You Don’t Need a Costume To Be Hot on Halloween, Just 6 Makeup Tricks

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Start With Fresh, Glowy Skin

When the goal is sultry rather than spooky, a heavy base isn't necessarily the answer. French gravitates toward clean, natural-looking skin that lets the rest of the makeup take center stage.

"I honestly, I love clean skin, in terms of a no-makeup makeup skin," she says. Her suggestion? Start with a skin tint for a fresh, glowy finish. French mentions Dior's skin tint as a personal favorite and likes pairing it with Urban Decay Glow Setting Spray.

Let Your Eyeliner Do the Costume Work

French's liner shortcut is a classic for a reason: black liner, plenty of mascara and an eyeshadow that adds a little personality. "You can do all those looks with the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, black, of course, or any color you want," she says.

There's something decidedly more alluring about makeup that looks as though it has a story. For French, that means stepping away from a perfectly pristine wing and embracing eyeliner that's a little smudged, a little undone and all the more interesting for it.

The look works just as well with a cat costume as it does with a vampire or witch. Add a generous coating of mascara and a deep red lip, and a familiar Halloween character feels more like a beauty statement than a dress-up exercise.

"A sexy, lived-in, smudged-out black winged eyeliner, tons of mascara, and a deep blood-red lip is so hot with any costume," French says. She considers eyeliner the ultimate transformation tool, too. "I think it brings out a different person. It really draws people to your eyes."

Make Your Vampy Lip Look Deliciously Imperfect

A vampy lip doesn't have to mean a perfectly outlined burgundy pout. Or that you even have to be a vampire (zombies, cannibals, etc also welcome!).

"For any kind of true bitten lip, you want it to look like actual dried blood and you want it to be a bit uneven," she says. Her technique involves mixing Urban Decay Lip Toy Lip Liner Stains in Coy, a deeper brown, with Pose or Faunt to sculpt the lips, then adding a vertical line at the center.

Find Your Signature After-Dark Lip Combo

If a full lip feels like too much, a defined, dimensional pout offers another route to Halloween glamour.

French has a tried-and-true combination she keeps close at hand—and she's enthusiastic enough about one part of it to stockpile the product. She starts with Kaleidos Lip Liner in Mauvement, shade 05, then reaches for Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Medium 2.

For a glossy finish, she loves Urban Decay Lip Toy Lip Oil in Jam Sesh or Drizzed. "I have about 40 of them in my house because I go through them like crazy," she says of the lip oils. "It's truly my favorite."

Bring Back the Art of Strategic Shimmer

Forget the idea that glitter belongs exclusively on the eyelids. French's approach to shimmer is more playful, with placement doing as much work as the product itself.

Her favorite detail is shimmer at the inner corners of the eyes, carried down toward the under-eye area—a look that taps into the undone, slightly nostalgic beauty of the Indie Sleaze era. "I came up in the Indie Sleaze/Year Zero Tumblr era, so I love shimmer on the inner corners of eyes, bringing it down to under-eye bags," she says.

For anyone hesitant about experimenting with color, French recommends Urban Decay Chrome Melts. A small amount of a duochrome or multichrome shade, tapped over a neutral eyeshadow, can introduce a shift of color without taking over the entire look.

Finish With a Golden, Almost-Wet Glow

The final detail isn't necessarily on your face. If your Halloween look involves bare shoulders, a plunging neckline or a little décolletage, a luminous body glow can bring the entire look together.

French recommends Tinge's body shimmer, which she says she uses on celebrity clients for red-carpet appearances. "It photographs like wet skin, and it looks luminous, gorgeous, golden," she says.

For extra staying power, she suggests finishing with Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray.

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