Bruising; an introduction to SFX makeup

As an aspiring makeup artist, I surprisingly haven't been able to practice as much as I'd like too. Mostly because special effects products can be pretty expensive, and as of right now I'm trying to get myself through school, paying rent, and eating cup o' noodles for dinner every night. Though I'm not complaining, I know it'll all pay off in the end.

From bruise wheels, to fake blood, to latex, to prosthetics... you usually need a vast majority, and a large amount, of these products just to make one look. I've got a Ben Nye starter kit, and I'm slowly adding to my collection; but as of right now I can only do a few things. For any makeup artist just starting in the special effects field, I'd recommend starting off small with some bruising. It's a basic necessity and skill for almost any wounded look, and there are various ways to make a bruise depending on how old, or fresh, it is. 

When a bruise is brand new, it will appear reddish due to the the blood that has leaked from the capillaries under the skin, it wouldn't hurt to add a few miniscule broken blood vessels to this bruise.

Photo Credit: Freakmo-SFX on Deviantart (Makeup)

At one or two days old, the bruise will be bluish or purple in color. The swelling at the site of the bruise will cut off the oxygen, and the hemoglobin will turn blue.

At five to six days old, a bruise will turn a greenish, yellow color as the area begins to heal itself.

At eight to nine days old, a bruise will then turn mostly yellow, or brown. This is the final stage of the bruise.

Photo Credit: How to Fake Bruising with Makeup video by GoldieStarling

It is important to know of the changes of color in bruising over time. If you aren't aware of these stages of bruising, it could make your character look unrealistic or inaccurate. For example, you don't want to put a green/yellow bruise on a character who had been in a fight earlier in the day, or even the day before. You also don't want to put a fresh red/purple/blue bruise on a character who had been in a car accident a week or two before.

The Walking Dead // Fight Club

Bruising is definitely an important part of special effects makeup, and like I said above, its the perfect place to begin practicing! Here are some examples of bruising I've done on my own with a Ben Nye Master Bruise Wheel, a nylon stipple sponge, a simple synthetic sponge, thick (fake) blood, and some q-tips!

Some Tips: Use a patting or stippling motion to give a blotchy or uneven look, try to make it look irregular and inflamed. You don't want to only use red while trying to recreate a bruise; this can create a rashy or burned look. You can avoid this by adding purple, blue, yellow, or green, depending on the stage of the bruise. Raised or swollen areas of the bruise should be high lighted in yellow, in most cases. For example, the cheek usually appears swollen at the high point of the cheek bone, as shown above. Use the nylon sponge and a reddish color to create the illusion of broken blood vessels. You can also use the nylon sponge to add blood to a scrape or cut near or on the bruise.

And that, my friends, is an intro to SFX bruising! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, advice; or you'd even like to share your own bruise creations, I'd love to see them! Please feel free to comment below!

High School Daze

Lately I've been digging through a bunch of my old photos and videos on the web, from random image hosting websites I've saved them too, because I'm thinking about deleting my facebook. I want everything important saved on a hard drive before I delete any of my social networking sites, and let me tell you; I have found so many documented memories that I forgot that I even had! High school seems like such a blur now. I've lost friends, but I've also gained them. I've given up on relationships and started new ones. I moved from my old town, and started a new life, but I've tried to hold on to those who were, and still are, dearest to me.

These photos and videos I've stumbled upon have created many mixed emotions; happy, sad, thoughtful, embarrassed, cherished, loved, a lot of 'I can't believe we did that!' and 'I miss you's... and there were definitely a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Looking back on old photographs, I always tend to think; "I miss how things used to be". And yes, I do miss it; but I also think about how far I, and all of my old friends, have come in life. All of the accomplishments we've made, how much we've grown and matured, discovering our passions... these years of our lives are about shaping the kind of person we're going to be for the future. I am sad when I look at these pictures or watch these videos, but I'm also very happy. Even if I don't talk to some of the people much now, it's good to know that at one point our lives intertwined, and we shared a few, or many, good laughs.

That being said, I just wanted to make this post about cherishing those fun, embarrassing, yet unforgettable memories, and don't be afraid to go back and take a look every once in awhile. 

It may turn your bad day into a good one.

Blogger: To be, or not to be?

This question has come up multiple times in my life; and no, I don't mean the website! There are pros and cons to maintaining a blog, but I guess it just depends on the type of person you are. Blogs are a great way to share your story, or stories. Whether it's something significant, or you're just blogging on the daily. I want to blog because I want to put everything in my head down onto paper, or in this case a website. Whether it's an idea, a design, an opinion, a passion, a list, a review, a recipe, an interview, a haul, an 'outfit of the day', a DIY tutorial, a contest, a giveaway, a news story... or I'm just jotting down my thoughts. I want to make it permanent. I want to document my life and thoughts in a way that I can go back and look upon it years from now, and I want to share these things with other people who can benefit from it.

I don't want this blog to be negative, it's called youthphoria for a reason! I mean, yes, occasionally I'll have those posts where I'm just having an off day or I'm arguing about something I disagree with. But I don't want to post about the negative things in life, and if I ever do, I want to try to not focus on why it's negative, but on how I can make it better. I want this blog to make me a better person. I realized that sometimes I don't even notice things within myself until I write it down, my true thoughts don't ever come out unless my fingers are attached to a pen, or I'm typing away on a keyboard. I'm not very good at speaking aloud, or conveying what I'm thinking in the spoken form. This way, I can turn to a blog when I need too, or want to, talk. 

Maybe if I write down a workout regime, I'll actually do it. Or I plan a DIY tutorial or talk about reading a book I've been wanting to read, I'll actually get to it. Youthphoria can be a motivator for me, a way for me to express myself creatively, socially, and intellectually; while allowing others to read my writings, and maybe eventually they'll feel like they want to do the same.

I'm starting slow. Like I said above, maintaining a blog has a lot of pros and cons, and it can be a lot of work and time. My time is very limited right now, I'm a twenty one year old full time college student with two (soon three) jobs, and I'm in a relationship. But I'm going to try my best to at LEAST blog once a week. I'd definitely like to make that my goal. I'm still trying to figure out if this blogging thing is for me.

Here's to getting in touch with my creative side.

xo

Bree