DIY Zombie Makeup
I know a lot of you guys look forward to my daughter’s costume reveal day, and I am loving this year’s costume. We created a spooky soccer zombie look. Don’t worry, this tutorial keeps things Halloween-fun without anything too scary. My daughter loves creative, cinematic costumes, and you can check out some of her previous looks: Day of the Dead costume, DIY Queen of Hearts costume, Post-Apocalyptic costume, and DIY Maleficent costume.
She’s also got an older brother, and we’ve already seen her costume get fun reactions from his friends, which made her day! She’s a little actress in the making, and this costume was a lot of fun to create together.
Since she loves soccer, it made sense to create a “soccer zombie” theme. Don’t worry, this tutorial shows all the fun makeup and special effects in a kid-friendly way. We had a blast experimenting with the look while keeping it lighthearted!
How to apply zombie makeup (for kids and adults)
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Obviously, this masquerade is all about the zombie makeup look. She and I watched countless YouTube videos so we could come up with our own. So I’m going to show you how to apply zombie makeup.
Supplies Needed
- Fake blood
- Makeup applicator sponge
- Stipple sponges
- fake fake Blood gel
- fake Black fake blood
- Bruise effect coloring palette
- Liquid latex (for safe use, only if no latex allergy)
- Box of tissues
- Sponge brushes
- White face paint
- Various art brushes and makeup brushes
- Black eye shadow (optional)
Additionally, you can use zombie contact lenses (for older kids or adults), but I would recommend contacting an eye doctor for recommendations. I don’t feel like I’m able to give advice about what products to use.
Out of all these supplies, our family of 4 will all get a Halloween costume this year when we go as a zombie family. It’s enough makeup and fake theater blood for all 4 of us, which in the end makes this a pretty cheap series of costumes.
Easy zombie makeup video tutorial
For a full look at the realistic zombie makeup effects, check out my YouTube zombie makeup tutorial, which contains the full images and steps.
Step-by-step zombie makeup application (with blurred images)
We started with the tissues and liquid latex layers, and also focused on the shading of different red and black colors for added texture for a fun soccer zombie effect. The tissues and latex are the most important parts and are actually pretty easy to do. Let’s get started.
Step 1: Apply the tissues and latex to the face
Make sure that you start with a clean face.
Tear the tissues (or you could use thin toilet paper) to fit the size of your face.
Brush some of the liquid latex onto your face and lay the tissue onto the wet latex. Then brush some more liquid latex over it. If you’ve ever done decoupage, then you know this process. It’s pretty much the steps.
We repeated it three times, which means three layers of tissues.
We decided to add another layer of tissues and latex to the neck.
Let the latex and tissue mix dry all the way.
Step 2: Open the center of the tissues and the latex
Carefully open up both areas of the tissues and latex layers on the cheek and neck. After using medical scissors to start the process, I ended up mostly using my hands to be safe.
This is crucial for creating the zombie bite marks.
Step 3: Apply white face paint or white makeup
Then I used the white face paint cream. I just stippled it on with the makeup sponge. In the previous years, I brushed on a thick, heavy layer of white, which I definitely didn’t do this year. You can see in the photo below that I started around the tissue layers and worked my way out.
And then covered the entire face. Thicker in some areas than others to create an uneven light skin tone.
Below, you can see the uneven texture, and that I left the eye area clean so I could apply darker makeup to that area.
Step 3: Apply black makeup to certain areas of the face
Then I took my black eyeshadow and painted in dark areas around her eyes to create dark eye sockets, on the side of the nose, on the jawline and cheeks to create protruding cheekbones, on the side of the temples and neckline. You could go even darker on the eyelids and under eye area with some more black and purple eye shadow but I think in our case this was enough.
Step 4: Apply red, purple, green, and yellow makeup
Use the bruise palette to add purples, greens, and yellows around the tissues and latex layers for a realistic yet playful zombie effect. Dab gently with a stipple sponge for texture.
Take a thicker artist’s or makeup brush and stipple it around the tissues and latex to blend it towards the pale skin tone.
Step 5: Apply fake blood
I used an artist’s brush to put lots of black fake blood inside the opened tissues and latex. (Make sure to watch this part in my video tutorial, since I am not allowed to show it here on my blog.)
She was a very happy zombie at that point.
