Halloween Makeup Ideas – Top 5 Makeup Looks for 2023
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| Mar 1, 2022
Introduction
The time has come around again to celebrate Halloween. This often means using the most creative ways possible to recreate some of those iconic Halloween looks or attempt to turn into a favorite horror character from history or film.
Halloween is an international holiday that is traditionally on October 31st each year, and the celebrations come historically from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The evening, known as All Hallows Eve, preceded the designated day to honor all saints (November 1st is All Saints Day) and was a day that people used to ward off ghosts by weaning costumes and lighting fires.
Over time, the traditional celebrations have become somewhat convoluted extensions of the conventional ancient practices and now involve many activities that seem to center around a horror theme (supposedly from the initial connotation of warding off spirits) and now include elements such as:
- Dressing Up
- Lighting Jack O’Lanterns
- Trick or Treating
- Ghoulish Parties
- Celebrating Fall
Halloween has become a massive deal in the make-up industry. While most people will recreate their favorite Halloween looks with the cosmetics they have to hand in the bathroom cabinet, some will go all-out and use professional special effects, make-up artistry paint, and props to create the best Halloween looks going!
Wherever you sit in that spectrum of cosmetic creativity, it’s always best to do your research and plan for your next Halloween make-up look.
Choose a look or character inspiration from magazines and previous make-up looks by professionals and find out which type of look you love and one you can execute properly!
There’s a lot of patience that comes with a Halloween make-up look. You may find yourself using products and techniques you are unfamiliar with, so practice is always a key element to creating the best Halloween look!
But, which look do you go for, and what are the essential components? Here are the top 5 trending Halloween make-up looks for 2022 and some handy hacks on how you can create them flawlessly.
1. The Witch
Possibly the simplest of all the Halloween make-up looks, The Witch requires minimal skills for maximum impact! However, it is a look that requires a full face of make-up, so the key here is making the look last throughout your Halloween event!
The Witch Basics:
- Green Base color all over (you will find that priming, setting, and unique FX make-up will give your green base its longevity here)!
- Blackened eyes – Lining inside and out and smudging a soft Kohl will give a rugged look.
- Wrinkles with liner – we always depict witches as aged and old-looking, so accentuating wrinkles and laughter lines with black liner to deepen the appearance will do the trick (Bad pun, sorry!)
- Black Lips – To highlight the lips for The Witch, apply black lipstick, especially with a matte finish, and your witch is complete!
The Witch Accessories:
A long black wig, full-length cap, and a witch’s broom will complete your witchy look!
2. The Clown
The Clown is the Halloween make-up look that has potentially the most creativity attached; however, it also doesn’t matter if you get it a bit wrong. Scary clowns are all in for Halloween 2022!
Professional make-up artists will love to do this look, as there are so many avenues you can go down with it, such as:
- Glitter
- Crystals
- Sugar Skull-style
- Neon Colors
- Monochrome
- Traditional
The base is always a white face, and oil-based face paint will execute this flawlessly, and the rest is your creativity and flair, or indeed a recreation of some famous not-so-happy-clowns, such as Pennywise or something akin to the Joker from Batman.
The Clown Accessories:
For a scary clown, we are thinking along the lines of ripped and blood-stained suits and shirts, in as crazy colors as you can find, rather than big and funny shoes and flowers that spray water at you!
3. The Black Cat
Black cats are synonymous with Halloween and are said to be the witch’s preferred pet!
The cat look is so simple to execute and, given that the tradition is a black cat, you can guess which color make-up you will need the most of!
The Black Cat Basics:
You will need to make sure you don’t completely “blackout” in this look, and ensure you only highlight with black and accentuate the can features, requiring nothing more than black eyeliner, black eyeshadow, and pink lip color.
Here’s How:
- Accentuate the cat’s eyes by creating a dramatic black-eye effect and an exaggerated cat flick at the corners of the eyes.
- You’ll need a black heart shape drawn on your nose to symbolize a cat’s nose, which you can quickly achieve with an eyeliner.
- To finish your Black Cat Halloween look, you can use the pink lip color in 2 ways, a light blush on the cheeks and a dramatic lip.
The Black Cat Accessories:
For the perfect black cat, you’ll need whiskers, cat ears, and a tail to look authentic, which can be sourced online or from a costume shop, and a black catsuit for a full-on black cat experience!
4. The Vampire
The Vampire look has been used worldwide, thanks to the recent popularity of vampire characters in films and TV shows.
However, the look for Halloween has been used for decades as it is one of the looks that makes a massive impact but is easy to execute (sorry, another pun!) with just a few items that you may already have in your home!
The Vampire Essentials:
For this look, you will need a very pale base, so a porcelain foundation or even a grey/off-white face paint, black shadow or loose pigment for shadowing, and artificial blood or a deep red lipstick to substitute for blood droplets.
The classic look of the vampire is indeed a pale base; they don’t appreciate sunlight, so they need to look like they are deprived of Vitamin D!
A grey/off-white is a must, and you can use the black shadow or pigments to deepen the eye sockets, hollow out the cheeks, and thicken the eyebrows for a theatrical vamp look!
The red, either fake blood or a deep red lippy, can trail down the corners of your mouth (be sure to whiten out the lips for a more dramatic effect, too!).
The Vampire Accessories:
Again, the vampire is easy to get an outfit for, and any dressing-up shop or online will be able to get you what you need!
Vampires tend to have a deep widows-peak, so a slicked-backed wig in a deep black would work well here, along with a high-collared cape that reaches the floor!
And don’t forget the artificial vampire teeth; they are essential to complete the vampire look!
5. The Scary Doll
Dolls are essentially toys for children, right? Sure! But in recent years, dolls have become immortalized into the most iconic horror characters in some terrifying films, so it is an excellent choice for a Halloween make-up look if you dare!
The Scary Doll Essentials:
The doll has some elements that must be kept when trying to do a scary doll look, and these are:
- Pretty hair- pig-tails are ideal, with ribbon ties
- Blush cheeks – an iconic feature of a traditional doll face
- Big lashes – provokes the innocent look
While a doll may seem perfectly easy to execute with regular make-up (and it is!), you may need to think of the scare factor to make them look more suited to the occasion!
You can do this by adding:
- Scars and stitches with black liner
- A “put together” look by creating facial segments with liner – much like a previously broken porcelain doll
- Missing pieces by missing make-up in some parts of your face so you become only part of a doll
The Scary Doll Accessories:
You are looking for the most girlie dress you can find, preferably in gingham with lace, frills, knee-high socks, and any may jane buckled shoes, and have your hair in pig-tails with ribbon bows!
And that is The Scary Doll look!
Conclusion
Halloween is all about taking part and having some fun with a scary undertone, but of course, it has its origins deep in history, so it’s best to respect the occasion for what it is!
Make-up is a crucial element of any Halloween look, and there are so many looks that you can achieve with the products you already have in your bathroom cabinet; if you don’t have them, you can easily find something online to fit your needs!
The most important thing you can do with a Halloween make-up look is practice! But don’t stress too much over mistakes, as it’s Halloween, and minor mistakes may make the make-up look even more authentic! Unless you are a professional, minor errors are entirely ok!
So pick your look, find your make-up toolkit, and have fun! And remember, the scarier, the better!
