The first Halloween costume I saw this weekend was a take on Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn from Joker: Folie à Deux. The young lady I spotted on the subway wore a simple outfit of Dr. Martens, black jeans, a black crop top over a fishnet body suit, and an oversized leather bomber. Her hair was styled in an effortless Louise Brooks bob. The understated outfit, with the requisite urban warfare-ready silhouette of the Joker’s paramour, might have been a daily uniform, except for the makeup – a modern glam take on Quinn’s signature anarchist punk clown-inspired beat.
With loads of black shadow and liquid liner, it’s a look that can easily snowball into a splotchy blob of pigment and run off. Ditto for the looks seen on Margaret Qualley as Sue in The Substance, and Mia Goth as Maxine Minx in Maxxxine. The key to nailing Halloween, editorial, and our fave film-inspired makeup looks is precision – precision in the formulation, application, and especially the tools.
For the level of artistry needed to pull off these cheeky and festive looks – most of which are eye centric, professional makeup brushes are a must. In addition to a recent collab with star make up artist Danessa Myricks, MyKitCo recently launched new additions to its professional, turquoise-handled, synthetic vegan, and natural goat hair brushes. Designed by and for the pros, these next-level beautifying instruments yield painstakingly precise application of powder, liquids, creams, and gels for seamless perfection.
The MyKitC0 39 My Flat Definer – Mini is the eye tool I’ve been missing all my life. With short stiff brisltes and a compact head, it’s essential for outlining more complicated and geometric wing liners with a dark shadow, as well as effortlessly tightlining the waterline or drawing individual lashes on the lower lashline. I use it daily for first lightly sketching my cat-eye.
In order to complete more intricate eyeliner shapes, the 1.38 My Calligraphy Liner takes inspiration from the sharp tip and angular shape of calligraphy pens to create one-of-a-kind liquid liner shapes. For aspiring MUAs with more expertise and gumption, the superfine and extra long fibers of the 1.42 My Long Liner brush allow for painter-like master strokes of liner and all manner of pigmented liquids. All three liner brushes work together in a perfect symphony of powder and gel liner application for a multitude of show-stopping eye-looks.
To round out the looks with an equally edgy application of shadow, a small detail brush like the award-winning 1.5 My Small Shadow allows for small amounts of product pick up and precise placement, blending, and smudging especially for bold colors and textures. For larger swathes of sculpting color, the award-winning sister shadow tool, the 1.49 My Feathered Blender Medium, deposits and blends shadows seamlessly with feathery, tapered synthetic fibers for contours that appear air-brushed.
As no look is complete without brows, the 2.3 My Brushed Brow is dual-sided with a durable spoolie on one end and thicker, stiff bristles on the other to tame or laminate thicker brows with gel.
With all the pigment and precision of shadow and liquids, setting powder will be in high demand. For a light application of powder around the eyes that doesn’t look cakey, the dome-shaped, light-as-air 0.27 My Soft Powder picks up the minimum amount of powder for a light, fluffy application over concealer that will not settle in fine lines. This brush is the 2024 SHEERLUXE Best Application Tool Winner for a reason.
James Molloy, the co-founder of MyKitCo, a professional MUA for decades with major stints at MAC, YSL, and Rimmel London under his belt, offers a softer Elizabethan interpretation of Harley Quinn with a step-by-step tutorial using the best of MyKitCo brushes.
Happy Halloween!!!
