A good Halloween look comes down to three things: a base that covers, one detail that unsettles, and eyes that are no longer quite your own. The rest is comfort. Here are three looks we see work every year in our two shops, the exact kit to pull them off, and what you need to know before putting in fantasy lenses.
The basic kit, whatever the look
Four purchases cover 90% of Halloween make-up. There is no need for more in your first year.
- A water-based palette. The 6-colour palette gives you white, black and red — the only three shades you truly need.
- A sponge and a fine brush. The sponge for flat areas, the brush for outlines. That is what separates clean make-up from a smear.
- Fake blood. The blood bag is enough for one person; the 485 ml bottle if you are making up a whole group.
- Liquid latex. Latex 28 ml is what turns a red smudge into a real wound.
If you would rather buy one thing that does everything, the FX make-up kit combines modelling wax, fake blood and a sponge in one box. The rest of the Make-up range runs to nearly 300 items.
Vampire — 10 minutes
The fastest, and the one that goes wrong least often.
- White base applied with the sponge over the whole face, dabbing, never rubbing. Keep it light: the skin should still show through.
- Hollow out the eyes in grey or purple, blended with a fingertip towards the temples.
- Dark red lips, overdrawn by two millimetres to break the clean edge.
- Two trails of fake blood from the corner of the mouth. Let it run, do not draw it.
The vampire set bundles teeth, fake blood and a lens if you want it all in one go.
Zombie — 20 minutes
The most striking, and the one that asks for the most patience.
- A greenish or grey-yellow base, deliberately uneven: the patchiness is what makes it believable.
- Apply liquid latex in a thin layer where the wound goes, let it dry for two minutes, then gently tear the centre with a fingernail.
- Dark red deep in the tear, bright red along the edges, a touch of black at the centre.
- Fake blood last, brushed on and then left to run.
Short on time? Ready-to-stick scars give you 80% of the result in two minutes.
Skeleton — 15 minutes
The most graphic. It does not forgive sloppiness, but it only needs two colours.
- The whole face in white, including eyelids and around the lips.
- Solid black on the eye sockets, coming slightly down under the brow bone.
- Tip of the nose blacked out as an inverted triangle.
- Vertical lines across the lips, from the chin up past the mouth — that detail is what makes the jaw.
Lenses: the first thing people notice
Decent make-up with fantasy lenses beats excellent make-up without them. It is the best effect-per-effort accessory of the whole of Halloween.
- To start: the white zombie / red devil duos — sharp effect, comfortable to wear.
- To go further: the black mini-sclerals cover the iris and part of the white of the eye.
- For the full effect: the full sclerals cover the entire visible eye. Spectacular, but wear is limited to a few hours.
The full range is here: Fantasy lenses.
Read this before wearing them. Fantasy lenses sit on the eye — they are not costume accessories like any other:
- Wash and dry your hands before handling them.
- Never lend them out, not for one evening, not to anyone close to you.
- Respect the wearing time printed on the box, and never sleep in them.
- Store them in lens solution, never in water.
- Pain, redness or blurred vision: take them out immediately and see an eye doctor.
If you already wear corrective lenses, ask your eye doctor before adding fantasy lenses.
Blacklight parties: UV make-up
More and more Halloween parties run under blacklight. Ordinary make-up disappears there, while neon / UV make-up lights up. The UV make-up range has 25 items.
And taking it off
Two rules that save you an unpleasant 1 November: peel latex off gently from one edge, never rip it in one go; and use an oil-based remover before soap — greasepaint does not come off with water.
Come and try it in store
Make-up shades and lenses are hard to judge on a screen. Both our shops have testers out: Hollerich, 17 rue de Hollerich in Luxembourg, and Junglinster, Centre commercial Langwies 2, 7 rue Nicolas Glesener. The team will show you how to apply latex and help you pick the lens that suits your eye colour.