Tips and Tricks to treat your Halloween Skin
In preparation for Halloween, when it comes to putting costumes together and and planning your holiday makeup its important to take skincare into consideration. One of the scariest things about Halloween makeup is what can do to your skin during the application and removal process.
The most popular Halloween makeup is the costume makeup made available by Halloween novelty stores. This type of makeup is very different from ordinary every day makeup. Halloween makeup, also known as special effects makeup, stage makeup or costume makeup, has a heavy, thick, waxy and greasy texture. The ingredients in most Halloween makeup formulas are not designed for skin health. Instead they are designed to be bold, pigmented and to stick to your face. Because the way Halloween makeup is designed, prepping your skin before makeup application is very important. Vice versa, how you remove this type of makeup from your skin when the night is over is equally as important. Be cautioned: if you have hypersensitive skin you may experience skin tightening and reaction flare-ups on your skin from this type of makeup.
Prepping Your Skin for Halloween Makeup.
Before applying Halloween or special effects makeup, it is essential to prep the skin beforehand. If you are applying any type of special makeup effects that involve prosthetics you are going to want to make sure to clean and remove any excess oils from your skin to allow for the prosthetics to adhere to your skin. DO NOT use rubbing alcohol or anything with ethyl alcohols, this will only irritate the skin.
Double-cleanse your skin with a foaming pH balanced cleanser like Dermalogica's Special Cleansing Gel. Then apply a degreaser like Daily Resurfacer that has a small amount of witch hazel and salicylic acid to to remove any remaining surface oils.If you are opting for simple makeup without prosthetics you should cleanse the skin and then apply a primer to the skin to act as a shield. This will also provide a smooth and even canvas for you to apply your Halloween makeup. Products like Dermalogica's Barrier Repair and Hydrablur are perfect primers to apply before makeup application.
Safely Removing Halloween Makeup from Your Skin
At the end of the night it is very important to safely and effectively remove all of the crazy Halloween makeup from your skin without damage or irritation. Prosthetics and latex are actually glued to the skin and a lot of the removers contain ingredients that remove the glue but but can be irritating to the skin. The best type of remover for prosthetics is an oil-based, water-soluble cleanser like Precleanse or the new Precleanse Balm that comes with a special silicone cleansing mitt. These are safe oil formulas that do not contain mineral oils which are occlusive to the skin and can further clog your pores. These are also perfect for removing false lashes safely.
An article in Vanity Fair Magazine talks about actress Angelina Jolie's makeup in the movie Maleficent. The makeup artists discuss in detail how it took them three hours to apply her special effects makeup and then one hour for the removal process. To remove the prosthetics they used a combination of coconut and argan oil to protect Angelina's skin from irritation.
Dealing with the Aftermath
After removing all of your Halloween makeup, you will want to hydrate and replenish the health and barrier of your skin by employing hydrating toners like Ultracalming Mist or MultiActive Toner. If the makeup is really stubborn you may need to exfoliate. If you need to exfoliate and then I would definitely recommend something like Skin Hydrating Masque after that to calm and soothe the skin back to it's optimal condition.
If you get a couple little breakouts or irritations book a Core Facial Treatment with your trusted skin care professional, we enlist professional treatment magic to get your skin healthy again.Happy Halloween!