Halloween Makeup Tips: Homeless Person or Bum

When Halloween comes around, and you've just remembered the party tonight, don't fret! Or it has come again, and you don't really care that much, but want to go to the costume party, then take some of these Halloween Makeup Tips, and be the life (or undeath) of the party! Everything that you read here will be quick, easy, and relatively cheap. You may have to buy a few supplies, but nothing that should break the bank. It will also help to have a costume or makeup shop around, but it isn't necessary.

Before you begin, I would suggest that you put on a foundation a little darker than your base skin tone. Do not try to put it on evenly, but do try to cover most of your face. This will not only give your face a splotchy appearance, but it will also protect your face and pores from things like dirt, baby oil, or charcoal getting into your pores.

The Hobo

Dirt is the key here. Go to a Wal-Mart, a hardware store, and buy a small bag of potting soil. If you're really cheap, dig some up from your back yard! (Now sure, it is Halloween which means the end of October, and probably too cold to do this effectively). Mix about six parts dirt with one part water into a paste. Smear it on your hands, arms, face, back of the neck, hair, basically any uncovered portion of your body. Now go outside for a bit, or if you are in a hurry, use a blow dryer to dry it. It will start flaking off in chunks (this is ok) but will leave a nice, thin layer of dirt on your face, hair, hands, arms, etc. Try to get some underneath your fingernails for an authentic makeup job. People put dirt on their face all the time, (think mud masks) so this is a relatively safe effect, but I would really stress potting soil or 'clean' dirt, over something from your back yard! Imagine the bugs, worms, and more that are living in your back yard. Bugs don't 'bug'

If you still have a bag of charcoal from summer in your garage, go grab it. Take a few briquettes and put them in a bag, and pound them gently with a hammer. What you can do is take some of the powdered charcoal and wipe it liberally on your face, hands, and arms. You will get a very dirty effect with either of these techniques.

If you don't have work the day of Halloween, or if your work encourages dressing up, go to sleep with wet hair. If you want an extreme effect that will stay for awhile, take a shower the night before, don't dry your hair, then put some mousse, hair spray, or pomade in it, and immediately go to sleep. You will wake up with the most... interesting of hair styles. If you have long hair, or even short hair, try putting baby oil in your hair, and work it in for a while. This will leave you with long and ratty hair, especially if you do it at the beginning of the morning.

If you are a guy, don't shave the day before (if you have remembered that far in advance). If you have more than a day in advance, try not shaving for two days, a week. Now sure, if you have a week in advance, you probably don't need last minute Halloween Makeup advice, but it is entirely possible. If you don't have a few days, this same effect can be gained by some black face paint and a stipple brush. You can find these black, wedge shaped brushes in some cosmetic aisles. You may be able to use a hair brush (with permission) and a light coating of black face paint in order to gain a similar effect.

A few sprinkles of baby powder will give your hair a grey look, adding years to your appearance.

These Halloween Makeup tips are fast, effective, but more importantly cheap. So enjoy yourself, remember to be safe, and take a long, hot shower when you get home. Also use a pore cleansing cream or face wash when you get home. Theatrical makeup clogs pores like no other, and unless the day after your party you are doing the 'teenage boy with bad acne and oily skin' costume, you will want to make sure you get your face as clean as possible!