Why most painted bruises look fake
Almost every unconvincing bruise fails for one of three reasons: it is too purple, it is too neat, or it is in the wrong place. Real bruising is a mess of overlapping colours with no edge, it settles into soft tissue rather than over bone, and it changes colour depending on how old the injury is meant to be.
Get those three things right and a bruise painted with three colours will beat a bruise painted with twelve.
What a real bruise actually does
Bruising is blood under the skin, and it changes as the body breaks that blood down. Painting the right stage is what makes people believe it.
- Hours old — red and pink, slightly raised, no dark centre yet.
- One to three days — the classic bruise: dark blue-purple in the middle, red-pink at the edge.
- Four to seven days — green creeps in around the outside while the core stays dark.
- Seven days and older — yellow-brown, flat, fading, with no sharp edge anywhere.
Decide the age before you pick up a brush. A fight that happened five minutes ago should have no green or yellow in it at all. That single decision fixes more fake-looking bruises than any technique.
What you need
Two ways to do this, and both work.
The fast way: a bruise wheel. A Heart Face Art SFX Bruise Palette Wheel puts the purples, greens, reds and yellows in one place, pre-chosen to work together. It is the quickest route to a decent bruise and the product most beginners forget to buy. See the full bruise wheel and SFX palette range.
The flexible way: a crème palette. Grimas Crème Make-up Pure Palette B gives you twelve oil-based colours including the blue, red, deep maroon and grey that bruising actually needs, so you mix the exact tone instead of accepting the one in the pan. Because crème make-up does not dry off, you can keep working an edge until it disappears.
For a single large area, a stick is faster than either: Covercream Pure Dark Blue for the core, Deep Red for the angry edge, and Dark Grey for the hollow underneath.
You will also want a stipple sponge, a translucent powder, and a skin tone to blend the edges. Palette V is twelve skin tones for exactly that job.
Step by step
- Work out where the impact landed. Bruising pools in soft tissue and follows gravity, so it sits under the eye rather than on the brow bone, along the jaw rather than on the point of the chin. Put it where a knock would actually leave it.
- Lay a red base first. Stipple a soft, irregular patch of red over the whole area with a stipple sponge. No outline, no shape, just broken colour. This is the layer everything else sits on.
- Build the dark core. Stipple blue or purple into the centre only, keeping it well inside the red. Leave the red showing around it. The core should be maybe a third of the total area.
- Break the edge. Take an almost-dry sponge and feather the outside until there is no line anywhere. If you can see where the bruise stops, it is not finished.
- Age it, if you want it older. Stipple green loosely around the outside of the red, then a thin wash of yellow beyond that. Keep both outside the dark core.
- Add texture. A few broken capillaries flicked in with a fine brush in dark red, and a little grey stippled into the hollow underneath, will lift the whole thing. Restraint matters here.
- Powder it. Press a translucent or fixing powder on with a puff. Unpowdered crème will end up on a collar within minutes.
Painting a black eye
A black eye is a bruise with swelling, and the swelling is what people actually read. Keep the darkest colour in the soft tissue under and around the eye, sweep it along the lower lid and into the inner corner, and bring a lighter wash up onto the lid itself. Then paint the swelling: a soft highlight along the top of the cheekbone and a darker crease beneath it will make the area look puffy without any prosthetic at all. A touch of red in the inner corner and along the waterline finishes it.
The three mistakes to avoid
- All four colours at once. Red, purple, green and yellow together is a rainbow, not an injury. Pick an age.
- A visible edge. Real bruising fades to nothing. If there is a border, keep feathering.
- Too smooth. A bruise blended perfectly flat looks like eyeshadow. Stipple, do not sweep.
Taking it further
Bruising is the finishing layer on almost every good SFX look. Once it sits right, add a wound with scar wax or a prosthetic, colour the inside of it, and finish with fake blood so the blood runs away from the injury rather than sitting on it. For Halloween looks built this way, see our full Halloween range.
Getting it off again
Crème make-up lifts with oil, not water. Use an oil-based remover or a cleansing cream, wipe in one direction, then wash the residue with warm water and a gentle soap. Be gentle around the eye. Everything you need is in preps, barriers and removers.
Frequently asked questions
What colours do you need to paint a realistic bruise?
At minimum, a red, a blue or purple, and a yellow-green. A fresh bruise is red and blue-purple, an older one turns green then yellow-brown. Using purple alone is the most common reason a painted bruise looks fake.
Can you paint a bruise without a bruise wheel?
Yes. A crème make-up palette with reds, blues and greens does the same job with more control, because you mix the exact tone rather than taking the one in the pan. A bruise wheel is faster; a palette is more flexible.
How do you make a bruise look fresh rather than old?
Fresh bruising is red at the edges with a dark blue-purple core and no green or yellow at all. Add green and yellow only when you want the injury to read as several days old. Painting all four colours at once is what makes a bruise look like a rainbow instead of an injury.
Should you use a brush or a sponge for bruising?
A stipple sponge, mostly. Real bruising is mottled, not smooth, and a stipple sponge lays down the broken, uneven texture that sells the effect. Use a brush only for the darkest core and for any broken capillaries.
How do you paint a black eye?
Keep the darkest colour in the soft tissue under and around the eye, not on the bone. Sweep it along the lower lid and into the inner corner, bring a lighter wash up onto the lid, and add puffiness with a highlight along the top of the cheekbone so the area reads as swollen.
How long does painted bruising last?
Powdered crème make-up will hold for a full night or a full performance as long as it is not rubbed. Set it, avoid touching it, and carry the palette for touch-ups. Unpowdered, it will transfer onto collars within minutes.
How do you remove bruise make-up?
Lift crème make-up with an oil-based remover or cleansing cream first, then wash with warm water and a gentle soap. Scrubbing at it with water alone just spreads the pigment and irritates the skin, which is the last thing you want around the eye.
