The Toast’s previous coverage of sacrifice and dark ritual can be found here, and our coverage of makeup tips can be found here.
Hello girlies! That time of year is upon us again. The decorations are up, the bells are ringing—but if you’re anything like me, all you can think about is “What am I going to wear?” The High Holidays can be so stressful and sometimes it feels like makeup should be the last thing on your mind. Never fear! I’ve put together a no-frills, easy-peasy tutorial to make this your most glamorous Night of Pale Ashes yet.
A great primer will give your face a dewy, pearlescent sheen that will catch the torchlight and make your skin glow. It will also help set the make-up and prevent lashings for untidiness. I’m using goose grease from Vadda Rinde’s tannery, but for those of you who are fasting or on Tower Rest, melted tallow candles work just as well.
Goose grease also makes a great base for poultices and home-made masks! Don’t neglect your T-Zone!
Line your eyes with kohl for a smokey look. Purists will insist the only way to get true smokey eyes is to breathe in the Vestal Embers until your vision clouds with Terrors Past But Not Forgotten, but kohl is a great substitute. See if your Kiri-Vadda can tell the difference!
I made this brush with hair I harvested myself from the Keep! It’s a great rainy day DIY project.
Lark’s blood on your lips is a guaranteed hit. Pro-tip: Bait your traps with honeycomb to catch the sweetest larks!
Plus it tastes great!
The Unblinking Gaze is essential to any Night of Pale Ashes Look. I don’t need to remind you of what happened when Kiri-Vadda Inger’s Unblinking Eyes rubbed off before she tried to read Our Lady’s Unwritten Word. I still go down to the Keep sometimes to change her linens and freshen her up a bit.
So to avoid that, instead of using white clay from the sulfur pools, try drawing your Unblinking Eyes with an NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. The staying power is fantastic! I claimed mine as fealty after combat with Vadda Oona, but you can trade for one with the peddlers who come on Communal Thursdays.
I like to line my Unblinking Eyes to really make them pop!
To contour, stand in front of a candle, suck in your cheeks, and see where the shadows fall. Then using your brush, place the shadows in the natural hollows of your face. This is also good practice for tonight, when you’ll trap the shadows of your enemies in the hollows of the Wailing Jar.
For contour powder, I’m using a mixture of earth and Vadda Oona’s bones. The grain isn’t ideal, but I’m in love with the pigment.
Don’t be afraid to go for something very gaunt and dramatic here—that skull-like quality is essential for striking that final blow of fear and reverence into your quarry’s heart before you deliver him unto Our Lady.
The fear is important.
The fear will rouse Her.
The fear will excite Her.
If the sight of your face at this point drives you into a fugue state, you’re doing it right!
This is definitely NOT an everyday look, but the Night of Pale Ashes only comes once a year, so go wild!
(For those of you without quarry this year—no sweat! We’ll be doing a tutorial next week for girls who are going stag, complete with antlers.)
Don’t forget the sigils on your cheeks! I’ve used kohl to draw Temperance and A Swift and Steady Hand. Use your imagination here—sigils are the place to let your personality shine through!
Finally, dust the whole face with rice flour, and you’re done. A quick, easy, Night of Pale Ashes look that’s appropriate for any rank! Happy Hunting, friends!
I’ve accessorized here with a Sepulcher Diadem and gold earrings. How will you style your Night of Pale Ashes look?
Tags: advice, beauty, do they have lark’s blood at sephora, kohl, liz watson, makeup, ritual sacrifice, she is hungry, summoning the dead
Only at The Toast. God bless.
Especially considering that after accepting this piece, I have had to turn down TWO OTHERS by different writers because there was too much overlap.
I wonder if there’s an uptick in people wanting to do fun makeup tutorials after the feminist makeup tutorial went viral? (She also did a political one. Both are awesome.)
I hadn’t seen that one before!
I liked this one way better though – probably because as a regular reader of the Toast, “jokes” about bathing in the blood of men are just, ho-hum, another day at the office.
That was incredible. This is incredible. I think I could spend all afternoon reading makeup tutorials now.
I LOVED that but then had a serious “wawp waaaaawmp” when she had to add in the notes that the video is just satire and there’s a difference between feminism and misandry. NOT ON MY WATCH.
I never quite realised. what my heart was yearning for. Now I know what it was. Praises be.
I’m considering making a few minor alterations to take this from ‘Night of Pale Ashes’ to ‘Date Night!’
Oh, it would totally work – all you’d need to do is maybe add a little gloss over the lark’s blood and a little glitter on the sigils and you’re good to go.
This makes me so happy. So incredibly happy!
Nice set dressing in the photos. Can the next piece be interior decorating tips? I’m missing that feeling of terror in my apartment.
True story: the skull’s name is Aster, on account of the fact that she has asters carved into her parietal lobe.
Purists will insist the only way to get true smokey eyes is to breathe in the Vestal Embers until your vision clouds with Terrors Past But Not Forgotten, but kohl is a great substitute.
Water all over my screen. Amazing. Love it!
High Priestess, is it acceptable to highlight the great open hollows to death and despair that have opened in my cheeks, or is that considered gauche? Not everyone is lucky enough to have been blessed with them, after all, and I don’t want to boast.
Luck is a concept treasured by the weak. You have been blessed by Our Lady, so work it girl! To really make those cheek hollows shine, try filing your now-visible teeth into points. That way, those who cross you can better visualize the instruments of their eventual demise 😉
This is also good practice for tonight, when you’ll trap the shadows of your enemies in the hollows of the Wailing Jar
I could also use a tutorial on this, if one is available.
When I sit down to adorn myself for maximum horror, I often find that encouraging my blood sacrifice captives to scream and wail their everlasting torment makes for relaxing background music. If the unfortunates’ shrieking is substandard, a swift trip to the underground lava pit fixes that right up, and the heat opens my pores.
Dear Nicole Cliffe/High Priestess:
I love you very much.
Love,
S. Pebbletush
I have lately found myself nurturing a tiny foundling hope that maybe diadems will come back into style. I missed the chance to wear a tiara or veil at my wedding, and it is one of my few lasting regrets. I mean, really, when else am I going to get a chance to rock a diadem without being That Broad In The Tiara?
tl; dr: NICE DIADEM.
This diadem is a actually a 8 dollar statement necklace from Koreatown that tried to eat my hair after I took the picture. My BEST diadem is my prom queen tiara, which is a story for another time.
I wondered; in shape, it looks remarkably like a Tiffany gold necklace my grandmother wore almost daily. I always thought it would make a killer diadem if it wouldn’t tangle intractably in my hair. And now I guess I know that A. it would have, and B. it would have.
I have lately found myself nurturing a tiny foundling hope that maybe diadems will come back into style. I missed the chance to wear a tiara or veil at my wedding, and it is one of my few lasting regrets. I mean, really, when else am I going to get a chance to rock a diadem without being That Broad In The Tiara?
tl; dr: NICE DIADEM.
This is absolutely my kind of makeup tutorial, thankyou.
Welp, I need a diadem now.
Welp, I need a diadem now.
I wondered; in shape, it looks remarkably like a Tiffany gold necklace my grandmother wore almost daily. I always thought it would make a killer diadem if it wouldn't tangle intractably in my hair. And now I guess I know that A. it would have, and B. it would have.
This is amazing and funny at the same time!!! Keep up the good work!
This is amazing and funny at the same time!!! Keep up the good work!
BUT! It sometimes doesn’t clean the dishes very well and it runs for an HOUR! BESIDES THAT! It’s great!