Labor Day is coming to an end, and so is summer. But hey, there’s no reason to be sad. The most exciting holiday season is upon us and just before it gets underway, Americans will have the opportunity to spend at least one more holiday dressing up in any way they please while downing copious amounts of candy and other sweet treats. There is no other day of the year where doing such things is not considered kooky. Of course, we’re talking about Halloween!

It’s spooky, it’s eerie, it’s fun, and it’s fantasy. Halloween takes place on the 31st of every October and it is celebrated with costumes, candy, and even scary cemetery chases. For families with small children, funhouses and apple bobbing abound, and for true Halloween fans, crazy costume creations are the name of the game.

If you are interested in making a statement at Halloween parties or to greet your pint-sized candy hunters at the door, try one of the following costume suggestions listed below. Each suggestion includes tips on how to apply makeup and for individuals with sensitive skin, there are many all-natural options. For our environmentally conscious celebrants out there, click here for information about where to buy cruelty-free makeup for vegans and vegetarians with varied styles and budgets.

Fantasy Makeup

Fantasy makeup is not just for Halloween anymore. More and more women are experimenting with unique and interesting makeup ideas throughout the year and fantasy makeup is no exception. Fantasy makeup comes in many forms. Some women like to add interesting items to their face or eyes such as feathers or jewels. Others simply want to create an interesting and exotic look through the use of cosmetics without adding other objects.

The popular smoky eye look made commercial by Cover Girl cosmetics is one reason fantasy makeup is reentering the daily makeup scene. More likely to appear in the evening, women who want to grab the attention of others with their stunning or strange makeup applications will find the following information useful as they experiment with or expand their fantasy makeup skills.

Fairy Makeup
Use bright, bold colors combined with subdued pastels to create a stunning fairy look. For the most part, fairy makeup focuses on the entire face. You can create vines and flowers that flow down your cheeks; large flower like eyes that start on the lids and sweep upwards to your hairline; bright, pink lips; and wispy hair all play into the innocent fairy look. Of course, you can create darker fairies of the forest, butterfly fairies, princess fairies and any other type of fairy you can imagine.

Gothic Makeup
Gothic makeup tends to focus on the eyes to create the dramatic and dark look associated with the night. This simple, yet powerful makeup technique is an exaggerated version of the smoky eye look. Or maybe, the smoky eye look is a toned down version of it. Gothic makeup has been around on the metropolitan club scene for ages. It is easy to apply and will focus attention on your eyes.

Face Painting
Using makeup to create simple face painting designs is a great way to enhance your makeup, create unique looks and keep it simple. Any design, object or animal can be drawn on your face with makeup. Many women like to add simple flowers or bugs such as butterflies to their checks. Others get more abstract with vines and leaves. Nature is popular source of inspiration for face painting.

Fantasy Makeup Application Tips
Find pictures of the look you are trying to create. You can clip pictures from magazines, find them online, or visit your local book store or library for ideas. Once you have a picture for reference, you can practice creating the look.

Make sure to use a makeup primer before beginning application. A primer is an advanced form of foundation. It sets an even canvass for makeup application and helps makeup last longer and retain its color.

Mineral makeup offers the most variety when it comes to colors. It also lasts longer and is better for your skin than traditional cosmetics. Consider using feathers, jewels, sticks or other objects to create an even more unique fantasy makeup look. Also, consider fake tattoos and the use of colored contact lenses to give you even more options.

Witch Makeup

Witch makeup is very popular around Halloween. However, it is also gaining popularity in more subtle forms throughout the rest of the year including an increased presence at night clubs, and costume parties. Witch makeup is also used during the day, but in its mildest form.

Many people interpret witches differently creating a variety of witch makeup applications to choose from. At the most basic level, individuals wanting to employ this makeup technique need to decide if they want to be perceived as a good witch or a bad witch. Many will immediately think of The Wizard of Oz and the two very different witch sisters portrayed in the popular film.

Good witches will want to use pretty colors and sparkling cosmetics to create the illusion of perfection and goodness. Bad witches will want to use dark colors and scary applications to create an effect of horror and evil.

Creating the Good Witch Look
Good witches will find the need to be creative with their makeup application or they may be misunderstood and cause confusion if their look is too subtle.

Begin with selecting the right colors. Bold blues, greens and pinks are great for grabbing attention while staying friendly. These can be complemented with pastels of the same shade, silver and white.

Use pink for your lipstick as it is imperative that the good witch remains innocent. Using any other shade of lipstick will definitely send the wrong message. A coat of lip gloss enhances the sparkle and innocent appeal of the good witch.

Apply a pink or light rouge blush to the cheeks to help them grab attention and give your witch a pleasing glow.

Use a combination of bright eye shadows (light and bold) to enhance your eyes. Eye shadows that sparkle or have glitter give a little extra to the look. Colored eyeliner brings out your eyes and use false eyelashes for the finishing touch.

Creating the Bad Witch Look
Cover your face and neck with green face paint. This base leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to letting others know who you are.

Use a black eye liner pencil on the top and bottom lid of your eyes so they stand out against the green face paint. You may also want to use a dark eye shadow on your upper lid to give dimension and depth to your eyes. False eyelashes give your eyes power and focuses attention on them as does filling in your eyebrows.

Use a dark red or black lipstick for your lips. You may want to try layering one on top of the other to create a strange and haunting look. Make sure your lips are free of any green base paint in order for the lipstick to match.

