Halloween Makeup Tutorial: Zombie

This Halloween stop them dead in their tracks with this ghoulish zombie bride look using makeup you already have on hand plus a few extras from the costume shop.

Zombie Halloween Makeup How-To
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By: Colleen Herman

Materials Needed:

  • primer or moisturizer
  • foundation (lighter than natural skin tone)
  • gray cream makeup
  • red, gray and black eye shadows
  • brown eyebrow pencil
  • black and red eyeliners
  • red blush
  • red lip liner
  • translucent powder and puff
  • makeup applicators
  • stipple sponge
  • liquid latex
  • stage blood

Apply Foundation

Begin by prepping the skin with a primer or moisturizer. You'll be applying a lot of makeup, so well-moisturized skin will create the best base. Choose a foundation that's lighter than your natural skin tone and add a touch of gray cream makeup to get the undead look (Image 1). With a makeup sponge, blend this over the entire face including the eyes, lips and neck area (Image 2). Set the makeup using translucent powder.

Define Eyebrows

Use a brown eyebrow pencil to define the brow, keeping the line thin (Image 1).

Zombie Makeup Eyebrows

Drawing Eyebrows for Halloween Zombie Makeup

To create the eyebrows for your zombie makeup, use a brown eyebrow pencil to define the brow, keeping the line thin.

Create Ghoulish Contours

Grab a makeup brush and some gray eye shadow to add ghoulish contours to the face. Use the gray tone under the cheekbones, in the hollows of the temples, down the sides of the nose, down the jaw line, in the contours of the neck and in the crease of the eyelid and around the hollows of the eye (Image 1). Use a makeup brush to add depth to these areas by blending the gray tone with black shadow in various places (Image 2). To create an eerie, unnatural look, make this random and uneven on the face. With a small, flat makeup brush, purse the lips and add black shadow to the natural lines of the lips (Image 3). When the lips are relaxed they look very real.

Create Zombie Eyes

To create the eyes of the undead, line the eyes using black eyeliner on the top and bottom in a heavy, uneven pattern (Image 1). With an eye shadow brush, add some red blush near the eye (Image 2) and a red eye liner to the water line of the eye. This will make the eyes appear tired and sickly (Image 3). Then, add mascara in a haphazard manner (Image 4).

Add Zombie Skin

Use liquid latex to make your face even scarier and create fake scars. Apply thin, dime-sized layers in various shapes and sizes on your cheek, forehead and chin. The texture gets tacky in about 20 seconds and can be pulled a little off the face to look like decaying skin (Image 1). With a stipple sponge, add some depth by adding red, black and gray shadow in and around the infection sites (Image 2).

Complete the Look

Randomly add some red lip liner to the inner lips, but don't cover the lip lines (Image 1). Add a few dots of red lipstick then smear it out and away from the lips (Image 2). Touch up a few gray lines on the lips, if necessary. To complete the look, add drips of stage blood to selected areas around the face and neck (Image 3). Add a veil and a white dress (or any tattered clothing) to complete the zombie look (Image 4).

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