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

Know Your (Fake) Blood

I love beauty but of course, I would want to stretch and exercise my creative mojo so sometimes, I like to go crazy. Here comes Halloween, a more proper excuse to get crazy with my craft and my outfits, my face, and my posts.

I've had fond memories of Halloween starting with trick-or-treating starting with crude costumes (basta black and mask OK na) then asking the neighborhood mananhi to make me a witch costume. It was fun, the houses were really cool and scary and I'd go home with so much candy, which I would then sort into jars according to flavor.

When it was my nieces' and nephews' turn for Halloween, it became more awesome because the houses we went trick-or-treating had so much themes, not limited to just scary. Costumes also have evolved and there were more costumes that were readily available in the mall, although some still DIY. It just didn't limit itself to candy but other houses gave out popcorn, cotton candy, fries, mini sandwiches, etc.  Even adults played dress-up, making it an entire family affair.

As a makeup artist, this season gives me the challenge to use not just traditional or airbrush makeup that I use for beauty, fashion, or glam but also special effects makeup and other materials such as tissue paper, cotton, string, etc. Zombie makeup is one of the things I enjoy doing the most. It's a challenge because we have to make it look realistic going from beauty to scary and gory. It's also fun because it's a time where I can let go of symmetry  and just be messy and super random. The bloodier, the better! Now, whenever I watch horror films and look at the zombies and monsters, I go, "Hmm... I wonder how the artist created that?"

Several fake blood I use to create my special effects wounds

What is zombie and gore makeup without blood? It's the key for really awesome, crazy effects. When I did that blog post on fake wounds and all as a practice, all the special effects makeup  were not yet available here in the Philippines and had to be ordered online. Back then, I had to make do with lipsticks, face paint, Elmer's glue, and lash glue. Now, I do most of my special effects makeup shopping in Purebeauty, Kryolan, and Make Up For Ever. I went DIY with my fake blood and substituted liquid latex with lash glue and Elmer's glue (yep, the same Elmer's glue we put on our hand then peel off when they dry when we were kids). I'm so happy that I now have special effects makeup available here!

When I went shopping for special effects makeup, I found out too that there are several types of fake blood, depending on the effect you're going for. Mix and match and you can get a real fun, gory Halloween look. Although I can go DIY on my fake blood using pancake syrup and some red and green food coloring (why green? A few drops of green food coloring can make the color look more realistic and earthy), the problem I have with this is that it can get really sticky, especially if you're wearing your special fx makeup at a party. The food coloring also can stain the skin. I reserve this DIY fake blood for blood that I place in the mouth, since this is edible anyway (it's pancake syrup!).

Store-bought fake blood, on the other hand, is less sticky and tacky and won't attract ants. They easily wash off with water and soap and the color doesn't leave a stain on the skin. You can wear this in a shoot, and just peel off the prosthetic and use makeup remover or wipes and you're good to go to your next appointment.

Should you want to go all gore and zombify the life out of you for Halloween, I'll be showing you four types of fake blood that I have with me and what I use them for.

Blood Paste (shown: Graftobian Blood Paste, Php 380)

Blood Paste comes in a jar and it has a super thick consistency, The color is almost real, and mimics real blood. The look of this is blood that has sitting too long and already gelled or coagulated, but still looks wet. I use this on scabs, deep wounds, or on the corners of wounds or burns, or the wound openings, to look like blood clots.


Blood Gel (shown: Graftobian Blood Gel, Php 480)

Blood Gel is really thick blood that looks almost like thick honey. It's super viscous you can tilt your hand and it won't drip right away. It's got the shine we want in our fake blood (it looks awesome in photos and film).

We can use this if we want the "run" or "drip" effect without the blood getting all over the place.

Stage Blood (Graftobian Stage Blood, Php 380)

This one is really watery. Actually, I use a cotton bud or thin art brush to apply this. I use this to create splatter effects on wounds with a stippling sponge or paper towel, just to make the look more messy. I find this red though a bit too orange for me, but I guess on camera or film, it does look brighter. This one can be placed on capsules as well for gunshot-type shots or when blood comes out of the mouth, from what I read in the directions.

Artificial Thick Blood (Make Up For Ever Artificial Thick Blood Php 800)

When it comes to thinner type of blood, I actually prefer using this because it's less orange and runs less. I can use a really thin brush to apply this on "wounds" or create blood "tears". The color is also more realistic. It's more on the brownish or earthy side and this one really looks nasty on wounds. I like using them on zombies as well since the blood here looks "old" and more oxidized, since no fresh blood runs on zombies as they have been dead for a long while (unless of course, it's a newly-born zombie that you're making).

Combining the fake blood can produce awesome and realistic effects like the infectious boil study I did over here:

Sorry for those who are eating. It actually looks pretty cool with the blood and the greasepaints all coming together. I applied blood paste on the crevices with a small spatula and created texture using a barbecue stick. Then, for a slower pour and drip, I used blood gel and splattered out some stage blood and draged with a thin brush. The messier, the better! The colorings were done using Ben Nye bruise and cuts wheels and foundation and I used my gelatin-glycerin mix to make the boils. The feel is actually soft and almost flesh-like it's freaky.

How crazy are you going this Halloween? What's the story behind your zombie?


Store Directory:

Graftobian
Available at Purebeauty Serendra, Glorietta 4, and TriNoMa; facebook.com/PurebeautyPH; shoppurebeauty.com; graftobian.com

Make Up For Ever
2/F Mega Fashion Hall Building D, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, (02) 631-5681; G/F Greenbelt 3, Makati City, (02) 621-5248; 1/F TriNoMa Mall, Quezon City, (0915) 990-9571; 2/F Main Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City (0919) 273-4805; makeupforever.com.ph; facebook.com/makeupforeverPH