11 of The Best Halloween Masks and DIY Costumes for This Season

Last Updated on July 25, 2024 by Paola Castillo

Halloween is not canceled, and neither is dressing up. Sometimes the best Halloween masks are those that entice the senses. Luckily, Halloween has always been about masks, and this year they mean a little bit more.

Let’s be honest: the masks have been great for saving on makeup. Now here we are, down to the wire, and it’s time to create your best Halloween mask. You can always buy your costume, but the costumes we will be discussing can benefit from a DIY touch to accommodate those last-minute Halloween party invites. 2023 is the year where anything goes, and that means surprise Halloween parties.

Below are some fun costume mask ideas that may have been considered lazy any other year, but this year we are bringing the A game.

Best Halloween Masks:

Scary Smile Masks

There are so many fun facial masks at affordable prices! These masks are under $15 and cover your nose and mouth and give you a lovely decayed grin.

All you would have to do is purchase the mask, and your attire can be whatever you choose. If the mask is the main component of your costume, then make your clothes monotone. For this, you don’t need elaborate makeup. All you need are some beautifully made-up eyes with heavy eyeliner, along with the grin of a serial killer, to make your Halloween both epic and low-cost.

Voodoo Doll

We, like many of you, have often wondered about the revenge power of the voodoo doll. Also, a nice dose of fear keeps those who would dare cross you away. So how do you pull it off? Let’s break it down horror fans!

A ragged dress is key for this look. An easy way to make a dress more rugged is by rubbing charcoal on it. Your makeup could include hollowed eyes, which essentially are just dark black eyes. One of the fun components of this is the mask that will cover your mouth. You want to start with a plain black or white mask. If you use a black mask, you’ll need a white pen or paint.

However, if you use a white mask, make sure you have a black sharpie ready. On the mask, you’ll want to draw a mouth with stitches. A wavy line with a few vertical lines will usually suffice, but you can always embrace your Van Gogh and add some lips and more depth to the mouth.

Jack Skellington

Jack Skellington may be the pumpkin king, but let’s be honest: the queen rules the kingdom, and now so will you. This outfit can go a variety of ways, but why not a wicked clean cat eye with false eyelashes large enough to fly away? That would make a bold statement with a black mask and the signature Jack Skellington Bowtie!

On the black mask, you can paint on little pumpkins or work in some orange of your choosing. The outfit for this depends on you, but I love an excuse to wear a little black dress and then add a touch of Halloween with some orange tights. This would be a perfect mask for adults and children!

Smarty Pants

This fun play on words is almost too simple but will surely encourage a few chuckles. Pick any shirt and pants of your choosing but then add some suspenders and a bow tie. Once you have that outfit, grab some smarties, and then tape those smarties to your pants!

Faux glasses will add that last final touch, and then you’ve nailed it…like the true smarty pants you are!

Queen of Hearts

You may be thinking this list is starting to get queen-heavy, but we’re here to remind you that queens are epic. The Queen of Hearts can be brilliant with a red dress. You can easily sew a string through some playing cards and wear it as a necklace, which can get even more decked out with glitter.

If you are wearing a mask that covers your mouth and nose, paint a red heart on your lips. This emphasizes that outfit, which you will top off with a crown. Then you can tell people that they can see you in a crown and that you’ll make everyone bow. Thank you Billie Eilish for that theme song for all future Queens!

50 Shades of Grey

This is the perfect costume when you are down to the wire. Now upon hearing it you may think, “No, I will not be sliding about on red satin sheets.” Fear not; let’s just take a trip to Lowes. Lowes houses 50 shades of grey paint tabs that you can grab for FREE! Make sure to find 50 and then adhere them to whatever outfit you want to wear. To us, all black will look great with those paint swatches, especially if you were a grey or black satin tie.

In addition, if grabbing 50 color swatches seems like too much at once, make daily trips and maybe grab 10 at a time to ease suspicions.

Ketchup/ Mustard

Sometimes bold colors are the easiest things to create, but what if you wanted to embody your favorite condiment? If you decide to dress up as ketchup, wear all red and include a red face mask. You can even cut out a felt K and use a safety pin to pin it to your shirt. This same logic can apply to a wonderfully magical mustard costume.

Or if you are feeling lazy, just order the ketchup and mustard t-shirts on Amazon!

Skeleton

Let’s be honest: a skeleton is such a classic Halloween costume and one of the best to DIY. All you need is white and black paint, and then you start creating. There are so many tutorials that show you how to paint the bones on your face.

After that, you can even buy a skeleton shirt for a nice touch. This particular costume can also easily accommodate a face mask, which can be remade into a skeleton grin. You can also just draw on a black mask with white chalk. We’d want to add extra sass to all costumes and go for the Queen look. You can too with a crown and some rhinestones!

Superhero/ Villain

There are so many heroes and villains that already have masks that you can either create or buy. However, if the mainstream superhero or villain doesn’t appeal to you, then you should create your own!

Halloween doesn’t have these hard rules where you can only be a hero or a villain that everyone knows. Now could be the perfect time to debut a Catwoman-like heroine that looks extremely sexy wearing all-black tight clothes and this face mask.

Scary Surgeon

This costume practically screams comfort! Grab some scrubs or even just a white coat and cover it in red dye or fake blood. You won’t have to look far for this mask as it is an everyday classic pick!

Wear a disposable, basic face mask and spray some fake blood on it. If you want to come off as extra scary, cover your face in fake blood and some charcoal to look dirty and deranged. This is the perfect costume that exudes the comfortable and deranged serial killer.

Scream

Who doesn’t love a good throwback? Why not throw it way back? Say, circa 1996, when Scream made that creepy Ghostface mask ubiquitous?

A pandemic is a perfect excuse to cover your face with a mask. Maybe you want to be a dead bride. Just cover your face with a bloody veil, or, if you’re a zombie, opt for a decadent and bedazzled moldy face. We’re serving you an easy costume idea for the serial killer (c’mon, we had to), you just need the mask and dress all black (you decide how sexy you want to be)

Final Words…

Whatever you decide, there are plenty of options here in our mask collection that would suit your theme, your budget, and how easily you would like to breathe. In all cases, make sure you decide on a mask that is comfortable for you and perhaps easy to remove so you can eat some yummy Halloween goodies!