Welcome! To the most creepy month in a year! To the world of sfx and bodypainting stuff! Welcome.. to Halloween!

Hi, how are you there guys? Missed me?

Lets begin with something basic and cheap going to something big and a bit more expensive.

1. SFX gelatin.

Basically gelatin powder + glycerin + water in proportions 1+1+1.5 accordingly. Mix all and bring to a double boiler or to a microwave for 5 second and stir. Boom, done - you can create a gelatin zombie or burns and if you have a mold you can create many kewl things. You can add your foundation into it or make it bloody, any color depending on your needs. Really nice thing, the only 1 problem is to find the proper amount of time to work with it as it sets quickly and burning hot when... hot. Plus is that you can freeze it and keep for as long as you need.

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2. Rigid collodion

Get this thing and dive into the world of realistic looking scars. Very easy to work with. Mark the line with pink pencil/aq paint, blend a bit and apply few layers of this little thing. WARNING! Dont work with it much and at the same area as there is a chance to get a real scar.

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3. Water activated body paints

The most easy and kewl way to celebrate Halloween, especially if you know how to draw things but even simple designs will go a long way with the costume.

I personally recommend Wolfe FX paints as they are pretty good and pretty affordable. Next goes mehron with its super black paradise paint and pretty white one which smells like coconut heaven. Then Kryolan which smells like theatrical makeup but has pretty nice coverage. My favorite palette is on a preview pic. Its universal and unique at the same time. At least for me. The only one problem that I see is its easy to smudge. In this case read below

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4. Fixing spray and fixing powder

I own two fixing sprays - Mehron Barrier Spray which is moist looking thing and Ben Nye Final Seal which is matte and has a mint scent. Be careful when fixing as if you'd spray a little amount with drops of spray - you will get fixed dots and smudged makeup.

My absolute fav powder is Ben Nye Neutral set. I also have Cameo luxury powder but... its luxury, you know. Neutral set is colorless powder which allows to use it on any skin tone and it really fixes things on your face/body. I recommend it to try, even for every day makeup.

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5. Bruise wheel

Oh this magic wheel with cream colors. A thing to get for your kit, bruising, scratches, many colorful stuff and nice characters to create. Rich creamy texture. Must have.

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5. Liquid latex

Yeah I know I've been talking about it a lot already. With latex you can create anything. Anything, Karl! Here's the article to read - > liquid latex and here's the example of usage 

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6. Nose and scar wax or plastilina

I use Ben Nye, Powdah uses Ben Bye. Nice thing to create realistic missing parts or cuts and scars. A bit hard to work with. Requires practice and Vaseline/petroleum jelly/lotion/makeup remover to smooth the wax on your skin. Dont take with your bare fingers as you'd get stuck and its nasty. Cover fingers with Vaseline and then start working with wax. Apply it with adhesive which I will talk about below.

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7. Adhesives

Spirit gum with remover. Which is important. Never buy this thing without a remover. I recommend a small kit which graftobian and mehron provides. Little amount will go a long way if you wont try to attach a whole magician beard to yourself. Apply, tap until its sticky and add anything you need to add on top. Particularly wax, but also prosthetics, parts, creep wool and etc. Remove with remover. I recommend to buy a twice big bottle of remover. Trust me, it wont be bad idea.

I'm not familiar with Prosaide but I know that it holds things better but its more tricky to remove.

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8. Blood!

The best thing for me is a Ben Nye scab blood aka fresh scab. I love it. I dont even have words to describe you just need to try and feel what I mean. 

I'm also an owner of graftobian blood paste and blood gel and it leaves nasty orange lines on your skin after you remove it. Also the color is not right so - nope.

To achieve the dripping blood effect I mix some scab with some black aqua color and some water. The result is on a pic above where you can see an elf.

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9. Alcohol activated paints

I'm so happy to have ppi on set alcohol activated paints as its just an amazing thing. You will need it to color wax as if you'd use watercolors the creation might be ruined. The most expensive little guy in my kit - 55$ while the full version costs 80$. but worth it. Once you try, you wont regret buying.

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10. Other stuff

cotton pads or cotton

qtips

metallic spatula for wax work mostly

brushes - any brushes you like to use, dont get expensive ones for such kind of work

wood sticks

makeup sponges

stipple sponge for texture

cheap cream concealers - you might need them

acrylic nails for teeth mostly

So this is pretty much all for beginners kit. You can also add some eyeshadow, liners, later you will be thinking about bone wax and more ppi palettes, 3rd degree, tooth effects or something like that. And of course many many many other sfx stuff you may need or may not need.

Hope you like my little article and till next time. Thanks for reading!

-V.