In the end, don’t forget to use accessories to highlight your message and create a look ready to inspire others with fear or good will.

Kiss Makeup

No matter how young or old you may be, the band KISS is probably one of the most memorable bands you’ve ever, well, seen. Sure, true KISS fans love the bands’ glam rock, music, but non-rock music fans can appreciate the bands creative costumes and signature KISS makeup. Since the band formed in 1972, this iconic crew has rarely seen in public without the black and white makeup that set them apart from other bands in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond. Well, with the exception of Gene Simmons, founder and frontman for the band.

It is not uncommon to wear KISS Halloween costumes or buy KISS makeup kits just for fun. So, if you can’t even come close to recreating the glam bands unforgettable music, live performance style and pyrotechnics for fun, you can pick up a costume and makeup kit and do your best to recreate the KISS look.

Before we discuss the ABCs of applying KISS makeup, some of you might have sensitive skin, while others think it might be impossible to wear KISS makeup without applying way too many chemical-laden cosmetics to your face. This is so not true! In fact, even vegans and vegetarians can achieve the crazy KISS look without the use of products that contain animal ingredients. If you’re of the cruelty-free variety, an endless number of cosmetics companies sell cruelty free cosmetics. This means, KISS fans of all kinds can enjoy this look without compromising their values.

So where can you purchase vegan, cruelty free, or vegetarian KISS makeup? A good place to start is Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC). You can find all three types of makeup rolled into one fairly easily here. Beauty Without Cruelty also sells all natural and vegan products such as vitamin rich cleansers that can be used to prime the face before makeup application. The company sells make-up removers, cleansers, and moisturizers that are perfect for use to clean and moisturize the face when the KISS party is over. Try BWC’s creamy eye makeup remover, renewal moisture lotion, and the 8.5 oz. facial cleanser with Vitamin C, coq10, green tea and anti-oxidant vitamins.

BWC cream concealer in fair is perfect for the beginning stages of the transformation from average Joe to full-blown KISS fan. Use the jet black liquid eyeliner (fragrance free) for the eyes and other parts of the face. And you can use the satin finish eye shadow duo and ultra-fine pressed powder to polish of off your look. If you have dry skin, BWC has a line of moisturizing makeup as well.

Ok, to get the process started, pick a band member — if you are familiar with the band. You will choose between Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, or Ace Frehley. If you are not familiar with the band, you can choose a bandmember based on which style suits your fancy. It will be easy to decide once you review the video. In the meantime, your choices will be demon (Gene), catman (Peter), starchild (Paul), or space (Ace). No matter which bandmember you choose, you must start with clean skin. Moisturize if your skin is particularly dry. You don’t want the makeup to cake and roll.

If you haven’t already guessed, you will need a makeup sponge, as well as white, black, and silver face paint. You will also need white cream makeup, black lipstick, red lipstick, and the darkest black eyeliner pencil you can find. Once you have all of your KISS makeup products laid out in front of you, cover your entire face with the white cream makeup. Make sure it is even and smooth. Your skin should not shine through. This is as artificial as makeup can get remember? After applying the white cream makeup evenly and heavily, click here to watch a “How to apply KISS makeup” video. This should help guide you through the process. You can also cut and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSyV0Sa0uNw.

Cat Eye Makeup

Cat eye makeup continues to grow in popularity. Whether it is for a party or a night on the town, women everywhere are using the idea of cat eyes as inspiration to create unique and inspiring makeup. One reason for the popularity of cat eye makeup is the Broadway musical Cats. Every imaginable cat eye was created to enhance the appearance of those in the show.

Cat eyes range from subtle looks for the day and extreme looks for evening. Black and gray are common colors for a basic cat eye while the entire spectrum of bold colors may be used to create fantasy cat images.

Getting Inspiration
Find a picture of the cat eyes you want to create. Celebrity gossip and girl magazines are great for getting ideas. Online research and Halloween books or back issues of magazines provide plenty of suggestions and ideas for exotic cat eyes. Even getting pictures of cast members from Cats can provide ideas, or use an actual cat picture for inspiration.

Traditional Eyeliner Application
Eyeliner is the key to creating a subtle day look. You will most likely need to practice to get the look you want. A basic traditional look involves eyeliner that begins at the inner eye and follows the root line of your eyelashes until you reach where your pupil (the colored part of your eye) ends. At this point, draw a line out from your eye that curves upwards slightly.

Start with creating a line and then retrace the line to create an even thicker line until you get the look you desire. Use high quality eyeliner that is waterproof and will not bleed. The eyeliner is such a critical element of this look that you don’t want it smearing all over your face. Liquid eyeliner is really great for this look as it will not smudge. It will require a bit of practice for those not used to using it.

Applying Eye Shadow
Apply shadow above your eyeliner. Light shades are commonly used for regular day and evening events as they bring a focus to your eyes and do not distract from the eyeliner. Darker shades will create shadows around your eyes that are good for costumes but will most likely make you look tired or scary for regular life events.

Colors can be used in various ways to create exotic looks. The best way to practice achieving the cat eye look with colors is to practice recreating the look from a picture.

Eye Lashes
Thick, black and luxurious eyelashes finish the look. Fake eyelashes are a popular way to bring life to your eyes and add the final exotic touch to cat eyes.