Building a Staff Make-Up Kit

Contributor: Beth Fallon
Submission: Building a Staff Makeup Kit
LARP system: Madrigal / Accelerant [http://www.larp.com/madrigal/]
Location: Ayer, MA
Years LARPing: 21
Email: efallon AT earthlink DOT net

A DIY make-up guide from one of the most well-made up ladies of LARP!





I had a polite request for opinions about creating your own Staff makeup kit! And since I am FULL of opinions.... :)

Now, I won't be able to cover every circumstance, obviously... depending on the LARPs you play, and the characters you play regularly for those games, you'll want to purchase accordingly - if your campaign doesn't have Elves, you won't need ears, etc. But hopefully this'll be a wee bit helpful as a starting place?

IMPORTANT NOTE: This shit? Gets EXPENSIVE, FAST. When a single grease-pencil retails for ~$7 before shipping, and you're bound to pay around ~$10 for a single cake of pancake makeup, it's easy to find yourself in over your head quickly. If you generally only NPC rather than Staff, you might well be better off to depend on the general Monster Camp supplies rather than going to the time and expense of creating your own kit. 

If you're bound and determined, however, take it easy on yourself and start slow, and budget well. You can always add things to your kit piecemeal, and buying from a local costume shop is not only good economic karma, but it'll save you shipping costs. Also: keep in mind that quite a lot of things (pencils of all colors, human-colored makeup, applicators, setting powder, nail polish, etc.) can be purchased at local drugstores for far less than you'd pay at a costume shop, and if you shop around Halloween, you can even find prosthetics and props! 

Also: keep in mind when putting together a kit (and when designing NPCs) that you'll need to consider not only the initial outlay of money for the makeup, but you'll want to stay on top of the applicators, sharpeners, removers, cleansers, and the like. No good having face-power without a brush, pencils without a good sharpener, or all the fancy makeup in the world and then tearing your face off with cheap baby-wipes or makeup remover. Even the most expensive prosthetic will eventually break down, even if you treat it like gold - make sure you can replace anything you use (and if you can't? Don't use it... or buy two!). 


THE KIT:

Please, please - have mercy on yourself and do NOT pay heaping handfuls of money for a "professional" makeup box/holder/container. Pretty much every single one of those I have ever seen have been overpriced, cheaply made, and will fall apart the first time they get knocked off a bunk. Hie thee forth to your favorite Sporting Goods store (or department) and find a fishing tackle box. I flew aPlano for years, and am currently rockin' a Flambeau, but generally you'll be in good shape no matter what brand you get. Look for hard sides, lots of compartments, solid clasps / hinges, and sturdy construction. For MUCH larger kits, consider hitting your local Hardware store, and getting yourself a toolbox! 

Size is really up to your own needs - consider whether you only want it for 5 pancakes and a few pencils, versus having every intention of being able to support a whole Monster Camps' worth of makeup AND keeping all your small props and prosthetics in it. Keep in mind the amount of stuff you will want it to support as well as the size and shape of that stuff - for example, very small tackle boxes may or may not have a compartment wide enough to support multiple pancake rounds. 


THE MAKEUP:

Pancake: 

Pretty much everyone I know uses Mehron StarBlend Pancake - it's what we use in the Madrigal kit, and what I swear by for my own kit. It's thick enough to cover well, has great color saturation, and goes on smoothly and evenly with a little bit of practice. However, as you can see from their color chart (PDF), their non-human color palette is limited. Ben Nye MagiCake Aqua Paints come in MANY more colors than Mehron. They're not as thick, so you'll have to work harder for an opaque color, but if there is a specific shade of blue you can't otherwise find, they're your best source. 

What colors you get will be wholly dependent on what you intend to use, obviously! However, if I had to make a general kit without knowing game specifics, I would recommend at least one each of the following:
* White
* Black
* Brown (probably 2 - a warm-honey and dark-brown, for animal roles and shading)
* Green
* Blue
* Red
* Yellow
...some of the lesser-used mixed colors, such as Orange, Purple, and Grey, can be skipped in favor of their component parts ONLY if you do not intend to play something regularly that is that color - if you're playing a Tiger-thing every other event, or one of your major NPC races is always the same shade of gray, consider getting yourself a cake so that you do not have to mix that color by hand every time. However, since these cakes are at LEAST $10 each, you'll want to consider carefully before investing in a color you could technically throw together. 

For applicators, I personally swear by Foam "Hydra" Sponge Applicators - they'll enable you to get even the most tricky colors on smoothly and evenly, and can be easily washed in soapy water and dried to use again and again. I am not a huge fan of latex wedges or foam brushes, but I know I am a minority, there, so by all means - use what you're comfortable with!

One way or the other, show your pancake some love: DON'T close it up and put it away wet, unless you like Surprise!Mold the next event you go to - give them some time to dry with the cover off before putting them away. Better yet, don't soak your cakes - wet your applicator thoroughly, wring it out until water stops dripping, then use the moist sponge on the makeup. 


Pencils:

As mentioned previously, pretty much any pencil color under the sun can be had at your local drugstore. For example, for a black pencil that stays put, I like Almay liquid liner - it has a thin tip which is great for control, and DRIES, which is great for tiny, thin black lines. However, it will run when it gets wet, so hit it with some Barrier Spray after it has set. 

