[This page is part of a mirror of my Canvas learning system pages I created for my Drama 112 Intro Stage Makeup class at DVC. If you want to use this content for another Canvas class shell you can find it in Canvas Commons by searching for “Tara Maginnis” and you can download all or part of this directly into your shell with all the extra cool formatting of colored divider lines, right side embedded Giphy animations, etc. already put in, if you are working with a different system, it is ok to copy and paste from here, and then customize the pages as you need for your classes].
The official class how-to video:
….Has me replicating the appearance of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, commonly known as Lenin. It has a crepe hair beard and mustache, as well as a wax nose as part of the design (you are not required to do a wax nose again, I’m just showing off).
Written Notes on the topic of making crepe hair beards can be found at https://www.mallatts.com/blog/articles/how-to-make-a-fake-beard-with-crepe-wool
I use spirit gum to apply my beard, and you can too (spirit gum comes in your Deluxe kit) providing you are not allergic to tree sap. Not sure if you are allergic to tree sap/spirit gum? Do a Patch test to find out
If you are Allergic to Spirit Gum/Tree Sap:
If you are allergic to sap/spirit gum, you can also use either eyelash adhesive or a surgical adhesive like Duo (from most drugstores in the makeup section), or you can special order ProsAid (special effect makeup adhesive) online instead. It is also possible to apply crepe hair with latex, but this is very slow to dry, and is like pulling band-aids off your arm multiple times to remove so I do not recommend it. If you want to know more about adhesives, and some fun stuff to stick in them for FX you can listen to this young woman with amazing lipstick natter on for quite a while on a bunch of them in a highly irritating but very informative way:
What About Non-Lenin Beards?
I am not the be all and end all of laying hair, and there are other methods of doing this. It is worth your time to watch these short videos on Crepe hair application that use some of these other methods if you want one of these sorts of beards:
For a multi-hued beard:
For a very straight beard:
For a super kinky-fizzy beard:
If you want to do sideburns, here is how:
If you happen to have a crafter’s flock gun, there is this type of beard as well:
I have found more beard related videos at my “Crepe Hair and More” list at YouTube to browse if you are interested.
What About Alternate Adventures in Spirit Gum Videos?
As an alternate you can use spirit gum to apply a “beard” or “eyebrows” or something similar out of many lightweight materials.
The techniques of Crepe hair laying can also be applied with human hair, yak hair, wig hair, fur and other light weight substances like feathers, artificial flowers and leaves, plastic, mylar, pipe cleaners, fun foam and paper.
As an example watch this Quick time lapse short on a makeup using peacock feathers to make a beard:
There are shockingly few videos on how to do this, but the overlapping steps are similar to what you do with crepe hair, and the results are often spectacular:
This works with eyelash glue as well:
OMG! They both sound exciting, I’m not allergic to wool or anything but I want to do both!
You can. This second Adventures in Spirit Gum assignment is similar to the Mythical Fantasy project, and you can include this weird technique into that project later in the semester, AND do the crepe hair beard this week to get in the skills the best way which is with the crepe wool! This is an primarily for if you have a reason not to do the crepe hair this week, like wool allergy, missing crepe hair, etc.
So pick your poison and move to the next step!