Today is a huge day for costume sales so many of us are out shopping for the perfect outfit for ourselves and/or for children. But before you make your final decision, know what lurks behind that store bought costume. Our friends at Green Halloween have some great tips to share;

• Look for costumes made from 100% natural materials such as cotton. Hemp and burlap are child and Earth-healthy and make great costumes.
• Wool is naturally flame retardant (as opposed to many costumes which are sprayed with chemicals to keep them “safe”) and is naturally water repellent, which comes in handy if you live in colder climates.
• Dress infants in themed cotton onesies with matching hats instead of in polyester costume buntings.
• If you do buy a costume off the rack or from thrift or consignment stores, be sure to wash well before allowing your child to wear it for the night.
• Costume jewelry and accessories such as pumpkin treat carriers often contain chemicals such as lead (a neurotoxin). If you are unsure as to whether an item is safe, have it checked by an expert or find an alternative.
• Avoid masks that cover the face and accessories that go in the mouth, such as fake teeth.
• Avoid most store bought face paints, even when labeled “non-toxic”. An easy, make-your own recipe can be found in our new book, Celebrate Green.

By Corey Colwell-Lipson, Green Halloween founder & director
Copyright 2008, Green Halloween

Be sure to visit the Parent’s section for more green costume tips and links to green online costume retailers.

organic cotton
animal print tights

cotton animal costumes

cotton cloaks

We recently featured some costume makeup video tutorials to help the ladies win those costume contests. This time around we are featuring some video tutorials for the guys to get creepy with.

Zipper Eyes

Joker Makeup

More Dark Knight Joker makeup tutorials;

• Joker Makeup Search on YouTube
• Joker Prosthetics
• Creating Joker: Complete Costume

Ghoulish Makeup on a Budget

Not sure on your costume just yet, or want to get some more gruesome makeup tips? Try a simple search for top rated Halloween makeup videos on YouTube to get more ideas than you can shake a severed arm at.

Still deciding what to be for Halloween? Let’s see what ideas the Internet has so kindly assembled for us. First stop is American Apparel, the Los Angeles based manufacturer of tons of fair labor clothing items. Their super simple, single color clothes are perfect for creating costumes from. Seen to the left are the “nudist colony” group costume idea and a hipster “cyclist”. There’s a handy Flash based viewer on their site with several more costume ideas based from their clothing line, but you can easily use stuff from your own closet.

AA is also holding a DIY Halloween Costume Contest. Win $100 store credit with your own homemade costume or just rate all of the photo submissions.

Another fantastic resource is Polyvore. The site “lets you mix and match images from anywhere on the web” to create a digital collage graphic. Using this great feature they been posting lots of creative costume ideas on their blog. Here are a few highlights; vintage-modern vampire, Jem, modern Snow White, and DC comic Catwoman.

It’s mostly women’s costume ideas, but you’ll find a few good men’s costumes as well. Polyvore’s blog is one of my favorite sites right now for gathering costume ideas because of the incredible variety and unique takes on classic costume ideas. Definitely worth going through all their posts.

And if you just don’t feel like making a homemade costume, use the coupon below to get 10% off at Buy Costumes (plus free shipping on orders $65+)

Even if you have already have an amazing Halloween costume, the addition of some well done makeup can really transform your look further. Go from wow to a costume contest winner with one of these Halloween makeup tutorials.

Tim Burton inspired Corpse Bride Makeup

More Halloween tutorials from MissChievous;

• Green Eyed Evil Witch Makeup
• Rhinestones & Glitter Fairy Makeup
• Super Glam Vampire Makeup
• Ventriloquist Doll Makeup

Pale Zombie Makeup

Inspiring Halloween Makeup Ideas

This video is just a compilation of wild makeup photos, but it will give you some great ideas for augmenting your existing costume or creating a look of your own.

We’ll be featuring some scary/gory/horror makeup tutorials next so come back tomorrow for more!

With a mere 16 days left until Halloween, it’s time for the costume rush. Kids generally already have their costumes purchased or made, but we adults tend to be last minute shoppers. If you want to ensure that you get the costume you want, in your actual size, and with some sort of discount, now’s the time to buy. Next week the free shipping offers usually disappear and the costume availability goes way down. Plan ahead, Halloweenies!

Get 10% off your order $50+ at Buy Costumes. Automatically get FREE Shipping on orders $65+
Coupon Code: ZOMBIE50
Expires: October 31st

Get $10 off your order $75+ or save $20 off your order $200+ at Fright Catalog
Coupon Code: CHUCKLES10 or CHUCKLES20
Expires: October 16th

Buy One Get One 50% off at Spirit Halloween
Coupon Code: none needed
Expires: October 27th

Get 10% off your order $75+ or save 15% off your order $100+ at Extreme Halloween & Annie’s Costumes
Coupon Code: 10CJ or 15CJ
Expires: October 24th

Learn how to magically transform a standard pile of fresh veggies into a puking pumpkin, a spooky skeleton, or any “gross” thing you can dream up. Perfect if you’re hosting a Halloween party or attending a potluck and want to make sure there are some healthy Halloween snacks available.