This week on Face Off, the remaining makeup artists were teamed up to create original futuristic Frankenstein's Monster and Bride combinations for Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights. You know this challenge was right up my alley for the new episode of Sketchy Details @Home. In four days, I did all of the pre-building and detail work (but not full assembly) on my Monster drummer and his beautiful Bride as the band logo for the night club. Once the E6000 glue dries on the Monster, I can drill holes in the back of the frame to run lights through, cover the inside of the shadowboxes with this really cool Halloween scrapbooking paper I picked up at Michaels, and attahch it to the black box that will function as the Monster's body behind the drum kit.

The makeup on the episode was, once again, very strong. I didn't see one team with a concept I didn't like. The winners were the obvious choice, since their design was simple enough to apply each night at a professional haunt but distinct enough to stand out from the main attractions.

That winning team was (Surprise!) Alana, Laura, and Laney. That's two vets who excel at horror makeup and a newbie with an offbeat aesthetic. They created a beautiful pairing that paid tribute to the Universal film--the bride is gorgeous, the monster is hideous, but they're of the same creator. Alana was given the win for her sculpt and paint job on the bride, and I can't disagree too much. I think the umbrella/lightning rod fabrication really sold the look (thanks, Laura and Laney) but this is a makeup competition.

There were three bottom teams and the justification varied greatly. Lyma, RJ, and Tate got dragged down to the bottom because the judges hated Lyma's paint job on the Bride. I could not disagree more with their commentary. Other than Alana, no one painted for a haunt environment like Lyma. This was not a ready for print or film challenge. This was a live theater challenge, essentially, and pro haunts paint broad and cartoonish to read in low light. Her bride looked great in the context of the challenge. The judges show, yet again, that they're really not open to non-effects artists winning this contest. Beauty makeup specialists and body painters never do well.

Eric Z, Rich, and Frank were thrown in the bottom three to make an example out of Eric Z. His piece was clearly unfinished. The Monster's clear dome covering his brain had drilled holes that were not filled. The judges admonished him for really detracting from a solid makeup job by not finishing his work. He probably would have been sent home if the actual eliminated contestant did more makeup on this challenge.

The losing team was Miranda, Sam, and Eddie. The judges did not like the concept--special suits to create an immortal pair of lovers--and really didn't like the execution. Miranda had immunity (and the judges quickly realized that she did almost all of the work they liked) and Sam and Eddie mainly created the leather masks on the characters.

Sam was given the boot for only doing the Bride's mask and doing a very poor job on it. There was no texture on the finish and the proportions were really odd. It was the right choice.

So what did you think? Share your thoughts on Face Off and Sketchy Details @Home below.