Growing up, my mother was very religious, so Halloween was usually ignored or kept very, very basic. I’ve always felt a connection to Halloween, being born two days away from the holiday, and I knew when I was older that I was going to go crazy when the holiday rolled around. This year, I was Edward Scissorhands, which is near and dear to my heart as a movie I adored when I was a child and watched dozens of times. Last year, I went as Regan from The Exorcist, so this costume, while still theatrical, was just a wee bit less scary. This costume is actually very achievable for anyone, from beginners to experts at makeup and from toddlers to elders. I’ve got the full breakdown inside, with more pictures from the Halloween party!
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS COSTUME TUTORIAL:
Step 1: The Makeup
The first thing I did was block out my eyebrows. This is a really easy process, but it does take some time. It took a total of twenty minutes for me to completely block my eyebrows out to where I wanted them to be. I used a plain glue stick from Walmart that cost me under 99 cents. Here is the process:
- Apply the glue stick to clean eyebrows against the growth of your eyebrow hairs. Then, apply it with the hair growth, smoothing everything down. Apply powder to set the glue stick. Repeat this step once more.
- Grab a butter knife or makeup artist spatula, and cut a small square of glue off from the stick. Apply the glue stick to the eyebrow the same way you would if you were, say, spackling a wall. You want to create an even, smooth layer of glue stick over the entire eyebrow so there are no hairs sticking up or out. Once you get it completely smooth and covered, apply your powder again.
- Apply your concealer over top now, but DO NOT rub it in while applying. You want to dab the concealer on with a stippling motion so you don’t disturb the glue. Pat the concealer on and powder your eyebrow again. Repeat this concealer process one more time until you cannot see your eyebrow anymore.
At this point, you can add your foundation color which you may want to match your complexion. Since Edward Scissorhands was very pale and I am applying a much different face shade, I stopped and took a picture (as you see above) at this point. You can choose to match it to your complexion or apply whatever color you then need to your skin. This is great for drawing on your own eyebrows for costume or theater makeup.
Edward had very pale, almost white skin. I mixed the lightest foundation shade I could find in the store with some white cream makeup and applied it all over my face, letting some of my natural skin tone peek through for translucency. Powder this well so it lasts all night. Next up, the shading of the eyes and face!
Edward had REALLY sad eyes and a very somber expression. This was created by applying shades of cool-toned browns and purples underneath his eyes, in the crease of his eyes, and up to where his natural eyebrow would have been. If you look at the shape above, you want to apply the eyeshadow in a “triangle” shape from the brow downward. This gives you the sad-looking expression, or the equivalent of if you were giving someone puppy-dog sad eyes (your eyebrows would naturally raise in the inner corners). I used all matte brown and purple eyeshadow shades for this. There’s really no right or wrong way to apply this part, as long as you leave a gap in between your lower lashes and where the dark circles start, to really make it look like you have baggy eyes. The shape above will give you that perfect sad Edward look. Apply to both eyes and feel free to mix brown, mauve, and purples together to blend everything out well.
Johnny Depp’s face was chiseled and gaunt when he played Edward. Using the same matte brown shade that you used for your eye bags, contour your cheekbones heavily. You don’t need to blend this out too much because it is supposed to look really dramatic. Elongate the nose by applying this shade along the sides of your nose and nostrils. The point is to make your face look gaunt and sculpted.
For the lips, apply a dark matte lipstick in a heart shape around the center of your lips. I used a dark matte black eyeshadow for this purpose so it would stay all night long. This also helps with the sad expression of Edward. You can use a matte lipstick or a black eyeshadow shade, as long as it has no shimmer in it. Make sure you really define your cupid’s bow!
Last, but not least, you have to top this look off with some scars! I used Liquid Latex and toilet paper. I shredded tiny bits of toilet paper and applied Liquid Latex over top of them, letting them stick to and dry to my face. This creates the illusion of scars. If you break open the Liquid Latex once it is dry, it will look like an open cut. You can break it open carefully using tweezers or small scissors. I only broke open one that was on my cheek. Liquid Latex can be found in all Halloween stores, and it applies like a concealer. Once it dries, it gets sticky and looks like skin. To make the scars look more 3D and realistic, I applied matte brown eyeshadow around the Liquid Latex so the scars look like they had depth to them. The most important scars Edward had were the main one across his cheek, the ones by his lips, and the one on his nose. Other than that, get creative and apply where you want.
The Hair:
The hair I used was a black wig. If you have short hair, you can tease your hair by backcombing it and using hairspray. If your hair is long, you can pin it back and tease it. Either way, it needs to be jet black, so you could always use colored hair spray. I have naturally long, medium-brown to blonde ombre hair, so it was easier for me to just use a short, crazy black wig. You can usually find cheap wigs at places like Walmart or even in the wig section of a Halloween store. As long as it is black and short, you can work with it.
The Outfit:
The scissor hands came from an Edward costume kit, and they were black gloves with foam “scissors” attached. You could make these at home by wrapping tin foil into a similar shape and using black rubber bands to attach them to gloves you have. I will say, I ended up taking these off pretty much as soon as I got to the party because they are impossible to eat and drink with. They are necessary to complete the entire costume look, but don’t make yourself too crazy over having perfect looking scissor hands.
I saw many, many Edward Scissorhands costume kits, and they were all pretty cheesy looking in my opinion. The jackets in the costume kits were made with felt belts that just didn’t look realistic. I wore leather pants that I had in my wardrobe already, and wore a plain black turtleneck. Edward had a collar to his outfit, so if you’ve got a plain collared black shirt, you’re good to go. I wrapped a black belt with grommets around my neck so that it looked like a Gothic choker. I also spray painted some old belts black and wrapped them around my shoulders. It’s up to you how many belts you want to apply to your outfit, but I kept mine pretty simple with just a couple. The main one that I feel made the costume was the one around the neck with the grommets. I capped off my outfit with some studded black combat boots that I already had in my closet, but any black boots will do.
The Finished Edward Scissorhands:
To make this a couple’s costume, you can have your significant other dress up as a shrub. My husband is pretty nonchalant about Halloween, so we always do something simple for him. We wrapped him up in plain Christmas garland so he looked like one of Edward’s decorative shrubs. Once people pieced the two together, they had a good laugh.
If you have any questions about becoming Edward Scissorhands, feel free to leave them below. Half the fun of a Halloween party is getting ready with your costume and I always enjoy the creative process. Don’t forget to check out my Regan from The Exorcist costume from last year, as well, if you want another idea.
Happy Halloween!
[ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS SITE IS TAKEN BY REBECCA KAZIMIR. NO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.]
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So cute and fun! I was wondering what you’d dress as this year since I remembered your post from last year! Happy early birthday!!!
Hahaha, this is brilliant! Husband-shrub is a really nice touch 😀
Thank you so much for the birthday wishes and for the compliment on the costume!
Hahaha. The shrub is perfect for the hubby who hates to dress up!
LOL! I looked up pictures of edward scissorhands… and I found a photo of you. I followed that photo to this website and I was pleasantly surprised. You got some fucking skill! SO COOL! Nice job!
Your comment made my week! Thank you so much Max!