Truly Outrageous Halloween Tutorial

Jem Halloween Tutorial

Halloween is fast approaching and today I have a tutorial for you.  I wanted to show you some relatively easy looks for last minute costumes and this is the first.  If you aren’t a fan of Jem and the Holograms, you can easily alter this tutorial for a non-specific 80’s glam rocker look that pulls together rather quickly and I’ll talk about that at the end.  First, though, a little refresher course.

Jem and the Holograms

Jem is the title character (also known as Jem and the Holograms), from an American animated television series that ran in the mid to late 80’s.  The show is about the adventures of music company owner Jerrica Benton and her alter-ego Jem (plus her friends/band the Holograms).  If you were a little girl in the 80’s or early 90’s, you probably loved Jem as much as I did.  I can still sing the theme-song. 🙂

Bright Pink Shadows

Onto the tutorial.  You can click on all of my photos to enlarge them if you need to.  Before you start with the eyeshadow, you want to prime your eyes really well.  Bring it all the way up to your brow and around under your eye.  Though I already have foundation on for the sake of the tutorial, you probably want to apply that after you get the pink down because of fall-out.  The first step is to grab some hot pink eyeshadow.  You do not have to use the same products that I used.  Check your collection and see if you have anything that will work.  If not, there are some good drugstore choices from Maybelline and Milani.  The pink in Wet n Wild’s Spoiled Brat trio is a really good cheap option.  I combined some LE shadows in my collection from NYC and WnW, but really, any bright pink shade will work.

Pink shadow

Lightly apply your shadow to get the basic shape of the color-blocking.  Jem’s look cuts down from the middle of the eye and goes down to about half-way down the nose.  It also follows the eyebrow line out toward the temple.  I gave the cheek line a slightly rounded shape because I felt that it would be more flattering, or you can cut it across sharply like the cartoon.  I free-handed the shape, but feel free to use tape or a business card if you feel like you need it.  Also, a good option for guide lines is to lightly use a white or nude eye pencil that ca be easily wiped away or blended in.  That way you can trace out the shape or give yourself guide marks to follow.  Pack on the shadow so that you have bold color and a defined shape.  You want to be sure that both side are as even as possible, but it doesn’t have to be completely perfect.  Do your best, but we can clean up any issues after.  That’s all there is for the shadow.  When you are done with the pink blocking, use a makeup remover wipe to clean up any fall-out and any placed where you may have messed up.  Apply your foundation.  Use a small flat foundation brush to follow the pink blocking to get a clean well-defined edge and the blend down.

Liner and Lashes

Next, you want to line your eyes in black liner.  I used NYX Slide-on liner in Jet Black for the lower lashes and waterline.  I used a liquid liner marker from Be a Bomshell on the top with a small wing.  You really want to define the whole eye because it gets lost in all of that pink.  Also, most of the way through lining, realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of the inside corner of my eye.  You want to continue the pink shadow on the inside in a little spike.  It’s hard to explain, so just reference the picture below.

Black liner

I used a sample of Benefit They’re Real mascara and some false lashes from Revlon (which I forgot to take a pic of, sorry).  This is the first time I’ve used falsies and they take practice.  I need to work on it, but this is a great step in my goal to get over my fear of false lashes. 😉

Eyes, Brows, and Cheeks

I topped my lower lash liner with the dark purple crease shade on the right hand side of WnW Petal Pusher palette.  After doing my brows in my normal taupe shade, I decided that I wanted something else, so I used the same purple shade on my brows over the taupe.  For cheeks, I did an extreme contour by first using WnW LE I’m seeing Triples (still in stores).  I used a large eyeshadow brush mostly with the purple-ish shade and dipped just the corner in the blue.  Then I blended the contour out by using more pink shadow and a small-ish blush brush.  When that was all done, I dusted some glitter (not pictured) all over my face.

Pink Lips

For lips, I used Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten.  You want your lip color to last all night, and Smitten leaves a really nice stain behind.  To define my lips and brighten them up a bit, I used e.l.f. Lip Liner & Blending Brush in Fuchsia over Smitten.  I topped it all off with NYX Megashine Lip Gloss in Pink Rose to added sparkle and shine.

All Done!

And that is my Jem tutorial.  It’s pretty cheap and easy to do.  To finish the look, you can spray your hair pink and punk it up.  Since my hair is so dark, I threw on a pink punk wig that I picked up from Wal-Mart for around $7.50.  Enhance the look further by adding a toy microphone or even an inflatable guitar.  You can wear this look with almost anything, you don’t have to have Jem’s signature pink dress.  Thrift stores are fantastic at Halloween if you need some additions, but you could probably throw something together just by rifling through your closet.  Pink fish net gloves ($3 at Wal-Mart) help to 80’s your outfit up.

Glamor and glitter, fashion and fame

Feeling totally rad instead of truly outrageous?  Is pink just not your color.  That’s fine!  The same steps can be followed using any colors.  Acid green or bright turquoise would look awesome!  You would be surprised with what you already have in your collection.  Be creative and have fun!

Truly Outrageous

I hope that you enjoyed my Jem tutorial.  I am hoping to get two more tutorials up for Halloween.  It largely depends on how much I can get done before I leave for vacation and if the weather behaves.  Cloudy days make shooting tough!  I’ve got my fingers crossed.  🙂