Wesley Scoggins
Indy Mogul
Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Liquid Latex Alternative
Liquid latex is one of the staples of low budget make-up effects, being used in nearly every one of the masks or costumes we've made here on the site, it's essential for most indie make-up kits. BUT A lot of you out there have mentioned liquid latex either being very difficult to find, or irritating your skin. Not only that, but it's important to be able to quickly improvise something if you run out of latex, or don't have easy access to it on-location. Fear not though, there IS a solution... All the way back in EPISODE 4, Erik mentioned using white glue as an alternative to Liquid Latex, and it peaked a bit of interest, but no real details went into how effective it is, or how it looks. So I decided to finally tackle this for all of you Mogulers out there want wanted a cheap and easy alternative to Liquid Latex.
I am going to utilize my hand as the base for the application, but it can be used almost anywhere. Clean it well to begin with, unlike liquid latex applications though you don't have to dust it, since it's water soluable and can be washed off. (One of it's limitations, since skin perspiration and air humidity will affect the structure of the application over time far more than it will liquid latex.)
Next, get a piece of tissue paper and dampen it gently, so it sticks against your skin.
Get some PVA (White Glue), a little bit of water, and a few drops of paint (brown and white for me). Then blended it together.
Then soak the paper with the mixture. I pour a little in the middle, then smoothed it over all the paper with my finger.
It takes about 15 minutes to dry, with hitting it occasionally with a hair dryer.
I started by laying down a layer of flesh colored make-up to start trying to blend it in, and built up with a few light pinks.
I poked a hole in the middle, and started peeling it up. White glue is less flexible than liquid latex, both metaphorically, and physically. It's a bit more brittle, so you've got to be careful with it, but it doesn't stick to itself as readily, so that is a bit easier.
I darkened the inside of it with some black creme paint, then dabbed fake blood on top of it. As you can see it doesn't look terrible, especially from a distance, BUT my personal experiences...
PROS:
-Cheap
-Easy to get
-Doesn't stick to itself as easily
-Easy to wash off
CONS:
-It's a bit shiny in it's natural state, so I would suggest powdering it to get a more matte layer going on after you're done
-Stiffer, so it can look more artificial
-Longer drying times
-Sensitive to water (that means wet make-ups, fake blood, perspiration, and humidity)
-Less permanent
So in conclusion, for a quick cheap application, I think it does it's job admirable for the cost, and should definitely be a viable option for those on a budget. For more complex applications stick with latex (or for the bigger guys silicone and the like), but for cuts, holes, and the like, I see no reason why this shouldn't be something that could easily save you some time and effort.
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