Of great significance in Mexico, Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 and 2 across the country. Make-up, dates, festivities… Find the Dia de los Muertos 2021 program.
[Updated October 29, 2021 12:09 PM] Very trendy on Halloween or fancy dress parties, the “Sugar skull” makeup is inspired by the Dia de los Muertos, a famous Mexican holiday. Listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Day of the Dead is the most celebrated custom in Mexico. Between late October and early November, locals celebrate the return of deceased loved ones to earth by making numerous offerings and taking part in various festivities. During the Day of the Dead, Mexicans indeed parade in the streets and gather in cemeteries in a festive atmosphere. During this ceremony, we celebrate La Catrina, a popular character in Mexican culture who appears in the form of an elegantly dressed female skeleton wearing a large hat.
In Mexico, we do not celebrate Halloween but the Day of the Dead. The Dia de los Muertos. is held annually between October 31 and November 2. The night of October 31 to November 1 is dedicated to dead children known as “angelitos” and November 2 is dedicated to missing adults. Some indigenous communities extend the festivities from October 25 to November 3, or even throughout November.
During the Day of the Dead in Mexico, the families of the deceased have a ritual of going to cemeteries to clean and erect the graves. They dance and sing around their grave while throwing flower petals and lighting candles. At home, Mexicans erect altars in their homes to place their offerings: favorite traditional dishes of their ancestors, fruits, flowers, sweets, sugar skulls, pan de muertos or tequila… In Mexico City, a parade has been bringing together thousands of people for five years now at the end of October, made up by body painting experts. The goal ? Defend Mexican traditions from vampire or witch Halloween costumes trying to take over. A competition for the best costume was even set up during this day.
Whether it’s for Halloween or for the day of the dead in Mexico, you have certainly already seen this elaborate skull or “sugar skull” makeup. During this traditional holiday, Mexican women display skull or “calavera” makeup with bright colors and flowery details. To make a skeleton make-up like the Day of the Dead in Mexico, use white for the complexion, dark colors for the eyes, nose and mouth and bright colors to create graphic and flowery patterns on the face. forehead and around the eyes.
Almost 3,500 years old, Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration existed before the Spanish conquered Mexico. Originally, the ritual was celebrated during the ninth month of the Mexica solar calendar, i.e. around August, and lasted for a full month. Under Christian influence, the Day of the Dead was later fixed on November 1 and 2, the dates of the Christian feasts of All Saints’ Day.