Halloween is increasingly big business. Record-breaking spending of US$12.2bn is forecast in the US this year – but the holiday has become increasingly mainstream, and costly, elsewhere too.
Australians are forecast to spend a collective A$490m celebrating Halloween in 2023, up 14% on last year. In a survey conducted with Roy Morgan, the Australian Retailers Association found that people intended to spend about $93 a person; just under half of those surveyed planned to buy a costume. Meanwhile, Statistia tips UK spending will surpass £1bn for the first time this year.
But if you’re tightening the proverbial belt, or would rather not buy a disposable outfit, adding creepy makeup to an outfit you already own is a simple way to look frightful without a scary price tag.
Here makeup artists share five suggestions for high-impact Halloween makeup that can be created mostly using everyday cosmetics.
1. Zombie
To look undead, The Makeup Studio’s Maria Tsatsoulis suggests starting with primer and foundation, blended all over the face, including the lips. Then apply pale eyeshadow to the whole face, except the eyes, with a fluffy brush. Follow this with “a generous layer of setting powder to lock all products in place”.
“Gently run a black eyeliner pencil under the eye, around the mouth and along the contour points including the cheekbones, jaw, side of the nose and forehead,” she says, then smudge it out using “back-and-forth motions”.
For brows Frankenstein’s monster would envy, take a brow pencil or dark brown eyeliner and “draw in strokes from the bottom of the brow, going upwards in a straight line… and continue this across the brow.”
Want to add extra details like red veins or gold flecks?
Dip a thin, damp eyeliner brush into gold eyeshadow or red lipstick, then “lightly draw in lines, sporadically across the face and under the eyes,” Tsatsoulis suggests.
2. Zipper Face
“This is the perfect look you can whip up fast,” Tsatsoulis says. All you need is a lot of eyeliner, some coloured eyeshadows, eyelash glue and a zipper (readily available from fabric shops) – and it works with whatever outfit you feel like wearing.
If you normally wear makeup, begin with your usual “going-out” look, Tsatsoulis says, then use a black pencil liner to draw “a V-shape in the centre of your face, starting from the bridge of your nose, creating two downward lines on either side of this point, until you reach the middle of the jaw.”
Next, colour in the whole V, lips included. To smudge the black liner out, “take a fluffy medium-sized brush and work it in back-and-forth motions”. Using the same brush, “tap a matte black eyeshadow over the smudged-out eyeliner”.
To give the black area some colour and texture, “dampen a small eyeshadow brush with water and dip it into a gold or plum eyeshadow”. This should create “a paste-like texture that you can use to start stamping the product through your V-shape in any pattern you wish”.
To add the zipper, Tsatsoulis suggests using eyelash glue applied liberally to the edges of the fabric. Wait for 30 seconds, so the glue becomes tacky, then stick it straight on to the outline of the V-shape you created with makeup. Just make sure “the portion of the zipper above the bridge of the nose is zipped up, for the ultimate effect”.
Using metallic tones – on the zip, the eyeshadow or both – will lend the look a more glamorous finish, Tsatsoulis says. You can even add a few gems, sequins or beads, also applied with eyelash glue, to really make the sparkle.
3. Vampire
For the makeup artist Caitlin Orlena Waters, the vampire is a staple look for all ages and genders, no poly-satin cloak required. It can be simple or as elaborate as you want. All it requires is concealer, eye pencil, purple eyeshadow and, of course, blood red lipstick.
The first step is to “create a sickly looking eye”, Orlena Waters says.
Begin by painting the entire eyelid with a base of either concealer or foundation. Then use a deep red or magenta eyeshadow to shade over the eyes, followed by some black eyeshadow to add depth.
When that’s done: “Use a red lipliner pencil to draw thin veins under your eyes, and add a purple or magenta eyeshadow and lightly shade over the veins,” she says. Finish off the eyes by lining them completely in black eye pencil “on the top of your lash line and the inner water line”.
You can use red lipstick to smudge over the lips to create the look of blood, or use a red lipliner pencil to draw little blood drops dribbling from the mouth. Or, Orlena says: “If you want to add fake blood coming from the mouth, you can do that too.”
4. A ghostly base
Mastering a pale face is the gateway to any number of Hollywood Halloween looks, including Wednesday Addams, Jack Skellington and Pennywise the clown.
You will need white cream face paint or a very pale foundation, and black or grey eye shadow. The shadow will be shaded around and under the eyes, to create the appearance of eye bags, Orlena Waters says, but warns: “Don’t go too heavy on the black eyeshadow if you choose to use that … it is hard to remove and start again.”
For Wednesday Addams, opt for nude lips or pale pink gloss (perfect for kids), or dark purple lipstick and “some light contouring around the cheekbones, with grey eyeshadow, to create some depth”. Add a centre part to your hair, a couple of plaits and a mostly black outfit, and you’ve got yourself a costume.
Using grey or black eye shadow to create bigger, darker eye circles and a few strategically placed lines of black eyeliner near the mouth will get any kid looking like the king of Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas; while the face of Stephen King’s murderous clown just requires red lipliner and lipstick smudged together in a swirly pattern over a pale base.
All a bit too scary? A simple Bowie-bolt using cheap, colourful eyeshadow or face paint works a treat over a pale base.
And, for the young ones, you can dispense with a base entirely. The power of a drawn-on snout at the end of a little nose, fanned out with some eyeliner-whiskers should not be underestimated. Cardboard ears and tail optional.
