Hot Halloween Make-up Tutorials

Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's because it is the one day that your imagination is free to run wild. Anything goes. Well, almost.

For as far back as I can remember, I've always marveled at really good make-up tricks. I can only remember once when I purchased a mask for my kids for Halloween. The rest of the time, I applied make-up transforming them into:

• a witch and a vampire
• clowns
• Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. 
• I transformed my cousin's husband into Darth Maul that year.
• Pink Panther
• Scarecrows
• Aliens
• Housewife
• Old woman
• Transformed a male friend into a female for the night.

I'm really excited about all of the characters that will be hot for Halloween 2010. This year you'll see kids and adults dressing up as Avatar, Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.

You can find lots of make-up tutorials online. Some of them will make you chuckle. If you're wanting to watch someone who is easy to understand, and creates professional results while using things you have around the house, Kandee Johnson is one of the best I've seen.

I have compiled three Kandee Johnson make-up tutorials that I think illustrate this year's hottest Halloween costume ideas.

It's not too early to start shopping around for items to use in your costume this year. Shopping early helps to ensure you have time to compare for the best prices and take advantage of some real bargain shopping.

For clothing items, watch garage sales during the summer months. You'll be able to find lots of suits, ties, wigs, hats and other items to incorporate into your outfit.

If you've never dabbled much with theatrical make-up or Halloween make-up, you really want to experiment with it a bit before committing to wearing it an entire day. People with sensitive skin or a lot of allergies should be particularly cautious.

Some quick tips:

• It's a good idea to read labels. Make sure you know what it is that you're putting on your face. Make sure you're not allergic to any of the ingredients.
• Try the make-up on a very small area to see if you develop any type of reaction to it. You want to know it before you apply it to large areas. Know ahead of time what to do if you do develop a reaction to it.
• Always apply make-up to clean dry skin unless you're told to apply some type of base coat.
• Be particularly careful around your eyes. Make sure the make-up is designed for the eye area.
• Experiment with color combinations and blending. Bristle paint brushes and foam paint brushes can be used for blending.
• It's never a good idea to share make-up with someone. Buy several smaller sizes rather than sharing one bigger one.
• After you're sure you're not allergic to the make-up, try wearing it for a few hours at a time. See if is prone to coming off or you find it too heavy or irritating. You may have to adjust things. Trying switching brands or from creams to powders.
• Be sure to wear old clothing when practicing. Greasier make-up often stains and will not come out of clothes.
• Always clean your face thoroughly after removing the make-up.
• Don't forgot to write down combinations that you like or recipes for colors so that you can duplicate the look again.
• Take photos!