How to do zombie makeup for Halloween

Want to dress up as a brain-eating zombie for Halloween? Well here are some tips on how to do some pretty terrifying makeup.

How to do zombie makeup for Halloween
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How to do zombie makeup for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner, so it’s time to start thinking about what costume you’re going to wear on this night of terror! Whether you’re going to be spending it with your family, friends or with your partner cuddled up on the sofa with a good horror film, this is your opportunity to be creative and make this 31st October the Halloween that people will remember for a long time!

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DIY decorations, spooky foods, costumes, makeup… there’s so much to think about if you want to create the right ambience!

Halloween is a night where you can let your imagination run as wild as you want because so much falls under the category: vampires, monsters, witches, zombies, demonic princesses, mermaids from beyond the grave, the list is endless!

But if you’re still unsure about what costume to go for, here’s some tips on how to transform yourself easily into a zombie using makeup!

How to dress up like a zombie?

Zombies are one of the most popular costumes on Halloween night! They are both very scary and easy to do, which means you are quite likely to run into others on the night of the living dead in similar costumes.

This costume has the great advantage of requiring very little investment and you will definitely already have something you can use to turn into a zombie in your wardrobe! To make a zombie costume worthy of The Walking Dead, all you need to do is:

  • Collect old, damaged clothes you want to get rid of
  • Tear off some parts of the clothes or tear holes in the fabric (a sleeve, your jeans…)
  • Intentionally use mud to make your clothes dirty. Remember, it needs to look like you’ve just come out of a grave!
  • Add fake blood to the torn parts of your clothing and your skin

The idea is to make holes and irregular tears in your clothes to give them an aged and derelict appearance because, let’s be honest, zombies should definitely not be classy and clean!

Of course, there are also a lot of realistic costumes available on the market if you don’t have any old clothes you are willing to destroy for your costume.

Easy zombie makeup

Once you have your costume sorted, all that’s left to do is put on your makeup to perfect the illusion. If you really want to wow people, try using FX makeup, since these special effects products are very similar to those used by makeup artists in some of the greatest horror films.

However, it is entirely possible to put on zombie makeup with products you already have lying around in the bathroom and the kitchen and here’s how:

  • Start by applying a makeup base to improve the hold (moisturiser will do the trick)
  • Use a white or green oily makeup to cover the whole face and neck
  • Darken your eyes with grey or red eyeshadow
  • Mark out lines on your face and create fake wrinkles with a purple, grey or red pencil
  • Blur the lines with a small brush to make them more realistic
  • Draw the outline of false teeth on your mouth in black and colour them light grey
  • Around the teeth, draw a rough and irregular mouth with lipstick
  • Make fake wounds with fake blood and fake skin

If you don’t fancy splashing out on fake blood and latex, you could also make it yourself by mixing:

  • Red food colouring, cornstarch and water for the fake blood
  • Petroleum jelly or vaseline and flour for the fake skin

Don’t forget to blend the different parts of your makeup to make everything look more realistic.

If you have torn holes in your costume that show skin, don’t forget to also colour these areas of skin in white or grey with the oily makeup that you used on your face so that everything matches!

You could also add sores to your arms, neck, legs and the skin beneath any holes you tore in your clothes!

And voilà! You’re ready for a night of hell where you can pursue humans to devour them in between devouring candy!

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