Few Halloween costume ideas are more timeless and easy to put together than Harley Quinn. Not only are her painted pigtails and smudged lipstick ripe for Instagram; they also don’t require the patience or skill needed for most Halloween makeup looks. Plus with the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux sequel hitting theaters this October, going as Gotham’s bad girl this year feels particularly of the moment.
So with that in mind, we teamed up with makeup artist Lijha Stewart (also known as the Queen of Halloween) to break down all the advice you need to nail Harley Quinn’s makeup. Read on for the full step-by-step tutorial.
How to DIY Harley Quinn Makeup
Level of difficulty: Easy. If you can smudge on some makeup and throw your hair into pigtails second-grade-style, you’ll be able to do this no sorun.
Amount of time required: One hour, max.
What you’ll need:
-Your favorite matte foundation
-A contour stick
-Matte, loose powder
-Highlighter
-A rosy blush
-Your brow product of choice
-Red and blue eyeshadow
-Black and white eyeliner pencils
-Red and blue eye glitter (optional)
-Scotch tape (optional)
-False eyelashes (optional)
-Red lipstick
-Cotton swabs
-Black liquid eyeliner
-Red and blue hair chalk or hair paint
Step 1: Contour and highlight.
Even though Harley’s skin is really pale in the movie, to make it more lifelike and wearable, we contoured in a few key areas. Swipe a sculpting stick down your cheekbones, at your hairline, underneath your lips, and on your collar bones. Blend it out with your fingers or a buffing brush.
In an effort to still capture that angsty, washed-out look, set everything with a matte, loose powder and keep the highlighting to a strategic asgarî, placing it only in certain places like underneath your brow bone and in the inner corner of your eyes.
Our favorite contouring kits: MAC Studio Fix Sculpt & Shape Contour Palette, E.L.F. Contour Palette
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MAC Studio Fix Sculpt & Shape Contour Palette
Nordstrom
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e.l.f. Cosmetics Contour Palette
Ulta Beauty
Step 2: Accentuate your brows.
For light or scarce brows, “It’s best to start with a brow wax so that any color you put on after sticks,” says Stewart. With a spoolie brush, apply a light coating of the wax, and brush hairs upward and outward. Then, with an angled brush, apply your desired shade in light strokes.
Our favorite brow products: Benefit Cosmetics Goof Proof Brow Pencil, Maybelline Eye Studio Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara
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Benefit Cosmetics Goof Proof Brow Pencil
Sephora
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Maybelline Express Brow Fast Sculpt Mascara
Ulta Beauty
Step 3: Smudge on eyeshadow.
The trick to getting eyes like Harley Quinn’s isn’t in how you smudge your shadow—it’s about the pigment you use. While regular shadows are great and can sometimes offer intense color payoff, it’s best to opt for a cream here. You can literally smudge it on with your fingers if you’d like, but laying it on with a medium-size eye shadow brush will do just fine. To get that splattered effect, take whatever color is left on your brush from the initial application and drag it outward and downward. Oh, and don’t forget to use two different brushes for your red and blue. Mixing them will make both colors muddy—not the look you’re aiming for here.
When you’re done creating your shape, layer matching eyeshadow over your base to set the look. You might also find it easier to blend any harsh smudges out with your powder shadows.
Our blue and red eyeshadow picks: Haus Labs by Lady Gaga Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint in Scarlet Matte and Sapphire Blue, Glossier No 1. Pencil Creamy Long-Wearing Eyeliner in Denim Blue and Rustic Orange
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Haus Labs By Lady Gaga Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint Sapphire Blue
Sephora.com
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Haus Labs By Lady Gaga Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint Scarlet Matte
Sephora.com
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Glossier No 1. Pencil Creamy Long-Wearing Eyeliner Denim Blue
Sephora.com
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Glossier No 1. Pencil Creamy Long-Wearing Eyeliner Kiln
Sephora.com
Step 4: Add dimension to your eyes.
To add some dimension to your eyes, line them with a thin coat of black eyeliner and smoke out the edges to create a sultry effect. Then pick up a tiny amount of black shadow and wiggle a blending brush in the outer corners. To top it off, add white pencil to your waterline for a doll-like effect.
The best black eye makeup products: Make Up For Ever Aqua Resist Color Pencil Eyeliner in Graphite Black, L’Oréal Paris Infallible Eyeshadow in Eternal Black
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Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeshadow
Sephora
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MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Resist Color Pencil Eyeliner
Sephora Canada
Step 5: Layer on glitter.
