21 clown makeup ideas for some major Halloween inspo

Whether your vibe is creepy or cute, clown makeup is one way to nail the Halloween assignment – and, with a little creativity, there’s endless ways to make the look your own.

The best bit? The basics are simple: points above the brow and below the waterline, a rounded button nose and an exaggerated lip line. All of which are easy enough to do. From there? Anything goes. You could inject a little fun with pops of neon brights or make it cutesy with soft pastels, cherry cheeks, gems, glitter. You could go gothic, grunge, or all-out gory-psycho with creepy smiles and fake blood.

While it’s always been a popular look for Halloween, the clown aesthetic has been gaining momentum in recent years, helped along by TikTok where Halloween makeup is pretty much the biggest event on the #beautytok calendar. The before and after transitions make a major impact, the design allows for some seriously quirky and clever interpretations and, the OTT trend can really help you lean into your Main Character Energy.

At current count, #clowncheck has over 2.2 billion views and #clownmakeup has a further 1.6 billion. Super-influencers like Avani Gregg and Abby Roberts credit some of their success to the statement-making Halloween looks that helped highlight their creativity and enable them to stand out. In fact, Avani has previously referenced her clown check makeup as a turning point for her platform.

So, if you fancy giving clown makeup a go for this year, we’ve rounded up our favourite takes on the look to get you inspired…

Soft-rock clown

Pumpkin clown

Circus clown

Pennywise

Neon clown

Creepy-cute clown

Grunge glitter clown

Gory glam clown

Purple glitter clown

Zip face clown

Painterly clown

Water paint clown

Queen of hearts clown

Butterfly clown

Gangsta clown

Infrared clown

Burgundy and black clown

Glam Pennywise

Spider clown

Bloody clown

Peekaboo clown

For more from GLAMOUR’s Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk