The promotional images for American Horror Story: Cult have been some of the most arresting in recent memory. They mash coulrophobia, trypophobia, and body horror together with some serious economy into a succinct, colorful, image. It's like a bad car accident that you can't stop rubbernecking. Which makes it perfect for a Halloween costume — you'll be repulsive, but no one will be able to look away.
While the beehive skull hasn't made an actual appearance in Cult yet, and probably won't since the only beehives seen so far were the ones kept by Harrison and Meadow Wilton, neighbors of Ally and Ivy Mayfair-Richards, it's still an amazing makeup look for Halloween.
Turning your skull into a beehive probably seems pretty daunting, but luckily Lex over at Madeyewlook has made an awesome tutorial for the beehive-head that's very beginner-friendly — and is pretty close to indistinguishable from the version on the poster.
This is your brain. This is your brain when it's been replaced by a functioning beehive.
Materials
For this look, you'll need a combination of both makeup and prosthetic supplies:
- modeling clay
- bald cap
- Pros-aid adhesive
- skin-friendly paint
- clear gloss for clay
- gelatin
- red lip gloss
- eyeshadow primer
- metallic pink and red eyeshadow
- yellow and brown eyeshadow
- X-Acto knife
- mannequin
Step 1: Make Beehive
Roll out the modeling clay until it's paper thin around the edges, and not much thicker in the center. Drape your bald cap over your mannequin head, and then drape your clay over the bald cap and cut off the edges (smooth them off with some water).
Stamp in the honeycomb shape one cell at a time (if you can't find anything honeycomb-shaped, you can cut a little hexagon out of some cardboard and glue it to the back of a pencil). Let it dry overnight before finishing the honeycomb off with a combination of yellow and brown paint, and then your clay glaze.
Step 2: Paint Skin
Paint all your exposed skin white. In her video, Lex uses white cream makeup on her face and around the beehive prosthetic because it's thicker, but regular white body paint everywhere else. Then prime your eyes and give them that clown-like makeup effect using the red metallic shadow and body paint.
For the lips, make sure to either use a high-shine lipstick or go over your matte lipstick with a gloss. To get that disconcerting upper-lip "cutout" just right, use a detail brush so it comes out clean.
Step 3: Add Bees
Roll small balls of your moldable clay into little bean shapes for your bees. Give them black and yellow stripes, and then stick them on using Pros-aid.
In-Depth Instructions
If you want more detailed instructions, check out Lex's video, which we've embedded here. You can copy her brushwork and techniques, or just enjoy her hilarious motormouth commentary ... and some bonus bee puns at the end. There's really nothing quite like watching a clown tell punny jokes about the bees crawling around the beehive that's protruding from her skull.
That's it! Be warned, though, if you do meet anyone with coulrophobia or trypophobia, you might literally scare them away, or at least force them to close their eyes for the entire conversation with you. If this does end up happening, feel free to brag about it in the comments!
Cover image via Madeyewlook/YouTube
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