At long last… my Gothic Mexico video series is out, on Huffington Post! I’m so proud of these travel videos (kudos to my talented filmmakers, Melissa Rundle and Eric Bergemann).

Watch as I explore Day of the Dead, skull art, and a haunted hotel in Mazatlan. And will you do me a favor, to make me smile? Simply click the Like button below, thank you.

Every year, Mexicans celebrate Day of the Dead to honor those who have passed and what sounds like a morbid holiday is quite the opposite. All of the imagery, from the skeleton facepaint to orange marigolds, conveys that “the dead can dance.”

I had the pleasure of celebrating Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos in the coastal town of Mazatlan. In this 3-part video series, I dive into Mexico’s dark arts and culture.

Mazatlan is split into two districts. The luxury resorts are in the Golden Zone, while the Centro Historico holds art galleries and theaters from the 1800s.

I joined an art walk in the Historic District and was mesmerized by the temporary altars. These stands were decorated with real or paper marigolds, photos, favorite foods and belongings. Each had at least one sugar skull, with the name of the dead written on its forehead.

Many of the stalls in Pino Suarez Market sold skull art. The iconic skeleton lady traces back to the Aztecs, who worshipped a god named “The Lady of the Dead”. In modern times, she is known as La Catrina.

Despite the dark themes, the visuals felt uplifting. The colors and active poses reflect the Mexican folk view that life and death are balancing forces.

There’s even a food for the occasion: Bread of the Dead. Sold in Panama Bakery, it’s airy and sweet, and has a cross-bone on top. Watch me taste it in the video here.

In the second episode, I tip-toe around the supposedly haunted Hotel Belmar. During the Prohibition, Hollywood stars like Cary Grant came here to let loose. Sometimes, the revelry got out of hand: the Sinaloa Governor was murdered during a hotel ball. Guests have reported inexplicable noises, and visions of a woman in white. Do the ghosts of the past still walk these halls?

Check out the video to find out!

Night falls, and the Day of the Dead parade begins. Locals gather in Old Mazatlan for the annual procession. They’re put on elegant costumes and painted their faces like skulls. With folk music and firecrackers, the dead have come back to life.

In the final video, I enter the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, known as the most beautiful church in northwest Mexico. Finished in 1899, there are Gothic and Baroque influences throughout. Light shines through stained glass, forming an outerworldy glow. Locals come here to light a candle, and pray among the gold statues and carvings.

I also give a tour of my hotel, the Riu Emerald Bay. The all-inclusive luxury resort opened only two years ago. Each room has a balcony that overlooks the beach.

I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention the recent tragedy: last January, Canadian tourist Sheila Nabb was severely beaten in the elevator of the Riu.

The attack renews warnings to be cautious when traveling in Sinaloa. However, my film crew and I never felt unsafe at the resort, which has staff members checking the wristbands of everyone who enters. We kept to the tourist areas and went out in groups, and felt perfectly safe the entire trip.

Many are now avoiding the region, and it’s unfortunate. My videos give a glimpse of the exhilaration I felt here – dancing with spooky stilt-walkers, speeding along the coastline in an open air taxi. With safety in mind, I hope travelers will return to Mazatlan and experience it for themselves.

I hope you enjoy our work — we loved making these videos for you!

Goths in hot weather, this post is for you! Apologies for the delay in my Mexico travel series. The videos will be up soon.

Here’s a preview of my Mazatlan escapades. In the Centro Historico, you’ll find spook-tacular Mexican handicrafts and architecture from the 1800s.

The locals are all-around-the-board nice. Mazatlan is a visitor-friendly area, and you can get by with US dollars.

Dress: h.NAOTO, from Closet Child
Anchor socks: gifted from Sourpuss Clothing
Red purse: Nina Ricci, belonged to my mother until I took it. Here’s a new version of the purse.

Rainbow dolls in Pino Suarez market. Can you spot the bloody pig’s head?

Skulls and bones are everywhere in Mexican art.

I talk about dark handicrafts and Catrinas (skeleton ladies).

After a stupendous seafood lunch (marlin dip – amazing!), I staked out the haunted Hotel Belmar.

During the Prohibition, Hollywood stars like Cary Grant came here to let loose. Sometimes, the revelry got out of hand: the Sinaloa Governor was murdered during a hotel ball. Guests have reported inexplicable noises, and visions of a woman in white. Do the ghosts of the past still walk these halls?

We walked around and admired the architecture. Colorful facades. Colonial-style arches. Hidden courtyards and plazas.

Above two photos by Frank DiMarco, a fellow journalist on the press trip.

Sunglasses: gifted from Erica Anenberg
Bracelets: gifted from Fashionology (crosses and skulls galore.)
Skull brooch with ribbon: gifted from BabyClay (check out their Etsy shop – you can request custom designs)
Dress: h.NAOTO, from Closet Child in Tokyo
Big floppy sunhat: from a street stall in Hong Kong

See those two yellow spires? That’s the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, known as the most beautiful church in northwest Mexico.

The cathedral was finished in 1899, and you can see Gothic and Baroque influences throughout. Light shines through stained glass, forming an outerworldy glow. Locals come here to light a candle, and pray among the gold statues and carvings.

Have you ever been to Mexico? What do you love best about the food, culture and people? Let me know in the comments.

Also coming up: New York Fashion Week reports!

