Ah, Halloween. The one day, each year, that we are all free to try someone else’s persona on for size. A day that allows little girls to become princesses, little boys to become superheroes, and grown women to dress like slutty cats/nurses/police officers.

 

For me, Halloween has always been about the makeup. It’s my chance to try a different hairstyle, rock some red lipstick, or wear fake eyelashes. One year a girlfriend and I threw on some devil horns with cat-eyes and sexy Bardot hair. Another year I went all sweet and innocent as Little Red Riding Hood, with angelic makeup and pigtails. This year, I’ll be going all out gorgeous and getting in touch with my inner vamp.

 

Of course by vamp and I mean vampire, and I’m not talking about the just-rolled-out-of-the-coffin variety. I’m talking about the impossibly beautiful True Blood vampire, with fair skin, sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks.

 

When I learned that Tarte had created a special collection of makeup inspired by the show, I had to get my hands on it. The Tarte for True Blood collection is available at Sephora, and includes a colorful eyeshadow palette (complete with how-to instructions on recreating some True Blood looks) and a glamourous deep red cheek stain. Envious as I am of that sexy True Blood flush, I snapped up the cheek stain with glee.

 

The stain comes in Tarte’s signature tube and smells absolutely delicious. The deep dark red gel is laced with sparkle and can be layered for various levels of shimmery flush. Once applied, you have a few seconds to blend it before it sets, so be ready to smudge it or you’ll end up with an obvious streak of color on your face. Blended correctly, it creates a believable vamp-ish glow; the first time I tried it, my boyfriend took one look at me and said “you look just like Jessica.” He was referring, of course, to True Blood’s tall, pale, ridiculously good-looking redhead, on whom I admittedly have a bit of a girl crush. And although I know he was stretching the truth more than a little bit, with that one compliment I instantly felt I got my money’s worth.

 

In addition to creating a perfect vampire complexion – I’ll be playing up my natural fairness along with my sparkly flush – I found a sinful nail polish that will help me complete my undercover vampire appearance. Sephora by OPI’s Garden of Good and Evil collection is filled with rich fall colors, and I’m obsessed with What’s Your Poison, a deep glittery red that looks like it was made to match Tarte’s cheek stain. From the moment I saw the polish in a magazine ad, I started lusting after it. In fact, I gushed about it so much that my coworker (and good friend) surprised me with a bottle of it one Monday morning after a weekend trip to Sephora – talk about a great way to start your week! The polish looks very red in the bottle but actually goes on a sheer magenta. I like to apply it with a somewhat heavy hand – doing so creates a darker, redder shade with lots of glittery depth. It’s pretty and oh so fun: a mischievous addition to a refined vampire look.

 

To finish off the look, I’ll most likely dab a little of the cheek stain on my lips – as with the cheeks, you can add as little or as much as you want to create the desired level of color. I find that this shade creates a very subtle and sexy stain on the lips, making you look as though you have just been bitten by a vampire.

 

Or, at the very least, kissed by one.