Halloween can be great fun - big parties, pumpkin carving, spooky decorations… But sometimes getting dressed up can be a challenge for the fashion conscience girl. I mean, you don’t want a Mean Girls moment and turn in in full on horror, do you? And those costumes from fancy dress shops are truly cringeworthy…

 It can be a total predicament, but sometimes, the subtle nods to halloween fancy dress are what makes a great costume, so we had a hunt for the best costumes so you don’t have to! From The Undead to Zombie School Girl to Evil Sorceress - we have your back covered.

For our first Halloween themed how-to, we decided to go for the subtley undead – we don’t mean facepaint, bones and ripped clothing, we just mean a couple of bones and some spooky make-up…

The Outfit

When you’re trying to keep it low-key, Halloween can be a minefield - what’s too much? Do I even look like I’m in a costume? So we thought we’d put together a dead sexy outfit, from jewelerry to shoes, for any budget. Here’s a few must-have costume highlights…

The Halloween Playsuit – £48.70 - Lipgloss and Black

Fishnet Tights – £4.99 – New Look

Black Shoe Boots - £28.99 – MissGuided.co.uk

Vampire Teeth Necklace – £13.99 – AttitudeClothing.co.uk

The Hair

For a simple look like this, any hair goes, but there’s a couple of things you can do to give your outfit a little bit more wow factor…

• Flash of Colour – Fancy really switching it up? Get a streak of colour through your fringe or across the side of your hair (this is great for long haired girlies who want to wear it up!). Blood red looks great in black hair, and a black slice is sure to mix up blond locks. Why don’t you pop in for a consultation and ask about our Semi-Permanent InkWorks treatments, for bright and daring colours on a budget!
• Dare Devil Quiff – A punky quiff can add a rebellious touch to your outfit, and let’s face it, when else can you get away with skyhigh hair? Simple take a section of hair at the front of your head, about eye-brow to eye-brow width, backcomb the roots, and then do the same about 3 inches from your hairline. Generously hairspray and then fasten the ends at the crown of your head (backcomb further back for a mohawk look).
• Make your own totally unique DIY fascinator – A fascinator adds instand glam to any party look, so why don’t you make a sexy, spooky fascinator yourself? Just grab yourself a plain hairclip, some cheap plastic halloween decorations (we like spiders best!) and some netting, grab some glue and get creative!

The Make-Up

Some might think more subtle make-up would suit this look - we aren’t those people! We think some dramatic red lipstick, bit eyelashes and maybe even a little bit of contouring on the cheeks, just to look extra skeletal! Here’s a quick guideline of what we’d do, but there’s a million different ways you could go about this!

Face:  Using either your normal foundation or a shade paler than your skin tone, lightly apply foundation or tinted moisteriser across the whole of your face – remember to blend well at the edges! Apply concealer where you need it, but keep it looking light and matte. Using a matte blusher of your choice (extra brave girls, try a dark brown eyeshadow),  trace the line of contour underneath your cheek bones (the bit that goes in when you suck your cheeks in). Trace this lightly back to near your ears but don’t bring this line too far forward – about an inch back from your nose and mouth is about right!

Eyes: Start off by dabbing a white, shimmery shadow around the inside corner of the eyes – this will not only make your eyes look bigger, but make the rest of your shadow appear blacker and brighter. Using a black shadow, fill in the rest of the eyelid, and blend towards the brow slightly, so it doesn’t look too harsh – we think a shimmery black looks best for this, but this is only a rough guideline! If the black doesnit look like its covering, try using a black kohl pencil underneath as a base. Apply a line of black liquid liner to the top lid, and use a kohl pencil to line underneath the eyes as well. Apply the biggest falsies you can buy and finish with a touch of mascara!

Lips: The perfect finishing touch, line and fill your lips with a red lip pencil (this will help it last extra long) and then go over that with your red lipstick. Finish with a slick of Lipcote to ensure it lasts all evening, and for an extra splash of glamour, add the shiniest red gloss you own!

Let us know how your Undead Costumes, Hair and Make-Up go, and send us you pictures!