Frightful Fashions

I love Halloween! Every year my best friend and I start planning a Halloween party while sitting on the beach in July. It has become a tradition and we look forward to the costume-required party more and more.

Outside of the fact that it is an opportunity to get all dressed up in crazy outfits, wear something you would never be caught dead in on a typical day and act just a little bit out of character, it is also the fact that my friends and I tend to try to keep our costumes a secret so that surprise each other. Now, most of the time our immediate circle of friends all know what we are being since we have to help each other in hunting down just the right pieces to make it perfect, however for the rest of the party guests - it's a wait-and-see event! For example, my Father, for the second year in a row, managed to enter the party without me knowing who he was - one of the very few people who can pull that off! But regardless I love seeing what everyone dresses up as and the creativity they each put into it.

There are many different routes that you can take when dressing up - for a girl there is always the "sexy_____," which essentially you could fill in the blank with anything. Sexy police officer, sexy cat, sexy witch or even sexy bumble bee... yes, anything works! Overall there are the funny costumes, scary costumes, creative costumes and then of course there is the current event costume. You know that someone this year will be Michael Jackson and at least one person you know bought a Kate (of Jon and Kate plus 8) wig (see photo)!

Regardless of which route you take, in the Lehigh Valley there are countless "goldmines" for finding costumes of all kinds. Whatever your budget ($1.00 to $100.00), here is a breakdown for you last minute shoppers to prepare for the Halloween weekend! Remember that you don't have to spend a fortune on costumes - if your still trying to figure out what to be, do some creative google searches and then hit your closet, a friends closet or one of the following stores! Halloween is a time to have fun so don't be afraid to go all out - you really can't over-do dressing up.

($$$) - Costumes run around $30.00 and up , ($$) Costumes are right around $20.00, ($) Costume for $5 and up

1. Halloween Adventure ($$$)

A haven for true Halloween fans the Halloween Adventure stores can be found popping up across the area in August and provide a wide variety of elaborate packaged costumes as well as detailed accessories. Prices are higher than other retailers but if looking for something extremely realistic - this is the best.

2049 MacArthur Road Whitehall, PA, 18052
610-432-3063

2. Halloween Outlet ($$$)

Similar to Halloween Adventure, the Halloween Outlet located in Quakertown provides a good variety of costumes as well as decorative items. The accessory bins in the front of the store offer some great ideas if you are still undecided or can provide the perfect last piece to make the ensemble complete. Prices seemed slightly better than Halloween Adventure but are still higher than most. If you go, check out the moving 5' witch decoration (see photo). My friend and I were amazed that it creepily traveled across the store in the time that we were there making her actually contemplate purchasing it for our party!

1465 W Broad St., Quakertown, PA 18951
215-536-2399

3. JoAnn Fabrics ($)

If you are crafty, or have a friend who is, JoAnn fabrics is a great place to go to make a fantastic costume on the cheap! With yards of fabric available for under $5.00 - check out their Halloween section - you can easily create something unique and inexpensive. I found some fantastic mummy-style material as well as an adorable spider-draped pattern that would be cute for any witch outfit (see photo). There were tons of other ideas around to implement into a costume, so many in fact that I wanted to make several this year! Outside of the fabrics, the ribbons, yarn and other decorative items such as iron on transfers and letters help turn a $2.00 t-shirt into an instant outfit. Going as a zombie bride? Check out the clearance flowers to make a simply frightening bouquet!

Quakertown Plaza

1465 West Broad Street, Quakertown, Pennsylvania 18951

215-538-2171

4. Target ($$)

A recent shopping trip to Target turned into a Halloween frenzy for me when I saw all of the great decorations and accessories that Target has this year! Perfect for those who are throwing a party, they have a great selection of skull plates and serving dishes as well as a decent selection of costumes. By now, the selection will most likely be fairly picked through, however it is worth the trip to check it out since their prices for packaged costumes are less than that of the Halloween stores. In addition, Targets selection of pet costumes was great. My favorite was a lobster costume for dogs (Target, $9.99) - which I unsuccessfully tried to get my friend to purchase (see photo)! Even if you can't find a costume that strikes your fancy, there might be something perfect for your furry friends.

