Zombie make-up suggestions.

Calling all fx makeup artists?

• i do special effects makeup. but am always looking for different ways to do things and love hearing others unique ways of doing things. one thing i really do need a little advice on is how to keep your face from melting off. lol. right now ive been using mehrons primer and colorstay powder but that doesn't seem to be holding up. the idea of this is, i was invited to do zombie makeup for 4-6 people. we will be outside all night and of course due to summer, it may be a bit hot. id hate to see all that work sweating off. i have a few different things that i may try but suggestions would be great. my second question. this is something ive alwas wanted to do without making it look overly cheap. how do you all make it look like someone is missing their eye? thanks in advance for thoughts and suggestions! looking forward to hearing them!!

• Answer:

  Hi Caitlin Grease based makeups will inevitably shift over time and be affected by heat and moisture as they remain 'active' and can be smudges etc. The alternative is to use an alcohol activated makeup such as Skin Illustrator which is not affected by moisture and is much more hard wearing. I have written an article about basic FX kit and this is covered in there: http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/A_basic_makeup_effects_kit.pdf The only downside is the cost - although you can also use sealers such as Kryolans Fixier Spray which can seal the makeup and make it last longer. Alternatively, you could make up some PAX paints which are used to paint latex prosthetics. If used in thin washes, it is very good for colouring skin and is waterproof and does not smudge. To see a tutorial on PAX, check out this link: http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/painting_latex_and_foam_latex.pdf With the missing eye thing, you can make an appliance which will work well if you know how. If not, you need to make something either in advance on a cast or flat surface and apply that. The absence of an eyeball means there is a cavity which is hard to create effectively as any building up to create a socket becomes apparent. After all, appliances can only add and here you will need to create the illusion of reduction. If the lids are still there then they would sink in slightly as they are no longer supported by the eyeball. You could do something that looks like this in an appliance or SculptGel: http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/USERIMAGES/Eye_demo.jpg What you could do is make some ragged skin on a table surface with latex and tissue. When these have dried, then you can rip them up and dress them over the eye area and blood them up. Make the lids behind the hole black so they do not appear obvious beneath the shredded skin. Keep the hole to a minimum, as the larger the aperture then the more evident the real skin beneath it would be. You could also dress some black gauze in there to create a mesh which looks dark and also allows them to see through it. Bear in mind the comfort of the lid opening and closing, as you need to have sufficient clearance for lashes. I usually tape the lid closed so the amount the piece needs to come forward is minimal. It means they can't see through that eye but it is a trade off. ============================= More tutorials here: Blog: http://www.learnmakeupeffects.com/blog/ Articles: http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page9.htm YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/stuartbray73 ============================= Hope this helps Stuart