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What Lies in Granny's "Crypt"-ic Cupboard?
Searching for a scary Halloween mask? This halloween makeup idea is not for the faint-hearted! This gruesome brew is for those who love the horror of HELL-oween. If you are nifty enough, Granny's goodies could turn you into this!
The base of this Halloween makeup design is plain gelatin and strawberry jam. Remember, although this recipe sounds ghoulishly delicious, it's not to be eaten!
Follow directions on the gelatin box, adding the proper ratio of boiling water to plain gelatin. To this, add about 1/3 ratio of glycerine to your mixture. (Glycerine is available in most pharmacies.) The glycerine will prevent the gelatin from cracking and give you ghoulish lasting power. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and simmer for five minutes. When it starts to cool, skim off the milky froth that floats to the top. Clear gelatin is all that should remain.
Pour part of the gelatin mixture into a cup that you will work from. You can reheat the remaining mixture on the stove or just microwave the cup you are working with, as the mixture will cool and become difficult to work with.
Take your artist's spatula and put a small amount of gelatin on the back of your wrist to test the temperature. The mixture should be warm and fluid, but not uncomfortably hot to the skin. Now apply the gelatin to the face as if you were icing a cake.
Purposely do some sections of your subject's face thicker than others to develop different textures and levels. The gelatin will want to drip sometimes, so catch these drips with the tip of your spatula and change their direction so they don't set. Do one layer, let it dry and proceed with the next layer. As each layer gets tacky, use the tip of the spatula to create nooks and crevices. After 3 to 5 layers have been completed, you can create small holes to look like open, rotting wounds! (For those of you that are completely grossed by this Halloween mask, stick to lip gloss!)
Take the tip of your artist's spatula and carefully dig a little hole through the layers until you arrive at the skin. You must be careful not to scratch the skin for
obvious reasons - it hurts. A pair of cuticle scissors will help snip away small parts of gelatin to create large craters. Now fill the small holes and craters with strawberry jam (no tasting) and let the jam bleed slightly out of the wound.....Yum!
Ghouls in training may take this scary Halloween mask a step further by darkening the eyes with red, purple and black eye shadows. A grey and blue eye pencil will give a gorgeously ghastly color to the mouth. And remember, no nibbling on the jam, just on your victims.
Robert Closs is the Founder and Managing Director of The School of Professional Makeup in Toronto, Canada. http://www.promakeupart.com
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