I'm, too sexy for my latex...

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Hey hey!

I ordered some more sfx (special effects) makeup stuff last week and this weekend they finally came. I got some gelatine mould and liquid latex which I've been meaning to get for ages now. I've been enjoying doing the looks I've done a lot but I thought it was about time I got a little more crazy with it (yes, believe it or not, it can).

What with the constant whisperings of how good the latest Walking Dead series is (really must watch), the arrival of my new liquid latex and the impending expiration of my white-out contact lenses, I decided this weekend would be the perfect time to create my first zombie! (As per usual, if you're a scaredy cat, perhaps you should quit reading/scrolling now)...

I started this pretty late on Sunday evening and had no real plan of how I wanted it to go or even end up looking besides "gut-wrenchingly gruesome" so it was a bit of trial and error. I made sure my face was super clean and then, to be honest, just slapped on the liquid latex sporadically around my face. It dries pretty quickly if you apply thin layers so I blotted it with my finger tips to give that mottled, textured skin effect. The great thing with this stuff is you can peel away at it and layer it up as much as you want - if you're anything like me and loved picking dried PVA glue off of your fingers back in art class at school, you'd find great pleasure in this...

After I was happy with the textures and torn gashed effects I flicked on some white Grimas face powder (also new and great) and then used a light grey/brown eyeshadow in what was to be the crevices (yum!) to add some depth and make it look like there were holes and tears in my skin. I used my white eyeliner all around my lash line and into my waterline and then used the same dark shadow in the natural hollows of my eyes and up to my brow bone. I went over this with black paint, staying away from the lash line.

I then mixed a deep brown red colour and added this to the what would be the deepest crevices to really add dimension and give the illusion that my skin was mouldy and peeling off. I added some more of this colour around my hairline, cheekbones and over my brows with a sponge to make it look more natural (well, you know what I mean, natural for a zombie!). I added crease lines in the bridge of my nose between my eyes and above to give a snarly look.

I finished this off by adding deep red face paint and then fake blood, concentrating on the mouth area, common in zombies as if they have been feasting on flesh, obviously... I pressed this right into the peeled parts of latex to make it look even more like my skin was torn, picking at it all the time. I completed the look with my white-out contacts and skipped off downstairs to share with my gorgeous loving family...Mwuahahahaa *throws head back in villain-style manor*...I was told I needed to moisturise more...

Chars for reading/persevering!
JLM x

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Petal to the metal...

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Hi guys!

Though I've had same super kind positive feedback for my horrifically horrific looks of late, I have also had a couple of request to do something a little more tame/"pretty" next. So to avoid an intervention and to remind my friends and family that I'm still the Disney loving freak they once knew and loved and I haven't quote become a sadistic sally just yet, I thought of the girliest thing I could do - flowers...

I decided to do a super girly inspired look and use the gorgeous vintage floral print of Cath Kidston as inspiration. I love all of these prints and would happily have a house covered in them so, why not my face!?

There isn't really too much in the way of technique for this look - it was mainly a chance to practice my painting skills - flash back to blazers, braces and general nerdiness... no, I haven't changed much since school...

I sponged on some white cream paint lightly all over my face to even out the base and for the colours to stand out more (please ignore my neck, in hindsight I should have put white on this too!) I mixed a number of pale pinks, greens and very light grey, painting the main body of the flowers and leaves with the lightest tones, layering up with red and darker colours to add detail, shadow and light. I kept working on the flowers with my finest brushes adding detail until I was happy and voila! I considered wondering into a Cath Kidston store but I realised I would look a little like a crazy person....and I'm not sure where my nearest branch is...

I now have full reign to dive head first back into the gruesome stuff..hurrah!! JLM x

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It's important to floss

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Hellooo!

Okay - I really hope no one reading this is heavily pregnant, has a heart condition or is a total wuss because this is the scariest look I've done yet! The warning sign is there so I can't be sued...

I finally got some coloured contact lenses and was desperate to try them out. I loved how they really finished off the look and just wished I'd got them sooner to use in some of my earlier looks. I'd never put contacts in before so for me, that was probably scarier than the finished article! Luckily I'm fine touching my eyes so I got there in the end. I ordered white, black and red ones from FourEyez.com and I'm already excited to try more - they have a huge number of designs and my order came very quickly.

Back to the face. I saw a look very similar to this online and after my clown face with the super-sized toothy mouth freaked so many people out, I decided to try it again (Muwahahaaa!) I love the illusion it gives by concealing your real mouth, it completely transforms the human face by being so unnatural, and I love anything that is able to do that.

