5 Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

 

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Halloween will be here before you know it. I don’t know about you, but this year is flying by… so much so that I haven’t given much thought to what I’m going to dress up as for Halloween. Most years, I go pretty big with my costume. It’s just so fun to pretend to be someone else for a day, don’t you think? I wanted to put together this post to help you if you’re feeling stuck this year too! These are some last minute Halloween costumes that are super easy to throw together last minute using things you probably already have at home.

I’ll also of course be giving you plenty of makeup tips throughout so you can really take your look to the next level. You don’t want to just phone it in… you want to be convincing! I got you, boo.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a small commission. 

Quick and Easy Last Minute Halloween Costumes

#1 Haute Hippy (for the minimalist)

I pulled out one of my mom’s old bridesmaids dresses, an off-white floor length empire waisted gown that had a flower print on it. With the right hair and makeup, some feather earrings I hadn’t worn since college, and leather sandals, I knew I could pull off the hippy costume.

Makeup wise I kept everything really natural. Minimal makeup but extra bronzer. I also used a pink lip liner draw a heart under the outer corner of my eye and above my cheeks. I outlined the pink heart with a brown eyeliner.

Soft, dusty pink vintage Christian Dior lipstick pulled the makeup together.

For hair, I kept it wavy and natural. I wore a gold, elastic headband to add a little bit more hippy.

Costume Essentials:

• Headband
• Dusty Rose Lipliner
• Feather Earrings
• Floor Length Dress

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#2 Frida Khalo (for the artist)

I dressed up as Frida Khalo one Halloween for a costume-themed Bunco party, and guess what? I won the costume contest! As always, I turned to the internet for last minute Halloween costume inspo and makeup ideas… and the internet came through for me.

First, I mixed Loreal True Match foundation in porcelain with my 118 MUFE Ultra HD Foundation. I knew I wanted my foundation a few shades lighter and I’ve found these formulas to blend well.  

While I did a little bit of contouring aka face shaping, it wasn’t super noticeable. Because I wanted to do Frida justice and she didn’t “contour.” I also wanted my blush to really flush my face, like hers did. 

I knew the money was in the brows and well, I was in a hurry and really, really wanted to spend more time on them. But, as life happens, my daughter had a meltdown right before and while the babysitter arrived, so I had to tend to her which ate into preciously allotted getting ready time. So I did what I could with the short time I had. I used a brow pencil to fill in and draw in the brows. Fortunately, my brows are pretty thick and unkempt (which is sorta my thing now). 

The Costume – Beaded Necklaces, Colorful Kimono

I stacked on all the beaded necklaces I owned, threw on a yellow kimono over a black shirt. You might recognize the kimono from my post-partum StitchFix unboxing. Read it here>

The Hair – It’s Easier Than It Looks

As far as the hair, I had to consult YouTube (obvs). I used one of my grandmother’s silk tie scarves and wove it into the braid.

Costume Essentials:

• Foundation (1-2 shades lighter than your skin tone)
• It! Brows Universal Pencil in Taupe
• Red Lipstick
• Beaded Necklaces
• Kimono

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#3 Maleficent (for the scary)

As far as last minute Halloween costumes go, this one is easy… grab a black cape (or robe) and call it good!

I stumbled upon becoming Maleficent when I was working as the lead makeup artist and makeup director for the Amelia Erhardt Theater Haunted House production.

If you are in the Wiesbaden area, have a US government issued ID, and appreciate theater as well as super scary, well-thought out, designed, executed haunted houses, this is for your– this is a legit scary haunted house. Well thought out. Well rehearsed. Being the scaredy cat that I am, I knew I’d rather “work” it than go through it. Plus, I had never really done any sort of SPFX makeup before and they didn’t mind letting me use their liquid latex and gallons of fake blood. While SPFX isn’t my thing for all the time, it’s fun to do for Halloween time.

The production needed a Maleficent at the last minute and I was a warm body who wasn’t terrified of performing and bonus, I could also do my own makeup. So I was available.

Here’s what I did:

Foundation – Just apply it. Easy peasy.

Winged Eyeliner – Okay, let’s start with a little story. So, when the whole winged eyeliner trend came out, I knew I was doomed. Not because my eyeshape (round) and winged eyeliner aren’t “easy” but also, my eyes have WAY more wrinkles than they did before and getting a delicate wing is literally impossible (it’s possible to look good with either eyes opened or closed, but not both).

I learned my winged eyeliner for round eyes technique from Sarah Irene – long long before she became a bonafide influencer. I believe this is the exact video that I used as a template – of course I had to make some modifications to make her technique work for my specific eye shape (as you should always do if you are watching makeup tutorials).

