HALLOWEEN HOW TO: ZIP FACE MAKE UP

I love Halloween, I am such a child. It's such a good excuse to play with make up, embrace being a bit scary, and bake things worthy of Hogwarts/Sabrina the Teenage Witch (was anyone else obsessed with trying candycorns after that Halloween episode?).

Last year I ran a series of Halloween DIYs in the run up to October 31st, which were really fun to do, so I'm bringing that back for 2013! As before, I'll do a mix of make up, crafty things and baking, and I'll try to use stuff that you should have in your house already (or at least, stuff that isn't a nightmare to find!). 

To start, I'm going pretty gruesome, with a step by step tutorial to a terrifying zip face.... Enjoy!

For this look you will need:

• A 30cm zip that sort-of matches your skintone (make sure it has metal teeth!). I got mine in John Lewis (they have an ace haberdashery section)
• Pale foundation
• Concealer
• Red and black eyeshadow
• Black eyeliner
• Mascara
• Liquid latex (you can get this from a joke or costume shop)
• Fake blood 

Start by covering your face with foundation - you want to look a bit ghostly and ill so really slap it on!

Now get red eyeshadow (mine is from an Urban Decay palette, and is a metallic red) and put loads on - all over your top lids, underneath your eyes and down your cheeks a little bit. I just used my fingers for this as it's okay to be messy! You want to look a bit bruised and creepy.

Start building on black eyeshadow on your top lids and along the lower lashline, and make it smudgy. Add eyeliner! A kohl pencil is good for this (rather than liquid eyeliner) - I used a smudgy Urban Decay pencil.

Keep building up the red and black shadows, until you get super sunken, bruised looking, smoky eyes (what a look!). Use your finger to work the shadow down the sides of your nose and cheek, but try not to cover all the red colour with black - it'll look better if you can see the different layers of the shadow.

Now, get your liquid latex and paint the back of the zip. Make sure you cover the whole thing and the edges - you want this to be secure on your face all night!

Place the zip in the position you want it to sit (this is SUCH a good look for me), press down firmly and hold it in place until it starts to feel secure. Then go over the edges with latex, and don't be scared to slather it on! I used a paintbrush (and enlisted a pal to help), but you should be able to do this solo - the zip should be sticky enough from one coat of latex to stay put while you layer your glue! 

Be patient and wait about ten minutes - you might want to hold the pieces of zip under your chin in place while they dry.

The latex will dry in white splodges so you'll need to cover the edges of the zip in foundation to try and blend it into your face. I layered on concealer, then covered this in more foundation. Use your eyeshadows over the zip on your cheeks and at the side of your nose - this helps it all look like it's actually coming out of your face.

If you are careful with the latex and paint it on in smooth light layers, you'll get a smoother finish than I have here. I actually quite like the lumps of glue on my cheeks though, I think it makes my face look a bit scarred and horrible... which is what you want with this look!

Now, the gooey bit! Get your fake blood - I couldn't find any in shops (what do you mean it's only September?) so I made my own with honey, flour, red food colouring and red and black paint. If you can buy some, I'd recommend that instead, as this was SO STICKY.

Paint the blood on your nose, chin and throat, and let it drip down for a really horrible look.

It's so horrible, but SO good! Have fun freaking out your pals...