I started by putting my white cream paint all over my face and neck to make my skin really pale. I used my white eyeliner to really whiten all of my eyes and also sketch the outline of the mouth. I followed the line of the top of my real lips but took the bottom much lower onto my chin to make it much larger and sketched in the teeth. I used "tease" from my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and a fluffy brush in the crease of my eyes and underneath, avoiding going up to the lash line. I used this to heavily contour also, making a strong cheekbone line, adding around my hairline and making my nose much harsher/slimmer by brushing along the sides and blending out. I added a touch of bright red/pink shadow to the underneath to add another dimension too. I outlined the brows with a black eyeliner, making them just thicker than my own with a point on the start and arch, extending them much further down at the ends and then filled them in with black paint.

I spent the most time on the mouth, filling in the centre with black paint, teeth with white and lips with a dark red. To keep the teeth super sharp, I used my finest brushes. It's easier to paint the teeth large than you would maybe like and then paint around with black. They always appear smaller once the black is added and it means you can go around them again to get a really straight line/good point and not worry too much about them becoming too small.

I finished the look by putting in my white-out lenses. This was a fairly simple makeup look to do but I was really impressed by how much it transformed my face. My mum had a sore throat the day after me doing this as she screamed so much when I showed her - mission accomplished ;)

If you are still reading and got this far, bravo for the bravery!

Until next time m'dears...! JLM x

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What a rip off...

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Good day!

I hope you all love blood, guts and gore as much as I do (not in a creepy murdery way, hopefully...) because today I decided that I hadn't made enough use of my fake blood and derma wax. And what better way to make use of it than by making part of my face look like it had been ripped!? An extremely genius and attractive thought, I know...

I love doing all sorts of movie/theatrical makeup looks (surprise!) but I can't deny that the gruesome ones really are the most fun. I'd seen a few special effects online where it looks like half of your mouth has been torn off and the teeth are therefore exposed. It's really effective and most importantly, pretty darn grim, so I decided to give it a go.

I had watched one technique where tissue and glue was used but I thought I'd use my derma wax to give the look of skin/flesh having been peeled away (plus the only glue I could find was super glue). I started by roughly sketching where the teeth would show with a white eyeliner, following the natural line of my jaw. I then rolled out balls of the wax into long sausage like pieces and placed them from the middle of my top and bottom lips and round the sketch to the back teeth. 

I moulded the edges to smooth out using moisturiser. I lifted the inner parts away from my skin to give the effect of skin peeling away and blended the outer wax edges into my skin more with some concealer. 

I painted in the teeth and mixed purply reds to fill in where the gums and flash would be. I added darker red where the wax joined my skin to give it greater depth and a 3D effect. I built this up a little, adding a red grey  in between the teeth and on the tips of the peeled away wax. I finished it off by piling on lots of yummy fake blood, dragging some above and below the wax and then just adding a bit more - you can never use enough fake blood apparently :)

Hope you like it and didn't stumble across this whilst eating...

Thanks for reading!

x

(p.s Here's another close-up, just in case you hadn't seen enough already - you're welcome...)

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Makeup memoir of a geisha...

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ヒスイ (Apparently that is Jade in Japanese - I sure hope it is. Apologies if it is anything offensive, do let me know if it is before I get my tattoo...)

East Asian culture is beautiful, the detail in their clothing, architecture and art is so detailed. I've never had the pleasure of visiting, but it's definitely on my "places I have to go before I die" list. The "geisha" look is a globally recognised one and I had a fair few requests for it. I love the very elegant, classic geisha look (right) but I decided to exaggerate the separate elements and make it a little more dramatic. So here is my oriental inspired interpretation...

I started with cream makeup in white, sponging it all over my face, to the hairline and down onto my neck. I had to use my white face paint to go over my brows, disguising them as best possible. I then used black paint with a super fine brush to outline the new dramatic brows and line the top lash line, with an over-exaggerated winged look. I continued to fill in these "flicks" and took the line right into the inner corner and down towards my nose, giving that elegant oriental look. I filled in the brows, neatening the lines with some white paint and another fine brush. For the shadow, I used a really bright red/pink from my MUA palette, taking the powder from the inner corner right up to my natural brow and swept out towards my temples/hairline. I applied very light bright pink busher to my cheeks and red lipstick to the very centre of my lips, avoiding the outer corners. I finished it all off with some false lashes and a couple of upside-down paint brushes in my bun! :)

I liked how this came out (despite annoyingly not having any of the elegant, petite features of a Japanese woman - my features are a little too bulbous!) and would love to try another East Asian inspired look soon, perhaps with some more authentic head wear!

Thanks for reading :)
JLM x

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