This One Product Will Make Taking Off Heavy Halloween Makeup So Satisfying & So Easy — EXCLUSIVE
Hot take: Halloween makeup is great for, like, six hours. But once I've had a few drinks and a few (OK, more than a few) pieces of candy, it's a smeared hot mess that I'm too tired to take off. But this year, it's going to be different, you guys. We're all gonna be responsible spooky babes and know how to take off Halloween makeup safely and quickly — without legit ruining our skin — so we can wake up the next day, no trace of leftover skeleton makeup on our pillows and skin more refreshed than ever.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Theresa, I have, like, one makeup wipe left, it'll be fine." NO. NO, IT WON'T BE FINE. I love you, and I believe in you, but trust me when I say that's not enough. Plus, if your makeup is super intricate, you'll have to scrub with that single wipe so hard, I don't even wanna think about how much you could irritate your skin. So we're gonna do something differently. And skincare brand POND'S and on-demand home beauty service Glamsquad are here to make sure we do it.
Even if you've never used POND'S Cold Cream ($6, Amazon), a cleanser, makeup remover, and moisturizer in one that literally melts makeup and grime right off your face, I'm sure you've seen it somewhere — likely on your mom's vanity in all its white and green glory.
POND'S Cold Cream formula severely breaks down everything from a light, natural beat for the day to even the most intricate, long-wear, costume makeup, all while deeply cleansing your skin. Even more, the formula is also 50 percent moisturizer, meaning you just knocked out a ton of steps in your skincare routine.
I'll admit that, when I first heard of POND'S, I was skeptical. "Makeup wipes are so easyyyyyy," I thought. "Plus, why would I want to just spread more gunk around on my face?" Little did I know, not only would a cold cream take off my makeup more effectively than literally anything else, it would also look so goddamn satisfying at the same time.
To showcase how easily and efficiently POND'S breaks down the toughest of makeup looks, POND'S has teamed up with Glamsquad in honor of Halloween — when the most terrifyingly intricate and involved makeup looks come to life — to ensure that everyone who's rocking a spooky glam is able to end the night easily, with a full makeup deconstruction session, courtesy of POND'S.
Starting on Friday, Oct. 26, and ending on Wednesday, Oct. 31, you can book a Halloween makeup service from Glamsquad, where their endlessly talented makeup artists can transform you into a few of their different Halloween characters (like a unicorn or a skeleton queen, to name a couple). After your epic transformation, the Glamsquad team will leave behind your own complimentary little tub of POND'S Cold Cream so you can properly remove your makeup at the end of the night.
Because seeing is believing, POND'S and Glamsquad so kindly gave me a little demo of the wonder that is a professional makeup artist giving you a half skeleton queen ghoulish glam and the satisfaction that is seeing it deconstructed before your eyes. Not to mention the knowledge that your skin is gonna feel damn good at the end of it.
To start, makeup artist Emily Keo took off half of my makeup to make way for the skeleton beat coming through. At the same time, hairstylist Valarie Dominguez began pinning my hair up for the wig. If this is what being a celebrity feels like, I swear to God, someone hold me back, because I could get used to this.
Next, Keo amped up my glam on one side of my face to make me look like an old school Victorian royal. I'm talking 8 pounds of blush and a big fat beauty mark to match. Then, she began drawing the outline of the skeleton on the other half of my face, filling in most of my face with white.
As a finishing touch on the Marie Antoinette-esque glam, Keo under-lined and over-lined my lips just a tad with a bright red to make my pout look even more, well, pouty, since that's what queens do, I assume. Aaaaand of course, she went to town on some detail work for the skull-half of my face, filling in the hollow parts with black, shading with grey, and using a stark white to shade the teeth. Et voila! I looked like I died 100 years ago and my body deteriorated into nothing but bones. Dope.
Finally, Dominguez fit the wig on my head, styled it just a touch, and I morphed into the baddest skeleton queen you ever did see. TBH, I was a little jealous of this look, because I know damn well I would not look this good as a real skeleton.
While this look was all fun and games, the show was far from over at this point. Next came the most simultaneously depressing and satisfying part of the whole process: the deconstruction using POND'S Cold Cream.
Leading this process, Glamsquad Artistic Director Kelli Bartlett stepped in to show me just how easily this makeup would disappear with POND'S. (Which essentially involved her giving me a wonderful face massage and me never wanting it to end?)
To start, Bartlett scooped a bit of Cold Cream from the tub, rubbed it around on her hands, and began massaging the cream directly onto my face. Immediately, you could see that the cream's formula began breaking down the makeup in seconds, and it all started swirling together. Bartlett continued covering most of my face in Cold Cream, and let me tell you: The moisturizing, cooling effect was better than any makeup wipe or remover I had ever used. Bible.
After covering most of my face and massaging the cream in thoroughly, she began to remove the bottom half of my makeup. The thing about POND'S Cold Cream is that you don't even need to rinse it off. Because the cream works as a moisturizer, it's completely fine to just wipe it right off your face, which Bartlett began doing with a cotton pad. As you can see above, it's legitimately as satisfying as someone wiping grime away on a window or watching the teacher start to erase the whiteboard.
Bartlett continued using more Cold Cream to break down the rest of my makeup and then wipe it away. At the same time, I could still feel the effect of the cream left on my skin. It felt like I had just had a facial to clean all the gunk off my face, except without the squeaky clean sensation that leaves my skin feeling taut, dry, and irritated. I was like a moisturized goddess emerging from the sea, skin soft, supple, and ready for the day.
After Bartlett, massaged, removed, massaged, and removed again, I was safely free of what once was my skeleton queen self — and thank God because all my co-workers were rightfully freaked and no one would talk to me and I started feeling like a loser. (It wasn't Halloween yet, OK? Can you blame them?)
Luckily, Keo and Dominguez where nice enough to give me a quick makeup and hair primp before I left. However, my skin was so moisturized and healthy afterward, I barely needed any complexion products. That's saying a lot coming from someone who normally slathers on foundation like my life depends on it.
As we quickly approach All Hallows' Eve this Wednesday, I implore you to see the light. And by the light, I mean I implore you not only to remember to take your makeup off at the end of the night, but to do so with a satisfying AF cold cream that'll make taking it off just as fun as putting it on. Trust me, the moisturized, healthy, supple skin that awaits you afterward will thank you.