Placing tape and following the lower lash line really helps with precision and also the sharpness of the wing. I think I did that one or two times but realized, it was really unnecessary for Malificent because

Contouring – I could not, for the life of me, get the Maleficent contour. I tried and tried – but only half-heartedly – and without using any SPFX makeup or tape and only having ~10 minutes to do my makeup, I did the best I could. I know it looked good in the theatrical lights but in the selfie daylight, it was meh. This just goes to show, practice makes perfect.

I used Danessa Myricks cream cover concealer as the cream contour and then my Kat Von D contour palette (middle colors) to set and intensify the contour.

Lips – I overlined the hell out of my lips because, well, not everyone is born with Angelina Jolie lips. Filled in the lipliner with a deep, crimson red. NOT a bright cherry engine red. I have a whole section on lips in my book and a handy dandy diagram with how to properly overline your lips in a flattering way (it’s, ahem, in my book… if you don’t have it, you can grab a copy here).

Costume Essentials:

• Horns
• Red Lipstick
• Eyeliner
• Beauty Blender Liner Designer
• Black Cape
• Black Eyeshadow

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#4 Boo Bee (for the mom jokes)

This is one of my all time favorite Halloween costumes, but it wasn’t my idea. My college bestie and sorority sister for life Audra came up with it, that creative girlie! Side note: I also did her wedding makeup – which finally gave me the confidence to become a makeup artist in the first place!

Back to the costume. We bought yellow t-shirts from American Apparel and because Audra was a minor in Theatre (with an emphasis in costume design), and she embroidered Boo patches to wear on our shirts. We applied some yellow eye makeup, and lots of glitter and highlighter so we could shine bright like the queen bees we are!

Costume Essentials:

• • Yellow Cosmetic Grade Glitter for Eyes
  • Glitter Glue

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#5 80s Chick (everything but the kitchen sink)

If you have a palette of bright eyeshadows you’ve probably never worn, again, some glitter (are you finding the theme here?), an A-line t-shirt (aka the politically incorrect title of wife beater, which took me years to shake using), and some high-waisted leggings, then you can totally pull off this costume.

Grab the biggest, most obnoxious earrings you’ve got. They don’t even have to match. Neon yellow is sorta my thing, especially when I’m going for an 80s look. So, I rocked some Steve Madden neon yellow stilettos – when I did my whole Marie Kondo, she talks about how if you have a dingy, hole-ridden t-shirt that brings you joy – even if you don’t wear it, keep it, because it brings you joy.

(P.S. For the longest time, I boycotted Steve Madden because he was in prison for this and that. I purchased these shoes long before I knew this but crazy, huh? I do love his line of Steven shoes but… it’s still hard for me to buy SM shoes because of the whole prison ordeal).

That’s how I feel about these shoes. Worn to many a college party, these shoes commanded attention and because I love attention (well, positive attention anyways), and when I wore these, I knew it was going to be a special night. 

Channel Your Inner Cher

via GIPHY

I heard an interview with Cher a few years ago and when asked what her favorite decade was, she responded the 80s. Even though I was a kid and pretty oblivious to what the 80s would’ve been like as a young adult or adult, I think it would’ve been pretty fun! I could totally see what it was her favorite decade. She was in her prime… topping the charts, hair for days, and I’m pretty sure she had groupies. To be a rocker in the 80s would’ve been awesome, I’d say. Digressing. 

To create my version of the 80s look, I busted out those rarely used bright and bold eyeshadows, too-pink-for-me-blush, and bright pink lipstick with glitter gloss on top because #whynot

Crazy Hair, Don’t Care

Shower, blow dry hair frizzy, flip hair, brush out. Dry shampoo and Aqua Net and gasp, mousse, LA gel… breaking all the rules. I pinned a little pomp but feel free to go higher. If you have bangs, BONUS!

Costume Essentials:

• Neon Hoop Earrings
• Pink Blush
• Dry Shampoo

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BONUS Spider Woman (for the super lazy who only wants to use eyeliner)

I hate to be anti-climactic but for this look, my makeup was the costume. I believe I wore a black shirt and black leggings but outside of that, I was just a “spider.” I think this is the easiest of all last minute Halloween costumes, so if that sounds like something you need, here you go!

Since the makeup is everything, you’re going to go bold. Liquid black eyeliner, glitter glue, and black glitter. Ok, this was seriously a last minute effort – I had like 30 minutes to get my daughter and myself ready for a Halloween party and well, I didn’t have anything ready. So I busted out my Kat Von D tattoo liner and essentially drew a cobweb on my face and also a cute little spider. 

I could’ve done something easier like a cat, mouse, or ladybug – but considering I am a makeup artist, I did need to show that I’m capable of drawing something a little more complex on my face, with my squirmy daughter in my lap.

Costume Essentials:

• Bright Purple Lipstick
• Eyeliner

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Well, there you have it!

I would LOVE to know what you decided to be this year for Halloween and as always, I’m here for you! Have any questions or hang ups on how to do your makeup for Halloween, make sure to ask me FREE here.

Stay Beautiful,

Natalie