9
Aging

Many people think that they know, intuitively, what age looks like on the face. But it is very important to do visual research before applying age makeup, otherwise you might end up indicating the look of age rather than replicating it. If you resemble any biological relatives who are older than you, they can be a wealth of research. I look a lot like my mother, so, were I to age my face, it would be helpful for me to study the particular way her face has aged. Or I could look at photographs of my grandmother, who I also resemble. Take as many pictures of your subject as possible and use them for reference as you are applying your makeup. If you have no contact with your biological relatives, find pictures of people with your particular ethnic background to use as a resource.

When aging the face with makeup, it is helpful to think about gravity. The longer you are alive, the more time gravity has to pull down on your face. Also remember that as we age, the skin loses elasticity and some of its subcutaneous fat. Therefore, much of what you do to age your face with makeup involves creating the impression that the skin has responded to these forces by dropping.

Eye Bags

One of the first places the face starts to show its age is in the delicate tissue underneath the eyes. There is no muscle or fat in this area, therefore there is nothing to hold the skin up and out.

If you naturally have dark circles under your eyes, or have very deep-set eyes,, you may be able to see where to place your eye bags. If not, you may have to gently pull down on the skin to see where it would drop or press up on your cheeks to find the crease of the eye socket.

Use your wide flat brush to apply a swath of highlight below the eye socket, above the cheek, following the curve. Keep the upper edge next to the socket sharp; allow the lower edge to fade out.

Blend the lower edge. This highlight will help to accentuate the shadow above it. You may already be able to see the shadow of the eye socket more clearly.

Use your small flat brush to apply an arc of highlight between the lower eyelid and the bottom edge of the eye socket.

Blend the upper and lower edges.

Use your small brush to apply an arc of shadow at the bottom of the eye socket, right up against the lower highlight, following the curve. It is very important that you do not get any shadow onto the highlight below it. Keep the lower edge sharp; allow the upper edge to fade out.

Blend the upper edge.

You can create smaller eye bags by focusing on the area close to the nose and stopping by the middle of the eye. This can be done for the less extensive aging needed to create the appearance of middle age.

Droopy Eyelids and Eyebrows

The section of the eyelid directly below the eyebrow is known as the orbital part of the eyelid. This is another area of the face that begins to fall in the earlier stages of aging. You will notice a diagonal drop, with the lower end falling at the outside corners of the eye. To find the placement of your droopy eyelid, or orbital part, gently press down on the outer end of your eyebrow to create a crease near the corner of your eye.

Use your medium flat brush to apply a swath of highlight below the crease you have created, following the curve. Keep the upper edge next to the crease sharp; allow the lower edge to fade out. Blend the lower edge.

Use your small flat brush to apply a curved, diagonal swath, or "swoosh," of highlight on the orbital part between the outer eyebrow and crease you have created.

Blend the upper and lower edges of the highlight "swoosh.".

Use your small brush to apply a swath of shadow in the crease you have created, right up against the lower highlight, following the curve. Keep the lower edge against the crease sharp; allow the upper edge to fade out.

Blend the upper edge of the shadow.

If you have room underneath your outer eyebrow, apply some shadow following the shape of the "swoosh"; this will help to visually push down the highlight on the orbital part. Brush your eyebrows down, to accentuate the direction of droopiness.

If the character you are playing is not one to use eyebrow pencil, you can brush theatrical liquid hair whitener onto the hairs of the eyebrow.

Longer Nose

As you age, your nose continues to grow. Unless you are creating the appearance of a rounded ball of the nose, extend the highlight on the bridge to the tip or even beyond. Continue the shadow on either side to support the highlight.

Nasolabial Folds

The creases that connect the upper part of the nares of the nose to the outer corners of the lips are the nasolabial folds or furrows. You can find the correct placement for these creases by smiling hard. When you relax, a trace of the creases will remain.

Use your medium flat brush to apply a swath of highlight inside the crease you have created, towards the center of the face, following the curve. Keep the edge that touches the crease sharp; allow the inner edge to fade out.

Blend the inner edge.

Use your small flat brush to apply a swath of highlight on your cheek, parallel to the previous highlight. Leave room for the shadow.

Blend both edges of this highlight.

Use your small brush to apply a swath of shadow in the crease, right up against the inner highlight, following the curve. Keep the inner edge against the crease sharp; allow the outer edge to fade out.

Blend the outer edge.

If you want to add weight to your character as well as age, omit the outer highlights, and create rounded "apple" cheeks as described in Chapter 8. The shadow of the cheek connects to the shadow of the nasolabial fold.

Frown Lines

When you frown, you create vertical creases from the outer corners of the mouth that are very similar to the nasolabial folds. Apply highlights and shadows to these creases in the same way As you would the nasolabial folds.

Aging the Jawline

As you age, the skin along the jawline will begin to fall into jowls. Pull your chin into your neck and gently press the skin down to see what it will look like as it droops. As with the double chin, you will see how the skin of the face connects to the skin on the neck.

