Everyone around me keeps saying to me that it is too early to start talking about Halloween. “Wait until next week Holly”, “there is plenty of time” they say, but don’t you think it is always better to be prepared? I really love Halloween and just like Christmas I enjoy the lead up to the day, with all the decorating and celebrating, so much more than the actual day itself. So, in the spirit of being prepared and enjoying the lead up to the festivities this week I have decided to share with you the five essentials that you will need for a classic look this Halloween. We don’t want you to be getting ready, all in your costume and ready to do your makeup on the eve of 31st to realise you have no black glitter! Exactly, that would be a catastrophe. But don’t worry, I’ve prepared so you don’t have to.
The first Halloween staple that I want to talk about today is white face paint. Now, I know you may think this is a bit childish, but blended well this can give you a really great base for your new Halloween face and definitely isn’t a step you should miss out! In my opinion, the only place to buy face paint from is Snazaroo. Their colour choice is amazing, the pigmentation is brilliant and they are so long lasting – they aren’t ‘the world’s favourite face and body paint’ for nothing you know.
For all you face paint rookies, you want to wet a sponge (a cheap beauty blender will do) and then get rubbing it into your face paint. Once you have got a decent amount of paint on your sponge, dot it around your face so it is evenly spread and don’t forget the neck! Now get your sponge and, as with your normal foundation, get blending. We want this to look like you have the complexion of Wednesday from the Addams Family, not as though someone as slapped you in the face with a cream pie. It may take a while to achieve this look but trust me, it is well worth spending the time. To finish off the base make sure to rub a little paint in anywhere else that your costume shows skin, for example your hands, we don’t want to look like a mime. And voila, pale as a ghost!
Next up is the classic red lipstick. I personally don’t think any Halloween look is complete without it – unless you are going as Frankenstein’s Monster, which in that case I’d give it a miss! The key with Halloween red lipstick is to go for a darker red because, to be frank, it looks more like blood. The depth will add to your look rather than detracting all the attention and you will be the star of the show. Alternatively, if you are a frequent wearer of red and fancy a change then there are so many odd colours of lipstick available, including green, dark blue and even black. If this is more up your street then I recommend giving NYX a visit as I know they do both liquid and normal lipstick in all the shades under the sun, or if you are American then ColourPop seem to have some great choices too. A good lipstick is essential to a great Halloween costume and can be just the finishing touch to set off your outfit.
Now onto something that I discovered a few years ago, Barry M’s Dazzle Dust Glitter (I believe it since I bought this it has changed its name to Fine Glitter Dust). Every year I can’t wait to get this out, I mean it isn’t every day that you can use deep blue glitter in your makeup. Halloween is the perfect excuse to have fun with makeup so I will definitely be using this ridiculously fine glitter to add a bit of sparkle to my skin. I love it and you should 100% get hold of some of this before Halloween if you can. If you can’t justify buying it, remember that you can also use it for festivals & summer parties too. Glitter all year round, now there is something I could get on board with.
Eyeshadow, for the eyes, for everywhere. It may just be my favourite Halloween essential because of the pure amount of things it can be used for when it comes to Halloween ‘make-up’. Halloween isn’t necessarily about looking pretty, but looking ghoulish (although if you aren’t about that then that is cool!). I like to flip the use of eyeshadow and use it to make the ultimate under-eye circles – now there’s something you never thought you would hear me say! Get those blues and browns out and go for it, you can also add a little bit of red just below the lower lash line for added drama. This is definitely the most fun part of getting ready on Halloween. I also use eyeshadow to contour. Now, I know what you are thinking… this eyeshadow palette cost a bomb, I can’t use it like that! Well, don’t worry, all you need to do is pick up a cheap palette, even a kids one will do! As long as it has sufficiently spooky colours don’t worry about it, it will probably get face-paint in it anyway. The key thing is that we don’t want to be doing extreme halloween contouring with our normal contour palette, we aren’t exactly after a freshly bronzed look here. It is all about having fun and using eyeshadow in a non-conventional way is certainly a great way to do that. Go wild!
From makeup/ face halloweenifying to scary hair. For me the finishing touch to a brilliant Halloween costume has to be a great hairstyle and my go to style for the event has always been backcombing and a lot of hairspray. Now I can hear some of you wincing at the idea of what many people deem as hair torture but there is a way to backcomb you hair without causing damage. The first thing to avoid is freshly washed hair, this is a big no no when it comes to creating volume. And when you do wash it try to use a volumising product, after all the desired effect is lots of volume. Next you need to get your comb/brush – you can get specialist backcombing brushes that are better for your hair too – and section your hair into manageable chunk, just as you would when normally styling it.
Before beginning to backcomb each section, comb it through to avoid unnecessary tangles later on. You then want to take small sections of hair and brush through from the end to the root in one smooth movement. Don’t you dare start massacring your hair with aggressive all direction motions! Then repeat from end to root again and continue until you reach your desired level of volume. Now, in comes my essential product… hairspray. After you have completed all the sections in each chunk, give it a good ol’ spray to keep your hair looking sufficiently spooky all night long. Another thing that you can do for extra hold is to spray volumising spray onto your roots before you start backcombing, for me and my already fairly frizzy hair though, hairspray is normally enough. Remember to take equal care when washing out your backcombing, as you can do just as much damage here if you aren’t careful! If you have done it properly it should be pretty easy to tease out with a large comb, just don’t force it. Take your time and your hair will thank you for it.
So there you have it my essentials for the perfect halloween look. I hope this gives you some inspiration on how to spruce yourself up for the big day. If you are looking for even more inspiration some other great things to have to hand include, red eyeliner and a bold mascara, like Rimmel’s Lash Sensational, or something similar. Just go for it and have fun, after all that is what dressing up is all about! What are you going as this Halloween?
Love Holly x
The Art Of Being Holly 