Maleficent Cosplay Makeup + Costume

April 11th, 2020

Well, well. It is I, the world’s worst procrastinator, here to bring you the Maleficent cosplay makeup tutorial I meant to share last October when I took these photos. And what a different world it was! Now we’re in lockdown because of a global pandemic.

Please don’t think me a villain for holding out on you for so long. Forgive me, beastie. I’m not late for last Halloween, I’m early for Halloween 2020!

Read on for everything you need for a Maleficent movie cosplay and makeup transformation. And here’s Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent makeup and costume from the movie, so we know what we’re aiming for:

If you want to buy Maleficent’s actual cape extravaganza and drop COIN this Halloween, here’s a link. But I chose to DIY my Maleficent costume with things I already had.

The (Mostly) DIY Maleficent Costume

YOU’LL NEED:

Maleficent horns – I was really impressed with these! They looked great, fit perfectly, and didn’t budge.
Basic black cape – Instead of tying it around your neck, tie it behind your back so you’re sort of wearing the ties as backpack straps and they’re concealed.
Black leather-effect leggings – I’ll link my exact ones since I already had them in my wardrobe, but any black leggings you own are fine.
Black V-neck top – I’m wearing a glittery crop top I found at Forever 21 layered over a black body suit. RIP, Forever 21.
Black heeled leather boots – any black boots you have will work! I’ve linked a pair similar to what I’m wearing.
Black belt/strip of fabric/pair of tights – used to create Maleficent’s neck thingy. I’m wearing a leather obi belt I had, wrapped multiple times around.
Maleficent green contacts – these are the exact ones I’m wearing and they were PERFECT.

Alright, let’s talk Maleficent cosplay makeup, beastie. In the Maleficent movie, Angelina Jolie is wearing prosthetic pointy cheekbones in most scenes, enhanced with contouring and CGI. I have neither prosthetics nor CGI, but I do have level 500 contouring skills, so let’s get to work.

If you want to see me turn into Maleficent in just under a minute, watch me transform here – my first video tutorial! Please excuse the quality, this was filmed in my room at night, with my phone duct-taped to my vanity table.

Maleficent Cosplay Makeup

(A little Maleficent cosplay makeup side-by-side, for comparison.)

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE

Fenty Beauty matte foundation (base colour)
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (under my eyes and on my brow hairs)
Hourglass foundation stick (to highlight my face)
Kevin Aucoin Sculpting Contour Powder (to contour cheekbones/jaw/nose)
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in “Milk” (to accentuate the “corners” of the cheekbones)
Any metallic bright white highlight/eye shadow you have (to accentuate the “corners” of the cheekbones)
Fenty Beauty Setting Powder in “Butter” (setting powder)
Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade (to fill in/reshape my brows – you can also use a matte brown eyeshadow for this)

EYES

Warm brown matte shadows (on the lid and blended into your crease)
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in “Milk” (blended to create the illusion of protruding eyes on the lower lid area)
The same metallic white eye shadow/highlight (placed over the Milk jumbo eye pencil)
Kevin Aucoin Sculpting Contour Powder (to create shadows and the illusion of protruding eyes)
Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner (winged liner and tiny flick in each inner corner to sharpen the eye shape)
A matte black eye shadow (in the outer corners and to smoke out the winged liner a bit)
Literally any black mascara
Koko Lashes in “Angelic” (Cut in halves and applied to the outer corners only)

As a finishing touch for the face, I used a brown eyebrow pencil to draw Angelina Jolie’s small beauty mark over her eyebrow arch.

LIPS

MAC lip pencil in “Nightmoth” (a deep burgundy to create a new lip shape and any lip shadows)
Sephora liquid lipstick in “Red Velvet” (applied all over the lips)
A champagne highlight/eye shadow (to add dimension and highlight your new lip shape)

Those are all the steps! Tuck your hair into a wig cap before putting on the Maleficent horns so nothing sticks out, and you’re ready to go. But good luck getting into an uber.