I’ve seen a few versions of this sort of thing. Each have beautifully glamorous makeup with either a zipper glued to their faces, unzipped to reveal gore or something else underneath, or flesh shredded all around to frame a perfect face. While these images are stunning, I have seen them a thousand times in the last few years. So when a friend suggested it, I wanted to do something slightly different.
I don’t claim to have come up with this idea on my own, I could swear I’ve seen a similar concept in the last year or two. I have failed to find the image I’m thinking of, which is why I am not including it as source of inspiration.
Either way, here is my creation, idea suggested by Quinn Kurenda.
I started off with super clean skin, and then sculpted scars where I felt the more obvious makeup lines would be seen. So eyebrows, eyeliner, lips and cheekbones. I used a two-part silicone (3rd Degree) to get this done quick and easy, since I had no prep time to make Pros-Aide transfers or anything. I made sure to blend in the edges as much as possible before it set, because once you start painting, that shit stands out and can really ruin the makeup.
For foundation, I had to use my airbrush. The downside to using silicone is that nothing wants to stick to it properly. A brush or a sponge tends to remove the product as quick as it puts it on. To spare myself that headache, airbrush was the solution, and I was able to get a smooth even base with Temptu Pro foundation. I chose a shade or two darker than my actual skin, to give it a ‘fake tan’ kind of look.
I then used a pale gold loose powder from OCC to create highlights (the colour name is sadly smudged off the label) and then punched up a couple of spots with the SeneGence Pearlizer. I wanted ridiculously overdone highlights. I then added a bit of contouring with my trusty Kat Von D Shade & Light palette.
I added a bit of rosy flesh colour to the lips, but not enough to have them look painted. I wanted to keep them ‘natural’, just like my eyes, save for a bit of black mascara.
I used alcohol activated makeup to paint inside the gashes to add depth, and around them a little to show redness. Illustrator Palette is awesome for that. Punched it up with Fleet St drying blood (I didn’t want it getting everywhere) and a bit of Graftobian Blood Gel to help it stick to the silicone.
And that was that. And for some reason, my friend Mark Pragai offered to come create a ‘moving image’ of my makeup with his fancy camera, but somehow it turned into a short hahaha! Thanks Mark, I love it <3
