This week on Face Off, the remaining makeup artists had to recreate a classic Halloween costume--a vampire, a skeleton, a devil, a clown, or a scarecrow--with some kind of special effects trick. This was an amazing challenge that inspired me to make one of my favorite props ever on Sketchy Details @Home this week. The contestants, however, were kind of all over the place. I almost feel like they all got so excited by the challenge that they played it a little too loose. There were some really cool concepts onstage but I wasn't blown away by the execution.

I also don't like how the trick element only came into play for judging if the judges didn't like the effect. Where is the trick in Roy fabricating a pair of wings for a challenge? He normally fabricates twice as much stuff. And if a contestant, like Alana, didn't even incorporate their trick because of time, they weren't knocked down for it. Very odd judging this week.

Laney, Roy, and Tate wound up on top for the challenge. Laney had my favorite design. I can't do clowns. They terrify me in their normal form unless they're Killer Klowns or fighting back against their animator in old black and white animated shorts. Laney's gut-ripping clown actually gave me nightmares. She's definitely a force to be reckoned with in this contest. The design was all tattooed in the face and featured the exaggerated clown makeup as part of the actual bone structure of the character.

Roy made a devil with huge wings. There wasn't anything wrong with it. I didn't see how the wings were a trick and I really didn't see how the design reinvented the concept. I didn't even like the color combination and I'm normally a big fan of Roy's paint jobs. It probably read better in person.

Tate's skeleton was really cool. It's been so long since season 1 (and I was such a Sam and Gage fanboy) that I forgot how great his work was. Tate's skills have only improved since his first run on the show and this skeleton's the best thing he's done. The twisted concept of the earth becoming trapped within the skeleton as it rose from the grave was incredible. I wasn't keen on the red sash because it was a little too clean for the concept, but I otherwise really liked the look.

Tate won and I can't really disagree. It could have gone either way between him and Laney and the judges were blown away by Tate's creativity. Laney also stood up there, assumed she was a bottom look, and started admitting all the flaws in her design. Keep the criticism out of your mouth until the judges say they don't like your design. Don't volunteer negativity until you have to prove you can admit you made mistakes.

The bottom looks were Alana, Lyma, and Scott. Alana's devil just didn't work out on a technical level. She wanted the horns to glow with LEDs to create the impression of moving lava and ran out of time. She wanted the sculpt to look like a ram but delivered a bunny rabbit by mistake. The appliances were really bumpy and the paint was way too flat to cover for the technical mistakes.

Lyma's vampire can't even be defended. I can't knock her for being proud of completing everything she set out to do (including actually delivering on the trick aspect of the challenge). It just didn't work. The facial sculpt felt like a mask because there was no hint of anatomy in the face. Like Alana, she had visible seams on the application. The best part (and Glenn Hetrick agreed) was the ears, which had a pleasing transparency. The rest was a total mess.

I feel bad for Scott in this contest. I have no doubt that he's capable of producing high quality work. He's just flailing under the time constraints. His clown concept was good but wasn't executed well. The cheek piercings were a great concept--a forced smile--but like Ve Neill said, they just didn't sit right when taking actual anatomy into consideration.

Ultimately, Lyma was sent home. This wouldn't have happened if the judges gave her the win she clearly earned last week and she had immunity. Once again, the body painter went home before the artistic challenge. This time, it doesn't appear to be a body painting challenge directly, but the new episode tonight is about creating characters that reflect an art movement. Lyma's exaggerated body painting style would have guaranteed her the win on the paint job alone. Oh well. Someday a body painter will do well. Lyma's top of the pack among all of them and can walk away proud that she lasted longer than most non-special effects artists on the show.

Thoughts on the episode? Share them below.