Easy Halloween Makeup for Beginners: 5 Simple Looks You Can Do at Home

A black (or dark brown) eyeliner — pencil, gel, or liquid, whatever you already own — plus your regular eye makeup (mascara, a neutral eyeshadow if you want extra definition). A small angled brush or cotton swab helps clean up edges but isn’t required.

Don’t own a liner yet? NYX Professional Makeup Epic Ink Liner (Black) is a precise, waterproof liquid liner that works well for both whisker lines and a winged cat eye, with brand-rated wear of up to 24 hours. Already have any liquid, gel, or pencil liner at home? Use that instead — this step doesn’t call for a specific product. View on Amazon

1. Draw a winged line at the outer corner of each eye, extending slightly past your natural lash line — this is the base of the “cat eye.”
2. Color the tip of your nose solid black or dark brown using your liner (a pencil liner or a lip liner in a dark shade both work well for this).
3. From the edge of your colored nose tip, draw 2–3 thin whisker lines on each cheek, angled slightly upward.
4. Add 2–3 small dots above your upper lip on each side, near where real whiskers would start.
5. Fill in your brows slightly darker and more angled than usual if you want a more dramatic feline shape, and finish with mascara.

If a liquid liner feels too shaky in your hand, use a sharpened pencil liner instead — it’s more forgiving and easier to correct with a cotton swab. You can also lightly pencil in the whisker lines first, check them in the mirror, then go over them once you’re happy with the placement.

Whisker lines that are too long, too thick, or too perfectly straight tend to look more like stray pen marks than whiskers. Keep them short, slightly uneven, and angled — real whiskers aren’t ruler-straight.

For more color, add a soft pink or brown blush just under the cheekbone to suggest fur shading, or use a cream eyeshadow in a warm brown tone blended along the outer eye for a softer, more dimensional cat-eye shape.

A dark red, wine, or near-black lip color; a dark eyeshadow or eyeliner for a smoky eye; and your normal foundation or concealer, used as you usually would. If you want a cooler, more dramatic effect, you can skip bronzer or heavy blush, but that’s optional, not a requirement for this look.

Want a long-wearing dark lip? Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick is rated by the brand for up to 16 hours of transfer- and smudge-resistant wear in deep shades that suit this look. Matte liquid lipsticks can feel drying, so consider a lip balm underneath. Already own a dark lipstick or lip liner? That works just as well. View on Amazon

1. Apply your normal foundation or concealer as you usually would — no need to go lighter than your actual shade. If you want a cooler, more dramatic effect, you can skip bronzer and warm-toned blush, but this step works fine with your everyday base too.
2. Sweep a dark gray, plum, or black eyeshadow across your lid and slightly under the lower lash line, blending so there are no hard edges.
3. Line your upper lash line with a precise liner for definition — this is also where NYX Epic Ink Liner’s fine brush tip is useful, if you have it.
4. Fill in lips fully with your dark lip color, using a lip liner first if you want a cleaner edge.
5. Optional: use a cool-toned contour shade to subtly hollow the cheeks for a more dramatic bone structure.

If blending a smoky eye feels intimidating, use a single dark matte eyeshadow shade all over the lid with a fluffy brush instead of trying to blend multiple shades — one well-blended color looks more polished than three poorly blended ones.

If you’re going for a cooler, more dramatic effect, heavy bronzer or warm blush can work against it. A cool-toned berry or plum blush placed high on the cheekbone pairs better with this look than a warm bronzer, if you want added color — but neither is required.

A small, subtly shadowed line at each corner of the mouth (using the same dark eyeshadow on a small brush) can suggest a slightly sharper smile without any special-effects products.

Classic direction: a dark eyeshadow or eyeliner and a dark lip color (the same products used for the vampire look above work here too). Colorful direction: a multi-shade eyeshadow palette with a few bold, saturated colors.

Going the colorful route? NYX Professional Makeup Ultimate Shadow Palette in “I Know That’s Bright” is a 16-shade, vibrant palette that works well here. NYX identifies 8 of the 16 shades in this palette (numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, and 16) as face pigment shades meant for the cheeks and temples rather than the eye area — check current packaging and keep those specific shades off your eyes, and use the remaining eye-safe shades on your lid instead. View on Amazon

Classic witch:
1. Apply a dark, smoky eye using the same technique as the vampire look above.
2. Define brows slightly thicker and more angled than your natural shape.
3. Fill in lips with a dark, near-black or deep purple color.
4. Optional: a few small dots of a dark eyeshadow along one cheekbone, like a faint smudge of soot.