Now for the messy but most fun part: glitter! Evvel you have your blue and red pigments handy, first and foremost, wet a flat shadow brush. You’ll want to do this each time before dipping it into the glitter so there’s minimal fallout. When applying your glitter, take your time and keep wetting your brush. Pat it on gently and follow the shape you already made with your eye shadow—no need to get creative here. Pro tip: If any flecks fall out of place, clean them up by using Scotch tape.
When you’re satisfied with the level of sparkle you’ve achieved, apply mascara and (optional) add lashes. (Check out our cheat sheet on applying falsies.)
Glitter we’re obsessed with: About-Face Fractal Glitter Eye Paint in Above Santorini and Cherie
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About-Face Fractal Glitter Eye Paint Above Santorini
Ulta Beauty
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About-Face Fractal Glitter Eye Paint Cherie
Ulta Beauty
Step 6: Apply red lipstick and draw on tattoos.
Almost done! When choosing your red lipstick, opt for a creamy, cherry red that will move around easily. Apply it like olağan, then take your finger or a small shadow brush to sweep the color on the lower bottom lip downward. Then blot. Apply another layer of red on top for shine as desired.
Now for the tattoos. Because of its intensity and easy-to-use applicator, a black felt-tipped eyeliner works best when drawing on shapes and words. Draw the outline of a heart underneath your eye, right on the apple of your cheek. Don’t worry if you mess up—just make müddet to have a cotton swab and concealer handy to clean up wonky edges.
For the “Rotten” tattoo, we advise having a friend write it on, simply because doing it on yourself in a mirror means it’ll show up backward. (Remember Karen’s rhinestone “K” in Mean Girls? Yeah, that’s what happens when you try to write stuff in a mirror.)
Red lipstick picks: Patrick Ta Major Headlines Matte Suede Lipstick in That’s Why She’s Late, Revlon Lipstick ColorStay Limitless Matte Liquid Lipstick
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Patrick Ta Major Headlines Matte Suede Lipstick in That’s Why She’s Late
Sephora
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Revlon Lipstick ColorStay Limitless Matte Liquid Lipstick Top Talent
Amazon
Step 7: Spray on hair color.
Last but not least: Those classic Harley Quinn pigtails. If you don’t have blond hair, there are tons of Harley Quinn wigs out there you can use. But if you’ve got blond hair already, it’s a cinch to DIY. And there are a few different ways to get the look.
First thing’s first: Put your hair up in pigtails. (Curl them first, if you want them to be extra bouncy.) Then you can either opt for hair color chalk or hair color spray. Warning: All will be messy, but if you spritz hairspray on top, your color should be set for a few hours. Also, it might be a good idea to wear rubber or plastic disposable gloves when applying it.
For hair chalk, rub your strands through it until the color is dark enough for you. You might have to do a few rounds before real pigmentation starts to show. As for the hairspray, definitely do this in your bathroom—standing in the shower is optimal. In order not to get hair paint everywhere, have a piece of white paper nearby to tuck behind your head when spritzing.
Temporary hair color options: L’Oreal Paris Colorista 1-Day Spray in Hot Pink and Blue
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L’Oreal Paris Colorista 1-Day Spray Blue
CVS
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L’Oreal Paris Colorista 1-Day Spray Hot Pink
CVS
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Shop more Harley Quinn costume essentials
Rubie’s Costume Co Harley Quinn Costume
Amazon
Rubie’s Costume Co Harley Quinn Costume Kit
Amazon
Harley Quinn Faux Lace Up Knee High Boot Socks
Amazon
Harley Quinn Temporary Tattoos Sheet
Amazon
Below, the best Harley Quinn makeup tutorials.
Suicide Squad Harley Quinn
Inspired by Margot Robbie’s Suicide Squad character, this iteration of Harley Quinn is probably the most recognizable. Long pink and blue pigtails with coordinating eyeshadow and a heart face tattoo are easy enough to pull off on your own. Bonus points if you smudge your red lipstick to look extra disheveled.
Birds of Prey Harley Quinn
Even Harley Quinn cuts her hair after a breakup. In the Suicide Squad spin-off Birds of Prey, Quinn, who has just been dumped by The Joker, debuts a shorter, choppier version of her iconic pink and blue pigtails. Other than that, her look remains pretty much the same. The stye is ülkü for those long bobs or shoulder-length hair.
Comic Book Harley Quinn
The original comic book version of Harley Quinn is a departure from today’s çağdaş interpretation. Wearing a jester costume with a black mask, Quinn’s primary colors are black and red but with the same iconic pigtails. You can create her black mask with face paint or eyeliner, as shown above, but can also buy a black mask from Amazon for the same results.
