Skull Tutorial - Simple Halloween Makeup #5

I know what you're thinking...it doesn't look overly simple at first glance does it? But actually, when you break it down into the steps below this skull look is pretty easy to achieve! Just believe and give it a go! This was actually the first time I have ever tried a skull look so the pictures you see below are literally with no practice at all, so if I can do it, you lovely people most certainly can too!

As with all of the other Halloween looks I have put up this week, I used normal makeup bag items to create this one. For the white I used NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk and a white eyeshadow. You could definitely use facepaint to create this whole look however I will say unless you have a great white facepaint that gives a smooth, opaque finish, go the eyeshadow route instead. It makes the look so much cleaner and it's also easier to apply the black over the top. For the large black areas I used a black gel eyeliner (Seventeen Gel Eyeliner in Smoulder) and the teeth and smaller details were created using a combination of a black Kohl eyeliner pencil and a liquid liner in felt tip form. In reality you could create the whole look with just one of these products (or a decent black facepaint) but I found it a little easier to swap between products. I also used black and grey eyeshadows to help blend things out.

So to start, I really recommend using a primer. Not only will it help keep the look in place, it will also act as a barrier between your skin and the facepaint or large amount of makeup. This is particularly helpful if you have quite sensitive skin. Next, take your chosen products and white out your entire face. I drew lines all across my face with NYX Milk (which I really recommend by the way for both this and normal looks as a base) and then blended it out. Then I went over the whole area with a white eyeshadow which gave a more even finish as well as the added bonus of helping to set the NYX Milk.

Now it's time to get your main features in place. Outline the eye and nose shape, lightly sketching until you are happy and then fill it all in. Go for a slightly more square shape around the eyes rather than round circles as this will help it look a little more authentic. At this point my fiance came home and pronounced that I look like a dalmatian...good start!

Next, using either a smaller brush or an eyeliner pen, draw lines out from the corner of your mouth and out towards your ear on either side. Try to follow the line made in the hollow under your cheekbone as a guide and stop when you are as far out as the edge of the black circles around the eyes. Then it's time to add in the vertical lines which will form your teeth. leave fairly even spacing between the lines until you get to the last four or so. At this point, make the lines get gradually slightly closer together just to taper it off nicely.

Once all of the lines have been drawn, draw little v shapes coming off of each end of the lines. Don't worry about being super tidy here as these are more of a starting guideline.

Start extending out the lines of the v shapes lightly so that they start crossing over each other and begin to shade in the inner point to make it stand out a little more. One important thing to note here, don't panic that your teeth are all different shapes, this actually gives it a far more believable look. After all, are every single one of your teeth exactly the same?

Now that you can really see the shape of your teeth, add in a little more grey eyeshadow around the outsides of your teeth and then blend it out towards the rest of your face so that it gradually fades out. Also add in little diamond shapes at the point where the teeth lines and centre line meet to give definition between each tooth.

We've got a bit of a lighting change in the rest of the photos as at this point I lost natural light. The danger of makeup experimentation on winter evenings! Once you've got your teeth sufficiently blended, you'll want to go back in with some white to create your pearly nashers. I used a small brush to apply NYX Milk to each tooth and then just gradually brushed down with the edge of the brush to create the root of each tooth.

Since we've got our teeth sorted, it's now time to create the cheekbone. I have no idea how to decribe the shape here so follow the image below and draw it right where your ear is. The smaller part that comes out will follow the hollow line under your chekkbone so that it will match up nicely with where your teeth are. Use a grey eyeshadow to blend out the area around the teeth until they look like they gradually face into eachother. You may also want to darken up your ears at this point too!

If you like you could finish the look there but adding in some details will really add to the overall effect. I added in some little points coming off the eyes, some soft lines around the main features and lines running from the corner of my eye up to my temple on both sides. I then took a brush and gently blended them a little so they didnt look too harsh. Using a light touch I traced in a few cracks here and there as well.

 

Ever the fan of contouring, I took a grey eyeshadow and blended it along my jaw, temples and forehead. Depending on what you are wearing, you might want to extend the white down your neck and chest. Alternatively you could go all out and create a bare bone effect down your neck. I think if I created this look again, I would add in some more cracks across the cheeks and forehead for a scarier finish so you might want to add in more when you create this look yourself! 

