THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Poison Ivy

I just redid my hair recently and am back to red all over, which basically to me meant that this makeup look was a no-brainer. A lot of you might know Kim Kardashian and Uma Therman's Poison Ivy's, but I am going off the comic (via Google Images shh), which is why I have green lips and not red. 
Just for a little background if people aren't sure who she is, Poison Ivy is from the Batman comics, she is one of his enemies, and she is a super-cool eco-warrior. You may not know but I did Zoology at university, so this is my nod to that!

To start with, as per usual, you need a flawless base. Once again product details are below! I applied primer all over my face and then this time I went for medium-coverage foundation, applied with a brush (forgot to say this last time). Then again, in with the concealer over dark circles etc. On me, this makes me super ghost-like, but for once this is kind of appropriate so I'm not too bothered about it, but the picture was so horrible I have decided you don't really need it. 
Basically, primer -> foundation -> concealer = perfect base!

I also accidentally started this look having already done my eyebrows, in the Bobbi Brown Mahogany eyeshadow again. Mine aren't too heavy because that doesn't really suit me, but I think if you have the eyebrows and face shape for it, this would be a pretty good time for a statement brow. My final look is actually not as dramatic as it could be. I think this will be my Halloween costume this year, and I am going to go even bigger with the eyes, because if you can't at Halloween when can you?? (I will put up pics if I do!)

Anyway for the eyes you can see here, I started with some basic eye primer to try to glue the eyeshadow a bit better, then went in with my first and palest eyeshadow all over my lid. I haven't got a separate picture of this, but it's fairly self-explanatory! Any pale, pale green would be ideal, just take it all over the lid and up to the brows. I thought it would be easiest to try to use mostly one palette, so I have used the palest shade from the NYC palette listed below. After this, I got my eye crayon and basically used this to give a sort of outline of the shape I wanted later, so I took it around my upper and bottom lash lines, and then extended it into the crease, so that I knew roughly where I wanted the darker eyeshadows.

Next into the slightly more exciting eyeshadow, where you want to go really green. I used the green from the same NYC palette, but Urban Decay's Moss would also be really, really good and again, if/when I do this again I will probably use that because it is super-pigmented. Anyway as I have said before, the shape of eyeshadow is quite important depending on your eye shape, particularly for poky and deeply-set eyes like mine, because I can end up drowning them and making them look even smaller. 

For me, I have found it is really important to take darker colours out in a wing and in the crease, but to try to avoid it right on the lash line and moving into the inner corners. If you have more forgiving eyes though, I would go as green as possible all over! I had quite a bit of work to do with the brush here blending in the eye pencil, but I still think it helped me keep to the crease more easily, so I would still recommend it if you're a relative eyeshadow newbie like me.

After this I went in quickly with a brown eye pencil just to define under the eyes a bit better, because green isn't very good at defining, and I knew I wouldn't be taking my liquid eyeliner underneath. If you have bigger and less hooded eyes, I would probably just take the black liner underneath, because you can! Anyway, for me I took my eyeliner close to the lash line and then out into a gentle (and slightly wonky) flick and then went all out with the mascara. False lashes would be definitely be good for this look - as I have said a million times already, the more dramatic the better.

When I planned this look, I was hoping to use the Makeup Revolution lipstick in Serpent, but then I forgot to buy it (yes really) so instead had a last minute dash round Superdrug and came out with the eye pencil that I ended up using also on the eyes. Although this actually worked fine, it is probably not best to do this, although I did sharpen it in between to clean it! Anyway, although eye crayons are not normally what one might use on the lips, it definitely did the job! Lip pencil and lipstick in one, maybe I'm onto something... You need your lips to be in pretty good condition for such a standout colour, and particularly with shimmer (it really shows up those lines!) but a bit of a non-shiny lip balm underneath, such as my beloved Burt's Bees, should work. If I was doing this for a night out, I would probably also seal it with Lipcote, because you can see in the pictures it was already coming off a little right at the centre. 

Anyway, now you have the final look! I am pretty pleased with this, I think perhaps with a couple of tweaks/additions it would be a pretty damn good Halloween costume! I definitely want to try some more dramatic eyes, also now I have looked back at the pictures, I would add a little bit of bronzer in to look just a little bit less dead. On my nails I would have (and in fact have right now), a really cool Barry M mermaid-y colour.

I would also definitely add some flowers or paper ivy leaves in my hair, as well as some strands around me generally. For my outfit, I will be wearing a sort-of strapless green dress (this American Apparel one in Shiny Mint/White), because who owns a strapless bodice leotard...? This will also have more paper leaves stuck on it, along the neckline, because apparently I have nothing better to do than make paper poison ivy leaves.

So I hope that has inspired some of you! While I love the hot red lipstick you see quite often with this look, I have to admit I kind of love these weird green lips, and given I already have the red hair I think I can get away with it :) 



Products used:
Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer (and Rimmel Stay Matte Primer on my t-zone)

Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation in 005 Light Beige
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer
e.l.f. eye primer
Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon in No.3

NYC HD Color Quattro Eye Shadow in 793 Fashion Bootcamp

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara

Bourjois Liner Clubbing Ultra Black liquid eyeliner
Barry M Aquarium Nail Effects in Arabian