Some of Paddy’s top tips to get the perfect Halloween look that will be truly terrifying
BASE:
When creating a Halloween look that is a gore or glam theme, it is important to choose a paler foundation for your skin. This will give a haunting effect and will also make any detail added to the face more striking and contrasting. This base will help any additional colours go on smoothly and stay in place long enough to get through a Halloween party or a long night of trick or treating.
EYES:
be very challenging at times but I love it,” she reveals.
“I am happy and confident in work. I am surrounded by a great team. It is a
temporary coloured contacts if they suit your costume.
EFFECTS:
Adding ‘blood’ to any look gives it an added eerie feel. You can simply add a few drops of fake blood for example under the eye or from the corner to the mouth for an extra horror effect. To create a stitch-like finish, get string and cut approximately 10 pieces into a 1cm piece each, spray or paint black using your black cream liner and using Spirit gum (a strong adhesive for the skin), place on the jawline.
SET-IT:
world away from my role as Miss NI, but sometimes it is good to switch off. I deal with the job by talking to my team and we work through things together.” With Halloween our annual excuse to go full blown adventurous with costumes and make-up, no-one is better placed to give creative advice than Paddy McGurgan and his team at the Make-Up Pro Store.
They have been trained by some of the most amazing SFX artists in the world, including Predators’ SFX prosthetics head artist Christian Kotey and Make-Up For Ever SFX trainer Vincent De Monfried.
These SFX experts have jetted across the globe, perfecting their mind-blowing skill and sharing their makeup magic in the process.
Make-Up Pro Store’s Halloween campaign this year has seen Paddy and his team create gory SFX imagery as well as stunningly striking and colourful paintwork, with the recreation of a character or two.
“Halloween is the most exciting time of year in MakeUp Pro Store and my team and I take so much pleasure in pushing the boundaries of what is expected and what our imagination can create,” says Paddy.
“It is the one time of year that clients choose to opt for the experimental style of make-up that we love.
“What I love about combining creative make-up and Halloween is that you can give your imagination full freedom — there are no rules.
“If you wish to take your Halloween look to the next level, there are some key rules to remember: always ensure you are familiar with the products you are using, have all the right brushes and practise, practise, practise.
“With the looks we have created for Halloween, we have gone full throttle. Our Nun look is an interpretation of the character from the recent film release and the Voodoo Princess is synonymous with New Orleans’ Day of the Dead festivities. My favourite is our Bewitched Beauty Queen, modelled by reigning Miss NI Katharine Walker.
“Most people do tend to lean more towards the looks that are easier to create, but Halloween is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and using the breadth of amazing make-up you have available.
“So, my advice is be brave, and let your imagination run wild.”
Iwas sleeping in the volunteers’ room at Charleville Castle, Co Offaly. There was no-one else in the building and I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the door opening and the pitter-patter of little feet.
I knew there had been an eight-year-old girl who’d died in the building back in the 1800s. I said: “Harriet, I’ve just gone to bed and I’m very tired and I have to get up early in the morning. Thanks for coming to visit me but I’ve got to get some sleep.” And with that, I heard the little feet pitter-patter away, the door close and the sound of her going down the hall. That was a very profound experience.
My interest in the paranormal started with experiences I had as a child.
My twin brother and I used to experience night terrors. We’d hear noises in the family home and get a very heavy feeling that someone was watching us.
I’d hear growls and on one occasion an alarm clock flew across my bedroom.
Most people who get involved in paranormal investigating do so because something happened to them and they want answers.
That’s definitely the case with most people involved in the Paranormal Research Association of Ireland, which I now run and have been with since 2006. We consider ourselves open-minded sceptics.
We don’t use mediums or psychics — we don’t ridicule them either — but we come at investigations from a logical, rather than a spiritual, point of view.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the job is that we make money from our investigations — we don’t. I’m in negative equity with my equipment and the most I’ve got out of a private investigation is a nice biscuit and a cup of coffee.
This is a hobby for me — my day job is in security at Dublin airport — I do it because I have an interest and because I want to help people.
There’s sometimes a level of confidentiality and discretion involved in doing an investigation, because not everybody wants people to know what’s going on.
We don’t drive up in big black Jeeps, there’s no ‘ghostbuster mobile’ with logos all over it! I actually don’t like the term ‘ghostbuster’ because we’re not ‘busting’ ghosts, we’re not capturing them or sending them away — we’re trying to capture evidence and help people get through whatever traumatic experience they’re going through at that moment.
First I talk to the person and ask what they’re experiencing and get them to write down everything that happens over the course of a week. I’ve been trained by the same people who trained the New York City Police Department in interview techniques, so I can usually tell when people are starting to embellish a little or when they’re genuinely worried.
The next thing I do is look for a natural cause. In one house in Tullamore, the family were experiencing night terrors, nausea, headaches and waking up seeing hags.
But it turned out they had a metal girder running down the middle of the house and the house wasn’t grounded properly.
Electromagnetic fields can alter your brain chemistry, make you feel ill and see things that aren’t there. Electricity was