Use smoky eye colors to transform yourself into a zombie

Coming up with a creative Halloween costume isn’t always easy, especially when you’re on a budget. No one wants to spend hard-earned cash on wardrobe pieces that can only be worn once a year. Face masks are uncomfortable, so head to your vanity, and use your go-to makeup products to create special effects makeup instead.

Transforming yourself into a zombie for the night is fairly easy if you already have a variety of brown, black and red products. Start by creating an undead pallor with white and alabaster foundation. Contour cream can be darkened with ash brown eye shadow, and you can simulate the look of decomposing flesh with tissue paper and lash glue.

Ready to see how it’s done?

Materials
- White, alabaster and cognac cream foundation (Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Cream Foundation, 100, Y205 and Y505)
- Dense foundation brush
- Narrow contouring brush
- Setting powder (Cover FX Matte Setting Powder)
- Powder brush
- Ash brown eye shadow (Younique Moodstruck Addiction Shadow Palette, Cocky)
- Blending brush
- Sienna brown eye shadow (Morphe 350 Nature Glow Eyeshadow Palette, Click)
- Black eyeliner pencil (L'Oréal Infallible Pro-Last Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil)
- Flat eye shadow brush
- Reddish brown lip liner pencil (Italia Deluxe Ultra Fine Lip Liner Pencil, Cabaret)
- Brown liquid lipstick (Dose of Colors Liquid Matte Lipstick, Cork)
- Black eyeliner (Sephora 12hr Colorful Contour Eyeliner, Black Lace)
- Lash glue
- Tissue paper
- Black eye shadow (Younique Moodstruck Addiction Shadow Palette, Peppy)
- Red pressed pigment (NYX Hot Singles Eyeshadow, Hot Red)
- Tweezers
- Black mascara (L'Oréal Voluminous Original Mascara)
- Fake blood

Instructions
1. Combine white and alabaster cream foundation, and apply it to your face, neck, eyelids and lips with a dense foundation brush.

2. Apply cognac cream foundation at the outer corners of your forehead, inner corners of your upper eye area near the brows, vertically on each side of your nose, below your cheekbones and in a straight vertical line from the end of the cheek contour down toward your chin. Blend in the foundation with the foundation or contouring brush in patting motions.

3. Set your entire face with setting powder. Sweep it on with a powder brush, and include your neck as well.

4. Use ash brown eye shadow and a blending brush to create a sunken eye look. Start by applying shadow near the inner corner of your eye just below your eyebrow. Brush the dark eye shadow all the way along the brows, and then sweep it below your eye to create a large halo of darkness.

5. Darken all the areas where you previously applied cognac foundation with the same eye shadow color. Layering dark eye shadow over the cream foundation will ensure the color doesn’t fade and the contours of the face look emaciated.

6. Brush sienna brown eye shadow onto the crease area of your eye, below your eye and onto your upper forehead to add back some warmth.

7. Add sienna brown to the dark areas of your chin to mimic redness due to bruising.

8. Apply black eyeliner pencil to your eyelid, lower waterline and lower lash area. Diffuse the product with a flat eye shadow brush.

9. Apply reddish brown lip liner pencil below the black eyeliner under your eye. Blend the product into the skin slightly with the flat brush.

10. Darken the center of your upper and lower lips with a small amount of brown liquid lipstick. Use the foundation brush to blur the color. The residual foundation in the brush will help set and blend the pigment.

11. Apply black eyeliner to the center of your lips as well as outside the corners of your mouth, and pat and smudge the product with your finger.

12. Add a touch of reddish brown lip liner pencil to your lips and the outer corners to give them more dimension.

13. Create patches of “skin” by pressing a small piece of tissue paper against your forehead and applying lash glue to help it stay in place. The more glue you apply to the tissue, the more realistic the final result will be due to the wrinkles, folds and uneven texture.

14. Press black eye shadow onto the tissue patch with a blending brush.

15. Add sienna brown eye shadow to the tissue patch as well.

16. Stipple red pressed pigment onto the tissue patch.

17. Tear the tissue slightly with a pair of tweezers.

18. Create another skin “patch” near your jaw, if desired.

19. Apply black mascara to your upper and lower lashes.

20. Dab fake blood onto the center of each skin “patch” as well as around the edges of your mouth and temple.