Blush Response

A few years ago, I worked as a professional make-up artist. My passion was for special effects, and every once in a while I get to play with the skills I learned in those days. This year, I was too busy to plan a Halloween costume. Originally I wanted to dress as Pris from Blade Runner, then realized that Hot Topic no longer sells micro-mesh tops and didn’t have enough time to investigate further. Fail. However, since I was going out to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, I had to do something, fast.

So, I busted out my Sugarpill eye shadows and created a super-quick look I can only call “Fashionably Bruised”, because the rest of my make-up remained intact and I didn’t add any puffiness or much redness. Far more work is needed for real-deal Beat-up Face, which I’ll try to remember to show you guys in the future. For now, here’s how we get fashionably Bruised!

THE TOOLS

  • Medium eye shadow brush, and these Sugarpill eye shadows:
  • Poison Plum
  • Midori
  • Buttercupcake
  • Love+
  • Tako
  • Ben Nye stage blood – this is the best blood for this look, because it dries and crusts up just like the real thing.

THE METHOD

  1. Decide where you want to have been battered
  2. Using the medium brush, contour with Poison Plum. Don’t overload the brush, you won’t need much
  3. Add some low-lights using Midori
  4. To add an irritated, fresh look, very lightly add the tiniest bit of Love+, and blend. I wanted to look like a drunk businessman wandering in after a 48-hour bender, so my bruises are meant to look slightly older. Once the blood dried it looked nice and crusty, too.
  5. Highlight with Buttercupcake and the slightest hint of Tako. The more yellow you use, the older your bruises will look!
  6. For a realistic-looking bloody nose, use a cotton swab and be sure to coat the inside of your nostril. Your challenge is to avoid picking at it for the duration of your outing.
  7. For added realism, add a bit of red and purple to your knuckles!

Voila!