Monday, July 28, 2014

DIY: Make Your Own Prosthetic Halloween Mask

Making your own prosthetics is actually a lot simpler and cheaper than one may think. Seriously there is absolutely no need to go out and buy an expensive special effects prosthetic mask. You can make your own for pennies on the dollar.
What you will need:
1. A roll of toilet paper
2. Liquid latex
3. Makeup kit
The first step is to wash your face...scrubba dubba, wash up good, wash up real good. Scrubba dubba doooo.....
The next step is pretty freakin easy. You simply open up your liquid latex and apply a light thin coat to your forehead cheekbones and chin.
Let the liquid latex dry for about a minute or so. The stuff dries pretty fast, and once it has a half wet half dry feeling you then begin applying toilet paper.
For a bumpy looking face (which is a good look if you are going for a burn victim, or rotting zombie) you take a bit of toilet paper and roll is up into a ball shape. You then stick the ball to your face, make more balled paper and stick it onto the latex.
For wrinkles all you have to do is apply the toilet paper and add small creases to the paper.
After you have a toilet filled face you then brush on some more liquid latex. Allow it to dry in the same manner as before. After this layer is applied you can add more toilet paper to areas you want to touch up. You can make your chin longer or fatter.
Basically making your own prosthetics is like paper mache'. You keep adding layers of toilet paper until you have the look you want. After applying all of the toilet paper where you want it, let your face completely dry.
After you are dry you can then go back and rip open holes in the toilet paper to give the look of a scar or flesh wound.
The next step is to apply makeup. This is harder than making the actual prosthetic. Apply makeup slowly and gently until you have the desired look you were going for. For scars and flesh wounds add black and red colors. You want to start with light makeup and then add darker shading to other areas, such as your cheekbones, eyes, and mouth.
When you are finished you should look terrifying, disgusting, or dead. The result is one of a kind, so go out enjoy a Halloween costume contest and see if your creation will take home the prize.
Making prosthetics this way not only saves you a ton of money, but it is one of a kind. Purchasing those prosthetic kits are cool too, but really you may run into someone who purchased the same kit. Not cool. Not original.
Other gruesome tips:
Before applying makeup, you can really take your prosthetics up a notch by going into your cabinet and getting some cornflakes, rice, and chips.
You will indeed be adding food to your face. Apply a small dab of liquid latex to your forehead, neck, nose, and upper lip. After the latex is semi dry add some chips, rice and rice krispies to your face. I know it looks dumb now, but after you apply makeup to these household foods they appear to look like burns, scabs, and maggots. The key is to apply makeup to them well, and blend well.
You don't have to stop there. Use your imagination.
I've used string licorice before to give off the impression of long worms crawling through my skin.
To get this look, apply the licorice string, then add a few layers of toilet paper over the licorice for a tight hold. Applying the licorice strings to your neck is also a neat nasty looking place to put them. You can also add them to your arms and hands. Don't be afraid to allow some of them to hang.
Seriously if you just put a little imagination into it, you can have a gnarly prize winning costume in just about an hours time.
There you have it, an easy to follow guide on how to make your own one of a kind prosthetic mask.

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