Today is Halloween, the scariest night of the year, when ghosts and ghouls walk among us and the barrier between this earthly world and the supernatural ‘otherworld’ is at its thinnest, facilitating dark deeds, mischief and malice.
Dressing up as a spectral being, acting out bad behaviour or observing traditional rituals are all hugely appealing ways to celebrate Halloween, or Samhain as it was known in ancient Irish culture.
Samhain symbolised an assembly of the living and the dead, a ghost or spirit night when the souls of the dead were expected to return to the family home and evil spirits were active.
The custom of wearing masks or disguises originated from the idea that camouflage could deceive these spirits and protect the wearers. People believed that malevolent spirits targeted humans, and if you were unrecognisable, then you were safe.
In our childhood, dressing up was largely confined to a black bin liner or sheet and a sweaty plastic mask, which was uncomfortable to wear but great fun for children intent on trick or treating in anonymity.
Nobody spent extravagantly simply because they didn’t have the money.
Today, Halloween is a huge festival with people ordering elaborate costumes weeks in advance and planning their ‘fits’ with military precision.
Heidi Klum as Fiona from Shrek at her Annual Halloween Party in 2018. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum’s annual outfit has become a newsworthy event and while once we may have thought our American cousins quite crazy for their extravagant displays, now we too make a major effort with our costumes and homes.
However, if you are one of the lazy, disorganised or super-busy who hasn’t gotten around to planning your costume for tonight, we have some professional advice from make-up artist and Halloween fan Donna Morris about how to create easy, effective looks so you can hold your head high among all the other monsters, witches and zombies on the nocturnal prowl.
Donna is a successful make-up artist who works primarily in bridal beauty and fashion but originally studied costume design and make-up, so crafting a Halloween look is her favourite flex.
She adores Halloween and each year creates stunning looks for herself and her children, Lauren and Samuel.
‘It’s my favourite time of the year,’ Donna laughs. Last year she made herself up as Frankenstein’s Bride, drawing on all the intricate stitches by hand.
She has also been Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas and Bernie Sanders in his mittens at the first Donald Trump inauguration.
Donna Morris has created some truly remarkable make-up looks
In a previous role she worked at Make-Up Forever in Clarendon Street, Dublin, and would create amazingly elaborate make-up looks for people going to Halloween parties.
Her work then included re-creations of characters like Freddy Krueger, Maleficent and Frankenstein, alongside various grisly death-head skulls, zombies and monsters.
So, what are the topical or trending looks this year?
‘The Traitors is really popular so you have Claudia Winkleman,’ Donna suggests. ‘A black smoky eye and hair down – you could do something like that with like a black cloak or like a black hoodie.’
It is a very simple look to re- create simply with a dark fake tan, black eye make-up, and a wig or a clip-on fringe.
Almost the opposite of that look is another popular one for this year, the recently-departed Dolly Parton.
‘A bit of backcombing of the hair, vibrant pink lipstick, vibrant metallic eyeshadows that people have never used,’ says Donna.
‘They probably have them at home, but they’ve never touched them. And obviously throw in a bit of glitter and sparkle. For a costume on top of that, a plaid shirt and a denim skirt.’
Another easy idea for a last-minute look is Paris Hilton.
‘So, again, glittery make-up and if there’s any diamonds that you can put on their face around your eyes,’ she says.
‘The costume would be a pink velour tracksuit and maybe an animal toy like a dog.’ Donna suggests.
Alternatively, clowns, vampires and devils are always popular.
‘The costume can be something that you have at home, like a black outfit, and using things like lipstick, black eyeliner and glitter.
‘You could use a little bit of Vaseline or a little bit of moisturiser to lay down on the skin, and then add some glitter over it, and it will stay put. For a vampire, if you have red lipstick, use it as blood.’
Donna’s work is very popular among celebrities
Ideas for group costumes can also be really effective. ‘You have Wicked, which is like Elphaba and Glinda,’ Donna suggests. ‘One can wear all the pink clothes they have, the other all in green.’
The Kardashians are another great group costume project for a group of friends or sisters, especially with Kim’s new autobiography just published.
‘A lot of people are doing Alice in Wonderland, but a lot of the different characters from it,’ Donna continues.
The Cheshire Cat is a really popular costume which can be recreated with a fun fur coat and cat make-up using black liquid eyeliner.
‘People have so much that they can use now,’ Donna says of our packed make-up bags.
‘If you’re good at your make-up, and you’re looking for a last-minute costume, you might have a Christmas party dress and you can do a doll make-up,’ she adds as another easy yet effective idea.
Current films can also be a great source of inspiration.
Donna says your make-up bag holds most of the materials needed
Donna cites the independent supernatural thriller Obsession, which broke box office records earlier this year.
‘Nikki from Obsession is basically like a red top and a leather skirt and blood coming from your head,’ she says. Again, very achievable at short notice.
‘That’s really topical, that’s one of the most Googled ones, and it’s easy to do.’
For generic horror characters, Donna suggests some simple tips.
‘Scrunch up some tin foil and then put some lipstick on it and press it on to your skin – it leaves a cool texture,’ she explains.
Or fishnet tights can be used to achieve scaly, mermaid skin.
‘Or if you have stuff like latex at home from last Halloween, then you can use that with a little bit of tissue to create a zombie make-up effect,’ she adds.
‘You can use a little bit of the liquid latex and mould a bullet wound in your forehead.’
To achieve a really pale skin tone for ghostly looks there are a few options.
‘Penneys or Superdrug do good value cheaper foundations,’ she suggests, which can be mixed with a white eyeshadow to make it paler or lighten it up.
You can also get fake or temporary oil-based tattoos but Donna cautions that they can be very difficult to remove, especially from the face, so to be aware of that before applying them.
If you have time today, she suggests Wicklow-based Sunaura in Newtonmountkennedy, a one-stop shop for professional film and special effects make-up, as the source of most of her Halloween kit.
Donna’s children Lauren and Sam are delighted with their mammy’s talents
Her talents don’t go to waste at home, as her children are also major Halloween fans.
‘Lauren was a zombie cheerleader last year,’ says Donna. ‘Sam is doing like a half-Spiderman, half-Venom costume – we had a lot of fun making that and, let me tell you, I brought back the black sacks!’
If someone in the house has made their Communion recently, a ghost bride could be a cost-effective option either.
A ghost bride is an easy look to recreate says Donna
You do not need to spend loads of money to make a great costume. Tin foil is ‘amazing’ for making props as well as great headpieces while old clothes can also give inspiration.
As a former costume designer for theatre, preparing for Halloween is like going back to her roots for Donna.
‘We’re having a party this weekend, and it’s going to be like, “You can’t come in unless you’re dressed up”,’ Donna asserts.
‘It’s about just being a bit bold and having so much fun under the guise of a costume. Last year I took off my make-up and people were like, “Ah, there’s Donna. She was gone for a little while.”
‘It is just about being silly, being a bit goofy, having a bit of fun and leaving your inhibitions at the door.’
- See more of Donna’s work at Instagram.com/donnamorrismua/
