As leaves ignite with vibrant colors, the air grows brisk, and pumpkin spice lattes are steamed and sipped, the incessant autumnal essence reminds us of the fast-approaching holiday of frights and tights: Halloween. Admittedly, dressing up in elaborate costumes isn’t quite for everyone—but to stay in the spirit of Halloween, we can always turn to makeup to either keep the costume simple, or embellish upon an already ornate look. Whether you want to ambitiously take on any of these Halloween makeup creations, or just dote over their artistry, here are Pinterest’s most impressive makeup looks—and how you can recreate them.
Mermaid
To make this look a part of your world, take a fishnet stocking and stretch it over your face. Using bright eye shadows, highlighter, and a foundation brush, dab deep blue and purple shadows along your forehead, the hollows of your cheeks, and along your jawline. Gradually start to add shimmery sea foam and hot pink colors as you approach the more centered parts of your face, followed by a pearly or iridescent white in the regions where you would normally highlight. Remember to tap with the brush, not swipe—doing so will disrupt the pattern created by the fishnet and cause the look to become streaky.
Not-Your-Basic Cat
For a far more fierce approach to the ordinary feline costume, start by applying a light-toned concealer underneath your eyes. Apply this in an upside-down triangle (or ice cream cone) shape, and blend. Contour using a bronze-terracotta color in the hollows of your cheeks, hairline, and chin. For the eyes, extend your classic cat eye out much farther than you ordinarily would. On the inner corner, extend the eyeliner down past your tear duct—then on the lower lash line, take this same black liner and join it to a point with your upper liner. Use eyeliner to color in the lower brim of your nose, and draw a thin line extending down to your cupid’s bow. Take a black lip liner to completely fill in only your upper lip, and continue to draw upwards and out, creating a subtle smile shape on either side of your mouth. Draw on some freckles and whiskers to complete this look.
Doe, a Deer
Calling all contour connoisseurs! This is the perfect look to put your contouring skills on display. In a similar fashion to our cat makeup, apply a very light concealer underneath your eyes and chin, as well as along the front of your nose up to the center of your forehead—then blend, blend, blend. Take a warm brown color in a C-shape from your hairline, swooping down into the hollows of your cheeks. Then take that same color along the sides of your nose, extending up into your brow bones. Create a bold cat eye with your favorite liquid liner—and this time, we’re extending the liner past the tear duct and slightly downward, parallel to your nose. Layer white liner on top of your cat eye, and then use the same color to create a reverse cat eye on your lower lash line—drawing a thick layer just underneath the eye, and then flicking it down in the inner corner to meet the same point as your original black liner. Use a white liner or white face paint to add freckles along your hairline, cheekbones, and across your nose—and voila!
Lichtenstein Pop Art
To create this comic-inspired creation, first apply a matte foundation to create the appearance of a two-dimensional canvas. Use a bright red matte lipstick to fill in your pout, then take a white crayon liner (or face paint) and draw a small streak along your lower lip to give your lips a little more volume. Using that same white crayon liner, color medium-sized polka dots across your entire face and neck. Then, use a thick, black crayon liner to outline your lips and eyes, and trace along your jawline, neck, and collarbone. Draw a single black streak down the center of your nose, and a small C shape along your nose’s outer rims. For added flair, paint on a bright red word burst with yellow bubble letters saying POW, BAM, or something of the sort.
Cracked Porcelain
Start by choosing a central point on your face—this is where the rest of the shatters will come from—and color in one small, geometric shape with a black crayon liner. From there, draw a series of jagged lines with the black liner, and then continue to draw other jagged lines branching off from these main ones. You’ll want to make the cracked “pieces” smaller and more shattered towards your central point, then have them grow increasingly large and less ruptured as you branch outward. At the intersection of two or more lines, make sure you draw them on a bit thicker to round them out and create the appearance of separation. To add dimension, take either a light brown eye shadow or eyeliner and dust it along one side of your black lines, then take a lighter white color along the other side.
Bride of Frankenstein
To look like this vampy vixen, take a black eyeliner and draw on a series of lines and X-shapes, creating the appearance of stitching. You’ll want to draw this in a continual line, starting at your jawline, curving outward and upward along your cheekbone, and then swooping in towards your brow bone and hairline. Using the same technique as with our cracked porcelain look, take a light brown pencil or shadow to dust along the outer edge of the stitches to evoke depth, and use a white pencil on the inner edge for added dimension. Use a cool-toned or gray shadow to contour the hollows of your cheeks. Pat a white or light gray eye shadow on your eyelid, then contrast this by blending a smoky black into your crease, paired with a sharp cat eye. Add the finishing touches of black lipstick, and use hair chalk to add a white streak in your hair—which you’ll want to pull up for this look.
Severed Head
For a look that’s sure to turn some heads, you’ll need some patience, and may want to refer to this video for an extra visual. Start by taking a nude colored liner to outline the ripped skin on your neck. At the base of your neck, draw a curved line behind the “rips” to section off where the red, internal flesh would be. Use black face paint to color in the entire rest of your neck, behind the skin rips. In the lower portion that you’ve sectioned off for the flesh, use red face paint or a liquid lipstick to fill this in, then dab in some black, maroon, and darker tones to add value—and be sure to add some darker shades where any shadows would naturally be cast. On the ripped skin areas, dust some bronzer or brown eye shadow along the edges to make realistic depth, and then lightly dab some fake blood along varied portions of your neck/face. Pair this look with a deep smoky eye, and prepare to make people scream!
Flip-Face
For the artist that wants to confuse and confound others this Halloween, this is the way to go. Start by taking black face paint or eyeliner, and draw a jagged line extending from your right jawline to your left hairline, then use your finger to blend it out on one side only, reducing any severe harshness. Use concealer that matches your skin tone well to completely cover up your right eyebrow, and then lightly fill in the left one as you would normally do. On your left eye, wing out eyeliner as per usual, and then apply some warm-toned eye shadow, making sure to darken the crease. You’ll also want to apply your favorite false lashes, and then add a dark brown kohl liner to the outer section of your lower lash line. On the right eye, you’re essentially creating the same look—only upside-down. Start by applying the same kohl liner to your upper lash line, and then draw your winged eyeliner on the lower lash line—but this time, be sure to flick the wing downward. Use the same crease color just below your eye to create the façade of an eyelid. Use a brow pencil to draw in a fake eyebrow, which should fall around your upper cheekbone. Start by outlining the Nike swoosh shape, and then gradually build up the follicles by adding wispy strokes. To finish off the eyes, add the same set of false lashes to your lower lashes. To draw on your upside-down nose and lips, we recommend checking out this video (the nose/lips portion starts at 7:24) for a more visual tutorial. To finish off the upside-down lips, fill them in with the same lipstick shade that you’re applying to your actual lips, but make sure to blend in white liner to add some highlight towards the center, and blend in black at the corners and creases to create a more realistic aesthetic.
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