With Halloween coming up, the question on just about everybody’s mind is “what should I be?” Dressing up is easily the best thing about this spooky holiday, but oftentimes it can put a hole in your bank account, especially if you’re really into make-up and want to do something detailed and amazing. Halloween make-up, the good kind that won’t ruin or stain your skin, can be incredibly expensive. But don’t worry! You don’t have to look any further than the makeup aisle at your local drug store for these looks.
1. Fawn
Fawn is the best default look to go for. It’s quick, it’s simple, and the end result is absolutely adorable. Really all you have to do is apply a bunch of contour around the edges of your face, making your face look slimmer and softer while also darkening up your features like fur. Personally, I always draw my eyebrows on darker and sharper than I normally would, but that’s a personal preference. You’ll want to contour sharply down the sides of your nose, making it look longer and thinner. Then all you have to do is color the tip of your nose and top lip black, pop on some killer eyeliner and you’re all done! (Tip: flower crowns are an adorable pair with this look.)
2. Broken Doll
If you’re looking for something a little creepier, a broken doll is the way to go. There is nothing scarier than a cracked and dirty porcelain doll, especially one with soulless, blank eyes and the smallest smile. For this look, you will need to make your skin as pale as you possibly can – luckily, I naturally have that down. If you decide to contour, you’ll want to do it as little as possible, focusing on making your face rounder and smaller. Freckles are an adorable touch! Draw on some sharp eyeliner to extend your eyes and some white eyeliner on your waterline to make them appear wider. Add some pink lipstick and you’re done with the doll portion. Now, the cracks are super simple. Take a black eyeliner and drawing thin, shaky lines across whatever portion of the face you want – make sure you have a center, where all the cracks originate from. I like to take a few spots and add holes where pieces would have fallen off. Once you’ve done that, take some light brown eyeshadow and blend it around one side of the edges, leaving space between the crack. Then, take the white eyeliner again and add it along the space you left and you’re done!
3. Clown
This one can be taken either creepy or cute, but for this, we’re going creepy. Again, you’ll want to make your face as pale as possible. For this, I started off with my normal routine – regular contour, eyeliner, mascara, etc. – only I made my eyebrows darker than I normally would, made my blush super intense, and added black eyeliner along my waterline, closing my eyes off. Then taking black eyeliner, I carefully lined a triangle above my eyebrows, and three underneath my eyes, filling them in with black. I placed little dots at the points of all of the triangles with red lipstick. I popped some red eyeshadow along the triangles under my eyes to amp up the creepy effect. Then I moved onto my lips, starting off with a bold red shade and filling them in normally. Then taking my black eyeliner again, I drew extensions starting from the corners, drawing it out across my cheeks into a Joker-like smile. I filled the lines in with black and blended the black into the red lipstick for an ombre effect. Pop on some wicked contacts (or just edit your eyes if it’s just for a picture) and you’re all done!
4. Witch
This one is super simple. Again, you’ll want to make yourself super pale – even more so this time. I try to keep the features on this super dull, so instead of the lively brown I usually use for contour, I tried a gray-brown (you can even use plain gray if you’re feeling it.) I use that to slim down my face and nose as normal. Onto the eyes, you want to add white eyeliner on your waterline and do your eyeliner a little sharper and holder than normal. You want to close that off again, drawing black right under your waterline, bringing it to a point under your tear ducts. If you’re feeling it, you can do a nice smoky eye to go with this. I tend to fill my eyes in darker than normal. Then, throw on some dark lipstick – red, purple, or even black – and move onto the part that makes it witchy. You’ll want to carefully draw a crescent moon on your forehead, right above your eyebrows, and fill it in with black. Pop in some white contacts and you’re done!
5. Mermaid
If you’re feeling Little Mermaid vibes, this look is super simple. You’ll want to pick a color scheme and for this one, I chose blue. I start off with my normal foundation and powder, but skip contouring for now. I fill in my eyebrows with blue and blend blue eyeshadow on my lid. I do my eyeliner as normal and add white on my waterline, then blend that same eyeshadow just underneath that. This is where it gets a little weird. You want to take some fishnets – or something similar – and pull it over your head, covering your face. Yes, seriously. Using one hand to hold that in place, take different shades of whatever color you’re using – or different colors, if you’re going multi-colored – and dab it all along the parts you would normally contour. Dab, don’t blend! If you blend, it will all smudge and none of the shapes will come out right. When you’re done, make sure you carefully remove the fishnet so as not to smudge the makeup. I like to take it, hold it to my mouth, and dab the eyeshadow over my lips. Add some shimmer, grab your tail, and you’re all set!
Now that I have shared my personal makeup looks, I hope I have inspired you to go out and create your own. Whether you veer on the side of creepy or cute, let these ideas add a fantastically spooky effect to your Halloween this year!
All photos courtesy of Jaelynn Hart