angry elf makeup tips

[martin ewen]

Hello, in 24 hours I will be wearing an elf suit I had made, and an elf hat at a large civic event.
They should be arriving shortly.
I'm 12 foot tall 'Santa's little helper'
I'm going to have a long list, because I'm a long person and there are a lot of names involved.
No-one at tomorrows parade is going to be on that list. I have the list, I'm santa's little helper therefor if anyone knows I do., I do in fact know and no-one tomorrow is on the list. Ipso-fucking-facto.

anyway, I know it's short notice but I won't be whiteface which is all I'm semi-good at after 25 years.

I have my own makeup/s brushes etc.

Basic stuff, *sigh* don't make me have to shave a weeks growth and get a skype headshot

hints, links to basic stuff with headshots

[Rachel Peters]

Get a woman's collection of makeup or get some from a store. Get the cheap stuff - it can get really pricey.

I think real make up might be the best route, personally - but be careful not to get too subtle of shades - it's still got to stand out.

I think you might want to start with a light concealer, which will make your face all one tone of skin colour - a pail-ish winter elf. Not white-face, but pail flesh. Concealer goes on pretty smoothly with a sponge, and it's liquid. Blend it around the jaw so it doesn't just stop abruptly. It's not a mask that stops at the neck, it's supposed to be your skin, which blends into the rest.

Take blush to the cold face places - apple cheeks (more front of the cheeks than than the sides), nose and maybe chin. You don't want it to be clowny circles, but more like you've been out skiing all day. Start with a little and keep adding until it feels right. Take a few steps back across the room and look in the mirror again. You need to be able to tell from a distance - it's that balance between not being too subtle but not being a clown.

I think YOU need to be a really tired elf.
Get some brown eye shadow and give yourself dark under your eyes! Follow the natural shadows under your eyes and exaggerate them.

I might just consider a light, pinkish lipstick (some brands call that "nude") because you don't want to look like a male elf who's trying to look like a woman... unless you do. But I don't think you do. But you probably will need a bit of colour on the lips or they'll just disappear with that caked coating of concealer. No lips makes you look ill, but not in a funny way. Just really creepy ill.

Some options - a few freckles with brown eyeliner?
and Possibly some cartoon-style drawn eye lashes, ala: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thum...istmas-elf.jpg?
Eyelashes would be best in black eyeliner, I think.

For angry, the bags under the eyes and your natural Lurky expression might be enough, but if you want to try, it might be fun to experiment with covering your real eyebrows with makeup and adding permanently quizzical ones: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mJ4lc_Q9Q6...ThomasEyes.jpg
Just an idea, if you have the time to experiment. I just linked the first decent example of cartoon eyebrow expression I found.
If you do this, first watch yourself making the right expression in the mirror and try to emulate the shape of those eyebrow expressions.

That's all I've got.

(on second thought, fake eyebrows might be too much... hard to tell without trying.)

[Rachel Peters]

Rosey cheeks, freckles, light lipstick: http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/m...iser/18234.jpg

Santa cold cheeks/nose: http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/P/6/...use3poster.jpg

Nice and pale: http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2006...clause_005.jpg

[martin ewen]

that kid, I pooed my dacs a wee bit.
I have makeup, I can do the toyshop cheeks, I already have some old school clerical specs now sunglasses.

[Rachel Peters]

I can see it in my head and it's wicked.

[Stretch]

Cranky Elf, I like it! So how did the gig turn out?
Cheers!