Channelling your gothic best doesn’t require gory, grotesque drama; bloody fangs, smudged lipstick and runny mascara – heck, even Avril Lavigne-style emo liner – are so yesterday. Plus, you don’t want to send your crush running for the hills when he sees you at the party. Life’s scary enough as it is, there’s really no need to look it.
This Halloween, we’ve rounded up subtle, glam and easily-achievable looks to channel your Wednesday Addams with, (and TBH, we’d wear some of these the year round) from vampiric and vixeny to mod and medieval.
Whatever the choice, we guarantee you’ll be the belle of the undead ball.
THE VICTORIAN GOTH
CREATURE FEATURES: Voluptuous brows, bloodred smokey eyes & matching ombre lips
Reminiscent of the monarchs and Madame Bovary, frilled collars, and gothic romanticism in all its glory, Lily Collin’s jewel-toned look manages to be decadent and dark all at once.
This blood-red smokey eye and ombre lip require a single star ingredient. Use NYX Professional Makeup’s Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Cherry Skies to paint your pout poetic, softly shading the corners with brown eyeshadow for subtle dimension. Then, lend your lids some love with the same product, using an eyebrush to blend it from the middle to the corners of your lid, and smoke it out along the waterline. Pat some gold shimmer in the middle of your lids to finish up. For Lily’s voluptuous brows, use mascara or Provoc’s Gel Eye Brow Liner to add volume. Go back to your trusty liquid lipstick, smearing and blending along the apples of your cheeks for an amorous flush – and there you have it: a goth look that’s good enough for a great muse.
THE CYBER GOTH
CREATURE FEATURES: Acid bright lids, clean skin & berry lips
In the grimy basements of Berlin, cybergoths embodied those never-ending electronic parties through faces puckered with neons, acid brights and rainbow paints. Xx’s runway take is more toned down, but still techno-fab.
The cybergoth movement might’ve started in the late ‘80s, but its characteristic color play is back with a vengeance. For xx’s structured, dual-toned eye, make sure to wet your eyeshadow a bit before using it, so it gives you a budge-proof and super-pigmented payoff. Makeup Revolution’s Eyes Like Angels Eyeshadow Palette gives you plenty of fun colors to work with. Define the color-blocked portions and upper lash line with a neat swish of Nykaa’s Black Magic Liquid Eyeliner, and top up your look with Revlon’s Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry, using a lip brush to even out the coat. If you’d like to downplay the lips, you can switch up the berry stain with a flesh-toned, glossy lip as well, and you’re ready to take the techno-army by storm.
THE TRANSYLVANIAN GOTH
CREATURE FEATURES: Black lips, spider lashes and supernatural skin
Dior’s Draculian look is so damn dark, it would have Morticia Adams clucking her tongue in approval. Medieval, mod and mysterious at the same time, this one gives classic Gothicism a super-glam upgrade. #FlashbackFriday? Naah, more like #FangsOutFriday!
Their iteration focuses on minimalism, with matte, Elizabethan skin that looks almost powder-pressed. Smoothen and sanitize your skin with a high-coverage foundation or concealer like Nykaa’s SKINgenius Foundation Stick, lightly brushed down with a Faces Mineral Loose Powder. For your lids, pick a neutral, shimmery shadow, as close to your skin color as possible. Get those sexy, spider lashes with Ardell’s Runway Daisy Black Eye Lashes – a wispy set that can be amped up with two coats of mascara, then clumped carefully together with a tweezer. To finish, use Fran Wilson Moodmatcher Lipstick - Black, topped up with a shiny sheath of NELF USA’s Velvet Shine Lipgloss. Now brood, bat your eyes and conquer!
THE BURLESQUE GOTH
CREATURE FEATURES: Glitter smokey eyes, va-va-voom lashes & a crimson mouth
Can anyone do dark, demure vixen as well as our Dita? We think not. The classic, come-hither look need not just be adorned on Halloween – use it to knock ‘em dead on any occasion!
For a black smokey eye, shade your lids with Makeup Obsession Eyeshadow - E126 Midnight Black and define it with a pat of glitter on the center of your lid, or an ever-so-slight glittery liner. Since this look is unapologetically sexy, you know you're going to need full-volume bombshell lashes. If you're into falsies, go for Ardell's Double Up Lashes (205) or work with what your mama gave you and trusty thickening mascara like Maybelline New York Volum Express Hyper Curl Mascara. For that final, femme-fatale touch, paint your lips with SUGAR Smudge Me Not Liquid Lipstick - 10 Drop Dead Red and apply a soft, brown-hued blush on your cheeks. There you have it- you’re all set to kickstart your dream career as a pin-up girl.
