Halloween is just around the corner. This means most of us are scrambling to find the perfect costume (or three, depending on how many parties you’re going to). Surprisingly, I figured out my costume with plenty of time to plan out my makeup for this year’s Halloween festivities.
While most are excited for Halloween because it is a time to dress-up, I am excited at the prospect of doing my makeup differently. While guys might disagree, makeup is what makes a Halloween costume stand out and I know I’m not alone in this sentiment. Kyra Wennersten, junior Mass Communication and Media Studies student at ASU, also enjoys taking a walk on the unusual side for Halloween makeup.
Kyra’s interest in makeup started at a young age and developed throughout high school. Her experimentation with makeup began when she started doing photo shoots in her basement. One day she used makeup to give herself a black eye and fake bloody nose. Since then she has worked on more complex looks, like aliens and zombies because she enjoys the challenge of creating new crazy looks.
Kyra’s bruised look
Kyra’s “Alien Invasion” look, which can be found on her blog
“It was kind of fun to walk upstairs [from the basement] and see my parents’ reactions— now they’re used to it,” Kyra said.
Upon coming to ASU, she noticed a lack of opportunities for fashion and beauty blogging, so she created her own called Begonia Sky.
Kyra says her looks are inspired by movie characters and her love of zombies, but she aims to add a unique twist to them. Her looks take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on how complex they are.
Her Halloween makeup staples include gel blood and the Zombie Victim stack of grease makeup. The gel blood is great because it’s reusable, therefore cost efficient for our college pocketbooks. While these products can be found at party supply stores, Kyra said she also makes use of eye shadows and lipsticks she already owns.
According to Kyra we can expect to see lots of vampires and zombies this Halloween because the increase in zombie walks around Halloween has created this trend.
A couple simple Halloween looks Kyra suggests are the vampire look or Kyra’s “Deadly Intentions” look. For the vampy look all you need is a pale face, smoky eye, dark lipstick and some fake blood.
Deadly Intentions look
Kyra recommends mixing in black eyeliner or eyeshadow to add dimension to light, runny fake blood and making your makeup looks out of products you already have around your house.
“Don’t feel like you need to spend a ton of money on liquid latex and other products. The same look can be achieved with things you find at home,” Kyra said. “I created a zombie look for my mom and used toilet paper and glue to add texture. If the look doesn’t turn out exactly how you want it to, don’t stress. It takes practice. “
Kyra says she would love to one day work in the beauty or fashion industry.
“Ideally I’d love to work for Nylon Magazine, Fashionista or Glitter Guide. But lately I’ve been thinking about how incredible it would be to be a makeup artist for horror films.”
This year one of Kyra’s costumes is the Corpse Bride, which requires all of her exposed skin to appear blue in color. Her second costume is a film noir star, which also requires all of her exposed skin to be an unnatural grey color.
What are you going as for Halloween? Share your makeup blueprints with us!