SFX Practical: Creating features using moulding wax

Moulding wax is used as an easy way to enhance features or create small alternative features. However, the duration of wax is not long as it is softens with the heat of the skin, therefore it requires quick work and performance.

Product List 

Kryolan Cine Wax 

Sealer 

Moisturiser  

Translucent/Coloured Powder 

Supracolour Palette/ Foundation Palette 

Tools

Hairdryer 

Sculpting tools 

Brushes 

Before starting to work with the wax, cleanse and tone the skin, but do not moisturise as moisturiser is greasy and can cause the wax to slip off, making it hard to work on.

Scrap some wax from the tub and warm it up on the back of your hand with a spatula, you can also roll it around with your fingers. This will heat up the wax and make it easier to use.

Press the wax onto the skin, use little amounts and build up, using to much wax at once will make it harder for you to secure it onto the skin, making you work faster.

Start blending the edges first, make sure edges are fully blended away, using little amounts of moisturiser over the wax will make it easier to blend as it doesn't allow the wax to stick onto the tool you are using - try using a tool with a flat surface.

You can smooth out the wax completely or add textures and patterns once you've perfected the shape. In this case, I chose to use the small end of my spatula, pressing it into the wax to make small oval indents.

Once you finished moulding completely, make sure you use sealer and cover all the wax surfaces. Allow to dry itself, or to fasten the process, use a hairdryer in the cool setting. You want to make sure that it is a cool setting you are using because heat will melt the wax. If you want to add skin texture to the feature you just created, dry the sealer till it's slightly tacky and using a damp puff, gently press puff onto the surface and then let dry completely.

Stipple the colour on and powder well when finished. To remove the wax, simply scrap off.

For my look that I created, I used my foundation palette by Kyolan, matching the foundation to the skin and gently patting it on with a small concealer brush making sure the indents are fully covered. I then used a darker shade to contour the cheekbone, making it stand out further.

Once I had taken the photo above, I realised that the depth and dimension of the wax was not standing out as much as I would've liked it to. As a result, I used darker brown and purple shades to really shade the indents, making the whole image more three dimensional.

Improvements

• Remember to clean the tool you are using to sculpt and apply some moisturiser once in a while to make sure you don't pull off the wax.
• Make sure to seamlessly blend the edges, fading naturally into the skin.
• Really use colour to emphasise your work.