40 Halloween Eye Makeup Ideas That Are Actually Easy to Execute
No costume? No problem.
If there’s one time of year where procrastination is *extra* acceptable, it’s Halloween. Because while you can by all means take a trip to Party City or Spirit Halloween weeks in advance for a full-body Halloween costume, a well-stocked makeup bag always has your back (well, face) at the umpteenth hour. A good, simple Halloween eye makeup tutorial, a trusty black eyeliner, and a steady hand are really, truly all you need to come up with a spooky, sweet, or never-before-seen costume.
Whether you’re ready to whip out the face paint and go full Joker a lá Lady Gaga or are trying to keep it chill with a little faux vampire blood, we’ve rounded up a wide range of Halloween eye makeup tutorials to match every need—and skill level. Channel your favorite TV character with Wednesday Addams or emulate Sabrina Carpenter in the "Taste" music video. Play it classic with a butterfly or cheetah. Or, be a BRAT—literally.
Ahead, you’ll find the 40 coolest, creepiest, and trendiest Halloween makeup ideas for your 2025 celebrations.
The Best Makeup and Tools for Halloween
You may need to stock up on a thing or two to complete your Halloween look. Think: colored eyeliners, face paint, makeup brushes, false lashes, and, of course, a great makeup remover. Before you dive right into your makeup look, we've rounded up some must-have products to keep in your Halloween arsenal.
The Best Easy Halloween Makeup Ideas
Sabrina Carpenter
I don't know about you, but I still can't stop thinking about Sabrina Carpenter's "Taste" music video. The mix of the upbeat pop tune and gory cinematics make this look the perfect halloween costume for 2025. Ellie LoVeux was ahead of the game, gifting us with a scarily accurate makeup tutorial to match little miss Carpenter's. With some basic makeup essentials and a pink, shimmery blush, you can recreate this look in no time.
Bratz Doll
We're bringing brat summer back for the fall. While we love Charlie XCX's neon green brat aesthetic, let's pay some respect to the most fashionable group of dolls ever with this makeup look. The lip colors they wear are iconic, so we recommend grabbing a bright hue like Lancôme's Juicy Tubes Original Lip Gloss in Game Berry.
Cheetah
Cheetah print and other retro designs have been back in the spotlight lately, so why not upgrade from the classic cat to this ultra-glam cheetah makeup look? Isabel Rose connects her extra-wide nose contour and intense winged liner to create the perfect accurate, yet sexy cheetah look. She also keeps her base bronzey and glowy with a basic nude lip, so the focus stays on her eyes and impressive cheetah-printed cheeks. The best part: no ears needed!
Barbie
Who doesn't want to look like Margot Robbie in the Barbie movie? Well, lucky for you, Jackie Wyers recreated the actress' makeup look as Stereotypical Barbie. While she went all out with a wig and colored contacts, the makeup really does speak for itself. Grab some pink eyeshadow and an eyebrow pencil to draw on iconic Robbie's thick brows, and you're good to go. For a couples Halloween costume, just have your other half be a very spray tanned Ken a la Ryan Gosling.
Butterfly
Black liner, a bit of orange shadow, and you're off to the races with this fluttery Monarch look. FYI: Stencils exist, so you don't have to freehand this masterpiece.
Ursula
We would never let you be a poor unfortunate soul without a stunning halloween makeup look. That's why this ultimate Ursula glam has got you covered. With some purple contour, teal eyeshadow, and popping red lip, you'll become the queen of the sea. Itszaybaybay even accessorized her look with pearl rhinestones for that extra sparkle.
Cruella De Vil
If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will. This is a surprisingly simple—possibly no extra materials needed—look with a big impact. Satin red lips, envious green eyes, and blotted-out brows painted up with suspicious swirls.
Angel
Before you put on your makeshift halo, make your face look heavenly with this angel-inspired makeup look. The eyeliner looks great in every eye shape and takes just minutes to accomplish. Also, who can pass up an excuse to add sparkly gems on your face? Not us!
