28 Easy Halloween Makeup Ideas That Range From Cute to Scary

Halloween brings out two types of people: the ones who dedicate time to create and present outrageous costumes, and the ones who throw on some cat whiskers and call it a day. Some people have their Halloween costume planned months in advance, but for others, a last-minute, no-fuss look is all they need to get in the spirit. This Halloween, let your makeup do the talking, and your costume can be as simple as you want.

Putting together both a costume and makeup takes more energy than you might think, which is why we're fans of keeping things simple with easy Halloween makeup ideas. When you don't have time to frantically shop for every component needed for your outfit, sticking with some Halloween eye makeup, like a quick skeleton makeup look or a Disney-inspired makeup idea, is the way to go.

We've searched YouTube for simple Halloween makeup looks that are fairly easy to re-create, ranging from the classics, like deer, dolls, and giraffes, to trends, like your favorite TikTok videos and "Barbie"-inspired looks. Whether you're more into cute Halloween makeup that'll impress or a lover of all things horror and on the hunt for scary Halloween makeup ideas to blow everyone away, there's something for you.

Get ready to impress everyone with these beginner Halloween makeup ideas. And best of all, they likely use products you already have on hand.

Cute Halloween Makeup Ideas

Scary Halloween Makeup Ideas

— Additional reporting by Clara Amelia and Jessica Harrington

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Deer Makeup Tutorial

Calling all animal-lovers: to re-create this adorable and quick deer makeup look, start by highlighting under your eyes and contouring the cheekbones and around the hairline. Add white dots to the areas you contoured, and don't forget a darker upper lip.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Skull Makeup Tutorial

It's impossible to go wrong with a skull look as an easy makeup for Halloween. This creator adds an extra (and super-easy) step: after creating the mouth and teeth outline, use a white foundation or face paint to make it look more realistic.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Glam Cat Makeup Tutorial

We already know cat Halloween costumes are incredibly easy to re-create, but this creator took it one (easy) step further by adding fake whiskers with black eyeliner.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Creepy Cute Doll Makeup Tutorial

If you want to look super cute but just as creepy as the other scary costumes, try this doll makeup look. The white eyeliner under the eyes along with fake eyelashes in the lower lash line are essential to making this look ominous. Don't forget to apply lots of blush in a circle shape.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Morticia Addams Makeup Tutorial

"The Addams Family" is one of the most iconic Halloween movies. Its matriarch, Morticia Addams, makes for a quick and elegant costume. The makeup look requires gray eyeshadow, winged eyeliner, dark red lipstick, and Morticia's signature long, straight black hair.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Half-Skull Makeup Tutorial

A half-skull makeup look only requires black and white face paint, along with a smoky eye.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Devil Makeup Tutorial

Devils are a timeless look for the Halloween season. Use red eyeshadow to contour your cheekbones, apply red lipstick, and wear the classic red horns.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Mermaid Makeup Tutorial

To re-create this whimsical mermaid look, start with a glam makeup routine. From there, add blue eyeshadow in a thin line under the eyes, and apply blue and green glitter around the eyeshadow, extending it upward toward the temples.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Jester Clown Makeup Tutorial

This tutorial features an incredibly easy, gothic jester-clown look. All you need is black eyeliner, black lipstick, and gray eyeshadow.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Vampire Makeup Tutorial

This tutorial features a super-quick vampire look. You'll need dark smoky-eye makeup, fake lashes, and red lipstick, as well as fake blood and white contact lenses.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Snapchat Filters Makeup Tutorial

This tutorial features three last-minute makeup ideas for Halloween inspired by Snapchat filters. The bee and deer looks require yellow and light brown face paint, respectively, while the galaxy eye makeup mostly needs purple and pink eyeshadow all around the eyes and eyebrows.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: "AHS" Witch of the Woods Makeup Tutorial

"American Horror Story" produces amazing binge-watching material for Halloween, and some of the makeup looks on the show are fairly easy to re-create, like the Witch of the Woods from the "Roanoke" chapter. For the eyes, use different light shades of pink and purple and smoky eyeliner. Apply the lightest shade of nude or pink lipstick, and throw on some small horns.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Beetlejuice Makeup Tutorial

