Welcome to Sithvixen.com's  Tattoo FAQ on Darth maul makeup and accessories.  Please note that this article is for the pure enjoyment of the art of costuming, makeup and Starwars and Sithvixen.com cannot make any guarantees towards the use, misuse or purchase of any products mentioned on this page.   

Question 1:  What type of makeup should I use?

In order from Highest Quality

1. Wolfe FX Black and Red (http://www.wolfefx.com)
2.  Reel Creations black and red (alcohol based yikes!)
3. Ben Nye black and Red or Kryolan Aqua colors
4. Creme based makeups in black and red
5. Oil based products (EW! messy! but it works)

Wolfe FX tops them all, being designed by two of my friends who are face painters as well as costumers.  They know what you want in a product and how long it should last etc.  That stuff went on smooth, didn't smudge and stayed bright for hours and hours.  I LOVE IT.  Nor did it crack and peel like some of the other brands I've tried.  Under harsh lighting conditions, the colours stayed faithful and true.  Forget the other make-up in the list and go for Wolfe-FX if you can!

Reel Creations is the 2nd  best product no doubt, as this was the actual makeup used on Mr. Park for the filming of Episode 1, however, it is NOT for the faint of heart and its not a really good investment if you only dress as Darth maul once a year. (Expensive and difficult to remove)

Episode I makeup artists used Reel and a Kryolan aqua color (red) however, when Mr. Park began to sweat in the desert heat, they quickly switched to the Reel Creations Red #2 as it would not run.  Ray also did not like the way that the Kryolan stained his skin.  This information was provided to me directly from Reel Creations.  Reel paint is an expensive investment though.  Each 4oz bottle of Reel was about 30US. (I'm considering this from a Canadian point of view = 40 dollars and they ask that you make a minimum purchase of about 50USD = 70 dollars CDN) 

I also had problems with the Reel Red going "bad" in the bottle after sitting around for too long.  Red is the biggest problem color in the paint world so this is no surprise.  The issue was that it would not paint on latex anymore without looking blotchy and changing shades of red over a small area.  I tried this on several different latex pieces to make sure it wasn't just related the piece I was using, but to no avail, it still blotched up.  So I moved back to a water color red.  I never had problems with the red flaking anyway. 

So I would only suggest you buy an alcohol based product like Reel if you are planning on painting your Sith tattoos many times and wearing the paint for an extended period.  

Ben Nye and Kryolan are very good paints and look just as good as the Reel Tattoo, they are water based however and probably not as professional a product to use in movie situations since they crack and dry out after a while.  On me, especially on my neck and chin (where the skin wrinkles more) I found the paint would flake off and chip and crack.  The Reel Creations stuff peels. It was an easier fix for Paul Engelen to just sponge on fixes for Mr. Park than to have to wipe it all off and restart! (ooo that rhymed!)

I have never tried cream based products but I hear they are nice.  As for oil based, these are the usual Halloween makeup that kids get, they are messy and smudge, wipe off unless you buy sealer.  It's good stuff if you don't mind the mess or if you have troubles like I do with the flaking!  You can use baby powder to set this type of make up and stop the shine.  Just powder it on after application of the black.

You may wish to also invest in a Deluxe Darth Maul makeup kit by Rubies.  This kit contains cream based makeup, a bald cap (with horns, not a very good one but it will do), adhesive, brushes, teeth wax, sponges, and bonus -- IT COMES WITH A STENCIL!. It will work good for a one or two time use, but then the makeup runs out!  Its easy on the pocket book and I bought it because I LOVE the brushes! They are plastic bristled and tiny, good for details with use with the other makeup!

The makeup artists also used airbrush tools which are very expensive and I won't get into those yet.   Professional face paint brushes, will do the trick anyway.

Question 2:  Where can I buy makeup???

