective way to create a halloween mermaid make up look, the photo's don't quite pick up how pretty it looks, it's so simple but looks like it could have taken hours! This time, I wanted the scales to blend in a little bit more and to look almost like skin whilst still having a pretty aquatic mermaid feel.

I kept my base make up pretty simple, foundation, a hint of pink blusher and Revlon Sweet Tart lip butter on the lips with a small amount of iridescent glitter dabbed in the centre.

For the scales - You can cut out a square of fishnet tights and then pin it into your hair and over the areas that you want to create the scales on but I find it so much quicker and easier to just pop the tights over your head and pin the back so that you can then just dab the pigments easily where you want the scales. Using a big powder brush I started with collection dazzle me eye dust in Spellbound and pressed and swept the pigment over the fishnets roughly where I would normally contour - the hollows of my cheeks and high on  the temples, forehead and into the hairline. I then used Barry M dazzle dust in purple and overlapped the blue slightly and blended down onto my forehead and up onto my cheeks, I repeated this with Barry M Dazzle dust in Kingfisher, blending slightly onto the purple so that it created a fading/ombre effect. I then dusted a gold pigment - Collection Dazzle me dust in Bedazzle onto my cheekbones, the middle of my forehead and dusted any excess gold over the whole scales.

The thinner the fishnets, the more it blends into the skin and looks more realistic, in my previous attempt I used a thicker material fishnets, which gave a bolder look which still looked effective but less skin-like and realistic.

To finish the look I ran the purple pigment under my jaw and blended a mixture of the colours down my neck and onto my chest, adding more scales on the body and giving a blueish green aquatic effect to the skin. I also sprayed blue chalk spray through the ends of my hair and added Barry M Dazzle dust in iridescent (I can't find this online but Illamasqua Static is similar) on the top of my cheeks and under my brow bone.

What do you think of this halloween mermaid look?

HALLOWEEK DAY #1 - THE LEAD UP TO HALLOWEEN

It's cold and blustery outside and so I'm spending the evening inside with fairylights twinkling and candles burning whilst decorating my home with pumpkins and spooky things ready for halloween. I've started to add little halloween touches to my style and make up for this week which is getting me so excited for halloween!

For my nails, I painted them with two coats of Barry M Nail paint in matte black which gives a great, spooky and almost leather looking effect to the nails. On my ring finger I applied a coat of Essie Vanity Fairest before painting a little black cat face with Orly rage rose gold features and a red heart nose with Nails Inc St James.

On my feet I'm planning to wear my Zara embellished flats with a dark purple slouchy top and my topshop black leigh jeans for subtle halloween style. They have such a cute little face and seem perfect for halloween.

To add a vampy halloween hint to my make up, I've pulled out some purple eyeshadows to smudge under my lower lash line. My favourite is MAC nocturnelle which I wore a lot last year with spidery lashes (See the look here). For something a bit more subtle then MAC Quarry eyehadow is a pretty muted plum brown or for something really bold then MUA purple eyeshadow is a bright electric purple.

What do you think of these little halloween touches?

Halloween Skull / Ghost Nails

I love this little skull design for some halloween nail art, it's easy to do and looks sweet on the nails! I did my nails like this for the weekend and got so many compliments on it! 

This is how I achieved the look:

Step 1 -  Paint the whole nail in the colour of your choice, I chose an oxblood colour but  

             black or grey would also work well! I used 2 coats of OPI Nail Varnish in Mrs 

             O'Leary's BBQ.

Step 2 -  When base has dried, use a dotting tool to make 4-6 large polka dots on each 

              nail, for this I used Barry M Nail paint in 66 Matt White.

Step 3 - Using a smaller dotting tool draw either a squiggly ghost tail or a square on the

             base of the polka dots, again using Barry M Matt White Nail paint.

Step 4 - Eyes! I used the thinnest dotting tool to dot little eyes on my Skulls using Sinful

            colours in Black on Black.

Step 5 - Once the eyes are dry, use a Topcoat to set and to give the nails a nice shine. I

            used Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.

Let me know if you try these!

xx

Halloween Black Cat nails

I love this simple black cat nail design, It's easy to do and looks cute on the nails! For Halloween I'll be wearing black sparkly nail varnish on my nails and then have this little cat design as an accent nail!

This is how I achieved the look:

Step 1 -  Paint the whole nail black and wait to dry, I used 3 coats of 17 Nail Varnish in Nightshade.

Step 2 -  Using a cuticle stick, paint a pink triangle on the nail using the middle as a

             guide for the top of the Triangle, but make sure you leave enough room for the  

             eyes! For this I used Bourjois 26.

Step 3 - Again using a cuticle stick draw on the eyes, to do this I made a circle shape and 

            then dragged the stick up to create a 'cat eye' effect. I used 17 Nail Varnish in  

            Sherbet Lemon

Step 4 - Whiskers! I used the thin metal pen end of the models own nail art pen. This has a brush and a pen, I found the brush too difficult to use but the pen was so easy to draw on the nail.

Step 5 - Once the eyes are dry, use a cuticle stick to draw on the pupils. I used 17 Nail Varnish in Nightshade but a Green Nail varnish would also work really well!

Let me know if you try these!

I am Mermaid ♥

Hello everyone!!

I hope you are all having a lovely bank holiday weekend. 

I saw Pirates of the caribbean 4 recently and was soo inspired by the mermaids!! 

This look isn't like the mermaids in the film, i've just taken inspiration from it.
To create this look I popped a fishnet stocking over my head and patted on a blue pigment and a purple Barry M Dazzle Dust and then lightly brushed gold pigment over the top. I carefully lifted the fishnet stocking off and then blended around the outside using a powder brush. I also used the Barry M dazzle dusts on my eyelid. I popped on my tokyo eylure lashes and a clear gloss to complete this look.
For my hair I added some hair extentions and braided them into a fishtail plait.

Edit - Update with more details -

For the scales - You can cut out a square of fishnet tights and then pin it into your hair and over the areas that you want to create the scales on but I find it so much quicker and easier to just pop the tights over your head and pin the back so that you can then just dab the pigments easily where you want the scales. Using a big powder brush I started with Collection dazzle me eye dust in Spellbound and pressed and swept the pigment over the fishnets roughly where I would normally contour - the hollows of my cheeks and high on the temples, forehead and into the hairline. I then used Barry M Dazzle dust in purple and overlapped the blue slightly and blended down onto my forehead and up onto my cheeks, I repeated this with Barry M Dazzle dust in Kingfisher, blending slightly onto the purple so that it created a fading/ombre effect. I then dusted a gold pigment - Collection Dazzle me dust in Bedazzle onto my cheekbones, the middle of my forehead and dusted any excess gold over the whole scales.

The thinner the fishnets, the more it blends into the skin and looks more realistic, in the above photos I used a thicker material fishnets, which gave a bolder look which still looked effective but less skin-like and realistic.

To finish the look I ran the purple pigment under my jaw and blended a mixture of the colours down my neck and onto my chest, adding more scales on the body and giving a blueish green aquatic effect to the skin. I also added Barry M Dazzle dust in iridescent (I can't find this online but Illamasqua Static is similar) on the top of my cheeks and under my brow bone.