Carl Haines was transformed into a creepy clown by makeup artist Elvis Gonzalez.
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DIANE S. W. LEE / DLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Cassandra Oshita was transformed into a terrifying ghost by makeup artist Elvis Gonzalez.
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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Makeup artist Elvis Gonzalez crafted a gruesome arm wound for a gory Halloween look.
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Kelsi Swain, left, shows off a unicorn look done by Party City’s Stephanie Patoc. Party City’s Thaya Chun used black paint to create spider webs around Aumari Gunter’s eyes, at right.
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If you’re still procrastinating on your perfect Halloween look this year, we’ve got a few gruesome and playful ideas.
You can always play it safe and default to the same costume you’ve worn in the past. Why be boring? It’s not necessary to shell out a ton of money on a Halloween costume you’ll only wear once — or worse yet — leave sitting in your closet to collect cobwebs and dust mites.
Here are step-by-step instructions for simple Halloween makeup ideas for both adults and little ones. Look no further than your kitchen cabinet or bathroom shelf for materials to complete your look. If you’re missing a few items at home, don’t worry, you can find them at a party-supply store or drugstore.
Every year, the Haunted Plantation attraction in Waipahu scares the dickens out of visitors with the presence of creepy clowns, terrifying obake and spooky tales of reported hauntings. “Last year, our clown was our very best scare,” Elvis Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez, 39, discovered his passion for Halloween makeup in 2008. In 2014, he joined the small makeup team at the Haunted Plantation. There, he works on a three-person team to apply makeup, transforming 60 actors into scary monsters.
Good news: You don’t need a background in makeup artistry to pull off these looks. It’s easy to apply horror makeup using household items such as gelatin and food coloring, Gonzalez said.
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“You could come up with a way to put it on your face and make an awesome costume with it without blowing a budget,” he said.
TERRIFYING OBAKE
>> Difficulty level: Medium
>> Length: About 40 minutes
>> Materials needed: Baby powder, black food coloring, black liquid eyeliner, white cream makeup, wedge applicator sponges, brush set, “horror makeup palette” and a gray wig. (Black contact lenses are optional. See note below.*)
Steps:
1. (Put in black contact lenses if you’re using them.) Tie hair back. Using a wedge applicator sponge, cover the entire face with white cream makeup. Pat the sponge gently onto the face. Avoid applying makeup around the eyes.
2. Next, cover the neck with white cream makeup. Use the sponge to blend.
3. Take a deep breath. Now apply baby powder with another sponge onto the face and neck. This will help to set the white cream makeup. Use the sponge to brush off any loose baby powder.
4. Create an aged look by using the black liquid eyeliner to draw wrinkles on the face. Draw lines to highlight the following areas: laugh lines, lower lip and philtrum. Draw vertical lines on the top and bottom of the lips. Add lines to the cheekbones, chin and jawbone.
5. Make an angry face to create natural wrinkles. Draw black lines into the crumpled areas on forehead and nose.
6. Grab the sponge to blend in the rough lines. Use fingers to smudge the lines in a downward motion.
7. Add shadows by drawing vertical lines along the neck.
8. Using the makeup palette, apply black around the eyes. Run black liquid eyeliner over the eyelashes. Use fingers to gently blend in.
9. Apply more black makeup over the solid lines on the face and the neck. This will add some depth and shadow to the look.
10. Top off with a gray wig. Add a few drops of black food coloring onto the tongue. Swish around.
>> Note: Consult with your eye doctor before using decorative lenses.
From kid-friendly faces to hair-raising looks, follow these step-by-step instructions to improve your Halloween game. Horror makeup artist Elvis Gonzalez demonstrates how to create a ghost look on model Cassandra Oshita.