At Luisaviaroma, we fashion bloggers didn’t merely dress up in designer clothing. We also lent our names to a good cause.

Each blogger adopted one of 20 Steiff pug dogs, customized by famous couture designers. These toys will be sold, and all proceeds donated to Unicef to support disadvantaged children.

That’s why we all got a Luisaviaroma t-shirt with a pug puppy, dressed like Marie Antoinette!

Designers such as Balmain, Emilio Pucci, Mary Katrantzou, and David Koma dressed the dogs in high fashion. I adopted the Worth Couture pug. She’s got a Gothic Lolita flair, don’t you think?

This design house is a fitting choice. Charles Frederick Worth is considered the father of haute couture, and his elegant designs were the toast of 19th century Paris. I’d wear his long trailing skirts and corsets in a heartbeat.

Seba chose the Versace dog on the right. Aren’t they a fashionable pair? We’re honored to be part of the “Pug Dogs For Happy Kids” initiative, and glad to continue our charity work.

Here’s a closeup of my look from Day 2 of the Styling Lab. MAC Makeup once again delivered. Silver on the inside corners of my eyes, and bottom eyelashes with extensions for greater length.

And I love my hair by Aveda: tumbling curls, pinned to the side. Soon, I’ll post more photos from our outfits at Luisa.

Have you heard of Worth Couture Paris? Are you inspired by the fashions of previous centuries?

PS: thank you to Vogue India for featuring me in a magazine article (above).

Album of the Day: Children of Bodom – Relentless, Reckless Forever

Luisaviaroma’s Firenze4Ever extravaganza brings together your favorite fashion bloggers: a mix of nationalities, personalities and styles. I suppose I carried the banner for Japanese street / Gothic aesthetics. So I did theatrical, flamboyant makeup: loud and proud!

Each blogger gets to take part in a high-fashion styling lab. Shall I walk you through the steps?

1) Get your face painted by MAC. I showed my makeup artist photos on my iPhone, so he knew what I was going for. And he did a marvelous job.

Fabio put a layer of white under my eyes to enlarge them, then added careful eyeliner definition and top/bottom layers of fake eyelashes. Brown shading added a Sleepy Hollow effect. My blue lips turned me undead, while the bright fuchsia blush raised me back to life.

2) Pick out your three outfits. We got to wear anything we wanted from Luisaviaroma’s latest collections. I picked cute / rock / Goth styles: lace and leather and metal.

I’m wearing a faux leopard fur jacket by Banana Fish, and a t-shirt gifted by Solobuio (the visual factory of Rome-based music video director, Carlo Roberti. We worked on something together… can you guess what it is?)

3) Take part in an interview for Fashion TV. I spoke about my styling choices, and my experiences in Florence thus far.

4) Have your hair styled. Aveda twisted and pinned my hair on top, and added scrunchy bedhead waves.

5) Choose your accessories. An orange clutch, and a cute boy (Sebastiano, of course).

6) Pose, pose, pose. We stormed the streets of Florence with our photographer.

I’m afraid I don’t recall the brands of my clothing (the info was left out of my files by accident). But the boots are unmistakably Camilla Skovgaard – one black, and one white!

A close-up on Seba’s boots. We have many more modeling photos to share: I did SIX looks in total, so stay tuned!

You can preview my styling lab photos on the Luisaviaroma website. Thanks to AOL / My Daily and Style.it for featuring me. More press and TV clips soon.

I leave you with my “Meet the Fashion Bloggers: La Carmina” video, where I talk about Visual Kei bands, and the joys of big eyelashes. Please give it a view and a YouTube Like.

Do you like my first look from Luisaviaroma? What do you think of the MAC makeup? Funny how many found it extreme, but in the subculture, it’s a day in the life…

Album of the Day: The Cure – Disintegration (Remastered)

I’m a nail art addict. If you’ve been following my blog or Twitter, you’ll know that I love to create my own DIY designs.

But there’s only so much you can do at home. For special occasions, I head to Bling Nails in Vancouver, Canada. Here’s a step-by-step look at my fingernail transformation. (Bone hair clip and heart necklace gifted from SassynPunk.)

Did you know there’s a huge variety of pro products and techniques? I avoid acrylic nails because they have to be filed off, and weaken the nail’s surface. I like Bio Sculpture Gel: it’s free of harmful chemicals, and keeps the underlying nail healthy.

Bio Sculpture Gel doesn’t chip off like regular polish, so your manicure is perfect for a month or more. To remove it, return to the salon and soak your hands in a special solution.

Purple skull sweater: Candy Stripper, from Closet Child Tokyo.

My nail technician (also wearing Bio Sculpture Gel) preps my nails and cuticles. She paints half of the nail purple, and the other half sparkly. I put my hands under a UV light for a few minutes, to set it.

Next, she carefully arranges gems on the nail, securing them with glue. A top coat for shine, and I’m done.

The process takes about an hour, and I ask a lot of questions along the way (I’m so curious about nail art techniques, and learn something new each time!)

A month later, my nails are still in A+ condition. You can see the growth at the bottom, but there’s no chipping and the glossiness remains. Yah-tah-tah.

Have you ever gotten your nails done at a salon? Did you try fun designs, or long-lasting products like acrylics? How did you feel about the experience?

PS: I’m currently traveling around Italy (Modena with DNR, Rome, Florence for Luisaviaroma) — I invite you to keep track of my updates via Twitter.

Album of the Day: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral