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Iain's Make-up Tips Page

Thrillermania’s

Zombie make-up tips

Here are a few Zombie makeup ideas for all the Mobile Deceased joining us for the World Record attempts. Use some, all, or none, it’s up to you. You can spend as little or as much as you want on your zombie look. As we’re coming up to Halloween the pound shops and supermarkets are starting to sell Halloween make-up, wounds and props. Have a look around and use your imagination. Remember a zombie can look any way you want, just have fun with it!

Warning!

Before going overboard with make-up, latex/glue, blood etc. do a skin patch test on your arm to check if you are Allergic.

  Wrinkly face, flaky/burnt skin and tears in the skin

These can all be created using liquid latex (this can be bought online) but you can also use PVA glue or my own preference Copydex but these are not as good as liquid latex.

  Warning!

If you can, shave the area you are going to apply the latex/glue to as having it pulled out when you remove your make-up can hurt! If you can’t shave it (i.e. eyebrows) I suggest you cover the hair with Microporous Tape first (chemist’s etc. will sell this).

You will need to apply 2 or 3 thin coats, letting each coat dry before applying the next. To speed up the drying you can use a hairdryer, though not on too hot a setting.

If you want a wrinkly face, apply the latex/glue with your cheeks puffed out as far as they will go.  Once totally dry, let the air out of your cheeks, and voila! Wrinkly face.

If you want a tear in the skin, leave a small gap in the middle of the latex/glue on the first layer where you want the tear to go. Next, add a single layer of toilet paper in between layers. This will give more texture to the 'skin'.
When applying the tissue, rip the edges roughly to help the edges blend better with you skin. Once dry, make your tear and peel back – this may need a pointy object to start it off so be careful. When you come to putting make-up on later, paint some black in the tear to make it look deeper and rub the blood and some red make-up into the 'flaps', especially on the underside.

If you just want a rough, flaky, grazed skin effect, then when the latex/glue is dry, rub it vigorously where you want the holes until it rubs off. When you get to the make-up stage for this one lightly rub some red make-up on all the exposed 'raw' areas and dab a bit of black or brown on top and rub into the edges as well.

Next, the make-up

The next step, once you have applied any latex/glue, is to apply your Make-up (please note, if you don’t want to go down the latex/glue route you don’t have to).

For this you will need:-

1.   The make-up. There are several types you can use depending on what you want to spend and what you may be allergic to. I prefer water-based Snazaroo Face & Body Make-up but you can also use cream make-up or greasepaints which cover easier (but also will cover anything you touch).

2.      Sponges. You can buy professional face-painting sponges but you can also use cosmetic sponges or even cut-up washing-up sponges (I prefer cosmetic wedges for basic application and washing-up sponges for stippling).

3.   Brushes. These will be needed for more detailed effects (don’t worry, not that detailed!). Again you can buy professional face painting brushes but normal make-up brushes are fine or even normal kids paint brushes (I prefer to use eyeliner brushes when doing zombies).

4.   Water. Used mainly if you are using water-based make-up to get the make-up on the sponge/brush.

Applying the make-up

Don’t worry if your make-up looks a little patchy, your doing a zombie, the patchier the better!

If using water-based paints you will need to wet you sponge but you don’t want it too wet so squeeze most of the water out before wiping across the paint.

Now you are ready to add make-up to the face (and body if you like!), here are the steps you need to follow:-

1.   For perfectly horrible zombie make-up you need a base foundation of either white or, my preference, light grey all over. Try to move the sponge in small circles rather than long wipes to avoid making steaks.

2.   Using a clean sponge dipped in black or dark grey, sponge over the eyelids, the bridge of the nose and into the eye sockets to get that deep, sunken eye look. You can also darken the sides of the face and accentuate under the cheekbones down to the jawbone for that drawn-in corpse look.

3.   Dabbing on some green here and there will give your face that just going moldy look. You can also dab some brown, yellow and purple on your face. Keep everything uneven, so it looks realistic and you could also use a stiff sponge to add a few brown and black streaks so they look like dirt. Using purple, red and yellow you can also add bruises and  lightly brushing/sponging red over wrinkled latex/glue or even using an old comb to scrape some red over your face can give a grazed/ dragged down the road face first look.

4.   Using your brush, draw a black line across your throat and then go back over roughly with red as well as dribbling the red from the line. This will look like you have had your throat cut. You can use this technique to create slashes across your face and a black circle outlined in red can look like a bullet hole.

5.      Finish the look off by using fake blood from all wounds and possibly eyes and mouth (remember to let it dry before moving or you will drip blood everywhere). You can also get a similar look using red paint and an artistic use of your brush. If you wish, before adding the blood, you can sprinkle some baby powder over yourself for that dusty look (if you have used greasepaint this will also help to ‘set-it’).

Have fun creating your ‘look’ and remember to practice before the main event!

(P.S. warm water, soap and moisturiser/baby wipes will help remove your make-up but the red paint/blood likes to stay around a bit longer!)