X Factor "Doll Face" Makeup

Last night I tried out a makeup look unlike anything I have really attepted before. It's a makeup that makes it look as though you have a doll's face stapled onto your own, which was worn by a girl group on last year's Halloween X Factor (I don't watch the show which is why I had only been made aware of this makeup until now).

"Little Mix" girl group in the Halloween X Factor 2011. Photo by "Rex" (metro.co.uk)

So this time rather than just taking a photo of the end result, I've taken step by step photos to show how I created this look. Unfortunately I couldn't do a video tutorial because I don't have a recording device. It would've saved such a picture heavy post, but oh well.

Step 1: I drew the outline of the "mask" on my face lightly with an eyeliner pencil, leaving gaps about 1cm wide between each arc where the "staples" will be.

Step 2: Using a white foundation or face paint, colour the "mask" area. I used Barry M's creme foundation in white. In terms of a foundation, it isn't amazing, but in terms of white face makeup that you can pickup fairly cheap on the high street it's really quite good (all of the white face paints I have found have been truly awful!)

Step 3: Take your regular foundation and apply it to all the areas that you haven't painted white. If you're naturally very pale (like myself), you can use a foundation one shade darker than your own in order to make a higher contrast between the white and regular skin (remember to apply the foundation to the ears, down the neck to just past your clothing line and push into the hairline to prevent any foundation lines. This is especially important if you are wearing a foundation darker than your natural skin tone).

Step 4: Using a black eyeliner pencil, go over the mask outline that you made earlier. Also draw in the "staples". They're simply rectangles that start just in the mask area and finish in the regular skin area. Also you can draw in some small curved lines where the "staples" are attatched to the "mask" to indicatethe "material" stretching and pulling.

Step 5: Take a dark grey eyeshadow and apply it around the mask area. Blend it a little to replicate a shadow.

Step 6: Colour in the "staples" with a metallic coloured eyeshadow. I used a rusty copper colour, but you can use gold or silver too. I've even seen a tutorial where foil was used intead and stuck onto the face using eyelash glue!

Step 7: Using a bright pink blusher, apply it to the apples of your cheeks and blend it back a little. Don't worry about being subtle with it, because bright blusher looks much more doll-like. At this point I also darkened my eyebrows with an eyebrow pencil because there was white foundation on them.

Step 8: Apply black eyeliner around the eyes. Take a white eyeliner and apply it to the inner rims of the eyes (I didn't have any white eyeliner so I used a brush to apply some of the white foundation. NOT a good idea. It made my vision go blurry and my eyes water.) If you have them, now would be the time to apply false eyelashes on your top and bottom lashes. This would really enhance the look, but if you don't have any then you'll just have to layer up your mascara.

Step 9: For the lips I used a lipliner to outline the area that I wanted coloured. I then filled it in with red lipstick, outlined the coloured area fairly thickly with a black eyeliner pencil and finally blended it into the red lipstick slightly, leaving some of the outline still bold.

And there's the end product. To go with the doll look, curly hair, brads and bunches would work. Also, this is probably one of the only times that you can ever get away with pouting for a photograph!

If I went back and did this makeup again there are quite a few changes that I would make. I would get a real white eyeliner instead of using foundation for the inner rims of my eyes and buy some false eyelashes instead of layering up mascara. I would also have to work on getting the "shadows", the "staples" and the "stretched skin" looking right. I think having a sharp eyeliner pencil would help this a lot, as mine was blunt at the time.

Hope anyone reading finds this helpful and interesting!

Love B xxx

Halloween makeup in April? Why not!

So after a 2+ week absence, I am back.

Now, the other day I had 10 minutes before my mother was due home and I was a bored girlie. So I decided to try a quick and simple zombie/undead makeup on myself using the few items of makeup that were in the room at the time.

What I used:
- Green skin tone correction liquid (can find this in most cosmetic stores. The Natural Collection do a stick version which would probably work just as well. It's for cancelling out pink tones in the skin.)
- Lilac skin tone correction liquid (less common, but still available if you look. If not, it should be fairly easy to find online. It's for cancelling out yellow tones in the skin.)
- Black pencil eyeliner (Barry M)
- Red Lipstick (I had a bright one, but a darker colour may work a little better.)

What I did:

1. I applied the lilac liquid all over my face, blending it slightly. This pales the skin quite well. If you dont have a lilac then you could always use a foundation that's a couple of shades paler than what you usually use (haven't tried this, but may do at some point to see how well it works. In theory it should do just fine.)
2. I then applied the green in sections over my face, blending it into the lilac so that it didn't look so obviously like there were patches of green.
3. I applied some of my black eyeliner onto my fingertips and rubbed it in all of the contours of my face and slightly glanced it over the rest of my skin. Focus on your eye sockets and cheek countours.
4. I then applied the eyeliner around my eyes roughly.
5. For the "blood" effect, I put lipstick on my lips and smudged it towards my chin. I put a small amount of the colour in the corners of my eyes. On my cheek, I applied a single line of the lipstick, smudged it downwards slightly, and then went over the initial line lightly with the eyeliner.

TIPS:
- Don't forget to apply the makeup right up to the hairline, onto the ears, and down the neck past the point where your clothes start.
- Don't go overboard on the "blood" and injuries. Sometimes less really is more.
- For an alternative "blood", mix red food colouring to plain flour. There's no real measurements to this, you simply have to judge yourself and decide on the texture that you want.
- Don't be afraid to have a glass of cola or coffee before you do the makeup. In everyday life, yellow looking teeth are not idea, but in a zombie makeup, they rock!

Note: This isn't meant to be a realistic makeup as far as zombies go, it's a quick and easy attempt at a costume makeup that is just that: costume makeup!

And lastly, just to prove to you that I'm not really a zombie so that no-one comes and hunts me down:

Love B xxx

[ Instead of putting whatever relevant song/tv quote I was listening to at the time, I'm just going to shamelessly plug my photography website. Woohoo! http://blj-photography.webs.com ]