Want to make a makeup artist giddy? Utter one word: Halloween [1]. Among beauty-lovers, All Hallows' Eve is like Christmas with more blood and guts. It's the time of year we get to show off our creativity in the extreme [2]. We've been known to spend a pretty penny stocking our makeup kits with body paint and glitter and getting our hands on vibrant wigs, but this year, we're taking a budget approach. That's why we've gathered 10 gory beauty tips you can do with things you already own, like toilet tissue, lash glue, and red lipstick.
The Halloween masters at US brand Make Up For Ever [3] helped us come up with these gross (yet gorgeous) makeup hacks. Director of education and artistry Lijha Stewart and managing educator Nicholas Lujan let us in on the best Halloween makeup ideas, breaking down everything you need to know, step by step. Halloween beauty looks are now a breeze, as you'll know exactly how to DIY [4] fake blood and erase your brows. And when your friends say your costume is creepy, you'll know you've hit the mark.
Halloween Hack #1: How to Make Fake Blood
You could go to your local fancy dress shop and buy bottles of liquid blood, or you could use things already in your makeup kit for DIY [5] gore that's free.
Shave off a bit of red lipstick. Mix in a creamy black eyeliner and finish with a dollop of thick, clear lip gloss. If you want brighter blood, add more lipstick. For a deeper, dried-blood hue, add in more liner.
Apply the thick blood mixture using the end of your makeup brush, which is easier to wipe clean than the bristles.
For a real American Psycho flourish, splatter the blood with a stiff brush. Dip the ends into "blood," and run your fingers over the bristles to get a random spray of red.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #2: Fake a 3D Wound
This 3D wound technique is the basic how-to you need to create broken noses, cut eyebrows, and busted lips. In addition to what's already in your makeup kit, you'll need a nontoxic glue stick [6] (£2). Cut off a small segment of the adhesive with a butter knife and apply to the area where you want the laceration.
Mould the glue into the shape you want using your fingers. Make sure to put water on your hands to help manipulate the putty-like product. Let the adhesive air-dry or hit with a hair dryer before covering with makeup.
Cover the glue with translucent powder and add foundation using a fluffy brush.
Mix purple and red eye shadows to create a bruised effect around the wound. You can also use blusher or lipstick to get that distressed skin colour.
Fill in the inside of the wound with black eyeliner using a lip brush. The black will add a deeper, dried-blood appearance to the wound, making it look more realistic.
On top of the black eyeliner, add red lipstick and a deep brick lip gloss. This gives the wound a wet, oozing look.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #3: Realistic Freckles
Freckles have been popping up everywhere recently. If your costume requires beauty marks, use a brown, long-wear eyebrow or lip pencil to achieve the most natural spots. You want some freckles to be big and some to be small so they don't look too cartoonish.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #4: Fake Stubble
Getting the facial hair just right on your Halloween [7] costume is tricky, but it can be done with a mascara wand and some tinted brow gel. Use the clean spoolie to apply a long-wear gel eyebrow product like the L'Oreal Paris Unbelievabrow 30h Longwear Brow Sealer [8] (£11) in a stippling motion. Use two separate colours to make it look more like a five o'clock shadow.
Halloween Hack #5: Make Your Lips Disappear
Covering up the lips with foundation is a behind-the-scenes trick makeup artists have been using for years to create the illusion of fuller lips. You can draw a completely new lip line over the top. This insider hack also comes in handy when you want to draw a smaller pout for Halloween [9].
Use a full-coverage foundation or concealer just a touch lighter than your skin tone to cover your lips. Then, apply a translucent powder on top to set the base.
Reshape the new lips and fill in the area with a lip pencil a little darker than the colour of your lipstick.
Layer on a high-shine liquid lipstick. The texture will create contrast and make your matte mouth fade into the background.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #6: Get a Gap
You can fake the look of a tooth gap for your costume with one product: eyeliner. First, you want to clean off your teeth with alcohol and suck in a good amount of air to dry off the surface. Then, apply a black gel eyeliner or a waterproof pencil to the front two teeth.
To remove the inky product from your teeth at the end of the night, use a reusable cotton swab dipped in micellar water. You can also use a disposable mascara wand covered with olive oil to scrub away the residue.
Halloween Hack #7: Copy the Joker's Jaws
Slashed jowls are sure to be a hit at any costume party. To re-create the look at home, gather up toilet tissue and your favourite lash glue [10] (£9). Then, apply the falsie adhesive to the area where you want your cut using a sponge.
Separate a single sheet of toilet tissue into one ply and tear into strips.
Place the strips over the wet glue, and paint more glue on top of the tissue with a tapping motion. Pay extra attention to the edges. The tissue should blend into the skin on all sides.
Be careful not to tear the delicate paper, but wrinkling is OK. It gives the mouth a gory texture. Use a blow dryer on cool to express-dry the tissue. It should take about 10 minutes before you can apply makeup on top.
Extend the slit of the lips using a black eyeliner.
Paint on eyeshadow and red lipstick until you get the bloody effect you want. Add more foundation around the edges to help cover any tissue that doesn't blend into the skin.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #8: Remove Your Brows
Brows make a face; without them, you can transform into a number of different characters. That makes this movie-makeup hack ideal for Halloween [11]. Start by cleaning excess oils from your brows with micellar water.
Completely cover your arches with glue, applying product in the direction of the hair. You'll want to apply multiple layers of adhesive; just give each swipe time to dry before putting on more.
Press — don't swipe — loose powder over the glue. Make sure to use plenty of product so that the puff doesn't stick to the glue. Dust off any excess with a fluffy makeup brush.
Cover the powder with foundation (still swiping in the direction of the hair growth). Then, set the look with powder.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #9: Create Maleficent Cheekbones
Whether you've decided to be Maleficent or Kim Kardashian [12] this Halloween [13], you'll need to be a master of extreme contouring. Apply white, grease-based makeup like Flash Color Pot in White [14] ($14) to outline your cheekbones, chin, nose, and brows (similar to how you would use highlighter).
Place a dark brown colour over your forehead, on your jaw, and on the outside of your nose (similar to contouring). Then, blend the two shades together with a sponge and set with powder.
To intensify the contour, place dark powder over the brown paint. You can also add white eyeshadow over the highlighted areas.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #10: 3D Veins That Pop
To get authentic, 3D veins, all you need is some yarn. First, unravel one strand into individual fibres; trim each piece into three- to four-centimetre sections.
Use a thin liner brush to apply Duo Lash Glue in the pattern you want your veins to flow.
Place the yarn directly on top of the glue, and trim the yarn if it's too long.
Complement the yarn pieces with thinner lines drawn on with black eyeliner. You want the painted veins to be thicker at the top and thinner near the ends.
Add in more details on the neck and forehead.
Finished Look
Halloween Hack #10: 3D Veins That Pop
Happy Halloween [15]!
