Back To School for Halloween

Even if I've been experimenting so much with special effects makeup in my makeup posts, I never really went to school for it, for the reason that it was more of something that I just want to do for myself and most of what I do is usually beauty and bridal. It was a very expensive course too to take on its own so I figured out I'd wait it out first and put my money on other things. However, when the time and opportunity came for me to attend a Basic Special Effects workshop at the Center for Aesthetic Studies last month, I decided to go and grab this time. Although I'm not doing makeup as much as I did before, I still couldn't say no to this seasonal skill. My heart, after all, beats for special effects.

Literally I stepped into this school 10 years ago when I first had my very basic makeup training. Right now, it's in a different location.

Back then, the Center for Aesthetic Studies (or CAS) used to be in Jupiter Street and I used to walk from de la Costa to Jupiter with my makeup bag to get to class. Now, it's located along Gamboa Street in Legaspi Village on the other side of Makati, a walking distance away from Greenbelt 1.

We now have director's chairs! I recall the time I would hoard monoblock chairs to stack them together so I have a relatively high chair.

BYS Philippines has a special FX line to cater to your Halloween looks

We just had to bring our brushes and some other tools which fit a way smaller and lighter makeup bag. Makeup products were provided by the school with their partner brand, BYS Cosmetics, even for their special effects line. Yes! BYS also has a special effects line now!

Thanks to my student/friend Moe who agreed to be my practice model for the day despite the fact he had little sleep the night before. This is his photo before the crazies happened.

We started out with an introduction to special effects. We would learn ageing, bruises, cuts, lacerations, and burns. Already with the outline and my heart was pumping like doing cardio. Making stuff like these is so much fun. Also, we would be doing the other end. If in beauty makeup we hide flaws, here, we enhance flaws and make flaws. It's like my mind did an inversion.

For every segment, there would be a demo. Here is Teacher Bo giving a demo on the model. He has worked in countless TV productions and horror films (including the iconic horror movie series Shake Rattle and Roll). He even has a page in IMDb! Yes, being the nerd that I am, I actually researched this.  Teacher Bo has been my forever teacher in CAS since he was my teacher in basic makeup before.

ageing using cream/powder shading, stippling, liquid latex, and white greasepaint.

One important tip I learned from him is less is more. It's better to layer on products and blend it evenly to make things look more realistic. This holds especially true in bruises where it's not supposed to be one mask of purple paint but there should be a gradation of colors and the skin underneath should show through. I also learned that it's not just showering a fake would with red makeup and fake blood. There's a bit of other colors thrown in as well. If you get a real bruise, take a good look at it and see the different colors.

Nose laceration created with scar wax

Scar wax was a tricky thing to work with especially with spirit gum. This gets really sticky sometimes.

In special effects, we use old brushes and paint brushes (yes, the ones we buy at National Bookstore). This also puts to good use our powder brushes and other brushes that have seen better days. The sponges we use in beauty makeup can still be put to good use. Just give them a good wash and use them to apply liquid latex or tear them to create texture. We can even use old mascara wands to create texture or brush color on brows and mustaches or so on.  This is a good take on upcycling and lessen the turnaround time for a lot of sponges and brushes to be thrown out. 

blisters and third-degree burn

I had the most fun in creating burns because it involves layering of products. If you are not that squeamish, you can search actual photos of burns and wounds to make your work more realistic. If you're like me who's a bit squeamish, just type "special fx burn makeup". The search engine will give you graphic images, but at least you know that these were made by other makeup artists using fx makeup and not medical cases, so less chances for the stomach to turn.

I must admit that doing special effects was longer than doing beauty makeup. I usually do like a full glam makeup in 20-30 minutes (excluding hair). However, for special effects, it usually takes me an hour or more. Sometimes it takes even two hours depending on the concept. I do love it still because of the challenge and also, each look has a story. Like for a burn, how did the character get burned? What kind of burn? Is it an acid burn like Harvey Dent in Batman or was he burned by an angry mob like Freddy Krueger? If it's a cut, what kind of a cut is it, who or what made it, and so on. There are different kinds of fake blood to use and I already wrote ways on how they are used.

Of course this would not be complete without a photo-op with my teacher!

He even gave tips on how we could fine-tune our skills and how to store products, like pre-prepped prosethetic gelatin. He also gave tips on special fx equipment shopping should we start building our kit, like what to look out for, what colors to buy, and so on.

If not doing special effects makeup for Halloween for movies/tv or for Halloween, there are ways where I can apply this:

Gorify a vintage-themed party with a sexy zombie pinup girl look.

• Christmas parties. I know of some people who would extend Halloween gore to their themed Christmas parties. I once did a makeup on a friend who went for a drowned zombie look for her under-the-sea themed office Christmas Party. They had a standout zombie with the mermaids and fish.
• Prenup shoot - Some couples get creative beyond the usual HH-WW photos by the beach or garden or the staple flower crown smiling photo with a flowy skirt. You can have a Doom, Call of Duty, Walking Dead, or Zombieland - themed prenup shoot. Get your entourage in the fun and transform them to zombies in a zombie apocalypse themed shoot. 
• Recitals and performances - My brain has gone somersaults with conceptualizing a look with my friend Ronnie during his pole competition looks. Just in case he would have a zombie-themed competition look going, I am fully equipped. 
• Plays  - doing special effects makeup for stage requires a bit more heavy hand and less blending so the look can be seen from afar. Last 2015, I did an ageing look on veteran actor Bembol Roco for his role in the play Arbol de Fuego. He had to look around 20 years older than his actual age.

This is a tad more crude and the lines less natural for stage purposes.

I have more special effects makeup looks on Instagram. You can search for them via the hashtag #bambidelacruzmakeup on IG. Have fun coz I did!


Image Directory

Center for Aesthetic Studies Facebook page (workshop poster and school demo photo)
facebook.com/centerforaestheticstudiesph/


Store Directory:

BYS Cosmetics
www.bysphilippines.com / facebook.com/BYSPhilippines; instagram.com/bysphilippines

Center for Aesthetic Studies
Unit 103 1st Midland Condominium Gamboa St., Legaspi Village, Makati City ; 897-0383 / 897-0307 / 0917-8970383 / 0918-8970383 ; www.cas.com.ph ; facebook.com/centerforaestheticstudies.ph ; instagram.com/centerforaestheticstudies