3 Subtle Halloween Looks

I've never really dressed up properly for halloween, but this year I'm really going to town! I've been trying out several different looks for different costumes. These are all simple and fairly low-key, and you can definitely do these with whatever make-up and clothing you've already got at home. So, here we go...

 First of all, I need to apologise for a few of these pictures. As I was taking them, I didn't realise that they were mostly out of focus and terrible quality. I've managed to salvage a few, but even those aren't fab. Bare with me for this one guys...

1. Dark Vampy look

Again, I'm sorry that you can't really see whats going on here, but it sort of shows what I did. 

I always start with the eyes. I'm not entirely sure why but it's just how I roll. For this look, I applied a primer before starting with a lilac shadow all over the lid, applying fairly liberally and not very neatly. I then went in with a darker, plum shade in the outer corner, bringing it in to a cut crease. Using the same darker shade, I dragged it below the lower lash line to create that tired and dark eye look. To line my upper lashes, I used a kohl liner and slightly smudged it out to create a sort of smoky eye. To finish the eyes, I used approximately ten tons of mascara.

Next, I moved on to concealer and a base (of sorts). Truthfully, I'm a little scared of foundation. Ive tried several samples, and it just doesn't feel right for me, so for this, I used the Body Shop's BB cream that magically blends and matches your skin tone. On top of this, I bronzed my forehead and cheeks, and sort of contoured my cheekbones, just to give my face some sort of shape. Lots of highlighter was used for this look. I basically dabbed it everywhere, along my cheekbones, nose, forehead and even a little bit on my cupid's bow to give that shimmery look that Edward Cullen has so graciously demonstrated. 

This is where it gets exciting! I had a stroke of genius, or madness, it depends how you feel about it... but anyway, for this look, I decided to fill my eyebrows in gold! All I did was take an angled eyeshadow brush and a gold shadow, and just filled my brows in like you normally would. It looked way cool, I kind of want to make it acceptable for everyday makeup.

And finally, to finish off the look, I used a dark berry lipstick, very carefully, as its so bold that any single mistake will be totally obvious. I don't actually own a liner this colour, so I resorted to using a red liner to neaten things up, and I thought that it actually worked quite well? I'm pretty pleased with the overall look, just the bloomin' pictures didn't cooperate.

2. Catwoman

What I love so much about this look is that it would be totally fine to wear it as an everyday look, just maybe without the whiskers. The base of this look is the same as the previous one, only with a lot less highlighter.

For the eyes, I used concealer as an eyeshadow primer, because I find that the concealer colour works best with the eyeshadow shades I'm using. I used a cream shade all over my lid, before completely covering with a gold glittery but almost sheer shadow. I kept it simple with the shadow, but went very bold with the liner. As catwoman, its only right to create an extremely exaggerated cat-eye, and that exactly what I did. I also slightly lined my lower lash line with the same felt-tip liner as I used for the flick, and then dragged that into the inside corner of my eye ad made a little spiky flick on the inside. I really don't know how to explain that bit, but I hope you know what I mean... Its like that inside bit on a cat's eye, that makes it look all sleek and cat-like.

Using the same eyeliner, I added four whisker-like dots onto each of my cheeks.

For the lips, I used my boldest and brightest red lipstick, taking care to line my lips graphically.  I reckon that as Catwoman is known for being a comic character (I think), I should probably make the look fairly bold and graphic, hence the unusually dark eyebrows.

3. Flamingo!

I LOVE this look and I'm so pleased with how this turned out! I'm planning to go as a flamingo this halloween and I've bought a fabulous pink costume and lovely rubber feet, and now I've got the makeup to go with it!

So, using the same base as before, I used an incredibly pink eyeshadow all over my lid, and brought this down underneath the eye as well, using a small fluffy brush. Also using the same liner as in the previous look, I added a less exaggerated and more sleek flick to my eyeliner, before adding lots and lots of mascara.

For me, the best bit of this look was the feathery bits on my cheeks and forehead. As a pink base, I swept blush all over my face, adding most to the areas that I wanted to be pinkest. Then, using a thin angled brush, I added streaks of the same eyeshadow over the blush to create thin lines, to represent the feathers. I then did the same with a nude pink lip liner, white kohl liner and a gold liquid liner until I was happy with how the feathers looked. 

Finally, to finish off the look, I used a totally bright, shimmery lip pencil, from Kiko, and just used this all over my lips. And that was it! Voila! Halloween ready!

I love these looks, but my favourite is definitely the flamingo! Let me know if you recreate any of these looks!

M

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