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.
2nd coat of liquid latex and it still looks greenish - 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.
This costume was awesome – neat that you posted the process!
Thanks for taking a look, Mike!
Hey!!!
Awesome post!!!
I liked her outfit a lot. Thanks for such immense post. You made my day…..
Liquid Latex
So glad you liked it! It was quite an undertaking, but well worth it 🙂
hey im going to an alter ego party on the 29th and this is exbatly what i needed to assist me thanks andif you have more tips or ideas plase let me know i want to blow there minds…
hey im going to an alter ego party on the 29th and this is exbatly what i needed to assist me thanks andif you have more tips or ideas plase let me know i want to blow there minds…thanks again
Awesome, glad it helped! Be prepared for strangers to reach out and touch you…Liquid latex looks so cool, people can’t resist touching it. Hope your costume goes well!
Hi Breanna, I was wondering, how were you able to apply the liquid latex to your back? Did you have a friend’s help? Or did you figure out a way to do it yourself (I’m afraid I’ll be on my own for my own venture lol)?
Hi Ben,
You’re right, I did enlist a friend to help paint my back. Otherwise I don’t think I could have done it alone. The latex is really tacky until you put the final coat of shine spray, so you have to be really careful about not bumping parts of your body. You could try using one of those foam rollers to apply to your back on your own?
Also…be sure to cover your working area with drop-cloths. They’re not kidding when they say it doesn’t come off fabric or carpet 🙂
All the best!
Breanna
Hey Breanna,
Thanks for the quick reply. Great suggestions, I may go with the roller idea (hopefully the latex doesn’t stick to the roller in between layers!) to get that giant hard-to-reach part (aka my back). Not looking forward to the 5 hrs. and ammonia, but if it all comes together, hopefully my Mystique-esque alien goddess looks half as good as yours did!
I honestly don’t think I like this a lot. It seems a very good site for the different costumes as with the body paint.
Could you explain more why you don’t like it?
My blog is about sharing ideas and thoughts on interesting projects, so constructive feedback is appreciated.
Thanks for that, I was still a bit weary about using glue on the mask so instead I just used strips of velcro to attach the sponge, makes it a bit easier to reposition too.
Hey I had a question. Did you actually put the latex over your eyes and eyebrows, or did you use blue makeup for those parts? Btw, awesome job, love it!
Thanks! Glad you like the costume.
I didn’t put latex on my eyes, I think the package actually warns against that. I used blue face paint on my eyes, but I’d recommend buying a few different blues. I only had a basic royal blue and it didn’t match the latex, so my eyes looked a bit strange.
Oh yea, and did you put any scales on your body? If so, did you do it the same way you did your face or did you paint them?
I didn’t put any scales on my body. My costume was a mash-up of the movie version and comic book version of Mystique. I only put scales on my face to match the movie face and kept my body smooth like the comic book. If you’re using body paint it will probably be much easier to just paint on some scales…my process was extremely time consuming 🙂
Hi! I love how your Mystique costume turned out, it’s amazing!
I’m doing a different costume but your advice on how to use the liquid latex has helped a lot. If I am only planning on painting my arms upper chest and neck and some parts of my face, how long do you think that would take? Also, what is your experience with trying to paint your hands?
I would still give yourself a few hours to let it all dry (maybe 2-3?). I also avoided the hand issue by wearing gloves 🙂 I’m curious to hear how yours turns out!
Hi, Breanna,
Just couldn’t find a real mystique costume from all those costume shops, and found an article about how to make it (http://mystiquecostume.org/how-to-make-a-mystique-costume.php) and your page, too. Based on your experience, what would be the most difficult part to make by your own, I’d say the blue latex paint part, cause, I don’t know if there will be some bad effects to the skin, thanks.
Jennifer
Liquid latex is really hard to apply on your own because it sticks to itself until you put the shine spray on. So if you happen to bump your arm against your stomach, it’ll stick together and rip. It doesn’t have any bad effects on your skin, it peels off quite easily when you’re done. Just be sure you don’t have any latex allergies. I’d almost recommend using body paint over liquid latex. There are paints that have shimmer powder added so you’ll still get that shiny effect without the trouble of liquid latex.
Happy Halloween!
Thank YOU SO MUCH for this site! It definetly helped me with my Mystique costume. I am so glad you mentioned the craft foam pieces! I’ve cut hundreds and they are ready to go! I am, however, taking my costume a bit farther….I have purchased clear silicone nipple covers (self adhesive) and purchased dyeable underwear. I dyed them the same color (obviously) and am doing it head to toe!!!!!! I am super excited and your site was the first I came across and the BEST so far!!!!
Hi, I was just wondering if the shine spray i some unique product to put on latex only, or if it’s just normal shine spray, like the shine spray you usually put in your hair?
As far as I know, the shine spray is unique to liquid latex. It helps seal the latex and prevents the latex from sticking to itself. I’m not sure what it’s made of, but I’d recommend asking the vendor if you have more questions about its uses. Hope that helps!
this is so awesome i’m going as mystique for halloween thanks for the types
Would using blue body paint work too? I was thinking about putting scales on me with latex, then paint myself in blue, but your method seems to work well!! Nice job!
Blue body paint should definitely work too. Looking back, I wish I’d done body paint instead liquid latex. I’m no expert with liquid latex, but I was pretty miserable by the end of the evening. Hope yours turns out well! Send pics if you like!
I might just get body paint, but use latex to glue the scales on my body. I did paint myself in red few years ago and it held pretty well on my skin. I think we used hairspray to make the color hold better. Kinda sticky but it was nice! Plus you can paint your eyelids and lips the same color, which you couldnt do with latex. If ever I do it, I’ll send a picture!
I am considering doing this for a Halloween get-together I am going to… I am considering liquid latex because I am certain that there will be a lot of touching, contact with fabrics/couches and clothes. As far as staying power, would you go with liquid latex or body paint? Thanks
As far as staying power, liquid latex will be your best option. Had fun!
I want to do this, but I am going to a rave for Halloween. So that entails about 6 hours of dancing. What do you think will happen with heat/sweat/physical contact with other people there…will I be super hot, and will sweating screw it up? I really wanna do it, but not sure if it’ll work for going to rave…
Hey Caitlin,
Liquid latex will last the best if you’re going to be sweating a lot. However it might rip a bit (like in your armpits) and it will trap your sweat against your skin so you will likely get pretty hot. Liquid latex doesn’t breathe that well. It might start to peel away from areas that are really sweaty or moving a lot (mine started peeling away from my mouth because of talking). Hope this helps!
Hi there, I know your last comment was forever ago, but do you have any advice for applying the liquid latex around the eyes?
Thanks!
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend putting liquid latex really close to your eyes since that’s fairly sensitive skin (like on eyelids or under eyes). Find some matching body paint or eyeshadow and use that on the eye area. Happy Halloween!