Welcome to Members’ Corner, where our members share their knowledge and passion on the subjects they know best. Following yan57436's fragrance masterclass, this time we’ve got a spooky treat in store for you, courtesy of cosplay-loving Raven. After sharing a few of their highly impressive favourite looks, Raven gives some advice for would-be DIY FX makeup artists who want to master fake blood techniques for all manner of occasions and injuries.
Raven’s favourite looks
Cosplay is one of my favourite hobbies, and I really love doing FX makeup, especially the scary and gory stuff. I don’t always have professional makeup or fancy SFX materials, so I get creative. There’s just something so cool about making yourself look like a horror movie monster using only the stuff you can find at home.
I use things like oatmeal, paper tissue, white glue, and even coffee to make textures that look like burnt skin, open wounds, or peeling flesh. Sometimes I even use gelatine or flour mixed with water to make fake skin. You don’t need expensive stuff to make awesome FX looks; it’s super fun to just experiment and see what works!
One of the looks I’m most proud of is my zipper-face makeup, for which I made it look like my skin was being unzipped to show the bloody flesh underneath. I used a real zipper glued to my face with school glue, which I don’t recommend if you have sensitive skin. Then I used tissue and glue to build up the ‘skin’ around it and painted it red and black to look like raw flesh. Finally, I added some fake blood for some extra gore!
Another favourite is my stitched mouth makeup, which I created for Halloween. It was inspired by horror movies in which the monster has its mouth sewn shut. I wanted it to look as real as possible, and used black tissue paper to create the effect of deep cuts. For the stitches, I glued pieces of thread to my lips. It was really hard not to laugh or talk while wearing it, but the final look was totally worth it - it freaked a lot of people out, which was exactly what I wanted.
How to create your own fake wounds using everyday materials
If you want to make fake blood with stuff from a convenience store, it’s super easy. Just mix corn syrup with red food colouring and a tiny drop of blue to give it more realistic darkness. For thicker blood, add a little cocoa powder. That will make it look like it’s clotted and stop it looking like red syrup. Another trick is using instant coffee to darken the blood and give it a dried crusted look, which is ideal for simulating older wounds. If it’s a fresh-wound look you’re after, then mix in some crushed cereal or oatmeal. It sounds weird, I know, but it looks super real when you add it to fake wounds.
I love playing around with these materials to see how realistic I can make my gory makeovers. It’s amazing how much you can do with simple things you’d find in your kitchen. As well as saving money, I think DIY FX makeup is more fun as you have to be creative and think outside of the box.
For my next project, I’d like to try to make a torn-off face effect or maybe a nasty, rotting zombie look complete with maggots (I’m leaning towards using rice). There’s always something new to experiment with, and that’s what makes FX makeup so exciting. Whether it’s for cosplay, Halloween, or just for fun, I love seeing how far I can push my skills with basic household stuff!
If you’re planning to give DIY FX makeup a go, do ensure that whatever you’re adding to your skin is safe and be sure to share your looks below! And Raven, we’d love to see that maggot look when it’s ready!
If you're looking for more Members' Corner submissions to read, check out Horror and Cats's cat-rescue essentials or Konquest's introduction to musical theory. Thanks again for all the great submissions to our latest Members' Corner reward; you can find all original entries here as well as the original wording of Raven’s post here. We plan to run more Members' Corner rewards in future, so keep an eye out for those, along with more curated articles based on the winners of these rewards.
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