A Guide to Sugar Skull Makeup

An excellent example of a cultural tradition is the celebration of the Hispanic tradition of El Día de Los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. Traditionally celebrated around the time of Halloween, El Día de Los Muertos involves celebrating the lives of departed loved ones and praying for their souls. Tradition also stipulates that an altar is built and decorated with marigold flowers, favorite foods and beverages of the departed and sugar skulls.

A brief history of sugar skulls

Sugar skulls are a sweet confection molded out of sugar paste. Sugar is abundant in Mexico, and the art of molding sugar into decorations came along with the Catholic friars in the 17th century. These were mainly used for church celebrations, with the trend growing to decorate many other festivities.

Sugar skulls are fairly realistic in that they closely resemble a human skull in size. The resemblance ends there, however, in that the skulls wear icing “makeup” usually applied in a folk art style. Huge smiles, colorful icing hair, sparkles and glittery decorations complete these labor-intensive confections.

Creating sugar skulls is no mean feat. The ingredients include sugar, egg white, corn syrup, and corn starch. These ingredients are mixed carefully to the perfect consistency, molded and allowed to dry for a few days before they are shipped to their destinations. Purveyors of sugar skulls are typically small, family-run operations that fabricate the skulls in very small batches.

Sugar skulls are an important part of the celebration of The Day of the Dead. The colorful decorations and the tasty icing help stave off the pain of remembering departed loved ones. The place of honor on the altar symbolizes the important place that loved ones play in people's lives.