Getting Dirty! How to Create Realistic Special Effects Dirt

Getting Dirty! How to Create Realistic Special Effects Dirt

In my last Pirate blog we talked about “Taking your Pirate Garb to the next level and Making it Look Real” though distressing and I provided several techniques to accomplish this.

However, we don’t want to go to a festival with our garb looking warn and distressed and look like we just showered and dressed for the faire. It is important that the entire character comes together in a believable package. In order to accomplish this one must enter the world of special effects makeup. Of course there are all kinds of high end products available from the makeup industry and with trial and error you can find the ones that work best for you. These products are all available online, at haunt cons and special effects makeup cons and makeup/costumes outlets.

In this tutorial I would like to discuss the low budget, do it yourself “Dirt Makeup” for Pirating with resources you probably already have around the house or campfire.

Now when you are applying dirt you want to think about covering the areas of your body that do not have clothes: face, neck, arms (if uncovered), hands, calves if you are wearing slops or legs if you are wearing a skirt.

Materials Needed:

-       Sunscreen

-       Charcoal or Star Blend Cake Makeup

-       Oreo Cookies

Step One:

Add the Grease-

Apply a high spf sunscreen to your exposed skin. You want to protect your skin from the sun for the duration of your festival experience, and application after the “Makeup Dirt” is applied is a little messy. Also if you choose a greasy sunscreen it can help adhere the “dirt” and add the look of sweat and “grease,” perfect for creating a hot, dirty, pirate persona.

Step Two:

Add the Dirt-

A tip my Pirate Captain, Jeff MacKay shared with me – “Charcoal”!! Natural Charcoal works perfectly for a really safe and realistic looking dirt and it won’t cost you anything. Simply look around your fireplace at home, your BBQ Pit or the campfire for a nice piece of natural charcoal (NOT HOT) and not charcoal brickets that are pretreated with a lighter fluid.  Again, DO NOT USE brickets such as Kingsford Charcoal, use only natural charcoal produced from burned wood fires.

Helpful tip: Crush the natural charcoal into a black powder and put into a zip lock baggy. You may want to keep this in your pocket for reapplication at the pirate festival.

Net you are going to want to rub the charcoal around your finger nail beds, on the tops of your hands, around your neck and face, on your arms and legs – all the exposed areas. Just like distressing the clothes, you will want to put the dirt in most natural and realistic areas of your body.

Charcoal is of course not the only option. You can also use a special effects makeup like Star Blend Cake Makeup in a dark brown, mixed with a oily sunscreen like Aloe Gator to create a “dirt paste.” Application is the same.

Helpful Tip: Wipe your hands on your clothes throughout the process to add the realistic layering of dirt to your clothes as well.

Step Three:

Pirate Grin-

Now that our clothing and appearance are cohesive, we need to do something about our pirate grin. This is the most fun part of the process and it’s tasty too. You will need to half chew some Oreo Cookies and get them nicely ground into the gums around your front teeth and then smile pretty! This is another stolen makeup trick I am pirating for my Captain J.

Helpful Tip: Keep a bag of Oreo Cookies in your other pocket to munch on and for reapplication during the festival.

You can also purchase special effects tooth paint for the rotten teeth look. It can be purchased from special effects makeup stores. It is called “special effects tooth paint”. It does take some skill and technique when applying to make it look real and it’s not nearly as much fun or as tasty as Oreos.

Your Authentic Dirty Pirate is complete! Enjoy the festivities in true pirate spirit.

Thanks for reading!