No need for terrifying toxins: we’ve got 3 skin-safe Halloween makeup looks and tutorials just for you!
Allergic reactions, rashes, breakouts… sound terrifying? We think so too. Don’t let drugstore Halloween makeup ruin your All Hallow’s Eve with show-stopping skin irritations that could have you leaving parties with a growing rash, desperately scrubbing off carefully applied makeup artistry, or cutting trick-or-treat short when your eyes start to burn. We’ve come up with a quick guide detailing the do’s and don'ts of Halloween makeup, and why it could be toxic for your skin. BONUS TREAT: we’ve included 3 amazing, skin safe Halloween makeup looks worn by some of our favorite Instagram lovelies: Olivya, Cheryl, and Grace! Keep scrolling for easy to follow video tutorials and step by step instructions for Vampire, Fairy, and Cat!
Toxic Halloween Makeup: A True Horror for Skin
We think it’s pretty spooky that lots of Halloween makeup products contain ingredients that aren’t FDA approved, or intended for use on skin. Certain types of fluorescent and luminescent dyes, as well as certain types of craft glitter, aren’t recommended by the FDA for use on skin due to higher risk for blistered skin, allergic reactions, and dangerous infiltration of eyes, nose, and mouth (sounds like a horror movie, alright). Creams and liners used for Halloween makeup can be dyed with arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, and mercury -- aka heavy metals. The FDA has done extensive research on these colorants, and many have been deemed unsafe for use around mouth, eyes, and nose (where they can be ingested, damage eyesight, or infiltrate your lungs).
Many Halloween face paints have been recalled because of the potential dangers they pose to skin, resulting in a true need for natural alternatives. While the only consumers looking for skin-safe Halloween makeup alternatives used to be parents, an increased consciousness surrounding irritation, swelling, burning, and rashes has sparked an interest by anyone looking to pull off a spooky, but safe, Halloween look. We live by the rules of sustainability and economy, which is why we’re huge fans of utilizing everyday makeup in new and exciting ways for costume makeup -- no need to spend extra money on potentially hazardous, one-time-use products when you can use what you’ve got!
5 Tips for Avoiding Toxic Halloween Makeup
If you follow this single step, your Halloween makeup woes will be over! The great thing about this step is that fruit pigmented® natural cosmetics are everyday products that double as Halloween-worthy assets; you can forget that yearly purchase of bright, gaudy Halloween makeup that gets lost in your closet or thrown away after one use.
The FDA recommends testing makeup on your arm at least a few days before applying to your face. This will help determine if the makeup will trigger an allergic reaction; an especially important tip for those with a history of allergies or sensitive skin.
Since the majority of unfavorable heavy metal dyes are widely used in Halloween makeup (especially the cheaper options), it’s best to heed the warnings of the FDA and avoid these areas altogether during application. Heavy metals are not safe if they are accidentally ingested, make contact with eyes, or inhaled into the lungs.
Common Halloween products made with formaldehyde are cheap glues and nail products; avoid this potentially cancerous ingredient by using a sticky natural lip product instead of glue, and switch to a 10-FREE nail polish formula that will not contain formaldehyde.
Want something sticky, without the toxic chemicals in glue or spirit gum? Try our Gemmed Lip Glosses: these semi-sticky glosses are made with skin-healthy vitamin E and fruit oils! You can also get crafty and go for a DIY glue recipe using ingredients like sugar, distilled white vinegar, and arrowroot powder.
3 Skin Safe Halloween Makeup Looks Made With Fruit Pigments
Vampire Von Berry
FACE
Apply Mattifying Primer to cleansed skin, to ensure makeup stays on through Halloween festivities!
Combine an SPF moisturizer with zinc and full coverage foundation in a shade that matches your skin tone. Once mixed, apply with Cruelty Free Kabuki Brush all over. By combining with an SPF moisturizer with zinc, you’ll get a spooky, undead complexion, moisture for skin, and built-in sun protection! Can’t find a good natural SPF moisturizer with zinc? Use a foundation that’s a few shades lighter than your own; the goal here is to get a coffin-dwelling complexion!
To get a Twilight-worthy vampire glow, sponge a thin layer of BB Cream over your pale foundation application.
Using a fluffy powder brush, add a layer of translucent Bamboo Blur Powder to set your base. At this point, your lifeless skin should be looking fabulously undead!
Grab your Mermaid Palette, and a cruelty-free angled brush. Dip your brush into the charcoal purple Star Fish eye shadow and begin brushing along where your hairline meets the edges of your face. The goal is to use cool tones to sculpt your forehead, cheekbones, and bridge of your nose to really amplify your pasty, vampiric features; think of it as contouring for a VIP party in the afterlife!
EYES
Time to make your eyes look sultry and sleep-deprived: grab ultra moisturizing Lip & Cheek Tint in the bright red Cranberry Glow shade, and our vibrantly pink Strawberry blush. Using a smudger brush with blunt bristles (for a more controlled application), dip into Cranberry Glow and outline the entire eye area. Fill the area, then add a layer of Strawberry blush for some extra color dimension.
Using Creamy Long Last Liner in Royal, trace the top edge of your red eye area and connect to the top of the contouring line on the sides of your nose. This enhances the illusion of depth, making the eye area more dramatic.
Going back in with Star Fish eye shadow, trace the top of the red area again, following just below the line you traced with Royal. Using sparkly black Unplugged eye shadow from Punk Princess Palette, smudge below the waterline to create a smokey under eye that enhances depth and drama.
Dip a flat shader brush into Unplugged and line the top and bottom edges of your brows, ending in a sharply tapered tip and lightly filling for bold, impactful brows.
