For better or worse, the ’90s are back.
On the one hand, I’m hoping this does not mean the reincarnation of lumber jack boots (NOOOOO!). On the other, I’ve been having a lot of fun listening to music I haven’t heard in ages.
This last-minute Halloween costume was inspired by an album I had on repeat for months back in the day, Hole’s Live Through This.
The costume came together pretty quickly. Done in less than an hour, and it was easy since there wasn’t a ton of blending. The makeup took about 20 minutes, and the hair about 15.
1. Crazy eyes!
I wanted the eyes to be dramatic like the girl eye’s on the album cover, and I didn’t want to spend a ton of time blending eyeshadow on my lids since the smeared mascara was probably going to overpower the eyeshadow anyway.
So, to start, I grabbed a frosty silver cream shadow and applied that all over my lids and crease. Then I rimmed my water lines with a black kohl pencil and popped on a pair of fierce false lashes.
To get the smeared mascara effect, all I did was drag a mascara brush under my eyes a bunch of times to deposit the product, and then I dripped some Visine directly on the mascara to blur the edges and create the tear trails on my cheeks.
For my lips, I went with a brown semi-matte lipstick as a shout-out to ’90s makeup, and since I knew that my hair was going to be all over the place, I skipped gloss.
But if you really want to channel the essence of the lips on the Live Through This cover, try a glossy, shimmery pink.
2. Feathered hair
To get something similar to the feathered ‘do on the cover, I curled the top layers of my hair with a large-barrel curling iron, and then sprayed all over with a firm hold hairspray.
3. Accessories
Nothing says “I’m crazy!” like a tiara, LOL! 🙂 But seriously, I finished with a strapless, sparkly sequined party dress (it was the most pageant-y thing in my closet) and a bouquet of flowers.
Then I cranked up Live Through This and danced around my office.
The full makeup breakdown…
EYES
- NARS Eye Paint in Interstellar — lid and crease
- Hourglass Film Nor Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse — water lines
- Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara — lashes and under-eye area
- MAC 34 lash — falsies
BROWS
FACE
- MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance Primer
- Smashbox Pore Minimizing Photo Finish Foundation Primer
- Laura Mercier Flawless Fluide Foundation in Chai
- Laura Mercier High Coverage Concealer in 4 mixed with MAC Careblends Essential Oil
Cheeks
- Hourglass Ambient Blush in Luminous Flush mixed with Incandescent Electra from the Ambient Lighting Blush Palette — blush
LIPS
So now El Hub and I are going to Trader Joe’s before we go see Keanu kick some long-overdue @ss in John Wick, and I actually did consider wearing this makeup out of the house… But then when I looked at El Hub and smiled, he just shook his head and said, “No.”
Haha! He knew there was a part of me that was serious. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I absolutely love it! You are so creative, Karen!
DUDE, I LOVE THIS. I might even do it myself for halloween!
OMG. Hahahahahaha! Love it.
You’re a genius! My 90s-loving grunge girl is a big fan of this look!
Karen…this is perfection. Also, I would have never pegged you as a “Live Through This” lady, but color me (happily) surprised!
I loved that album when it came out! XD You are wonderful!
Love your sense of fun! You look great, even with smeared mascara. And I’m so glad brown-red lipsticks are back -they are my favorite shade!
This is so cool and creative, I love it!
This is hilarious! Spot on! Love it!
OMG I love this 😀 What a brilliant idea for a Halloween costume 😀
You, Karen, are brilliant! I also spent many hours listening to that CD–one of the best of the 90s!
I love the simplicity of this! Great idea 🙂
http://www.mishmoshmakeup.com
You make the cutest faces!
What an awesome look for Halloween! I love it! One of my favorite albums too. Now I need to get it out and give it a listen.
love this album and look so hard!
So fun and so easy to do! Even with that smeared mascara you look great :))
Love, Stefi
http://www.brighteyesandglossylips.com
Evhoing everyone above – this is awesome, Karen, and I may just use it as a last minute costume idea!
Heehee I love it! 90s makeup! woohoo!
Couldn’t love this more! GREAT idea, Karen! I’m sure the folks at Trader Joe’s would’ve been impressed! 🙂
I recognized your look immediately in the banner. Undoubtedly iconic and you rocked it! 🙂
This is amazing Karen! Glad to know you’re a fellow Hole lover! 😀
I love this!!
Ugh, I have fair skin and I absolutely love it, but every time I see how beautiful colours look on you it makes me wish I was tan..
Though I doubt it will look as good, I’m so buying that liner and lipstick, they look amazing! How did you apply them?