This issue is dedicated to applying pasties to your bosom for performance and modeling. Don't laugh, it's not as simple as it sounds. Basically the type of adhesive you use depends upon your type of skin sensitivity, what you plan to do on stage, and what you have on hand. Read below for all the choices in adhesives before you.Spirit Gum - One thing I've noticed is that at everyone swears by the adhesive they use, I swear by spirit gum. During my performance I do fleshy acrobatics and have had to find something very solid to depend upon. Spirit Gum is made of SD Alcohol 35-A and resin, which is the 'gum' [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_gum]. This type of adhesive comes in small or large viles and looks just like a 'cement glue' container, with a brush attached to the cap. The level of quality will vary greatly. In Portland you can find this at Hollywood Costumes 635 SE Hawthorne. They also have an ample selection of mustaches which can also be applied with Spirit gum. The Spirit Gum remover should be purchased along with so you don't have to wait for it to peel or come off in the shower. Spirit Gum will be the most borrowed and stolen item from your dressing room, so keep an eye on it, because it isn't cheap to continually replace, at approximately $8 for a 4.5 oz. bottle. Without a doubt I recommend a full 20 minutes of drying before Spirit Gum is good to go for a performance.
Tapes- "These are adhesives that come in a solid double sided sheet type form, and are applied to the pastie, then a wax backing is removed to expose a sticky side which adheres to the skin. The tape style adhesives vary greatly in their adherence and composition. Flash tape, toupee tape, carpet tape, medical adhesive (the tape form), and many others are all adhesives used to apply a pastie. Testing products to see what works best with your particular skin type is essential to becoming a happy pastie wearer." [http://pincurlmag.com/tag/applying-pasties]
Eyelash Glue or Lash Grip This is one form of glue we usually have on hand in a pinch, but I do not recommend it, as it holds very little weight. If you are planning to do any sort of shimmying with the pasties on, you will be hard-pressed to guarantee they stay on if you are over a B cup in size. It is fine if you are smaller in cup size and if you are doing more of a presentation than anything acrobatic.
Liquid Latex is a form of rubber that will go on liquid and dry solid. Most of the strip-clubs in the Midwest require this to be used as nipple coverage. This doesn't allow for a lot of decoration, and I cannot personally attest to its use, other than on face wounds for gore scenes I've done. There are colors available and you can make an entire body suit of the stuff, it's often used by body painters for elaborate costuming in super hero or erotic festivals. If you aren't allergic it's great, because it breaths beneath itself, allowing the skin aeration. The colored latex may be opaque enough to use as your pastie if you master it and have no allergic reaction to rubber. Latex allergies around your breast could last for days, so do a test . If you are allergic to latex balloons, you will be allergic to this as well, as a simple guideline.
The application of your adhesive and pasties- In essence before you begin preparation for applying your pasties, make sure that your chest is cleaned with soap and water, and free from anything slick like glitter, lotion, oil. Taking an oil bath shouldn't effect you because that will soak in with the water, and dry off.
Next apply your liquid adhesive to both the Pastie and a ring around the outside of your Areola ( the darker skin surrounding your nipple ). Avoid getting glue on your nipple - it will be extremely painful at removal if you don't. Let both the glue on your skin and the pastie get tacky for about 2 minutes. Put a bra on and hook it under your breasts. Apply one pastie at a time and slip your bra cup over it to adhere pressure and make it stick. Let dry at least 20 minutes while applying pressure. You may want to downgrade an old bra to your 'pastie bra' as it will leave a glue mark inside the cup.
Mutiple Pastie changes - If you are planning to do more than one routine in a show, which involves different pasties, you may have to consider using tape, unless you can guarantee 20 minutes setting time. Bare in mind that setting time may be more if the surface is already laden with glue, or you are extra hot. It may take a full 30 minutes to dry if so.If you are planning to tassel (shimmy while making patterns of tassels that are attached to pasties ) you need to allow that full 20 or 30 minutes for drying to avoid your pastie flying across the room, yes it's happened to me.
Size Matters- If you are using tape and planning to tassel, make sure you apply tape all around the edges of your pasties and do touch them during your performance to check placement before you tassel. I've met several performers that swear by tapes, but one of them did lose a pastie from carpet tape during a performance, so use with caution, especially if you are larger than a B cup in size.
Finally, whatever type of adhesive you choose, you will want to have a back-up in your make-up case and buying an extra tube of lash glue is cheap, though limiting (not good for high-powered tasseling) in a pinch.
Check out more supplies locally in Portland, OR. at the Lippman Co. Party Store, who have just become an official dealer of Ben Nye theatrical make-up. You'll be happy to find that Lippman's always has the best price in town, and lots of selection on hand. Location: 50 SE Yamhill, Portland, OR. , 97214. Enjoy this tasseling video in which I used spirit gum and self made pasties of stainless steel rings [Frankie Tease Tassel Time [18+only please].
