Yesterday, we looked at Scary | Evil Clown Halloween costumes and advised that there were some great masks on the market that you could purchase. However, masks, although they look fantastic, do have their own problems including reduced vision, the wearer getting very hot & having to remove the mask (which ruins the look somewhat) when they need to eat or drink. So, we decided to give you some professional advice on how to achieve a brilliant Evil clown face without wearing a mask…

Props n Frocks stocks everything you could need to create a fantastic clown mask, take a look at our range of fancy dress make up

The Scary Clown – Make-up

Here are a few notes to help you go the whole hog if you do not want to use a mask, when it comes to perfecting the scary clown. Always use clean sponges and brushes. Keep one colour per sponge (cut 1 in half to get more use from it). Keep away from eyes. Do not use on broken skin. Grease paint will be difficult to remove, we’d always recommend that you wear a water based face paint. you cannot go wrong with  Snazaroo make up

For the hair:

You can, of course, backcomb and spray your own hair, but this does not always work if it’s been layered or salon coloured. At the other extreme, if you have not got too much hair to get rid of, you can get a bald cap, tuck everything underneath and, once the cap’s gummed round the edges, have a whole head canvas to play with and paint. The preferred option is probably the mid-point – either use a bald cap but instead of trying to stuff you hair underneath, tie the hair in two bunches over each ear, create a hole each side in the cap around the ear area and pull the bunches through to do whatever you want with. Alternatively use a ready-made bald and tufted clown wig which will usually have a white base you can match when it comes to your facial make-up (Mad Scientist wigs can also work – they have white/grey hair and a flesh colour base, which can be coloured with make-up).

For the face:

You need a proper clown white base – a grease/crème make-up may suffice, but white water-base does not usually give the necessary depth of colour required, unless you’re going for the badly made-up look of The Joker (and even that takes some skill!). If you’re aiming to draw on or colour over this base, you will need to powder to set it (but see the next note)

To maintain the bold colours of your design, draw out the outline of the various areas first so you don’t ‘dilute’ the colours by having to put them onto a white base. We stock crayon sticks that will help this part of the design process.

It is unlikely your eyebrows will be covered by the wig base so, depending how heavy they are, either incorporate them into your design or ‘eliminate’ them by ‘soaping out’ or other means so they can be painted over. When redrawing, curved but slanting brows set a scary tone.

For scary clowns, a long, thin mouth works better than the traditional broad one – think the carved smile of the Joker. Alternatively (or additionally) pointy teeth are a good touch.

For an extra effect, a clown mouth sewn at the sides can look quite sinister. You can either draw in the criss-cross ‘lacing’ or use eyelash glue (or spirit gum) plus thin cord for a 3D look.

Why don’t you send us in your evil clown faces once you’ve completed them, we’d love to see them!