Do searches online through http://www.altavista.com  for the brand names or visit your local costuming shops. They will often carry Halloween kits during the off season, when most stores will give you the "where'd you park your spaceship"  look.    Here are a few hits:

http://www.wolfefx.com
Ben NYE Makeup
Mehron - Boundless Creativity Makeup

Some brands don't seem to have an official web page but can be bought through dealers.   :)  Some of these makeup products are NOT for use on small children.  Even adults cannot use the red coloring in any brand around the eyes.

Question 3:  I don't want to shave my head.

Bald caps come in all shapes, sizes and qualities.  For the quick cheap maul, a local costuming/make-up store probably carries these for a few dollars.  It's best to look in a costuming shop as it might not be worth it to order these off the net --  shipping charges -- they will be worth more than the cap.  

However, for those of you who really want to get into this for events such as conventions and costume contests, you are better off to spend a few more dollars on an expensive bald cap.

My first cap was a medium quality Cinema Secrets Woochie bald cap, which was black in color and it worked just fine.  You can find Woochies in all sorts of colors.  Each cap is worth about 10 bucks a piece and trust me, you don't want a lesser quality than that. These cost about 12-20 dollars and last once or twice.  I found that most bald caps, including the Woochie cap, on your first wearing, will look excellent and the lines hardly show, but after that, degrade slightly.   

For my own caps, I prefer the works of Kropserkel.  He hand makes his baldcaps with 8 treatments of latex and one size fits all.  I recently tried to use a store bought cap for a cheap maul and had many troubles with it.   Kropserkel is the way to go if you want a REALLY nice maul. info@kropserkel.com His caps are about $15-$17 a piece.

3.5 How do I apply a bald cap?

As with most caps, the first time you start to mess with it, it will take two people to fit to your head (you need to mark your ears with a pencil and cut it while its still on your head) and a good cap should travel all the way down the nape of your neck to your back, which  later you can attach to your shoulder blades with medical tape. This way it covers ponytails and offers a smooth look.  Medical tape also holds better.

To cut the cap and mark your ears, using a pen, place a dot where the top of your ear is.  Draw a line straight DOWN from there, and cut.  This will leave a slit tall enough for your ear to go through yet you have not cut a huge gaping hole for your ear.  Your ear will fit through the slit and look much more seamless than a round hole.  If necessary, you can trim the strip in front of your ear to be a bit shorter but don't trim the back or it will look stupid later.

 You will have to DEFINITELY glue the horns before anything else (like in the picture below -- click for a larger view) as the glue may not like to stick to paint and your horns could fall off.  It takes a little feeling around to get an idea of where the horns should go.  

On the cap to the left, I felt that later, the horns were too far apart and I ended up moving them closer together.  But its personal choice.  

I took these photos before Dragoncon.    Its a good idea to glue the first 4 or 5 hornson by putting the cap on and deciding where they go, the rest can fall into place after that using your own judgment, or perhaps get someone to just help you glue them on.    Because I had to glue my own on, I also drew dots as to where center of the little horns should be and the distance apart (click on picture on the right and you can see the dots I drew)

After the horns are on, then you can paint the cap ( unless you have someone doing painting for you.)  I don't have anyone to paint for me, so I can't paint the back of my head or the top of my head without screwing it up.  If you have a mannequin head, place it on there and paint.  This way, when you are ready to do the maul, half the job is done for you.

Because you are only painting and not wearing it right away its a good idea to paint all of the back and sides, but not to paint the entire front of the cap.   This is so that when you eventually wear this for real and paint your face, you can join the lines that will be drawn on your skin to match up with the lines on the cap.   The paint by the way, does not wash off the bald cap, assume it will be  a permanent maul fix!  You can quickly correct mistakes with alcohol on a swab but after a day or two, most of it will be permanent. 

See left for an example of how far and how much you should paint.  I left out the line in the middle of his forehead, and I left out the long extending eyebrow pieces.

To cut down on time, if you do another baldcap later, the trick is to try and cut your bald caps mostly the same, and then remove the horns from the old baldcap and place the new one unpainted cap on top, tracing the lines =) It makes designing go a lot quicker.

