How to Achieve an Award Winning Halloween Costume

Usually the hardest thing for people to do when it comes to costuming is to come up with a unique and attention getting idea. There are so many choices and many of the pre made costumes are cheaply made and you run the chance of someone else wearing exactly what you are putting you out of the lineup choices for a winning costume. As a professional face and body artist, I have helped many people plan and design winning Halloween costumes. Here are a few things for you to think about and what I have found to work for my clients. My advice is to do something that you like and keep comfort in mind. One easy way to get stared is to first look at custom masks that are out there. You can search Etsy for some amazing custom handmade masks that are unique and one of a kind. You can find pretty plastic masks mass produced and while they may be nice to look at you will find the material hard and uncomfortable to wear for an evening of partying. Many of the plastic masks are also made of materials that are not suggest to wear on your face. Paper pulp masks and leather masks are much user friendly and comfortable to wear. Once you have chosen the mask you love, you can then design your costume around the style and colors of your mask. You can take your mask with you to fabric and craft stores to match it up perfectly with the rest of your costume material choices. Showing your mask to your seamstress will help him or her design a perfect out fit for you. Don’t want to wear a mask? You really don’t have to, if you find a mask you love and you find a professional face and body artist in your area, they can paint something very similar and design a custom body painting to match the mask making an award winning outfit. As a professional body artist with 10 years’ experience, all of my competing clients have won with their painted on costumes. Some have even won up to $600 in prizes. Judges love to see professional body art. Body painting does not mean that you have to be naked, you choose your comfort level. A good body artist can incorporate clothing or covering into your body paint, in fact it is more impressive to add three dimensional items into your body painted costume for a more 3 d effect. A professional face/body artist can also paint a mask on your face and add gem stones, glitter, feathers and other embellishments. Or you can go all the way and get a full body paining. Body painting needs to be done by a professional who uses high quality products that will not irritate your skin and that are not greasy. Make sure you take a good look at your artist’s portfolio and ask questions like: what kind of products do you use, how easy is it to remove, how long will it last and what the price will be. A professional body artist are not cheap and will charge anywhere from $150 -$400 for a body painting. You get what you pay for when it comes to body art. Someone only charging $25 is more than likely an amateur and not using high quality products. While the price may give you sticker shock a first, if you add up all the costs of the materials and a seamstress not to mention all the time you personally put into your costume, you more than likely will find that you are actually saving money on your costume. Have fun with it, and let your creative juices flow! You can see some of my custom hand made masks at: http://etsy.com/shop/MaLadyMasks and my face/body art at: http://www.timehonoredart.com Naomi Smith www.timehonoredart.com