A bald head cap is a must-have tool in the world of special effects and makeup. It allows you to achieve a convincing bald-head look for characters ranging from ageing individuals to otherworldly beings. Our latex bald caps offer a variety of options to suit your specific needs and creative vision. Don’t be afraid to pull the bald cap tight. If you’ve done a good job of gluing the front of it down, it won’t come loose and keeping it tight will prevent wrinkles from forming. Crafted from durable latex, our professional grade bald caps provide a seamless and realistic appearance when applied correctly. The latex material mimics the texture and appearance of skin, ensuring a natural and believable result. If you are looking for a stunning transformation for a cosplay event or other character purposes, our latex bald caps are the perfect foundation for your look. Step Two: Apply Adhesive to Front Hairline Image credit: Images Courtesy Trent Cannon/Cosplay Central First, let’s get some definitions out of the way. As the name implies, a bald cap is just that: a cap that you apply to make someone look bald.

A vinyl bald cap is anything from 45 minutes to 3 hours but depends on many factors including the type of hair being covered, what the finished look needs to be and what time and budget is available to create it. Cut your cheap bath sponges into 2" (50mm) cubes with a pair of scissors. Coat one side of the sponge with liquid latex and then carefully start to dab the latex onto the head. take the latex all the way to the edge of your outermost line. I'm using blue latex here so you can see what's going on. the latex can be brushed on if preferred, but I find that the stippling effect of the sponges leaves the final surface of the bald cap with a very realistic 'skin' texture. Its also worth thinking about the color of the cap you’re looking for. They can be found in numerous tones to help match the color of your skin, which will make applying the make-up to mimic the look of your skin easier.The bald cap itself should be applied securely at this point, allowing you to move your face without creases forming or the edges popping up. However, we want to get rid of that obvious seam between your skin and the material. If you’re using a silicone bald cap, you can actually melt the edge by carefully applying acetone and blending it into your skin that way. However, as they are so much cheaper, I went with a latex cap. Image credit: Images Courtesy Trent Cannon/Cosplay Central Mark the head using the DVD pens (I use different colours for each edge) such that the first line covers the entire area of the cap, the second is about 1/4" (six millimetres) inside the first, the third is 1/4" inside that and the fourth 1/4" inside that. See the picture for a visual guide. Vinyl bald caps can be taken over the eyebrows to lose that hair too or to create a fantasy character so that new eyebrows can be attached. example to create an alien effect and then airbrush on the desired look. If it needs to be used on a stunt double these need to match so the importance of creating a good head shape and not using pins and grips as health and safety is a big factor when working with Stunt doubles.

Applying a bald cap is an important skill. It’s one our students learn as part of their special effects makeup training at Brushstroke. Harrie Sheppey is one of our 7 month ITEC students. This was her first time working with a bald cap and it turned out really well. One thing you will notice when getting a head is the large variety of cranium sizes! Below are my mannequin head and my styrene one, note the difference. Latex is very elastic (they make condoms out of it) so you could just use the smallest one and have done with it. However if your model has a big head or a lot of hair, and has to wear the cap for any length of time it makes sense to try and get a reasonable fit to start with. Bald Caps should last 10-12 hours but the mobility of face can be an issue. Actors can be very expressive so it may require touching up during the film day. It’s important to be aware that the actor’s skin can get sore when applying daily. Delamar, Penny (2002). The Complete Make-up Artist (2nded.). Cengage Learning EMEA. ISBN 1-86152-890-6. Pair your bald cap with our range of bald cap accessories to enhance your transformation. Explore our selection of makeup products designed specifically for bald caps, including skin tone blending agents and adhesives for seamless integration. These accessories will help you achieve a flawless, realistic finish, making your bald cap look truly convincing.If the latex begins to dry out you will see it lifting the latex you have already laid down, keep the latex on the sponge wet to avoid this happening. Once the entire area of the cap has a thin even coat, leave it to dry for a couple of hours. You can try to wash the sponge out under running water, but I don't bother, I just discard the cube and use a new one for each coat. For both types, the art is in the preparation. Creating the perfect hair wrap is essential by following the head shape, smarming the hair down as flat as it can go and keeping the shape of the head is essential for this. What are the different elements of bald cap application and how long does it take? (i.e., tools and materials)? The next steps are to make the bald cap look like your skin. This can be done with foundation and make up or, if your character is like mine and has a more fantasy or sci-fi bend, a lot of body paint. Whichever route you take, you should aim to hide the seam as much as possible to create a natural look.

There are Vinyl, plastic, latex and silicon, each have their pros and cons, price being a major factor. Big budget productions may use a Silicon bald cap because they can afford to do so and get that “translucency” previously mentioned. However, all types still need artistic and technical skill too, it will come down to the artists preference due to budget.You need to give it A LOT of coats of PVA glue to seal and strengthen it. I took 3 weeks and 25 thin coats of PVA, allowing each one to dry in between. This gives a really tough and non-porous 'skin' to the head so I can use it for all sorts of work. Obviously it won't take heat or serious chemicals which will both melt it. Want the opportunity to be taught by our award-winning teaching team – view our variety of courses here. This can be achieved by blending edges where it meets real skin, creating a realistic head shape and colouring of the cap to be identical to real skin tone. Also as mentioned before making sure the hair is flat and wrapping the hair to simulate shape of head, you don’t want any height on top from wrapped hair. A bald cap is what makes actors appear bald and can be combined with a ‘thinning wig’ to look as if an actor is losing their hair; a key element in the process of ageing an actor, illnesses and hair loss conditions. Silicon bald caps tend to be used in higher budget films and have a translucency that looks more effective which is much harder to replicate when using Vinyl caps. Anne Hathaway had a Silicon bald cap cast for her role in The Witches.