I am Candy, a makeup artist, and I can’t wait to show you my “victims.” Jokes aside, Halloween isn’t widely celebrated where I’m from (the Netherlands), but every year I get an intense urge to dress up a friend and put them in front of the camera to capture a little of the spooky magic.

I choose a specific theme—from demons to deep-sea fish—and design an increasingly intricate look. Each year, everything gets crazier and more elaborate. From sculpted masks and full set designs to hidden electronics built into the costumes, each project introduces new elements.

The whole process often takes several weeks, but I love creating memorable photos with my friends.

More info: candymakeupartist.com | Instagram | tiktok.com

#1 Lumiere

This is one of my favorite Halloween looks I’ve created. The costume took me two full-time months to finish. My model here is Alex, whom I met years ago while working at the NYX Cosmetics store. The entire costume is handmade. Luckily, the candles aren’t lit here, that would’ve been quite the fire hazard, haha!

My inspiration was an old, weathered candle holder, which I aimed to capture in this design.

#2 Fraulein Traubensauer

Can you tell this is a model and a friend I work with all the time? Yes, it’s Alex again!

I recommend taking a closer look at this picture, because I sculpted so many bizarre little details for it. There’s the skull cherry, the lashes with bows, the collar made with teeth, and strawberries with eyes. The tongue nails were especially unsettling, even I was grossed out while making them, haha.

And of course, the cupcake creatures with eyes and tongues. Honestly, I lost count of how many tongues I sculpted for this shoot; they even ended up in the background!

#3 Judgement Awakened

It’s my boyfriend again for the (almost) yearly skull look I create on him! I love making intricate skull masks, and I also design them regularly for wrestler Malakai Black. This particular black skull mask is completely hand-sculpted.

To complete the look, I also made sculpted shoulder pieces.

For the shoot, I built an LED background, actually, two layers of background. The first had black and green swirls, and the second was a circular frame placed in front. I added a green LED to shine onto the swirls, making them glow beautifully. No post-editing here, everything is done in real life. No AI in this household, haha!

I also created this gown, sewing on every single coin by hand with needle and thread.

And do you see the scales? One holds a feather and the other a heart. The feather represents lightness, truth, and purity, while the heart symbolizes humanity and emotion. Together they play on the idea of balance, an eternal weighing of soul versus spirit.

#4 Bloody Mary

A very sparkly, hand-beaded costume I created that took sooooo much time to make, but it’s the perfect Halloween look, right?

This piece was inspired by the amazing art of Michael Hussar.

Photography for this shot is by Sanne van Bergenhouwen, and the model is Lotte Lavey.

#5 Angler Fish – Nemo

THIS was such a passion project, and it brought me so much joy to hand-sculpt this angler fish piece. We all know the part in Finding Nemo when the angler fish appears, so I couldn’t resist sculpting a little Nemo hanging from a fishing line for the shoot. How ironic, hehe!

The model is my boyfriend again, rocking colorful makeup, and I also painted the backdrop with acrylics and airbrush to mimic an underwater atmosphere.

The angler fish headpiece includes LEDs in the little bulb and along its back, shimmering in shades of blue, turquoise, and purple.

#6 Venus Flytrap

My boyfriend is a Venus flytrap! I’ve wanted to create this look for a long time, but it kept getting postponed because it was such a complex design in my head, and I wasn’t sure how I’d achieve the shape of the beak.

This look was also photographed by me using UV light to make those bright colors really pop.

And if you look closely, you can even spot the little fly, Friedrich, in mid-flight!

#7 Oxidized Skull

It’s me again!

I created this look a few years ago, making these huge foam horns and giving them a cool oxidized copper finish, my favorite color-wise. I did the makeup myself, and this stunning photo was taken by Sanne van Bergenhenegouwen.

#8 Moth

This costume took me several full-time weeks to complete, from sculpting every little piece out of foam to hand-painting and airbrushing all the details.

The most exciting part is shoot day, when everything finally comes together! I handle the body paint and styling, while the photography is by Sanne van Bergenhenegouwen, and the model is Jasmijn Siau.

#9 Itsy Bitsy Spider

At first glance, it looks like a spider creature, but look closer and you’ll spot the face! That’s actually my boyfriend, who has modeled for me countless times. I love creating with him; he’s the most supportive partner and a total badass model. Nothing is ever too crazy.

For this look, I hand-sculpted the spider face frame. The legs and the tiny face with seven eyes were attached to a frame that fit perfectly around his face. I then did a full face makeup to blend everything into one seamless piece.