Joker
If you're going as a clown for Halloween, and want to get a little creepy, but not too creepy, this is the look for you. Here, YouTuber Jasmine Brown adds glimmering face jewels above her eyelids, giving a new spin on the infamous Batman universe's evil mastermind.
Ghost
One of our favorites to use for creations like this is the Kevyn Aucion Emphasize Eyeshadow Design Palette in Magnify. The cool-toned shadows will give you that ghostly contour sculpt.
Fairy
Life would be a lot better if you could go *poof*, and your Halloween makeup would be done. But just because you don't have your fair share of pixie dust doesn't mean you can't look like you possess magical powers. YouTuber Nyma Tang's quick fairy look is super simple and proves the color green looks amazing on everyone.
Comic Book Character
Go outside the box this Halloween and turn heads with this pop art makeup look. No fake blood is required for this. All you'll need is a trusty eyeliner and a serious amount of face paint. To make clean-up easier, you can always swap out the tiny dot brush for a q-tip!
Unicorn
The limit does not exist for how much glitter you should use this Halloween. If you need a little push, just look at how fantastic YouTuber Alex Faction's eyebrows look in this totally easy Unicorn tutorial. He uses a pale purple shade from Star Crushed Minerals, but we recommend using a Bodyography Glitter Pigment for a chromatic effect.
Devil
Whether you're partnering with an angel for Hallow's Eve or going solo, don't just throw on horns and call it done! Go outside of the basic box—or, in this case, above your eyebrow—and add a little something extra. Draw on your pointed horns using ColourPop's BFF Liquid Liner in Bright Red. Alternatively, if you have red lipstick lying around, YouTuber An Knook recommends using that and applying it with an eyeliner brush for precision.
Masquerade Mask
Your Halloween plans may not involve a fancy masquerade ball, but that doesn't mean you can't channel your inner royalty. This 15th-century mask is made for ultra-glamorous queens who want to win the best Instagram photo of the spooky season.
Shattered Babydoll
What about this scary-sweet beauty look? What stands out the most is this bright white liner. To make your liner look extra snowy, combine MAC's bestselling Pure White Chromaline with Makeup Geek's White Lies Eyeshadow for an ice-white finish.
Spider
Put all those liquid liners you have sitting around to good use to create this creepy-crawly eye. This badass eye is so easy to do yourself—you just need patience. You'll need to free-hand stroke lines across your lid, then add fanned-out lashes for some drama.
Skeleton
This Halloween, bring the smoke back with this sultry skull look. It's the ideal last-minute lewk that requires a few straight lines for a stitched mouth effect. Use a medium-sized, fluffy eyeshadow brush to make blending a breeze.
Princess Shuri
Be as fierce as possible by channeling Princess Shuri this Halloween. This look is seriously so easy, and will require 10 minutes tops with a steady hand for tracing shapes and outlines.
Cat Woman
Reason why a painted eye mask is 100 percent better than a store-bought plastic mask: you won't want to rip it off your head 30 minutes into the night—which means you'll never be left looking like a basic person with nothing but cat ears.
Bear
This adorable costume is so cute and cuddly. The best part? You can pair the makeup with pajamas (a onesie is ideal), so you'll be comfy all night long.
Vampire
Make this Vampire Diaries-esque look even scarier for Halloween by adding some red novelty contacts and a thick, smudgy, smokey eye.
Deer
I mean, sometimes you just want to look ridiculously cute on Halloween—I get it. Behold this fawn makeup, which uses fake lashes and strategically placed eyeliner to make your eyes look in the headlights.
Classic Cat
Okay, a cat might be basic, but it's reliable. While three whiskers is a classic recipe, Haley RiAnne takes things up a few notches. She masters the cat eye makeup, throws on a jet-black upper lip, and even adds a few freckles into the mix. Grab those ears you've had since middle school and you're good to go.