Got some purple and green eyeshadow lying around? Try stealing Beetlejuice's look this Halloween with white foundation and black lipstick, along with the titular character's signature color combination.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Bunny Makeup Tutorial

Bunny makeup for Halloween is another look perfect for animal-lovers. The light-pink eyeshadow around the eyes and nose makes it look more elegant.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: "Black Swan" Makeup Tutorial

This frightening "Black Swan" makeup look is perfect for Halloween. To start, you'll need white foundation, black and silver eyeshadow, and creepy red and black contact lenses.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: "AHS" The Countess Makeup Tutorial

If you have a platinum wig or hair already that color, the Countess's makeup from "American Horror Story" is a perfect last-minute look for you. Apply brown eyeliner and eyeshadow for the eyes and concealer to give your brows a bleached effect. You'll also need a deep-red lip and silver body paint or a silver glove for the Countess's left arm.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Simple Cat Makeup Tutorial

Dressing up as a cat may just be the easiest Halloween costumes in the books. Apply winged eyeliner starting with a thin line in the inner corners of your eye, and slick back your hair with black cat ears.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Glam Mummy Makeup Tutorial

To re-create this glam mummy look, you'll need a foundation in a lighter shade, white contact lenses, and smoky-eye makeup. Heavily contour your cheekbones to make your mummy look super creepy.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Eleven From "Stranger Things" Makeup Tutorial

Eleven's look from season one of "Stranger Things" has been a popular Halloween costume since the show came out back in 2016. To re-create it, you'll need a blond wig, a pink dress, a blue jacket, and fake blood for Eleven's infamous nosebleeds.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Giraffe Makeup Tutorial

This tutorial features a cute and easy giraffe makeup look. Add fun extra touches like big, fake eyelashes and two space buns to resemble a giraffe's horn-like forehead.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: "Bride of Chucky" Makeup Tutorial

This "Bride of Chucky" makeup look is perfect if you're looking for a simple Halloween costume that's both sinister and rock-'n'-roll. Start by darkening your eyebrows and applying dark red, brown, and black eyeshadow. Add black lipstick and a fake mole using eyeliner, and you're good to go.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: The Mad Hatter Makeup Tutorial

Re-create this stunning Mad Hatter look by starting with white foundation as your base and blending your most colorful eyeshadow shades around the eyes and cheekbones. Apply dramatic fake eyelashes and glitter under the eyes.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Comic-Book Makeup Tutorial

As seen in this tutorial, comic-book makeup — aka pop-art makeup — can take many different forms. One way to go about your comic-book makeup is to use black face paint to create outlines and white dots on certain parts of your face to give it an animated look. If you add rhinestones to the white dots, like this creator did, you'll look like a shimmery comic-book page come to life.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Pennywise, Skull, and Vampire Makeup Tutorial

Vampires, killer clowns, and skulls are timeless and easy Halloween makeup looks that require a very short list of products. Both Pennywise and the vampire look require red lipstick and eyeshadow, while the skull needs black eyeliner and eyeshadow. Colored contact lenses can be a fun touch on all three looks.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Little Red Riding Hood Makeup Tutorial

This tutorial features a stunning and mysterious approach to Little Red Riding Hood. To re-create it, you'll need a shimmery, smoky eye with fake eyelashes and red lipstick. This creator uses sculpting wax for the fake scratch, but applying fake blood in four rugged lines and brown eyeshadow around them is a good alternative.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Betty Boop Makeup Tutorial

Betty Boop is one of the most recognizable cartoon figures of all time. Add white eyeliner to your lower lash line along with a bold red lip and fake eyelashes.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Skeleton Makeup Tutorial

For a skeleton look, the only products you'll need are black and brown eyeshadow, black liner, and fake lashes or your most powerful mascara. Give your skeleton look a grunge feel by adding more shading: add a little eyeshadow in between your eyebrows, and blend in an upward direction.

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Easy Halloween Makeup: Clown, Bat, and Devil Makeup Tutorial

If you're just hours away from your Halloween festivities, these three last-minute makeup tutorials are for you. Choose from a devil, sinister clown, or vampire. You won't even need red horns to dress up as the devil because you can draw them in, like this creator did.