Pretty Yet Spooky: 5 Halloween Makeup Ideas
Fall is right around the corner, which means one thing: Time to start brainstorming your Halloween costume. This holiday is the perfect opportunity to flex your creative muscles and try out bold new makeup looks. Whether your costume is spooky or sweet, the right makeup can make or break your look.
We’ve gathered up all of our favorite Halloween makeup ideas right here – keep reading for the full guide.
1. Harry Potter Makeup
Your Hogwarts invitation might have gotten lost in the mail, but you can still dress the part this Halloween with Hogwarts House-themed makeup. (In fact, our Harry Potter x SHEGLAM collection is perfect for this!)
The eyes are the star of the show with this look, so we recommend starting off with a simple base of primer or skin tint, such as our Pore Eraser Blurring Stick. Once you’re ready to begin the eyes, it’s time for the fun part: choosing what House you’ll be repping.
For this tutorial, we’ll use the Slytherin House palette to recreate a Slytherin student look. But don’t worry – the same principles can be applied to whichever House the Sorting Hat puts you in.
Start by blending out the lightest matte shade in the palette across your entire eyelid. For the Slytherin palette, this would be the shade “Leadership.” Next, take the darkest shade – in this case, shade “Destiny” – and, using an angled brush, blend it out and upwards from your lash line, mimicking the shape of winged eyeliner.
For a really dramatic look, you can sweep this dark shade back over your crease, just below the brow bone.
Using the same brush, blend the sparkly star-of-the-show shade (shade “Cunning” on the Slytherin palette) from the middle of your eyelid out towards the darker edge. The goal is to create a soft, smokey eye with that sparkly green taking up the most real estate on your eyelid. If necessary, take a clean brush and buff out the shadow around and onto your brow bone until it looks sufficiently blended.
Finally, take the lightest shade on the palette – shade “Ambition” – and use your finger to dot it into the inner corner of your eyes. Highlighting the inner corner creates depth and contrast, not to mention some added sparkle! Curl your lashes, and voila – your Harry Potter look is complete.
2. Beetlejuice Makeup
Whether you’ve been drawn in by the Beetlejuice sequel or are loyal to the original, there’s no denying that this is a classic Halloween costume — but getting the makeup just right can be a bit tricky (hello, mossy hairline).
Nailing this look requires a lot of product, so it’s important to start by prepping your skin with moisturizer and a high-quality primer, such as our staff favorite Good Grip Hydrating Primer. This juicy, moisturizing primer will help protect your skin and keep your makeup in place all night long.
To achieve Beetlejuice’s signature corpse-white complexion, use a foundation brush to go all over with white face paint, blending down over your jaw and onto the neck. Next, use a sponge to dab green face paint around the perimeter of your face, particularly the hairline. (We adore a good sparkly green shadow, such as the one in our Slytherin House palette, but we recommend sticking with matte shades for this particular look.)
Finish out the look with a deep purple eyeshadow across your eyelids and lower lash line. We particularly love the gorgeous violet shade “Swim for the Win” from the Fin Within palette for this.
Don’t be afraid to get messy – being Beetlejuice is about embracing the chaos of it all… not coloring within the lines.
3. Deer Makeup
You won’t be caught in the headlights on Halloween with this sweet and simple look. Start off by prepping your skin with a matte foundation, like our long-lasting Complexion Pro Foundation.
The deer makeup look calls for a bronzed, blushy glow, so grab your favorite angled brush and sweep your favorite shade of blush across and around your cheekbones. (Pro tip: For added dimension, try using a blush palette to layer two shades on top of each other.)
Next, take some white face paint and gently dab it in small circles across the tops of your cheekbones and up through your temples to mimic the look of a fawn’s white-spotted coat. Using dark brown face paint or matte brown eyeshadow, smudge your upper lip and the tip of your nose. (The shade “Patience” from our Hufflepuff House palette is perfect for this, FYI.)
Round out the deer makeup by accentuating your doe eyes with your favorite pair of falsies and some liquid liner, such as our Pro Precision Liquid Liner. We guarantee your friends will be positively fawning over you with this sweet makeup look.
4. Clown Makeup
When it comes to rocking a clown costume, you’ve got options. You can go classic clown with the thick white face paint and frown, doll it up in a more modern Harley Quinn look, or try something in the middle. Either way, this costume calls for face paint, so you’ll want to start by moisturizing and priming your skin.
If you’re dressing up as a traditional clown, use a foundation brush to apply white face paint all over your face, blending down onto your neck. For a more subtle look, you can use a light layer of matte, breathable foundation to create a base for the rest of the face paint.
Next, sweep a thick layer of blush across the tops of your cheekbones. Don’t be afraid to overdo it – the drama is the point here. Using your favorite creamy black eyeliner, line your upper and lower water lines (and again, don’t worry about getting a bit messy with it).
Take your favorite liquid eyeliner or black face paint to apply triangular accents above your eyebrows and below your eyes. A word of advice – it might take some practice to get these accents right, so don’t be afraid to practice your makeup a few times before the actual day of Halloween.
Last but not least are the lips. Using the same liquid eyeliner or black face paint, line your lips, tracing upwards to just below the apples of your cheeks. We recommend starting subtle and gradually adding thickness until you reach your desired level of creepy.
Finally, finish off the look with matte red lipstick and a stay-all-night lip gloss, such as our Magic Elixir Lipgloss, formulated with thyme to nourish and smooth your lips.
5. Cruella de Vil Makeup
Of all the Disney villains, few are more iconic than the Dalmatian-obsessed Cruella de Vil. This is a look that’s not only instantly recognizable, but also fairly easy to pull off.
The key to this look is in the contour. Once you’ve prepped and primed your skin, go in with a contour stick and trace the hollows of your cheeks up onto your temples. We recommend our butter-soft Glowin’ Up Skin Stick, perfect for the kind of sculpted look you’ll want to achieve for this costume.
Typically, we’d recommend thoroughly buffing out the contour with a sponge or beauty blender of choice, but harsh, dramatic cheekbones are key for this look. No rosy glow for Cruella – she’s all business.
Next are Cruella’s trademark green eyes. Take an eyeshadow brush and lightly buff out your lids with green eyeshadow, making it as subtle or dramatic as you like. (We particularly love the shade “Iced Matcha” from our Vacation Daze Tropi-Cali palette for this.)
Blend all the way up to your brow bone. Then, use a dark brown eyebrow pencil to create Cruella’s classic sculpted, arched brows. (If you’re a natural blonde and don’t want to commit to dark brows, consider using a shade one step darker than your usual eyebrow pencil.)
If you feel like amping up the drama, add some falsies and winged liner. Then, it’s time for the final step – Cruella’s iconic red lips. Use a dark red matte shade for the base, such as our super-saturated Dynamatte Boom Lipstick in the shade “It Takes Guts.”
Let the color set, then apply a tinted lip gloss over the base for maximum staying (and slaying) power. Spritz the whole look with setting spray, and you’re ready to rock the costume contest.
And there you have it – five of our favorite Halloween makeup ideas, from pretty to spooky.
Whether you end up using our makeup ideas or doing your own thing, we want to see your look. Be sure to tag us on social media @sheglam_official!