Facial Hair Tecniques

 From my research into the variations between males and females I know that males grow facial hair and women don't so this is an important step in gender transformation. There are many techniques for adding facial hair that do not involve knotting. As I'm doing gender transformations I would like to try some of these. The time constraints of the project mean I don't have the time to knot a full beard which if this was a full makeup on a film etc. I would consider having done as a realistic way to add a beard. However I would like to try techniques to add facial hair. Laying hair directly onto the face has advantages in that it's difficult to tell it's fake as there are no edges to conceal and it's much quicker and can be changed easily.

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This picture shows the method for laying on hair:

1) Apply spirit gum under the chin in the desired shape for the beard
2) Take the hair from the hackle - hair needs to be mixed in colour or it will look flat and unrealistic.
3) Spread the hair onto the required area and tap the ends of the hair so they adhere to the gum. Cut the hair to the desired length.
4) Start with the darker colour underneath and get lighter as move towards mouth
5) When a large area has been covered, use a towel to press the hair firmly to secure the hair and get rid of any extra gum
6) Thin the hair out at the top and the side of the jaw
7) When finished use a large-toothed comb to comb gently through the hair
8) Cut the hair into the required shape.

This is an example of laying on hair which is a technique I could use for gender transformation if I wanted a full beard and didn't have the time to not it. It works well as lace can't be seen but is time consuming to actually apply which could be an issue.

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These pictures show the method for applying stubble. You can make stubble with just makeup (ie. greasepaint) which works from afar but doesn't look so realistic close up.

1) Spread the wax thinly over the face
2) Place a small piece of hair lace on the wax and press it on
3) Start at the side of the face. Dip a soft powder brush into finely chopped human hair. Stipple the brush onto the hair lace.
4) Pull the lace off carefully, leaving the hairs attached to the wax and making them stick on end.
5) Move round the face section by section. Take down the neck to the Adam's apple.

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 Experimentation

On my chin I experimented with using brown and black greasepaint on a stipple sponge for a stubble effect. I liked the technique and from afar it looks effective. It was also extremely quick and easy. Close up it's more obvious it's makeup.

On the middle section I tried the applying stubble technique with spirit gum. This worked well but remained very sticky for a while and made the lace difficult to work with.

On the far section I experimented with the stubble technique using pros-aide. I much preferred this to spirit gum as it dried matte not shiny, didn't remain sticky and more hair stuck onto the section.

 All three techniques were useful but my favourite was using pros-aide as I think it looks the most realistic and was the easiest to work with. For a much quicker, simple application I would use the greasepaint technique but for a more in depth girl to boy transformation I will use the pros-aide version of applying stubble. All together I was happy with my experimentation as it helped me decide on stubble techniques for my different gender transformations.

If a gender transformation makeup was to be done as a full makeup it is possible that knotting hair would be used to make a piece like a beard or mustache. In this case I would use human hair and a single hair knotting technique to create the piece. I did a small example of this in a square of knotting to experiment with how natural lace can look on the face and get an idea of the techniques that would be used in a full makeup.

I was happy with how the knotting went on this small section, I used a single knotting technique and synthetic hair I had left over (for a full beard it would be better to use human hair) The piece stuck well at the bottom but became slightly unstcuck at the top which is why the lace can be see. To change this I would cut the lace closer to the hair and use mastix as a glue. However this was very helpful in seeing how natural a lace beard could look on a gender transformation makeup and if I was to do a full girl to boy makeup I would definitely consider knotting a full beard as I think it could be very effective and natural looking.

Eyebrow Covering Techniques

For gender transformation and a lot of gender exploration makeups, eyebrow covering is an important step.From my research I know that men naturally have a lot thicker and lower brows than women so they need to be covered a re-drawn to create a realistic female or a drag makeup. There are a few different techniques with different products for this. 

Wax

Using a small amount of wax I spread this across the brow and smoothed out the edges to completely cover and flatten them. This would then be covered in sealer so the wax becomes hard and other products can be applied on top. Although this technique works well to fully cover all the brow hairs, it can be quite thick and therefore look unnatural when trying to go for a natural feminine makeup. The sealer also makes the area hard meaning it turns shiny and loses any skin like texture which can look odd when other products are applied on top. It's useful for fully covering very thick brows but has drawbacks in how natural it looks

Pros-aide

The pros-aide method involved using a mascara wand dipped in the glue and pushing this through the eyebrows, in both direction to coat all the hairs then when it's gone slightly tacky, flattening the brows down. This would then be powdered so it doesn't remain tacky. This method is a lot more natural than the wax method as it isn't adding lots of products on top of the skin, it makes the brows extremely flat and as it's a glue remains in place well. However it doesn't fully cover the brows and with other makeup on top it is still possible to see the individual hairs.

