This is the Art Beauty podcast where we tell the real truth about the fake shit. I'm Amber and Boy. Today we have a fun show for you. I am here with my fabulous co-host, Camille Calvet She is the founder of Silc Skin, which is silicone patches to keep us youthful and make our skin look better. But we always talk about, you know, we're going to tell the real truth about the fake shit.
And I'm super excited because before we start talking about the product today, Camille, you have such a cool background. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started with silicone in general? Well, I've been a makeup artist for well over 30 years now, specializing in special makeup effects. Like, I need a lot of aliens and and, you know, horror creatures.
And I was one of the first female makeup effects artist in the eighties writing a book about us called Leading Ladies of Special Effects. Now, it's all women in the business, and I'm glad to have kind of led that on where. I go, because I see you have got some awards behind you. So what were what were some of the movies that maybe we would know you from? Well, these are these were from me. One was from Star Trek. Amazing that. And the other one was from a mini series, The Stand.
Stephen King's The Stand. Loved it. Yeah, loved. It. So what kind of when you talk about like special effects, what were some of the things that you were doing as a makeup artist to sort of build out these these looks? Well, we created I always used to have to use silicone, by the way, very early on in making the molds and for this prosthetic. So we had to do everything we have to sculpt them and make the molds and then fill them. And very early on, I noticed silicone.
When you made the molds, your hands were really soft. So that was the first thing. So I really didn't, you know, think about that. And later on, when I was working on Star Trek and we were doing all of the aliens on Star Trek, we had begun to use silicone appliances instead of foam latex. And I actually noticed that the skin was very soft when we removed it. Pores were filled. No wrinkles, still nothing. I didn't take anything.
Then one of my actresses has started complaining about chest wrinkles, and I noticed I was getting chest wrinkles as well from sleeping on our side. So I just was like, I have to do something about this. So I was looking everywhere, you know, through college and and I said I knew I needed something that kept the skin taut from forming the wrinkles at night. And right around that time, I got thyroid cancer.
And they gave me after surgery, they gave me a piece of silicone, a little tiny piece of silicone to heal the scar. And it was kind of an aha moment. I was like, right before my eyes and things I've worked with for years and years, I can use silicone to create that barrier. So I went ahead and made a little my first my very first product was definitely pad was for the chest and it was just all I wanted was barrier to keep the skin from forming.
But then I started looking into how silicone was treating scars. So essentially I started treating treating wrinkles as if they were scars. And so I made all my products out of medical grade silicone and same ones that are used in healing scars. So, all right. There's so much to unpack here. You know, before we get into the benefits of silicone, I want to stick on this because, you know, we're beauty podcast. We love the beauty.
I mean, some of those special effects that you work on take hours, right, for people to sit on. I mean, is that does it get hot under there? Do people ever panic without like having all of that on their face? They do. Yeah, they actually do. It is extremely hot always around this time of year on Star Trek, we would end up going out to bask his rocks in the desert tissue and our poor actors with all of that stuff on them and they'd be passing out.
So and it does it takes it takes a long time to put it on. I've taken up to 12 hours on one one makeup to put on. And then she just shot for like 3 hours. That was a full, full body suit. I mean, 12 hours of that that that's like more than most of like to me, that's a full day for we're talking overtime now. Yeah. If I have to sit there and be there after after ten, we're going into overtime. Right. And after 12 it's double time. Why I do TV. Shows of some of the stuff that I've done.
Oh my gosh. I love was on Drag Me to Hell. She was a beautiful lady and all of that. But I mean. When you're working with that kind of stuff, is there special precautions? I mean, I know you said that you realized the silicone when you would remove it from the skin. The skin was soft or smooth. Are there other things that you need to do when you're working with that kind of special effects makeup that you're like putting on as a base?
I mean, I know Halloween's like, we're still in summer, but Halloween is, like, right around the corner, so. Well, we, we always put a barrier down, a barrier cream to save the skin as well, and removing it. We have to be very, very careful because these are actors. You know, I did a year with Tom Cruise on Minority Report and Vanilla Sky, and he was in he was in prosthetics as well. And Nash and they were the silicone prosthetics. And you don't want to ruin that face.
No, no. You take very, very good care of it. We have to remove them very carefully. And then we use a special plastic surgery cream called E DAP, which brings the skin back into it. Looking good. And it's for plastic surgery. So, yeah, we take a lot of precautions. I mean, we're working with silicone. I know that. Like silicone. And tell me if I'm wrong here is silicone doesn't mesh well with other silicone. Right?
So, like, I know if you've got like this, like little silicone travel tubes and you put your hair products in there with silicone is going to like essentially blow up and not blow up, but like the tube will expand and they don't play well. Like, the other thing was silicone doesn't stick to silicone. That's like the only thing that it does. And the way our pads are sheared, they make it inherently sticky so there's no adhesive or anything. Okay, but yes. Silicone, it's got to be by itself.