In the end, I used some more white for certain areas and dabbed some more fake blood on other areas with the stippling sponge.
And done.
Now all you have to do is roll around in the dirt with your outfit and you are set 😉 That’s the part my daughter was really good at.
Finished DIY zombie makeup and soccer zombie costume
She had so much fun taking the photos. As usual, that’s her favorite part. Remember her previous year’s photo shoots?
She gets all into character, and I don’t really even have to tell her what to do.
We also bought a wig that we didn’t end up using because it looked better without.
Same photo without white eyes. She can’t handle (and I’m glad) contacts, but she wanted to see what a zombie eye would look like. So I helped out with a little photo editing. Like I said, if you consider wearing contacts like my husband does for Halloween, please ask an eye doctor for recommendations. After reading this article, I’m really scared of possibly getting the wrong ones.
We decided to paint white makeup on her arms and also paint dark areas between her fingers. You could step it up a notch by making your fingernails really dirty but she didn’t want to do that.
The soccer ball in the photos was found in the field at their soccer practice, and my daughter is convinced it’s a zombie soccer ball. Well, whatever that means.
More of my DIY costumes for kids and adults
- Forest elf costume – This is a super cute costume and heavily focuses on makeup again.
- Dark angel costume – My daughter loved this one because it focuses on makeup again, with an all black outfit that has wings and feathers.
- How to make a scarecrow mask – I used burlap, raffia, and Mod Podge to create two scary scarecrow masks for my husband and I.
- DIY Cruella Deville costume – For this costume we only had to buy a Dalmatian outfit for my husband because the rest was already in my closet.
She had so much fun and asked me to make her a Halloween photo book with all her costumes over the years in it. I asked my son if he didn’t want something like that too, and if we could take photos, and he said, “No thanks, Mom, I’m good”. Those two are as different as they come. Well, he’s my little traveler and foodie, and she’s my actress.
Her other costumes from the previous years were definitely more my style, but whatever floats her boat. She has her own mind. Find them all below.
Tschüß,
I love it! I did liquid latex for my husband’s zombie costume, but didn’t know the Kleenex trick! We put his tshirt on the driveway and mud on the tires and drove over it a couple times. I went as Michonne. Braided and ratted my hair in dreadlocks, leather vest, boots, etc. and had him on a leash, lol. I LOVE her costume. Tell her to use some black or brown on her arms and legs for dirt, then she don’t have to use real dirt. (I have one with sensory sensitivities at home too). You’ll have to post a photo of your whole zombie family!
she looks SO creepy! you are a master at makeup!!!! she is lucky- i mean look at all those costumes through the years!
She is the most beautiful girl. You’re an amazing artist! My 10 year old is in the scary costume phase now too. I guess the days of cutie costumes are gone. Again, awesome job! Xo
omg she’s a natural zombie. the makeup is killer (no pun intended) and her poses are fabulous! you might see about letting her be an extra in a local haunt! my SIL and her family drive the tractor and are scarers in a family run haunted hay ride in our area. my 10 year old niece does it, so your daughter totally could. oh, and she’s so pretty in her photos, even when she’s morphing into zombie.
b
A whole lot of WOW!!! Your daughter is lucky to have such a talented mom. I love it:) I hope you enjoy your Halloween.
That is fabulous! You are amazingly talented and your daughter is gorgeous
Love them all. Isn’t this what Halloween is for, to have fun?
You are so good at this! Less adorable, more terrifying this year, but still fabulous!!!
this is soo good and she is so fantastic at taking pictures!
I absolutely love it. It’s adorable how she gets so into her role. I don’t think kids enjoy halloween as much as we used to when we were kids. It’s all about who can have the fancier and sexier costume. It’s really refreshing to see these costumes that you create for her.
Julia,
You truly can do it all…so not fair for one person to have so much talent! Amazing work, friend.
Much Love,
Erica
Hi! Any recommendations on how to get the makeup off at the end of the night? I’ve used your technique with the late /tissue before and it hurt my son’s face so bad when it was time to wash up! Thanks!
Hi there, I’m not sure because we had no issue with my daughter. Could your son have a latex allergy? Or how old is he? Could he fave peach fuzz already if he is younger because bonding some type of facial hair into the latex could definitely hurt when you try to remove it.