Snapchat is a popular social media app that allows users to send photos, videos, and messages that disappear after being viewed. The app has added various augmented reality lenses and filters over the years, including some specifically for Halloween. So while Snapchat itself does not sell or provide Halloween costumes, the app does offer Halloween-themed AR lenses and filters that can be used with costumes and for festive photos and videos.
Snapchat’s Halloween AR Lenses
One of the most popular ways Snapchat gets into the Halloween spirit is through special augmented reality lenses released each year around October. These lenses allow users to add various Halloween-related effects, props, and costumes to their Snaps.
Some examples of Snapchat’s Halloween AR lenses over the years include:
- Pumpkin head lens – Adds a 3D pumpkin over your head, as if you were carved like a jack-o-lantern
- Spider head lens – Covers your head with a 3D spider and web
- Ghost lens – Adds a cute ghost over your head
- Bat lens – Adds animated bats flying around your head
- Skeleton lens – Lays an animated skeleton over your body and face
- Zombie lens – Transforms your face into a gruesome 3D zombie
- Witch hat lens – Puts a traditional witch’s hat on your head
- Candy corn teeth lens – Makes your teeth look like yellow and orange candy corn
These AR lenses allow Snapchat users to enhance their Halloween costumes and looks for Spooky Snaps without having to buy anything additional. The lenses provide a fun way to get into the festive spirit of the holiday.
Snapchat Halloween Filters
In addition to AR lenses, Snapchat has also offered Halloween-themed filters in the past. These add graphics and text overlays to your Snaps.
Some examples of Halloween filters Snapchat has had include:
- “Happy Halloween” with carved pumpkins and bats
- “Spooky” with ghost icons and splatters
- “Trick or Treat” with candy graphics
- “Witch Please” with a witch hat and broom
- “Night of the Living Dead” with zombie hands
- “Boo!” with spiderwebs and ghosts
These festive filters give users another fun way to get in the Halloween spirit and enhance costume pics and videos. The filters change each year, so Snapchatters have come to anticipate what new designs the app will release.
Using Snapchat’s AR and Filters with Halloween Costumes
While Snapchat doesn’t provide actual costume items, their Halloween AR lenses and filters do allow users to take costume photos and videos to the next level.
Here are some ways Snapchatters use the app’s features with Halloween costumes each year:
- Enhancing costume looks – Lenses like the pumpkin head or spider head build upon costume themes.
- Trying on costumes digitally – The lenses provide a way to get an idea of what a costume might look like before buying.
- Adding a costume when you don’t have one – Lenses like the witch hat or skeleton can make it look like you’re wearing a costume even if you aren’t.
- Having fun with friends – Trying on the silly lenses and filters together makes for lots of laughs.
- Costume contest pics/videos – Adding AR effects makes contest entries more eye-catching and original.
- Halloween party Snaps – The filters caption the festive occasion.
So in summary, while Snapchat doesn’t sell actual costume products themselves, their Halloween AR lenses and filters allow users to enhance their look, take costume photos to the next level, and get into the spirit of the holiday alongside their friends.
Types of Snapchat Lenses You Might See People Using for Halloween
Here are some of the most popular varieties of Snapchat’s Halloween AR lenses that you might see people using and pairing with costumes:
Face Filters
These lenses digitally add masks, make-up, and other props directly onto your face:
- Spider Web Face – Covers face in CG spider webs
- Sugar Skull Makeup – Adds glowing neon sugar skull mask
- Stitched Face – Makes it look like your mouth is sewn shut
- Gas Mask – Puts an old-school gas mask over your mouth
- Bloody Face – Adds blood splatters and scratches
Headpieces
These lenses add virtual hats, helmets, and other headwear:
- Pumpkin Head – Puts a 3D pumpkin over your head
- Witch’s Hat – Adds a traditional witch’s hat
- Viking Helmet – Puts a viking helmet with horns on your head
- Scuba Helmet – Adds an underwater scuba helmet and mask
- Alien Antennae – Puts cute alien antennae on your head
Full Body Costumes
These lenses digitally overlay entire outfits onto you:
- Skeleton Costume – Makes it look like you’re just a walking skeleton
- Ghost Costume – Adds a cute little ghost with a sheet over your body
- Zombie Costume – Lays a gruesome zombie look over your entire body
- Vampire Cape – Puts a dramatic vampire cape with high collar on your shoulders
- Werewolf Costume – Covers you in fur and gives you a snarling werewolf mask
Scene Lenses
These don’t necessarily costume you, but add spooky scenes and props around you:
- Haunted House – Puts you in a creepy haunted mansion
- Walking with Ghosts – Adds ghost figures floating around you
- Graveyard – Surrounds you with tombstones and trees
- Upside Down Room – Makes it look like you’re in an upside down room defying gravity
- Cobwebbed Room – Fills the scene with virtual cobwebs
So in summary, Snapchat has a wide variety of AR lenses that can complement Halloween costumes in fun and spooky ways!
Do Any Celebrities Use Snapchat’s Halloween Lenses?
Yes, lots of celebrities get into the Halloween spirit by trying out Snapchat’s special AR lenses!
Here are some examples of celebs who have posted Snapchat videos of themselves using the lenses:
- Chrissy Teigen used the pumpkin head lens and the spider head lens in 2019.
- Gigi Hadid tried out the candy corn teeth lens in 2016.
- Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner tested out the skeleton costume lens together in 2018.
- Vanessa Hudgens put on the witch hat lens for a cute Snap in 2017.
- Lizzo recorded herself trying the zombie lens in 2020.
Part of what makes Snapchat lenses appealing is that they are accessible and fun for everyday users and big celebrities alike. The playful lenses give stars a way to get festive for the holiday and share a more candid, relatable side of themselves with fans.
Based on the wide range of celebrities who have used special Halloween lenses in the past, it’s likely even more will get creative with the new 2021 lenses this season!
What Kinds of Businesses Use Snapchat’s AR for Halloween?
All types of brands and businesses leverage Snapchat’s AR lenses and filters to promote seasonal offers and engage their audience for Halloween.
Here are some examples of how companies have utilized Snapchat AR features for Halloween campaigns:
- Restaurants – Create sponsored lenses that turn users into the chain’s iconic mascot or add branded Halloween props.
- Candy brands – Develop lenses that add their signature candy or wrappers overlaying the user’s face.
- Retailers – Promote in-store pickup or delivery by sponsoring lenses with virtual seasonal products.
- TV networks – Offer lenses that transform users into characters from popular Halloween programs.
- Theme parks – Produce AR experiences based on their Halloween attractions and mazes.
- Makeup brands – Introduce lenses that digitally apply their latest Halloween makeup looks onto users.
Sponsored AR lenses give brands a highly engaging, interactive way to be part of the Halloween fun. Based on past campaigns, users can likely expect to see even more marketers launching creative and seasonal AR experiences this October.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while Snapchat does not directly sell or provide users with Halloween costumes, the app does offer a wide selection of augmented reality lenses and filters specifically designed for Halloween. These AR effects allow users to digitally dress up their face and body with spooky and silly costumes. Snapchatters use the lenses to enhance real-world costumes, take costume parties and contests up a notch, and join in the season’s festive spirit alongside friends and family. Even celebrities often get involved, trying out the newest wacky lenses each year. For brands, sponsoring seasonal AR lenses gives them a means of garnering attention and engagement around Halloween in a way that resonates with Snapchat’s young user base. So ultimately, through its huge range of playful AR effects, Snapchat provides a platform for users of all kinds to virtually dress up and celebrate Halloween.