How to Make Fake Bruises and Wounds for Halloween

Halloween is the day when scary goblins, vampires and ghosts infest the neighborhood. Kids love this season because they can take and choose whatever roles they want to scare the neighborhood. Halloween is a day for kids to go trick or treatin' while being dressed in an assortment of bizarre, funny or frightening costumes. It's a day for kids to -- frankly--scare other kids without having to be scolded by their parents.

Kids love Halloween but parents should make sure that they have a safe Halloween. Thus, when complimenting their costumes with "fake" wounds, it is still advisable to assist them in "creating fake woulds". These are some of my suggestions on how to create this ghastly facial effects :

1. To make bruises - Use talc powder first before putting on the make up to "create" the wound. Powder, particularly talc, helps the "wound" last because most make up colors are oil based. Now after powdering, apply the dark blue eyeshadow add mixed with some violet (not glittered) color to make the "bruise". You can shape the bruise better if you slightly use a dark eyebrow pencil and draw at the edges of the "bruise". After doing so, slightly rub the black edge so that it emphasizes the "bruise" and gives it that "scary" look. The bigger the bruise the better! After all, it's Halloween. Another tip : You can use this to bruise half the face.

2.Bruises with blood - Use the same method but you need to add the "cut" of the wound. A safe way to do this is to get a thin brush and use a mix of black and blue watercolor to draw the wound. Then paint the wound with red food coloring. Red food coloring is safer and looks more realistic than most paints.

3. If you want to emphasize your wound for more ghastly effect, chew some gum. Keep the chewed gum and shape it in any form you wish. Take note that the gum is your big huge wound so you'd have to paint that with the usual bruise make up (mix of dark blue, violent and black) and then you can cut that gum. That cut is the "main wound". You can then paint the edges of that wound with darker red food color. Since you want a gaping wound , you'd have to carefully shade the inside with lighter red. If you want a bloodier look, add a little black make-up to the red food coloring.

After making the wound by using the gum you can stick it on your face by simply using medical plaster on the edges.

4.If you want a wound that looks like one has been shot by a bullet, you can do the same thing and use the gum to create the wound. Now, get a pea and choose and rounded one and place it at the center of the gum.Paint the pea with red and add the silver glitter from your make up or even gold to make it look like a silver or gold bullet. Place the pea (bullet) in the middle of the gun (wound) and paint the gum as you wound an ordinary bruise. Stick with plaster on the forehead or wherever you want the "bullet wound " displayed prominently. Do the same as you would in creating a bruise with except that you would have to use thicker red food coloring. To make thicker blood, add corn syrup to the red coloring.

Halloween should be fun but safe. Thus, creating Halloween wounds should FIRST be safe for kids. The best place to gather your materials for making bruises and wounds is your make up kit and your kitchen. It only takes a bit of creativity to be able to "make these works of ghastly art" for the sake of Halloween fun.