Halloween costume choices

Halloween comes but once a year, making the decision of what to wear a little pressurised as if you screw up you have to wait a whole year to put that amazing idea you thought of too late into practice. I haven't celebrated Halloween for the last two years because both times I found myself in countries that don't really celebrate it at all- Malta in 2009 and Singapore in 2010- so this year I am making up for it!

 Me in 2008, my first Halloween in London, dressed as a zombie prom queen in a vintage 1950s party dress with leather opera gloves

I'll be missing the build-up to Christmas this year as I won't be home from Kuala Lumpur until 22nd December, so Liam and I are spending a whole week celebrating Halloween instead of just one weekend, starting today with decorating the house!

 My mantlepiece :) You can just about see my three flying bats reflected in the closest mirror!

Dexter taking a break from chasing rubber bats and rats

Dying roses, my new favourite Halloween decoration (very cheap, too!) <3

One of the chandeliers in our hall- Liam's fitted them with red bulbs!

I also baked "spider" bran cupcakes for us to have for breakfast :)

And best of all, I'll be shooting bespoke leather couture by Lux Tenebrae with Adam Robertson on 31st October. Naturally, I'm delighted- surely this will be the best-dressed Halloween EVER! :)

HOW TO do glamorous DIY Halloween makeup :)

I love to celebrate Halloween as much as the next girl but this year I want to look vaguely good while I'm doing it! I have a detailed makeup plan of action and I'd like to share it with you :) The overall look I'm going for isn't so much SFX makeup as "glamorous ghoul"- a very versatile Halloween look that doesn't require any specialist materials and should go with almost any costume, or a simple long, black evening gown and gloves :)

Step 1: a pale foundation
Applying powder a couple of shades lighter than what you usually go for will give you a subtly consumptive, bloodless look, without getting too much of an obvious line where your foundation ends and your neck begins! If you can't be bothered to buy new face powder just for Halloween, try applying a pale, shimmering eyeshadow all over your face on top of your usual foundation/ concealer/ powder combo. It's great to have an eyeshadow like this in your collection anyway, for highlighting brow bones, cheekbones and collarbones. Pin your hair back before you start and remember to powder your neck as well as your face. Don't be tempted to use talcum powder as a cheap alternative to white face powder- whatever doesn't shed all over your costume will block your pores! :0

Step 2: eyes
A quick, easy way to get dark, hollow eye sockets is by brushing your blusher brush in a black eyeshadow- I use MAC Black Tied, which has a subtle velvet shimmer- and simply brushing the whole eyelid in a circular motion, socket and under-eye with it. You can build up the depth of colour gradually to make the effect as dramatic as you like, just make sure it's even! Brush off any stray specks and then give yourself some cat's eye liner with black liquid liner. I use Rimmel as I prefer the applicator that's like a little brush, rather than a felt-tip pen. Be adventurous! This is not the time of year for subtle eye makeup, in fact, it's an excuse to go BIG! While your eyeliner is drying, fill in your eyebrows, extending them out further than they really go on the outsides for added glamour. Curl your lashes and apply two coats of black mascara to the top lashes and one to the bottom. My favourite mascara atm is L'Oreal 4D False Lash Effect.

Step 3: cheekbones
Use the same blusher brush that you used for your eye makeup to apply that black eyeshadow into the hollows of your cheeks. Suck your cheeks in to see where the hollows should be. Make sure both sides are even, then spray your whole face with makeup fixing spray to stop everything heading south as the evening goes on!

Me on Halloween 2008!

Step 4: lips

As you can see, I skipped out on lipstick altogether the last time I celebrated Halloween, but this year I want to use deep purplish-red berry shades for a sexy vampire pout. I will probably use MAC Dark Side, adding a lip line with a lightly smudged black eye pencil on the corners of my mouth for a really bold, 3D effect, followed by Lip Lock, so I can still have a dinner party and drink cocktails without losing it all!

Step 5: optional extras

Finishing touches could be a long, dramatic pair of false eyelashes; a beauty spot applied with a black eye pencil; a wig in your choice of colour and length (Annabelle's Wigs are great!); hair decorations; some costume jewellery; and anything else your imagination suggests!

Have fun! :D

Hurray hurray, it's National Stockings Day!

