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Create your own Halloween costume at home

Staff photo by CLOE CABRERA

Makeup artist Fran Fernandez shows how to create an easy Halloween look with makeup you already have.

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By CLOE CABRERA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2009

So, you waited until the last minute to decide what you want to be for Halloween ... again.

This time, instead of buying some last-one-on-the-shelf costume in a bag, why not use what you have at home to create your look and save some money?

All you need is what you already have in your makeup bag.

I asked hair and makeup guru Fran Fernandez, owner of Artistic Hair & Makeup in South Tampa, how to achieve a simple Halloween look without a lot of fuss. Fernandez, who also does theatrical makeup on some Gasparilla pirates, came up with this feline face that will have you purring in no time.

For this classic kitty look, you'll need a light-brown and medium-brown eye shadow; white or beige cream eye shadow; lip gloss; red lipstick; black eyeliner pencil; and mascara.

Using a sponge, apply medium-brown eye shadow around the perimeter of your face, down your neck and on your ears. Go over the same area using a light-brown eye shadow. This will give you a three-dimensional look.

Apply beige or white eye shadow around and under your eye, down the bridge of your nose and beneath it, creating a snout. Using a black, waxy eyeliner pencil, line the upper and lower eyelids, go down into the inner and outer corners, then run the pencil along the side of your nose and fill in the tip. Add some whiskers around your face and to the apples of your cheeks.

Now fill in your lips with your favorite red lipstick and add a line of lip gloss down the middle. Finish with a few coats of mascara and start practicing your meow!

You also can use your makeup for more ghoulish effects, Fernandez says. Purple and black eye shadow can create a nice bruise. A little eyelash glue, toilet paper, blush, brown eye shadow and red lipstick can give you a nasty bloody scar (check out the one on my cheek). And eyelash glue mixed with Rice Krispies and a little black eye shadow will make lumpy, rotted skin. Grotesque!

Don't forget, removing all makeup after the evening's festivities is a must. Leaving it on for hours is hard enough on the skin. Sleeping in it keeps it on for hours longer and grinds it into the pores, almost guaranteeing skin issues in the morning.

Happy Halloween!

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