Realistic fake tattoos

June 19, 2006 8:37 PM

What do they use as far as makeup in movies for fake tattoos, and where can I get some of this makeup?

Think things like X's heart/tribal tattoo in "The Doom Generation" and Dee Snider's face tattoo in that horrible movie he played the lead in.

posted by ostranenie to media & arts (8 comments total)

I don't have any inside knowledge, but I always assumed they just used ink, and drew it on.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:42 PM on June 19, 2006

http://www.temptu.com/
posted by tangerine at 9:16 PM on June 19, 2006

Henna is usually used. Last a few weeks, easy to retouch. And cheap, too.
posted by cardoso at 12:43 AM on June 20, 2006

Looks like high-end temporary tattoos are a popular choice.
posted by O9scar at 1:08 AM on June 20, 2006

From the IMDB trivia for 'Cape Fear'
"De Niro was tattooed with vegetable dyes, which fade after a few months."
posted by mattholomew at 4:49 AM on June 20, 2006

I've done body art with my airbrush. Flash like stencils make applying the same tattoo over and over again really easy. The body paints designed for this purpose are waterproof and amazingly durable.

On preview: tangerine's link has information on airbrush tattoos.
posted by Mitheral at 7:23 AM on June 20, 2006

on miami ink [trashy tv show] ive seen them use sharpies to just draw on peeps. they were doing some photo shoot a fashion show.

but i would go with a aibrush/sharpie mix. depends how goof your airbrushing is really or if you really want to could use something like this inkjet printable tattoo paper
posted by moochoo at 9:30 AM on June 20, 2006

omigod typos galore in previous post. but i hope you can piece it together was in a rush!!!
posted by moochoo at 9:31 AM on June 20, 2006