7 Easy Halloween Makeup Looks to Sport this Spooky Season
Even though autumn is the season of pumpkin spice, makeup enthusiasts ditch the autumnal colors for one night only — Halloween. As October comes to an end, all streams of social media are flooded with ghoulishly but glamorous beauty ideas fit for the festivities. Thankfully, social platforms can serve as inspiration when you can’t seem to find the perfectly stylish (but scary) glam.
Sit back and get ready for the spooky season as EnVi takes you through seven makeup looks to try for Halloween.
Spooky Abstract Liner
This fall, there’s only one thing on beauty lovers’ minds — graphic liner. In 2023, this trend has dominated beauty spaces and even reached Fashion Weeks all over the globe and hit music videos. Halloween takes graphic liner to the dark side with spooky designs such as inky spider webs and haunted hearts.
Courtesy of a trusty liner, Halloween motifs can bring to life the perfect minimalist look with a maximalist effect. Matte skin serves as the perfect, smudge-free canvas, so you can start with a little bit of setting powder. Then, doodle on shapes to your heart’s desire with your preferred eyeliner. The options are limitless, from spider webs to blood stains. Lastly, finish off this makeup routine with a few stipples of blush and a vampy lip of choice.
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Skeletons in Your Makeup Bag
Skeletons definitely don’t belong in your closet, but they can keep good company in your makeup bag this Halloween. Skeleton glam is a staple in the spooky season due to its use of colors, textures, and 3D appliques. In recent years, this popular makeup has even found inspiration in the historical Mexican figures known as Catrinas. Their flamboyant look is a staple during Mexico’s celebrations for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). However, due to its prevalence in popular culture, the Catrina glam has also found its way into Halloween.
Put your own spin on skull makeup, mixing styles or respectfully borrow elements from the Catrina look for this idea. For starters, a good set of body and face paint is needed to sketch out the outline of the skeleton. Traditionally, black and bold colors are used, but lighter colors can create an out-of-worldly effect.
For a soft reinterpretation, people skip the face paint and buff bold eyeshadows around the eye sockets and hollows of the cheeks. However, a strong skeleton mouth is non-negotiable. Liquid lipstick and face gems make for a long-lasting, party-approved pout. As a final step, makeup artists usually collect the flashiest items and embellish the face with flowers, rhinestones, and sequins.
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Body Paint
Face Jewels
Channel Your Inner Butterfly
In the words of Mariah Carey, “spread your wings and fly,” with this feminine Y2K-inspired glam. Throwing it back to the beauty looks from the teen drama Euphoria, the butterfly trend is reappearing this spooky season. This trend is perfect for those who want to channel their softer side this Halloween and skip the dramatic face paint and gore.
Options are endless, but face gems and face paint can be used interchangeably or together for this look. Channeling the Y2K pop queens, iridescent, translucent shadows swept across the cheekbones and eye area serve as the ideal base. Then, face gems can be scattered across the orbital bones for a high-shine party look. Finally, the wings can be outlined with face paint for an extravagant Halloween flare.
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Face Paint
Face Jewels
Vampy Glam
Thanks to Gen Z pop princess, Olivia Rodrigo, the world has been experiencing a case of vampire fever and it isn’t ending anytime soon. Inspired by the muddling gorey radio tunes and New York Fashion Week beauty trends, you can sport all shades of red with this vampy beauty routine.
Scarlet, maroon, and black eyeshadows are a must to create a vampy smokey eye. Then, to add a touch of drama, midnight black liner and spider lashes top off the hollowed-out eye look. The glam continues with a painted, scarlet lip. If a bold red lip isn’t your cup of tea, draw a few drops of blood onto nude lipstick for an equally striking look. To finish this femme fatale makeup, you can also stamp on scratches and rhinestones.
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Mermaid Maven
It’s almost the end of 2023, but the summer’s favorite trend (Mermaidcore) is making one last appearance. For Halloween, put down the smokey eyeliner and marsala lipstick to splash into turquoise, cyans, and powder blue eyeshadows. With a shimmery wet appearance and opalescent pigment, mermaid beauty truly stands apart from other Allhallows Eve looks.
Honing in on the aquatic color palette, beauty enthusiasts usually diffuse shimmery turquoise eyeshadow to create a Little Mermaid-approved base. Then, the detail work starts by sketching the face with dark blue, gray, and purple pigments. During this step, some artists even utilize fishnets to create the appearance of fish scales. Giving a dewy, ocean glow, highlighters are generously tapped on the face. To add to the Halloween extravagance, some opt to complement their glam with pearls, piercings and a wet-hair look.
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Stickers
Eyeshadow Palette
Zombies Galore
“The Walking Dead, but make it glam,” is not a tall ask for everybody during Halloween season. Donning body paint with a galore of stitches, you can turn zombie makeup into the perfect bold beauty statement. This look is quintessentially funky, but feminine and serves as a nod to horror films such as The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
Start with a generous amount of unnatural-hued foundation — namely white, green or both — to give the skin a zombie-like appearance. Sweeping smokey gray and black eyeshadow, deepen the eye sockets and contours of the face. Then, coat the lips in a nude shade or sport a deep red lip for a cartoon effect. Draw on stitches or dab on fake blood to create wounds as an extra spooky touch.
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Cream Makeup
Shadow Palette
Cute Critters
With gorey makeup looks all over social media, you might be tempted to try a fresh and cute makeover for Halloween. Add a nostalgic touch to the festivities by sporting glam inspired by cute critters from childhood classic movies. Adorable and fresh, this makeup is perfect for those in a time crunch.
After selecting the animation of choice, makeup artists go for neutral-toned eyeshadow to restructure the face. To bring the drawing to life, add highlighter on the high points of the face and the tip of the noise. To illustrate a cute critter face, line the lips and nose — use brown or black liner to create a 2D appearance. Finally, pat rose pink blush for a flush of color.
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From spooky skeletons to flirtatious butterflies, there is truly a look for everyone this Halloween. Hopefully, you’ve found the perfect look for a night of trick-or-treating after taking a peak at these makeup ideas.
Want fashion inspiration for the spooky season? Check out five Halloween costume ideas from Asian-owned brands here.
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