Recipe 22 : Silicone Prosthetic Makeup Application - Beauty vs Prosthetics Makeup
- Koji Ohmura
- Mar 3
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
When I apply prosthetics on actresses, I get this a lot from my colleagues: "What should I use to do beauty makeup over your prosthetics?" My answer is "mostly any beauty makeup except for makeup removers!" Yes, it is very tricky to put beauty makeup on prosthetics. Edges might show up, beauty makeup does not sit on well, it looks dry, etc. In this article, I will show you some tips as well as silicone makeup application.
If you would like to learn how to make silicone prosthetics, click the buttons below.
In this recipe, I explain how to apply a hybrid makeup of silicone prosthetics and beauty makeup. Today's model is Shelby Smith. She is also a makeup artist. She is very talented and does both beauty and special effects makeup. You can check her page here. If you want to learn how to make custom silicone prosthetics, follow these recipes on Silicone Prosthetic Course.
Materials you need...
Silicone Appliance (Please check this link for recipes.)
Kiehl's Blue Astringent Herbal Lotion
Barriere Cream
Winded
Telesis 8 & Thinner
Acetone
Lip Wand
White PAX (Pros Aide & Acrylic Paint Mix)
Pros Aide Cream
Pros Aide Bondo (Pros Aide and Cabosil Mix)
Red Stipple Sponge
RCMA No Color Powder
Powder Puff
Kryolan RMGP
EBA Endura White Airbrush Ink
99% Alcohol
Makeup Brushes
Chip Brush
W.M. Creations Stacolor Palette
PPI Illustrator
Airbrush & Compressor
MAC Eyeshadow
KD Spirit Gum
Water Spray
Loose Hair
got2b glued Hair Spray
Silicone Prosthetics 
My Makeup Station
Material links are here.
Lesson Video
Cheat Sheet
This is a quick cheat sheet I normally make for myself. I print it out and tape it on the makeup mirror and follow the steps. It helps me not to get lost while I am applying makeup.
1 | Kiehl's |
2 | Barrier Cream |
3 | Windex |
4 | Telesis 8 |
5 | Edger |
6 | Pros Aide & PAX on Eyebrows |
7 | Silicone Horn, Forehead, Eyebrow Cover, Cheek, Neck, Nose, Ear |
8 | Bondo |
9 | Cream Pros Aide & Powder |
10 | Aqua Sealer |
11 | RMGP |
12 | EBA Endura White |
13 | Spatter Pink, Lividity, White |
14 | Beauty Makeup |
15 | EBA Endura White |
16 | Spirit Gum |
17 | Hair |
Skin Prep
Preparing a good canvas is very important for makeup. Without good preparation, makeup will be much harder. So let's not forget this step.
Kiehl's - The first step is Kiehl's Blue Astringent Herbal Lotion. This will remove excess oil from your skin and tighten it. This will make prosthetics stick better. If your model is concerned about dry skin, spray some rose water. You do not want too much lotion on the skin since it might prevent prosthetics from sticking.
Barrier Cream - Barrier Cream goes over this. It will protect her skin. This works great for sensitive skin. You can also use Derma Shield or Skin Saver.
Apply Silicone Prosthetics
Now, let’s begin the fun part: prosthetics! Silicone prosthetics are very soft and hard to handle if the flashing is missing. So do not trim them when you apply.
Windex - Use Windex or 70% alcohol to wipe both sides of prosthetics. This will remove extra mold release residue. If the silicone has too much powder, spray water and submerge it in a water paddle, then gently wipe it off. The powder will come off easily. Do not rip off the edges.
Cleaned and prepainted prosthetics. Telesis 8 - Then, use Telesis 8 or any other silicone makeup glue such as Westmore SilcOne and Silabond. Apply it on both the skin and the back of the prosthetic. Start from the center and make it tacky.
Make it tacky and press it down. Put them together, and press down to remove any bubbles. Continue adding the glue to finish the edges.
When you see the skin color through the silicone prosthetic edges, it means that it is glued. If it is still cloudy or liquid is moving inside, that means it is not dried enough or there is no glue at all. Use Telesis Thinner to lift it up and glue it again.
Edger - Use a lip wand or a pointy Q-tip and dip it into "Edger" (Acetone). Take a small amount and gently tap the edges as you pull the flashing. You will see the plastic skin melting. Be mindful that acetone does not have a pleasant smell and can hurt eyes. So, have the model use a fan to blow the fumes away. Focus on touching the Baldiez edges only, not the skin.
