How do we hide extensive tattoos under makeup?

May 29, 2008 7:15 PM

PerformanceArtMakeupFilter: Asking for a friend who needs advice on full body cosmetics over extensive tattoos.

A buddy of mine is going to be in an amateur performance art piece that will involve him being covered in body makeup (think Blue Man Group) but he has extensive tattoos (full sleeves etc) and the makeup he's tried doesnt quite hide his art and sort of melts off under hot lights. Any suggestions for professional makeup that will hide his tats and survive a vigorous physical performance? My google-fu was inconclusive as to what brand names to recommend and whether it can be obtained online (or locally) in a relatively brief period of time.

posted by elendil71 to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 answers total)

why not bypass the makeup and go for a unitard?
posted by meeshell at 7:38 PM on May 29, 2008

M.A.C has a concealer that does a great job. i forget which one, but the lady at the counter can certainly help you.

i had a lot of customers when i worked at the portrait studio use dermablend for stretch marks (with amazing results) and i see that it's suggested for tattoo cover up as well.
posted by nadawi at 7:44 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

2nding the go to the counter and ask thing. I had a friend a while back with a very noticeable birth mark, and bought a concealer specifically made for covering up extreme pigmentation. If your buddy needs to put some other color on top of it, I imagine that it (or some other product) would work essentially as a primer.
posted by phunniemee at 7:51 PM on May 29, 2008

Dermablend is used in the theater to cover tattoos, birthmarks, bruises, etc. It's heavy-duty base and stays on for hours. It works great, but I don't think it comes in anything other than fleshtones. Wouldn't hurt to contact them for suggestions on that.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 8:11 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Ben Nye makes several makeup sealers that you can blend into any cake makeup instead of water. This might be a particularly good option if you're looking for makeup that's not necessarily flesh-toned. If that's still not enough, a dusting of translucent powder with antiperspirant should help as well.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 9:09 PM on May 29, 2008

Keromask is excellent and often used by professionals for close-up viewing or for film or photography. A little goes a long way. It should be applied in very thin layers. If you Google it, I'm pretty sure there's a site that offers samples for a very small fee. Otherwise, it's pretty expensive.
posted by houseofdanie at 10:34 PM on May 29, 2008

dermablend is the general standard for covering tattoos. i'm pretty sure it just comes in flesh tones. but you could put that on and then a layer of blue (or whatever) and that would definitely hide the tattoos.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:31 AM on May 30, 2008

They sell Dermablend at Dillards/Summit Sierra on South Virginia street, in Reno.
posted by Dizzy at 8:39 AM on May 30, 2008

nthing Dermablend.
posted by cestmoi15 at 9:34 AM on May 30, 2008

Ben Nye makes tattoo concealer in different shades. The MAC potted concealer is also very similar.
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 9:54 AM on May 30, 2008

That Ben Nye stuff, overall, is pretty stellar.
posted by bitterkitten at 10:01 AM on May 30, 2008