Halloween prosthetic make-up: A how-to guide

If you want to look like a bona fide zombie this Halloween, but can’t be bothered putting in massive amounts of effort then look no further.  Lydia Norris gives us a beginner’s guide to Halloween prosthetic make-up.

What you’ll need:

Fake blood (ideally in cake form)

Prosthetic moulding wax

Spirit gum glue

Dark eye shadow (black, grey, purple)

Foundation or concealer

Staples

Make-up brush

Gel blood (optional)

Kirby grip (optional)

(All materials can be found cheaply on Amazon)

Method:

1. First, prep the part of your face where you want your prosthetic to sit with spirit gum glue, and allow a few minutes for it to dry to a tacky consistency. The easiest part to build a prosthetic on is the bridge of your nose, because there is a rigid bone you can work against, whereas on your neck the skin is much softer and gives way more quickly.

2. Now, take your prosthetic moulding wax, and remove a chunk about the size of a pound coin using a bent Kirby grip (this way it doesn’t end up underneath all of your finger nails for the next week).

3. Soften the wax between your finger and create an oval shape. Once it is shaped you can place it on the glue and allow it to set for a minute.

4. When the wax it set, blend the edges into your skin to create a smooth transition from the prosthetic to your face.

5. Now, either use the Kirby grip again or your finger to create a ‘slit’ through the wax.

6. Mould the wax into an open wound shape and apply foundation to blend the wax with the colour of your skin. Alternatively, you can buy pre-coloured wax in your skin tone.

7. Now comes the fun bit! On the very inside of the cut apply fake blood. The cake format is easiest to work with and you just apply as you would ordinary face paint.

8. Use eye shadow to shade around the cut and give the illusion of bruising and ‘scabbing over’.  A little bit of black eye-shadow in the ‘cut’ tends to provide good definition.

9. You can then apply some optional gel or liquid fake blood if you want your cut to appear ‘fresh’ as it were. Alternatively, skip this step to give your wound a ‘scabbed over’ effect.

10. Stick staples into the moulding wax to give the impression that they are holding the edges of the wound together.

11. Finally, take some sensational selfies and upload them to Instagram with appropriate filters to prove that you and you alone own Halloween!