As the holiday season comes to an end, revelers all around the world look forward to the year’s biggest carnival – Mardi Gras, held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Whether you have ever been part of this wild festival, have been part of it for years, or want to experience it at least once in a lifetime, “Fat Tuesday” is your calling. What’s the Hype? Mardi Gras is all about fun and lots of fun. Even if you are unable to be in New Orleans in person, nothing is stopping you to have it wherever you are in the world. All you need is lots of purple, green, and gold. These are the colours of celebration and from beads to glitters to beer, there is only one word to describe it all – Mardi Gras. Gather food, people, parties, crowds (even if done online) and turn up the music with a DJ or a band and let the day ignite with some serious party stuff. Plan Your Party Turn up the music, add in the party spirit and combine it with Mardi Gras festivities. Order the beads, vigor up your make-up, don the green coloured contact lenses, buy the outfit, and let the booze flow – because Mardi Gras is incomplete without them. Let the party-goers join in and you can have your own parade – get your local bar to get in the green, purple and gold spirit too and put on your dance shoes and party pants to rock the festival. Juggle up your imagination with some Louisiana spirit inspiration, and you can also celebrate Mardi Gras from your hometown with a party in your back-yard too. The Costumes One of the main things that truly represents this carnival is the costumes. Mardi Gras costumes call for lots of beads in green, gold, purple and some bold makeup looks. Add in the wigs, the glitter, the shimmer and you have an endless variety of costumes to choose from. Here are some great ideas to help you dress up in your reveler’s costume this Mardi Gras. The Jester For a jester costume, you can either buy a costume from amazon, a short tunic, with pointy shoes and a hat. Or you can stitch one at home, this will make your look even more unique and different from store-bought similar costumes. For jester makeup, you can start with a light or even white base on your skin, followed by drawing with eyeshadow or painting a diamond shape on each eye with a dark colour such as deep blue or black, put on some plum, blue or black lipstick and finish off with some accessories such as beads on either end of the diamonds or silver outlining around them and don't forget to add a pair of grey coloured contact lenses to rejuvenate your look. You can add to your costume with props such as juggling pins or a Marotte. French Loyalty For a French royalty costume, the ladies can wear exquisite gowns with embellishments and beads, while the men can wear long Aristocrat overcoats with matching pants and buttoned waistcoats. For French Royalty Makeup, ladies can thinly sculpt eyebrows, wear light shades of foundation, bright blushes, and nude-pink pouts. The French Royalty men were also known to put makeup on such as blush. You can complete your look with blue coloured contact lenses and accessorise with dramatic hairstyles or wigs of towering grey or white hair. Pirate: A pirate costume is fairly easier to pull for men and women both. Brown pants with a white button-down shirt and loose rugged waistcoat. This can be worn by both genders; however, women can also opt for a loose gown and pirate corset. For makeup and hair, some smudged eyeliner and mascara, with a stitches effect on the forehead would form a costume! You can add on to your costume with green contact lenses for that piercing effect. You can accessorise with hair ornaments, a pirate hat, and a sword! It is not necessary to put on a specific costume, you can also opt for colourful costumes such as a dancer with colourful feathers and flowy dresses with a base of gold and silver. You can opt for vibrant and flamboyant masks as well to lift your look and use brown coloured contact lenses to bring your look together! Happy costuming!
