We’ve written lots of articles about finding inspiration as a makeup artist, especially through social media. But you probably want in on where or who you can turn to when you need some SFX inspo. We love to fill our feed with special FX looks amongst the glam looks and beauty brand posts!
Here are our favorite special effects makeup artists on Instagram right now…
Karmela is actually a QC Graduate! She took our Makeup Artistry course. Though Makeup Artistry doesn’t cover special effects makeup explicitly like in our Master Makeup Artistry or Special FX Makeup courses, she’s putting her foundational skills into doing SFX work!
Even with the look pictured above, Karmela is using her knowledge of creating depth with contour and highlight to make this spooky look. Her special effects makeup looks are done with little to no prosthetics – just body paints! Karmela’s Instagram is a great place to turn to for inspiration. She’s mastered SFX looks and glam makeup!
Paul David is a popular SFX artist on Instagram. And there’s a reason he has almost 60 thousand followers! His spooky looks are ultra-realistic and creative!
Just like Karmela, Paul uses body paints for the backbone of most of his looks. Many of his looks also use prosthetics, but he’s still able to create depth with just his paints. He’s known for his ability to black out parts of his body for his looks, creating an ultra-creepy negative space effect. He knows exactly how to use black body paint to his advantage in creating astonishing illusions on a black background.
If you love glam SFX makeup, Katy is someone you need to follow. You may recognize some of her work from our list of summer-inspired SFX looks to recreate earlier this month. Most of her work is bright, colorful, and uses gemstones and flowers! She even posts step-by-step photos on how she does her iconic geode looks.
Katy is super creative and her looks will brighten up your feed, giving you the inspiration you need.
Nina is also a QC Graduate of our Master Makeup Artistry and Special FX courses! She does amazingly detailed zombie-esque looks as well as fantasy makeup (like the look pictured above!).
Nina’s detailed but relatively simple looks are great to draw inspiration from. Whether you’re looking for a look with prosthetics or something using only paints, you’ll be able to draw inspiration from Nina’s work! Also, head to her page to check out some of her best glow-in-the-dark looks!
There’s something about body paint that we find super intriguing. Makeup looks like Alice’s take skill and attention to detail! In the look above, she’s created depth while also accomplishing a cartoon-y style! Alice’s page will inspire you to experiment with combining neon colors and glam makeup.
There are so many talented special effects makeup artists on Instagram! And we totally wish we could include them all. If you’re looking to keep up-to-date with trending looks, #sfxmakeup on Instagram is the place to go!
Interesting