Halloween Makeup : Minus the Meltdown: Four Looks You Can Actually Pull Off

Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 10–15 minutes

If you want easy Halloween makeup, this is your girl. It's the look for people coming straight from work who still want to be in the spirit of things.

You'll need: black eyeliner, black, charcoal or plum eyeshadow, mascara, concealer. Optional extras are burgundy shadow and cosmetic-grade face gems.

Smudge charcoal out towards your temples, but keep it sharp and angular rather than soft and smoky. Add a long, dramatic wing, then either a thin line under the lower lashes or a tiny spiderweb in the outer corner. Don't panic about symmetry. Spiders aren't symmetrical either.

Leave the rest of your face calm: clean base, brushed-up brows, neutral lip. It's the one look on this list that works as a dress rehearsal too.

Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 20–30 minutes

The half skull is my favourite trick for anyone who says they "can't do" Halloween makeup. Only one side of your face goes graphic, so the contrast looks deliberate even if your drawing skills peaked in a school planner.

You'll need: foundation and concealer, black eyeliner or cosmetic-grade black face paint, grey and brown eyeshadow, a small blending brush. Black lipstick and white cosmetic face paint are optional.

Outline one eye socket, stretching it a touch above your natural crease, then fill it in and blur the edges with grey shadow. Pop a small dark triangle on the tip of your nose, add short vertical lines over the lip for teeth and hollow out the cheekbone with grey and brown. Resist tidying every line. Wonky bones look more convincing than perfect ones.

Difficulty: Easy to intermediate | Time: 25–35 minutes

A vampire is the closest Halloween gets to a legitimate beauty look, and I will not be taking questions. Think gothic glamour rather than costume shop: cool-toned skin, a bruised eye and a mouth that belongs in a candlelit castle.

You'll need: foundation in a cool tone (one shade lighter than usual at most), concealer, translucent powder, taupe or grey contour, black and deep plum eyeshadow, black eyeliner, mascara and a deep red, wine or oxblood lipstick. Cosmetic-grade fake blood is optional.

Keep the base smooth and set it with a bit of extra powder. You don't need to go full ghost. Work black and plum shadow around the lid, packing the darkest shade at the lash line and blending up and out for an elongated shape. Blot your first layer of lipstick, then add a second so it stays put.

My finishing move is a whisper of contour under the cheekbones. You're after shadow, not a new face. Add a dot of fake blood at the corner of the mouth if you're feeling theatrical.

Difficulty: Easy to intermediate | Time: 30–40 minutes

This is the one that gets the most double takes, and it's all about proportion. Rosy cheeks, glossy lips and fluttery lashes are hardly shocking on their own. Make everything slightly too much and it turns uncanny.

You'll need: foundation, concealer, setting powder, pink or rose blush, pale pink and brown eyeshadow, black liquid liner, mascara or false lashes, rosy lip liner, glossy pink lipstick or gloss, and black eyeliner or face paint for the cracks.

Go for a matte, powdered base, then pack blush onto the apples of your cheeks in a round shape. For once, don't sweep it towards the temples. Draw a fine upper line, then a curved line beneath the lower lashes, slightly detached from them, to fake bigger eyes. Overline the lips a little and dab gloss in the centre for that pout.

Then, two or three hairline cracks near the temple or cheek. Not ten. A face covered in cracks looks like a cartoon, whereas a couple of well-placed marks look properly haunting.

There is nothing worse than having that perfectly made-up look fall apart prior to taking your first photograph. Apply makeup in thin layers, use powder where there are creases or any shine spots, and set with facial spray, if necessary.

Take time to view yourself in natural light before leaving the house, as those fine lines that appear very dark in your bedroom may disappear when viewed through a camera. Excess blush is never good under any form of flash photography and may look aggressive in photographs. Also, be sure to blend any changes of foundation colouring down to the neck and ears.

I'm not going to beat around the bush, because I am sure nobody ever reads these safety instructions. But please read this one.

Use only products made to be applied to the area of application. Craft paint or acrylics should never go on your face. Perform patch tests of new face paints and adhesives in advance, particularly if you have sensitive skin, and do not get any glitter, pigments and glue near your eyes if they are not meant for that. Never apply anything to irritated or damaged skin.

After the event, take everything off properly using a cleansing balm or makeup remover, followed by your regular mild cleanser. Allow the remover to dissolve the stubborn pigments, rather than scrubbing. Your skin has already endured Halloween, so do not torment it in the bathroom.