Easy Halloween Vampire Makeup Look Using Only “Regular” Makeup

This post contains affiliate links. To learn more, hop over to our Disclosure page.

Vampire makeup looks impressive, but it’s actually super easy to achieve the look. And I’m going to show you how.

I created this look using the Red Vampire contacts that I received from Spooky Eyes.

This time around, I decided to use the contacts for their titled purpose.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you should check out the other super simple Halloween look I created with inspiration from the red contacts. Have a look at that costume here >> Easy Halloween Costume Idea. I bet you didn’t see that one coming.

In all seriousness, I wanted ensure that my vampire makeup look remained accessible to many. I am not a professional makeup artist, nor do I have tubes of fake blood hanging around my home.

I aimed to create a look using makeup products you probably have lying around. If you don’t have them already, they should be easy to find at your local drugstore.

So let’s get started with this easy vampire makeup look!

You will need… not that many things.

These are the products I used to create this look. As you can see, they’re all exceptionally ordinary. The only things not pictured include my regular mascara and brow gel. I just don’t think they are all that interesting. 

— Your most pale foundation —

Chanel Perfection Lumiere in 20 Beige >> Discontinued

— A matte black eyeshadow —

Lorac Pro 2 Palette >> Purchase on Amazon

— Very deep matte purple eyeshadow —

Coastal Scents Hot Pot in Black Berry  >> Purchase from Coastal Scents

— Matte muted rusty red eyeshadow —

Coastal Scents Hot Pot in Dark Salmon >> Purchase from Coastal Scents

— Medium cool gray cream eyeshadow —

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe >> Purchase on Amazon

— Black pencil eyeliner —

Sephora Retractable Eyeliner in Black >> Purchase at Sephora

— Your usual brow pencil, preferably a darker shade —

Sephora Retractable Brow Pencil in Soft Charcoal >> Purchase at Sephora

— Deep wine colored lipstick —

Milani Color Statement Lipstick in Black Cherry >> Purchase on Amazon

— Bright red liquid lipstick or gloss —

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo >> Purchase on Amazon

Starting with the face

For this look, I apply my foundation first, which is really out of the ordinary for me. I always work on my eyes first to avoid worrying about fallout, but happily that is not a concern with this look.

Foundation

There is nothing particularly vampire-like about the Chanel foundation I’m using. I simply chose this one because it is the lightest shade I own.

Any foundation will work for this look, though I do recommend going with something with more of a matte finish. Vampires aren’t known for their pretty, dewy skin.

Contour

After foundation I use my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe to add some strong contouring. I first use my finger to carve out my cheekbones and make them look sunken and hollow. Then I also add some to the areas where I usually contour, my forehead and jawline.

As if that wasn’t enough, I decided to dab the color over my entire face to give my skin a grayish tinge. For a dirty, smudgy look, simply use your fingers to dab the color randomly into your face. For a look that implies “undead” skin, mix a small amount of product in with your foundation. Just make sure you mix well so that you don’t end up with clumps of gray speckled on your face. I haven’t tried it, but I’m assuming I’ll look like I’ve got vampire acne. Not a good look.

Creating the vampire makeup “black eye”

Brows

To start, fill in zee eyebrows. I choose a regular brow pencil rather than something very heavy like a black eyeliner, (which I considered,) because I wanted them to be bold but not overpower the eyeshadow. What you don’t achieve with color will be made up for in shape.

Fill in brows normally to the desired shape and arch. Then, extend both ends of the brow out and down. This gives the brows a “frowny” look. Plus, the dark hood across the top of the eye will further exacerbate the darkness. Not great for everyday looks, but perfect for a vampire look.

Eyeshadow

I’m using the same Maybelline Color Tattoo as an eyeshadow base. I basically smear it all over my eye area. This makes the whole area look sunken.

Next, apply the color Black from the Lorac Pro 2 Palette all over the lid. Don’t worry about being neat with this. Of course, if you don’t have this particular palette, (it’s limited edition,) any matte black shadow will work.

Then, add Coastal Scents Black Berry to help blend Black up into the crease. I have to say, it’s pretty fun not being at all worried about raccoon eyes! I use my Black Sephora Eyeliner to line my waterline, and then go over with Black Berry again to blend out the lower lash line. Take the color much lower than you usually would.

Finally, go crazy with the Coastal Scents Dark Salmon eyeshadow. Use it to blend around the entire eye area giving it that bruised, sickly look.

You can skip concealer for this look because vampires don’t have beautiful, bright undereyes. Instead, enhance your natural undereye bags with the red shadow. I pretty much shaded in my entire eye socket area with Dark Salmon. However, be careful not to make it too dark because you want to let the gray veins stand out.

Drawing the vampire makeup veins

For this vampire look, I was going for the effect of when the Vampire Diaries vampire go into “vampire” mode. Using the Maybelline Color Tattoo (again!) with a small eyeliner brush, draw randomized zig-zagging lines under the eyes. I generally tried to keep them in straight-ish columns extending from my eye down toward my cheekbone, but of course, perfection is the enemy when doing a look like this one.

I have trouble with “random” things, and if I thought too much while I was doing it, I would have ended up with seven perfectly spaced Harry-Potter-esque lightening bolts on my cheeks. To avoid this, I had to do it fast, and in order to make it look messy, I simply started under my eye and made little “X” drawings of different sizes and angles. Of course, you can do it however you’d like, I just chose to do it this way. The important part is that you get those veins on your face.

Applying your artsy, bloody lips

It’s the same story with the lips in the sense that you definitely don’t your vampire makeup looking too perfect. After all, I didn’t want to look like a beauty queen vampire who spent an hour in front of the mirror perfecting her lipstick; I wanted my lips to look like they were covered in dried, caked on blood.

First outline the lips with Sephora Black eyeliner. Then, apply the Milani lipstick in Black Cherry over top. Using the same small eyeliner brush from the undereye art, blend the black liner and lipstick together so the edges don’t look cartoony.

Continue blending and dragging the black inward until you are happy with the effect. To top it off, apply one more coat of lipstick, concentrating the color in the center of your lips.

For the blood drip, I use my NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo. With that same small eyeliner brush, drag the lipstick down from the corner of your mouth. Again, I just kind of used random motions to not make it look too perfect, making sure to taper the line so it was thicker at the top and thinner as it neared the bottom.

You could possibly achieve the look using the same lipstick as is on the lips, but I went with a creamier formula because it made building texture in the blood drip possible. In order to make the blood drip look messier and more realistic, I did one layer, then smeared it a bit with my finger, and then built up another layer on top.

Fin

And here I am, the most smily vampire ever. I didn’t have any fangs to add to the look, but I tend to keep my mouth shut anyway. The contacts are also nice, but they are not necessary, especially for someone like me who has dark brown eyes naturally.

Now go out and rock your vampire makeup look!

That’s all for today!

Like this post? You’ll probably like this one too >> Easy Halloween Costume Idea

If you find my vampire makeup post interesting, informative, or just plain entertaining, tell me about it in the comments below. And don’t forget, sharing is caring. Share this post!

Till next time. ♥︎

Sign up for my free monthly e-journal, The Millennial Maven Love Letters for exclusive content + millennial inspiration and lifestyle hacks. Plus get instant access to my library of on-the-go style downloads!

FTC- Red Vampire contacts provided by Spooky Eyes. This post is not sponsored by any of the brands mentioned, and all opinions and ideas are my own. Some links may be affiliated.