Whether you had no intention of spending time on your Halloween [1] costume, or find yourself scrambling for ideas the day before, you have options. Memorable Halloween looks [2] don't necessarily require a ton of time and materials. In fact, some of the most interesting and eye-catching ones can be created with just makeup [3]. We've asked makeup artist and the newly-minted US winner of Nyx Professional Makeup's Freedom and Artistry for Creative Expression (FACE) Awards [4], Ioana Goodwin [5] for three looks you can create in under 10 minutes.
While the looks she selected can take just a few minutes to create, Goodwin shared her secrets to making sure they last through all of the evening's Halloween [6] festivities. She preps the skin by gently exfoliating with a peel if needed (her go-to is the SkinFood's Pineapple Peeling Gel [7] ($12)), moisturising (she likes lightweight creams that are potent with hyaluronic acid, like The Ordinary Natural Moisturising Factors + HA [8] ($8)), and using a hydrating primer (her favourite is the Nyx Professional Makeup Hydrating Jelly Primer [9] ($17)).
After she applies the makeup, she sets it using both a powder and a spray. She said that she prefers loose powders and the Nyx Professional Makeup Matte Finish Setting Spray [10] ($9), which she says mattifies the skin well once it dries down.
Check out her picks for the best time-saving Halloween Beauty looks, ahead.
Last Minute Halloween Costume: Pennywise the Clown from "It"
The key features to recreate the horror film's terrifying clown antagonist are its white base face makeup, bright red lips, lines running down its face. Goodwin says your first step is to lay down a layer of white water-activated face paint. (We like the Kryolan Aquacolor in TV White [11] ($15) for this.) Then, using a highly-pigmented, bright red liquid lipstick like the Nyx Professional Makeup Liquid Suede in Kitten Heels [12] ($7), draw lines starting from above each of your eyebrows down to your eye; stop, and then continue the line from beneath your eyes to connect to the corners of your lips. Using the same lipstick, swipe a layer of red across your lips.
To make the look even scarier, Goodwin recommends adding expression lines. "I would accentuate those around the eyes, the forehead, and around the mouth." She suggests using black eyeliner and brown shadow.
Last Minute Halloween Costume: The Cheshire Cat
For Goodwin, the most striking feature of Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire Cat is its wide mouth. To create the mouth, use a creamy eye pencil in black draw its outline — which would extend from ear-to-ear — and the features of the teeth. Then, you can fill in the area with creamy eye pencils or colourful matte eyeshadows of your choice. Goodwin said to make sure to keep the lines of the mouth as crisp and clean as possible.
Nyx Professional Makeup has curated a bundle of products as part of its Wonderland After Dark Collection [13] ($45) to achieve this exact look.
Last Minute Halloween Costume: Vibrant Skull
To create a skull costume, Goodwin has one pro tip: "Look at a picture of the skull and try to draw the eyes, the jaw, and the teeth."
She suggests using water-activated face paint (like the Kryolan Aquacolor [14] ($15)) for the all-over hue you choose for your face. To create the lines, she recommends using a black eyeliner before buffing it out with brown eyeshadow. It gives the look "smokiness and dimension."