25 Ghost Makeup Tutorials That'll Get You So Pumped for Halloween (2024)

If you like to go for the glam looks on Halloween, you can’t go wrong with this ghost makeup tutorial. YouTuber Kaushal transforms herself into a “glam ghost” complete with dark purple lipstick and pearlescent highlighter, while still looking sunken and ghostly.

Recreate it with: Pat McGrath Labs MatteTrance Lipstick in Deep Orchid

This ghost makeup tutorial walks you through the exact steps to becoming Viola from The Haunting of Bly Manor. You can do the soft Elizabethan ghost look or go for a haunted baby doll makeup vibe. Spoiler: It’s creepy AF.

Recreate it with: Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Intense Black

IMHO, Zero (aka the ghost dog) is by far the best character from The Nightmare Before Christmas, so naturally it makes an excellent Halloween costume. This tutorial by makeup artist Brea Alysee will teach you how to recreate every part of this look, including how to contour and how to stick on that pointy little nose.

Recreate it with: Mehron Makeup Fantasy F/X Waterbased Face and Body Paint

It's all about the hot pink in this ghost tutorial for me. If you prefer brighter colors in your Halloween looks, this one might be more your style. And even though it's fun and colorful, the purple veins and hollowed-out eyes really bring out the spookiness. Blending is key to recreating this ghost makeup, so refresh yourself of how to use all your makeup brushes the right way before you get started.

Recreate it with: Kaja Beauty Bento Shimmer Eyeshadow Trio

What I love about this ghost makeup look is that it doesn’t require covering your whole face. This makeup artist teaches you how to create detailed ghosty Halloween eye makeup, and it honestly looks so cool.

Recreate it with: Natasha Denona Circo Loco Eyeshadow Palette

Okay, now we’re getting to the creepy stuff. This Halloween makeup tutorial creates a blue-gray ghost look with sunken eyes and blood running down the face. Genius, right?

Recreate it with: Blood Living Vampire Blood

This ghost bride tutorial is perfect for anyone going for a creepier vibe this Halloween. Pro tip: You'll want to use an angled eyebrow pencil to get the perfect brow shape here.

Recreate it with: Morphe 18A Blue Ya Away Artistry Palette

This Victorian ghost makeup tutorial is equipped with blue veins and red eyes, a perfect recipe for looking scary as hell on Halloween. The secret to this makeup look? Try to look as washed out and pale as possible, so try going two or three shades lighter than your normal foundation. (BTW, if foundation tends to make your face shiny, look for a foundation for oily skin).

Recreate it with: Uoma Beauty Say What Foundation

Warning: This makeup tutorial is not for the arachnophobes out there, because it includes covering your entire face with fake spiders. But honestly, it’s a super cool and spooky ghost makeup look for Halloween with blue-ish lips to really bring out the “dead” vibe. The trick to this look is using lots of powder foundation to keep your face extra matte and dead-looking.

Recreate it with: Sephora Collection 12 Hour Contour Pencil Eyeliner

ICYMI, half-face makeup is A Thing for Halloween. This ghost makeup tutorial will teach you how to ghost-up half of your face for a cool half-dead look. I love this one because on the non-ghost half of your face, you can still do a regular pretty eye makeup look.

Recreate it with: Smashbox Photo Edit Eyeshadow Trio

Superheroes are always a great Halloween idea, but most of them are overplayed IMO. This ghost makeup tutorial is way cool though—it'll transform you into Marvel’s Ghost Rider for a look that's legit fire. This one's a great way to combine a ghost and skeleton makeup look for Halloween.

Recreate it with: Maydear Face Body Paint Orange

If you love a good ghost story, welcome to your new favorite makeup tutorial. Listen to this makeup artist tell a ghost story as she puts together the coolest Ghost Barbie look. P.S. This makeup look requires a handful of blue eyeshadows, so make sure you have the right colors handy before you get started.

Recreate it with: Smashbox Always on Cream Deep Shadow in Ultramarine

You can create a ghost bride in so many different ways, but I personally think this ghost makeup tutorial might be the spookiest. The main focus is the red sunken eyes with veins around them, so you’ll need your reddest eyeshadows and blackest eyeliners.

Recreate it with: Melt Cosmetics Baby Girl Eyeshadow Palette Stack

I’m honestly so in love with the unique blue and purple colors in this ghost makeup look (and she might have some of the best eyebrows I've ever seen). This tutorial by makeup artist Sydney Nicole is more cute than spooky (I mean, it is Disney-inspired after all), but the end result is so pretty.

Recreate it with: Juvia’s Place The Violets Eyeshadow Palette

Halloween is the best time to watch literally any Tim Burton movie you can find. My favorite is The Corpse Bride, which is the basis for this ghost makeup tutorial. It’s just super impressive and so realistic (like, for an animated movie). Bonus points if you get matching Tim Burton Halloween nails too.

Recreate it with: KVD Beauty Super Pomade Vegan Eyeliner, Shadow & Brow Pigment in Satellite Blue

If you want to get even more artsy with it, this ghost makeup tutorial will teach you how to paint little ghosts on your face and finish the look with a cut-crease smokey eye. (BTW, if you need a refresher on how to do a smokey eye, we've got you covered). Consider this one glam and ghosty all in one package.

Recreate it with: NYX Professional Makeup SFX Creme Colour in White

Going for something cute and simple? This ghost makeup tutorial walks you through the easy steps for creating a little ghost drawing on your cheeks to get in the spooky spirit. You'll just need some highlighter and glitter eyeshadow to nail the look.

Recreate it with: Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in Metal Moon

This Insidious-inspired ghost makeup tutorial is simple but scary (aka it's pretty perfect for Halloween). Be sure to have your red lipstick and red eyeliner nearby.

Recreate it with: Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil Eye, Lip & Brow Pencil in 712 Either Cherry

What I like most about this ghost makeup tutorial is that it doesn’t require any intense eyebrow blocking, and it shows you how to paint cute little ghosts coming from your mouth (side note: use a neutral lipstick to make sure your ghosts really pop). If your office is Halloween-friendly, this is a super cute one to wear to work.

Recreate it with: Bite Beauty Upswing Extreme Longwear Liquid Eyeliner

If you don’t start thinking about your Halloween makeup until October 30 (hi, what are you doing?!), even painting ghosts on your cheeks might be too much work. But I promise this ghost makeup tutorial is surprisingly easy—all you’ll need is a little eye art and you can call it a day.

Recreate it with: Marc Jacobs Beauty O!Mega Shadow Runway Collection in 630 RO!SE