We recently connected with Cay Fern Crilly and have shared our conversation below.

Cay Fern, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

my father is the entire reason I have this passion and have pursued Makeup in the first place. He had such a passion for entertainment, from shows and movies to plays and musicals and concerts. He always took me to shows and concerts. My dad would share movies with me, and we would analyze them from the cinematography to sound design, and of course, Makeup and practical effects. One of my favorite shows we watched together was face off. I loved that they could bring whatever character they designed to life. I admired their creativity and skill. This led me to dive into YouTube videos of DIY special effects. And I would use whatever materials I had, like using glue to make blisters. One of his friends was a special effects artist, and he set up a one on one lesson for me. If I wasn’t hooked before, I definitely was now. Sometimes I would spend days in my bathroom, just practicing special effects, and excitedly showing him. He would make jokes that it looked so good. I couldn’t post that more people would think there was trouble at home. All of my family loved my makeup and was incredibly supportive.
Then in 2021, he suddenly passed away. I got lost, as any 16 year old would losing a parent they were close to. So after graduating high school, i didn’t have much drive or idea where to go now. My mom eventually sat down with me, telling me I need to go to school, whether it be traditional college or the makeup school i dreamed of. She was incredibly supportive either way, which led me to persue makeup. I signed up for MUD. She helped me search for apartments and helped me prepare for moving. not only was this a huge endeavor of starting school, but taking the big step of living on my own was so intimidating. Without my mom‘s help, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Nor do I think I would have made the choice I did without my dad. choosing to pursue Makeup was almost an homage to him. And I knew he was there with me every step of the way cheering me on.
My father showed me my passion and helped ignite it, and my mother supported me in pursuing it, and i could not be more grateful

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always loved Makeup, thanks to my father and his love for the entertainment industry and horror that he passed on to me. as long as I can remember, I was always artistic, drawing and doing make up on myself or others who are willing to be my victims. I’m high school, I became the makeup supervisor for the theatre by my sophomore year.
In 2024, I took the master course at MUD Makeup Designory. From there I have worked on a few short films and haunts. I love working with others to create a design they love and bring it to life. I love the technical aspect of thinking outside of the box to figure out the specific techniques needed for the desired imagery.
Makeup as a whole for me is anything from beauty, to special effects, to prosthetics. I want to provide someone with feeling beautiful, whether for fun or for an event. Whether that be from a traditional perspective, or an avant garde, expressive perspective. I love creating creatures or injuries. Making something fake seem real is magical. I design and create prosthetics, from sculpting every detail, to molding and producing something to be used.
My ultimate dream is to work on big name movies, whether that be making the prosthetics or applying makeup to bring characters and stories to life.
but my general goal is to create art on the beautiful canvas of the human body. Creating our and telling a story on the amazing beings that I am a part of, Humans. I want to bring joy and bringing visions to life, truly to life on a living canvas. Or make jaws drop when a creature only found in the imagination comes alive in front of you. It’s truly amazing.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Training and skill, like in any profession, is very important. however, true success comes from your ability to work with others and make your clients feel comfortable. I love that engaging in creating a connection with people is such a crucial part of my industry. You can be the best make up artist, but if you can’t create an understanding with others or demonstrate positive character, you won’t get too far. You must be able to adapt, think on your feet, and be a team player. There is a lot of stress in this industry, as well as a lot of people that you will be working closely with. To succeed in this field, you must be able to read your surroundings and adapt to fill whatever role is needed..

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I definitely put my resilience to the test during my second short film, my second Makeup job I had. The script was very demanding of special effects, but had a minimal budget. I had multiple meetings with the director trying to create designs and a full understanding of his vision. However, as the entertainment industry does, it threw a couple curve balls at me. Within the final 2 days leading up to the shoot, my assistant had something come up and backed out on me, and the director threw in major design changes. I spent the last day running from the makeup store to the prosthetics lab to hand make some materials I needed. I was scrambling to figure out how I would do a two man job with just me. Thankfully, one of my good friends and colleagues stepped up to help me with this film.
We travel to the shoot location, and looking around realize we are the only crew there. So of course we had to pick
up some other rolls to make the process smoother. An incredibly long shoot day later, we packed up, dragging our supplies down the massive stairs and up the hill the way we had came. The next morning, the morning of the final shoot day, I get a message the lead had broken his elbow and was out, so again i scramble to adjust the makeup designs and reanalyze which products to use. That day, at the end of the night when our time was almost up, the largest makeup project started: a burn on half the face. We completed it quick, but thoroughly.
Looking back, the experience could have been rougher, but being fresh out of school, it was definitely a stressful but informative experience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @fernmakeupsfx

Image Credits

Deverill Weekes