Halloween DIY (a little late)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I know, I know... Halloween crafts on November 2nd?! Well, in my family Halloween lasts certainly through October 1st - November 5th, sometimes much longer. 

Either way, Halloween is fun! So why not enjoy it more than one day? 

Pumpkin carving/decorating is a Halloween craft classic.

In this case I chose to carve one pumpkin, and decorate two others!

The blue/purple pumpkin was extremely simple to do. It would be easy for little ones as well. You can find crafts like this one at many pumpkin patches.

You'll need Elmer's glue, water, paint brush, bowl, mini (or large) pumpkin, and many colors of tissue paper.

Mix the glue with a bit of water. You don't want it too runny.

Paint the glue onto your pumpkin and place the tissue in any fashion you desire!

The last pumpkin I did is mostly paint. 

You'll need: pumpkin, tape, red paint, black and red Sharpies, green temporary 

hair color or green spray paint

Basically you're going to use the tape to create the face you want on your pumpkin. Then you can spray your pumpkin with the paint. Make sure you let it dry completely. When  you remove the tape you'll have the perfect base for your pumpkin face. Use the other materials to add more detail!

 

 But what to do with all these pumpkin guts we just carved out?! Definitely do not throw them away!

Separate the seeds from the guts and put the seeds aside for later. 

Use the pumpkin flesh to make a fresh face mask!

You'll need the pumpkin, milk, sugar, green tea, and a blender/magic bullet type deal.

Put 2 cups worth of pumpkin guts into the blender, along with a 1/4 cup of milk and a 1/4 cup of green tea.

The pumpkin is a natural source of antioxidants and enzymes. Milk contains lactic acid, and green tea is also a source of antioxidants. 

This is why combining these ingredients into a mask is great for your face. Once you've blended it into a paste like consistency, add a cup of sugar. The sugar will act as a natural exfoliant.

I made mine on the thinner side, so it was more of a wash. The sugar exfoliated my skin perfectly.

 

 

 Now, onto the seeds! Start by prepping them in a bowl with warm water. Swish them around with your hand to loosen any pumpkin that may be left over on the seeds.

Strain the seeds and allow to dry on a paper towel for a few minutes.

Place the seeds on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.

Now add garlic salt, dried basil, and even fresh basil if you have some. Mix the seeds lightly together in the pan with your hand. Make sure they lay in a fine layer on the pan. You don't want them overlapping.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the seeds in. They should cook for 15 or more minutes. Stir them around on the pan every 5 minutes, checking to make sure they don't burn.

They're done when they're lightly brown in color.

 

 

Happy Halloween, (AGAIN)

Please let me know if you try any of these fun diy projects or have any questions!

Lots of love,

BKL 

Places to Check Out: Hollywood Farmer's Market and Dia de los Muertos

vegan cheese stand at the market

  Today I spent my morning and midday at the Hollywood farmer's market at Sunset and Vine and Dia de los Muertos at Olvera Street! There was a woman at the farmer's market that was giving out samples of vegan cheese. Of course, I had to try it! The "cheese" was absolutely fantastic! I tried both the chia cheddar and herb cream cheese. I couldn't leave without some. I can't wait to try it out. 

The herb cream cheese has a really light herb/creamy taste. I'll definitely be buying from this brand when I go fully vegan! (The brand is Nary Dairy fyi)

vegan cheese from the market!

 I also had some tofu pad thai while I was there. Yeah, it was 8:30 in the morning, but I'm not a huge breakfast foods person and I couldn't think of a better thing to eat than Thai food. Thai food always wins.

Vegetarian tofu pad thai from the market.

All in all the farmer's market was just the place I like to be. They had fall flowers and gourds everywhere! ...not to mention the amazing food.

Amoeba Music was right across from the market

After the farmer's market I headed to Olvera Street in DTLA where they were celebrating their annual Dia de Los Muertos...

Even though I am not Mexican or Hispanic in any way, I am Californian, and Mexican culture is very dear to my heart. In fact, every culture fascinates me. Just because I'm not a member of a certain culture doesn't mean I can't celebrate and appreciate the diversity in my country. That's one thing I love about America. There is so much diversity in cultures. I love being surrounded by it. 