For truly vampy eyes, add a winged liner to this look using a deep black liquid liner. Using Royal eye pencil again, draw squiggly lines from the lash line, waterline, and corner of the eye. Using a deep blue color will replicate the color of veins showing through the skin… spooky! Finish with a deep, midnight black mascara for dangerously seductive lashes.
LIPS
Using our retractable lip brush, line lips and fill using the deep, timeless red of Dahlia Pomegranate Lipstick. Finish by layering glossy Red Velvet Lip Caramel over Dahlia, then gently wiggling the wand downwards at the corners of your mouth… is it blood, or berries?!
See the full Halloween Vampire makeup tutorial below:
Cocoa Glow Kitty
FACE
Apply moisturizer or primer to entire face. For this look, we used Coffee Bean Eye Cream as a combined moisturizer and primer to stimulates and tighten skin for a smooth, even makeup application.
Using a kabuki brush, apply a matte, lightweight foundation base with super silky 2nd Skin Foundation, then brighten the under eyes with a lighter shade of 2nd Skin Concealer. Set foundation with translucent Bamboo Blur Powder for a poreless, photo-ready finish.
Contour face with a deep, fruit dyed bronzer: we used the rich chocolatey Cocoa Glow Bronzer. To get precious and squeezable kitty cheeks, use your angled contour brush to deeply underline of the apple of your cheeks, and contour around the face to enhance a rich brown glow. Apply a fruit pigmented® luminizer to the tops of your cheeks for added radiance.
Above your top lip, brush on an upside down semi-circle with your concealer. This will give the illusion of a raised kitty snout! Finish by tracing a line along the center of your cupid’s bow (between the bottom of your nose and top of your lip), then adding 3 whisker dots on either side with a black eye pencil.
NOSE
With a deeply pigmented black eyeliner, trace a heart-shape at the end of your nose. Fill and re-line with a long lasting liquid eyeliner in black, to ensure your sniffer won’t smudge. Now you’ve got a cute little kitty nose!
EYES
Grab your Pretty Naked II Palette and a flat shader brush: apply Splendor all over lid. Buff Vivid into the outer corners and crease of your lids with a small and fluffy crease brush, then blend into brow bone with light and shimmery Beam. Finish by tracing your lash line with a black eye pencil, then adding a precise wing at the corners of the eye with a smudge-proof black liquid liner.
Ready your signature shade of Long Last Brows and a Dual Ended Eyebrow Brush. With the flat, angled brush end, apply brow gel to refine edges and fill. Then, using the spoolie end, brush to distribute pigment throughout the brow tail. Brush hairs upward at the inner corners, then finish by flipping back to your brush end and drawing upward strokes to replicate fuzzy feline fur!
LIPS
Go back in with your black pencil eyeliner and fill top lip only, then line the entire top edge of your lip. Continue this line out and slightly upwards from the corners of your mouth on both sides, for a mischievous Cheshire-cat smile!
On your bottom lip (we used a retractable lip brush for extra precision), line and fill with a deep pink or berry purple matte lipstick. Finito!
See the full Halloween Cat makeup tutorial below:
Gilded Blackberry Fairy
FACE
Start with moisturized and primed skin, then apply a full coverage foundation for a perfectly matte finish. Finish by contouring cheeks with a bronzer that matches your complexion.
Using a color correcting concealer, trace the shape of a leaf above and below each eye: start just above each eyebrow, and just below each waterline. Fill each leaf with the yellow color corrector; we’ll come back to these later!
EYES
Using the Pretty Naked II and Mermaid makeup palettes, apply color to each yellow leaf around the eyes. With a flat shader or fluffy crease brush, start by shading the inside edges with the light forest green of Sea Glass from the Mermaid Palette.
From your Pretty Naked II Palette, gently blend Pretty Naked Blush above and below each eye, then deepen with light brush strokes from the deep brown of Splendor; make sure to leave spaces of untouched yellow between colors. Don’t worry, this part doesn’t have to be perfect, and feel free to use any 3 colors of your choice-- using varying colors will create an iridescent, fairy-like effect!
Line the edges of each leaf with a brown eye pencil, and add a few leaf veins inside each one. They should now be looking like warm, golden hued fall leaves.
Using a flat shader brush, apply the true gold eye shadow Gilded all over each lid. With a smudger brush, blend Vivid from Naked II Palette into your creases for a shimmery, deep purple pop of color over your gold lids. With a matching purple liquid liner that won’t smudge, trace a winged liner at the corner of each eye, then add some faux lashes to the bottom lash line.
By buffing a warm bronzer or brown eye shadow from one of your makeup palettes, intensify the crease of each brow bone below the brow; continue this crease down the sides of the nose, as if you were contouring. With your brown eyeliner pencil, connect this contour to the leaf above the eye.
With your brown eye pencil, add swirls from the tips of the leaf points in varying sizes and lengths-- have fun and get creative! Finish by adding mystical length and color to your lashes with a deep purple mascara.
LIPS
Add Aubergine matte lipstick to lips; the deep eggplant color will tie into the blackberry tone of your eyes! Finish by using your smudger brush to add Rose Gold Luminizer to the center of your bottom lip, giving you a final touch of gilded luminosity to lips!
See the full Halloween Fairy makeup tutorial below:
Want more makeup tutorials and natural beauty tips? Stay tuned in to our blog feed for makeup trends, new product spotlights, and more makeup how-tos!
- Tags: Inspiration, make up, Makeup, October-2017, Trends
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The information in this article is for educational use, and not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should not be used as such.
