Step aside beauty influencers, here's Gene Simmons with a tutorial on how to perfectly achieve Kiss' make-up look

Gene Simmons makeup tutorial
(Image credit: Cosmopolitan)

Kiss are without a doubt one of the most recognisable bands, and indeed brands, on the planet, with their monochrome face-painted styles and costumes having become a highly iconic emblem of their sound.

Their makeup designs are so memorable in fact, that many unfamiliar with their music may very well be able to identify the band from their style alone. It makes sense then, that bassist Gene Simmons takes his appearance very seriously, as shown in this 2014 tutorial which saw him demonstrate how to perfectly achieve his look as The Demon.

The video, which was posted onto the YouTube account of women's magazine Cosmopolitan, saw the musician recruit his daughter Sophie Tweed Simmons as a model.

To begin, Simmons starts with the base of the look, noting that in order to get the "real Kiss face", fans will need to purchase clown white face paint, available in any fancy dress store. He then proceeds on dolloping the substance all over his daughter's face, while offering titbits of advice on how to apply the makeup properly. 

Further into the tutorial, the bassist recalls the time when Kiss first started sporting makeup on stage. He says: "This whole thing started off pretty naturally. On 10 East 23rd Street [the famous loft where Kiss first started out] we were putting a band together and we wanted to put together the band that we never saw on stage.

"And one day we said, 'Well, why don't we wear makeup?', and then everybody in the band put together their own designs. And mine was a combination of my fascination with horror movies, sci-fi and all that stuff. So it's probably a combination of Phantom Of The Opera, Batman, and all the stuff that girls think is silly."

Elsewhere, Simmons reveals that the whole process takes him approximately two hours to complete. However, the musicians adds that if viewers pay close attention to his tips and tricks, they might be able to complete it in under an hour.

All in all, it makes for a pretty relaxing and enlightening watch, with one commenter even comparing it to watching an art tutorial by Bob Ross.

Check it out below:

Last month, Gene Simmons appeared to fall ill at a Kiss show in Brazil. The gig, which took place at the Arena da Amazônia in Manaus on April 12, served as the opening night of the Brazilian leg of the band's End Of The Road, final world tour. 

As the band played 2009's Say Yeah, lifted from their album Sonic Boom, the legendary rock musician was seen having to take a seat near the back of the stage, as seen in footage since posted on social media. 

"We're gonna have to stop to take care of him," Kiss frontman Paul Stanley told the Brazilian crowd later in the clip, "'cause we love him, right?".

Thankfully, the band continued with the show with Simmons seemingly back to proper health. Local music journalist Igor Miranda pointed out that the musician's wobble may have been caused by the excessive heat in the region, which peaked at 31°C.

Liz Scarlett

Liz works on keeping the Louder sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.