Simple and Inexpensive Roy Lichtenstein Inspired “Pop Art” Costume

This is a very simple eye catching costume that my sister and I came up with on short notice.

I was short on cash this year for Halloween, but still wanted to cause a scene with my costume. This costume is great, because you can use things that you already have around the house!

Its very simple to set up. All you need for makeup is some liquid eyeliner, white eyeliner pencil, red lipstick, mascara, purple and blue eyeshadow, and a light hairspray. It is recomended that you use a primer all over your face before applying too (this way, when you sweat, it wont smear!)

For the clothes, anything polka dot!

If within your budget I suggest you purchase a brightly colored wig, but if not, during halloween there is colored hairspray at almost any convenient store (Walmart, Target, Walgreens, etc, etc) for less then 5 dollars.

I highly suggest practicing with the makeup a few days before your event. I started by using an eyeliner pencil instead of liquid eyeliner and it looked messy. I also didnt put on a primer the first day and found myself in the bathroom touching up smudges all night long. With the primer, I didnt have to touch up once!

Step 1: Put primer all over your face and neck. I used Hard Candy: Sheer Envy. I bought it about a year ago, but i remember it being really inexpensive ($3?)

Step 2: I started with the eyes. They seemed to me to be the hardest step. I took my white eyeliner and covered the entire crease of my eye. I did this because i knew it would make the purple eyeshadow “POP” more (good wordplay, huh?). I then covered this eyeliner with the purple eyeshadow. Afterwards, I traced the entirety of my lid with the black eyeliner while also, creating a little wing at the corner of my eyes. Lastly, I put on some mascara.

Step 3: I took my liquid eyeliner and filled in my entire eyebrow. This looks really funky in the mirror, but once the entire makeup is done, it looks awesome!

Step 4: I started filling in all the little black lines to make my face sort of look like a doll with huge expression. It may be easy just to follow the picture I uploaded. (straight line down nose, on chin, on cheek, crease of nose, etc)

Step 5: I put on the brightest red lipstick I could find and then VERY LIGHTLY traced around my lips with a black pencil. I say, very lightly because it looks really weird if the lines are thick and this is also the area that will smudge the most because you will be drinking punch and eating cookies :)

Step 6: Last but not least; the tedious part. Drawing the little white dots all over your face and neck (and also hands and arms if you really want to go all out!) This takes forever, let me tell you but it is totally worth it! Roy Lichtenstein typically used red dots for his artwork, but I highly recomend using white because when taking pictures the flash bounces off the white and really lets it POP!

There are a few other things I did with makeup that are optional, such as the blue tear drop on my right eye, fake eyelashes, etc. I also recommend that you purchase a bald cap and some bobby pins for the wig to hold it in place. It tends to fly everywhere, especially if its windy! After your makeup is finished lightly spray hairspray on your face to make it set. This helped a lot with the smudges.

Overall cost of costume: For both my sister and I to get matching polka dot coats and wigs it was around $60. I had already had most of the makeup, and the purple wig (from when I went as Hit Girl in 2010). So if you already have a cute polka dot jacket/cardigan and wig, this could cost you less to nothing!

EVERYONE LOVED THIS COSTUME! I cant count how many people wanted to take photos with my sister and I. We have a full album of photos taken from that night. I got anywhere from “Are you a doll?” or “Are you Katy Perry”. No fools! We are “Pop art!”

We also entered numerous costume contests, and were in the running for top 20 costumes for Juice Magazine’s Costume Contest (a huge contest in the Des Moines Area). We placed 3rd but still consider it a HUGE accomplishment for how easy and quick this costume was!

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