Still wondering what you should be for this Halloween; how about the scariest clown on the block? Join us as we review make-up advice from Paramour Makeup on creating both classic and chilling clown faces that will give even the bravest of your neighbors the jitters.
Hi there! My name is Annelene Caruso, owner of Paramour Makeup. I have been a freelance makeup artist for seven years. Still wondering what you should be for Halloween? Want to steer clear of the usual sexy cat/police/devil/whatever options? I have you covered. Today I am going to show you how to make yourself into a traditional clown, and then a scary clown for Halloween.
You are going to need:
- Pancake makeup
- Latex makeup sponge triangles
- Synthetic art brushes.
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Traditional Clown
For this look I started with Ben Nye MagiCake Aqua Paint in Cloud White for the base.
If you have never used pancake makeup before no worries – it’s very simple to apply. First submerge a latex makeup sponge into clean water, then place the wet sponge on the makeup and swirl it around to absorb the color. As you apply the color to your skin, your sponge will start to lose color. Just repeat the steps in wetting the sponge and absorbing more color until you have enough coverage for the look you want.
Now that your face is done, you can start adding details. I started with a wide smile, using Ben Nye MagiCake Aqua Paint in Bright Red. I used a small art brush to apply the smile, but a latex sponge works just as well. If you make a mistake, use a gentle soap and water to remove the makeup with a towel.
For a clown’s eyes you can use almost any shape or design to make them fun and stand out. I decided on small bright triangles under the eyes in MagiCake Aqua Paint Cosmic Blue. For detailed work this close to the eye, you’ll need to use a small paintbrush so that you have control on the makeup and don’t risk it falling into your eye.
The great thing about a traditional clown look is the colorful and cheery primary colors you can use. When creating your clown look, the outlines should be drawn in using black pancake makeup, making sure to put emphasis on the eyes, mouth, eyebrows, and nose; Ben Nye Magicake Aqua Paint in Licorice Black is perfect for this look. Finish with a red foam nose (or paint one on), put on a wig and you’ve got yourself a clown!
Killer Clown
That’s all fine and good, you say, but how do I make a terrifying clown to spook the kids on my block? Well, there are many variations and sources of inspiration. You can make yours a zombie clown, an alien clown… the list goes on and on. For the clown I’ve created, I’ve decided to lean more towards the killer clown, giving Stephen King’s “IT” something to be scared of. I wanted to have dark colors rather than bright, so I focused on black and dark blue, only using red for the mouth.
When putting on the white base I left areas blank that I knew I would eventually have a large amount of black within them. I did this to avoid there being a bleed in colors and the two mixing together to make gray. I applied the white with a latex sponge as before in the traditional clown look, and let it dry completely before working on the red mouth. To make the mouth more sinister I did not outline the red, but rather gave an inner black mouth similar to a “Chelsea Smile using an art brush.
For the nose, I wanted to give a hint of what a nose would look like if you removed all the cartilage at the tip of your nose (terrifying, I know… but that’s the point, right?). So I filled it in black and gave the top a few points.
For the eyes, I wanted them to be pointier and larger than what is typically seen so I drew triangles down to the apples of the cheeks with black and filled in the space around the eyes with black as well. Directly above and below the eyes, the rest of the outline was filled in with Ben Nye MagiCake Azure Blue. Above the eyes are finished in a scroll design. For additional detail I also added a few wrinkles to the forehead to add dimension when giving a snarl look, two tear drops below the eye, and add Kryolan Tooth Enamel in Nicotine to the front teeth to make them look decayed. The tooth enamel comes with an applicator brush to put directly on your teeth.
Small details you can add that will make your clown even scarier are liquid latex to the skin (before your pancake makeup to make a textured peeling skin), or coffee grounds and blood mixed together (to make a dirty chunky blood). If you’re using fake blood, make sure it’s safe to ingest. You do not want to put that fake blood you bought at the Halloween shop into your mouth unless it states it is safe to do so. The consequences of ingesting unsafe materials could be scarier than any tutorial I could whip up. Safe fake blood usually comes in capsules that are meant to be broken by your teeth. One I like to use is Ben Nye’s Stage Blood in Zesty Mint – how refreshingly evil!
I hope that this tutorial will help you as you transform yourself into a friendly or scary clown this Halloween! If you are interested in learning about booking with Paramour Makeup (Kansas City, MO), please visit us on GigSalad.
Photography by: Wheat Photography
Model: Sam Eubank
Ready to book a makeup artist for Halloween? Find the best at GigSalad.
Constant brainstormer, avid classic lit reader, wife of one and mother of two. I spent my undergrad years studying Philosophy and Religion alongside brief stints in Business Administration and Corporate Communication, the perfect combination for… ?