Prit-Stick

This method is very popular amongst drag queens and is used regularly. It involves taking a small amount of prit-stick and smoothing it over the brows. I feel this is a good inbetween from the wax and the pros-aide as it coats over the brows like the wax but is much thinner and easier to stick the brows in place like the pros-aide. When I experimented with it there were a few lumps in the brow but I think this has to do with my glue stick being slightly old then the method itself. It leaves the surface hard but not too shiny and is very good at staying in place.

Drag Queen Makeup

For my first piece of experimentation into gender I wanted to do drag makeup (This makeup was carried out before of drag queen lesson) From research I know that drag is a big cultural movement and fits in with the sexual revolution of the 1970s that came with the second wave of feminism and societies acceptance of drag (proven with shows such as RuPaul's drag race) displays the changing of gender norms that are present in the theory of post-modern feminism. To challenge myself I wanted to try drag on an older model (50) and drag queens are often older as they were born in a time where drag or being transgender etc. wasn't acceptable so it's becoming more common for people to try this today. 

Model before any makeup has been applied.

Eyebrow cover done with wax and sealer. From now learning the technique with pros-aide next time I would use that as it's a lot neater and easier to apply makeup on top of.

Makeup without wig and scarf.

Overall I was happy with the end result of this look with the wig on as it looked complete and like a drag makeup. I found the eyebrow covering very difficult as my model had older skin so the wax was hard to keep in place on skin which has lost some elasticity. Using wax also meant it was difficult to put other makeup such as eyeshadow over the top of the product, making the eyeshadow shape and the blending not as good as it could be. Next time I would use the pros-aide method to cover the brows. I was mostly happy with the skin makeup as it covered the skin well and the cheek contour was heavy enough and noticeable. I would have liked the nose contouring to have worked a little better as the nose on the model is very masculine and that was difficult to change. Next time I would blend more cream products together to do the nose. As this was an older drag queen I didn't want to go too big on the eye makeup so kept it slightly smaller which worked well for the end look. I think the blending of the eyeshadow could have been a lot better and I maybe could have extended the eye makeup outwards slightly more. I was happy with the re-drawn eyebrows and liked the shape for the models face, especially the right brow. Next time I would try using a brow gel instead of pencil and powder to give a stronger appearance. I liked the lip colour and shape a lot and think it suited the look of the drag makeup and changed the models lip line realistically. Overall there are improvements to be made in this makeup but I'm happy with the final result.

Feminine Makeup

I wanted to see how normal, everyday girls makeup alters a boys face without the use of prosthetics or drag style makeup. It is a common thought in modern society that makeup is only for women and shouldn't be worn by men and that wearing it is socially unacceptable. This fits into the ideas in post-modern feminism that we believe about how genders should behave and gender stereotypes are socially constructed so that we behave 'normally'. A large amount of women where a certain amount of makeup everyday and I wanted to apply this level to a boy to see if it made them look more typically 'feminine'.

Model before applying makeup

In doing this I discovered that eyebrows make a massive difference to how masculine or feminine a face looks. The eyebrows make the eyes look more closed and the brow look heavier because they are thick and shapeless, both of these traits being more typically masculine. I was very happy with the foundation and concealer as this improved the models skin a lot. I kept the eye makeup quite simple which worked well for the look but next time I would curl the models eyelashes as I didn't do this and I think it makes a lot of difference to the overall look. I also was happy with the contouring, especially on the nose as it made the face appear more feminine and the nose look smaller and more turned up. All together I feel the makeup did make the fame look a lot more typically feminine but as it wasn't drag makeup and I left things like the eyebrows you can still tell very clearly that the model is a boy. This helps me to realise what it is about male and female faces that make them different and it's not as simple as the adding or the absence of makeup.

Prosthetic Brow Piece

Through my research of the difference between men and women's face I found that a main feature that alters the face from a man to woman is a heavier brow bone. Men normally have a heavier brow bone than women making their eyes look more sunk in. I will experiment creating this look with highlighting and shading but I wanted to try also creating a prosthetic brow piece. I sculpted a flat piece that was the size of a forehead that makes the brow bone slightly heavier and adds a slight crease above the eyes. I then cast it in silicone encapsulated in cap plastic.

I was very happy with how this turned out as I think it's a very subtle piece that will make a small difference to alter the face. The edge of the piece is mostly good apart from one small fold at the bottom but that can be torn close to the silicone as it's being glued above the eyes. I am very happy with the texture of this piece as I think it's subtle but skin like with the very fine pore detail.

This was the piece once it had been applied. Overall I was very happy with it as it is a subtle piece but I feel the small difference it made is effective. The was extremely happy with the edges and blending of the piece as they are barely noticeable, especially around the top of the forehead. I think it also did the job of making the brow bone look slightly heavier and further forwards although it could have been slightly bigger and still have looked natural. It made my eyes look deeper set which is another feature that men have different to women so this was an advantage of the piece. I would definitely consider using this in a female to male transformation makeup and if it were to be in a full makeup I would colour the piece with red tones to match the skin and lay eyebrows on over the top.