Keep the eyes closed. Continue with other prosthetics. In this makeup, I used 11 parts: unicorn horn, 2 eyebrow covers, 2 forehead pieces, 2 cheeks, neck, nose, and 2 elf ears.
Pros Aide & PAX on Eyebrows - Since the model’s eyebrows are dark, I flattened her eyebrows with Pros Aide and painted white PAX. It can be skin color PAX. Then, I applied eyebrow cover pieces.
PAX on eyebrows. Most of the face pieces are very thin and have just a mermaid texture. I checked the directions of it carefully and placed each prosthetic.
Forehead piece Then, I applied a pointy nose with a sharp eyebrow bone piece. Make sure it is placed in the center.
Nose Once the model’s face is covered, I moved on to her ears. I cut a paper into a U shape and placed it upside down on the ear. This will protect her hair from getting glued.
Covering the hair. I continued using Telesis and glued down the elf ears. Do you know now that I am making a hybrid of magical creatures?
Bondo - Once everything is glued, I check the edges. If you see any hard edges, apply Bondo with a spatula to make it smooth. Let it dry.
Smoothing with Bondo. Pros Aide Cream - Then, take Pros Aide Cream and stipple it with a red sponge. This will create skin texture on the edges.
Stippling Cream Bondo. Powder - After it dries, apply RCMA No Colour Powder.
Aqua Sealer - Stipple a small amount of Reels Aqua Sealer. This will get rid of the powdery look.
Coloring
RMGP - For silicone prosthetics base color, I like using RMGP (Rubber Mask Grease Paint). Especially for beauty makeup, it helps a lot. Since it is grease paint, any makeup like powder makeup or liquid makeup can sit well on RMGP. It is basically oil-based makeup with castor oil in it. I used white RMGP as a base for this makeup. You can use regular skin colors you like.
RMGP The good part of putting RMGP as a base is that alcohol-based color on top will not crack hours after makeup. Silicone is soft, and alcohol-based color is stiffer than silicone. Have you seen a dried-looking, cakey, cracked face? It is because of adding too much alcohol-based color as a base.
Brushing thinned down RMGP. EBA Endura White - Then, I hazed EBA Endura White with an airbrush briefly. I do not want to cover the skin entirely with this. It is just to create an even tone look.
I use Paasche H. Spatter Pink & Lividity - Then, spatter pink color (WM Creations Pink 6205 & PPI Lividity) to warm up her skin tone a little bit. I trimmed a chip brush and flicked the tip to create spatter effects.
Spattering Spatter White - I spattered the EBA Endura White again over. This will help the pink color blend into the skin. You can stipple RMGP instead.
Beauty Makeup
Beauty Makeup - The base color as a foundation is done. Now, we need beauty makeup!
I used MAC eyeshadow on top of the RMGP base. This will bond to the skin and prosthetics really well without any borders on the prosthetic edges. Powder only on prosthetics tends to sit awkwardly. It prefers to have some oil base first. Also, Revlon ColorStay Liquid Foundation works great on silicone prosthetics.
I also used MAC shimmer eyeshadow to enhance the highlights such as cheekbones, nose bridge, chin, tip of ears, etc.
I used MAC eyeshadow. You can add lip color, mascara, glitter, etc. Just do not add too much powder.
Endura White - I hazed EBA White a little over the makeup. This will set the makeup.
Pressed Powder on top of RMGP.
Hair
After the painting is done, I added some loose hair in between the punched hair and the model's hairline.
Glue in between fake hair and real hairline. Spirit Gum - I used KD Spirit Gum. I painted a small amount of the glue on the skin. Tap the glue with a glue brush until it gets tacky.
Hair - Then, add a loose hair. Slightly pull up so it looks like it is raising, not laying.
Adding loose hair. If it is shiny, tap a pantyhose on the glue before it gets completely dried. This will take away the shine.
Use a water spray and pick a comb and style. Then, spray Got2BeGlued spray to lock the position.
This is it! Many special effects makeup artists tend to avoid beauty makeup. However, once you are used to it, you will realize it is just part of coloring paint. Yes, you might need to learn how to maintain healthy skin, color matching, eyelashes, etc. But focusing only on glue and prosthetics might make your models feel insecure. If you have some knowledge, it will expand your possibilities. Hopefully, this article helped you to understand more about the makeup world.
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