So, it’s Halloween weekend and you’re stuck. You don’t have a costume yet, but you want to do something fast, cheap, and easy. I’m going to tell you five products that you have in your makeup bag that you can use right now to make a few changes to your look to make an easy costume.
1. Brown eyeshadow (preferably a satin or matte finish, no sparkles!)
With brown eyeshadow, you have instant bruises on your hands. Bruises are great because you can use it to take the full scary route – zombie, dead anything, etc – or you can use it to juxtapose against your sexy costume. Just pat the eyeshadow with your finger on a spot of skin and sheer it out, repeat a few times until you have a gradient that goes from darker in the center to lighter at the edge, and there you have it, bruises! (for more realistic bruises, mix in deep burgundies or purples)
e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette – $10 (for 100 eye shadows!) at eyeslipsface.com
2. Silver eyeshadow (preferably a white silver)
Silver? What are you going to do with silver? Well, silver is much like golden-champagne eyeshadows in that it reflects light really well. This means, it can be used in a highlighter shade in the same way that they can. Dust a bit of silver shadow underneath your cheekbones and you have contoured your face. This contour, unlike gold, is a lot harsher and makes your cheeks look eerie and sunken in, which is perfect for a dead bride or other costumes like that. If you just dust it very lightly on the apples of your cheeks, it’s almost ethereal, perfect for fairies and angels.
e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette – $10 (for 100 eye shadows!) at eyeslipsface.com
3. Loose reddish pigment
I’m sure you get where I’m going when I say red. Blood! Fake blood is expensive, messy, and you only use it once. By mixing a loose pigment with a bit of clear lipgloss or vaseline and smudging it on your skin, you have shining “fresh” scrapes that over the course of the night might dry down a bit to create more realistic scabs. You can control how red you want the blood too, by how much pigment you add or the shade of the pigment.
NYX Ultra Pearl Mania Loose Pearl Eye Shadow – $2.99 at Ulta
4. Thick putty concealer
With a thick putty concealer, you can form shapes that you can stick to your skin to make realistic scars, dimples, you name it! You have a custom aid that will match your skin tone, unlike the fake putty skin you can purchase. Also, if you put some of the blood mixture in it, you can make really cool scrapes.
Physicians Formula Powder Finish Concealer- $4.94 at Target
5. Black eyeliner
I saved the best, and most versatile for last, simple black eyeliner. Who needs face paint? You can use this to draw whiskers across your face or change your eyebrows to match that celebrity you’re trying to be (crazy Lady Gaga eyebrows anyone?), you can black out a tooth for that pirate or biker costume, and you can over-line your eyes to emphasize that 80’s rocker costume.
NYC Kohl Brow/Eyeliner Pencil, Jet Black – $0.99 at CVS
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tufts chapter.