Fashion: Hammer Horror Socks

These spooky socks, made by Hammer Films, feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula (Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula) and The Creature (The Curse of Frankenstein). They pretty fantastic and, although I don't know if I'll actually wear them, they were given to me as a fun novelty present and I love them! 

Fashion & Toys: Sugar Skulls Keychain

Sugar Skulls keychain in purple

This pretty little face was given to me for my birthday last week! It's a Sugar Skulls keyring (purple), which has carved / engraved patterns all over it, including a longhorn-type skull on its forehead and flowers on the side. 

Longhorn on forehead

Flower on the left side

The height of the skull part is approximately 2 inches / 5cm and it's fairly heavy for a keyring! I like that about it though.

Back of skull

The only place I've been able to find them online is on The Works webshop, although they don't have the keychain version, only the clips. There are four kinds available: purple, black, yellow, and cream, each featuring a different design / pattern. The purple type is exactly the same as this one, apart from having a clip, but it's much closer to the colour in the photos in this post, rather than the bright pink colour in the webshop.

You can find all four variants stocked at The Works via the links below:

• Purple version
• Black version
• Yellow version
• Cream version

Fashion: Skull & Rose Fascinator by LuLu O'Neill Hats

This fantastic skull and rose print fascinator was a gift from my sister last year, but I only just got around to posting about it here. It's by a UK-based designer and milliner called LuLu O'Neill who trades and teaches hat-making classes in Spitalfields Market, London. I love it!

For more information on LuLu O'Neill's work, you can visit the sites below:

• LuLu O'Neill at Spitalfields
• Slightly Scarlet Facebook
• Slightly Scarlet MySpace

Fashion: Janine Basil Hats

Skeleton Hands Headband by Janine Basil Hats

Janine Basil Hats is a London-based company that specialises in hats, fascinators, masks and hair accessories of all kinds. Designed and hand-made by Janine Basil, they come in a huge variety of looks, including several spooky styles!

Zombie Headband by Janine Basil Hats

To get your claws on some of these gore-geous goods or to see more, check the sites below! The brand ships internationally and the items available are updated frequently. 

Brains Headband by Janine Basil Hats

• Janine Basil Website
• Etsy Store
• Facebook Page
• Twitter Page

Pin-up Zombie Mask by Janine Basil Hats

Fashion: Sugar Skull Flower Hair Clip from Bethezda's Baubles

I entered a giveaway to win an item from Bethezda's Baubles recently and, much to my surprise, I won! 

The lighting in this photo shows the colours most accurately

It arrived yesterday (in very sturdy packaging, I might add) and is lovely, fabulously detailed and well-made too. The bright colours suit the sugar skull theme well and the raised textures and accents of glitter also give the hair clip an extra dimension.

The clip is a crocodile style one and is comfortable and hold well. There's also a leopard print patch attached to the back in order to hide any glue where the clip is secured, which is much more aesthetically appealing than a bare join. 

Of course, not everyone likes wearing hair clips or has hair too short to hold them in place, but not to worry - the clip is versatile too! You can always brighten up your wardrobe by fixing it to a hat or piece of clothing instead.

The clip, fastened onto a hat

To see more of Lady Bethezda's creations, you can visit her Etsy store or take a look at her blog, Bethezda's Preoccupations. 

Fashion: DraculaClothing

'Delicacy Underbust Corset' by DraculaClothing

'Gassmask Brooch' by DraculaClothing

Started in 2007 and currently based in the Czech Republic, DraculaClothing is an independent alternative clothing company run by Truls Stokka and Ida W. Thorsen. After a fruitless shopping expedition to Camden, the pair became tired of the many "alternative" clothes produced by companies that charged exorbitant amounts of money for poor quality items and very little choice. So rather than just complaining about it, Truls created DraculaClothing, aiming to provide excellent quality at reasonable prices, with Ida joining the company soon after. It's always a bonus to find that a business has been born from the ideas of people that honestly have a passion for the things that they create or the services that they provide. 