Tamarindo holds my heart.

 

The traditional Dia de los Muertos dancers were so beautiful!

 

Pan de Muerto, sugar skull, and tamarindo and chile apple

By the time I was ready to leave Olvera Street, I had accumulated quite the array of Mexican dulces.

I picked up some pan de muerto, a sugar skull, and a tamarindo apple. All of these are traditional Mexican sweets, especially for the day of the dead.

The apple is my favorite. It's a green apple covered in tamarindo candy and then rolled in red chile. It doesn't sound like it would be that good .....but trust me, it is!

I hope you all had an amazing Halloween!

             Warmest wishes,

                               BKL

Halloween Glam

Finally Halloween is here! Today I wanted to post about the makeup I did. It's not for a costume per se, but it's great either way. Definitely a bit dark and glamorous.

I paired a smokey people eye with a matte lip, which if not done carefully, can be too heavy. Usually you'll want to stick with heavy colors only on either eyes OR lips, but in this case, it's Halloween! Halloween is the day to break rules. (Especially the rules of what society deems acceptable or not. ) **DISCLAIMER: I said rules not laws.

Alrighty then. Let's get into makeup.

My face is a mixture of Becca foundation and Bobbi Brown, mostly because the shade I have in Becca is too light for me. I used the Bobbi to warm it up a little. I set my foundation with Laura Mercier translucent powder. I then added Sephora Collection blush in a nice berry color (perfect for fall) and contoured my face with a bronzer. The next step is one of my favorites because I'm a makeup nerd. I used my Becca pressed highlighter in Opal to highlight the tops of my cheekbones, bridge of my nose, anywhere I wanted to gleam... which in this case was a lot of places.

I used Anastasia dip brow in chocolate for my brows.

Eyes: The eyeshadow I used comes from all sorts of brands etc. I have a purple and mauve color on my lids, blending out to a smokey gray. I lined my eyes with black pencil eyeliner and applied falsies and UD mascara.

My lips are Nars matte lip pencil in Cruella, my favorite. 

I hope this was helpful! Please feel free to always ask any questions you may have.

Spooky blessings,

BKL

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

Fall brings me so much happiness. The weather...the colors...the smells...tastes... all of the senses are used to their extent during fall. Vivid colors and angry clouds are seen, baking pie and rain are smelled, cold wind and pumpkin guts are felt, hot chocolate is tasted, and laughing children (or screams from a haunted house) are heard.

Fall is truly a time for me to unwind and let my senses take me wherever they please to go.

When I created this set on polyvore, these images of fall were on my mind. 

The striped trousers immediately made me think of Beetlejuice, which of course is a Halloween classic. The heels are great. They reminded me of a much more chic version of witch shoes...and of course, the accessories were picked with the colors and leaves of fall in mind. I just love the look of a deep red with bright orange and yellow colors. The necklace reminded me of a sunflower, which is another fall staple in my mind. I also really enjoy the contrast between the green in the center of the necklace and the reds.

Check out my polyvore for more details on this look.

brittanykayebeauty.polyvore.com

Pop Art Makeup

As I'm sure you're all aware, Halloween is upon us! Fall and Halloween are my favorite time of year. I just love the color palette, weather, and artistic freedom that comes with this holiday season.

I decided to play around with some pop art makeup. The best thing about this look is it's fairly simple and quick to do, with great results. It only took me 45 minutes to complete the look, compared to other Halloween looks that can take anywhere from 1  hour to 4. I had someone ask me on my instagram what I used for the white dots on my face. I used a nyx cosmetics jumbo eye pencil in milk. It's super easy to do. You just place the pencil against your skin and twist, creating an almost perfect circle... certainly good enough for this look. :) The black lines are just black liquid eyeliner. In this case I used They're Real eyeliner from benefit, but any liquid black eyeliner would work just fine.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions about this look.

P.S. Excuse the crappy photo quality. <3

BKL