610 N West End Blvd., Quakertown, PA 18951

215-529-2720

5. Walmart ($)

Typically, I am not a Walmart shopper. It's nothing against the store itself, it's just that I prefer to shop at Target due to their wider selection. This year, however Walmart makes my top five list for Halloween due to price and a fabulous selection! Walmart has their costumes separated out by accessories, children, adults - men/women, and teens by row so it is easy to navigate, and also has them separated by price - so helpful! The accessory selection was by far one of the best. You could easy purchase a $5.00 accessory and create an outfit around it using items already in your closet. For women, there was a great selection of eyelashes, makeup and nail polish as well. Everything seemed to be priced very well compared to other stores. When looking I found an adult outfit for a masquerade ball countess for $5.00! I also found a great selection of infant outfits for most around $5.00 such as this adorable tin man costume (see photo). Overall, one of the best Halloween stops you can make - hands down!

195 NW End Blvd, Quakertown, PA 18951

215 -529-7689

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

What big, white teeth you have!

If you are going to spend hours a day on make-up, skincare, hair and fashion, I feel that you should make sure that you take care of your teeth too! I have a "thing" for bright white chompers and think that since most of the time the first thing you notice when you meet someone is their smile, you want to make sure you leave a good impression!

Now, I have big teeth. No matter how long I have been seeing a dentist for, the first thing that he or she will always say is "wow, you have nice, big teeth!" While they might mean it as a compliment, I take it more like "hey there bugs bunny!" Yes, I might just have a complex about it but still for this reason I keep my teeth as white as possible. I would much rather have big white teeth than big gross teeth.

In order to keep my pearly-whites white, once or twice a year I try to use a seven-day whitening strip kit but I have found that daily care can be more than enough needed to maintain a sparkling smile. According to my dentist, brushing (not too hard since that can actually wear down enamel) and flossing daily keep teeth clean and light in color and staying away from dark colored fluids that can stain teeth including red wine, coffee and soda can also help. I am fine with the whole brushing and flossing thing but I have a real problem with him telling me to stay away from three of my favorite beverages! Therefore, I still need a little something extra to kick up the white during my daily brushing.

I had heard that using baking soda can help with stains and whitening so a few months ago I decided to try Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste. I had seen in a commercial that they guaranteed, in just four weeks (with twice daily brushing), you could kick up your color up to three shades whiter. Sounded good to me! While I don't know if I really had much of a noticeable difference in the shade of my teeth, I did notice that it maintained the whiteness even when consuming monstrous cups of coffee and daily doses of diet coke. When I ran out of my toothpaste and started using a back up that my husband was using (not everyone is a fan of the slight baking soda taste), I noticed a significant change and darkening of my teeth. The end result - typical toothpaste just didn't work as well for me at keeping stains at bay.

The Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste really works well for me and while there is that baking soda flavor, it really doesn't bother me much and has become a staple to my morning routine. If your not so keen on the taste yourself, try following up with a mouthwash such as Listerine to remove the flavor and freshen up breath too. This time, the next time your saying "what's up doc?" you will blind them with your sparkling-white smile!

Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste is available at most grocery stores. I purchased mine at Target in Quakertown.

Go Faux

One accessory I am pretty excited to see re-appear for the fall is the leather motorcycle jacket. A must have accessory being sported on the fashion elites and celebs everywhere, the moto-jacket or bomber styles can be worn in several different ways this season. My favorites are paired with a feminine dress or worn over a flowing long tunic with skinny jeans. The leather outerwear gives a slightly edgy contrast and an easy way carry a summer tank or dress into Fall.

With black being the go-to shade for the jacket, I was delighted to find an adorable selection of faux leather motorcycle jackets, not only in black but also in grey, at none other than Target! Grey-tones are without a doubt my favorite hues for Fall fashions this year and so since I already had a black motorcycle jacket, and the price of this jacket was unbeatable at $29.95, the grey fab-find called to me! The small size fit perfect - go for whatever shirt size you normally wear not jacket size since you will wear over lighter items - and I especially liked the sleeve length since it hit right where it should (ends at the base of my thumb when holding arms down).

Photo: Ugly Betty's Becki Newton sports a black motorcycle jacket over a Brian Reyes dress while out in New York City for Fashion Week. Source: WireImage

Photo: Target's Xhilaration® Moto Jacket, approximately $29.95

They had the jacket in both grey and black on my trip to Target, however I find that popular sizes there go fast so you might want to call ahead to make sure they have what you are looking for. I visited the new Quakertown location (610 N West End Blvd., Quakertown, PA, 215-529-2720), but you can also order online at http://www.target.com/ if you are desperate!