'Spider Web Earrings' by DraculaClothing

Originally, DraculaClothing mainly designed items for themselves and people they knew, but over the years they have grown in popularity immensely and now have customers from all over the globe! When buying online, there is, as always, the dreaded postage costs and goods taxes to consider, which often makes it more expensive to buy internationally, via the internet. However, with free worldwide shipping and the already affordable prices, paying the cost of import duties (outside the EU) is still cheaper than buying overpriced items from other companies. And let's be honest here, how many of us are even able to find a local shop, with this much choice and such beautiful items anyway, regardless of the costs?

'Steampunk Kitty T Shirt' by DraculaClothing

The other appealing thing about DraculaClothing is that, although they do seem to specialise in Steampunk, EGA/EGL and corsetry, they provide a lot of other choices too. The number of items they sell is huge and they are constantly expanding their range. 

Whatever your delightfully dark style may be - from elegant vampire to eccentric Steampunk, from Gothic Lolita to tightlacer - there's almost certainly something to suit your taste. There's even enough bats, skulls, spiders, gas masks, bloody shirts, and coffins to keep you horrific darlings happy! 

Many thanks to DraculaClothing for permission to use the images.


For more information, or to browse the DraculaClothing online store, visit the links below:

• DraculaClothing.com
• DraculaClothing Facebook Page
• DraculaClothing on Twitter

More photos after the cut below:

Art, Jewellery & Fashion: Haus of Bizarre

Le Petit Corbeau by Haus of Bizarre

"The Haus Of Bizarre was started by two siamese souls conjoined by the heart but torn apart by their limbs for conducting experimental surgery on countless patients that were committed to the Haus. 

 Bizarre rumors have been heard of the two still roaming the Haus conducting their experiments on whatever poor treacherous souls that maybe unlucky enough to have entered the Haus Of Bizarre"

Niqo

Nivec

That is the wonderfully horrific premise of the dark, horror art, jewelry and clothing shop, Haus of Bizarre, taken from their website (which is in itself an aesthetic and aural delight). The Haus creates everything from horror-inspired t-shirts, to macabre fine art prints, to decadent gothic jewellery, and everything in between. 

Blood Feast T-Shirt by Haus of Bizarre

Although the most horrific thing about many makers of clothing, jewellery and art in a similar vein is the exorbitant cost of their items, Haus of Bizarre manage to pair devilishly unique oddities with extremely fair prices. For example, a t-shirt costs approximately £10.50 whilst a gorgeous coffin necklace is only around £9.00. They sell items through their Etsy store and the HoB site webstore and, even if you don't have any spare coinage at the moment, it's still worth taking a look, as their creations are really strangely beautiful.

Blood of Dracula Coffin Necklace by Haus of Bizarre

Links:

• Haus of Bizarre Website
• Etsy
• Twitter
• Facebook
• MySpace

Vintage Prosthesis Art Print by Haus of Bizarre

Many thanks to Haus of Bizarre for permission to use the images.

Fashion & Halloween: The Ultimate Halloween Contact Lens Guide!

Alright hairy men and dreadfully gorgeous ghoul-ladies, this is the ultimate Vagina-Guide for your Halloween contact lenses! I will present the best sites for three price ranges. And the reason for why I am already posting a guide for lenses is, better get them -before- they are sold out or that they won't come in time. Ready? set, now go!

YouKnowIt

I have already mentioned YouKnowIt before, and I will do it yet again, hence they are the best site when it comes to cheaper lenses. They have a very quick dispatch time, free worldwide shipping. Site is easily navigatable, lenses are colour-,theme-, and brand-cathegorized. If you're on a low(er) budget for your costume, this is the best site. YouKnowIt is really known, so trust me, the most popular lenses will be sold out the closer we get to Halloween.
(They also sell costumes and make up for your halloween needs as well.)

EuroLens

Eurolens sells also cheaper lenses, but this is the best place to get more expensive Special Effect lenses. They also sell Sclera lenses, and bigger lenses than the normal size. Click on the link above and it will take you right away to the FX lenses. They have a very broad selection of these kind of lenses, which is always a huge plus. Not to mention the price compared to other sites.

WARNING: If you live outside the US, your lenses will arrive first after 3-4 weeks. I have ordered twice from this site, and never found any kind of options for faster shipping. They do have faster shipping within the US though, which, well, is quite unfair. I had to wait almost a month for my Angelic Blue lenses, so if you're going to order from EuroLens, ORDER NOW.


