8/16/2015

What you need to make wounds, the safe way basic guide for beginners

If you want to get into special effects makeup or you just want to learn some for Cosplay, here is my guide on what you will need for the most basic wound special effects makeup. Note that there is things I would have in a essentials kit, but won't have here. Somewhat due to cost and these are the practicing materials, once you understand basic SFX you can upgrade your kit as you go. And I will leave out body painting, that's a whole other topic.



Lots of small cheap brushes, a couple of big brushes and lots of disposable sponges
Details make things seem realistic, so be sure to always have small brushes at hand. You don't need a brush in every size when starting out, but make sure you have a couple for larger areas when you're for example body painting. And sponges can get an even light layer of latex, but they will be ruined after this, so you need lots.By the way, don't ever use latex with brushes, you will destroy them.


Scarwax
The same as the latex. Cheap, easy to use if you place it in a none moving area. A tips is to set your wax with latex, 5-10 coats depending on the thickness of the latex and you avoid a lot of wrinkling. Another thing to remember is that scar wax is extremely sticky, especially when you don't want it to be. So apply makeup remover or lotion to your fingers and spatula before digging it out, applying it and blending it.



Spiritgum
Spiritgum is an adhesive you apply to the skin and tap until it's sticky. This will make things like wax hold on better to your skin.



Plastic spatulas
To scoop out wax, blending edges, applying latex. A perfect multi use product and a lot more affordable then the metal ones you get in the art store.



Bruise wheel/severe exposure wheel from  Ben Nye
Grease paints are perfect to work with on damage. I would suggest you get these set, the colors work for about any damage, it lasts a very long time and you don't need 1000 pans when these two palettes works perfectly for beginners.


Fake blood
And no special effects kit is completed without fake blood. You can make your own or you can buy already made blood.
Click here for my fake blood recipe (Coming in October 2015)
Click here for my review on the ben nye thick blood
Click here for "An introduction to the different types of fake blood" (Coming in October 2015)



Liquid latex
No kit can go without this stuff, you can use it to set your wax, to create wrinkles, to create thin dangling skin. It's simple and effective, it wont give you hyper realistic results, but it works well for a beginner.Take some time to practice though, because liquid latex can be hard to learn.
Another thing to take in mind, consider to buy a latex that is your skin tone as liquid latex can be a bit hard to color. I started out using mehron, which is best for building up wounds and stuff, because it's quite thick. The kryolan fit's well with molding and such. You can build up wounds using scar wax, tissue paper or cotton for example.




Rigid Collodion 
Rigid collodion is also a cool scarring technique. Basically there is alcohol in this, when it dissolves the skin beneath it shrinks and looks like a scar. Just avoid doing it on the same area over time as it can result in actual scarring. 

Fixing spray/sealer
If you want your hard work to last, I recommend setting it with a fixing spray or a sealer. Do not use this for everyday makeup. 


Makeup removers
Of course, you need makeup remover. Greasepaint is removed with regular makeupremover, the wax you can just scrape of, peel of the rigid collodion and latex and spirit gum has it's own remover called spirit gum remover. 

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