SPFX Haul

As some of you lovely people may already know, I am currently studying a makeup course at the Academy of Makeup. The time has finally come for me to begin my journey of making all things gory, gooey, slashed, torn, burnt and broken to come to life (or should I say death?)

In order to practise my skills at home, I decided to do a bit of online shopping at Scotty's as well as in person at my local HUB Makeup Store. I picked up a good variety of things to have a bit of a play with. 

Ben Nye F/X Color Wheels & Brushes

First off, I picked up a few SPFX (Special Effects) cream wheels for $16 each. These should last me a while, so pretty good value if you ask me! The colours can also be used for fashion makeup, so they are quite versatile.

I purchased (from left to right):

CK-1 Bruises

CK-5 Burns & Blisters

CK-13 Old Character II

Ben Nye Nose & Scar Wax

Next I picked up an unnecessarily large tub of Nose & Scar Wax from Ben Nye. As I am quite impatient and this was the only size left, I thought 'the more the merrier' and grabbed the last one off the shelf.  This baby will last me forever and only cost me $35. 

Its a great tool for creating scars, stitches and woulds, however as it is coloured it is not very realistic on darker skin tones which is a bit of a bummer! And it melts in your hands if you work with it for too long. Nevertheless, it's a pretty good product and I'm glad I made a snap decision and bought the big one.

Ben Nye Flesh Effect Gel

The flesh effects gel is quite a fun product. Great for creating blisters and burns, and it comes in 3 different colours for different effects. The one shown here is a clear gel, however there is also a blood coloured one and a flesh toned one. It dries quite quickly and needs to be heated up in a microwave or hot water. This one cost me $12.

Thick Blood, Dark Blood & Fresh Scab - Ben Nye

My obsession with vampire shows has led me to purchase many kinds of bloods. There are quite a few more out there on the market, but i thought that these 3 gems would suffice. I purchased some Dark Blood ($9.00), which is great for filling up fresh woulds as well as smearing over peoples faces and bodies when they've had a bit of an accident. It's a really dark red colour which mimics real blood quite nicely. Next up I grabbed a bit of Fresh Scab ($9.50) (have to love a bit of fresh scab). I mainly use this under latex for 'chunky' bits of blood, great stuff. Thick Blood ($9.50) is nice for around the inside edges of woulds an cuts to add a bit more colour to wounds. 

Ben Nye - Liquid Latex, Wrinkle Stipple & Spirit Gum

Liquid Latex smells so bad, just a warning. It's horrid stuff to put on your face, but has a nice effect. I actually purchased 2 bottles of this stuff (one from Scotty's and one from HUB) as, once again, I am inpatient and didn't want to wait for my Scotty's package to arrive in the mail. It's great for ageing, burns, wounds and many other effects. I'm still a newbie to SPFX so there is still so so much for me to learn! The latex cost me $9 per bottle.  I also picked up some Wrinkle Stipple from HUB ($15.50), to mix in with the liquid latex to make it stick longer and become a little thicker. Spirit Gum is generally used for sticking things to the skin. I was surprised when I unwrapped my Spirit Gum and realised how small my little bottle was. I was annoyed, but it was so cute I felt bad for being mad at how small it was (thats normal right..?) This minuscule bottle only cost me $5.00.

Ben Nye Bond Off! & Plastic Shot Glasses

Bond Off! is used to get off adhesives, mainly Spirit Gum. So I thought I should pick some up! This cost $6.50 from Scotty's.

You may also see some shot glasses in this photo. SPFX is actually the opposite to beauty makeup in that it can't be too neat, or it looks fake. As I can sometimes be a bit of a perfectionist, I bring along shot glasses  to help with the messiness of my work, if you know what I mean...

Just kidding, they are used to mix things :)

Stipple & Synthetic Sponges 

Although sponges don't seem like something very exciting, they make SPFX so much easier. I purchased 3 different types of sponges - 2 sizes of stipple sponges and a synthetic sponge. The sponge on the left is a course stipple sponge, which came in a pack of 12 for $12, this gives the most texture out of all of the sponges. The sponge on the right is a fine stipple sponge and cost me $2.50 for one. Both can be washed and used multiple times. The yellow sponge in the middle is a synthetic sponge which cost me $2.60 each and can be used for applying latex.

Pros-Aide & Telesis Super Solv

Pros-Aide is a bit like latex but I'm pretty sure it's a little more powerful and can be used to stick on prosthetics (could be wrong there...). I was told that Bond Off! wouldn't be able to remove Pros-Aide, so I purchased Telesis Super Solv, which I was told WOULD be able to remove it. I haven't tied it yet, but we shall soon see. Pros-Aide cost $10 and the Super Solv cost $11.

Disposable Syringe

The last thing that I purchased was a plastic disposable syringe which was $2.50. I'm planning on using this to inject the Flesh Gel as a blister under the skin, or to squirt blood everywhere possibly, we shall soon see!

I feel like I picked up quite a few good products which will last me a while (especially the wax) and I don't regret spending my money on these products. I was initially sceptical as to whether I should actually purchase these products, but after having a bit of a play with them and getting to know how each one works, I'm very glad I did it in the end! Since using these and practising, my skill have definitely improved, and I somehow find it relaxing to create scars and woulds with lots of blood and puss. 

Even though special effects is probably not what I want to get into with my professional career, I still think it is something that I can have a bit of fun with and will come in handy in the future. 

Leave me a comment below if you have used any of these products and would possibly recommend anything else to buy for my SPFX kit!

 Poppy xx