(Video by Diane S. W. Lee / dlee@staradvertiser.com)
GRUESOME ARM WOUND
>> Difficulty level: Medium to hard
>> Length: About 15 minutes
>> Materials needed: Candy blood spray, 4 envelopes unflavored gelatin powder (divided), glycerin, paintbrush set, red food coloring, light corn syrup, three small paper cups, plastic cup, two microwave-safe bowls and a metal spoon
Steps:
1. Pour two envelopes of gelatin into a small paper cup. Using level of the gelatin as a measurement, pour the same amount of light corn syrup into the second paper cup. Repeat with the glycerin in a third paper cup.
2. Pour the corn syrup and glycerin into the plastic cup. Using the end of the paintbrush, mix together and then sprinkle the gelatin into the plastic cup and stir slowly. Avoid stirring vigorously, so air bubbles don’t form.
3. Add two more envelopes of gelatin into the plastic cup. Stir slowly until ingredients are mixed.
4. Transfer the items into a microwave-safe bowl.
5. Put the bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds and watch out for air bubbles. Then mix the ingredients.
6. Microwave for another 10 seconds and stir. Then microwave for another 10 seconds and stir. If the mixture is loose and sticky, it’s ready. (“The reason why I do it in increments is because if you just nuke it for 30 seconds, it’ll bubble it up. You want a controlled environment,” Gonzalez said.)
7. Using the paintbrush, apply the mixture onto the arm to make it look like cobwebs.
8. Using the back of the brush, create a slit in the middle. This will be the gruesome cut.
9. If the mixture gets cold, you’ll need to reheat it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Use the mixture to make a border wall around the slit. This will create the illusion of a deep cut.
10. Fill a second microwave-safe bowl with water and microwave for 15 seconds. Put a metal spoon into the heated water for 45 seconds. Apply the back of the warm spoon onto the cobweb to slightly melt the edges into the skin.
11. Spray candy blood onto the slit. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the middle and let it drip. The messier, the better. Let it dry.
12. Now concoct a story about how you got that gruesome cut on your arm. Did a zombie bite you? Did you accidentally cut yourself? “I was playing basketball trying to climb the fence to retrieve the ball and on my way down I just kind of caught it right at the fence,” Gonzalez said.
CREEPY CLOWN
>> Difficulty level: Medium to hard
>> Length: About 40 minutes
>> Materials needed: Black food coloring, black liquid eyeliner, paintbrush set, “horror makeup palette,” wedge applicator sponges, zombie blood, white cream makeup, foam clown nose and hair spray. (Colorful clown wig and white zombie contact lenses are optional. See note below.*)
Steps:
1. (If using, put in white zombie contact lenses.) Create a grungy look by spraying hair spray over hair. “Just give it a withered look,” Gonzalez said. “Mess it up a little bit.” Use fingers to style hair.
2. Use the applicator sponge to cover the entire face with white cream makeup. Pat the sponge gently onto the face and earlobes. Avoid applying makeup around the eyes.
3. Cover the neck area with white cream makeup. Use fingers to smudge the makeup. “We’re going for a controlled mess,” Gonzalez said.
4. Using black liquid eyeliner, draw curved triangles above both eyebrows. Add a dot above the first and second triangles. Draw a horizontal line across the edge of the lips (think: English mustache). Add straight lines to the cheekbones and chin. Then add curved lines to the temple, forehead, jawbone and nose. Create small jagged lines above and below the lips. Draw upside down triangles under both eyes, then add a dot under each triangle.
5. It’s contour time. Using the makeup palette, apply black onto the curved line on the forehead and cheekbones. Dab the wedge applicator sponge to blend the colors.
6. Apply black from the makeup palette to the tip of the nose, upper lip and chin. Use fingers to smudge the makeup.
7. Highlight the eyes with red inside the black guidelines you created. Don’t worry about going outside the lines (the messier, the better). Apply black above and below the eyelids. Use the makeup applicator sponge to blend the red and black. Use finger to apply more black around the eyes and neck.
8. Apply black makeup to puckered lips and outer edges of lips.
9. Dab some black from the makeup palette to smudge in skin-tone areas on the face.
10. Apply zombie blood above the right eyebrow and underneath the eye. Let it drip. “Just let gravity do its thing,” Gonzalez said.
