We didn’t just hack Katy Perry’s epic “Dark Horse” music video outfits to turn them into easily DIY-able Halloween costumes — yep, all four looks! We’re also breaking down her killer Cleopatra-inspired cat eye step-by-step. Both the icy blue shadow and graphic black liner are as essential to this KP incarnation as her blunt cut wig. ‘Cause really, no Katy Perry look is complete without rainbow-colored makeup and a wig.
So you wanna play with magic? Scroll through to learn how to create a makeup look that’s fit for a Queen of the Nile.
2. Now take a flat shadow brush and fill in your eyelid with a shimmery bright teal shadow like Peace from Urban Decay’s Deluxe Eyeshadow Palette ($23). Blend it right up to the edge of the line you made for the cat eye.
3. Go over the original cat eye line with a bright blue matte shadow like Chaos from Urban Decay’s Electric Palette ($49), but this time extend it more into the crease of your lid. You are trying to create a gradual line that will fade almost all the way into to the inner corner of your eye.
4. Trace over the cat eye line you just created with a black gel liner like Stila’s Smudge Crayon ($22). Use a really fine point liner brush for this step.
5. Using the same gel liner + fine point brush, line your entire upper lash line and inner lower lash line, which should fade into a fine line toward your outer lash line. Make these two lines meet at a point that’s drawn out slightly onto the bridge of your nose.
6. Add more of the bright blue matte shadow with a flat shadow brush to the inside of the cat eye flick to make the lines pop.
7. Extend your lower lash line out to meet your cat eye flick with a shimmery gold shadow like Half-Baked from Urban Decay’s Naked palette ($54). Use another fine pointed liner brush for this step.
8. Use a smaller flat brush to apply the same gold shadow to the inner corner of your eyes. Blend it into the bright teal for a soft blended finish.
9. Use a fluffy shadow brush and gently layer the shimmery bright teal shadow (that’s Peace from Urban Decay’s Deluxe Eyeshadow Palette ($28) again, folks) onto the center of your eyelids.
10. Curl your lashes!
11. Apply a few coats of your favorite volumizing mascara.
12. Fill in those brows to make them bold and full — our go-to tool is Billion Dollar Brow’s Universal Pencil ($12).
13. Now heavily conceal underneath your eyes to lighten, brighten and smooth out any flaws so you have a solid foundation to apply the intricate liner that finalizes this look!
<em>there’s no goin’ back. </em>
Maleficient. Switch it up with green shadow and you’re easily the Bride of Frankenstein or a really, really wicked witch.
Are you dressing up as Katy Perry for Halloween? Which other celebs’ looks do you want to DIY? Tell us about your favorite pop culture costumes in the comments below.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures