Skull Makeup Made Easy

Painting a death mask on the living has existed for centuries, especially within the rich Mexican culture that frequently incorporates the use of skulls and skeletons throughout their Day of the Dead celebrations. It's actually my immersion in the Mexican cultures that lead me to meet La Santisima Muerte, my inspiration for this particular skull makeup. Various sources cite her as being a sort of female incarnation of Death while others have her as a vengeful being that had offerings made to her to keep loved ones faithful.

But I'm not here to give you a history lesson; I'm here to tell you a little bit about makeup. Namely, just how should you go about painting yourself like this and not end up looking like the wrestler, Sting. Not sure who that is, huh? Moving right along then!

One of the first things you need to understand is how weather is going to affect your makeup and I don't mean in the obvious way that rain can take you from Goth diva to bad Crow impersonator in a few moments. When you're altering your skin color drastically such as this, it's a very heavy base that can take several layers, especially if you're in a lot of heat. Going to a club with makeup like this will be affected not just by drunken club goers who insist on touching your face asking you stupid questions, but by all the body heat everyone is putting off in an enclosed area.

Take a standard white grease base such as Ben Nye or Mehron, although those cheap greasepaints you pick up for pennies around Halloween will work, the quality of the stage standards cannot be beat. It's always best to apply in light layers with a sponge instead of trying to achieve dinner plate white in one fatal swoop by plopping the entire contents on your face at once.

After you're satisfied with the white face, set the makeup with a dusting of face powder. I cannot stress how important this it, although it's not an impenetrable force field, it will protect the majority of the white makeup. I've hugged people after shoots, forgetting all the makeup I've had on, and have had little to no make-up transfer onto them. I use Ben Nye's neutral set powder, but have also used simple baby powder in a pinch...

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