How You Can Make(up) Your Costume This Spooky Season
by Jessica Brite
If you’re having trouble finding a Halloween costume this year, try and think a little more untraditional. Rather than spending money on pieces of clothing that you’re only going to wear once, pull out your eyeshadow palettes and get creative. With makeup you can turn any combination of pants and shirt, skirt and blouse, or dress into a fun and festive costume. The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating your own “costume” out of makeup, and here are some styles to help you get inspired.
If you are getting ready on a time crunch or still a beginner with makeup products, don’t worry — there are plenty of cute and easy makeup costumes. With some neutral eyeshadow and a black eyeliner, virtually any combination of leggings and a t-shirt could be transformed into an animal costume. If you use eyeliner to draw on whiskers, a thick eyeliner, and a cute little nose, can easily become a cat. Similarly, you can transform yourself into a scarecrow by drawing some patches and stitches on your face with orange blush and donning a denim outfit paired with a flannel. To glam any of these looks up, try a smokey eye with glitter on the lids and a pair of fluttery lashes. For a scarier costume, try a vampire makeup look. Using cooler toned eyeshadows to contour your face, red eyeshadow to create veins and shadows around your eves, and red lipstick to give the appearance of fake blood, you can turn yourself into a vampire straight out of a movie. These makeup looks are a cheaper alternative to overpriced, cheaply made costumes.
If you’re feeling adventurous, using color variety and makeup techniques can take your look to the next level. While these costume ideas are a little harder technique-wise, they make for an awesome costume. With IT Chapter Two’s recent release, Pennywise is once again floating around social media in all sorts of memes, videos, and pictures. To transform into Pennywise, all you need is some red and black eyeshadow to create the scar marks on his face, and a bright red lipstick to imitate his creepy smile. The best part about using makeup to create your costume is that you can customize your look. For example, if you wanted to stick to the traditional Pennywise, use white face paint to give your complexion the same clown mask effect. For a more modern glam look, black glitter and a pair of lashes can produce an update spin on Pennywise. For those that are not a fan of scary Halloween costumes, playing with lighter colors and jewels can help you create a light and fun costume. With a pair of fishnet leggings and some pastel makeup, you could create the perfect mermaid costume. To create the look of scales for a mermaid costume, take the fishnet leggings and hold them over a section of your face. Then using an eyeshadow brush with pastel pigment, shade over the fishnets. To complete the look, use the same colors to create a fun eyeshadow look and beads or jewels to emphasize your facial features. Another easy costume is a doll — all you need is a babydoll dress and some white eyeliner. To imitate doll-like features, start off with your typical makeup routine and add some white eyeliner along your bottom lashline to create wider eyes and a little extra blush. With makeup, virtually any costume is possible!
Another alternative is to allow your makeup to become a costume of its own, rather than trying to imitate a pre-existing character or look. With makeup looks becoming ever more creative and art-driven, you can find inspiration all over Instagram and Youtube with different styles you can try out. One style you could go for is a statement eye look. Using a variety of eyeshadow colors, glitters, or an assortment of colored eyeliners, creating an extravagant look can be a costume all on its own. Another type of costume is using makeup to draw or create graphics on your face — not only does it make for a cool and unique costume, but it allows you to show off your artistic creativity. Some creative looks involve flowers, rainbows, flames, and even drawing actual characters on the face. These facial graphics, paired with a similarly colored eyeshadow, create a cohesive and beautiful halloween look.
If you’re feeling adventurous, using color variety and makeup techniques can take your look to the next level. While these costume ideas are a little harder technique-wise, they make for an awesome costume. With IT Chapter Two’s recent release, Pennywise is once again floating around social media in all sorts of memes, videos, and pictures. To transform into Pennywise, all you need is some red and black eyeshadow to create the scar marks on his face, and a bright red lipstick to imitate his creepy smile. The best part about using makeup to create your costume is that you can customize your look. For example, if you wanted to stick to the traditional Pennywise, use white face paint to give your complexion the same clown mask effect. For a more modern glam look, black glitter and a pair of lashes can produce an update spin on Pennywise. For those that are not a fan of scary Halloween costumes, playing with lighter colors and jewels can help you create a light and fun costume. With a pair of fishnet leggings and some pastel makeup, you could create the perfect mermaid costume. To create the look of scales for a mermaid costume, take the fishnet leggings and hold them over a section of your face. Then using an eyeshadow brush with pastel pigment, shade over the fishnets. To complete the look, use the same colors to create a fun eyeshadow look and beads or jewels to emphasize your facial features. Another easy costume is a doll — all you need is a babydoll dress and some white eyeliner. To imitate doll-like features, start off with your typical makeup routine and add some white eyeliner along your bottom lashline to create wider eyes and a little extra blush. With makeup, virtually any costume is possible!
Another alternative is to allow your makeup to become a costume of its own, rather than trying to imitate a pre-existing character or look. With makeup looks becoming ever more creative and art-driven, you can find inspiration all over Instagram and Youtube with different styles you can try out. One style you could go for is a statement eye look. Using a variety of eyeshadow colors, glitters, or an assortment of colored eyeliners, creating an extravagant look can be a costume all on its own. Another type of costume is using makeup to draw or create graphics on your face — not only does it make for a cool and unique costume, but it allows you to show off your artistic creativity. Some creative looks involve flowers, rainbows, flames, and even drawing actual characters on the face. These facial graphics, paired with a similarly colored eyeshadow, create a cohesive and beautiful halloween look.
