by Vittoria Giubbolini. Cover image by Ksenia Yakovleva on unsplash.
Halloween gives us the perfect excuse to go darker, and this year the timing could hardly be better. Vamp Romantic is one of Pinterest Predicts’ major beauty trends for 2026, with searches for dark romantic makeup up 160% and vampire beauty up 90%, led by Gen Z and Millennials. The aesthetic starts with smudged kohl and glossy lips; black nails can take it further. The mood feels theatrical enough for October 31 while remaining surprisingly easy to bring into real life.
And that is exactly why we’re starting now. The easiest way to wear Vamp Romantic after Halloween is to choose one element and keep the rest of the face quiet: a plum lip can work with bare-looking skin, while a smoky eye needs little else. Recent cinema and television have already given us a brilliant reference board. Jenna Ortega made soft goth beauty part of the mainstream in Wednesday, Lily-Rose Depp brought an eerie luminosity to Nosferatu, and Hailee Steinfeld gave vampire glamour a 1930s twist in Sinners. Add Kathryn Newton and Monica Bellucci and you basically have your Halloween makeup mood board ready.
Jenna Ortega in Wednesday: start with the just-bitten lip
If Vamp Romantic needs a contemporary poster girl, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams is the obvious place to start. When the Netflix series launched in 2022, hair and makeup designer Tara McDonald deliberately created what she described as an everyday goth look, building Wednesday’s mouth around MAC’s deep-plum Nightmoth pencil softened with balm. The eyeliner was kept smudged enough to feel lived in, and the combination became one of the show’s most copied beauty details. The look stayed relevant into Season 2: Nightmoth remained part of Wednesday’s signature makeup, while one of the season’s more dramatic eye looks drew on ’80s goth references including Siouxsie Sioux.
How to wear it now: use a deep plum pencil across the lips and blur the edges with your finger, then add balm. For Halloween, deepen the eyes with charcoal liner; the next day, keep the same lip and lose the heavier eye. It is probably the simplest route into Vamp Romantic because it already looks like something you could wear to class, dinner or a party.
Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu: make pale skin look alive
Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu (2024) gave dark romantic beauty one of its strongest recent images through Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter. Her face is pale throughout much of the film, yet makeup designer Traci Loader deliberately kept the complexion luminous, avoiding the dry, lifeless effect associated with traditional vampire makeup. During Ellen’s more extreme moments, veins become more visible around the eyelids, pushing that delicacy towards something unsettling. This is Vamp Romantic at its softest. The impact comes from light skin and shadow around the eyes, with Depp’s dark hair intensifying the contrast. The result feels haunting before any obvious horror element appears.
How to wear it now: forget theatrical white foundation. Keep your own skin visible and use a cooler-toned base where you need it, then sweep taupe or grey around the eyes. For Halloween, extend the shadow slightly underneath the lower lashes. A sheer lip keeps the whole thing closer to Ellen’s strange, almost feverish beauty.
Hailee Steinfeld in Sinners: bring back the old-school dark lip
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025) gives the vampire revival a completely different energy. Hailee Steinfeld’s Mary is especially interesting from a beauty perspective because the film’s makeup team treated her as the character whose look should read most clearly as period beauty. Makeup designer Siân Richards has explained that the lip texture was carefully considered to evoke cosmetics from the 1930s, using a waxier cream consistency closer to the lipsticks of the era. That makes Mary a useful reference for anyone who wants Vamp Romantic to feel glamorous. A dark lip can carry almost the entire look, especially when the finish feels creamy and substantial.
How to wear it now: choose a deep red with a little brown in it and apply it directly from the bullet, then soften the outline slightly. Keep it full for Halloween. For an ordinary day, press the same colour onto the lips as a stain. It gives you the drama of Sinners in a version that takes about thirty seconds.
Monica Bellucci in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: let the eyeliner get messy
Tim Burton returned to his gothic universe in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) and gave Monica Bellucci’s Delores one of the film’s most memorable new looks. Hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell paired Bellucci’s long dark hair with deliberately smeared makeup, balancing glamour with the character’s macabre appearance. Bellucci herself described Delores as a “broken doll,” while the makeup and prosthetics turned her scars into part of that visual identity.
Obviously, the stitched-together face belongs to Halloween territory. The smeared eye makeup is much easier to steal.
How to wear it now: run black pencil close to the lashes and blur it immediately with a small brush or fingertip. Leave the edges imperfect. For October 31, take it lower under the eye and add more intensity; on a normal evening, one slightly messy line gives the same Burton mood with far less effort.
Kathryn Newton in Lisa Frankenstein: make goth beauty fun again
Lisa Frankenstein (2024) takes dark beauty somewhere more playful. Kathryn Newton’s Lisa begins as an awkward teenager and becomes increasingly theatrical as the story develops. Her beauty look evolves with her: supersized hair grows more dramatic, the lashes become stronger and dark liner tightens around the eyes, eventually meeting a vivid cherry-red mouth. Makeup artist Reni Savva also drew inspiration from Bride of Frankenstein and late-’80s goth imagery. Newton herself has described the character’s transformation through her growing hair and changing style, joking that the bigger Lisa’s hair becomes, the more unhinged she gets.
How to wear it now: concentrate on the eye shape. Tightline with black pencil and extend the outer corner into a smoky wing, then add mascara. Halloween is your chance to bring in the huge hair and stronger red lip. On November 1, keep the liner and let everything else calm down. The result still feels goth, though the costume has disappeared.
Black Nails: The Easiest Way to Wear the Vamp Romantic Trend
There is also an even easier entry point. Pinterest reports searches for gothic coffin nails up 180% as part of the same Vamp Romantic trend, while jet-black polish sits right at the centre of its 2026 prediction. A glossy black manicure gives an ordinary beauty look an immediate after-dark edge and asks for virtually no commitment from the rest of your makeup. Keep the nails short for everyday wear; Halloween gives you permission to play with a longer shape. It is the kind of detail that can start in mid-October and comfortably stay through winter.
