Turning Vampires: How to Apply Easy Fang Bites
How Vampires Got Fangs
Did you know vampires didn’t originally have fangs? Vampires, or some similar form of undead, have been a part of folklore for centuries. Like many monsters, they were created to explain the unexplainable. Long before modern medicine and the understanding of disease, people died from diseases like tuberculous, which infect healthy people and make them appear to waste away as if their life force is being drained. When small communities were infected, they searched for answers. So they created the myth of the vampire to explain what was happening. If you want to learn more about the history of vampires, listen to the Ologies podcast episodes on vampirology with Dr. Jeff Holdeman.
The idea of vampires having fangs to drink blood didn’t become popular until the late 1800s-1900s when vampires appeared on screen. It was movies and movie makeup that first introduce fangs and their accompanying bite marks to vampires. The combination of costume fangs being readily available and how well they fit with the idea of vampires drinking blood made them such a popular addition to the classic look of the undead monster. Now fangs are synonymous with vampires and are often the way new vampires are created. The look of your vampire’s fangs and the marks they leave are up to your creative interruption for your costume. So here are two quick and easy ways you can apply a vampire bite.
How to Apply Easy Vampire Fang Bites
Supplies
eyeliner
red and black or brown eyeshadow palettes
angled, detail makeup brush
red nail polish
fangs
Note: The mascara, eyeliner and red/black eyeshadow palettes were also for my eye makeup. To learn how to mold your fangs to your teeth, check out the second half of my blog Becoming Wolf: How to Apply Easy Nail Polish Scratches & Scabs.
Infected Vampire Bites
Use eyeliner to create two dots where you want your bite marks.
Use light black/brown eyeshadow to block out infected veins extending from the vampire bites.
Use red eye shadow to create the flush, red skin around the scars.
Layer different shades of red and brown/black to give the scars more depth.
Use black/brown eyeliner to better define the infected veins.
Place a dollop of red nail polish at the center of each bite mark. Use enough so the marks appear raised.
Note: Scars aren’t perfect. Let your marks be a little messy.
Scarred Vampire Bites
Use eyeliner to create two dots where you want your bite marks.
Use red eye shadow to create the flush, red skin around the scars.
Layer different shades of red and brown/black to give the scars more depth.
Place a dollop of red nail polish at the center of each bite mark. Use enough so the marks appear raised.
Note: Scars aren’t perfect. Let your marks be a little messy.
Finish Your Makeup & Costume
For my eye makeup, I just did some red eyeshadow, black winged eyeliner, and mascara. You could do something like that or a smokey eye or a more undead, dark eye circle look. Too much eye makeup irritates my eyes, so I like to keep it simple.
My fangs are from Scarecrow. I molded them to fit my teeth and added a tough of red lipstick. Your lip stick can stain your fangs, so be careful when applying it.
For your costume, I recommend thinking about when your vampire was turned. My vampire character, Ruby, was turned in the 1920s, so this red and black flapper dress was perfect for her. And capes are always fun additions to a vampire costume.
Caitlin Berve is the author of When Magic Calls: A Collection of Modern Fairy Tales and currently working on a fantasy novel involving an arranged marriage, damsels who save themselves, and non-human shape-shifters. Through her company Ignited Ink Writing and MFA, she edits other people’s novels, creates video tutorials, teaches, and writes. Caitlin seeks to fill the world with the kind of writing that lingers with readers, pet all the fluffy and scaly animals she can, and find magic in modern times.