SDCC Wrap-Up: Glamoured at the Con

By Jennifer K. Stuller

Comic Con is a weird and wonderful place. One minute you can be the only female member of a panel on critical approaches to comics, and the next sitting in the sun at a private café drinking free cocktails in advance of a makeover.

It’s no wonder we love this crazy annual event.

When I received a message from our lovely editor, Ms. Kotler, who sadly couldn’t make it to the con this year, asking if I was interested in receiving a “True Blood” makeover from tarte™ cosmetics, my response was an emphatic, “Um . . . . YES!”

So there I was, at the chic invite-only Wired café at the Omni Hotel replenishing my waning blood sugar by drinking Fangbangers (Vodka and True Blood, natch), and eating cheese and shrimp quesadillas while waiting for my appointment. Amid the thumping music and trendily dressed attendees, I watched as Janina Gavankar, aka Sam Merlotte’s love interest “Luna,” was filmed receiving her own makeover. Though truly, she was already redonkulously gorgeous.

When it was my turn, the make-up artist and I decided to go with the “Vamp Glam” look. The tarte™ for True Blood™ limited-edition line features four signature looks designed by Emmy® award-winning makeup artist and True Blood makeup department head Brigette Myre-Ellis. Vampy Vixen and Vamp Glam provide more of an evening look, while Not Your Average Waitress, a mixture of bronzes and browns, and Luminous Fairy are daytime options. All of the shadows on the 17-shade palate have True Blood-inspired names such as Charmer, Telepath, and The True Death.

“We’re really excited about our partnership with HBO,” says Candace Craig Bulishak, Director of PR for tarte™ in between sending text messages to the team back in New York. “We just thought it was kind of a supernatural type of take on it. We partnered with their licensing department to create products that evoked the show’s image.”

Janine McGoldrick, who works in Corporate Affairs at HBO, adds that True Blood has such a large cross-over audience that the licensing product, one of the biggest for the company, is starting to expand. She also says that HBO doesn’t just partner with anyone, but chooses companies organic to their fanbase.

The collection includes three exclusive items: a palette (suggested retail price: $52 US/$68 CAN), that features: 17 matte and shimmer eyeshadows, emphasEYES™ aqua-gel eyeliner in black, a deluxe lights, camera, lashes! clinically-proven natural mascara and a deluxe lifted™ natural eye primer with Firmitol™, natural cheek stain in shimmering red (suggested retail price: $30 US/$39 CAN), and LipSurgence™ natural lip tint in shimmering red (suggested retail price: $24 US/$31 CAN). All products are available for purchase in the U.S. and Canada at Sephora, Sephora.com, store.hbo.com, HBO shop, tarte.com, Ulta and Ulta.com.

tarte™ and HBO wanted to showcase the line at Comic-Con because, as Bulishak says, “Part of Comic Con is being somebody else by dressing up. The make-up,” she notes, “would allow for a ‘Pam look or a ‘Sookie” look’ and it’s all in one collection.” It’s a true convenience for cosplayers and everyday fans alike to be saved from the hassle of running around trying to find the perfect and complementary colors.

Feeling vampy glam, satiated from the sugary booze, and definitely glamoured, I wandered off in search of my vampire lover . . . and maybe a Sephora.