Applying make up should come easy to you if you know your Halloween lore well, but you cannot simply slap on some white powder and red lipstick and pretend to be dead. You need to do a few things to prepare for getting it on for Halloween. It all begins with health and safety: make sure that you do not have any expired makeup products in your makeup stocks, and test your make up on the inside of your arm first at least a day before you use it. If you develop a rash, then do not use that make up! Throw it away!

Alternatively you can use face paint. It's cheap, easy to find and comes in a huge range of colors! Just make sure to only use face paint that's FDA approved and safe for use on the skin.

Before putting on your make up or face paint, make sure that your face is clean. Wash it with a gentle soap, clean it out with astringent, then rinse it with ice cold water so that you can seal your pores immediately. If you want to remove your make up easily at the end of your night of trick or treating, put on a layer of petroleum jelly. Start off with your prosthetics, such as fake nose or cheeks, and allow them to adhere to your face before proceeding to make up. You can simply blend them in later.

It's time to put on your foundation. You can use either pancake makeup or cream-based make up. Pancake make up needs a powder puff for application, and it can be irritating if your skin is not used to this kind of make up. Cream-based make up, on the other hand, is commonly used at Halloween: you can use different colors depending on your needs, where white goes with a gothic look, neon colors go with the alien look, and black goes with a beastly look.

Now that you have lain over your foundation, it's time to build on it. What kind of creature would you like to be? You will need to shadow or highlight certain parts of your face in order to turn into your favorite creepy ghoul. Use a tube or a stick of a darker colored foundation to do your highlighting. Bring out the wrinkles on your forehead and on the sides of your face if you want to look extra old or witchy. If you want a rough face, mix up some oatmeal and corn syrup, then apply gently to your face.

Experiment with your make up brushes in order to come up with different textures. A large, rough brush applied in haphazard motion over a smooth surface can create scratches and different kinds of effects. You can brush over with a darker color so that your skin appears used or uneven. Add more texture by dabbing a sponge in different colors, and then applying the sponge pattern to your face. You can actually appear as though you have all your veins standing out using this technique!

Shadow and highlight your face, then set your make up with some baby powder to keep it from smearing. As soon as you have your makeup done and your costume finished, you're ready to go! Happy trick or treating, and have fun carrying out these easy Halloween make up instructions!