Ava's Make-Up Design

Hello Creatures of the Night and anyone who wishes to be one (without the after morning side effects):

Ever since I saw my first Dracula movie (the 1979) version staring Frank Langella as the “Prince of Darkness” and Sir Laurence Olivier as the good doctor, I have been intrigued by one of the minor characters named Ava. She was the “weaker” friend to the doctor’s daughter who fell under Dracula’s fatal spell early on. When the doctor and his friend go to dig up her freshly buried body from its tomb they find only an empty coffin and a hole leading to the underground catacombs. Searching for her in the dark caverns she appears suddenly in the form of the “undead”—a truly grotesque-but beautifully compelling creature.

Ten years ago I revisited the movie by chance and again found it intriguing. Halloween was near and so I tried to recreate the “Ava” creature for a Halloween party at work and was quite successful, taking home a winning prize for “Scariest”. So I share with you dear reader that same formula for an “undead” appearance.

Ava Mask

1 tube of any facial mask the turns white as it dries. (I use a mint julep facial mask from my local drug store.)

1-2 cups of Instant Oatmeal (Dry)

Black crayon-type eye make-up or thick black-stick costume make-up

Red Lipstick (The Redder the Deader)

Fangs (A good pair that you are comfortable with)

Fake Vampire Blood

Now, as with any facial make-up that you are applying for the first time, I suggest testing the product on your skin 48 hours in advance—just incase. Facial masks do have a tendency to cause the skin to appear reddish after use due to their cleansing abilities.

Once you have tested and everything is fine, the night of your “awakening” you will want to already be dressed in the costume you chose to wear and place an old towel around your neck and shoulders to keep your costume clean. Next, brush your hair back away from your face and hold it with pins or a band of some sort. Now you can either apply the Black Crayon eye make-up around your eyes, from brows to under the eye (the whole eye-socket area), or you can wait and do this step after the mask is applied. I usually do so afterwards so it doesn’t smudge.

Apply the facial mask liberally around your face and neck—avoid the eyes at all cost. After you have a layer of the mask on good and it is still wet, mix more of the mask cream with the Instant Oatmeal—apply liberally also. This will give you the “molting” effect as the mask dries. The Instant Oatmeal works best for this since it is a smaller flake than the Old Fashioned Oatmeal. Make sure that you add a lump or two of the mixture to your neck area to create the “puncture wounds” placed there by your “friend of the night”.

As the mask dries it will become tight. Go ahead and talk, laugh-whatever—this will help the “molting” process as it cracks around your face. Apply the Black Crayon eye make-up if you haven’t already—bringing it to the edges of the mask area. This gives the whites of your eyes a contrasting, hollowed out look, against the mask. Apply the Red Lipstick to your lips—use a lip brush if you have one for accuracy.

Place dribbles of Vampire Blood from the corners of your mouth and down the neck from the puncture wounds.

There, you basically have it—add whatever you feel necessary for your particular look. I like to wear a Victorian gown and a long curly blond wig (as that was the look in the movie), but experiment. Perhaps you want a more modern version of Anna Rice’s, New Orleans “Children of the Night” look. Then black vinyl pants and poet shirts work too.

One word of caution—if you have small children, please be aware that they can be affected by the dramatic change of your appearance. You may wish to ease their fears by having them help you with the process of your transformation. It can be quite scary.

Hope you enjoy and let me know how you liked the results by writing back. Oh—and Happy Halloween!

Ava