Yeah, it's got to be by itself. So you would say what kind of barrier creams were you putting on? And it's funny because some of them were silicone. Okay. You know, like a like the primaries are silicone. But yeah, some of them were like silicone like like a silicone glove circle. Right. And yeah. So it's funny. It was it we use silicone a lot. What a fun career.
And I love that that sort of what you were doing in your passion and then your circumstance sort of led you to realize, have this aha moment of, wow, wait a minute, we're on to something here. I know with when when I had surgery as well, they gave you silicone tape for the scars. And it's remarkable. So, you know, now that thank you for indulging my very like fascination with what goes on in movies that is so absolutely cool.
So do you know about some of you know, let's talk now about how silicone you were talking about with scars. Do you know sort of what some of the science is behind why why doctors and why? You know, plastic surgeons will recommend silicone tape or adhesive after after you get a scar. Yes. Well, I had to find out for myself because it was you know, I've made these products and like I said, just oh, just a barrier.
But then when I started looking into the actual science behind why silicone is doing that, and back then this was 2000 and it wasn't really well known why it worked. But the, the original thing that was it became a, it came a barrier, an occlusive barrier. And scars tend to lose a lot of moisture, especially over the first year. So putting silicone over the scar, it increases the hydration and it doesn't let any of that moisture out. So it also works.
And this I didn't know yet because they didn't even know that yet is that it starts working on reducing the irregular collagen structure. That is a scar. So it's it's didn't it comes in and improved skin tone and it flattens and softens the scar and the skin. So it's basically hydration is a big one. But the second biggest one is reducing that collagen, the irregular collagen structure. And that's kind of what wrinkles are as well.
There are lots of college and they are the collagen strands start breaking down. Now, full disclosure, I have not tried your silicone products before. I'm very fascinating because I am a side sleeper and I wake up now, you know, with the lines in the chest and nobody likes that. But but I but I have used other silicone products. I know they work. Do you know is this something that's like generally more of a temporary effect? Are there long term benefits to this?
Well, there are long term benefits, yes. It is temporary. I always say, you know, use them for about two weeks and then it starts working on that irregular college and structure so you don't have to wear them. You can alternate them, but they do our products work overnight, which is amazing. And so the the wrinkles that are formed by side sleeping, which so many wrinkles are even on your face, they work overnight. You'll see a difference overnight.
And the ones who explore my expressions, we say it takes about two weeks, but you start. But you do have to keep it up because it also they work on muscle memory. So like brownies, like the old thing. So it's it's, you know, it works on that as well. So about two weeks and then you can see longer lasting results. You know, I'm just laughing because they think about and I'm sure there's so many people out there, men and women who are going to feel me on this one.
But I feel like when I get into my bed with my husband at night, he like feels like he's getting catfished because it's like, you know, you've got the pads here, you've got, you know, you're your mouthguard in for a while. I hurt my wrist and I was going to bed with a wrist guard and he's like, Who are you? But, you know, we we do know that all of these things overnight are really nice. Tell us a little bit. So so how do these work?
So you've got a chest and I have a. Regional our original was our deck pad for the chest. And it's so simple. It's just it's just a silicone pad, 100% medical grade silicone. We have nothing in it, no adhesive, nothing. You have to put it on clean, dry skin. Okay. If you don't like what we talked about the silicone, you don't want anything in there on any product because then you can get rashes or reactions because it turns it into a transdermal.
So you want it to work the way it's meant to work. I join the moisture out and keeping that area very, very moist. Yes, our deck with tape had they're super simple. They are. You just peel off the liner. I can even show you how it goes right on through like that. Easy. See through completely see through. You can hardly see. So yeah, my husband's used to it, but you can barely see them, so you can barely see them. Yeah. I was going to say, you know what?
You can actually if you're just like somebody who's on all these Zoom meetings, you're working from home, you could totally get away with that. You can't tell. Yeah. And out of people we have a neck pad, too. And then in the morning, you just simply remove it. Okay. And so how long do these stay good for? And like, what's the care for these types of pads? They are reusable for up to 30 days.
Okay. And you can wash them without losing their adhesive quality because like I said, there is no adhesive in it. You wash them with them. We have our own cleanser, of course, to wash them with our any anything that does not in a moment in it. And you want to clean rinsing and you clean your skin with it. You clean your pads once a week to remove the exfoliated skin cells. So it's very little care. It's such a simple and easy product to use. And I love that they're reusable.
What's like the price point on those? I know quite different sets. Most of our pads, just our regular pads, because we have our our collect pad and we have our decorative. We also have an unbelievably wonderful iPad case. Cassie Randolph from The Bachelor, she loves this and it made it go crazy. She would sell out all the time because of the iPads and they use it also for eyeshadow shields. Maybe in a makeup artist, all the makeup artists use them in the morning.
We have their actors and also for an eye shadow or shield. So they're getting a little treatment while they're getting their makeup done. So that is such a brilliant tip because, you know, for all of us regular non-actor gals at home, when you're putting your eyeshadow on, if you don't get really close, you can have like that little false. Know the fallout. The fallout. So wow. So you're going to get double. I love a tip like that.
