We’re officially one week into October, and you know what that means: Time to begin the endlessly stressful scramble that is trying to decide what you’ll be for Halloween! It’s on a Saturday this year, so there’s a distinct possibility that you’re going to want to have multiple costumes—one for your Friday party and one for your Saturday party (I’m assuming you have significantly more friends than I do). But, as anyone who’s ever tried to go out and buy a costume knows, they can be really expensive, offensive, and just generally not worth it. You can always DIY your own, but not everyone wants to have to commit to wearing tons of heavy clothing when you know that you’re inevitably going to get warm. And that’s where Halloween makeup comes into play.
There are tons of costumes out there that can be achieved with just makeup and an otherwise simple costume made up of things you already have in your closet! And I know what you’re thinking: Sara, all of the Halloween makeup tutorials I’ve seen on the Internet involve so much scar wax and shading and things I literally can’t do with my hands or body or brain, and honestly, same. Not to toot my own horn here, but I’m pretty good with makeup, and there are plenty of things I simply can’t do because A) I’m not that artistically inclined, and B) I don’t have the time or the money that’s required to really succeed in creating looks like this insane glamour girl/zombie duality. Beauty editors—they’re just like us!
But never fear! There are tons of Halloween makeup tutorials out there that are totally easy enough for even the most beginner-y of beginners to achieve. Sure, some might require a little bit of shopping (a few of these looks require quite the handful of products, though most don’t need anything more than makeup you probably already have and maybe some face paint, which is easily attainable at any costume shop or craft store), and some practice if you want to be sure you get the look right, but they’re totally worth it in the end.
Check out some of my favorite Halloween makeup tutorials below:
Pop Art Character
I have every intention of doing this for Halloween this year, so if you want to be twinsies, do this one! And then send me pictures! But really, this requires little else other than drawing lines on your body. Even toddlers can draw lines.
Snapchat’s Rainbow Vomit Filter
So, if you’re anything like me, you couldn’t figure out how to use the new Snapchat lenses when they first came out. I struggled for about a week and a half before I texted my friend who had been sending me clips of her vomiting rainbows and asked her to give me a step-by-step, but by the time I figured it out, the rainbow puke lens was gone! It was actually pretty disappointing because it’s a dream of mine to one day be a unicorn, and surely the first step to achieving that dream is to puke rainbows, right? Anyway, since the lens is gone, you can honor its memory by painting rainbow vomit on your face for Halloween.
Easy Doe Makeup
I know, I know, this looks a little bit difficult, but please don’t turn away from it just because the finished product looks so elaborate. That’s kind of what makes the ease of this look so amazing. Yes, you’ll need a steady hand to do some of the eyeliner work (like I said before, a little practice never killed nobody!), but really, this only requires the tiniest handful of products, and the brown and white face paint does most of the work for you.
Creepy Doll
I’d say the hardest thing about this look is the false eyelashes, which, really, you don’t have to include if you don’t want to. Personally, I’m not a fan of falsies—I think they’re too heavy on the eyelids, and, even though it’s cosmetic-grade and definitely safe, I just never like the idea of putting glue of any kind so close to my eyeballs.
Stretched Character Lips
This is probably the easiest tutorial on here, TBH. You’re only painting on one side of your face, you only need three colors, and you can do the rest of your face however you want (or not at all).
Snow White
This is, essentially, just a basic beauty look, but paler. And Snow White is always a good fallback for a costume if you have a yellow dress on hand.
Wonder Woman
You’ve probably seen Bethany Mota on a billboard or the side of a bus recently, but before that, she was just an adorable and crafty fashion and beauty vlogger! She was the one that actually got me into DIY costumes, even though, as I already said, I’m not necessarily artistically inclined enough to create some of the things she can. The makeup tutorial for this look starts at the 6:24 mark, but if you have a little extra time, you might as well watch the costume tutorial, too. It’s pretty great.
DIY Masquerade Mask
Why buy a mask when you can just paint one on your face? The tutorial for this actually makes it seem a lot more difficult than it really is because, quite frankly, you’re just painting a black shape around your eyes. You can go as detailed with the lace and face crystals as you want. Personally, I think the details this vlogger chose are easy enough for anyone to do.
Cracked Porcelain Doll
Okay, so I was trying really hard to only use the tutorial from all different vloggers because of #diversity, but Lex at Made Yew Look is by far my favorite right now. Her videos are always tons of fun to watch, and she makes everything really accessible and easy to understand. She’s a bit of a body paint maven, so the products she uses are generally higher-end, but all of her looks are easy to re-create with craft store products. I really wanted to include a cracked doll look in this list, and this is the simplest one I could find.
Sugar Skull
Listen, sugar skulls are inherently not easy, so calling this easy isn’t exactly accurate. That said, if you’re want to try a sugar skull for Halloween and find the whole thing really daunting, the half-face option is a good one. And again, remember that “easier” doesn’t necessarily mean “less time-consuming”—this look will require prep time and patience, but it’s certainly something anyone can do. Plus, it includes a fun little lesson on contouring!
