Fake blood recipes

My friends and I are big on making and using fake blood; for props, for photos, and for videos.

After having a mini rendition of the Hunger Games this fall, we decided we needed something new as opposed to our usual fake blood.

Normally we use corn syrup and red food dye. It's simple, easy to make (so simple you can even make it right in the corn syrup bottle) and relatively cheap. But the downsides include it being sticky, the color is a little difficult to wash off, and if you have a scene with blood in your mouth...well..it tastes awful. It's 100% edible, but still pretty gross.

Red Corn Syrup Mix: 

  How it looks on:

Pros:
-Simple formula, red dye (maybe a drop or two of blue) and corn syrup.
-Good color
-Drips well, but can also stay pooled in one location
-Cheap
-Edible

Cons:
-Sticky
-Tastes bad
-Hands might be stained pink for a day or two

----------------------------------------------

The next blood mix I tried was a simple mix as well, with the addition of only a few more ingredients.
This recipe calls for:
-Corn syrup
-Red dye (plus maybe a few crops of blue or green)
-Cocoa powder
-Flour

I got a great red with this color, and it was fluid enough to even put in a spray bottle, to get a blood spatter effect. On the downside, it was harder to get the right ingredient ratio. I didn't think to write down the amounts used to get my results, which I will amend the next time I make this mix. I added corn syrup and red dye first, a small amount of cocoa powder, and several spoonfuls of flour to thicken the mix.

* I remade this mix, and the ingredient ratio I used was: 1 cup of corn syrup 2/3 cup water 1/2 cup flour 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Pros:
-Good red color
-Edible
-Great for dripping blood, and you are in control of how thick you want to make it by simply adding more flour.
-Washes off reasonably well
-Not as sticky as straight corn syrup

Cons:
-Still doesn't really taste great. Maybe adding sugar will fix this, but I'm not sure how that would look
-More expensive, you have to buy flour and cocoa powder
-You still might have pink hands a few days after using, but it's not as bad

------------------

This next recipe was a complete experiment. Mio water enhancer liquids seem to be everywhere, and I was curious if you used them in place of food coloring, if they would be easier to wash off.

I found this a difficult concoction to put together, it was very very runny, and adding flour ruined the dark red color, changing it to a weird bright red. After dumping in the entire Fruit punch Mio and adding corn syrup to fix the runniness, I came out with something that worked as fake blood, but wasn't great. I would say don't bother trying this recipe unless you really want to experiment.

Pros:
-Consists of few ingredients
-Cheap
-Smells and tastes delicious (if you like fruit punch)
-Washes off hands well

Cons:
-Difficult to make
-VERY runny
-Still a chance of having pink on your hands after washing off
---------------------

The last fake blood I made was the easiest, and my favorite. I simply used red velvet cake mix and water. This stuff is great, because with less water you get a thick, chunky look, and with more water you get a runny fresh blood mix. The shade of red was pretty good too, and the taste was great if you like cake.

Pros:
-Cheap
-Easy
-Diverse, can be runny or thick
-Tastes good
-What's better than just adding water?

Cons:
-Might have pink on your hands after washing. (I didn't have this issue, but my roommate did. I think it depends on your skin chemistry etc. It's not very noticeable though, even if it had been on her face.)
-A little on the light side as far as color, and it may be difficult to change the color red if you don't like the shade that the cake mix is.

------------------------

I hope this helped people! Happy horror movie making!!