I’m guessing she just really wants to be something scary when she walks around trick or treating and I’m sure it also has to do with the fact that she has a brother who is four years older than her. She’s gotten a reaction from his friends that made her happy already when we were doing the makeup and I guess that’s totally what she is looking for.
So please just see it as an eleven year old girl who is done being something cutesy and just wants to be something scary. She loves soccer, which is probably the reason she definitely had to be a soccer zombie. Apparently it’s nothing new either because Google is plastered with images of kids wearing soccer zombie outfits.
An odd fact is that I’m actually a “Walking Dead” fan. I never thought I would like a show about zombies but I really like and so does my husband. Our daughter has never seen the show though.
So here we go, let me explain how we achieved this years costume. We really had a lot of fun with this one and giggled a lot which made it even special which probably won’t come to your mind while looking at the photos. She had a ton of fun. She’s such an actress!
Soccer Zombie Makeup
Obviously this masquerade is all about the makeup. Her and I watched countless youTube videos and I ended up focusing one one tutorial in particular which is this one HERE. We did use different products though because I’m not going to use my more expensive makeup on my daughter and I also still had some things at home and bought some things on Amazon. So let me show you how to apply zombie makeup…
Here is what we used.
- fake blood (HERE)
- make up applicator sponge (HERE)
- stipple sponges (HERE)
- blood gel (HERE – this stuff is the bomb for this type of makeup)
- black fake blood (HERE)
- bruise effect coloring makeup (HERE)
- liquid latex (HERE and obviously only for people who don’t have a latex allergy)
- box of tissues
- sponge brushes (HERE)
- white face paint (HERE which I had leftover from all her previous years of painting her face)
- various art brushes and makeup brushes
- black eye shadow (I used this one HERE because I had it but I’m sure any would do)
- her old soccer uniform
(Additionally you can use zombie contact lenses 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)
We had also bought a wig (HERE) because she loves wearing them and looking completely different. The wig is great but we ended up liking the look better without the wig because you can see the makeup better.
The soccer ball in the photos was found in the field by their soccer practice and my daughter is convinced it’s a zombie soccer ball. Well whatever that means.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Out of all these supplies we will all get a costume this Halloween when we go as a zombie family. It’s enough makeup and blood for all of us which in the end makes this a pretty cheap series of costumes for our annual neighborhood Halloween party. It’s way more if you have to buy an individual costume for a entire family of 4.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
We started with the tissue and liquid latex layers for her wounds. These are the most important part of the makeup and are actually pretty easy to do.
Start with a clean face:
Tear the tissues to fit the size of your face and desired wound:
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 on one cheek wound and one neck one. After she saw the finished photos, she said that she wants one for her arm too on Halloween night.
Let the latex and tissue mix dry all the way.
This is the step where she freaked out a bit because you have to tear/cut the part of the wound to make it look open. At the end I mostly used my hands because I was afraid of hurting her which is definitely a possibility. So be careful or just tear it open.
We opened both wounds.
Then I used the white face paint but I just stippled it on with the makeup sponge. The previous years I brush on a thick heavy layer of white which I definitely didn’t do this year. You can see in the below photo that I started around the wound and worked my way out.
And then covered the entire face. Thicker in some areas then others.
In the youtube video the girl uses either light foundation or powder but I didn’t want to buy any and decided to just use our old white face paint we had. It worked fine for a child.
Then I took my black eye shadow and painted in dark areas around her eyes, noses, jaw and neck lines.
Then I used the bruising colors for around her wounds. Old bruises have all kinds of colorings. Blue, green, brown red and yellowish.
Take a thicker artists or makeup brush and stipple it around the wounds.
I used an artists brush to put lots of black blood inside the wounds.
Here you can see it up close.
This is also where you can see the blood gel which I stippled inside with the brush that came with it. Without that gel it wouldn’t look as real.
Disgusting, I know!
She was a very happy zombie at that point.
At the end I used some more white for certain areas and dabbled some more blood on other areas with the stippling sponge and fake blood.
And done.
And here is a little video of the entire process in case you want to see:
{royalty free music credit: Shadowlands 3 – Machine Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ }
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.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
She had so much fun taking the photos. As usual that’s her favorite part. Remember her previous years photo shoots?
She gets all into character and I don’t really even have to tell her what to do.
Same photo without white eyes. She can’t handle (and I’m glad) contacts but she wanted to see what it would look like. So I helped out with a little photo editing. Like I said, if you consider wearing contacts like my husband is for Halloween, please ask an eye doctor for recommendations. After reading this article HERE, 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 finger nails really dirty but she didn’t want to do that.
Also check out my other costumes ideas:
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,
Sad harlequin costume from last year HERE:
Queen of Hearts HERE
Two years ago she was Maleficent where I used a plain black dress and duct tape again. Click HERE:
And the year before that she was a sugar skull which again used a plain black dress. Click HERE to read more:
And as a little witch with attitude:
And my little renaissance princess:
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