Covent Garden Costume Accessories Shop With £5.70 Kryolan

Screenface is a professional make-up and special effects shop at 7-8 Langley Court, London WC2E 9JY, tucked into a narrow lane between Long Acre and Floral Street in Covent Garden. It is not a party shop: the shelves hold the stage, film and television make-up that performers and make-up artists use, from Kryolan cream colours to hand-knotted facial hair and silicone wounds. For anyone who wants a Halloween or fancy dress face that looks real up close, it is the specialist to visit.

Covent Garden has been the centre of London's theatre world for centuries, and Screenface sits among the stage doors, dance studios and costume workrooms that keep the West End running. Langley Court is easy to miss, a quiet pedestrian cut-through a few minutes from Covent Garden station, so look for it off Long Acre rather than on the busy piazza side.

The shop's range is built around brands used in professional work. Kryolan, the German theatrical make-up house, is heavily represented, and the shop also sells its own silicone prosthetics, which it says are hand made in the UK. If you have only ever bought Halloween make-up in a supermarket, the difference is noticeable: colours are more opaque, they blend more easily, and they are designed to last under hot lights.

For base colour, Kryolan Supracolor is the workhorse cream make-up used in theatres, and refills cost £5.70 each. A single white refill can cover a full clown or skeleton face, and the refill format means you can build a small palette of only the colours you need. Set cream colours with a powder, and the shop lists Kryolan Anti-Shine Powder from £14.10, which stops shine without dulling the colour underneath.

If you need to cover a large area quickly, such as arms or a bald cap, Kryolan Color Spray costs £11.50 and gives an even layer that is hard to achieve with a sponge. Spray in a ventilated room and protect your hair and clothes with an old towel before you start.

Facial hair is where Screenface really separates itself from a party shop. A Kryolan full beard costs £121.00, a serious investment that makes sense for performers, cosplayers or anyone playing a bearded character more than once. Kryolan Eyebrows number 2 cost £32.40 and are designed to be glued over your own brows to change the shape of your face. Both look far more convincing than the cheap nylon versions sold in party packs.

For Halloween, the silicone prosthetics are the pieces that make strangers stop and look twice. Silicone moves with your skin, so a cut, scar or bullet wound glued on properly stays convincing when you talk and laugh, unlike stiff latex. Blend the edge into your skin with a little cream colour from the same Supracolor range, then add a touch of fake blood at the centre, and the join almost disappears in photos.

Professional products reward a little preparation. Start with clean, moisturised skin, apply cream colour in thin layers with a sponge or brush, and set each layer with powder before adding the next. For facial hair, use a proper spirit gum or skin adhesive and its matching remover, never household glue, and take your time removing it at the end of the night.

If you are new to this kind of make-up, explain the character and the occasion when you visit and ask for a short list rather than buying a full kit. One base colour, one shading colour, powder and a single effect piece is often enough. Do a test run at home a few days before the event so you know how long the look takes and how your skin reacts.

Removal is part of the plan, not an afterthought. Keep the remover that matches your adhesive in your bag, lift beards and prosthetics slowly from the edge rather than pulling, and cleanse with an oil or cleansing balm before washing with water. Clean false beards and brows carefully with the right solvent and store them on their backing so they keep their shape. Looked after, a lace-backed beard can be reused for many performances.

Screenface opens Monday to Wednesday 10:00 to 18:00 and Thursday to Saturday 10:00 to 19:00. Its Google listing shows it closed on Sunday, so plan Halloween shopping for a weekday or Saturday. The later Thursday to Saturday closing time is the most practical option if you work in central London.

Weekday mornings are generally the quietest time in Covent Garden shops, before the lunch crowds and pre-theatre rush. In late October, a visit early in the week also gives you time to practise your look at home before the weekend parties start.

If you are visiting on a theatre day, remember that the area fills up quickly in the hour before evening curtains go up. Shopping in the late morning or early afternoon is calmer, and leaves time to take your make-up home before heading out.

From Langley Court it is a two-minute walk to Covent Garden Piazza, where the old market buildings, street performers and the portico of St Paul's Church, the actors' church, set the theatrical tone. The church has memorials to many stage and screen performers and its garden is a quiet place to sit.

Head north instead and you reach Seven Dials, where seven streets meet at a sundial pillar, and then Neal's Yard, the small courtyard of brightly painted buildings that is one of the most photographed corners of central London. Both are a good backdrop for testing your new make-up in daylight.

Screenface is at 7-8 Langley Court, London WC2E 9JY. The nearest Tube station is Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line, with Leicester Square a few minutes further. Prices quoted come from product pages on the shop's own website: £5.70 Kryolan Supracolor refills, Kryolan Anti-Shine Powder from £14.10, £11.50 Kryolan Color Spray, the £121.00 Kryolan full beard and £32.40 Kryolan Eyebrows number 2. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a pre-theatre dinner nearby.