11. Add a few drops of black food coloring onto the tongue. Swish around.
12. Add zombie blood to the foam clown nose. Slide the foam clown nose onto the tip of the nose.
13. Optional: Top off the look with a colorful clown wig.
>> Note: Consult with your eye doctor before using decorative lenses.
From kid-friendly faces to hair-raising looks, follow these step-by-step instructions to improve your Halloween game. Horror makeup artist Elvis Gonzalez demonstrates how to create a creepy clown look on model Carl Haines.
(Video by Diane S. W. Lee / dlee@staradvertiser.com)
KEIKI-FRIENDLY IDEAS
If you can get your kid to sit still for at least five minutes, try these two face-painting ideas at home: a magical unicorn and a friendly Spider-Man lookalike.
Spider-Man and unicorn are among the most searched costumes on Google this year. With the release of “Aquaman,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther,” it’s not surprising that superheroes are a favorite look for boys. The unicorn is among the most requested looks for girls who visit Party City of Hawaii, Inc. on Nimitz Highway, which recently held keiki Halloween face-painting sessions using watercolor-based makeup.
“A lot of times when you ask them, ‘Do you want a unicorn? Do you want Wonder Woman?’ ” said Andrew Shum, vice president of operations at Party City of Hawaii, Inc. “When they hear ‘unicorn,’ they want the unicorn.”
If you make a mistake, don’t worry; you can wash it off with soap and warm water. Face wipes and makeup remover might come in handy.
>> Tip: If you’ve got active kids who like to run around, you might want to consider investing in a makeup sealer or setting spray to help the makeup stay put. “If you spray that sealer on, it’s going to make the face nice and dry,” Shum said.
MAGICAL UNICORN
>> Difficulty level: Easy
>> Length: About 5 minutes
>> Materials needed: Watercolor-based makeup (white, blue, red, yellow and black), flat utility makeup brush and a cup of water
Steps:
1. First, you’ll need to create two pastel colors (pink and lavender). Combine white and red to make pink. Mix red, blue and white to create lavender.
2. Using a clean flat utility brush, paint a white horn onto the forehead in between the brows.
3. Wash the brush in the cup of water before applying each color. Next, paint a pink stripe across the forehead. Avoid painting over the horn.
4. Paint a yellow stripe directly underneath the pink.
5. Paint a lavender stripe directly underneath the yellow.
6. Now add some details to the horn. Paint three curved black stripes to highlight the horn.
7. Optional: Add some sparkles. Use the white watercolor to draw asterisks and dots on the edges of the rainbow. “You could just give that illusion with the white that there are sparkles on her face,” Shum said.
From kid-friendly faces to hair-raising looks, follow these step-by-step instructions to improve your Halloween game. Kelsi Swain shows off a unicorn look done by Party City of Hawaii, Inc.’s Stephanie Patoc.
(Video by Diane S. W. Lee / dlee@staradvertiser.com)
FRIENDLY SPIDER-MAN LOOKALIKE
>> Difficulty level: Easy
>> Length: About 5 minutes
>> Materials needed: Watercolor-based makeup (black and red), flat utility makeup brush and a cup of water
Steps:
1. Using the flat utility brush, create a red domino mask around the eyes. Avoid painting on the eyelids. “For younger children, we recommend giving a lot of space around the eyes in case they move around,” Shum said.
2. Wash the brush in the cup of water before applying the next color. Paint vertical black stripes inside the red mask.
3. Connect the vertical black stripes with curved, black horizontal lines on the top and the bottom to create cobwebs.
4. Add the finishing touch by creating a black border around the mask.
From kid-friendly faces to hair-raising looks, follow these step-by-step instructions to improve your Halloween game. Party City of Hawaii Inc.’s Thaya Chun face paints Spider-Man on Aumari Gunter.
(Video by Diane S. W. Lee / dlee@staradvertiser.com)