A Simple Bruise

Bruise: (broōz) noun. -an injury appearing as an area of discolored skin on the body, caused by a blow or impact rupturing underlying blood vessels.

Read a book, or watch a movie and often you will find someone who has been injured has ended up with a bruise. In books, you picture the bruise with your mind; purple, green, or yellow blotchy mark on the skin that is sore to the touch. But in movies you cannot punch the actor to give them the desired look. So that is where make-up comes in.

First

You need dark purple, dark red, a 'rotten' colored yellow, and a 'rotten' green oil based creams, regular creams or matte eye shadows. If you are interested, you can buy a "Bruise & Abrasions" color wheel from Theatre House.

YOU NEED A YELLOW. It is a must. If you buy a wheel with a green (which is not a necessity) it is only more of an advantage.

Second

After you have all your colors, have a clean and ready surface. You do not need to moisturize excessively, or shave. This will not damage your skin (unless you are allergic to any ingredients, which will not happen often). Take your first color, the maroon, and place your index finger in it, lightly coating your finger. TAP the surface. Lightly. Do not make it too dark. Also, make sure to not leave fingerprints! To get rid of fingerprints simply smooth them over. This is where you shape your bruise. Do you want it big or small? Also, remember bruises are rarely ever a defined shape; they are blob-ish.

Third

Using the red color, tap the same finger in that and, using the same motions ,darken the bruise slightly. Use a different finger to again smooth out finger prints. Use the area of your palm where the base of the thumb is, above your wrist to pat the bruise. This lightens it again. Or you can use your inner wrist. This also helps remove some excess oil if you are using oil based products or cremes.

If you are using eyeshadows, ALWAYS go light. For all products, you can always add on, but it becomes difficult to take away product.

Fourth

Using the yellow, highlight the edges of the bruise. If you need assistance, type in "yellowed bruise" to Google Images. You will see the edges or bruises are usually yellow because old bruises turn yellow before they are completely healed.

At this point, add in some touch-ups to make your bruise look as realistic as possible. Look up pictures of bruises if you need help.  They really helped me nail down how to look of a natural-nasty bruise!

I hope you enjoyed reading!

Want to know what you can do with this awesome palette and talent!? Get yourself or a friend out of class! Thats what I did. On the last day of school in June 2010 we 'gave' a classmate a 'black eye' and the teacher flipped out and sent him to the nurse. He just wandered around for a while instead! It was great!

Or scare your parents and "give" yourself a hickey!

Personally, I think the best thing is giving yourself a semi-severe bruise on your forearm and wear short sleeves. When people ask you, tell them that you made it with make-up! People are always amazed when I tell them.  For me, it got me enough popularity that it leaked to the teachers and now im being hired to be the make-up artist for the school's musicals!

Have fun! And look nasty!