No really, it is! Allow me to celebrate by posting my favourite photographs of ladies in stockings! Yeah, most of them are of Bettie Page. So sue me! ;)

The incomparable Marlene Dietrich... absolutely one of the coolest women who ever lived

Found the contents of this book deeply un-erotic but the cover is great!

The "Naked Goddess", "Priestess of Depravity" and my very own namesake, Anita Berber

One of Elmer Batters' many fab 50s photos of beautiful women dressed in stockings and suspenders

Me, earlier this year

 Me in my Hong Kong hotel room in 2010

Photographer: Seamus Costelloe | Styling: me

 Above & below: Photographer: Julian Kilsby | Designer: Valkyrie Corsets

Photographer: Iain Thomson | Styling: me

Found these stockings in Playful Promises- must get a pair for photo shoots asap!!

That's enough for now- I need to go and pack my suitcase, ready to jet off to Dublin tomorrow afternoon! :)

Fetish Eyes "Anita De Bauch Tribute" 2012 Calendar

I'm on the cover of the official Fetish Eyes latex models 2012 calendar, and from what I can tell, 11 - 12 of the months inside, too (sometimes it's tough to tell who the girl is under all that rubber!). I've been allowed to preview it in advance of its release and these are my favourite shots in there, I think! Some of them are my most recent work, others are really old school, from when I was just starting out in the strange and sparkly world of modelling!

Latex + feathers is always good <3

 Latex elf-doll!

And that cool vintage aeroplane/ vintage car shot that was my first centerfold :)

Each A3 calendar features THIRTEEN colour images and is priced at £25. To order yours, send your payment via PayPal to keital@virginmedia.com with subject line "2012 Fetish Calendar" and your delivery address attached. Enjoy :) And let me know what you think when you've received yours :)

Liam and I had a very domestic day today... had a lie-in, bathed the cats, strolled to Sainsburys to do the shopping and then Liam took us for a late Sunday lunch at this lovely pub in a converted church that we go to quite a lot. I'm compensating for my chicken crockpot lunch with an Innocent veg pot for dinner. The Mexican one is the best ^^


EDIT 7.15 pm: I have just been informed by the Fetish Eyes webmaster that every photo in the calendar is of me because it is in fact an "Anita De Bauch Tribute Calendar"! I'm so flattered! *squee*

Catwoman

Yay, new shiny photo with red hair! ^.^ I'm really pleased with how my makeup came out, too :)

Photographer: Jef | Styling: me | Corset: Heavenly Corsets

The extent of today's excitement was to do with apartment renovating, after the initial burst of activity when my first wave of enthusiasm/ sense of novelty regarding interior decorating ran out. It's slowly bubbling back so today I picked out a new bathroom floor, pretty new light pulls and some bits and pieces for the other rooms, like brass dimmer switches, chocolate satin cushions and a deco-looking lamp. Once I've had someone in to actually lay the floor, my white and brass shabby chic bathroom will finally be done :D Next up: having the kitchen and hallway painted (kitchen in a delicate lemon yellow to complement all the baby pink accessories)!

Oh, and my Playful Promises package arrived xD

Loooooooooooove <3

My shoot this weekend was cancelled so I have a whole weekend to myself for the first time in months! My only plans so far are aerobics tomorrow morning followed by a local history talk at Muswell Hill Library in the afternoon, and yoga on Sunday; such is my exciting life. May also finally get around to watching The Hunger, drink wine and eat pizza, though, so it's not all dull ;p

Backstage at Playful Promises Lingerie Party/ Press Event

Such a relaxing day, despite Liam and his friends getting in from seeing 1349 at 2 am! Hee hee. I got up at 9 am, had a leisurely shower and breakfast, noted down all my January bookings in my new 2012 diary, had a light soya latte, dyed my roots (also eyebrows and lady garden to match), shared a pizza with Liam and then drifted down to my local nail salon for a mani/ pedi. It's only the third professional pedicure I've ever had and way better than the other two because this time I sat in a chair that massaged my back while the lady pampered my toes, and she gave me a foot and lower leg massage to finish up, which was so relaxing when combined with the back and shoulder massage that I kept dropping asleep! :)

Came home and had a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia frozen low-fat yoghurt for dinner, which I'm still full from >.<

 So I guess today probably hasn't been a brilliant diet day, although if I get hungry within the next hour I'll have an Innocent veg pot, which will at least bring me up to my five fruit and veggies a day! I've been feeling much happier and more chilled out recently, which is brilliant overall but has sort of made me less obsessed with exercising every day and eating "right". Oh well. It's amazing how spending a day on myself- hair, hands, feet, massage and a green tea facepack, after I've written this- can make me feel like a new woman! I'm going to be super-charged for my shoot tomorrow!

