Day of the Dead Catrina 2020 || Makeup

Hello there, in this post I’m sharing my Day of the Dead Catrina Makeup & Photoshoot of 2020!

My heritage

For those who didn’t know, I’m originally from Monterrey, Mexico.

I have been living in New Zealand for a little over a year. This is the second year I do my Catrina Makeup here to commemorate the Day of the Dead.

I haven’t been a stranger to Catrina makeup before though… Since this is the 7th year I do a Catrina look for the Day of the Dead season. If you’d like to see my past Catrina makeup looks you can check them out here.

I think it is a fun fact and good to note: Where I’m from (north of Mexico), we don’t really celebrate Day of the Dead as much or with the same intensity as they do in the center or south. Regardless, I personally feel so proud of my country’s diversity full of colors and magic and wanted to start a tradition for myself to commemorate my roots wherever I go.

Hopefully in coming years I’m able to include some other traditions to my own starting from making my own altar and learning to make day of the dead bread “pan de muertos”.

What’s The Day of the Dead?

Day of the Dead or Día de Muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated in Mexico and elsewhere associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and to remember friends and family members who have died. It is commonly portrayed as a day of celebration rather than mourning.

Mexican academics are divided on whether the festivity has indigenous pre-hispanic roots or whether it is a 20th-century rebranded version of a Spanish tradition developed by the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas to encourage Mexican nationalism through an “Aztec” identity. The festivity has become a national symbol and as such is taught in the nation’s school system, typically asserting a native origin. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

La Catrina

La Calavera Catrina or Catrina La Calavera Garbancera is a 1910–1913 zinc etching by the Mexican printmaker, cartoon illustrator and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada. She is offered as a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were aspiring to adopt European aristocratic traditions in the pre-revolution era. La Catrina has become an icon of the Mexican Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Sugar Skull

Sugar Skull are another big inspiration for modern Catrina Makeup. Sometimes calling any embellished skull makeup Catrina even though the original wasn’t that embellished at all.

A calavera is a representation of a human skull. The term is most often applied to edible or decorative skulls made (usually by hand) from either sugar (called Alfeñiques) or clay. Used in the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) and the Roman Catholic holiday All Souls’ Day. Calavera can also refer to any artistic representations of skulls, such as the lithographs of José Guadalupe Posada. The most widely known calaveras are created with cane sugar and are decorated with items such as colored foil, icing, beads, and feathers.

My Catrina 2020

Makeup: Dark Catrina Makeup in Hazy Wellington 2020

This makeup took me 3 hours to complete. I payed special attention to the teeth. I think it’s one of the most difficult things to get right and look realistic. There’s still have a lot to improve on but I was really happy with the result.

If you’d like to try the face makeup I used check out the following link: Halloween Snazaroo Black & White Water Based Face & Body Paint Fancy

Outfit: Traditional Handmade Mexican Embroidered Dress

The dress I used was bought in Puebla, Mexico. Has embroidered flowers with Mexican motif. I added a long red skirt to add dramatism. My little pink heart earrings were also purchased in Puebla.

Both the dress and earrings were purchased from a Mexican artisan. If you travel to Mexico please support local artisans. Don’t buy mass made products manufactured overseas. Respect artisans, learn about and value their work.

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Thanks for reading and see you next time! ♡

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