WATCH: How to do the Perfect Catrina Face for Day of the Dead

Paula Froelich
·Editor at Large
Updated

This weekend I travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico, specifically for the Day of the Dead, where crowds of people fill the streets for two days to pay respect, remembrance (and have a little party with) loved ones who have died.

According to Frances Ann Day in “Latina and Latino Voices in Literature”:

“On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children’s altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, when families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives.”

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Looking fierce! (Photo: Andrew Rothschild)

In Oaxaca the celebration is particularly robust - with huge parades that go until 3 a.m. Almost every woman dresses up as Catrina, the skeletal female who represents the holiday.

So, with help from my friends at The Muddy Boot, I got my make up done by a pro (Hint: it involves a lot of pancake make up, which is a lot easier going on than taking off).