My Halloween

We can’t wait to tell you about some amazing Halloween ideas, complete with baking your own skin and some great costume ideas. So, throw out that big teddy bear of yours and be prepared to get scared.

I had some friends who were planning a halloween wedding [complete with halloween makeup], but ended up having to get married sooner because of the baby on the way! Some of the preliminary plans we had were to use an old wrought iron gate for the back drop, with spanish moss strung over it and a cemetary scene mural behind it.

One of the things I highly recommend from planning and helping with several “normal” weddings is the cheapest and easiest way to make any space your own is with tons of fabric. Go early and often to any fabric store or even Wal-mart, find rich dark patterns that catch your eye, and you can use them as offset table coverings and centerpieces, you can drape walls and chairs with them, and as long as you use the same color families, you can mix and match patterns. Watch for seasonal things that are on clearance right now. Watch for beading and edging that you can use to enrich the fabrics you might get, too.

One idea I love is having the wedding look more like a funeral. Have all your guests in black mourning wear, and instead of walking down the aisle you can sit up out of a coffin in the front, black roses and all! Halloween 2006, my party was based on the video for My Chemical Romance‘s Helena, and everyone wore black and red funerary clothes, I draped all the windows and doorways with black sheers, it was really cool.

And I hate to admit it, but Martha Stewart has some great ideas. Go to the library and see if you can find some old Halloween issues of her magazine. She does a lot of traditional and old-timey Halloween stuff that might work for you. X

A simple way to create ancient skin is to use ingredients from your kitchen. For more on such looks, Hauntmaster recommends Dick Smith’s “Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-up Handbook,” an industry classic. A day ahead: Dip paper towels in cold coffee; without wringing, let air dry. When ready to apply makeup, mix paste: 2 tablespoons flour and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn syrup; tint with brown makeup. You may need to mix more as you work.

Supplies:
Paper towels, Coffee, Flour, Corn syrup, Brown and black cream makeup, No-color powder; cheesecloth, Spirit gum, Earth-toned, powder, Foam sponges, Makeup brushes, Small wooden spatula or tongue depressor, Paintbrush

1. Use wooden spatula to spread paste thickly on small area of face.
2. Tear a piece of paper towel and press over paste, tapping and wrinkling the paper. Cover entire face, including ears and eyebrows, overlapping as necessary.
3. Paint brown and black makeup around eyes, on lips, and on all exposed areas. Dab makeup on bandages as well, accenting wrinkles and shading hollows of eyes and cheeks; blend.
4. Set with powder.
5. Wrap head and neck with cheesecloth strips.
6. Glue loose ends to face with spirit gum.
7. Using a paintbrush, pat bandages with brown makeup for an aged look.
8. Apply earth-toned powder to give a dusty appearance.

Dyeing Your Tongue Black

As if the makeup isn’t enough, there’s one surprise left: Mix red, blue, and green liquid food colors, then swish in your mouth. The color lasts a few hours (it stains clothes–take care).

Finally add a pair of White Out Halloween Contacts from ExtremeSFX.com or if you really want to stay with the undead look try the Stitch Halloween Contacts also from ExtremeSFX.com Or get these colored contacts for dark eyes.

Want to make your costume really amazing? Then you will need to change your eyes as well and Halloween costume lenses can help with that. Find out how to get the best looking costume lenses without paying a fortune.

Who offers best selection of Halloween contacts

Have you already planned your costume and are now looking for the right Halloween contacts to go with it? Or do you just want to browse for costume lenses until you see a pair that you really like, and make the costume to match? In either case, you should first check out the most popular collections of Halloween contact lenses available online from stores like Extreme SFX. They offer affordable Halloween contact lenses that create great effects.

The most popular lenses are:

Banshee
Black Out and White Out
Vampire Red
White Cat, RedCat, Yellow Cat and Green Cat
Angelic
LeStat
If you didn’t find a suitable design from their Value lens selection, there are many other options in the Custom lenses section.

How much do costume lenses cost?

If you think that theatrical costume lenses are very expensive, you might be pleasantly surprised – you can pick up an exciting looking pair of Halloween costume lenses for about 60 dollars. Mass produced lenses like the Extreme SFX Value Lenses are very affordable. This is because they are sold online without the high oveheads of traditional stores.

