Dude, anything can be sexy these days.
No, no, no, no, no, no. Not gonna happen. Don’t even try to rationalize it.
But —
No! I said no, as in no. And I meant it. I absolutely, positively forbid you from dressing up as a sexy clown for Halloween.
Okay, fine. Then how about Katy Perry?
Sure! That’ll do! 🙂
I promise — this last-minute costume didn’t start out as another ode to crazy cat ladies, but we all know how Katy luvs teh kittehs.
Doopdadoo, there I was, browsing the aisles at Party City last weekend, when I spotted this blue wig and thought, “Hmm…” One glittery microphone, a sparkly party dress and loads of liner later, badabing, badabang! — Ms. Teenage Dream!
Kinda sorta. I hope.
Katy usually wears some kind of variation on a classic pin-up girl look — cat eyes, bold lips and big lashes — so I took the idea and ran with it.
If you think you might like to try something similar, here are some ideas…
Bring on the brows!
Katy often wears super strong, full brows. I fattened mine up first by applying Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow in 25 with a MAC 214 Short Shader Brush, and then patted good ol’ MAC Concrete on top with the same brush.
Get catty, MRRROW!!
Cat eye liner can be très tricky if you’ve never done it before. If this is your first time, or if you’re just looking for a new trick to try, grab a liner in dark gray, instead of black. I find that grays are easier to work with because it isn’t as harsh as black.
Today I got Katy-fied cat eyes with a couple of grays from the new MAC Glamour Daze collection — MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Tall, Dark & Handsome (a shimmery gunmetal gray) and MAC Fluidline in Little Black Bow (a shimmery gray with silver glitter).
Here’s a closer, step-by-step look at the liner portion of the look…
Step 1:
After filling in my brows and applying eyeshadow (two MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadows from Glamour Daze, Stylishly Merry on my lids and in my creases, and A Natural Flirt on my brow bones), I used a thin bent liner brush and a powder eyeshadow to draw the flicks in the outer corners of my eyes, taking care to make sure the angles matched.
Step 2:
With the same brush and eyeshadow, I drew a rough shape of the cat eye liner.
Step 3:
Then, with the same brush, I layered a gel liner on top to intensify and thicken the line.
Step 4:
Finally, I dotted concealer beneath my eyes, and then ran it along the edges with a flat eyeshadow brush to make the lines extra crisp.
Holla at your highlighter!
I really love the pic of Katy in the cover art for Teenage Dream… Her skin is so glowy!
Wanting the same effect, after adding color to my cheeks with a shimmery peach blush (MAC Easy Manner, yup, also from Glamour Daze) and bronzer (MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Give Me Sun), I brushed buckets of a shimmery peachy highlighter, MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Superb, on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, on my brow bones, my cupid’s bow and chin to re-create Katy’s glow.
Pencil in time for lip liner
In some of Katy’s pics, her lips are lined outside the edges of her natural lip line, making her lips look extra full.
As my lips are quite thin, I tried something similar by lining just outside my natural lip line, and then I filled them in with Too Faced’s Perfect Lips Lip Liner in Perfect Pink.
Then, I topped the liner with a mix of two purply pink listpicks from Glamour Daze (Outrageously Fun and Beauty), before slicking on a shiny pink lipgloss (MAC Pro Longwear Lipglass in Full Speed Ahead) to make my pout appear even fuller.
Fun! Now all I have to do is stay like this until Halloween. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. TGIF!
Love this one as well! I think you’re blessed with a face that doesn’t get overwhelmed by makeup, because this bold brows bold eyes and bold lips look is stunning on you!
Thanks, Sunny!
I think you look really pretty this way. I know it’s over the top for most people, but it actually suits you well.
Thanks, Christina. I got some good feedback about the hair/makeup on Twitter and Facebook too. Maybe I’ll start dressing like this for fun on random days, LOL!
Are you dressing up this year for Halloween?
I love that Catty Perry picture!
I love this tutorial too! And there’s a new thing for Sexy Costumes… click “random” on wikipedia, and add sexy in front of it, and that’s your Halloween costume.
I think I’ll do my go-to faerie costume.
Hi Chelsea,
I’m pretty sure that’s what Tabs sees when he looks in the mirror, haha!
As for the Wikipedia thing, I’m guess I’m going to be a “Sexy Mendocino AVA.” Wha?
What does your faerie costume look like? I hope there’s wings involved.
yup, some opalescent cheapie wings I got at the grocery store :p But I just went to target, and found wings that were PEACOCK FEATHERS, so I think I’m going to be a peacock one day, and faerie the other – I have this chiffon tiered peachy dress I got at H&M a few years back for a faerie costume, add that, glitter, and flowers, and I’ll be a faerie 🙂
Those peacock feather wings sound SO COOL! I would wear them on a Tuesday, for reals.
Okay, both your costumes are going to be super cute. Don’t be shy with the glitter, now. 😉
oh, never would I ever be shy with the glitter! Gotta hit up Sally Beauty tomorrow.
I have an aunt in the extended family who wears glitter like EVERY DAY. Um, she even wore it to the funeral I went to on Tuesday. Truth be told she has the spunky personality to pull it off, so why not?!
If you find some liquid glitter liners you could use them as eyeshadow. So sparkly, and it lasts all night long (like the Lionel Richie song).
Wow!!!
Aww, thanks Stacie! 🙂
Love it! It’s amazing!
Thank you, Tracy! Are you dressing up this year?
for the super Katy Perry lashes, she’s got her range of falsies with Eylure. I have a pair, and they’re great 😀
Hi Esther,
I’ve heard about them but haven’t tried them yet! I will keep a look out for them and give ’em a go. Do you have a favorite style?
I have Oh Honey! they’re full, yet still natural.
Cool, that’s totally my style. Is the lash band thin? I’m all about the thin bands, LOL!
it’s pretty thin! not as thin as the Eylure Naturalites I have, but sometimes I swear those don’t even have a band because I can’t see it lol
This is another great look on you. I’m tellin’ ya, I really am liking these bright bold colors on you. You REALLY pull them off well! Yesterday’s purple glittery eye was amazing and today’s bright pink lips are so awesome!
Hi Becca,
Thanks, girl! Now if only I could get away with wearing makeup like this to the post office, LOL! Tabs is the only other creature that gets to experience it in real life.
Are you dressing up this year?
You look amazing Karen! But I think Tabs steals the show here!
Thanks, Ankita. Tabs tends to do that, LOL!
Loving this look on you!
I don’t dress up for Halloween, but I will be sporting the following cat nails:
http://diykawaii.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/kiss-halloween-cat-nails.jpg?w=584
Haha, my brother is a big Katy Perry fan, he even made me watch a film about her :)) PS. Loved all the crazy cat lady costume a lot and the posts with Tabs vs the kitty 😉
That’s a really cool idea and you look adorable!
Nice tutorial, and I especially love your mani, what color did you use?
Haha, the “Sexy Clown Kit” made me laugh! That costume definitely doesn’t look sexy or well-made!
I love the way the blue wig looks on you – so bright and fun. 🙂
What an awesome tutorial! I love love the ED eyeshadows I got from Glamour Daze. Im not going out on Halloween but im going to try a variation of your look here soon!
ME TOO! I’m writing the review right now, as a matter of face. How was your weekend? Missed you!