Halloween Tutorial: Edgy Half Face Skull

This sexy half skeleton gives you a chance to channel glamour this Halloween. We asked makeup artist, Illamasqua girl and Nouvelle favourite Jamie Genevieve to create this tutorial for us...

As this is a half-face tutorial, start by doing one side of the face with your normal evening makeup - make it as dramatic as you wish. We like a dark lip and super smokey eye.

Go for a strong contour too, this really ups the evening look and makes it perfect for fancy dress.

Apply foundation to the clean (skull) side of the face; use your usual foundation or one a little lighter if possible - we went for Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation (£32) as it has a beautiful finish and really lasts on the skin.

Next, use a sharp, dark brown/purple eyeliner pencil like Illamasqua Honour Eye Colouring Pencil (£15) to create the outlines of the skeleton. Create a rough outline in this step as we'll be blending and neatening things up soon.

Choose a gel liner, Jamie recommends Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner (£18.50), with a lip brush to fill in the black areas of the skeleton - the eyes, the nose, the missing area of the jaw and the temple. Make sure these are as rich and black as possible for the full effect.

Again, use the Gel Liner to fill in detail; the brow bone, the sides of the eyes and the cheeks. Use a black eyeshadow to create definition and blend out. Create little cracks in the bone around the forehead and add detail, following the above picture as a guide.

Use a white foundation or eyeshadow to create a highlight around the bone structure, blending it out as you go. Jamie used an eyeshadow brush to pat on this white hue, and then blended out so it was only just obvious.

For the teeth, create a white area along the lips and extend up towards the cheek - you can use whatever you have to hand, white foundation or eyeshadow.
Make the teeth as realistic as you want; Jamie used black liquid liner to draw on thin lines to mark out the teeth, and then finished it off by drawing small V’s at the end of each of the lines.

Add a touch more definition by using a white eyeliner pencil to fill in the teeth slightly, drawing on a few lines in each to create the look of teeth.

Complete the look by using a black glitter pigment on the socket, Jamie went for Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Android (£16.50), and add a pair of lashes for effect.

Finally, create some thick white lines down the neck and outline with quick sweeps of liquid liner for that skeleton look.

Not only is this pretty simple once you get started, it only requires a handful of products! A great last minute option for any Halloween event.

Make sure to keep up with more of Jamie's amazing looks by following her on Instagram!

Will you be trying this?


Photos: Emily Wylde