With Halloween on the horizon it’s that time of year where everyone goes gaga for facepaints, blood and guts in a bid to outscare and outgore eachother at Halloween. I (along with a few other beauty bloggers) teamed up with online makeup store powerhouse Fragrance Direct in order to offer up a more glamorous take on your usual Halloween looks (I’m not really a fake blood and

I was sent a box of treats to work my tricks with and was given my individual “look” that I had to recreate making use of the products provided – all of which can be purchased from the Fragrance Direct website. I was also sent a DVD of the look I was creating which was kept a secret until the last minute…

Black Swan.

The makeup from Black Swan is iconic, dramatic, beautiful and alluring, but the intensity of the eyes mixes in a little danger. This look certainly falls into the glamorous category of Halloween fancy dress and I was ridiculously excited to get my Swan on and attempt to recreate the look (sans le leotard – I haven’t worn a leotard since I was appx 6 years old and that isn’t going to change for anything).

1.  To begin the look I applied Stargazer White foundation mixed with L’Oreal White Perfect Pearl Foundation* applied with a makeup sponge to give a super white base to give contrast to the black of the eyes. 2. I then set the base with Charles of the Ritz Custome Blend Powder (Soft Pink)* which gave me a smooth base to work with.

3. To create the outline of eyes I used L’Oreal 24 Hour Super Liner Gel Intenza*  Nanshy Precise Bent Liner brush*, starting at the point of the nose, following the shape of the eyebrow and bringing it up towards the temples.  I also took the liner under the eye and followed a similiar shape.  4. Using a flat eyeshadow brush I applied the black liner inside the guide and essentially coloured in my lids and any white space.

5. Use the black shade from the Glominerals Chrome Eyeshadow Palette* to set the black on the eyes and give a matte base to work with. 6. Use L’Oreal Studio Secrets High Definition Eye Liner* in white to draw a feathered affect across the lids.  7. I then went over the lines using the silver and gunmetal shades from the same palette on a wet brush to add a bit of shimmer and to soften the harsh lines of the pencil.

8. In the picture of Natalie Portman in Black Swan I was using for reference she has a red shadow just under the black of the lower lash line so I smudged MUA shade 26 (a dupe for MAC Cranberry!) below the black line to add some depth and blended.

9. To finish up the eye’s I applied a bit of Benefits “They’re Real” mascara and applied Royal Natural Look Lashes* for some extra lash definition.  10. I then went over the outline of the eyes again with the gel liner to give a more defined line and to make it all look super black and touch up any smudges.

11. The face stayed pretty much white, except for a little bit of contouring which I did using the shade “Dark Horse” from the Urban Decay Naked Palette on a soft brush and blended to my hearts desire.

12. Bobbi Brown lipstick in Blackberry* was the perfect shade to create the deep plum lips which I applied using my Karla Powell lip brushes (this lip colour is absolutely beautiful and I’ll be posting a full review shortly).

13. For the final touch I used the excess gel liner on my brush to add in the infamous beauty spot and voila…the finished article.

I loved recreating this look as it allowed me get creative and do something different than my usual everyday makeup.  I love the drama of the eyes and how they stand up in comparison to the white of the face.

How do you like my Black Swan look?