To add a little flare, I decided to backcomb my hair as a sleek do just didn't look quite right to me. So here is the finished look!

Would you give this look a go? What do you think of the skull makeup? Would love to know what you think so do pop a comment below!

Zombie Tutorial - Simple Halloween Makeup #4

Since my first three looks have been fairly friendly looking, I thought it was time to do a bit more of a creepy look for tutorial number four! It's time to turn into a zombie! To create this look all I used were a few eyeshadows, a red lipstick, a purple lip pencil and a purple lipgloss so hopefully it will be pretty easy for most of you to create it on a whim! There are loads of amazing zombie looks around with incredibly realistic looking wounds but generally they always involve using liquid latex which I'm guessing is not a makeup bag staple for most people so I've given that sort of thing a miss this time!

To kick off the look, we want to make ourselves look like we are literally wasting away so you'll want to make your neck tendons and collar bone really stand out. 

To do this take a red lipstick and apply it in the areas I have shown below. Apologies for it being a picture I have edited to show where I used the lipstick rather than the real thing, I got a bit carried away with creating the look and then realised I hadn't even taken any  photos! In case it isn't clear enough, you want to basically place the lipstick in the areas that you want to really darken up. So I have ran it each side of my collar bone and then up the centre of my neck, leaving a gap where the tendons are. I also put a line straight down the centre of my chest. 

Once you have drawn your initial lines, use either a fairly stiff makeup brush or your fingers to start blending out the lipstick. Then go over the same areas with some brown, grey and even khaki toned eyeshadows to really enhance the look. Leave the actual collar bone and tendon lines untouched until the very end and then just lightly brush over a little grey eyeshadow so that they still stand out but they don't look obviously normal in colour. Congratulations, you are now the owner of a zombie chest...sexy!

Now onto the face! It's completely up to you if you want to do a layer of foundation before going zombie. Personally I just used my Smashbox primer and a little concealer as it seemed a bit counter productive to make my skin look flawless when I'm trying to create a mottled, dead effect. In fact for once my delightfully blotchy skin and under-eye circles actually came in handy! But guys, it's your face after all so do whatever makes you feel comfortable! 

Again, it's all about looking like you haven't had a good meal in a fair old while so let's get our contour on big time. This isn't the time for subtlety so use grey and khaki toned eyeshadows to really define the cheekbones, chin, nose and temples. At this stage I decided we could do with even more freaky colouring so I got the red lipstick back out and placed dots along main contouring areas as shown below. 

Now as you'd do normally, blend out the lipstick and even add a little more grey over the top of you think it's gone a bit too pink. 

Next take a pink eyeshadow and blend it all around the eye socket, particularly underneath the eye. If you have a red or pink eyeliner, pop that on your waterline to make your eyes look extra sore. A more likely item that you'll have is a red lip pencil which can also be used but do check that it's safe to be used next to the eyes first as ingredients do vary!

It's then time to get that really sunken eye look going on so grab a black eyeshadow and start blending it around your entire eye socket and down the side of your nose. Try not to completely cover up the pink but apart from that you can be pretty messy here. Don't worry about following exact lines or perfect blending because hey, since when are zombies "on fleek"?!

After the eyes are all darkened up, it's time to add in the details to the face. I used a purple lip pencil to draw veins and marks on my face to give a sufficient "my skin has gone transparent and gross" look and then lightly brushed a brown eyeshadow over the top to dull them a little. 

I also used a grey and a khaki eyeshadow and just added in little splotches here and there to make me look a rather unhealthy shade as well as a little bit grubby. 

Again, feel free to branch out with your detailing here. Add in a bigger wound or add mucky patches of brown if you want to look like you've just pulled yourself out of the ground. It's completely up to you!

For the finishing touch, add some blood (or in this case, LA Girl Lip Paint in Tempt)! My particular zombie strain is virus related so I thought some eyebleeding would work well. I then wanted to look like I'd just carried out some serious chomping so I focused quite a lot around my mouth. Given that, I didn't bother with putting anything on my lips beforehand. 

If however you aren't keen on the bloodlust, I'd suggest using concealer on your lips to pale them out a bit and then use blue and grey eyeshadows dappled over the top to get that no circulation lip. 

Finish up the look with some setting spray if you have some handy to keep yourself looking wonderfully undead for the whole evening. 