9MM SFX

Now for the most expensive and most amazing lenses for your halloween needs. These lenses are custom made, takes around 5-10 business days to complete, prescription lenses may take longer. You'll be amazed of what kind of lenses they offer. Also check out ABOUT section, you'll find a long list of movies which 9MM provided lenses for.
So also bear in mind, when halloween is getting closer, they also will be getting more orders. Order already now, to be on the safe side. Especially if you're going for sclera lenses, (and never used them before), you will have time to practice putting them in, since you'll really need the time.

>>All the photos in this blog are from 9mm.<<

Fashion & How-to Guides: Spooky Nail Art

My friend and I were bored last week, so I decided to do some spooky nail art. It was fun and so I thought I'd make it into a how-to guide, just in case you too find yourself with nothing better to do! 

Guide & close-ups of each nail are after the cut below↓

Fashion: Kreepsville 666

The UK-based "scare wear" company Kreepsville 666 have recently made over and relaunched their website. Their products are still the ghoulishly fun, horror-influenced items they always were, but now the website is much easier to navigate and purchase from. It loads much quicker too! To check it out, click the picture below:

Fashion: Gothic Jewellery Box - Jewellery by Amanda Norman

Gothic horror photographer and designer Amanda Norman, whom we have previously featured here on HSL,  has a multitude of dark delights available through her Gothic Jewellery Box label. Below is a selection of some of our most recent favourites!

21" BLOOD VIAL VAMPIRE ROSARY NECKLACE

21" ROSARY BAT NECKLACE (RED)

18" ROSARY WITCH NECKLACE

7" SKULL BRACELET BLACK AND WHITE PEARLS

PURPLE TURQUOISE SKULL EARRINGS

GOTHIC SKULL EARRINGS WITH BLACK FACETED BEADS

To peruse more decadent adornments, visit the Gothic Jewellery Box Webshop.

Fashion & Shopping: The Ultimate Horror Contact Lense Guide!

As I wear contact lenses quite often, I decided to share my secrets where I get my contact lenses! So this guide is ideal for those who are already planning their Halloween costume or who need something to oomph up their horror outfit for whenever! Or even for those who are wanting to be more GOREgeous!

I think it is best to start with the most common lenses, which are the normal sized ones. Younknowit offers a wide range of colour and crazy&horror lenses. Cheapest webshop I know of. They offer free worldwide shipping also. I am a youknowit-holic, so I've used their service without any kind of problems.

Now, let's talk about some seriously freaky contact lenses. And these lenses are for you, who are willing to pay a tiny bit more. If you are looking to really shock people with your horror themed look, there is a site that which makes such amazing theatrical lenses. 9mm SFX is a company that makes completely custom lenses. They require base curve and diameneter so they can make the lenses to fit your eye perfectly. 9mm SFX lenses are used in horror movies as well, since they are such good quality, and the gore effect they give. 

Needless to say, 9mm SFX is the ultimate source for your horror/undead/virus infected/vampire eyes.

Even though I am all for getting full eye contact lenses, if you are not used to wearing lenses, you will probably have problems getting them in.

All the photos in this blog entry are from 9mm SFX.

Shopping: Retro Rebels Sale

Tattoo, piercing and alternative/horror-themed fashion Ebay store Retro Rebels are having a huge clearance sale (up to 75% off) on everything from badges to shoes to magazines to hats at the moment. Some of the brands included in the sale are Iron Fist, Kreepsville 666, Emily Strange, Lucky 13, Rock Rebel, Sourpuss, CBGB and many more! Gory discount goodies galore!

Fashion: White Screen Contact lense review

This is the first review of my contact lense review series, so do enjoy!

I will begin this series with a review on the most fabulous white screen contact lenses by ColourVue. I got my pair from a site called youknowit.com. (I will be also doing a review on this site later on.) Mine are 1 year contact lenses, but you could get them as 90 days lenses as well. In the beginning I was, like anyone else would be, a bit sceptical about the coverage and how I will be able to see through these lenses.

