DIY tips for Halloween makeup

Origin of Halloween is attributed to an ancient Celtic festival where people would light bonfires and wear spooky costumes to ward of ghosts. Over the years, it has become one of the hippest events to celebrate in most parts of the world.

In recent times, Halloween celebration in India is on a rise, thanks to the young and cosmopolitan crowd who are always looking for something new and exciting! If you are attending such an event and have your costume sorted but wondering about the makeup, we have some quick tips and tricks for you to keep in mind:

Skin Test: First step to trying anything new on your face is to do a skin test at least 24 hours prior. Though one doesn’t have spent on expensive makeup for one day, make sure you buy approved makeup for face.

Base: Let’s start with the base. If you are dressing up as a zombie, ghost, witch, vampire or a mummy, go for a pale look. Your base should be a few shades lighter than your skin tone to achieve this. For other looks, your regular base should be fine.

Eyes: First thing, people look at are the eyes, so make sure your eye makeup is good. Dark gray or black eyeshadow suit most of the dark characters. Just play around with the shapes according to your costume. Deep red blended with black is perfect for a Vampire. A mermaid or a fairy offer a good opportunity for one to show off their colourful eyeshadow palette especially blues and greens. One can also use crystal stones or tattoos around the eyes. If you are comfortable with lenses, adding coloured ones would take your costume a notch higher.

Hair: Your hair depends on the costume. You can buy or hire a colourful, fancy wig at very reasonable prices from party shops or online. If you don’t plan to use wigs, then you can use a hairspray to set your hair. Coloured and sparkly hairspray can also be used which are available in the market.

Lips: Red, burgundy, black, purple are shades for the Halloween season. Apart from these basic shades, gold and shimmery lips can also be played with. A quick tip is to outline the lips with eyeliner pencil to check if you are happy with the shade, as they are easy to remove and smudge less than your lip colour.

Nails: Don’t forget the nails! Once again, perfect opportunity to get creative with all those coloursand nail art, you have been collecting over the years. If you don’t feel like spending too much time on nails, black or white should do the trick.

So, go ahead, play dress-up to your heart’s content, and be the fear-inspirer this Halloween.

Bhavya Chawla - The writer is a Chief Stylist, Voonik