Zombie Elizabeth Taylor Plus Madonna and Child

Can you beat Elizabeth Taylor? No. This morning I did an image search for her while listening to a sad song and just about burst into tears. When people tell me I look like her, it makes my day. Month. So even though Jeff and I had no Halloween plans beyond a little get-together with his daughter Melissa, I thought it would be fun to dress up as Elizabeth.

Then I saw the following awesomely creative video from Albee Franson, lead makeup artist for Mally (both of whom you may remember from this post). It looked like something I could pull off and inspired me to become Zombie Elizabeth Taylor.

 

I didn't have some of the supplies Albee used to make the look happen, but I figured I could improvise. Jeff helped me with some of the trickier parts, but this is a project most people could do by themselves if they wanted to.

Here are some of the earlier steps. First I tied back my hair's longer layers in an attempt to get it to look shorter and less huge. Then I did a full face of mostly Mally makeup and layered on pretty much every eye product I own, including some false eyelashes that I wear about once every five years.Then the craziness began.

I covered the right side of my mouth with black eye shadow, continuing into my cheek. Then I applied a major coat of false eyelash adhesive to just my lips. It became surprisingly sticky and easily held my pre-cut "teeth" (plastic fingernails I had cut down to size beforehand). The fake fingernails make fantastic teeth that catch the light in a disturbingly realistic fashion. Great idea, Albee!

To help me create that awful gaping cut, Jeff rolled a long section of toilet paper into a tight coil. He wrapped the coil in a few areas with self-adhesive medical tape to keep if from unwinding. He secured the coil to my face with more medical tape, more eyelash glue, and a little clear silicone caulk that he bought on Friday for a minor bathroom repair. I don't know if caulk is safe to use on a face, but I didn't experience any side effects. But looking back, I don't think it was all that necessary. Since I don't have any liquid foundation, we painted the entire area with some concealer I never use because it's too yellow. This created a look that was too yellow, as you can see (above).

That's when the acrylic paints came out.

I painted the entire rest of the zombie look using acrylic paint--it's easier for me to manipulate than makeup. Again, I don't know if this was safe or not, but it only stayed on my face for about thirty minutes. I set scraps of toilet paper into the gaping wound as I painted it red to create a gross roughness, and then I added four extra teeth to the black area.

The entire face took an hour and a half to create and was so much fun. Talking was difficult but not impossible. Mel cracked me up at one point, but everything stayed put. Success!

And now, our Christmas card:

During a snack break this morning, Jeff and I tried to come up with a costume idea for Bun. I floated two perfectly good ones:

"She could be Zombie Elizabeth Taylor's fancy little dog and I could carry her in a big purse! She could have a sparkly collar!"

and

"She could be the chocolate in a s'more! We could make cardboard look like graham crackers, and then we'll find some white stuff, and then we'll put Bun in there!"

(We were eating microwave s'mores at the time.)

After these ideas were given the bum's rush, I fired back with HOW ABOUT MADONNA AND CHILD.

The obvious winner!

Jeff got on board in a hurry, and we scurried around the house looking for blue material. I made Bun and Jeff halos, and Jeff fashioned a diaper for Bun. After my Zombie E.T. photo session, it was their turn to shine.

Bun hated her diaper and broke free, resulting in the following fantastic action shot:

...which reminded me of this internet favorite:

She calmed down long enough to hit this amazing pose:

At that point I was shrieking and doubled over with laughter. The little lord Jesus was lavishly fed and treated.

...And it's past 7:00 p.m. on Halloween night, and no kids have come knocking on our hard-to-find door, so once again the candy is ours.

PS: The eyes in the top photo were Photoshopped. My actual eyes are brown.

Comments

[David]

Your zombie mouth came out great!

[Maggie]

The photos of "Madonna and child" are so epicly overstuffed with awesome, I can't even put it into words.

[Kelly]

Thanks, you two! I swear, those Bun pictures kill me every damned time I look at them.

[Melody]

Bun appeared to be quite the zombie Kitty. The cast and costumes were scarily perfect.

[Delany Martinez]

I snorked so hard kool aid came out of my nose. You, your husband and your cat are all awesome.

[Matt Crowley]

Outstanding! I'm slightly embarrassed that I didn't see the Liz Taylor connection before, but now I see it and it's very good. Jesus cat with halo for the win!

[Missy Kerrigan]

You and your husband are so delightfully creative and kooky. Thanks for sharing the silliness! And you DO look so like Liz Taylor! Beautiful even with the rotting mouth. : )

[albeefranson@gmail.com]

OMG I can't stop coming back to this blog and looking at the cat! Bwahahaha it's the expressions on Jesus Cat's face ... and the claws LOL!!! PS so proud of you, you are an amazing artist - beautiful job xxBB!!

[Kelly]

Albee, you inspired me beyond belief! Thank you thank you!

And I know what you mean about my cat. She is a supermodel and she hits it every time!

[Pam]

This is pure entertainment..and you look pretty stunning with blue eyes.

[Bella]

Fantastic makeup! Jeff makes a good shepherd and I love Bun's crazy expressions!

[Renae Hills]

I couldn’t help but smile while reading your post! Oh my, your family is fun! And I didn’t know eyelash glue can be used for zombie makeup as well! But hey, does that mean you use false eyelashes as well? I couldn’t tell because your lashes look natural (maybe because they really are!). Anyway, my vote would go to the Madonna and Child for the best Halloween costume! They looked authentic! Haha!