Avatar Costume Makeup

Hello lovelies!

So last night I did my first costume makeup look - as AVATAR! :)

This look needed a lot of preparation; I had to make my own prosthetics from scratch!

To do this I shaped some modelling clay into ears, and into a nose/forehead shape (I measured Dans head and nose - and then shaped the clay so it'd fit over his conk! :) ) As long as you keep the clay and your hands damp with cold water this bits pretty easy, and super fun! I made it easier to make the shapes by drawing outlines on paper first, which meant I could just pop them over the clay and cut the clay to get the right shape :) Make sure the nose part is super thick and wide - just like an Avatar! I left my clay for about two days to dry on a clingfilmed up tray..

Next, using a cheap paintbrush a applied a thin coat of liquid latex all over the clay casts. This stuff smells super strange! It takes about 15 minutes to be half dry (it goes from white liquid to clear liquid, so you'll know when it's dry), and I applied 4 layers, to make sure there wouldn't be any naughty holes in my prosthetics! You can see below the latex goes yellowy when it's thick enough to be taken from the clay cast.

For the next step I had to be extra careful, as if something goes wrong when peeling the latex back from the clay, it'll end up in a big sticky modge! :( To avoid this I liberally sweeped the top of the latex in Mehrons colorset powder. If you're doing this yourself, don't worry about getting that exact powder - any powder will do, loose powder, face powder, even pigments! You just need some small particles to attach themselves to the sticky latex, to make a barrier to prevent it from sticking to itself. As I peeled back the latex I sweeped the powder immediately onto the other side of the prosthetic too, don't forget this step!

Next up, you need to paint/decorate/embellish your prosthetics! For the avatar look I went for blue greasepaint, the blue in Kryolans Supracolour palette. It's important to note that the latex will only absorb/be decorated with cream makeup - eyeshadows and loose glitters or powders just won't stick! So to decorate prosthetics I used the blue face paint style makeup, and added some black bits, some pale blue bits and white bits too. I also used NYX glitter eyeliner sticks to add some fun little dots and lines. For the ears I also added a bit of pink face paint in too, and some veiny silvery and green glittery lines with the NYX pencils.

Next prepare the face for the prosthetics! I did this by applying the base blue colour all over Dans face - this meant there wouldn't be any awkward bits that weren't blue peeking out from under the prosthetics. Now to attach the prosthetics to Dans face! I used spirit gum, but for a quick photoshoot eyelash glue and kirby grips may work just as well. Pop the spirit gum either directly to the skin, or onto the prosthetic (you don't need hardly any!) and wait about 30 seconds till it becomes tacky, then stick your prosthetics on! (note - we don't need to stick the Avatar ears on with this - I'll explain how we work those later!). This is the most fiddly part - as the nose is such a terror to stick down perfectly! But be patient, and peel it off and start again if necessary, it'll work!

Now for the facepainting! I used this image as a general guide, but I didn't follow it completely at all - I made Dan into his own personal Avatar!

To get a glittery iridescent blue on some parts of the face I used NYX pigments in different shades of blue - they're brilliant! I can't recommend them enough, and they're really cheap! :)

For some darker lines I used the black shadow from Urban Decays Book of Shadows Volume 3, and blended. I used the white sparkly shade next to it ('Uzi') for highlighting and little white dots, and then the two blue shades on the bottom left for creating different lines and streaks. Again I also used the NYX glitter pencils for some more lines! :)

Next we popped Dans wig on and styled it a little - then for the ears! These need to be placed just above where Dans ears normally are, so to secure them I attached a pipecleaner to the back of them, which helped them hold their shape, and used masking tape to hold the pipecleaner in place. I then used kirby grips to attach the ears into the wig!

And voila - my lovely boyfriend as an Avatar!

Here's Dan before (looking a little surprised! haha :) )

And after!! :)

I LOVE these pictures! One day when we have children I know they'll laugh so much seeing their Pops dressed up as an Avatar!

Be creative and make yourself into an Avatar too!

Don't forget to send me the pics,

Emily xoxoxo