Technical File: Creping of the skin/ageing

In our first lesson of the semester with Sue we learnt about liquid latex and how to age a person. It is really important to stick to the same health and safety rules we learnt last term to avoid spreading bacteria. Before you start working on your models face you must ensure that your hands have been washed thoroughly and that your work space is clear and clean.

ENSURE that you do an allergy test on your client before you start applying the liquid latex to them. Apply a small patch on the inside of their forearm (as the skin here is quite delicate) and wait until its dry to see if it causes a reaction. DO NOT use the product on them if the skin feels hot, itchy or goes red and patchy.

The tools used for this technique:

• Liquid latex
• Old age stipple
• (Pure) acetone
• Barrier cream

How to achieve the 'aged' look:

1. Remove any makeup from your clients face. Cleanse, tone and moisturise to ensure that the latex will stay put on the face. If your client has makeup on, the latex won't grip to the face and will slide off. 
2. Once the face is clean, use a barrier cream to protect the face and prepare the skin for the liquid latex. 
3. Prepare your liquid latex in a small bowl and make sure the bottle has it's lid on firmly. Use a small stippling sponge to apply the liquid latex to the skin; apply it fairly generously to taught skin if you want a very wrinkled effect, but buffer out the outer edges to ensure it blends well into the skin and isn't patchy. 
4. With a hairdryer on a cool setting, dry the liquid latex until it turns clear. (It goes on white so you'll know when it's dry when you can't see it anymore.)
5. Play with the skin a bit and you'll be left with wrinkled skin. You can do multiple layers for deeper lines.
6. You can add colour or texture by applying coloured or translucent powder. This dries the latex slightly and makes it more skin-like. 
7. If you have any mistakes or thick pieces of latex that don't look right, dip a cotton bud into acetone and gently rub at the error until it melts away. Don't scrub, as this removes big chunks and will make the latex uneven in places. 

My model, Liberty, a few years older!!!

I really enjoyed learning how to achieve this look as I've seen it everywhere and think it's amazing. I can't wait to get my teeth into this project and learn some new techniques!! I will definitely be purchasing my own liquid latex and I'll be perfecting this look. I found that using one layer of the latex created a dry, fine-lined effect, but layering the latex creates really deep, effective lines.

HEALTH AND SAFETY:

For this lesson I washed my hands and covered my work space and client over. I did a skin test for the liquid latex and tasted the heat of the hairdryer on myself before using it on the clients face. To remove the product I washed my hands again and assisted with peeling it off and removing any extra bits with witch hazel.