Author: Emmie Reve

I am a beauty professional based out of Toronto, Canada with a background in Fine Arts. Besides having a passion for fashion, make-up, cooking, baking, movies, music and culture; I also make and sell hand crafted skin/haircare with gentle natural formulas. My e-store is currently in construction so please stay posted by subscribing. Contact me anytime: shop@dreamecosmo.ca

MY DIY Halloween Get Up: Katana from Suicide Squad!

~ Emmie Reve ~ 2 Comments

This summer when Suicide Squad came out, it crossed over into the Batman universe with characters like Harley Quin and the Joker. The premise of the film was super villains joining forces to complete a mission that could save the world…sounds more pulled together than the film’s execution of the story…but visually it was still a treat.

I am not really into super heroes that much…but the year before I did a simple Tomie costume, a character from a manga series by Junji Ito…so I couldn’t resist making another Japanese inspired costume when I found out there was a Japanese hero in Suicide Squad: Katana!  Forget Harley Quin, one of the most done of female costumes of this year, but the character of Katana; a deadly and strong willed woman of honor who has superior samurai skills was the way to go for me.

Suicide Squad looked great visually, and the costumes had a street vibe interpretation!
Suicide Squad looked great visually, and the costumes had a street vibe interpretation!
Karen fukuhara, an new unknown actress took over the role well.
Karen fukuhara, an new unknown actress took over the role well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back story on Katana is is that she was originally the daughter of a great samurai, who while being trained in the skills of fighting, also won the hearts of two brothers.  They both sought her out, and in the end, she chose the more honest man to marry and have kids with…leaving the rejected brother to be jealous and turn even more evil. There was a dual between the brothers and Katana’s husband was killed by his evil brother, and the children died in the resulting fire.  After she lost her husband and kids, Katana became a force for good, using her magic sword (who still possesses her husband’s soul) to fight evil as a means to cope with her tragic loss.  Katana has worked with Batman, Birds of Prey  and for the movie Suicide Squad she was Rick Flag’s body guard.  Anyways, enough about her back story, let’s take a look at my costume.

This is my take on Katana from Suicide Squad. Am I menacing?
This is my take on Katana from Suicide Squad. Am I menacing?

I made this costume mostly with clothes I already had.  Such as a white tank/top, tight black jeans/pants and a black bomber style jacket. I pinned it in on the bottom to create a cropped effect.  I also already had the sword from a previous costume (Kyo from Black Bird) The only thing I actually bought was the white half mask, the red sash, and gold metallic paint for the flowers.  I painted the red dot on the mask with red nail polish and reshaped and cut the eyes to resemble Katana’s mask more.  Then I painted gold petal shapes on duct tape and then cut them out and stuck them in a flower pattern in the bottom right corner of the jacket. Then I looped the long red scarf around the arms of the jacket and pinned in place.  All in all, this costume only cost me $10 for the scarf, paint, and plain white mask! I had everything else!  But it was really fun getting to be Katana for a day on Halloween.

What DIY costumes have you made in the past that was both cheap and made use of things you had?

 

Graphic liquid Liner…can basic black be replaced by grey for everyday?

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An inky black marker type liquid liner, verses a brush on liquid grey liner...
An inky black marker type liquid liner, versus a brush on liquid grey liner…

There is no make-up look I’ve seen more worn by women than that of the ubiquitous “cat eye” makeup.  It is usually done in a combination of ways, but always involves liquid liner to produce that hard edge top eyelid line that defines a graphic “cat eye” make-up.  And with a flick up in the corner, any girl can instantly get daily glam without feeling too made up.  When buying liquid liner, by default I always go to black, for some reason and I get it in pen style for ease of use.  Liquid liners with a brush and a bottle go on too black and thick for me and for some reason and I end up looking too hard, but pens can still be really harsh if they are very dark…like the one I use now. My eyes are like daggers lined by black ink.  I accept that black is the fashion… But  I recently discovered that charcoal grey is a great alternative, if you like the polished elegance of the cat-eye, want to still be in vogue, but don’t want to look as stern with super black lined graphic eyes.

