Special effects makeup is a staple around Halloween, and it can take any costume to the next level. Whether your entire look is the makeup itself or you are just adding a few cuts, bruises or burns to enhance your costume, special effects makeup is a must. But where do you buy it? What do you need? I will walk you through everything you need to create fabulous makeup looks for this Halloween.
LIQUID LATEX
Liquid latex is an absolute staple in the special effects world and a must have to almost any Halloween look. This sticky goo can be manipulated, layered, painted and much more, which makes it not only extremely user friendly but versatile as well. Combine it with various other mediums to create burns, cuts, gashes, slashes, peeling or rotting flesh, you name it, most likely latex can achieve it.
COTTON BALLS
A small but important feature of an artist’s kit is cotton balls. It is crucial to making injuries 3-dimensional. Making cuts, gashes or other skin lesion-type injuries requires building the sides up. Building the edges up with a combo of cotton and latex is how you create the deep valley that looks like a cut! Latex and cotton can be applied in many ways to depict frayed skin edges or major traumas as well. They also work great during clean-up!
COFFEE GROUNDS
A small container of coffee grounds is definitely not a bad idea to keep around. One of the trickiest things in special effects is to create the accurate texture of the thing you’re trying to create. Coffee grounds can be very useful during burn looks. Adding a layer of latex followed by some coffee and then another layer of latex provides a charred effect that is sure to instill some spookiness!
PAINT
Every kit needs paint. Whether you’re recreating an injury and need it to match your skin tone or need to appear more pasty or Grinch green, paint is essential to every look. Paint can vary in type, alcohol- or water-activated or cream paint. Cream paint is easy to find! Any local Halloween store should carry it, as should special effects makeup retailers! Alcohol-activated and water-activated face paints are popular among professional artists, but if you use alcohol-activated paint, make sure to avoid the eyes!
BLOOD
No horror look is truly complete without some blood. But did you know that there are a lot of different kinds of blood? When creating a deep cut or traumatic look, you may opt to use fresh scab or coagulated blood to give it a chunky, darker, more violent appearance. If going for a vampire look, you may want stage blood that tends to be lighter in weight and more red in color for the traditional fangs or gel blood so that it stays in place on your skin if making a drip. A few of the choices should be available at local stores, but for a wide array of more specific blood options you may want to consult an online retailer.
SCAR WAX
A little more on the professional side is scar wax. The soft, skin-colored, malleable wax is used to alter appearances, such as changing the shape or look of facial features like the nose and chin. You could create a bump on a nose to better resemble a witch or a broken nose or chin if you’re depicting a boxer. It can even be used to create holes for disease looks or even bullet holes. Scar wax can be difficult to use and hard to work with, but with a little patience (and a little Vaseline to lubricate your fingers so that they don’t stick to your medium), you’ll be scaring people in no time.
COSMETIC SPONGES / BRUSHES
While all these products are great to create the spookiest and most realistic looks, makeup sponges and brushes are needed to apply the products! Sponges are great for full-face paint application and cream paints; brushes are needed for water and alcohol paints; and metal makeup spatulas are key for applying latex and scar wax! You can find all of these things at a drugstore or Halloween store, or you may even have them in your house already! Just note that the brushes used for pigmented paint or latex may not be usable after!