Cassandra Peterson—ceaselessly enshrined as campy cult icon Elvira, Mistress of the Darkish—provides us an unique glimpse into her bewitching magnificence routine.
Glam Jam
“I do the Elvira glam all on my own. I go into a room and I am completely by myself. I don’t want anyone to talk to me. It takes time and I have to concentrate—it’s intense. My best friend came up with the look back in 1981 and taught me how to do it because he couldn’t be around all the time. Over the years, I have tried to have other people do it, and it never comes out exactly the same. Sometimes, they’re much better than me, but I don’t want them to be better than me! I want it to be exactly the same, every time.”
Keep Put
“In more recent years, I started using MAC a lot for Elvira. MAC eyeliner is one of the few eyeliners that doesn’t smear or smudge. I put so much on—I go through like a little bottle every time I do it. I am not kidding. I sort of can only wear industrial-strength makeup because I have to wear it for hours on end with a wig and lights; I’m always sweating. My makeup goes on once in the morning, and it has to be good and look exactly the same by nighttime.”
Pores and skin Strong
“My routine with my face is the same whether I’m Elvira or Cassandra, but my makeup varies wildly. For Elvira, it’s an hour and a half of theatrical makeup. It’s total drag. For me, in my everyday life, it’s about 10 minutes. I do a really quick makeup look and go. I don’t have time to mess around!”
Serum Stars
“I use a lot of SkinCeuticals! That is my main brand. I started using one thing from them, then I bought the next thing and the next thing. I just keep going. Once you use them, you can’t go back—that is how good it is. I also use serums by Trish McEvoy, and I use her makeup. It’s great.”
Brimming with spooky tales, cheeky commentary and devilishly scrumptious recipes, Elvira’s Cookbook From Hell, out there this fall, is a Gothic feast for longtime followers and foodies alike. Lip Love
“My friend Pamela Des Barres turned me on to the greatest thing from L’Oréal. It’s a lipstick that is red—but the perfect color of blue red—which you need because if you don’t have blue red lipstick on, and you have very, very white makeup on, your teeth look really yellow. You have to have that barrier of a bluish-red lipstick. The white makeup I use has a lot of pink in it for a reason: If you have white makeup that’s just white, you could have the whitest teeth on earth, and they will still look very yellow. Fun fact!”
Hair Obvious
“To keep my hair healthy, I don’t do much, but I recently found a few things that are life-changing. Honest to God, my hair has never looked so good. One is called amika Blowout Babe Thermal Brush, and the other is by Bio Ionic. Both are insane. I also like this spray called Color Wow Style on Steroids. I have very long hair, so I curl it with those tools, then I spray. When I do that, my hair looks good for like three or four days.”
Theater College 
“I started out with this theatrical makeup by the William Tuttle brand. I met Bill Tuttle at a party. He did the makeup in The Wizard of Oz—that’s how long ago this was. He formulated a makeup for me called Elvira. I allowed him to use the name and sell it. I told him my problem with my makeup, and he said, ‘I’m going to formulate a makeup just for you.’ And he did. It was really thick and creamy and gooey. It is serious theatrical makeup. You had to powder it down like mad to not smear it all over everyone else.”
