Although historical Halloween has some sinister beginnings, today Halloween means dressing up in costumes and having a wonderful time. Parties, dressing up at work, decorating the house all are part of the festivities that have become Halloween. To really get into the whole Halloween thing however must include not only a great costume but also a great Halloween mask. The costume is rather simple to obtain as there are costume shops in most major cities and it's even possible to order a particular costume on the web for delivery just before Halloween. Although you may now have the clothing to look like your favorite character or monster, your face still is easily recognizable. This is where a high quality Halloween mask can really come into play.

If there's a choice between a fancy costume or a great Halloween mask and makeup, definitely take the mask. The reason is that although the costume can complete a certain "look" any character you can imagine can also wear basic street clothes. Consider the strong heavily made-up character, a clown. Yes, it's great to have a funny costume and big shoes, but a clown could also wear a business suit or some pajamas and be just as fun. How about a basic witch or warlock? A good Halloween mask and makeup and a cape can make a wonderful witch. So if the character you want to be for Halloween needs face or hand makeup, remember it's the Halloween mask and interaction with the character that will be memorable, not the costume.

Halloween masks come in a variety of styles and types. The most popular and easiest to obtain is the full head latex type masks. These are the type that are available in all the Halloween shops that seem to open up the first part of October and disappear November 1st. These masks come pre colored and decorated and unfortunately also look like you're wearing a mask.

Another option is simply makeup. Theatrical makeup is easily obtained and does a fairly good job if used along with "stick on" type appliances. Appliances are small pieces of pre formed costume latex in shapes like scars, gashes and other more gruesome things. The only problem is that many of the appliances that are easily available tend toward the more gruesome type characters, The idea is to apply the scars etc. first then finish off with the makeup to hide the edges of the appliances. All in all, a good, though somewhat limited Halloween mask idea.

The best idea of all however are full facial appliances. These are theatrical grade latex masks that can are applied directly to your face and give an extremely realistic appearance. These appliances can literally transform anyone into a wide variety of characters. Wizards, warlocks, clowns, monsters, etc. They can even age someone into their 80's or 90's. The biggest benefit of these types of Halloween mask is that they allow you the opportunity to become the character. You friends and guests will not remember that you "dressed up" for Halloween but that you actually were that favorite hobbit or troll.

Now however is the time to order your Halloween mask, adhesives, and makeup. It will take a few tries to get it right and you don't want to worry about it on Halloween night. Take the time now to find that perfect Halloween mask and learn how to make this Halloween the most memorable for everyone.