To glue this to your head, you will have to glue this on with professional PEOPLE made adhesive.  I can't believe I would have to say this but don't use crazy glue, epoxy glue or anything of the sorts on your skin please LOL.   Most of you are over 5 years old and know this, so I'm sorry you had to read that, but believe me, I did hear of a guy using crazy glue to put maul horns on his head. 

And for 2 dollars you can save a trip to the doctor.  Visit the Ben Nye or Mehron sites for adhesive or spirit gum. (note: spirit gum is supposed to be a bit more harsh than a simple adhesive but  I found that spirit gum was crap and it didn't seem to hold very well but maybe I'm an idiot and was using it incorrectly.  I normally use medical adhesive that looks like white glue but was made for people.   Jimmy Burns elaborates:

  It was originally designed for attaching bandages to wounds.  Prosthetic Adhesive is the name Ben Nye is selling it under now.  You can use a good quality spirit gum, it just takes some practice and you have to "tack" it with your fingers before attaching the appliance or it will come loose. You can use a damp rag to clean up around the edges.

I placed the cap on my head and used a Q-tip to apply the adhesive to my skin and the cap underneath by sliding it lightly around.  Then you will have to press on it with a washcloth or towel. I did this all the way to around my neck.  After it dries, you can pull the nape of the bald cap taunt (if you bought this type) down your back and paste it with medical tape.  Its a bastard to get off later and hurts like hell but it looks good right?!  If you don't pre-paint your bald caps -- after gluing everything in place, the horns can be glued onto the bald cap. Helps to have person number 2 there!

As for removal of the cap once used, if you wish to reuse it, SLOWLY pull it away from your skin or use adhesive remover and as you pull it away, but be gentle!! Ripping it is only a waste of money.  Also, if you are not slow,  the edges may start to ball up a bit because they roll back and stick to the leftover adhesive.  If this happens, you can try to prevent it first;  as you remove the cap, take a brush and put baby powder all over the inside of the cap where you are pulling it off of your skin! This will sort of "neutralize" the stickiness and prevent the cap from sticking to itself.  Or you can fix the damage with scissors - aka cut those parts off.   But whether it balls up or not, it may never look as good as the first wearing.  If you do the maul costume a lot like I do....it may be worth your time just to order several caps and reusable horns.

You can also use products such as Liquid Latex with the bald cap and smooth out lines, however it is difficult to apply in a pretty way and won't last under long periods of time due to sweat. I bought some liquid latex and had a !#$!# of a time with it, since it wouldn't go on smooth, it bubbled and dried quickly and looked like crap. 

Jimmy Burns also answered this question for me:

The best appliance for liquid latex are you fingers.  You can use a brush with a little bit on soap on the bristles to prevent drying. Though, I wouldn't try to use it with a bald cap unless for repairs.  Like you said it is a !#$!#  and bonds to the latex in the bald cap making it really hard to clean up if you make a mistake.  Generally liquid latex is more for creating your own appliances.  You can use it for some really great effects, old age, etc, but it only sticks to your skin for 2 hours at most before your sweat breaks the bond.  However, it is really good if you tear your bald cap or cut the space over your ears to high, you can use it for repairs.  Use a clear liquid latex and a small throw away brush or you fingers if you need to tack down a spot where the bald cap has curled under.

Here are more pictures of the painting process.  Click on a photo to see it enlarged. 

Question 4:  Where can I get horns?

 Kropserkel happens to make a solid plastic set of horns, that are based on the movie and the official maul statue.  I use his horns faithfully now and they look MUCH better than the latex ones you see in some of the old photos on the tatoofaq.    Trust me, they are better.  (Picture on the right -- those are kropserkel horns)

http://www.costumelab.com/

$75US sculpted and painted
$45US sculpted
$15US sculpt and paint your own!

You can also buy a complete maul makeup kit from him

MAKE-UP KIT: Includes: Spirit Gum adhesive and Remover (for horns), 1 Latex Baldcap (1 use), Red and Black water based Make-Up, Castor Oil for application of make-up on baldcap, Black Tooth Enamel, and instructions> $61 US.

Question 5:  How can I paint my teeth??

