Halloween costume: La Catrina aka Sugar Skull aka Day of the Dead

THE DAY OF THE DEAD

In Mexico, the Day of the Dead is celebrated differently than Halloween. "El Día de los Muertos" as it is today comes from ancient Aztec celebrations associated to Catholic traditions, and both are well-represented ; it is now inscribed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. It is literally a national celebration of Death and of the spirits of the deceased. It can last for 2 or 3 days (as some people start celebrating on the 31st with Halloween) and markets flourish all over the country with skulls and skeletons made of sugar, papier-mâché skeletons and other ornaments. The souls of loved ones are welcomed back with us, specially the spirits of "los angelitos" (the little angels), the kids that passed away too young, on November 1st. The next day, the spirits of the adults join us. At home and in the cemeteries, altars are raised, decorated with photographs of the dead, sugar skulls and ornaments with their names on it, salt, religious symbols and crosses, typical marigold flowers, and even their favorite things, often food and alcohol. Families reunite for the event and go to the cemeteries with these gifts to celebrate the memories of their dead. It's the occasion to have "a last drink" once again with the people who are missed; it is not spooky, it is not gloomy, it is a PARTY.

So let the Fiesta begin!

CATRINA MAKE-UP TUTORIAL

This Halloween I went trick-or-treating for the first time in the US with some friends. Still, I had to honor my Mexican heritage and it was the perfect occasion to be a Sugar Skull, the emblematic decor of the day, the symbolic treat that kids crave. It is a fairly cheap costume to realize as the only thing required is the make-up. La Catrina (or el Catrín for a man) is the popular name associated to a Sugar Skull Lady, representation of Death, after celebrated Mexican art.

The products used: 

From left to right and top to bottom: Bourjois Liner Pinceau eyeliner, Sephora's Outrageous Volume mascara, L'Oréal Le Khôl eye-pencil, a black sparkly eyeliner, Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector concealer, Revlon Colorburst lacquer balm in enticing, Rimmel red lipstick, a black lipstick from Claire's, Kiko long-lasting stick eyeshadow in black, Wet'n'Wild red glitter, Bourgeois Ombre Stretch eyeshadow in black glitter, a big powder brush and an eyeshadow brush.

All of these items are part of my regular make-up bag and are totally interchangeable with what you have in yours. A Sugar Skull make-up can be made totally in white & black, and a lot of them are very colorful: get inventive with what you have!
You can check out other similar make-up on Google or Pinterest to give you ideas.

White cream make-up and gemstone stickers from the dollar store are the only additions to my make-up bag for this Halloween look.

FACE PREP:

Take your hair out of the way and change into your party clothes after the make-up. 
Start by applying a primer/some powder/a bit of concealer to make your face even and hide any red areas/irregularities. 

STEP 1:

Apply white paint all over your face with a big brush or a sponge. You can leave the eyes and nose out as we're gonna paint them later.

STEP 2:

Trace lines around your nose and eyes with your eye pencil to limit the areas to paint. Depending on the make-up you want, you can choose one big circle or two circles around your eyes (an inner circle = small circle including the eyelid + a bigger circle including the eyebrows), if you want two colors for more depth. You don't have to trace perfect circles, as you will improve them while applying the rest of the make-up.

STEP 3:

Paint the delimited areas. For the nose and big eye circles I used Kiko's long-lasting stick eyeshadow ; I love those stick eyeshadows because they make it so easy to apply. I actually painted my eyelids with lipstick, the Revlon Colorburst lacquer balm . I added some mascara and eye-pencil below the eye for more definition.

STEP 4:

Blossom, scary flower! I started by applying the tip of the eyeshadow pencil all around my eyes, to create little rounds; and then I draw around them with black eyeliner to create petals. It doesn't have to be perfect here either; it looks perfectly fine from a step back.

It doesn't show too much on the pictures, but I also drew cat eyes with my eyeliner, applied red sparkly powder (Wet'n'Wild from the dollar store) on my eyelids and redefined both circles with sparkly black eyeliner. Definition, depth, texture. Looked splendid IRL!

/!\ Note: you might want to re-apply some white around your face after finishing the eyes, as you might often brush it out your cheeks on the process.

STEP 5: 

LIPS. You can choose to leave them all white, but I preferred to add some red lipstick. for the dead look though, you can add some depth by applying black (or darker) lipstick just on the inner lips. 

On a skull eyes and mouth look bigger, stripped of the flesh! For the "teeth", just grab your eyeliner and trace a vertical line in the middle of your mouth, on the upper and lower lip. Keep doing the same towards the extremities of your mouth in a symmetrical manner, and trace 2 horizontal lines to extend the parting of your lips. 

STEP 6:

For the hollow cheeks, you can apply a vertical line of black/grey eyeshadow right under your cheekbones, and then trace an vertical/horizontal line toward your chin. Fill it up by applying more eyeshadow under the cheekbone and blurring it off downwards with your brush.

STEP 7:

Time to decorate! Fill in the blanks with your eyeliner or paint by drawing small designs and lines. 

After checking everything looked kinda symmetrical, I finished up the "mask" with small gemstone stickers.

Mission Catrina Accomplished!

COSTUME

I completed the look with a Mexican-looking embroidered black & white dress, a large belt to showcase my waist, a flower headband, and traditional Mexican jewelry. 

Ready to go trick-or-treating!

Stay tuned for my second Halloween costume ;)