There are plenty of things you can do with makeup to give your costume a boost. But sometimes, you want the makeup to really stand out and transform who you are into someone new. With hundreds of costumes to choose from, here are my top 6 favorite female characters found on Halloween night:
- Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. Sally is a great character to really get into. She’s got a great light blue pallor, and the stitches make for some complicated makeup artistry. You can use actual thread and makeup putty to slowly build up the doll like effect on your skin. Make sure to add touches of blue and black along the thread so that it blends nicely. With all Tim Burton characters the sunken eyes are the most important touch, but with Sally you can’t forget her flame red hair or red lips.
- Black Swan – Natalie Portman. The scene where Portman becomes the black swan is a sweeping cinematic moment that deserves all of the drama makeup can provide. Make sure you create straight stark black lines to achieve the fullest drama. Don’t use cherry red lipstick, stick with a more brooding palette. Deep burgundy or black cherry is much more appropriate. Using loose pale powder with a shimmer can add to the death like quality.
- Day of the Dead Skeleton. A classic Halloween look that can be as fun as you want it to be. Pick a bright accent color and then its time to paint your whole face black and white. Bold skeletal lines, accent by the bright fuschia or lime green behind your eyes. If you have long locks, pile them on top of your head and accent with matching flowers.
- A Leopard/Cheetah. Who doesn’t get excited by a ferocious big cat? Make sure to paint spots all over your face, arms and legs. Any skin showing can be a great place to cover. Use three tones that all complement your skin tone. There’s no need to just paint on solid orange and brown these days when there are so many shimmery skin tones that can be layered in such a way that all you’ll need from the halloween section is black face paint. Make sure you keep your mouth area a more solid white that feathers out towards your face. Brown or light pink lipstick with a brown nose also add to the overall effect. When you’re done all you’ll need are ears!
- The Corpse Bride. Another fabulous Tim Burton character with full face makeup. Again, blue, but a more brilliant blue, not as pale as Sally. Beautiful sweeping eyelashes and bold dark cherry lips. You can really get into this character by painting the rest of your body the same color blue.