Anyway, three paragraphs of blather later, here are the photos that I just found that made me want to blog, courtesy of Jessica Abidde's Facebook profile! :) If you're a Facebook friend you'll have seen me mention from my mobile that we were all on the roof because the changing room was too hot... well, here we are!

And this is Signe Springe, me and Jessica backstage after we rocked that catwalk!

YEAH!

Semi-serious backstage poses... I really just like this photo for the unintentional row of butts on the left xD

And a non-serious one. I've noticed that in any situation where you shove a group of models together with not much to do, we end up photographing each other. You'd think we'd take the time off... but no. I guess it's in the blood!

Just looked in the mirror and my hair looks really red now it's finished drying after today's colouring session, proper carrot-top :D

Omfg... need to see this movie the SECOND it comes out!

Please, Movie Gods, let it be on at The Phoenix and let it be before 12th November, when I go to Asia for six weeks! >.<

No Sleep Till Singapore

I'm busily booking the last few bits and pieces of accommodation and so on for my biggest tour ever next month: Asia for 6 whole weeks! I'll be modelling my way around Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and then having mini 4 - 5 day holidays in Bangkok and Tokyo. I've never visited Japan or Thailand before and want to make sure I see as much as possible! So excited! ^^

I just got sent these portraits from a Singapore photographer I shot with on my last Asian tour, nearly a year ago now. So strange to see myself with black hair!

Playful Promises Lingerie Party plus SHOPPING! Hee hee

I have a slightly clearer shot of me on the runway at the Playful Promises press event, courtesy of Anna at Playful Promises :)

She also posted this snapshot of her and me with Jessica Abidde, one of the recent contestants on Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model, who accompanied me on the catwalk.

Playful Promises is treating all its models from the show to £100's worth of pieces from their shop. Thank you to everyone who replied to me on Twitter to help me with what to choose! This is what I picked out! Hopefully they'll have my size in everything in stock :)

Victoria garter dress

Blush & black stockings (I was sorely tempted to spend the whole £100 on several pairs of these!)

Black seamed stockings

Lovebird Ring. This little guy is sooo cute! I think I'll call him Liam the Lovebird <3

Martini Cocktail Ring. Pretty sure I have precisely zero outfits that will go with this beautiful colour, so that gives me a good excuse to do some more shopping when I have time ;D

I slept for 12 hours last night and still feel kinda drowsy! It must be the hectic schedule I'm keeping at the moment. I had a great shoot in London yesterday and just got booked last minute for another full day's shooting latex tomorrow, before shooting at Greg Brown's London studio on Saturday. It will not only be nice to see him again and catch up, but also to retrieve my iPod, which I left there who knows how long ago! It will be so good to be able to listen to music while I'm out and about again!

Playful Promises

Well, my resolution to try and blog every other day has failed a bit! I've barely had time to sleep and shower over the last week, let alone do anything else. As well as lots of exciting photo shoots, I also did two runway shows in London this week.

The first saw me at a rather exclusive little venue in Soho called The Box, where I walked for lingerie brand Playful Promises at their new boutique launch/ Spring/ Summer 2012 show. I think I am going to have to buy some of their stuff! <3 I was pleasantly surprised by how many people were that I knew, or at least knew of: Ceri Cushen styled my hair, Mamzelle Maz, Roxy Velvet and Polly Rae did burlesque performances after the catwalk and I worked the runway alongside Jessica from Britain's & Ireland's Next Top Model. I found a "behind the scenes" snapshot of us rehearsing the show in our civvies on her Facebook profile!

I'm the one on the far left, in case you couldn't tell by the skin tone :p

After the catwalk, we lingerie models came into the audience and watched the burlesque shows, were photographed and filmed for Fashion TV and positively showered in champagne! It felt terribly decadent to be lounging around in such an opulent-looking venue in designer undies surrounded by all these glamorous people! There is a review of the event on handbag.com, from which I will hotlink this photo of me strutting my stuff ;)

Two nights later saw me in a different venue doing a rather different style of fashion show, but I'll blog about that next time ;)