Halloween Series: Half Pin-Up, Half Skeleton Make-up!

I wasn't originally going to do this make-up look, but one of my closest friends (who is at uni so I can't actually guide her in person) asked me to help her out as she wants to dress up as a skeleton this year. I documented the process and was just going to send the images to her but I have actually surprised myself as to how well it went, so I thought I would share it with you guys too! I did some research on Google and YouTube to gather some inspiration and then asked my rather gorgeous friend, Alex, to model this look for me... 

Keep reading to find out how I did it!

STEP ONE

Alex arrived at my house wearing some very natural looking make-up so I decided to take advantage and not 'start from scratch' as it were, considering half of the face in this look is supposed to be 'pretty'. She was just wearing Rimmel: Lasting Finish, 25 Hour foundation (100 Ivory), Collection: Lasting Perfection concealer (Fair, 1), some Rimmel: Clear Complexion powder and a light pink blush (which I added to later on) and Rimmel: Scandal Eyes Volume Lash mascara. But if you are doing this from scratch just add a simple base, you don't want to detract from the skeleton!

STEP TWO

I used a white eyeliner pencil by Barry M to sketch out the design, firstly sectioning the face half way and then drawing around the areas that would be black.

STEP THREE

Once all of the outlines were drawn, I filled in the gaps using a white face paint by Snazaroo. I applied a few layers of paint, allowing each layer to dry in-between, to create a greater coverage.

STEP FOUR

I then picked up my Collection 24 Hour Felt-tip Liner and carefully filled in the 'bone structure'. I originally applied black face paint but I found it too fiddly so switched to the eyeliner pen, but if you're confident enough then the face paint would probably last longer on the skin. 

I started to apply some shading and then realised I hadn't filled the nose in!

STEP FIVE 

I then filled the nose in, it sounds gross, but make sure that the nostril is covered as well!

STEP SIX

Then it was time for some shading! I just used my MUA: Winter Forest palette and dipped my brush into the grey tones, so, 'Dove Grey' and 'Slate'. I applied these shades to the outer most areas of the face and along the jaw line to add more definition. I then wanted to emphasise the shapes I had made previously so added some shading there too, with lots of blending!

STEP SEVEN

I left the teeth till last because... well... I was dreading doing them! I picked up a tiny weeny paint brush, dipped it into some water and then into my 'Blackout' (matte black) eyeshadow from my Urban Decay: Naked 2 palette (you could use black face paint but because I was scared I thought I would be able to remove the eyeshadow a lot easier than paint if I needed to!) I firstly darkened the centre of the lips so they appeared thinner and then made tiny brush strokes upwards and downwards and then rounding the edges...to make them look like teeth. I would advise having a visual aid to copy from. I got rather annoyed and stressed out at this point but I believe it all came together nicely! 

STEP EIGHT

I then went back in with the grey tones. I applied a small amount underneath each tooth, and blended the grey into the previous application. I also added a bright pink lipstick onto the 'pretty' side of Alex's face. This not only made the 'Pin-Up' look more complete but it created a vast contrast to the mono-chrome look on the other side (it also went with Alex's hair!)

STEP NINE

 I then added a small beauty spot and some winged eyeliner onto Alex's lash line. The prettiness contrasted well with the quite horrible looking skeleton!

FINISHED!

You could do a complete skeleton face, just by mirroring the look onto the other side... this means that it is also more wearable for guys too!

Here are some more photos...

I hope this has helped!

Speak soon!

Isabel x