I fulfilled my dream, I was Mystique from X-men!… I know, I take Halloween WAY too seriously.

I already have red hair, so that was the easy part.  The hard part was painting my body with liquid latex!  I’ve outlined some thoughts on applying liquid latex, so keep scrolling on down!

Reference photos:

I researched a bunch of Mystique images and I opted to follow the face and hair of the movie version.

And I followed the clothes and body of the comic book version.

Purchasing Liquid Latex:

This was my first time buying liquid latex.  I purchased liquid latex from www.liquidlatex.com and this was my order:

• 32 oz. Blue liquid latex – Since I only painted half my body, there was at least half the jar left over.
• 2 oz. Blue sparkle – I’d highly recommend mixing this in to the latex (rather than applying on top) for your last coat or two.  It gave the latex a really luminous sheen.
• 4 oz. Body Wash – Highly recommend this too!  At the end of the night, it instantly helped remove the latex that was caught in my hairline and in my arm hair.
• 4 oz. Shine Spray – Must have! The website FAQs are absolutely correct.  Rubbing on the shine spray as the last coat removed all the tackiness from the latex. Without it, the latex sticks to itself.

Liquid latex application tips:

• Allow a lot of time! It took me a around 5 hours. That includes application and drying time.
• Consider a layer of white latex.  Since the latex is translucent, your skin color will show through if you don’t put on enough coats.  In my case, I had to apply 5-6 layers of latex before it stopped looking blue/green.  I think a layer of white latex would help tone down your skin color and only require 3-4 coats of blue.

  

• Armpits are tricky. Once you do your armpits, you can’t put your arms down until you’ve applied the Shine Spray. The latex will stick to itself and will start ripping once you lift your arms. I don’t know how to improve that aspect.
• Wow, it’s stinky. It’s especially hard to apply around your nose and eyes because the ammonia fumes are really harsh. If you’re allergic, it will not be fun for you.
• A bit of a stranglehold. The latex will shrink and feel like wearing a tight rubber glove. It was a little alarming when the latex on my neck tightened.  If you don’t like wearing chokers, you will not enjoy the feeling of latex on your neck.
• Comes off fast…for the most part. As long as it’s not in your hair, the latex peels off really quickly. I had some stuck in my hairline, but rubbing on the Body Wash helped rinse it out quickly.

The Mystique Face

To make the scales on my face I cut out pieces of blue craft foam and stuck them onto my face with liquid latex.  Then I painted over the scales with liquid latex.