Cholesterol
Cholesterol is the brand name of a hair conditioner cream manufactured by the Queen Helene Company. It is inexpensive and we've found that it has the perfect properties for dealing with "masses of hair" in LifeCasting. Whether its eyebrows, moustaches, beards or full heads of hair, Cholesterol can help.
The "problem" is that alginate all too readily flows down between the hairs. This makes it difficult to remove the alginate mold and also makes it impossible to "capture" the form and volume of the hair mass.
The "solution" is to fill the hair mass with a thick water based cream- like Cholesterol. If all the spaces between the hairs are filled with cream, the alginate cannot flow down between them. You need to be careful when applying the alginate so you don't squish all the Cholesterol out but, done properly, it can be very effective.
For example, on a full head of hair, expert LifeCasters will use a very stiff "mousse" to shape and harden the hair. They then "fill" the mass of hair with Cholesterol so the alginate won't flow down between the hairs. It is then a simple task to make an alginate mold of the head including the hair. The finished casting will show the "form and volume" of the hair mass as well as the outer texture of the hair.
You can get Cholesterol at a local Wal-Greens or Beauty Supply House, but we make it available here as a convenience for our customers.
Asgard Studios.