Welcome to our blog of spooky crafts and macabre decor projects. Halloween is a passion at our house and the two of us have been making our own decorations and costumes for years. Every Halloween we throw a huge party and our goal is always how scary can we make it without breaking the bank. Over time, more and more of our projects have made it into our daily home decor. This blog will show you how we made many of our finished pieces and how we kept up with our budget at the same time. We love feedback and questions so please feel free to contact us.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Zombie Make Up

Our zombie costumes from last weekend were the most complete once we put the make up on to make ourselves look dead, bloody and bitten.  Here's how I did it.

I started off by smearing white grease make up all over my face.  I don't use a lot because I'm already fair and because too much looks too fake.  Be sure to blend everything really well at the edges of the make up and into your features.  Blend lightly onto your neck, ears and into the hairline so it looks even.  Then smear some red cream make up from mouth to chin working in light layers. 
In each layer go a little farther down.  I wanted to look like I had bitten people so I wanted the blood to run down my face.  Be sure to get above the top lip and out to the sides some.  Zombies don't eat delicately, they dive head first into their food and make a sloppy mess.

Each layer of red makes it look  little better, the time to do it little by little pays off because you get good depth in the make up.  My blood was going to run down my face and to a blood stain on my shirt where it pooled so I dragged the sponge all the way down my neck in long swipes.

A little black cream make up added on top of the last red layer makes it look old and dried.  This is what makes it start looking less like make up.
Because we were specifically zombie Longhorn fans we used a grease crayon to add words to my face.


I make sure to get make up on my lips so it looks like I was feeding but kept my mouth closed tightly.  I use only a tiny bit on my lips because its not really good to ingest.  Putting lip balm on top will keep you from licking it or using translucent powder to set it while it is still wet will also keep it in place.

I added some black and blue vein lines around the edges of my face and into my hairline and also smeared some red make up on my forehead for a little added gore.  The lines were easy with a paintbrush, you can buy the make up in crayon form and that is even easier.  The blood helped it look better and less like just white paint.  I smeared it down my nose and across my face too.  Make sure you rub it into hairlines, eyebrows and facial hair by pressing hard and moving your finger or sponge or applicator back and forth.  You can go over the hair lightly with a damp cloth or sponge if you don't want it on your hair, just on the skin.  Doing this is a great trick that makes it look more professional and gives it some realism.  If you don't care about that, cool don't worry about it then. ,)

Green make up completed my face by giving it that sickly look that zombies are known for.  I did it mostly around one eye and then used my fingers to trail it around the rest of my face lightly.  A touch up on the words was needed because you could no longer read them.

I pulled my hair into messy braids and the look was pretty much done.  All that was needed was some fake blood.  I flipped my hair upside down and sprayed it all lightly with hair spray then quickly braided it on either side into very messy braids.  I pulled some strands out, teased it up a little and ran my hands all over it so it stood up.  I sprayed it lightly again so it would stay.
For Thomas' face we went a little different direction.  He had not eaten anyone yet, we decided, so he had less blood and more dark make up.  We used the white grease make up to smear his face again and then used black cream make up around his eyes so it looked sunken and rotten.  A little blood on his forehead looked good and some green smeared around his face completed his easy look.

Now zombie bites!
Use a paintbrush or your finger to dab a round bite mark where you want to showcase your wound.  Using a dabbing motion instead of just making a circle gives the impression of teeth.

This step looks a little funny and seems fake until you put the other make up on top of it.

Add red to the center carefully so you don't smudge the black too much but make sure it is thick.  This is the source of your zombie state-make it look good!  Also rub red around the outside of the black make up and blend outward with your fingers or a sponge.

Use blue grease paint to add dabs of blue around the edges of the wound.  Mix with the red slightly and blend out so you make bruising.  Use your brush and light black paint to touch up the bite mark if it gets too smudged.



Subtlety is a key component with the wounds and bite marks because it will really make the difference.  Use yellow, the darker the better, to add around the edges to give it more bruising effect and to start the sickly look.

Add green paint around the edges and blend out to look like the infection is spreading.  Your bite looks great!



After you have created all of the wounds and bite marks that you want, use fake blood to drip off of wounds and anywhere else you think is appropriate.  I added mine directly to the center of the three bites I had and then let it drip down.  I also added it right below my lips where my blood stains were.  Rub green and red paint into the skin anywhere you think you want a little more gore and give yourself a disheveled look.  I coated my hands with red cream paint and ran them through my hair so I was coverd in blood.



Happy feeding fellow zombies!


liz

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