Wednesday Addams
Wednesday Addams's signature pigtail braids have always been pretty easy to recreate for anyone needing to throw together a costume at the last minute, and with Wednesday being a hit on Netflix, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a plethora of lookalikes this Halloween. Elevate your braids and black dress with some on-brand makeup. This tutorial is super simple—you don't need be a pro. Just go a little heavy on the eyeliner and you're good to go.
Witch
Dust the cobwebs off of your witch hat from Halloween's past and press play on the above video. Use the video as a guiding light, but feel free to tone down or play up whatever your heart desires. Hey, you can even grab a blonde wig and pretend to be Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus.
Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn has your back for a beginner-friendly, mistake-embracing makeup look this Halloween. Because the Marvel character is inherently, well, messy, you can make mistakes with your shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick, and no one will be the wiser.
Scar
I've watched this video 15 times over and remain mesmerized. Every single step is shockingly easy, but the end result looks like a makeup masterpiece. The eyes! The scar! The nose! I definitely would recommend doing a test run before the 31st rolls around, but this Lion King-inspired costume is at the top of my list of Halloween makeup to recreate.
Dr. Frank-n-Furter
As a quintessential Halloween movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was practically made to recreate during the holiday. While the whole cast of zany characters lends itself to great costume ideas, Dr. Frank-n-Furter is easily the most iconic and recognizable. Thankfully, the look is essentially an exaggerated smokey eye and red lip.
Bride of Frankenstein
A classic Halloween monster made easy. If you're undecided about a scary or glam Halloween costume, the Bride of Frankenstein is the look to go for. Paint your face white, give yourself a smokey eye, and draw on a gnarly scar to nail the look. Bonus points if you add a white streak to your hair.
Bellatrix Lestrange
Where are my Harry Potter fans at? Bellatrix Lestrange is easily one of the creepiest characters of the series, yet surprisingly easy to recreate. Pale foundation, dark eye makeup, and gaunt cheeks carry the look here. To really seal the deal, paint a Death Mark on your forearm and carry a wand with you the entire night.
Sally from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
Sally's all-over blue look may seem intimidating, but I promise it's a lot simpler to recreate than it looks. Once you've got the blue face paint down, then it's all about the scars, an icy smoky eye, and red lip. If you have natural red hair (or a red wig handy), you're good to go.
Black Swan
The Black Swan is the perfect costume if you're a fashion girl but want to go with something creepier for the holiday. White face paint, red lipstick, and stripey eye makeup really sell the look.
Violet Beauregarde
No need for an inflatable suit here. You just need a blue nose, easily achievable with blue eye shadow, to dress as the Willy Wonka character. Chewing gum obnoxiously will help you get into character, too.
Chucky
You wouldn't think a two-foot doll could be terrifying, but Chucky certainly is. Give yourself a black eye and several scars all over your face and prepare to scare every child you come across.
The Mask
Interestingly, painting on Jim Carrey's iconic mask is just as easy (and more fun!) as buying one. Give yourself a healthy wash of green color all over, contour with a deeper shade, then go full glam with yellow eyeshadow and big falsies.
Zombie
A blue and purple eyeshadow palette, some fake blood, and a little face paint are all you need to create this scary look. The best part is you don't have to be a makeup pro to become a zombie. The messier the makeup, the more terrifying a creature you become.
Betty Boop
A cutesy, ultra-feminine costume to go with is the iconic cartoon character, Betty Boop. Content creator Ellarie takes you through step-by-step on how to achieve the look, including Betty's signature raised eyebrows and red pout.
Morticia Addams
Maybe you don't like the scary kind of Halloween makeup and that's okay! This creepy matriarch gives you the chance to go glam for the holiday. Give yourself a smokey eye and dark red lip and throw on a long black dress and wig and you're instantly transformed into Morticia Addams.
