This Skeleton Halloween Makeup Tutorial Is Scary Easy to Follow

 If you’ve ever spent hours spiraling down a wormhole of Halloween beauty tutorials on YouTube or searched the #HalloweenMakeup hashtag on Instagram, you’ve probably seen your fair share of cool-but-impossible-to-achieve-IRL makeup looks. And skeleton makeup? That definitely fits the category. There's so much intricacy involved in getting those eye sockets to look like something out of The Walking Dead, amirite? But thankfully the makeup gods (translation: beauty bloggers) felt for skill and time-strapped among us, and the half skull trend was born. It's got all the spooky marks of classic skeleton makeup (hello, those teeth!), but let's you still wear a fierce as hell smoky eye.
               

We called on Make Up For Ever Director of Education and Artistry Lijha Stewart (also known as the "Queen of Halloween") to guide us through the process, step-by-step. Here's exactly how to get the look.

Level of difficulty: On a scale of 1-5, this a solid 4. Yes, even though only half your face is actually painted, nailing the shading and symmetry of that portion is pretty hard.

Amount of time required: Unless you’re an artist, plan to reserve an hour and a half to complete this look.

What you'll need:
-Undereye concealer
-Eyebrow gel
-Black kohl eyeliner
-Shimmery white eyeshadow
-Matte brown eyeshadow
-Black eyeshadow
-False eyelashes
-White face paint
-Translucent finishing powder

Since the bottom half of your face will be covered in black and white face paint, don’t bother wasting time (or precious product!) prepping that area. You’ll want to focus on making your under eyes as even-toned and bright as possible. We used a full-coverage, creamy concealer and set it with translucent finishing powder. Next, you’ll want to intensify your brows with a slightly-darker-than-normal brow gel or pencil. If going bold scares you (or if you think it just looks weird), don’t worry. Once the rest of your face is done, everything will feel balanced.