Watch out, Bambi.
If going casual and cute while celebrating Halloween is your style, nothing beats showing up to your parties or greeting trick-or-treaters as a deer. It’s not only one of the most beloved and majestic characters in the forest and in storybooks (I mean, how cute is Clarice in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? And do we even need to talk about Bambi?), but it’s a simple way to humble brag and show off your gorgeous features with some extra luxe lashes and a serious pout. These nine cute deer Halloween makeup looks are sure to make you a showstopper no matter how you celebrate All Hallows’ Eve this year.
Whether you’re a ride-or-die Barbiecore fan or only participate in beauty trends inspired by glazed doughnuts, you’re basically guaranteed to find a deer makeup for Halloween that speaks to you on this list. From contouring, throwing on — or DIYing a pair of — fake antlers, adorning yourself with flowers and glitter, or playing up your peepers for a serious doe-eyed look, each of these looks has a little something extra to play up your makeup skills. There’s even a fast and easy deer makeup look for those of us who don’t know how to contour (and don’t care to learn) or for folks who only have five minutes before they've got to catch an Uber to the spooky season event of their choosing.
Many of these looks are fairly simple to execute and can probably be done with makeup you already have lying around on your beauty counter or in your makeup bag. Of course, there’s some mega-glam thrown in because sometimes you want to go hard. Grab a black eyeliner, a skin-toned lip color, and your favorite blush or bronzer, and get ready to make these clever deer-inspired looks come to life.
01
Glazed Doughnut Deer Makeup
The glazed doughnut look is sweeping the beauty world from sold-out skin care to viral celebrity manicures. McKenna Suman doesn’t call this a glazed doe look, but it’s hard to miss the dewy details. It starts with classic deer makeup — brown contour, a detailed nose, and white spots — but the star of the show was the healthy dose of highlighter. By adding the glow to her cheekbones, nose, and cupid’s bow, Suman got the coveted glazed doughnut look.
02
Barbiecore Deer Makeup
Sure, pink deers aren’t born in nature, but Halloween is all about breaking down norms and 2022 has been a very Barbiecore year. As a lover of fun colors, I’m obsessed with the playfulness of @emerald_alicemakeup’s deer makeup. For this look, you’re going to need to break out your beauty blender and spend a decent amount of time building up and blending the colors to create a true pastel base — and that’s just the first step. While this look is not for the faint of heart, it’s also a major statement maker.
03
Spooky Fairy Deer Makeup
If you’ve seen any #renaissancefaire looks on TikTok, then you know that fairy fashion is trending hard these days. Since fairies are natural spirits, injecting a bit of fairy aesthetic is the perfect way to stand out from the herd on Halloween. That said, this look is far from a quickie (scroll down for a few fast and easy dear makeup looks). @Itslikelymakeup used some serious makeup skills to achieve her ethereal deer look. The final result includes an eyeshadow look that mimics the reflection of the moon over dark water for a mysterious spooky effect. Although this look is complex, you don’t have to be precise, so there’s plenty of wiggle room for mistakes.
04
DIY Antler Deer Makeup
If you want a major look, but have minimal confidence in your contouring skills, deer makeup that’s more about the antlers than how well your spots are blended is probably the right choice. Kayleigh Noelle’s deer makeup look features a floral, DIY headband — don’t worry, she breaks down every step in the tutorial — fuzzy ears, and some, but not too many, makeup details.
05
Glam Deer Makeup
Contouring and a two-tone lip really make this glam deer makeup look come to life. Do up your eyes up with an emphasized smokey eye, and make sure to finish off the look with huge false eyelashes. Then, with some white eyeliner, outline the inner corners of your eyes to make them appear bigger, and finish off the look by dotting the same white eyeliner around your head. You can easily make deer horns with paper towel rolls, or purchase a cheap headband online.
06
Last-Minute Deer Makeup
If you’ve waited until the last minute to decide what to be for Halloween, this simple tutorial is for you. Using just drugstore products, you can easily create this look. The only thing you might have to buy is a liquid white eyeliner. When you draw on black eyeliner and add the shading on the nose, you’ll be instantly recognizable as a deer. Throw on a brown bodysuit or T-shirt and you’re set.
07
Floral Deer Makeup
Deer are found in the forest after all, so why not play up the mythical look and add some floral vibes to your deer costume? Pick up cheap fake flowers at any dollar store and assemble your own crown to wear for the night. You can still do all the regular accents of deer makeup, like the darkened nose and large eyes, but then spruce it up with glitter on your cheeks and on your arms to look like you just danced through fairy dust.
08
Over-Eyelined Deer Makeup
If you don’t know how to build up a smokey eye and apply false eyelashes, don’t fret! You can still create an easy deer makeup look just by lining your entire eye in black eyeliner. When you reach the outer corner of your eye, pull out the line to create an intensified cat eye look. Then use the same eyeliner to shade your nose, and top off the look with contouring around your forehead and cheeks.
09Doll-Eyed Deer Makeup
Drawing on eyelashes (like Twiggy’s painted-on eyelash look) and pulling the inner corners of your eyes closer to your nose using eyeliner will make your eyes look twice their regular size. Straighten your hair and use foundation to make your top lip disappear while accentuating the bottom one. The result will pull all the focus to your eyes for a seriously doe-eyed look that will make everyone at the Halloween party absolutely fall for you.
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