The methods for aging especially to this age are relatively few. You can do a straight "paint job" although that seems insufficient especially if you look young or even look 45 and you're trying to achieve an 80+ age range UNLESS you absolutely know what to do to achieve that look using just makeup. You should know the conditions under which the character lived, difficult, harsh, or easy and fairly uneventful - often determines "the look" and how much people age. I know people in their 80's who look better than I do in my 60's but it is soooo variable that you really need to know your characters background and history to make a valid assessment of aging for what the person would look like.
Now then BE VERY CAREFUL the latex you get if you decide to go to that extent. It helps a lot to know what products you can get to deal with. There are numerous "AGERS" out there on the market if you check with the special effects supply houses. You can also do it yourself if you have access or can get the products shipped in to you to do this. There are "old age stipples" on the market and they all do about the same thing. Some are more harsh than others, some are more durable than others. But latex itself is NOT a good thing to use. There are many people who have allergies to latex and don't even know it. Imagine putting THAT stuff on your face and not knowing you have an allergy to it. VERY hard on your system - believe me.
There are water based latttices that are far less of a problem on the skin. You should use a barrier coat anyway before you do the latex stipple aging routine. AND that routine takes quite a bit of time to apply properly and to color properly. Latex is opaque - means you can't see through it. AND you must have specific makeup products that will work on latex - namely rubber mask grease paint or RMG for short. And you need more than ONE color. Skin is NOT just ONE flat color. Most people who do makeup that do NOT know what they're doing, apply ONE color and let it go at that. Reminds me of Shields and Yarnell - who use to do MIME as robots. Their makeup looked flat and mannequin like. NOT a good thing if you're trying to create a realistic makeup. Look at skin - very varied in coloration and pigmentation. So you just have to duplicate that adding in lines, wrinkles, creases, blemishes, old age spots (liver spots) and so forth to make it work. Plus also you can't get latex into hair or you'll have a devil of a time getting it out....and painful. But you just have to be careful in the application.
There is a way to age the skin using KNOX GELATIN - which can be heated, mixed to a thin consistency and applied with a brush....stretching the skin as you would with latex, powdering it and releasing. But it's a hassle because of the heating issue - has to be precisely the right temperature just before it starts to gel up and still cool and/or warm enough to apply and have it do what it should.. BUT still a headache. Though a couple layers of that and you get a great wrinkle effect....PLUS it TRANSLUCENT which means it looks more like skin and can show the actual skin coloration beneath it. And it takes makeup better as well. BUT you need a barrier cream or foundation of some sort before applying it. It does NOT hold up well to sweat unless you use SWEAT STOP or some other solution to combat sweat. And heat and humidity wreaks havoc on gelatin. But it's an option.
Check out my web page and there is a tutorial on using old age stipple developed by my teacher and mentor Dick Smith (The Exorcist, Godfather, Little Big Man, Taxi Driver, etc., etc.).....forumlas for how to make it and use it with photo spread showing the application, finish work and removal. This might help give you an idea of how you have to do it to legitimize it. AND DO NOT USE SILVER HAIR SPRAY to gray your hair. Use WHITE hairspray and apply it more than once (after the makeup is done or just prior) in couple of layers, brushing between applications to blend it and soften the harshness of the white pigment.
Check this link......
http://sapsema.org/broadbnd.html - http://sapsema.org/broadbnd.html
This was an application on an actor of 50 years of age up to about 75 plus or minus for Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. But you'll get the idea and it's completely documented and I trust clear enough that you can get how to do it. IF YOU NEED to ask any questions you can E-mail me or PM me here. My E-Mail is mailto:fxman@sapsema.org - fxman@sapsema.org That will get directly to me.
HOPE it works out for you. Be very aware of how you do this as it could look very convincing or hokey. Takes a bit of practice and an artistic bent to pull off old age well enough to look real. So many BAAAADDD old age makeup jobs because most people have highly unrefined technique - or have simply never been taught. Makes me want to get back to that book idea so I can try to teach some folks just how to do the BASIC stuff that so often gets done poorly.....lines too heavy, not blended, inconsistent makeup work, unnecessary makeup application with things that simply should not or do NOT need to be done and so much more.
Have fun. Hope it works out for you.
TonyDi
------------- "Almost famous"
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