Regina George of “Mean Girls” loves Halloween, and so do makeup artists — but for a decidedly classier reason.
Public interest in makeup art seems to spike in late October as Halloween celebrants scavenge for transformative tricks. Prepared with screen captures of Instagram pictures and YouTube videos, curious people tiptoe up to makeup counters — some more distressed than others.
Looking to create realistically gory zombie costumes, some people can overestimate what it takes to make gashes, exposed muscles and anything else that looks fresh-out-”The Hostel.” Without latex, acrylic paints and prosthetics, they act like recreating zombie makeup is off the table.
But, from a professional perspective, believe me: You, too, can become a Living Dead Girl fit to star in one of Rob Zombie’s films, and you need not buy retail-priced special-effects products. You might not have to buy anything.
Simple Halloween makeup is easier to accomplish than a typical beauty routine (i.e., wear your dark circles with pride), and it doesn’t require many more supplies than the contents of your makeup bag: red nail polish and lipgloss, foundation, powder, bruise-colored matte eyeshadows, tissues and, most importantly, false-eyelash adhesive. Duo false-lash adhesive is latex-based and can be used for more than fastening falsies.
Used as described in the graphic, some of your makeup mainstays are a convenient alternative to the industry-level products in some of my favorite Halloween YouTube videos. Petrilude (@jitsyplaven on Instagram) has a useful series of Halloween tutorials that are zombie -specific. Some advice Petrilude gives that you should follow: Don’t apply the lash adhesive/tissue combination to any surface where it might adhere to hair, and moisturize the skin prior to applying.
A version of this story ran on page 14 on 10/24/2013 under the headline "Try scarily cheap makeup tips"
