The first challenge kicked off with the contestants entering a warehouse. Four models stood before them with sunglasses. Beneath each pair of shades, a model wore contact lenses they would base their prosthetic, makeup job around.
The contestants were grouped into teams of three with each member playing tag-team and finishing where the last team member left off. The challenge had mixed results.
Green Alien - Beki, Rayce and Ian perhaps had the strongest creation with their model wearing mottled golden contacts, a pointy chin, built-up forehead and green skin. The alien looked frightening and totally convincing given the short time frame.
Zombie - RJ, Matt and Athena had strong makeup, but this quickly was ruined by the ridiculous yellow paint-ladened hair. Their zombie looked like it had a nasty run-in with a paintball machine. Ve also disagreed on the red-yellow contacts melding well with the zombie concept.Star Princess - Perhaps the weakest of the creations, Brea saw a pair of star-patterned blue contact lenses and instantly thought of Star Princess. Unfortunately Brea only had time to put on long eyelashes and glittery eyeshadow, leaving team mates Heather and Tara struggling to share her vision.
Demon - Also a strong creation, Jerry, Miranda and Sue created a demon with a red face, painted on veins and a bloody, tooth-rotten mouth based on the black contact lenses their model wore.
Winner: Beki for her strong foundation on the green alien.
The next challenged involved painting a cover for Asher Roth's new music album based on the theme "Is This Too Orange?" The goal was to work two nude models into pre-determined billboard designs. One model was to blend into the background while the second interacted with the scene.
Park Bench with Cup - Ian and Miranda struggled to figure out how to transform a bench with a cup sitting on top of it into an engaging work of art. In the end, the work proved lackluster with one model blending into the hedges while reaching for the cup. The second model was a girl on rollerskates listening to music.
Elephant Skateboarding - Sue and Heather chose a very quirky approach with one model being given elephant ears and offering a peanut to the skating elephant. Funny and cool concept, but perhaps it proved too strange to gain the judges' favor.
Pool Scene - RJ and Athena went with the chakras theme. RJ's blend of his model with the pool was superb. Athena's 60s bikini girl had too much white paint on her and was strange-looking with painted chakras and an odd stylized makeup job.
Hanging Noose in a Barn - Beki and Rayce veered a little from the concept of blending the first model completely into the ominous barn scene background. The second model was a glowing, fiery figure trying to pull the first model from the dreary environment. The woman's tiger makeup and the concept was something you would see in an art gallery and is my personal favorite.
Concrete Wall - Jerry and Tara missed the mark when they had both models blend into the boring gray brick wall. The first model "tagged" the second one with orange paint. The airbrush paintjob was so thin it showed the model's ass. The judges found the composition a wasted opportunity with little contrast between the models and background.
Wall of Sneakers - Perhaps the most difficult background, a wall of a hundred sneakers awaited Brea and Matt. Although the team seemed cursed with challenges, this team rose to meet them. Matt created a stencil and air brushed, then handpainted each sneaker on to his model's body. Brea painted a basketball player with jersey and shorts, but faced a terrible setback when her model passed out from dehydration 17 minutes before the end of the challenge. She ended up having to repaint a new model, working 12 hours straight to get the paint job done for the judging.
Winners: Brea and Matt with Matt winning special kudos for his superb blend job of the sneaker wall.
Losers: Miranda for her inadequate paint job and poor blend of the hedge/park bench man.
Next week's Face Off contestants will create the perfect horror villain.
Face Off airs at 9 p.m. CST Wednesday on SyFy Channel.
