Shyzerblog

I’m not going to lie: the sole purpose of this post is to show off the Hallowe’en costume that I’m more than a little proud of.

Hallowe’en is a big deal for me, and it’s all about the costume. The best costumes are ones that are scary or funny, that are intricate or make it difficult to walk and/or see (everything you were taught about Hallowe’en safety as a child was wrong) and, above all, are unflattering to the wearer. Sexy costumes? Please. You’ve got 51 other weekends of the year to slut it up before you go out. You only get one annual chance to accessorize your outfit with a festering wound, so take advantage.

This year I decided what I was going to be for Hallowe’en on November 1st of last year. But then halfway through October I changed my mind - I’d just had a marvelous new idea. It would be scary! It would be a play on words! It would involve drag! It would require my absolute favourite Hallowe’en thing: gory homemade FX makeup!

I did some research on how to achieve a realistic looking burn, and a few days before Hallowe’en I ran a little test. The process involved applying molten gelatine directly to the face, a technique which, if not monitored carefully, can lead to actual skin-peeling burns. And then how would you tell them apart?

Getting a good texture out of the gelatine was easier than I thought, and a little grease paint on top gave me a gory burn that would last all night and even looked convincing up close.

So I bought a dress, took a lighter to a 50 cent Honest Ed’s bra (those things do not burn easy) and partially melted a “Used Car Salesgirl” wig (those things do burn easy) and I had my costume: I was a bona fide Hot Tranny Mess, the tragic victim of a spontaneous implant explosion (every costume needs a back story).

Here’s a clearer picture of the final makeup:

For anyone interested, I took most of my inspiration from this link, only I did without the nail silks business (it looks like it adds a nice touch, but I couldn’t find the materials). I made my own gelatine based off of this recipe, only I didn’t use sorbitol (couldn’t find it), and I pretty much eyeballed the ingredients. Two packets of Knox baking gelatine (1.8 g each) went into about a quarter cup of glycerine with about a tablespoon of water. It’s forgiving stuff; if you’re not getting a good consistency you can add to it at any stage, even melting down stuff that has already set.

I took a much simpler approach to the makeup than in the tutorial, still with great results. I just used drugstore Hallowe’en greasepaint (I’ve been using the same kit for four years now) and applied it with my fingers, dabbing gently, and using a Q-tip for tight spaces. I applied red unevenly all over for the burn, then added some yellow into the crevices to make it look infected. A little black on some of the ridges and around the periphery of the burn added that charred look.