So, there's less than a week until Halloween and you may not have anything to wear for your upcoming festivities. Maybe you aren't feeling daring enough to wear a costume this year, or maybe you're just burnt out and want to go simple for 2014.
Here are a few ways to transform your daily outfit into something with a little more holiday spirit!
HAIR:
Hair extensions! I got this orange (with white glow in the dark pieces!) extension at Target for incredibly cheap. To try a different look, you could also use orange hair chalk (also cheap!), which might give you a little more flexibility when applying your up-do or braid.
For the first two looks, I went with a messy bun. For both, I attached the hair extension to the bottom of my pony tail. For the first one, I twisted my hair into a typical top knot and stretched out the hair extension in order to show more of the orange. For the second, I fishtail braided the extension into my hair and pinned the braid in the formation of a bun.
The second two are suuuuper easy (but suuuper cute!) side braids. I attached the extension to a back strand of my hair for both styles. For the first, I created three braids, and then braided all three of those together, essentially creating one giant braid. And the second look is just your typical fishtail braid.
For all the hair styles, I added an orange bow that I purchased at Michaels for about $5. Many craft stores (and Claires!) are selling Halloween-themed bows for super inexpensive right now -- get 'em while you can!
NAILS:
There are so many different manicures you can do for Halloween, but my favorite two are above.
In the first one, all you have to do is make a few dots of orange polish along your nail (using the nail brush, a striper, a dotting tool, toothpick, bobby pin, etc. depending on how fine you want the marks to be). Then, fill in the spots lining up to the tip of your nail. This creates a cool paint-drip design, and that's literally all you have to do! You can alternate this with black and orange, keep it all one color, use a base color, use it as an accent nail, or you can even do it in red to portray blood if you're feeling a little spooky. Be creative!
For the second piece of nail art, I created a Jack-O-Lantern. These definitely do not have to be perfect, nothing DIY is ever perfect. First, I created a pumpkin shape a little more than half way down my nail (I just used the nail brush but you can use a striper if you want it more precise). Then, I swiped on a couple stripes of a darker orange polish (again, you can use a striper if you want the lines to be more precise). After that, I used a black nail art striper to create the face (but you can use a nail art pen if those are easier for you to use!). Last, I added a little brown stem at the top. Tada!
Or maybe if you're in more of a hurry or just aren't too into nail art, you can always go for alternating orange and black nails with a matte top coat. Simple, but still super cute.
MAKEUP:
No pictures for this one, but I do have a few ideas that can spice up your regular makeup routine.
Depending on how big of a Halloween statement you want to make, go bold! Try some dark liquid liner and wing out your eyes. You can even do a crazy color (I bought a sparkly purple shade from Walmart) to line your bottom waterline.
Mascara, mascara, mascara! For my look, I put on a few coats of Maybelline's Colossal Volume Express mascara, and then added Maybelline Pumped Up Colossal Volume Express afterwards. If you want to go bolder, fake eyelashes are always a fun option!
You can also try applying a smoky eye with your favorite eyeshadow pallet, or maybe you want to use simple fall colors in your eye look. Lately, I've been using a shimmery cream colored shadow for the base of my lid, and then moving on to apply a darker rose color in the crease and outer parts of my lid.
Lastly, lips! Can't forget the lips. Fall is here, which means fall lip colors are super popular. You can always go for a subtle orange color for Halloween, or maybe a darker black/purple is more of your taste. Or, of course, simple Baby Lips or Chapstick are always a great alternative option for moisturizing!
CLOTHES:
I do not own a single article of clothing involving Halloween, so why not make one?
For this DIY, I bought a plain black T-Shirt from Michaels (like $5!). You will also need fabric paint, fabric glitter (optional), rounded sponge brushes, paper and scissors.
First, I created a pumpkin stencil inspired by a picture found online (you can always print out a stencil, too!) and I cut out the Jack-O-Lantern's face as well. To avoid smudging while we're painting, tape the pieces down to the shirt.
From here, I sponged on white fabric paint. Adding the white first made the orange colors stand out more against the black. After that had dried, I sponged on the green stem, followed by a yellow layer on the top part of the pumpkin. I then used orange (1-2 coats) in the middle, and even more orange on the bottom (about 4-5 coats). This created an ombre effect for our pumpkin.
While the paint was still drying, I sprinkled glitter on the bottom and brushed it in an upwards motion to create a gradient.
Then, of course, pull the stencils off of the shirt and touch up any spots that need to be painted.
I also added some metallic silver polka dots around the pumpkin, but you can decorate it however you wish. I also cut the sleeves off of my shirt and cut a portion of the bottom off to make it more of a crop top. How you want to style it is totally up to you!
For my outfit, I'm wearing black polka-dotted shorts with chevron printed tights and a pair of black lace up ankle boots.
And there you go, you're all ready for Halloween.
Have fun and be safe!