So the left photo is black liner and the right photo is grey liner. All other make-ups are the same. Can you spot the difference?
So the left photo is black liner and the right photo is grey liner. All other make-ups are the same. Can you spot the difference?

So as you can see with my photos, there is a only subtle difference between black and grey.  But you can see how grey liner is a lot softer, and gentler, it opens up my eyes a bit more and still is a cat eye make-up.  In the black liner photo, I used all the same make-ups as the grey liner photo, but with black, you can see how my eyes are more emphasized and I look harder and edgier.

So which do you prefer?  Hard edgy black, or sweetly composed grey?  These days I’ve been going for charcoal grey liner since I find that sometimes, less darkness on the face can actually be appealing, and maybe even more youthful.  Try it out and let me know what you think.  Make-up and being a girl is all about the details and small things!

DIY recipe for a Slim Down Tea!

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I grew up as a girl, so it was hard to avoid seeing all the fads diets, the pills, plans, everything marketed at women to buy into and believe some product that would make you slimmer.  The problem with big business using vanity to dupe us and get an extra buck has always been there. It seems to be a way for companies to grab the last dollar you have at the bottom of your messy purse…As if life wasn’t hard enough with everything to juggle, but we also have to constantly weed out false marketing scams and claims of companies bent on taking advantage of the situation. What a hard sell! But I know we’ve all fallen at least once for any of these product claims.  Wouldn’t it be great to find something that really works, is healthy, simple and DIY?

So recently I concocted something I believe to be the real deal.  All natural, detoxifying and healthy.  I’ve made an awesome tea drink with simple ingredients that can fight the bodily malfunctions that add short term gain to the frame.  Things such as water retention, bloating, gas.  These are huge factors in the difference between having a slim pretty day, and a bloated chubby day.  And I will share this recipe with you, because, you know…we’re friends! 🙂  Best thing of all? It’s caffeine free!

It looks kind of murky, like pond water, it will be a greenish brown! It tastes kinda bitter and spicy, but it works!
It looks kind of murky, like pond water; it is greenish brown in colour! It tastes kinda bitter and spicy, but it works!

Recipe for my “Slim Down Tea”

  • 1/4 cup of finely sliced ginger root (fresh)
  • 2 bags of herbal dandelion leaf tea (find it at health food stores)
  • 1.5 liters of fresh cold water
  1. Start to boil the water in a a small/medium sauce pan
  2. Slice up a knob of ginger finely. I like to do 1″ long thin slivers of ginger because I think the ginger really releases all its magic into the tea when it is cut finely.
  3. Place the sliced ginger into already turned on pot of water…wait for it to reach rapid boil, then lower the heat to a gentle, but rolling simmer.
  4. Simmer the ginger for 15-20 min. Any longer and it gets kind of bitter and burned, too soon and you don’t have the ginger spiciness in it.
  5. Turn off the heat.  Drop the bags of dandelion leaf tea into it, and cover the pot with a lid, while steeping everything for another 30 mins.
  6. Remove tea bags and strain the tea with a spoon while pouring into a pitcher.  Refrigerate and enjoy for up to 1-3 days!

Why does this concoction work? The reason is because ginger is a soothing cure all to stomach pains and digestion problems.  It can also control bloating to a minimum.  It is also super good for you! Antioxidants!  Dandelion leaf is a natural diuretic and aids in helping your body shed excess water, discouraging water retention and also providing potassium, a mineral which many people lack day to day. Put these two plant powers together and your stomach and body will be thanking you, and you will feel a difference.  I like to take this tea cold, in the afternoon to evening…and also all day before any big event! What tricks do you pull to give you an extra edge against feeling pudgy?

Yummy! I like using this tea all day before an event in the evening.
Yummy! I have a tendency to retain water like crazy, but little tricks help me.