On the other hand, hand-painted, custom-made costume lenses could cost a few hundred dollars. Particulary expensive are scleral costume lenses, which cover not only your pupil and iris, but the entire visible area of your eye. These contacts do provide the most amazing effect, particularly the Black Sclera lenses. Also, custom-made lenses are usually painted to order, so you would need to order them several weeks in advance.

How to care for your Halloween costume lenses

Caring for your Halloween costume contacts is quite simple – all you need is a no-rub multipurpose solution, a pair of plastic tweezers and a contact lens case. You can get it all from any chemist shop. There is no special solution for costume contact lenses so you can use any multipurpose solution – only make sure it’s marked “for soft contact lenses”. If you have several pairs of scary contacts, each should live in its own case.

Step by step care for costume lenses:

always wash your hands with soap before handling contact lenses
pick up the lens gently with tweezers (be careful not to tear it), place it on your fingertip and rinse it with a no-rub contact lens solution
now it is ready to put in your eye
after taking your costume lenses out, give them another rinse and place them in their case with fresh solution, until the next time you use them.
If you are not planning to wear your lenses for several weeks, it is recommended that you change the solution and rinse them once a week. If you forgot to do so and your lenses spent a few weeks in their case unattended, give them a double rinse and place them in fresh solution for at least a couple hours before wearing them.

For people who wear corrective or color contact lenses every day, costume lenses will feel pretty much the same as usual. If you never wore contact lenses before, at first you might feel a slight discomfort and an urge to rub your eye. One suggestion is to use lubricant drops, which you can buy from any chemist shop. Also, start wearing your lenses a few days before the party – a couple of hours the first day, 3-4 hours the second day, and so on.

Get yourself a pair of exciting or even sexy Halloween contacts and be the center of attention at any party!

Haley Robinson is a color contact lens expert and a founder of Halloween Contacts Consumer Guide which provides you with information about all types of Halloween special effect contacts and costume contact lens reviews.

There have been many FDA warnings and publications in Optometry magazines about the dangers of halloween costume contacts. As a result many people are afraid to wear them, considering them to be unsafe.

While it is true that there have been numerous cases of individuals contracting serious eye infections after having worn costume contact lenses, the lenses themselves aren’t the cause. Most times the problems have been caused by poor hygiene, improper lens care and sharing of lenses between friends. Even though Halloween Costume contacts can really complete the dramatic character transformation that your halloween costume requires always remember that your eyes are very precious. Halloween Contacts have to be treated with the same level of care that a regular contact lens wearer would take when caring for their regular contact lenses. NEVER share lenses with anyone else and NEVER wear someone else’s lenses. When lenses are shared, microscopic organisms are transferred between the wearers and serious eye problems can result.

How can I find safe lenses?

Firstly look for a well known brand like Gothika, available from ExtremeSFX.com or Crazy Lenses manufactured by Coopervision. The Gothika Lenses are manufactured using the same materials, processes and in the same machines used to make conventional (clear) contacts. The only difference is that a layer of color is machine printed onto the front surface of the lens. Because the color is on the outside of the lens, it does not actually touch your eye. The color layer is sealed over with a thin layer of clear contact lens material to ensure it does not flake off or irritate your eye. If cared for properly and fitted on the advice of a licensed eye care professional, they are perfectly safe for your eyes and are just as comfortable as regular clear contacts.

The Gothika brand of lenses, available at ExtremeSFX.com are of very high quality. In fact they are the exact same lenses sold online by the largest internet retail stores like Coastal Contacts, Vision Direct, Lensquest etc. They are manufactured, packaged and sterilized to the highest international standards for contact lenses and are fully in compliance with US contact lens manufacture, packaging and sterilization regulations.

One word of caution though, they should not be worn for extended periods of time, usually no more than 8 hours at a time or as recommended by your eye doctor. Because they are slightly thicker than regular contacts, not as much oxygen is able to penetrate the lens and reach your eye. Lenses worn for long periods of time will cause your eyes to become red and irritated. Most people report that they are comfortable if worn for less than 8 hours at a time. Only if you have very sensitive eyes, you might feel some irritation and discomfort during shorter wear periods. As with regular contacts, halloween costume lenses need proper cleaning. Always wash your hands before handling your lenses and rinse your lenses with fresh contact lens solution before inserting them in your eyes. Always follow the recommendations of your eye doctor.