If you're a purist, and want to purchase professional-grade grease pencils, I like Mehron ProPencils for basic colors. Note! Since they're grease pencils, they should be powdered down before you wear them out, and they WILL MELT if you leave them in a hot car, but they're easy to find and use. 

For the love of little green apples, no matter which you go for, get yourself a GOOD SHARPENER. Nothing sadder than paying an obscene amount of money for a wee pencil and seeing the cheap-ass sharpener it came with eat it away in two events. As a Mehron fiend, I am overly fond of their dual sharpener, since it'll fit both thin and thick pencils and does a great job of not eating them, but your local drugstore may have much the same thing cheaper.


Removers:

Okay. I have the prototypical sensitive skin which reacts very poorly to abuse, and when you're mixing chemicals on your face (which, lets be clear, makeup IS chemicals), wiping them off, putting more on, wiping them off, etc etc forever amen, at some point your skin just says No. 

As silly as it sounds, this has led to my becoming very choosy about my baby-wipes. While there are literally dozens of wipes out there, both officially for makeup-removing (which are generally just more heavily perfumed and cost more for a smaller package) and baby-oriented, I swear by Pampers Sensitive Baby Wipes. They're the only kind I buy for myself and for Madrigal. 

To remove makeup that stains - red pancake and fake blood, for most people - buy yourself a wee tub of Noxzema - rub on, wait until the Noxzema turns pink, wash off. 

Also, be kind to yourself - grab a small container of your favorite face-moisturizer and keep that bad boy in your kit. Once you have washed everything off for the day? PUT IT ON OVERNIGHT. Your skin will thank you on Monday. *solemn nod*


SPECIFIC MAKEUP BITS:

Okay - very, very little of the following is a must-have: it will depend entirely on the roles you plan to play, and the character races present in your game. Whereas a steampunk game might regularly require stick-on gears and silver paint, if you're running atavistic/were plot, you might decide that springing for custom-fit fangs is a good use of your cash. As always, if you have trouble tracking something down on google, or for whatever reason you want my opinion on "how would you do X!Effect?", shoot me a comment. Note that I have a pretty good list of masks, costumes and prosthetics over on the Madrigal Links page, so checking there is also worth your time. 

Since I am already running long, here's a brief overview of a few basics - if you want my opinions on something specific (what kind if glitter do I use? what do I use for the gems on my Eurvien's face? where would I buy special-effect contacts? where the heck did I get that wig?), drop me a comment or shoot me an email. :)


Prosthetics

As mentioned above, check the Links page for a more complete listing of specific prosthetics and racial props. However, for the usual stuff (horns, ears, etc.) I have been a huge fan of Woochie(Cinema Secrets) prosthetics for years - if they came out with a non-latex line, I would buy stock in the company - I am SO not kidding. They do great Elf ear prosthetics (also look for them under the name "Space ear tips"), as well as horns (glued-on as well as on strings), and full-face Effect kits for gore, non-humans, and the like. 

To attach prosthetics, I am fond of Spirit Gum (don't forget the remover) - it gets tacky quickly, sticks well, and stays put for extended periods. I have been soured of late on Liquid Latex - it goes solid and rancid too quickly for me. If you do use it, either for prosthetics or for pulled-skin effects, ALWAYS do a sniff/liquidity check well before the event! If it has gone rancid, you WILL be able to smell it. :P


Stay-Put Stuff

If you do a lot of overly-complex makeup jobs, especially with grease pencils, consider Barrier Spray. Use on skin first under dark or staining makeup, or spray on over delicate or fine makeup you need to stay put. Note that the product can break down in the bottle if left in the heat, and the pumps sometimes become stopped - running them under hot water usually can unstick the pump. 

Personally, I'm more fond of setting powder rather than barrier spray, though you have to be more careful not to smudge things when applying (powder puff vs spray, natch). Mehron makes a niceColorset Powder, but honestly just about any translucent women's face powder will work - just be sure to NOT get the kind with a tan undertone, unless that works with the makeup job you did!

And if you go with powder? Get yourself a big poofy makeup brush to put it on with - treat it well, wash it once a year with gentle shampoo and let it air-dry, and it'll pay for itself. 


Gore and Scars

Rigid Collodion/Scarring Liquid - This is what I use for the scars on Skye's face - I paint the designs on first (to capture the little bit of pink in my skin), wait for the scar liquid to completely dry, then I put the pancake on in a thin, even layer afterwards. If using bare-faced: draw your design in a light pink pencil (lip pencil works well), then paint the scarring liquid over the pencil. Always be sure to yawn, grimace and otherwise stretch your face out while it is drying - otherwise it will crack and flake! Peeling it off with your fingernails afterwards works, technically, but I'd recommend just washing your face with soap and water - once it gets thoroughly wet, it usually rubs right off with gentle pressure.

Coagulated Gel Blood - Great stuff, stays put and looks properly icky...and remember kids, the best way to deal with fake blood? Barrier Spray goes on first, put on the fake blood, then remove when ready with Noxzema (as above - rub on, wait until the Noxzema turns pink, wash off). 

Tooth Black - EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THEIR OWN. There is NO excuse for these to be shared by anyone - ew, ew, ew. HYGIENE, PEOPLE. :P