Senior Candice Sammartino spent the last 5 years working tirelessly to become the best artist she can be. At first, she thought she wanted to pursue a career in drawing or ceramics, but later realized a way she could bring her talent to the next level in special effects makeup. Special effects makeup, or SFX for short, is  is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects.

Candice first discovered her love for SFX makeup through watching her favorite horror movies. Among her many favorites, the Saw series inspires her the most. Saw is filled with many gruesome and interesting shots that are made perfect by the talented SFX artist that work on it. Along with Saw, Candice is inspired by famous makeup artist Ve Neil. Ve Neil has worked on movies such as The Hunger Games and Mrs. Doubtfire. Candice hopes to follow in her footsteps one day. Over the past spring, Candice took classes at Drexel University with professor David Deneen, a makeup artist that has worked on movies such as Dogma. “I learned a lot from him. I feel like I am a better makeup artist because of his class.”. Even though Candice is not a student at Drexel, she was still invited into David’s class because of her exceptional talent.

In the future, Candice plans on pursuing a career in hollywood as a makeup artist. She is involved in the makeup department of Haverford’s Drama Club and plans to keep working in theatre. She is also involved in Haveford’s Vo-tech program in the cosmetology department. She plans on getting her cosmetology license before moving away to pursue her real dream. “I love that Haverford allows students like me to express our creativity during the school day”.

If you want to keep up with Candice’s makeup career, you can follow her instagram @candicesfx, her twitter at @candicessfx, and her facebook Candice Sammartino.