Halloween Make-up; The Unzipped Zipper Face

 

Hello Readers,

It's exactly 1 week today until Halloween so I've decided to start doing a few little posts talking you through how to create a couple of Halloween looks. Let me just say now that I am by no means a make-up artist nor do I claim to be any good with makeup, I just like playing around with it as any girl does. So, whether you're off out this Halloween for a last minute party, or like me, you're staying in snuggled up in your onesie here's a look for you.

Now I don't think I've ever revealed this on my blog before but prior to falling in love with fashion photography, I was a massive fan of gory photography. Loads of my photoshoots involved fake blood, fx wax and lots of other creepy props. So I have a fair few looks from my old portfolio which I'm going to be sharing with you (hence why I'm going to have really different hair in some of these posts) and talking you through how to create them.



This was the look I created for a Halloween party I attended last year. I'm not claiming to have come up with this look myself as there are lots of videos of this look on YouTube so I recommend searching for those if this talk through guide isn't particularly helpful. Also this is quite a simplified version of this look, I've used items that you should already have lying around at home.

So to create this look you'll need;
-Fake Blood
- Cheap Red Lipstick / Red Gloss
- Eye Lash Glue
- A Zipper
- Foundation
- Concealer

- Black, Purple, Brown Eyeshadow

and anything else you want to use on your eyes, I for example went with false eyelashes, a bit of mascara and eyeliner.

Step 1:
First you need to get a zipper. You can buy them from craft and fabric stores, or like me you can just cut a zipper off of an old piece of clothing that you no longer want, such as a hoodie, pair of jeans etc. Then you'll want to cut as much excess material off of the zipper as possible, leaving enough to allow you to actually stick the zipper to your face. Make sure you check to see if the zipper fits your face, if not you'll have to cut the bottom to shorten it, which I what I had to do with mine. It's up to you how short you make your zipper, most people tend to make the zipper stop at the jawline, however I decided to leave mine a little longer and stick it to my neck also to create a more dramatic look.


Step 2:
Taking your eyelash glue, apply a generous amount on the back of the zipper, then proceed to applying the zipper to your face. Placing the actual zip part on your forehead / in between your brows and smoothing the rest of the zipper down your face. Now, be warned, this can be quite a fiddly process and it may take you a few attempts before you get it on perfectly. Just keep smoothing down the areas of the zipper to avoid any air bubbles developing and wait for the glue to dry. If any areas of the zip seem to pop up, just apply more glue underneath and continue to hold down that area until it is dry.

Step 3:
Some people tend to use liquid latex to cover up the remaining material of the zipper, however if you're like me and couldn't get your hands on any liquid latex, then I recommend just simple building up layers of concealer on top of the material parts of the zipper. Then just go on and apply a liquid foundation, apply it to your face as normal and also use it to add more layers of coverage to the remaining zipper material that requires more coverage. (avoid the area inside the zipper of course as you will be covering this area with fake blood.)

Step 4:
After applying both concealer and foundation, take your regular face powder and powder both your face, including the material bits of the zip, as this helps to create a more even look and also helps set all of the make-up that you have applied.

Step 5:
Take a red lipstick that you don't mind ruining or getting rid of. Begin to apply some to the inside section of the zip. This helps to build up a red toned base before the blood goes down. Then begin applying your fake blood to the inside zip section. If you don't want to add fake blood to close to around your nostrils (as most fake blood spells horrendous) then like me you can just use a red lipgloss instead and build that up. It does the job and smells far more pleasant. You can also use the red gloss to add blood to any areas which your fake blood missed, or to intensify areas creating a more fresh blood looking shine.

Step 6:
Taking a mixture of black, brown and purple eyeshadows, go into the zipper section and darken up some of the areas, such as around the nostrils, on the mouth, around the chin etc. This helps create the appearance of some slightly older, more dry blood which will look far more realistic. I also recommend applying some black eyeshadow just down the inside of the zipper as this helps to define zipper a bit more and also helps to create a more realistic and 3D look.

Step 7:
Now we move onto trying to create what looks like pulls on the skin. Taking the black, brown and purple eyeshadows again, go on the outside of the zip and begin creating some faint lines starting from the zip and protruding outwards. This again helps to make things look more realistic and if the skin really has been stretched.

Step 8:
The rest of it is pretty much whatever you chose to do with your look. You can have complete freedom at this point and do whatever you like now that the overall zipper look has been created. I went on myself to use black eyeshadow as a cheek contour, black and purple eyeshadow to create the darkened smudges around my eyes, black eyeshadow again to creating the zipper detail down my neck and false eyelashes and eyeliner to finish off my eye makeup.

 

Above are two of the images of me with friends at the Halloween party I attended. As you can see this is a very dramatic look and is definitely one which will catch a lot of attention. The zipper stayed on all night however I found that the fake blood didn't as it hardened and peeled away when I spoke or attempted to eat anything so I recommend bringing a little tube of fake blood with you for touch ups. Also, if you're wanting to drink anything, bring a straw!

I finished off the look by covering a plain white t-shirt with splatters of fake blood, my disco pants and some killer heels. It may have been Halloween but I couldn't help myself but throw in a bit of glamour.

Right that's it for this post, please let me know what you think of this post below and if it was helpful or interesting and if I should continue doing a few more of them. It was quite difficult trying to explain this process so hopefully it wasn't too long winded!

I hope you're all well.