Fake wounds. Real technique.
Ten modules of special effects makeup, starting with the tools on your table and ending with a painted silicone prosthetic. More than twenty-five video lessons, printable booklets and four bonus films, taken at your own speed and yours for good.
01 / About the course
The camera sees every step you skipped.
Online tutorials tend to jump from bare skin to finished wound in under a minute. This course stays in the part they cut: which product goes on first, how thin a layer should be, and what to do when an edge starts to lift under hot lights.
A fresh bruise and a week-old bruise are different colours. Paint the wrong one and an audience feels it before they can say why.
Each lesson is filmed close enough to see the texture of the skin and how much product sits on the brush. When something goes wrong on camera, it stays in the edit, and you watch me put it right.
Once the materials make sense to you, three things change:
- You choose products for what they do, and stop buying whatever the last tutorial used.
- You can rescue a patchy colour or a lifting edge without taking the whole effect off.
- You can read a brief from a director and plan the build before you touch the skin.
Nobody is born knowing how to lay a bald cap. Everyone who can do it was shown, one stage at a time.
The blood is fake.
The reaction is real.
An effect on screen might get two seconds before the edit moves on. In those two seconds it has to convince a stranger, and every hour of preparation behind it is spent on that moment. The preparation is what I teach.
02 / A word from me
What you will learn.
Before you decide anything, watch the short introduction. I go through the modules, and say plainly who this course suits.
03 / The curriculum
Ten modules, in the order a real job runs.
Every module leans on the one before it. By the time you reach prosthetics you already know how to prepare skin, cover a brow, blend an edge and pick the right blood. Printable booklets go alongside the lessons that need them, ready to prop up beside your mirror.
Mod. 01IntroductionWhere special effects came from, and how to get the most from this course.
A welcome, a tour of what is inside and how I suggest you work through it. Then a safety disclaimer worth reading properly, and a short history of special effects makeup.
Mod. 02Tools, Brushes & SpongesWhat each tool is for, and which ones can wait.
The brushes, sponges and tools of a special effects kit, taken one at a time. You finish knowing what earns a place on your table and what you can buy later.
Mod. 03PreparationGetting the face ready before any effect goes on.
How to cover eyebrows, so a bald cap, a creature or a character face starts from a clean, flat surface.
Mod. 04BruisingDamage that looks as if it sits under the skin.
Realistic bruising built up in layers of colour, followed by a full black eye.
Mod. 05Scars, Cuts & GrazesBroken skin, from a fresh graze to an old scar.
How to create convincing scars, cuts and grazes, and how to judge when a wound has enough detail and when it has too much.
Mod. 06TattooHiding a tattoo, and adding one that was never there.
Covering an existing tattoo so it disappears on camera, then applying a transfer tattoo for a character.
Mod. 07Bald CapsThe silicone bald cap, from prep to removal.
Four lessons on the silicone bald cap: preparing the head, applying the cap, painting it to match the skin and taking it off again without damage.
Mod. 08SFX MaterialsSilicone gel and fake blood.
How to use three-part silicone gel, then a close look at fake bloods and which one suits which job.
Mod. 09ProstheticsApplying, painting and removing silicone prosthetics.
Everything from the earlier modules comes together here. You apply a silicone prosthetic, paint it until the join disappears and remove it safely at the end of the day.
Mod. 10Bonus VideosFour extra films, made for students only.
My beginner SFX kit, my professional kit, a vlog from a day on set (with a twist) and the classic white clown base I keep coming back to.
04 / Included in your enrolment
Open it today, and come back to it for years.
25+ video lessons
Over seven hours across ten modules, filmed in full HD. Change the speed or the quality, and replay any step as often as you need it.
Booklets to print
PDF booklets written to go with the lessons, so the method sits on paper next to your kit.
Four bonus films
The on set vlog, my professional kit, a starter kit for beginners and my classic clown base.
The student community
A private group of students working through the same modules. Share progress, swap references and ask the questions you would feel silly asking anywhere else.
Support from me
Send me a question or a photo of your work and I will reply with feedback as soon as I can.
Lifetime access, any device
Pay once and the course is yours on phone, tablet or laptop, with no subscription and no deadline to finish.
05 / People who have worked with me
In the words of people who know this industry.
Her creative mind was off the scales. She's an artist.
She's got this mind that really enables her to create and communicate through make-up, which is a rarity.
I think she has wisdom beyond her years. I look forward to working for her one day.
She's so engaging. Her sense of colour is incredible.
06 / Your tutor
Hi, I'm Sophie
I make special effects for the screen, and I teach them the way I learned them.
My training is formal. I took a foundation degree in art and design, then a first class degree in makeup for media and performance at Arts University Bournemouth. Glow Up came in the middle of it: I won series three in 2021, aged twenty-one, with my degree still unfinished. A year later my special effects work won an award of its own.
Since graduating I have worked across film, television and multimedia, on productions including Doctor Who and The Crown and for the BBC. I judge international competitions such as The Beauty Awards, and I visit universities and schools to talk to students who are thinking about this career.
I am autistic, and I know how it feels to sit in a class that moves too fast. So these lessons carry no background music, no sponsored products and no affiliate links. Every product I show is one I chose, and every opinion is mine.
More than two hundred students have taken my courses since 2025. This autumn I begin a PGCE in art and design teaching at UCL, because the next thing I want to do is lecture.
Brands and Works
07 / The trilogy
Part two of three.
The Fundamentals are three separate courses. Each one stands alone, and together they cover the whole discipline: everyday beauty, special effects and the history that connects them.
The Fundamentals of Beauty
Skin preparation, base, eyes and lips, up to a finished look. The place to begin if makeup of any kind is new to you.
The Fundamentals of Special Effects
Materials, injuries, bald caps and prosthetics. The hands-on side of changing how a face reads.
You are hereThe Fundamentals of Makeup Knowledge
Four thousand years of makeup history, sociology and culture. The theory that sits behind both practical courses.
08 / Enrol
Two ways to pay. Exactly the same course.
Here you can find two options that only differ in how you want to pay. The first option is a one-time payment, and the second is a monthly option with four installments. The price displayed below is in GBP, but you can pay with ANY currency.
If the course turns out not to be right for you, tell me within fourteen days and I will refund you in full. There are no forms to fill in and no explanation required.
09 / Before you enrol
What students ask me before they start.
Is the course live?
No. Every lesson is pre-recorded, so you can start at midnight or on your lunch break, pause halfway through a step and pick it up again once the product has dried.
Do I need any experience?
None at all. The early modules start with the tools themselves. If you already work in makeup, the later lessons on bald caps, silicone and prosthetics will still stretch you.
How much time should I give it?
There are over seven hours of lessons, and the pace is yours. An hour a day, one video a week or a single long weekend all work. Plenty of students take notes or work along with me as they watch.
What are the payment methods?
Any debit or credit card that works online, or PayPal. On the monthly plan the first payment is taken the day you enrol and the next three at 30, 60 and 90 days. Either way, you get the full course straight away.
Can I pay in my own currency?
Yes. The checkout converts your currency into GBP at that day's exchange rate.
Can I buy it as a gift?
Yes. Buy the course, then email me at [email protected] with the name and email address of the person it is for, and I will set the account up in their name.
How long do I keep access?
For good. There are no renewals and no further fees once you have paid.
What is the refund policy?
You have fourteen days to ask for a full refund, as long as you have completed less than 30% of the course. Once more than 30% has been watched, a refund is no longer available.
When do registrations close?
Enrolment closes on Sunday 18th October at 09 PM EDT.
