I am a firm believer that every product on the market has its place. Even if it isn't for it’s intended use there is a gap for everything. That being said there are definitely products that I personally do not get on with. I think that this is true for all artists, sometimes you just don’t enjoy the colour or consistency of something and that’s okay.

Glynn McKay’s Burn Gel has always been one of those products for me. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy certain things about it, for example it does not look cakey when you apply it, it applies similarly to a stain or tint and I think that this is great when you want to create effects that appear to be ‘under’ the skin rather then sitting on top of it. Where I have found a problem in the past using this product is the colour, and subsequently the intensity of that colour.

For me this product has always read far too pink and far too bright to appear realistic, however I was open to the fact that some of this could be user error on my part rather then being a fault of the product itself. This lead me to playing around with the product one evening, starting by applying it to my arm in differing amounts and using different tools.

From this experimentation I concluded that I was being far too heavy handed with the product and actually you need a lot less then I had originally assumed. Once I had dialled down the amount of product I was using I then tried out applying it with a few different tools, my favourite ultimately being a mixture of a small fluffy eyeshadow brush and my fingers. I found that this combination gave me the most control over the product as well as being the best option for blending it out into the skin.

Once I had worked this out I moved on to creating a hand burn. I still found applying the product challenging however I think this is more due to me not being 100% happy with the colour as when I had spent some time placing and blending the gel I started to quite enjoy the overall look. I applied some blobs of scar plastic to create some easy blistering effects and left it there.

I have to say I have changed my opinion slightly. I used to avoid this product however I can see myself reaching for it from time to time if I need to create scalds or cover a large area in a pinkish red tone. I am still not overly keen on the colour however used in the right places, on the right skin tones and in conjunction with other products to complete the effect I do believe it could be a useful product.

I definitely think that there is a learning curve when using burn gel. I am usually pretty good at starting subtly with colour however with this product I do still find that challenging. It is incredibly easy to pick up too much product and I think you need far less then you think you are going to.

I can see how this product could be a go to for some artists however I do also think that the effects that you create can be easily replicated with your usual cream colours. That being said I think the way it appears to sit ‘under the skin’ rather then being visibly on top of it is a great pro for this product.

I will be using this product more in the future and developing my application technique further as I can see this product having potential however I do not think that this is a product designed for beginners as I believe you need to master the art of subtlety before attempting it.

Do you agree with me? Have you used this product and if so do you like it/do you recommend it to other people?

Please share your opinions with me and If you have any tips and tricks for using it let me know 🙂

Thank you for reading!