The fabulous Sisifo recently pointed me to this splendid photo by deviantART member Wickedweb (some photos borderline NSFW). She wasn’t sure of the substance used for the “tears,” but suggested that for costuming purposes eyelash glue mixed with matte black eyeshadow might work.

I dug around through the gallery comments and finally found one where the artist identifies the stuff as black acrylic paint, which is fine for a photograph but definitely not something you’d want to wear around your eyes for an extended period. I’m wondering if homemade fake blood using black food coloring instead of red would provide an appropriately drippy look (although ideally it’d be nice to find something that dried with that pretty glossy look instead of staying wet). It really is a wonderfully striking look, particularly paired with the silvery eyeshadow.

Be sure to check out the rest of her photos too; she’s trained as a makeup artist and has some fantastic inspiration, like lipstick styled after the patterns on poison-dart frogs.

Thanks, Sisifo!