Use your wide brush to apply a swath of highlight along the jawline, starting in front of the lower ear. Continue down along the fold of skin you have created.

Use your wide brush to apply a swath of shadow under the highlight, leaving room to blend. Apply a swath of shadow in front of the highlight leaving room to blend.

Blend all edges.

Fine Lines and Wrinkles

The previous techniques can be used to age a young actor up into their healthy forties or early fifties. By the time one has reached their sixties and seventies, or if they have lived a hard or unhealthy life, one will have developed visible wrinkles.

Fine lines and wrinkles appear on the surface of the skin, and do not involve cartilage, muscle or fat. They can be considered a surface texture. As a surface texture, wrinkles should be applied after all of the makeup for droopy skin has been applied rather than before. The smallest brush is used and the application is very delicate; applying additional makeup with a brush, over that fine work, would obliterate it.

Wrinkles are subject to the same rules of highlight and shadow as bones and cartilage. The deepest parts will be shadowed, and the parts that protrude will be highlighted. Wrinkles are neither symmetrical nor are they regular in width. They may be longer on one side of the face than on the other and they vary in thickness. You may have a wrinkle on one side of the face and not on the other side, Only apply wrinkles where they might actually occur.

To find the placement of wrinkles on your forehead, raise your eyebrows.

Use the sharp end of the smallest flat brush to apply an extremely thin line of shadow in the deepest part of the wrinkle. Alternately apply more and then less pressure as you move along to create a variety of thickness. Make sure your lines are not symmetrical on the face.

Use the flat side of the smallest flat brush to apply highlight to the top of the outward rolls of skin, both above and below the wrinkles.

Because they are so small, you do not need to blend the edges of your highlights and shadows for wrinkles.

To find the placement for wrinkles around your eyes, smile hard, as you would for "apple" cheeks or nasolabial folds or you may need to push up on your cheeks to create wrinkles. When you relax, a trace of the creases will remain.

Notice that the wrinkles start within the eye bag and then curve out over the cheekbone. Apply the shadow and the supporting highlight in the same way as for the forehead wrinkles: thin lines of shadow in the deepest part, highlight on the outward rolls. Because the wrinkles under the eye are so close together, use the sharp end of your brush for the highlights.

Aging the Lips

Apply lip color before adding lines to the lips. Even if your character is wearing lipstick, the lines will show through. Pucker your lips to find the placement of the wrinkles. Notice that the lines are not parallel to each other; rather, they become angled as they move out from the center. Apply the shadow and the supporting highlight following the wrinkles you have made.

Stippling

As a result of the aging process, the surface of the skin gets less smooth. The pores get larger, the skin may turn ruddy or develop discoloration from sun damage, and moles may develop. The way to render this with makeup is with a stipple sponge. Stipple sponges are sold cut into cubes; you may round off the hard edges with scissors to avoid unwanted lines of makeup in your application.

Gently press your stipple sponge into your shadow color. Test it on your hand or a paper towel to make sure that you don't have too much makeup on your sponge. Start lightly and work your way darker; you can always add more stipple, but it is next to impossible to remove.

With a light hand, press the stipple sponge against the face, gradually covering the whole of it. Each time you need more makeup on your sponge remember to test it before applying it to your face.

The final step is powdering, be particularly careful not to disrupt the stippling.

Notice how much the powdering minimizes the highlights and shadows. Take this into consideration when applying makeup.

If your character has spent a lot of time in the sun (i.e., a farmer, such as Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath) or perhaps enjoys his ale (i.e., Falstaff or Sir Toby in a play by Shakespeare), you may stipple using a warm, blush color on the cheeks, nose, and forehead.

Using Latex

If you want three-dimensional wrinkles you can apply a very thin layer of clear latex after you have applied your makeup. Stretch the skin on a section of your face and apply the latex, holding the skin taut as it dries. When that section is dry, use a non-latex sponge to apply a thin layer of castor sealer, wipe off as much as possible, then powder. Release the skin and the wrinkles will appear. Work over the entire face in this way.

Another option is to apply the latex before the makeup. The wrinkles may eliminate the need for much of your age makeup. They will also give you a guide for where to apply highlight and shadow to accentuate the wrinkles.

After applying the castor sealer and powder, carefully apply foundation. Lightly brush highlight onto the latex edges. Last, paint shadow into the creases.

Hands

Remember that all of your skin will age. Hopefully your costume designer will have covered up most of your skin, but unless you are wearing gloves you will need to age your hands. Apply base to the top, but not the palms of your hands, blending out the edges. Apply highlight to the individual sections of your fingers and to the knuckles.

Apply shadow in between the knuckles where the fingers join the hand.

Flex your hand to create wrinkles in the joints of the fingers. Shadow and highlight the wrinkles as described above in the section on fine lines and wrinkles.

Stipple with a shadow color to replicate age spots and texture.

You can apply latex to the hand by making a fist to stretch the skin. See above in the section on latex.

As discussed above, one may also apply the latex before the makeup. Applying latex and highlight only to the knuckles creates an arthritic look.