Mortuary Cosmetics: A Grim Primer

Foundation usually works with your body temperature and matches your natural skin tone. But crossing the corpse barrier causes skin to change with mottled, fast shifts, hard to hide. That is why mortuary cosmeticians often use something else.Morticians prefer non-thermogenic makeup.This makeup resists warmth and blends easily on cold surfaces. Stage actors sometimes favor these brands because they do not melt under hot lights.

Alternatively, you can use a funerary "airbrush" system, like this one.This system is sold by the mortuary cosmetics company Derma-Pro.Derma-Pro sells this product. The dispenser looks like insect exterminator tools. It creates an elegant, flawless corpse/not corpse look that would make Lily Munster proud.

Decomposition shows up in a rainbow of colors, like Skittles. A corpse has many skin color problems. There is no single way to fix a body's original complexion.Mortuary cosmetician Daniella Marcantoni, who appeared in a Vice feature, offers tips. She claims death-biz cosmetologists use "orange juice" to moisturize skin. Dyes also exist to mask jaundice effects and give a slight pink hue, like Paz Easter egg kits.Mortuary cosmetician Daniella Marcantoni, who appeared in a Vice feature, offers tips. She claims death-biz cosmetologists use "orange juice" to moisturize skin. Dyes also exist to mask jaundice effects and give a slight pink hue, like Paz Easter egg kits.Mortuary cosmetician Daniella Marcantoni, who appeared in a Vice feature, offers tips. She claims death-biz cosmetologists use "orange juice" to moisturize skin. Dyes also exist to mask jaundice effects and give a slight pink hue, like Paz Easter egg kits.

Makeup artistry changes looks on a surface. However, funerary makeup as a trade is more complex. Painting a face needs a face. Decapitation makes this a problem, but a skilled professional usually solves it.This undertaker handles the problem.This person puts it:

"Restoration is as much an art form as it is a science; a good mortician fixes almost anything. Decapitations can be fixed by using a wooden dowel to rejoin the head and body, then suturing the neck. With some wax and cosmetics, corpses can wear a normal shirt or dress."

You use the style of Frankenstein's monster and his bride: stitch first, beautify later.

According to Carla Valentine, an award-winning mortician, most mortuary makeup techniques have roots in the ancient world.Mortuary makeup has roots in the ancient world.Mortuary makeup connects to ancient times. Egyptians of both sexes wore elaborate eye makeup. This makeup used "dark grey or black lead ore (galena) and green copper ore or malachite." This paint was "crossover makeup" because it fought evil spirits that attacked the living. Egyptians thought the eye became spiritual protection in the afterlife, making eye lining an important death ritual.

Ancient funerary cosmetology continued past one viewing. Some bodies were exhumed for remembrance rituals; the priest added more cosmetics then. These unearthings avoided extreme grotesqueness. They filled corpses with sawdust, linen, spices, and beeswax to keep them fresh.

Industry professionals believe mortuaries hold massive makeup supplies, not just standard stock. These places almost always have crypts full of it.These crypts hold industry-standard makeup.Funerary cosmetologists use this makeup. Most mortuaries accept and use the personal cosmetics families bring. These stashes grow over time.A mortuary makeup artist handles this. Jamie Reed recalled this.Mortuaries Carry As Much High-End Makeup As Department Stores.

"Every funeral home has random makeup. We have that bucket. It is usually things families brought in that we cannot return. For one lady, they brought two bags of makeup, all Chanel. That was exciting."

Contact with embalming chemicals and poisons taints all makeup on dead bodies. This makes the makeup unfit for living human flesh.

Some makeup companies offer deals for cosmetic needs before and after death.Illamasqua offers custom-designed posthumous makeup tutorials.Illamasqua offers artsy, exotic death-imagery makeup. They carry vampiric colors goth girls love. They also offer a service no other cult cosmetics entity has:Illamasqua offers custom-designed posthumous makeup tutorials..

In 2011, the company partnered with London funeral home Leverton & Sons. They developed the "Final Act of Self-Expression" package. This package encourages people to plan their final transformation. It pays tribute to who they were and how they want to enter the afterlife.

Buyers paid around £450 ($565 USD). They got their corpses preliminarily beautified by their "customized Illamasqua make-up artist [who was also] specially trained in working on embalmed corpses." This deal makes any girl want to search her makeup stash.

Any undead sex symbol knows being dead is no excuse to skip glamor. Marilyn Monroe asked her makeup artist, Whitey Snyder, toShe is her final cosmetician for posthumous plastic surgery.People now ask for detailed posthumous plastic surgery. NBC reports this trend.

"The recent boom in cosmetic procedures raises the bar for many regarding appearance. The dead are no exception. As people become more aware of procedures to enhance looks, morticians say their requests for smoothing lines, plumping lips, and boosting sagging areas for that last big event increase."

Plan cremation? Consider implants. Aida Bobadilla of the Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery and Crematorium says implants remain after death. "Some silicone implants stay. They are like a glob of gelatin. Cleaning the cremation chamber floor is not easy."

In 1953,House of WaxVincent Price played a deranged museum owner. He perfected the "perfect" sculpture using wax bodies. The film's plot mirrors Levon G. Kassabian's plan. Kassabian thought the perfect corpse went past cosmetic art. He wanted electroplating—turning bodies into statues.

Sources stateKassabian's method involved coating or plating bodies, usually after embalming with metal. This made bodies look like gilded ornaments. The plan was to paint the features later while the body mummified.

The idea failed. However, the actual makeup, the paint, lasted longer.

Charles Addams' vampire look—white skin, long dark hair, white gowns, dark shadowed eyes—gained influence from "consumption-chic" of the Victorian era. History professor Carolyn Day wrote this inThe Smithsonian:

"Among the upper class, attractiveness showed a woman's risk for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis boosts features already considered beautiful in women."

This meant thinness and pale skin, resulting from weight loss and poor appetite due to the disease. Antibiotics changed things later. But for a time, dark-haired, emaciated vampiric beauty existed in fashion. Or in a coffin.

Contouring highlights living angles and features. Mortician Jamie Reed uses this technique on deceased people. They only show one angle—lying down—forever. Mortician Jamie Reed customarilyMortician makeup artists ask for a photo of the deceased to use contouring to make them look alive.. She paints lifelike shadows with dark brown powder where there are none. This makes loved ones look like they move, even when viewed from below.

Environmental concerns push more people away from embalming and sealed coffins toward "natural" burials. In aNatural (or "green" burial) leaves only the fake parts of you left over in natural burials., your body gets no treatment. It is wrapped in a simple cloth shroud or a biodegradable box. Then, you decompose naturally in a legally designated green burial area. Not all your parts are meant toDecomposeSilicone breast implants, artificial joint replacements, pacemakers, and dental fillings won't break down. These items are considered environmentally hazardous. So, the green burial community advises leaving instructions in your will to have these parts removed first.

Love cosmetology? Skip the salon small talk. Corpse makeup might suit you. Many beauty schools now offer classes inMortuary cosmetology.This includes services such asBeauty schools teach hair styling and manicures for the deceased..

Morticians or embalmers used to handle most mortuary cosmetology during body preparation. Now, beauty professionals offer higher-quality "expert" services. The aging Baby Boomer generation suggests mortuary cosmetology will expand. This field is expected to grow.This work pays much better than standard services.