fast & easy special effects makeup

special effects makeup for film and tv - now that's a dream job of mine. ever since being little, i was amazed at how real fake blood, cuts and scars look, and how the artists created them. i hinted on twitter earlier this week, but i have got an interview to do media makeup at college. i am so excited i can't even put into words. i've been waiting what seems like forever to leave school and just do makeup and prosthetics as a job & i feel like this is the first step for me. yay!

i've been playing around and getting used to using different makeup for my college portfolio. i bought some little bits from a fancy dress shop in my local town and managed to create this. i am well aware it is not the best, but it's a really quick, simple and easy thing to do which looks impressive to people who don't know much about it. anyway, if you're interested, keep reading!

before starting this wound, apply a small and thin layer onto your skin and wash off after several minutes (just to make sure you're not allergic - i don't want any hospital blames on me!).

the first step is to gather all of your equipment (or ingredients, i say). these include a small bottle of liquid latex, fake blood, foundation, tissue paper, sponges and 2 eyeshadows - one a purpley/red colour and the other a matte brown. liquid latex is surprisingly not that hard to get hold of. i got mine from a fancy dress shop called luvyababez in the manchester arndale for £1.99. you then need to wash the area where you want the fake wound to be.

once you've prepped and your hands are fully dry, start to apply the liquid latex. you don't want the layer to be too thin or too thick because this will take too long to dry or the next step will not work. the best way to apply the latex is to pour a small amount into the lid and use the end of an old brush. be careful though, it does smell quite fishy...

once you've applied a layer of liquid latex, it's onto the shaping and texture of the wound. apply a very thin piece of tissue (or loo roll) onto the latex, building up the shape and texture. you don't want the tissue to be too flat as it won't look as realistic, but you need to build up the layers once the previous one has dried. i decided to go with a hole in the middle of mine... don't ask why.

when the tissue has dried completely, dab a small bit of foundation over it with a sponge. this is just to make the white more skin-like and it's not as difficult to colour over.

then take your two eyeshadows and colour over the foundation. for this particular wound, i used cranberry and espresso by mac. first i took cranberry all over and took the shimmer out with espresso - a matte, plain and simple brown. this needs to be slightly blended out around the edges.

take your black face crayon and fill in the depths of the wound, ie where you want the wound to look like it's in the flesh. the black intensifies the colour and makes the wound appear deeper. after that, take the red and just go over any of the areas that you can still see a fleshy colour. be aware though, less is more with this. you can go overboard but as long as as you use it in moderation, it should be fine.

the last step is just to add your fake blood! i took a small amount on the edge of a sponge and dabbed it over the fleshy-wrinkley bit. i also added more into the holey-type thing to make it look like the whole is deeper. to wash off, simply soak in warm water and peel. it is gross but so weirdly satisfying...

so, there you go! this took me a matter of minutes and is super easy and cheap to do. face crayons - £2.99, liquid latex - £1.99 and fake blood - £1.99. all of the other ingredients you're likely to find in your house!

elise ♥