Want to paint your teeth? Mmm yum, the stuff tastes like crap but I suggest Ben Nye Black Tooth Color and Kryolan Tooth Enamel Nicotine.  Its up to you whether you want to put this on tooth *replacements* though, I tried it on one of mine and it did not stain it permanently, however I can't guarantee this with all types of teeth. (this is for those of you with bridges) 

You will have to dry your teeth off first and then apply the nicotine and then the black.  Knock yourself out!

Question 6:  Oh those sexy eyes!? (Contact lenses)

Just can't have a good looking darth maul without contact lenses?!  I bought a pair of lenses from wild-eyes THROUGH my eye doctor.  I DO NOT recommend making your own lenses or buying lenses from a non medical/professional source.  There are many people that sell custom lenses but you have no guarantee they will work well with your vision or are made in a sanitary environment. Your eyesight is valuable, without it, you will no longer see new pictures of darth maul!  

I purchased the wildfire lenses and found them to be fairly accurate (not perfect, but ok none the less -- considering the picture on the left is a sclerical lens OW!).  They last for one year and then must be thrown away.  I believe this is with daily use, however you may get a longer life out of them if you don't wear them often and take very very good care.

Lensquest has a more accurate maul lens called "DARTH" under their special effects lenses.  I like them too but found this pair later on,  it is your personal preference.  In total including the eye exam and the $ for showing me how to insert them, I paid $227CAD.  The lenses on their own are only $120CAD, however, the doctors appointment is worth it.

http://www.lensquest.com/

http://www.wild-eyes.com

Question 7: Ok, I bought all this crap, now how do I put it on?

Required Items

1. Triangular Sponges for applying makeup
2. Paint brushes with a small pointed tip
3. Q-tips and Alcohol for screwups
4. All your face paint, teeth paint and contact lenses (duh)
5. Facial Cleanser (for before and after)
6. All bald cap materials and adhesive (see above for instructions)

Well I can't do the painting for you so if you have a steady hand, all you will need is a good reference of Darth Maul's tatoos.  A frontal close up picture and even the 12" hasbro doll are great!  If you don't have a steady hand, you will still need the references and perhaps a 2nd person, or use the stencil from the deluxe maul kit by Rubies! (Though I haven't tried the later myself)

Here is a response from Jimmy Burns on the flaking:

You're not alone, water based paints will flake after they dry out. It depends on your skin moisture levels.

You will also need to flatten your hair if it is long and bulky, and tie it in a low ponytail.

Put the contact lenses in and color your teeth BEFORE you put any makeup on, or you'll regret it later.

Now you will need to put on the bald cap and use the adhesive to glue it on your head.   Please see the bald cap section above for application.

I start by sponging red all over my face except near the jaw line and DO NOT sponge red near your eyes.  Let it dry and start with the black lines. It helps to begin on the jaw and chin, and move upwards.  I thought moving downwards would be easy too but the jaw allows a reference for when you do the eyes and up around the back of his head.  It feels freakin wierd to paint your ears by the way, and its even less fun to clean!  You can use a sponge with black paint for the jaw and neck and ears and back of the head, as it makes it easier to get large amounts of black on, but you will still need the paintbrush for getting close to the lines.  

This process may take you 1-2hrs since you have to go slowly and not screw things up.  A Q-Tip with alcohol is helpful for screwups. 

Now if you want to get really technical and professional, you could use an airbrush.  On set, they used an airbrush to put all the red colors on Park's face and then they painted the details on afterwards, slightly overlapping the red.  If anyone does decide to try this let me know. I'd like to try it some time with Jimmy's Airbrush kit but have not found the time.  

Please note that if you use alcohol based products, it will probably take you 2 hrs to remove it, and several days after that to get the trace stuff out of your ears.  

The only solution I can think of would be to use the alcohol based product on the neck and chin, and everywhere else, use water based product.  (Since the neck and chin are truly the only places that I experienced flaking)  I don't know if it will work, but its worth a shot. 

Here are some more images of the woochie bald cap :)  Please ignore those UGLY horns.