[Wildly Off Topic] Being Indiana Jones: A Lady’s Manly Makeup Tutorial

I like this costume for 3 reasons:

1. I love Indiana Jones;
2. I already have all the parts lying around anyway, and
3. The reactions are priceless.

We ladies often get boxed into being a sexy this or a sexy that for Halloween. Put “Sexy” in front of almost anything, followed by “costume,” and you’re almost guaranteed to get some sort of bizarre result. (Disclaimer, I don’t actually recommend you do that search, and if you do, I’m not paying for your therapy afterward.)

While I’ll fully admit to donning my share of more flattering costumes over the years, the reactions I get when I dress up as a dude are way more interesting (and unpredictable).

Here are my tips on getting made up like a man.

1. Have a reference picture (or a few) handy.

Whether it’s for a specific costume or just looking more like a dude, modeling your face after a specific man will help you nail the details. After you’ve done it a few times, you may be able to go sans reference; but for now, use pictures. It’s a huge help. 

2. Get your hands on some semi-liquid eyeshadow.

In my case I used brown. Depending on your character and skin tone you may need a different shade. This is used for creating stubble, as well as highlighting areas like your brow and cheek bones.

3. Create stubble using an old paint brush lightly dipped in said eyeshadow.

Concentrate your stubble along the jaw line to create the illusion of a stronger jaw. Don’t forget to pay attention to where the facial hair starts AND stops. There are typically important gaps in the mustache, chin and cheekbone areas that help identify different contours in male faces.

4. Use powdered eye shadow for deepening creases, lines and eyes.

Don’t put it on like you normally would or (spoilers) you’ll look like a girl. Applying eyeshadow like this should feel foreign, novel, and a little surprising. My hands were like ‘wait, this is NOT where this is supposed to go,’ and my brain was all ‘yep, that’s the point.’ Putting on makeup to accentuate more male facial features is actually an interesting experiment in understanding the differences in our faces, and what we think of as ‘attractive’ in the sexes. Enjoy the learning process, it’s pretty nifty.

5. Contour, contour, contour.

You can usually get this using your brown shadow and your reference pic, but there are lots of videos that can help. Here’s a good one!

6. Make your lips nude.

This sounds odd, but it’s one of the most important steps. Most guys have a more neutral lip tone, and if you do this step first, you’ll see it goes an oddly long way towards making your face fairly androgynous. I do this by using a clear Chapstick style lip product and dabbing on a touch of concealer, then blending them.

There you have it! Pretty simple, cheap, and highly entertaining. If you have questions, feel free to ask.

Happy Halloween!