Halloween is just a few days away which means it’s time to decide what character to be.  After deciding what look or character you want to be whether it be a scary vampire face, a psycho clown, or an angelic fairy face you want to use products that are going to be the “kindest” to remove or are the best for your skin.  Knowing what products you are going to use will help in what products you decide to use to remove it.  After applying face makeup to a clean dry face, applying a skin barrier product like Derma Shield (comes in mousse form with various sizes; 500 ml mousse being the most popular size as well as in a lotion form) can protect your skin from face and body makeup products that can stain or irritate it while giving it moisturizing and soothing properties that lasts up to 4 hours even after repeated washings.  It also comes in makeup remover professional cream form which is loved by many stage makeup artists as well) can protect your face (says Broadway makeup artist Angelina Avellone on “Beauty Tips” in The Huffington Post).

Many face painting and face makeup products can also be really greasy or contain things such as adhesives, glitter, prosthetic facial hair, or liquid latex, etc…, while also containing high pigmentation that leaves stains and can be difficult to remove.  Don’t rip the materials off of your face which can only cause more irritation and damage to skin.  Using olive oil, coconut oil, or almond oil (no baby oil!) can be used with a Q-tip to loosen and remove latex, facial hair prosthetics, spirit gum, and other materials easier.  For false eyelashes and eye makeup there are eye makeup remover products (that won’t leave you with that dreaded “foggy” eye) such as Lancôme’s “Effacil Gentle Eye Makeup Remover” which is a great one (and my personal favorite) and Maybelline Flash Cleanser Eye Makeup Remover is good too.

There are many different products to choose from and just as many skin care and beauty companies that carry makeup removers to pick from as well.  Using the correct facial tools whether it be cotton rounds, cotton balls, Q-tips, and a wash cloth and or facial wipe will help save your skin from irritation, stress, redness, and/or sensitivity.  When it comes to water based makeup (which can be a favorite of makeup artists because of it’s long-lasting wear, it is best to use oil first and then you can use a cream (which I personally like) like Pond’s Cold Cream wiping off with a damp washcloth and then following with a cleanser such as Ole Henriksen’s “The Truth” Cleansing Wipes with vitamin c and skin brightening agents that also soothes to remove leftover residue, leftover pigmentation, or stain from face paint or fake blood, etc…  Mac Cosmetics has a “Cleanse Off Oil” and is a favorite of many makeup artists as well as the skin care line La Mer Cleansing Oil which is a silky shimmering cleansing lotion that is incredibly luxurious.

Some of the top makeup removers and favorites from Allure magazine are Aveeno “Ultra Calming Wash” which cleanses and as well as soothes the skin.  Albolene is a drugstore product which is like a makeup remover “melt” and is very affordable.  “Lucas Papaw” is an all purpose ointment with extracts from papaya fruit that can be used to further remove makeup residue with great skin benefits.  RMS Beauty has a raw coconut oil balm that melts off makeup and cleanses skin with all the healthy benefits that we all know coconut has and can be removed with a hot towel (says makeup artist Alice Lane).  The Ole Henriksen skin care line has “The Truth” cleansing  wipes with vitamin c and skin brightening agents in it.    Bioderma is one of the biggest favorites of makeup artists worldwide and has “Crealine Sensibio H2O Water” which is a great water cleanser for sensitive skin as does Koh Gen Do “Cleansing Spa Water” that cleanses with oil free goodness.

So, as you can see, there are many products to choose from to remove Halloween makeup that will leave your skin feeling squeaky clean, refreshed, and soothed that you can feel confident with and all you will have to worry about is maybe not feeling so good the day after Halloween and the night before festivities!