Not only deep happening, not only are you getting the hydration, but you're also making sure that you don't look like a raccoon. Love it. Yes. Price points. Corey got away. Daryl $34. Okay. Very affordable. So a dollar a day. Yes, yes. A dollar a day. And so, you know, we talk about, you know, people are so fascinated in results. What kind of results have you seen? What kind of feedback have you gotten since starting this company? Well, because it works and it works overnight.
It's instant gratification. It's people absolutely love that. And the quality of our products, we have very little rashes or reactions unless somebody puts a product underneath. So we're you know, that's that's a great thing. We do have a lot of competitors out there that have started copying and they have they're made in China and they don't use the sharing process we use, which leaves no byproducts, is a platinum curing process very expensive.
And they kind of outsource it overseas and they use it. It's called a peroxide curing process, which leaves all kinds of stuff in it, but it stearic acid. So they're getting rashes, they're putting their their pores are being clogged and breakouts. So, yes, I've stick to this quality of this. I have them made here in Los Angeles and where I can oversee production and make sure it's a highest quality so I can get my customers. That's great. And again, we have them for the Décolletage.
You have the eyes. Did you say forehead and neck? We do. We have a forehead patch brow and that's goes all across. You target your whole forehead and it comes with these two little multi pieces which are fabulous on their own because I design them and I designs prosthetics and everything. I'm so used to the face, but these little guys, they can be used originally for crow's feet, but they can be used for nasal labial.
Yeah, they can be used here if you don't need the whole for the other little elevens. You don't need the whole forehead. If you don't, you just need it there. But the best thing, they're designed to go right over the lips. So, yeah, do the lip, which is very, very hard. It's a it's a muscle that's hard. So but so these are thicker and they go right over the lips, but they also have the added benefit of your nasal labial. I can always tell which side a person sleeps on.
It's like a little parlor trick of mine because it's deeper on the side that they sleep on most often. Often. So this. This keeps you from doing that so funny. So do you go to bed with, like, a full face of silicone head anatomy? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially even for a convention like last night, I did have a pretty full face on.
And so if you were, you know, speaking of which, if you've got like a special event coming up or something like that, is this going to give you instant sort of gratification the next day? Or is it something that you really need to be using for two weeks to see results? It depends on what wrinkles you're going for. Again, the expression lines, they're made from sleeping. They'll they'll be gone and they will not come back until you sleep on your side again. Okay.
The expression lines. Yeah. You want to, you know, start in a little bit of balance. But yes, a lot of people use them for just for special events. You know, I get a lot of mothers with brides buying them right before. So they're great for that. And a lot of our actresses, I always have them in my kids because all of a sudden an actress is like the wardrobe brings them and then they get a low cut something and we can slap it on and get rid of it.
I used to also get rid of sleep lines too, and real funny story was I was doing working with Rob Lowe and he came in and it was just when I just kind of they came out on the market and he he came in from a nap and he has a camera and a few minutes and he's got all these lines on his face. So I cut up one of the pads really quickly and I put it on his face and he said, Is this your boob pad? And I said, Yep. I said, They they were for a number of things, right? They work everywhere, but did it.
So how long did it take to get rid of that? Because I feel like there's a lot of people at home who've probably had that happen. Yes. It doesn't take very long to get rid of that because it plumps it up, you know, right up until probably 20 minutes and 20 minutes. But how will you do that? Right. I mean. You always say to the sleep on a silk pillowcase. So, you know, those are Shatner. Silk. Yes. Which I do at night.
But, you know, listen, you never know if you're traveling somewhere great to have. So easy to take with you. If you're traveling, you know, you don't have to have all the creams, lotions and potions because you're going to get that same de wrinkling effect with the silicone pads. I mean, so are you still doing makeup artistry in in Hollywood? I haven't for a while.
I, I will go back into an actor like once that coming that come, you know, for me to come in like I did Ted to when one of our actors in Star Trek, Worf because I used to do his makeup and, and he said he would never put that head on again because he wore it for years and years. The Klingon. He was the head. Right. And he but they he they talked him into putting it back on. So he said, you got to come in and do this because you have to put it on. So we went I went in and put it on.
So yes, I go back and do it now and again. And I think I want to go back I want to go back to Picard. Is that shooting right now? I want to kind of I think it's going to be the last year or so. I kind of want to go back and do that. Right. Is that right? That's the new spinoff, right? Yes. Yeah. On on Netflix or Hulu. I can never keep track. Yeah. Amazon one of them. Yeah, right.
Okay. Gotcha. All right. So what we're going to be make sure I'm going to look for your name in the credits for that, for sure. You know, I think this is such a wonderful I love your story. I love and thank you for sharing this with us. If people want to know more about silk skin, where should they go? I can go to our Web site select skin dot com and that tells you all about silicone and how it we created it. And it explains all of the different pads and what they're used for. Amazing.
I want to thank you so much. And if you have any questions you want me to pass on to Camille, I'm always happy to do that. You can email me at kilowatt hour beauty podcasts. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at our podcast. And as always, we will see you next Tuesday, hopefully with a few less wrinkles. Thank you. All right.