But as you can see in the image above and also on my profile photo on this blog, the coverage is amazing. I have green blue-ish eyes, so this is how they look in my eyes. I've had so many questions concering how good/bad is the eyesight while having these in. You'd be suprised how well you can see through these, its almost like a fog effect.

I truly don't have anything negative to say about these lenses. Just by looking at the price, the effect and the look you'll be getting, these are a must for any contact lense user or for those who are looking for a more horror-related look.

Side note(s);

There are lenses which covers completely the colours of the eye, BUT, they will block your eyesight COMPLETELY. Also there are FULL eye contact lenses that give this effect, but these are custom made special effect lenses, and they are around 300-400$ for a pair. So these white screen lenses are the BEST choice.

Warning; Your eyes will get faster tired than in other crazy lenses.

Fashion: MANIC PANIC

The original MANIC PANIC boutique

Started as a punk-style boutique by sisters Tish and Snooky in New York City in 1977, MANIC PANIC have been making the world more colourful and fascinating for over thirty years! The original store was frequented by musicians such as David Bowie, The Ramones and Cindy Lauper, drag queens and other subculture trend-setters, and its popularity grew in leaps and bounds. By the 90's, all kinds of celebrities, high fashion models, magazines and even movie makers wanted the MANIC PANIC look. 

Although the original shop on St. Marks Place closed some time ago, MANIC PANIC now offer a large range of products online through their webstores. One, St. Marks Place,  sells special sale and discontinued products, meaning that you might just be able to find that amazing colour you thought you'd never see again! 

Long Island City boutique

Long Island City boutique

As well as the webstores, MANIC PANIC also have recently opened boutiques in Long Island City and Venice Beach, along with a salon, which is also located in Venice Beach, giving a whole new generation the opportunity to visit their retail stores. Naturally, the brand's popularity and success has not been limited to the US and the millenium saw mass distribution begin in the UK, Australia, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands too.



Some of MANIC PANIC's beautifully bold hair dyes

Unlike some labels, MANIC PANIC's products are generally not over-hyped and work as well as claimed. For example, in my own experience, the semi-permenant dye colour, Vampire Red, came out really vividly even on mid to dark hair. The colour does fade a little after a week or so of washes, but it's only semi-permenant and so I would expect that from a bright colour. However, if you're blonde or pre-lighten your hair as recommended, the colour is likely to be highly visible for much longer.

Casket Basket

The cosmetics, too, have strong pigments, which means that they last longer as you don't need to use much. I particularly like their Casket Basket gift sets and the kits in their Creature of the Night collection. The Casket Basket contains: 1 Virgin white pressed powder compact, 1 Goth White creme foundation, Raven lipstick, 1 Black Magic glitter jewels eyeshadow, 2 nail polish, 4 eye/lip pencils, 1 black rose & 2 spider rings.



Casket Basket contents minus the rose, plus a pot of Scare Crow fangs



Everything is beautifully presented and well-protected in its packaging, so whether you buy it from one of the boutiques or online, you can be sure that it will arrive safely with whoever it's intended for (even if that happens to be you). The face make-up is definitely not meant for full coverage and is obviously not stage make-up, but it's great for everyday wear and subtle, yet noticable, paleness. The Goth White can dry out a little if you store it somewhere warm or leave it open a lot, but mixing a dab of moisturiser with it makes it as good as new.



Final Curtain

Knock 'Em Dead

















The Creature of the Night collection total look kits in Knock 'Em Dead (red) and Final Curtain (purple) are not only great products, but great value too, at just $20 for an eyeshadow, creme liner, face powder, lipsticks, lashes, application tools, plus instruction guides on how to achieve three different looks with each kit. In addition to the value for money, all MANIC PANIC products are animal cruelty free and vegan. They were even given an award by animal rights activists PETA because of that, so you can feel good about looking good too!

To buy the above or any other MANIC PANIC products, or to find out more, please visit the following websites:

MANICPANIC.COM

MANIC PANIC N.Y.C. Online Store

MANIC PANIC Boutique Venice Beach

St. Marks Place

MANIC PANIC Creature of the Night Collection

Thank you to MANIC PANIC for permission to use images from their websites.