Colorful “glam” witch:
1. Apply one or two of the palette’s eye-safe shades across the lid, blending toward a darker eye-safe shade in the outer corner.
2. Use one of the face pigment shades swept along the cheekbones and temples for a bold pop of color — this is exactly what those shades are designed for.
3. Add a thin, precise liner flick at the outer corner for extra drama.
4. Pair with a bold lip in whatever bright or dark shade you already own.

If blending multiple eyeshadow shades feels like too much, pick one dominant color and apply it with a single fluffy brush across the whole lid rather than trying to create a multi-color gradient.

Using a face pigment shade from a bright palette directly on the eyelid, or using face paint near the lips in a shade not meant for that area. If you’re adding any face paint accents to this look, keep red, yellow, or orange shades away from the eyes and blue or green shades off the lips — those are the restrictions the paint manufacturer itself calls out, and they’re easy to avoid once you know about them.

A very light dab of a green-toned face paint along the hairline or jaw (avoiding the lips) can suggest “witch skin” without committing to a full face-paint look.

A white (or very light) face paint for the base, plus black for shading around the eye area, the nose, and the cheek hollows — following that specific product’s current directions for use near the eyes. A small round brush or sponge helps with clean edges.

Need a face paint palette? Mehron Paradise Makeup AQ is a water-activated face and body paint that blends well for this kind of base-and-detail work. Mehron advises against using red, yellow, or orange shades around the eyes, and blue or green shades on the lips — not every shade in the palette carries the same restriction, so check current packaging before use. For a skeleton look using mainly white and black, this rarely comes up, but it’s worth knowing if you add any colored accents. View on Amazon

Want a lower-cost option instead? Snazaroo’s face paint kit is a budget-friendly alternative that works similarly for a first attempt — per the brand’s own safety information, it’s dermatologically tested using sensitive-skin volunteers. View on Amazon

1. Activate the white face paint with a damp (not soaking wet) sponge and apply a thin, even layer across your entire face, building up gradually rather than applying one thick coat.
2. Let the first layer dry slightly, then apply a second thin layer anywhere it looks uneven or sheer.
3. Using a smaller brush and black face paint, shade the sides of your nose to suggest a nasal cavity and the hollows of your cheeks. For the eye-socket effect, create the dark shape only where your specific face paint’s current directions permit use near the eyes, keep product out of the eyes themselves, and don’t assume every cosmetic face paint is automatically approved for the eyelid or immediate eye area — check the packaging first.
4. Use a precise black liner — NYX Epic Ink Liner works well here — to add fine detail lines: cracks, small dots, or a suggestion of teeth along the lip line if you want that detail.
5. Let everything set for a few minutes without touching your face before heading out.

Apply the white base in thin layers instead of one thick one — it dries faster, looks more even, and is far less likely to crack or flake. A slightly damp makeup sponge gives smoother coverage than a dry one.

Applying face paint too thick in one pass, which can look cakey and is more prone to cracking as it dries. Thin layers, built up gradually, almost always look better than one heavy coat.

A small, precise brush and a bit of gray or light blue shading along the black edges can add dimension and make the hollows look less flat.

A bright, bold eyeshadow or face pigment for the cheeks, a bright lip color, and your regular eyeliner for exaggerated brows or lashes.

If you already picked up the NYX “I Know That’s Bright” palette for the witch look above, several of its face pigment shades (numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, and 16) work just as well here — they’re a good fit for big, round clown cheeks. Keep those particular shades off your eyelids and use them on the cheeks, temples, or brow area instead.

1. Using a fluffy brush, apply a bright face pigment shade in a large, exaggerated circle on each cheek — bigger and rounder than a normal blush placement.
2. Fill in a bold, bright lip color slightly outside your natural lip line for an exaggerated mouth shape (a lip liner in the same tone makes this easier to control).
3. Use your eyeliner to draw slightly exaggerated, upward-angled brows above your natural brow line.
4. Add a few individual false lashes or extra mascara for a wide-eyed, playful look.
5. Optional: a small dab of a bright face pigment or lipstick on the tip of the nose for a rounded “clown nose” effect.

Use a lip liner to map out the exaggerated lip shape before filling it in with color — it’s much easier to adjust a pencil line than to fix liquid lipstick that’s gone too far outside your natural lip shape.

Leaning toward a “horror clown” aesthetic with smeared or asymmetrical makeup. For the playful version of this look, keep lines clean, colors bright rather than muddy, and shapes symmetrical.

A few small rainbow dots or a thin stripe of color near (not on) the eyebrow using the palette’s eye-safe shades can add extra personality without touching the eye area.