Charlotte Shields-Rossi | staff writer

Many people picked up hobbies to occupy themselves during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bella DiLauro took up a relatively niche interest, experimenting with special effect makeup.

What started as a way to pass the time blossomed into much more.

DiLauro is a sophomore multiplatform journalism major at Duquesne University. She started cosplaying in 2019 as a way to express her creativity. Loving Halloween and scary movies, she is also a horror fanatic.

In 2020, she combined the two interests and began doing special effect makeup. This led her to begin working at a haunted house as a scare actor a few years later.

In DiLauro’s dorm room, the first thing that comes to view is a skull and bones tapestry hanging from the walls. She keeps a vampire Halloween makeup kit in preparation for the holiday.

DiLauro has done many different makeup looks on herself, from vampires, to Beetlejuice, to Juggalo, just to name a few.

She is particularly drawn to the gothic makeup style.

“If I’m bored enough, I will paint my face black and white. It’s just fun to experiment, because makeup really is art and artistic expression,” she said.

Although DiLauro started doing special effects makeup as a hobby, she was able to turn it into a job. In high school, DiLauro worked at a haunted house during the Halloween season.

She said working in a haunted house surrounded by a community of other special effects makeup artists helped her grow.

“I took inspiration from other makeup artists. I was good at some things, but it’s like some of my looks were starting to look the same. Some artists call it “same face syndrome,’” DiLauro said. “You want to expand your style. They would do different looks that I wouldn’t have considered.”

Although DiLauro regularly practices techniques on herself, she sometimes uses her friends as models.

“There’s a lot of fun things when it comes to doing other people’s makeup. I just like the excitement. It’s like a bonding activity,” she said. “I just like helping people and they can learn in the process.”

Robbie Caresani is a sophomore digital media arts major at Duquesne. Last Halloween Caresani dressed up as the Joker, and DiLauro did his makeup.

He said that the makeup process felt similar to getting his face painted at a carnival.

“It’s impressive how with a little bit of paint she could make me look like someone completely different,” Caresani said.

Chelsea Monheim, DiLauro’s former coworker, has worked as a “haunter” for the past eight years.

Monheim plays many characters at the haunted house where she works. Her primary role is “Chuckles the Clown.”

Monheim said there is a fast paced but fun environment while working at a haunted house.

“It’s absolute chaos, it’s wonderful but chaotic at the same time, because these people are coming through to get scared,” she said.

Although Monheim has been working at a haunted house for the past eight years, she started her special effect makeup journey in high school by watching YouTube tutorials.

“It’s a creative outlet where I could take myself away, turn myself into something different for a little while, it was an escape for a little bit,” she said.

Monheim said she enjoyed the community aspect of special effect makeup.

“We all kind of work together in a sense, we all post our pictures and use each other as references and use each other as inspiration,” she said.

Throughout her years of working alongside other make-up artists, DiLauro’s work has begun to thrive.

Photos of her makeup looks could pass as professional, but it wasn’t always that way. DiLauro said that special effect makeup wasn’t a talent that she was naturally gifted with. Practice was key in getting to where she is today.

“Anyone can do it as long as you practice enough, it’s the same thing with art everyone starts with drawing stick figures,” DiLauro said.