Halloween makeup highlights costumes this season

By SAVARA GUNN

Senior Writer

“I decided to go as her mostly because I had all of the costume pieces and it was pretty cheap to create as a look. I did the makeup myself, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out because this was a bit different for me. I tried to make my make-up dark like Medusa in her myth and I kept the motif of snakes by making my eyeliner transform into a snake instead of a regular wing. This costume was very different from my norm. In most Halloween cases, I have always been something cute or funny for Halloween and I decided I wanted to get a little glamorous this year.”

“I’ve been a part of the Rich Weirdos, the club that performs “Rocky Horror” since my freshman year. It’s really exciting to do “Rocky” during Halloween, we always have a great turnout, and I love seeing everyone’s costumes. This is my third show playing Columbia. As for the make-up, I get help with eyebrow blocking and foundation from a former Rich Weirdo and good friend, Claire Stanchfield. She’s studied drag makeup extensively and she’s very talented. Besides that, I do the rest myself, which includes a smokey eye, bright red lips, bright red drawn on eyebrows, the weird blush contouring, and the false lashes. Generally speaking, the goal of the whole cast is to look as similar to the film characters as possible. However, some people take creative licenses with specific elements. For example, Nora Whelan (who played Dr. Frank-N-Furter) decided to add a lot of glitter to her contouring, and Lily Olson (Riff Raff) would add a blue tear to her makeup during the final scenes. I personally just stuck to the traditional Columbia makeup this semester, but I did decide to add a white glitter highlight to my cheekbones. I definitely believe her [Columbia’s] bold, punk rock drag makeup reflects her bold and stubborn personality. She’s also pretty wild, so the no eyebrow thing works well for her too since that’s a pretty wild move. Growing up with the movie, I always looked up to Columbia because I loved all of her glitter and confidence. She’s always been my favorite. Being able to play Columbia is a dream come true, and I’d like to think that I’ve turned out pretty confident and bold since I was a kid. Plus I’m always down for some good eyeliner wings and glitter all over my face. Sometimes I wish it was more socially acceptable to wear that stuff every day.”

“Someone mentioned during PAC small show that I should be Ariel for Halloween because of my red hair. I decided to go with the idea but I didn’t want to just be a typical mermaid, I wanted to challenge myself and do something a bit more creative. I’ve always wanted to try a cyborg/robot look and was inspired by images I saw on Pinterest so I decided to combine the two ideas. I did do all of the makeup myself; I wanted it to be an original work. I used images of mechanical gears as a guide and inspiration from other makeup artists for technique. It took a lot longer than expected because I went into it not really knowing how I would go about achieving the look. I think of mermaids as mysterious, magical and seductive creatures, so I wanted to portray that through my color usage and hair texture. I choose blue because it reminded me of the ocean and contrasted nicely with the red in my hair, I kept my hair wavy because it mimicked the movement of the ocean, and highlighted the makeup look in gold because it gave it a magical quality. I love doing makeup and I do express myself through the work. I love getting dressed up in costume makeup on any day, not just on Halloween. I’ve been fascinated for a while with the transformation quality of costumes and makeup. There’s something fun and magical that I love about it; it’s the ability to live and act out your imagination. A lot of Pinterest and Instagram images of makeup artist artwork inspired me to start doing it myself. My first real attempt at it was freshman year of college when I dressed up as the Cheshire Cat for Halloween. That’s when I really fell in love with it; the process was exciting for me and I love being able to impress people. I didn’t start regularly doing makeup looks until my junior year and didn’t make an Instagram (@deceptive_mirror) until this year. I’m excited for what the future holds for this new outlet.”