Put the bruise in a place which is easy to reach to make applying makeup simple. The shape of the bruise should reflect whatever you think would have caused it. Consider a bruise on your forearm as if it was hit by a blunt object like a bat, which would be an oval bruise. It would be a little longer than it is wide and have rounded edges. Another option is giving yourself a black eye as if you were punched in the face.
For example, if you are creating the effect of a black eye, curve the red around the bottom of the eye, beginning in the corner and expanding out below the eye and to the side in a crescent shape. It should be about one inch wide at the largest section near the outer, bottom corner of the eye. You can add some red on the edge of the top eye lid to show irritation.
In the black eye example, start at the bottom corner of the eye and draw along the edge of the bottom lid. Starting back at the corner, draw down along the edge of the eye socket. This will create sort of a “greater than” symbol or a “v” on it’s side.
Use green and yellow around the edges of the crescent in your black eye. Also put some in the corner of your eye, pushing it into the dip in the socket and dragging it slightly up the top lid and down the corner of the bottom.
You can also use black to darken the purple areas if your shade was a little light, or you want more emphasis.
If they don’t ask about it, you can “accidentally” touch the bruise or hit it on something, then react as if it hurt.
A new bruise is dark red due to the blood pooling under the skin. Next the bruise begins to loose iron and purples. As the bruise begins to heal, it will green around the edges. Before the bruise fades, it will develop yellow spreading across the skin. Lastly, the bruise fades back into regular skin color.
Mehron and Ben Nye both offer a product called a “Bruise Wheel. ” The colors you will want for your bruise are red, purple, yellow, green, and blue. Choose darker, duller tones like maroon, mustard and olive.
Keep this layer light. Your skin should still show through the makeup. This layer of red should resemble skin irritation.
Continue using very little makeup and add small amounts at a time. Blend hard edges with your finger or makeup sponge to blend the dark colors into the red makeup.
