Past a certain age, dressing up parties can be a bit of a pain, especially if you have children. But Halloween parties are the exception to this rule. The costumes, the make-up, the active encouragement of wicked, under-the-cover-of-night bad behaviour, it is all well worth making the effort for - just check out these fabulous make-up artists for inspiration and get that ‘Death Becomes Her’ look nailed.

@theAlexBox


Renowned for her cosmetic artistry, and experimental, often surreal beauty looks, Alex Box combines a mix of art, science, nature and the magical in her work, which has featured in publications including Vogue, Stylist, Dazed & Confused, i-D and KingKong Magazine, of which she is also Beauty Editor. Nothing you’ll be able to create at home, but still, WOW.

@ryburk


Photographer, make up and visual artist extraordinaire, Ryan Burke explores the relationship between makeup, styling and photography to create uniquely expressive, other-worldly characters that your own Halloween effort can only aspire to.

@karolinagriciute


Since coming to the world’s attention via her YouTube channel Beauty by Karolina Maria in 2014, this Norwegian makeup artist has amassed more than 170,000 subscribers and 18 million views on her YouTube channel and over 600,000 followers on Instagram. Step this way for hyper-realistic gruesomeness.

@luvekat


An expert in body paint and SFX (that’s Special Effects to industry outsiders), Luvekat creates an chilling array of avant-garde looks that she uses to transform herself into a variety of characters – and not of the sort you’d want to bump into on a dark night.

@lisamarie_murphy


Lots of Halloween ideas here (and not all of them unachievable, we don’t think) from Lisa Marie Murphy, another special effects make-up artist and body painter, with her own YouTube channel and over 22k followers on Instagram. Check it out.

@nellyrecchia


A French body artist, now living in L.A, Nelly Recchia’s haunting body art transforms models into cartoon sketches or Victorian-era paintings, and her roll call of famous clients more than attests to her talent. If it’s good enough for Marilyn Manson, it’s good enough for Halloween.

@mimles (Mimi Choi)


An extraordinary make-up artist based in Vancouver, Mimi Choi specialises in the art of illusion with truly eye-bending results. Follow her on Insta for an array of tricks to disconcert and disturb this Halloween.