It’s October, which means it’s socially acceptable to start thinking about your Halloween costume (even though I’ve been thinking about mine since November 1st of last year). Halloween lovers know this is one of the most fun and difficult activities to do this month. It’s always a challenge to think of something original and gather all the pieces for it—not to mention store-bought costumes can be extremely expensive. A trick I’ve learned is that you can wear the most basic outfit that you threw together in five minutes and still have an amazing costume with the power of your makeup. Makeup is my favorite thing about this holiday because you really have the freedom to step out of your comfort zone. Making your makeup the focal point of your costume is an easy and less expensive way to have the best costume at the party! Here are some hot/popular looks with tricks you can incorporate into any Halloween costume:
1. Animal makeup looks
Ah, the oldest trick in the world. Throw together a regular outfit, animal ears and boom, you’re some type of animal for Halloween. This is a popular choice for most people and others stray away from this because it’s been done so many times. Using makeup, you can make any basic animal look an awesome costume everyone will love! In the tutorial of a cat makeup look linked below, the eyeshadow application, angled winged eyeliner and the inner corner eyeshadow give the effect of cat eyes. Giving your eyes a new shape using these techniques can help recreate any animal you’re going for! Shading and contouring your nose, cheekbones, and forehead will also intensify the face shape of the animal you’re trying to be. Adding some details to your face, such as spots, whiskers or hair strokes, can also add a little something extra to make your animal makeup look even better! Check out this tutorial to get the look:
2. Glittery/colorful makeup looks
I’ll admit, I’m guilty of wearing the same neutral eye look every day. But on Halloween…my colorful shadows get a night out on the town. This is the holiday to break out your colorful palettes that sit in the back of your makeup drawer and have some fun with an over the top eye look! Applying some rhinestones or glitter (using glitter glue) to the eyes, face or even on the lips is a similar technique that’s fun and a great way to add some attention to your costume. Want to be an alien? A fairy? Or maybe a unicorn? Throw on a colorful eye makeup look and some glitter and your costume is sure to thrive. Because adding glitter makes everything better, am I right? These techniques can be used for so many different costume ideas! This mermaid look is very fun and colorful, and I love the use of the fishnet tights to create mermaid-style scales on the side of the face!
3. Special FX makeup looks
This is my all-time favorite part of Halloween. I love experimenting with FX makeup because there are so many different looks that can be created with it! Whether it’s a vampire, werewolf, zombie, or gory look you’re going for, FX makeup is the way to go. Liquid latex and a cream paint pallet are all you really need from any Halloween store for most beginner FX makeup looks, and they’re fairly inexpensive. There are many tutorials on YouTube of all different types of scary makeup looks using these two products that are very easy to follow and achieve! FX makeup is not only great to create a scary makeup look, but also a way to add a fun twist to your basic-glam costume!
This is the best time of the year to experiment with makeup, whether you’re a pro artist or a beginner. So, step out of your comfort zone, save the money on the extravagant costume, and have fun creating your makeup look this Halloween!Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6