Halloween Mermaid Look - Collab with The Mermaid Life

 So a little while ago I started my blog twitter (@captivate_style), and those of you who are bloggers will know how good twitter is for initiating friendships. Well, this is a story of how my lovely friendship with Hannah came to be. Hannah was looking for people to collab with, and I messaged her, and the rest is history… we basically found out we were weird soul mates then and there. You can find her over at The Mermaid Life… her twitter is @MermaidLifeBlog and her instagram @themermaidlifeblog and you can find her on bloglovin in the usual way. Her mermaid look will be up soon, so head over and check it out. Don't be fooled, she wasn't The Mermaid Life when we decided to do this look…. so I like to think I was the inspiration behind her change of URL ;). 

So I initially created the really pretty shimmery look that you can see directly above here. But I decided, actually to push myself out of my comfort zone and also create a more grungey look. Now, just to start it off I have to say that my camera has not picked up how intense and dark this look actually is in person. I apologise that this doesn't come across true to life.

For this look I started with my normal base, but I covered my entire face in MUA Undress Your Skin Highlight in Iridescent Gold, to start the look with a bit of a glow.

Then I started to contour using a purple toned blush from my ELF cosmetics palette. This just started the transition of colours and allowed me to blend it throughout the look. I also contoured my nose.

Next I started on my eyes. After applying my Benefit Lemon Aid Eye Primer, I used my No. 7 eye palette and packed the 2nd shade all over my lid. These shades are very shimmery, but perfect for a Halloween look. I then used the first shade heavily in the crease and quite significantly across the lead, but leaving the inner corner of my eye fairly light. I also used the darker shade all along my lower lash line, to keep the eye look really smokey.

 Then, over the top of my contour areas (forehead, cheeks, nose, etc.) I started to build my colours. I used the same colours from my No.7 palette, using a fluffy brush to blend it really well, and also into my hair line. I made sure to blend the colour on my forehead round to the contour on my cheeks, and I really intensified the colour there. 

Next up I used the bright purple you can see on the left of the above picture. This is from the same ELF cosmetics palette as the blush. I used a dense brush to build up the purple on my forehead, cheeks and nose contour. I was originally going to use a piece of lace to mimic scales, but the shape of my La Roc brush created a really nice scalelike effect without needing the lace. 

Then I started adding the green/teal shadows you can see above. I intensified the colour in my crease by using the dark green shadows, and I also filled in my eyebrows, which really really intensified the whole look. The green sort of overtook the purple on my forehead, which I wasn't planning, but it worked out quite nicely. I finished it off using a bright blue Collection Pigment.

I then used my Makeup Revolution Liquid Eyeliner all around my lid including the lower lash line, coming to a point in the inner corner. I also added a thick wing. 

Finally the lips. I used a concealer to block out the colour of my lips, and then popped a clear lip balm on top. I used the purple eyeshadow from the ELF cosmetics palette in the centre of my lips, and the teal all the way around, and then a clear/shimmery gloss over the top. I fixed the whole look with my Makeup Revolution Fixing Spray.

In terms of hair I washed it and scrunched it dry. I used my Lee Stafford Twisted Wand to curl all over. I used different size pieces of hair for each curl, and left a little bit straight at the end, to get an unruly, undone kind of look. You can't see it in the photos but I also threw a few tiny plaits in across my hair, which I curled using my curler. I backcombed the ends to hold them in place. I then gently backcombed all of the curls to break them up and get loads and loads of volume

And that's it! The finished look… Don't forget to pop on your accessories (I'm a student and can't afford anything from Hobbycraft, so apologies for the lack of extras in this look).

Then all you've got to do is grab your seashell bra and your pet crab and you're all set for a magical halloween. 

Lots of love, N x

Don't forget to check out Hannah's post!