Of course, you can always try your hand at original tattoo artwork by tracing your design onto newsprint using an inkblot pencil—A Bottle of Ink in a Pencil. This will result in a temporary tattoo similar to those you can get through Reel Creations, Temptu, or Tinsley Transfers. You will most likely need or want […]

Rigid collodion is a solution of nitrocellulose in acetone, sometimes with the addition of alcohols. For makeup effects, it is used to create indented scars on the skin. When the acetone evaporates, it pulls and puckers the skin, creating very realistic-looking scars. Michael Davy Film & TV Makeup makes a tinted rigid collodion called Collodacolor […]

Applying a bald cap is not as easy as making one, but like many aspects of this field, applying a bald cap is not necessarily difficult, but it requires patience and concentration to do it well. Depending on the amount of hair an individual has to hide beneath a bald cap, an application can realistically […]

You can certainly buy ready-made bald caps that are quite good. There are sev­eral choices of premade caps. Michael Davy Film & TV Makeup sells Water­Melon® caps. Woochie® caps are ones I’ve used a lot; they’re latex, and Kryolan sells Glatzan L caps. But where’s the fun in buying something premade?! The first thing you […]

Bald caps are a specialty in and of themselves, and for a long time demonstrating that you could apply one was a requirement for membership into any of the makeup guilds. From start to finish, the application of a bald cap, including makeup, can realistically be expected to take from 2 to 3 hours. Bald […]

Cap material comes in two varieties: acetone-based plastic (vinyl) and water-based plastic (vinyl). Michael Davy Film & TV Makeup makes and sells a water-based cap plastic called Water-Melon® that can be dissolved with alcohol; New-Baldies® and Mould Life, both in the U. K., make acetone-based cap material that is also avail­able in the U. S. […]

Not to be mistaken for its polyester resin car repair namesake from the Bondo® Corporation, our bondo is a versatile material made from mixing Pros-Aide ® and Cab- O-Sil® (a trademark of the Cabot Corporation), hence its other name, Cabo patch. We call it bondo because it is used in much the same way body […]

Do you recall that there is a pattern to follow when hand laying facial hair? Do you recall that there is a pattern to follow for ventilating hair? Well, there is for punching hair, too, with the front hairline being the last to go in. Otherwise, already punched hairs will be in the way when […]

Hand-knotting, or ventilating, hair is a skill not easily acquired but one that if mastered could find you in rather high demand. Only the best and finest wigs and hairpieces are completely hand ventilated. Even machine-ventilated pieces that can be purchased from any number of makeup effects suppliers are better than the best wefted ones. […]