Special Effects Makeup: The Illusion of illness

In Sue's practical, we were given a demonstration on how to create the illusion of sickness and fever. This will help with my development of Miss Havisham. 

First of all, I need to understand what illness looks like and what kind of illness I want to create, do they have cracked lips, sweat, rashes? I also need to think about how ill they are and in what stage of the illness they are in. 

The products that you will need to create the illusion of illness are: 

Kyolan Supracolour - grease based pigments that blend and mix well 

Glycerin - to create sweat or tears 

Eyedrops - to create watery eyes

Latex/Eyelash glue - to create dry or peeling skin, good for cracked lips

Stipple sponges - good to use to break up smoothness and create rash like appearances on the skin. 

Above is my attempt at creating the illusion of a fever. 

1. Prep the skin - tone and moisturise 

2. Conceal spots and scars that the model may have, conceal anything that would affect the makeup's continuity. 

3. Using supracolour palette, create brown and reddish purple shades & create a tired looking eye. avoid using too much blue and purple tones as this will create more of a bruised eye effect. To make the colours more translucent, mix in some moisturiser, this will create a more natural look. 

4. Using a red lip or eyeliner line the waterline and blend out, this will create tired and sore looking eyes. 

5. Use a red shade and with a stipple sponge, stipple it over the face to create rash like and broken vein effects. 

6. Stipple a darker blue-red shade onto the cheeks. Remember to add a variety of shades. 

7. Apply a slight blue tinge onto the lips. 

8. Apply some due eyelash glue/latex onto the lips, wait for it to go clear and when it is dry, pick up the edges with your fingers to create the illusion of dry cracked lips. If you want, add some liquid blood to the cracks of the lips. 

9. To create dry skin, dab and rub latex on the skin and powder over with translucent powder, be careful not to remove the makeup you have already applied underneath by pulling the latex off the skin. 

10. To add sweat, using a stipple sponge and a small amount of glycerin, stipple onto the nose, forehead and upper lip. 

Note: Wherever there is skin showing, e.g the hands, neck or chest needs to be made over and always test for latex allergy before application.