11 Special Effects Tutorials For Halloween 2016

Halloween is almost here, and as any fan of this holiday will tell you, makeup can really take your costume to another level. That doesn't mean you have to paint your entire body green, but special effects makeup for Halloween is a worthwhile way to add some pizzazz and authenticity to your look — and it's not especially difficult to do with the right tools and tutorials. If nothing else, think of it as a guaranteed way to look awesome (and be totally Instagram-ready) on Halloween night.

Whether you base your whole costume around graphic SFX makeup, or you just want another layer of gore, these tutorials cover all bases. Plus, once you have the skills under your belt, these tutorials can be customized to your own choosing. Put a scar in a different part of your face, throw a pencil through a different eye — anything is possible.

If you're not totally convinced to go through the effort of doing special effects Halloween makeup, hopefully these ideas will encourage you. SFX is a creative and interesting form of makeup artistry, and a lot of these looks are so cool, they're totally worth the time it takes to do them. If you really want to kill it this Halloween, it might be worth investing in the SFX makeup tools and get practicing so you can get these gory details down perfectly.

1. Monster Mouth

Turn your neck into your best accessory with this monster mouth tutorial that makes you look exactly like a creepy creature from Stranger Things. This makeup look may need some extra teeth to complete, but the final look is totally worth it.

2. A Nightmare Before Christmas

You can use SFX techniques to build on to a preexisting character.

3. Bleeding Eye Socket

If you're worried about too many Halloween ciders making your eyes puffy, obliterate them completely with this bleeding eye socket look. Hey, it's one way to conceal this dark circles.

4. Open Zipper

A special effects makeup classic that's always a solid choice for Halloween.

5. Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette post-beheading, that is. This makeup is a great chance to branch out not just for your makeup, but your entire costume too.

6. Black Eye

Some of these SFX tutorials are super complex, so take it back to basics with this tutorial that's labelled for beginners.

7. Coraline

This tutorial only proves how wild and creative you can get with your special effects makeup — it doesn't have to be all blood and guts.

8. Pencil Through The Nose

An absolute special effects classic — there's a million of these tutorials on YouTube — but if you adore SFX, it's a good tutorial to have in your skill set.

9. Burns

Being gory doesn't have to be slashes and scars. This tutorial shows there's a whole load of other ways to make yourself look horrifying this Halloween.

10. Bite Marks

If you don't want to be a vampire, a zombie, or a werewolf, you can use this tutorial to transform into one of their victims.

11. Scar

This scar tutorial is perfect for anyone looking to keep it simple but still stand out.

The important thing to remember about special effects makeup is to experiment, and to not get discouraged when something doesn't turn out right the first time. Once you have the basic skills under your belt, you'll be able to customize these looks — next stop, one killer Halloween.

Image: Julia Graf/YouTube