Making a Horror Mask for Halloween
Making a Halloween mask is an activity that parents and kids alike love to do. While all types of Halloween costumes exist are available to purchase, whether they come with a mask already made, or come with makeup to paint your face, and these would definitely be easier to purchase.
However, purchasing a pre made mask would defeat the purpose of making the mask, not to mention that it’s difficult to change a pre-made mask into exactly what you want it to be. Besides, what fun would buying a pre-made mask be? None at all…
Not only is making masks with your children for Halloween a fun activity to help you get ready for the holiday, but it is a great way to save money and the environment while passing the time and the days without being too bored or anxious.
The first step to mask making is determining the type of costume you want, whether it is a horror mask with the “skin” cut up and bleeding, a burn victim, or a ghoul. After you decide the type of horror character you’ll be, you’ll need to gather the supplies to make the mask. While supplies will vary with the type of mask you are making, if it’s a horror mask you’re after, then you’ll need at least the following items:
A blood and guts kit: This consists of blood and scar material. You can make your own blood using corn syrup and red food dye. For the guts, you can simulate burns using a latex glove and prosthetic adhesive. You can simulate scars by using latex gloves as well, but you’re probably better off buying a prosthetic kit from the Halloween shop.
Prosthetic Kit: While you certainly could make your own prosthetic – and some do for extremely elaborate costumes and masks – we don’t recommend it unless you’ve done it before, or unless you have a professional guiding you. Making prosthetics is a topic for another post, but suffice it to say that there are many steps and they are extremely time consuming and difficult – so difficult in fact that even master monster makers who work on movies still don’t get them right all the time.
Paints & makeup: Unless you are allergic to the ingredients, we recommend that you use oil-based paints or makeup to make your horror Halloween mask. Using oil based paints offers several advantages over using water based paints including the fact that oil based paints are more vibrant, don’t rub off easily, and apply easier – usually in one coat.
However, because oil based paints are smudgeproof, they require special makeup remover to take off the makeup purposefully. Water based paints on the other hand are too easy to remove, and usually needs to be reapplied in a few hours, though they are usually non-toxic and easier on the skin – that means the paint is safe for kids and sensitive skin.
Have you ever made a mask for Halloween? Let us know in the comments!