THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Tiger

GUYS, IT’S ALMOST HALLOWEEN. I AM A BIT EXCITED.

We’ve got a whole bunch of pretty, scary (or ‘pretty scary’? I’ll show myself out.) makeup looks to help you out with planning your outfit for the most fun fancy dress night of the year. And this year, it’s even on a FRIDAY.

I’m kicking off our Halloween extravaganza with a classic (and it’s not at all childish, what are you talking about?): an INCREDIBLY FRIGHTENING AND IMPOSING tiger. I mean. Well. It’s a tiger, at least.

This is a great option for Halloween because the effort is all in the face, so if the party is looming and you’ve run out of time to pick up a specific outfit, all you really need is a onesie, or some leggings and an orange t-shirt you can scribble on with a Sharpie and you’re good to go. I am incredibly lazy, so that appeals to me on a spiritual level.

Also, my skin is super sensitive and doesn’t react well to face paint of almost any description, and certainly not the kind of face paint you might buy from a petrol station at 5pm on October 31^st. This look is done entirely with normal makeup, it’s super easy and it needs very few products. What costume dilemma?

VERY SPECIAL THANKS go to my friend Ellie for taking the photos for me. I apologise if I look a bit devastated in them – I was trying to keep my eyes open against the light and make it easier to see the makeup. I promise it’s actually really fun to be a tiger.

YOU WILL NEED:

PRIMER (party must-have – my particular favourite for nights out is Revlon PhotoReady)

BRONZER (I used Benefit Hoola, but any mid-tone bronzer will work)

WHITE EYESHADOW (I used Urban Decay’s Polyester Bride from their Ammo palette)

WHITE EYELINER PENCIL (bear in mind you will use a LOT of this, so don’t pick your very favourite. I used a super old Mac Kohl pencil in Fascinating)

BLACK EYELINER PENCIL (I used Max Factor’s Kohl Pencil)

SETTING SPRAY (another party must-have – I use Urban Decay’s All Nighter)

STEP ONE.

Over a normal base of foundation and concealer (although you will largely cover this up, so this look is also great for bad skin days! What a winner.), use a large, fluffy brush to apply bronzer to your face. The shape you want for this is sort of a V shape, pointing inwards towards the nose on both sides (but stopping before your mouth area), and then going up over the temples. Then do a triangle on your forehead, pointing down, and extend it down over the bridge of your nose. You will look like a bit of a dick (see picture…) but persevere!

STEP TWO.

Using your white eyeliner pencil, outline the patches of your face you left clear of bronzer. This should be the area around your mouth and chin, two triangular (ish) patches under your cheekbones, and two teardrop-shaped areas around both eyes and eyebrows. Then, use a brush (an eyeshadow or concealer brush is best; an eyeliner brush will take the REST of your LIFE) to smudge the liner inwards into the spaces. Using a medium fluffy brush or large eyeshadow brush, fill in the spaces with your white shadow.

STEP THREE.

Eyes! Using your black eyeliner pencil, tightline your eyes and do your waterline. Then, line your upper lashline, extending the line downwards about a centimetre on the inner corner. Is ‘line’ starting to not look like a word for anyone else?

Go over your eyebrows with the black pencil (I did a bit of a scribble to make them look fuzzy too) and then curve down from the end of your eyebrow and under your eye, along your socket bone, stopping about two-thirds of the way across. You can leave these lines as they are, but I smudged mine a little with a liner brush to make them look smoother.

STEP FOUR.

For your forehead stripes, draw a dot a little way above your eyebrows in the middle of your forehead and, using light, long strokes, draw a V. You will look a bit like a comic book villain and it will be hilarious. Then, draw three stripes on either side above the V, fanning out until they’re almost horizontal.

STEP FIVE.

For your cheeks, draw stripes  following the line coming down from your eyebrow and fanning out and down until they’re vertical by your chin. I did five, but you can put in as many as you think fits well on your face. Then, get your white pencil and highlight the stripes underneath. Again, I smoothed mine out with a brush but just play around until you’re happy with them.

STEP SIX.

Colour in the underside of your nose and your philtrum (so excited to use that word in an actual, relevant sentence, even if I didn’t remember what it was and had to Google it) with the black pencil. Cover both lips in foundation and then trace the edge of your upper lip, filling in your cupid’s bow until it’s a smooth line, and then the rest of the lip too. I set this with a little teensy bit of Vaseline (to stop my lip drying out) and powder over the top to stop it smudging onto my lower lip.

STEP SEVEN.

Add the last bits of your makeup – a couple of coats of mascara (tigers have LOVELY eyelashes) and a few dots around the mouth – and then mist setting spray over your face. Almost done!

STEP EIGHT.

This is sort of an optional step – you can get hold of a costume tiger ear headband, or make your own out of card or fabric, OR you can do what I did and decide it’s much more fun to make ears out of your own hair. I make good choices.

I separated my hair into two high bunches at the top and tied them with bands, holding them in place with some hair grips inserted horizontally over the band. I wasn’t too bothered about them being very neat or even, because tigers are notoriously fuzzy and fluffy and lovely, but if you prefer a sleeker look you can pull the band tighter and the grips will keep them still. Then, I teased my hair a bit and twisted each bunch until it curled in on itself, wrapping the excess hair around the base and securing it with more pins – one pushed down into the centre and the others horizontal around the edges. EARS! You know, sort of. I think it looks awesome.

NOW YOU ARE A TIGER. Find somebody dressed as a gazelle and chase them around the party. It’s good to be method.