When I was contacted recently to take part in the Stand Out From The Crowd with Boots Campaign. I absolutely jumped at the chance. Firstly, because I can’t remember the last time that I did a makeup look, especially a Halloween edition and secondly because Boots is like my second home. If I am at my local shopping centre and you can’t find me, you can bet if you take a wander into Boots and head towards the makeup stands, I will be there with my hand painted link a rainbow testing out all the new shades. I have a feeling that it is only going to get worse too, as I keep seeing some of the best brands now being sold in Boots. Yes I am looking at you Morphe and Urban Decay!
As part of the campaign, I was asked to create a Zombie Makeup or Skeleton look. I went for a Skeleton Makeup look with a bit of a glittery twist. If you are a regular reader, you will know how much I love glitter and also how much I love skulls, so I couldn’t resist creating a look where I could combine the two! Obviously, I am no makeup artist and I hate scary things, so I wanted to create a look that is simple and pretty enough for anyone to create and put their own spin on. If I can do it, anyone can!
I have created a little step by step in case you wanted to have a go and give it your own little twist. Picture overload ahead, so here we go…
Base and Brows
I started by doing my base as I normally would. I primed my face and popped my foundation on as usual, making sure to cover my lips as well. Remember when foundation lips were all the rage? Well they’re back now for one night only ha! I then drew my brows on the same way I do every day using my trusty NYX Micro Brow Pencil in the shade Chocolate.
Guidelines
I always find it easier to do the most complicated part of a makeup look first and map it all out. I started by using the shade Smooth Criminal from the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill ‘Armed & Gorgeous’ palette* to create a guide for my cheeks. I started just above my ear and brushed on the eyeshadow in a slight curved shape coming down towards my jaw. I ended the curve where I wanted my teeth to stop. I didn’t want a huge jaw, so stopped just wide of my lips ending. This part is just the guide, we will come back to add depth later. I then used my MAC Fluidline Gel Liner in the shade Macroviolet to draw a teeth guide. I drew a faint line from the sides of my lips as if I was extending my smile. I then painted on a gridline for how wide I wanted my teeth.
Teeth
Once I had the rough gridline, I made them a bit darker using the same shade. I then added a little bit more detail by making the inside of my lips darker and creating a bit more shadow. Once I was happy with the outline, I got down to colouring the teeth in. I used an NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil* in the shade Milk to start drawing the teeth in. I coloured a white triangle in the space where each tooth would be and used a brush to blend out the top and make it look slightly softer until I was happy.
Eyes
When happy with my teeth, I started work on my eyes. To start I used the shade ‘Access’ from the Morphe palette mentioned above and blended around my whole eye. I then used the shade ‘Smooth Criminal’ again to blend over my eyelid and along the side of my nose up to my eyebrow to create a deep, hollow effect. I kept working this in until I got it right and then moved onto the shade ‘Prowl’ to create even darker tones. I worked this into the corners and my lower lash line to make my eyes a little darker.
I wanted to add a bit of glitter, so used the shade ‘Coin’ on my lids and lower lash line to make the look a bit more sparkly. I added a bit of a cat flick using NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream* in shade Transylvania. Who said lip products can only be used on lips eh? This shade is a perfect eyeliner, if you don’t want to use a harsh shade. I then moved back on to my cheeks, working in the shade ‘Prowl’ along the line I created earlier and ‘Smooth Criminal’ underneath. I kept blending until I was happy with the depth. I then used the shade ‘VIP’ along my cheekbone to add a bit of highlight. Even skulls need highlighter obvs!
Finishing Up
I then used the Transylvania NYX Lip Cream* again to draw and colour a skeleton nose shape. I just drew a ‘V’ shape and curled it back around onto itself. I didn’t quite feel that my look was sparkly enough, so I decided to pat some gold glitter across my lips. I used my natural lip shape and the glitter stuck really well to white base that was already there. I finished with a set of falsies. For this look I used the Midnight lashes from KISS Lash Couture Collection*. They are the most vampy lashes ever and I just love them. Although I do need more practise putting lashes on as I am no good at all! I finished off with a Flower Crown of course and voila my simple skull makeup is complete.
I am so pleased with how this look turned out. As I mentioned, I love a skull, so it was super fun to create this look and keep a glam kind of feel to it. Creating this has made me really excited for Halloween now, I only mentioned last week how I was really behind with Halloween, but this has really hit the nail on the head and I am feeling super spooky now! Fun fact, this was the reserve flower crown for my wedding, I couldn’t decide between this and the pink one I used but at least I have a use for this one now aha!
How are you all doing your makeup for Halloween? Will you be adding anything extra to stand out from the crowd? ❤
