On Halloween, you can be whoever or whatever you want — so how 'bout Queen for the day? One of our favorite Halloween makeup looks is Nicole Guerriero's insanely awesome Queen of Hearts makeup look. Go, girl! It totally inspired us to do our own take on the Queen of Hearts makeup and costume using makeup you can pick up at the drugstore or Sephora.
The great thing about this costume is that while the makeup is a little bit more whimsical than we'd normally go for on a weekday, it's a fairly calm costume, which makes it a great option for people who don't like dressing up all that much. It also happens to be a great work-appropriate costume, whether you're going into the office or you're on zoom.
This tutorial can be a little challenging or pretty simple depending on your skill set (and how much makeup you actually want to do). When it comes to beauty, sometimes it is good to skip the rules and just play a little, so use this as inspiration to rule your kingdom October 31st and beyond. Feel free to add your own flair!
1. Start by putting on your base face, then use bronzer with a mild sheen to contour the hollows of your cheeks, your temples and along your jawline. I used Wet N Wild Ticket to Brazil ($6).
2. Sketch a heart that tapers off around the hollows of your cheeks with a white eyeliner pencil.
3. Use a beauty sponge to fill in the heart with a white creme makeup like Ben Nye Creme Color in White ($8). Gradually lighten the amount of creme makeup as you get to the lower portion of your face so it blends in with your natural skin tone. The makeup should almost appear like a face mask.
4. You want this look to stay all night, right? We thought so ;) so it’s important to set the creme makeup with the Natural Set Colorless Face Powder ($8) using a fluffy face brush. Stipple the powder on with the brush instead of dragging it along your face, which could (ah!) smear the makeup.
5. Use a black gel liner and a firm, fine-point synthetic brush to apply liner all the way around your eyes. Make sure the liner is thicker on the outer corners of your eyes. Drama, baby — we’re making you the Queen, after all!
6. Apply a bold black eyeshadow in the crease of your eyes using a fluffy shadow brush. Make sure the line toward the inner corners of your eyes is more defined and less blended to really bring some drama to the shape of your eyes.
7. To blend and slightly soften the outer edge of the black shadow, apply a lighter neutral directly to the edge of the black shadow.
8. Curl your lashes and give them a quick once-over with your favorite mascara to prep them for the false eyelashes.
9. Let’s start with your upper lashes! Cut a pair of feathered falsies intended for your upper lashes to the right size for your eyes and place them under your lower lashes on the outer corners. These will give your eyes a look like one of the symbols from a deck of cards. I used Ardel Accent Lashes ($10) for the lower lash line and (BONUS) both I found at my local drugstore. #score!
10. Use the same fine synthetic brush and black gel eyeliner to create tiny hearts just below your eyes.
11. To really make the white heart pop, use a reddish orange shadow to contour its curves. Apply it along the top of the heart on the forehead and along the bottom of the heart at the cheekbones. Blend the hue into your natural skin tone.
12. Use the same reddish orange color you contoured with in the last step and a slanted eyebrow brush to fill in your brows.
13. Line your lips with a bright red and fill in with your favorite red lipstick — mine is Nars in Jungle Red ($26).
14. For a final touch on the heart, add highlights using a flat brush and a shimmering white shadow like MAC Dazzleshadow in It's All About Shine ($23).
15. Pin your hair back to create a slightly puffy silhouette on either side of your head before sprayed all over with some temporary red hair color spray.
Join our newsletter or share your own costumes! We can't wait to see your own Queen of Hearts makeup and costume, just tag us @britandco!! Happy Halloweening, Queeny!
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This post has been updated.