Thinking of being a zombie for Halloween? Let me know how you get on in the comments below!

Glam Vampire Tutorial - Simple Halloween Makeup #3

In case you didn't guess from the picture, today's Halloween tutorial is going to be a (relatively) glam vampire look! Now first up, I apologise if the images are looking a little grainy in comparison to usual, I'm not entirely sure what was going on with my camera but hopefully they are still good enough for you to follow! I would have done it again but since we're on a schedule here I didn't want to risk missing a day!

I based this look on the rather beautiful people in The Vampire Diaries and the one thing they always have is perfect skin. So start off with your normal foundation / BB cream and concealer routine to give yourself a flawless base because lets be honest, you don't see a lot of spotty vampires running around!

Next, make your face look a little more angular with the wonders of contouring! If you aren't familiar with contouring, follow my guide here but rather than using just natural colours, use both a light grey and a brown as your dark colour (I used UD Password and W7 Sunkissed). This will really make your features stand out and gives the whole look a more dramatic feel.

Fill in your brows using either a pencil or gel (or both!), whichever you are most comfortable with to create a sharp look. I took my brows just a little further at the tail than I usually do just to enhance the look that tiny bit.

Now it's on to the main feature of this look, the eyes! Since we are going fairly heavy with the eyeshadow, I suggest using a good eyeshadow primer to keep the look in place. Plus it has the added bonus of really making the colours stand out!

I used Urban Decay Combust and Thirteen (from the Naked Smoky palette) in my crease first, blending right up to the brow. If you choose colours that are close to your skin tone or slightly lighter for this step, it will give a really smooth transition from the darker colours.

Next take a rich burgundy shade (I used Makeup Geek Bitten) and start applying it over the lid, blending into the crease and out into a point towards your eyebrows. Also take it right into the inner corner of your eye and lightly onto the side of your nose.

To give a really deep dark look, we want to create a dark base on the eyelid. This is best achieved by packing on a cream black eyeshadow or even a gel eye liner (I used Seventeen Gel Liner in Smoulder). To set it in place, cover the lid in a black eyeshadow and gently blend it into the crease so that you get a smooth transition into your burgundy shade. Take your time with this step as black can be difficult to work with, just keep adding in little amounts until you are happy!

Take the burgundy shade again and blend it under your eyes, taking it further than you normally would but trying to keep that overall pointed shape leading up to the eyebrows. Use a black kohl liner along your water line and a black eyeshadow to smudge just underneath the water line.

If you want to wear fake lashes, now is the time to add them. If you aren't a fan, leave them out! I used some natural look lashes that I wanted to test out from Primark which I was pleasantly surprised with!

To finish off the eyes, it's time to make the veins! If you have a purple lipstick, that will be perfect. If not, don't panic! If you have a red lipstick just swatch a fair bit of it on your hand and mix in a little blue eyeshadow. You could also use face paints if you have some on hand. I used Mac Rebel mixed with a little bit of blue eyeshadow to deepen it slightly. 

To create the veins, use a small lipstick brush and gently brush down from your lash line and create little lines. Think of it as if you are drawing the branches of a tree with little shoots coming off! I found it best to wipe off practically all the product and then draw the lines really faintly, building it up if needed. That way if you draw a bit of a dodgy vein, a cheeky little smudge and it's gone rather than needing a full on makeup remover episode!

I then used LA Girl Lipliner in Dark Plum all over my lip to create a base and Mac Rebel over the top. I felt a berry lipstick really complemented this look because of the burgundy tones around the eye but feel free to change it up. You can always take it to the next level and use a dark blue or black lipstick if you fancy it!

For the finishing touches, add some bite marks! Make two small circles on your neck with the burgundy shade and add a little black dot in the center to give it some depth. If you have some fake blood to hand, dot a little of it into the bite marks and add a little around your mouth for some extra authenticity! 

I'd actually bought some but it was a really bright red that frankly looked rubbish! So I actually used LA Girl Lip Paint in Tempt for my fake blood which I think turned out pretty well. If you have the same predicament as me, try and dig out a dark purple lipgloss or liquid lipstick if you have one and again, add a few products together if you don't have the right colour initially!

I hope you like this version of a vampire look! If you give it a go, please do tell me in the comments, I'd love to see how it turned out!