MAC Makeovers - at the Edinburgh Dungeon!
Last month I told you about the new MAC and Edinburgh Dungeon Makeup collaboration. This month, I got to see it -and try it out for myself, on a spooky afternoon in the capital tourist attraction. Sarah from Scottish Beauty Blog and I set off for a monster makeover afternoon, and here is a picture of us before the fun began. Warning! The photos after this could put you off your breakfast!
When Edinburgh Dungeon re-branded earlier this year, they decided it was time to give the makeup a makeover as well. So, they changed from using general stage makeup, and started to work with MAC. Performance Team Leader, Kieran Woods, and Performance Manager Lyndsay Herbert took the MAC training course in February and learned how to work with the MAC products, on the new character looks, and then adapted what they had learned to the Edinburgh characters.
So, my look is of a plague-ridden Mary King’s ghost, with a bit of cannibal Sawny Bean thrown in for good measure, and Sarah’s is Judge Mental – a rather grump, boozed up old soak! Not quite the makeoevers we’re used to!
“We created the character looks, taking inspiration from what we learned at the MAC training course,” explained Kieran, as he began to transform me. “We have 11 looks, 11 shows and 22 actors, which can rise to 30 in the summer. We have trained the actors to do their looks in around 15 minutes, and each look is adaptable from another, if they are changing characters. Using this makeup is much kinder to their skin, and it is easier to work with, once they have the hang of it.”
Kieran began my transformation by applying MAC Face and Body Foundation in white, to instantly give me that deathly pallor of a ghost. He then used Sculpt eyeshadow to start to define and contour my face – a sweep down the nose gave me a broken nose look. Applied to the eye sockets it made me look tired, deathly and quite scary!
He added MAC Performance HD Airbrush Makeup in Ochre to give me that lovely, decayed look, adding some bruising and scratching with MAC Paint Sticks in Rich Purple and Basic Red. Bits of makeup sponge were used to apply this, and a scrunched up hair bun, which worked a treat to create that ‘dragged along the ground look’.
MAC Eyeshadows in Blackberry and Fig were used to create the bags under my eyes, with the Paint Stick in white used to give them that 3D, proper bag-like effect. To get the feverish plague victim look, MAC Gloss Creme Brilliance in Clear was dabbed randomly onto my face – doesn’t it look lovely?! My brows were brushed against the hair with Brow Set in clear to make me look a bit more bedraggled and then it was the delightful pustules – so simple – eyelash glue applied, allowed to dry a little, then manipulated and a touch of the red paint stick and some ochre airbrush makeup added to give them that oozing, bloody look. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the piece de resistance was the tooth enamel, in two colours, to give me those #notseenadentistinacentury teeth.
I was actually loving it by this point – I felt quite scary and in character. Now it was Sarah’s turn, and I got to help Kieran with her makeover. Sarah’s Judge Mental wasn’t quite as gruesome as my ghost, but wow, what a transformation from pretty sun-kissed blonde, to booze-soaked, broken-veined old lush!
Sarah’s pale pallor and sunken eyes were created using the same products used on me – her eyes were made to look more hollow, and she was given huge bags to recreate the Judge’s tired look. Her broken capillaries on her cheeks and her boozer’s red nose looked absolutely brilliant. Kieran added a few scratches and a bit of a bloody nose with a MAC Chromographic Pencil in red – this judge had a wee fall on his way home – and her look was complete with a wig.
We made a few folk stop and stare when we posed for a picture with Kieran outside the dungeons.
We had a fun afternoon, so thanks to all at the Edinburgh Dungeon. if you want to see the makeup on the real characters, then visit the Dungeon yourself. For more info visit thedungeons.com/edinburgh