For the photo, I bought an old picture frame and added some fake spider webs. With his face peeking through the frame, voilà!

#10 Stained Glass Vampire

Meet Poeka, my most frequent model! She’s quirky, creative, and one of my favorite people to work with.

This costume is one of my most popular pieces: the stained glass couture. It’s entirely handmade and inspired by the grand Gothic cathedrals.

For this look, I wanted a strong vampy vibe, so I styled her hair in an updo, did her makeup, and took the photos myself. And yes, doing all of this can get a little stressful sometimes, haha. There’s just so much to think about!

#11 Voodoo Skull

Hello! It’s me, haha. Sometimes I model myself, but lately I prefer working on models and friends. This is a look I created a few years ago, giving off a creepy voodoo empress vibe. Both the mask and the background are fully sculpted. The mask has mesh in the eye sockets so I could still see a bit.

Fun fact: I was wearing a grill. Normally, these are applied with wax, but I lost mine, so I used little white thermoplastic petals instead. I heated them in hot water and attached the grill without realizing I still had a brace behind my teeth. After the shoot, I panicked because I couldn’t get them out and almost thought I’d have to go to the hospital with my makeup on, haha. Eventually, after more super-hot water (and a bit of burning the inside of my mouth), I managed to get them out.

Photography is by Sanne van Bergenhenegouwen.

#12 Buried Vampire

It’s Poeka again!

I had this craaaazy idea for this shoot. She’s actually lying under my bed here, haha. We have a wooden frame bed, so we removed the mattresses, placed a huge transparent acrylic sheet on the frame, and positioned Poeka underneath. Then we added dirt and leaves on top to make it look like she’s buried.

It was SO tricky to get the photos right because the plastic sheet reflected so much light, but I think the end result looks pretty cool!

She’s also wearing an antique hand-beaded Victorian shrug from 1890. I made the headpiece and hand jewelry to match this amazing antique fashion.

#13 Bridget Bishop

Poeka, two times in a row! I told you she’s my most featured model, haha.

For this witchy look, I created crystal-like appliqués that were applied directly to her skin.

#14 Marble Statue

This white marble costume was originally made for a music video by Naomi Jon. After she returned it to me, I couldn’t wait to create a crazy look with it, so I made this statue-esque body paint around the costume. On model Alex, of course.

The wig was actually super heavy. I used clay to give it a realistic stone-like texture. The body paint is finished with small moss pieces for added detail.

#15

#16 Harpy

Even though it’s a little hard to see here, this is Poeka again, absolutely badass as a mythical harpy creature.

This costume took me six full-time weeks to complete. Every single feather was hand-cut, and every strand of hair was painted by hand. It was one of the most painstaking projects I’ve ever done with all those feathers!

#17 Asmodeus

Another skull, which means it’s my boyfriend again!

This time, I created a hand-sculpted mask with eight eyes and a crown that appears to levitate above the skull. I achieved the floating effect by attaching the crown with a piece of iron wire, so from the front it looks suspended in mid-air.

For the shoot, we first photographed his arms separately with black body paint and nails. Afterwards, my boyfriend photoshopped them into the final image, since Photoshop is not my thing!

#18 Hekate

This is my latest Halloween work! I’ve been creating these flower people for about seven years now, and I still need to make enough for a full calendar. This project is very dear to me.

The model is Lara, who started as a model for me and has become a friend. I just love working with her; she is so fierce!

For the shoot, I made this flower frame mask from foam and hand-painted every detail. It’s finished with piercings to give that cool goth look. I also created two smaller flowers to give a bouquet-like feel, and if you look closer, you’ll notice those are wearing a harness as well.

The spider is completely hand-sculpted and painted. I even made the tiniest harness that acts as its thread, so she can appear to be hanging from it. The spider’s name is Francis.

#19 Ammut

My dear boyfriend, again for this demon-inspired photoshoot. This one was sooo challenging. After all, I’m not a professional photographer and I don’t have super fancy equipment. I wanted to work with UV light, and it was really tricky to get the colors to pop while still keeping that UV glow visible.

The UV swirls you see are actually pieces of plastic, airbrushed with transparent UV paint. This made it look like he was sucking in all the souls muahahah!

#20 Sister Maria

Another model I can now call a friend: Ellen! She also started out as a model and became a friend over time.

She’s wearing another popular stained glass corset, along with a matching bra, hand jewelry, and mask design. We had so much fun during this shoot!

#21 Medusa

I still think this is a really cool picture! It’s me as the model again. The Medusa headdress was a lot of work. Every little snake head was hand-sculpted individually. The finished headpiece ended up being quite heavy, too!

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