Maskmaker plasters her patrons // Former beautician gives new meaning to getting a facial

Deborah Brice requires her clients to lie perfectly still on atable, coats their faces with oil and slathers them with gooeyplaster gauze. After 20 minutes, she peels off a mold, which thenwill be used to make art that some say looks like a death mask.

And for this, the former hair stylist charges $50 to $75.

Brice - she goes by only one name professionally because peoplekept mispronouncing her first name (it's De-bore-ah) - said somecustomers come to her for plaster face casts because they want togive a "unique" gift.

Another client has contracted her to plaster him on a yearlybasis because "he wants to have a permanent record of his facialchanges." She's even plastered her mother, saying she wanted it for athree-dimensional family heirloom. Many clients talk of thephilosophical reasons for undergoing the half-hourlong procedure.The completed masks, they believe, offer a peek into the soul.

"Everybody gets it done for a different reason," said Brice, 34."It's a chance to see yourself without your ego or your presentationto the world. Even when you look into the mirror, you put on anact."

Brice stumbled into the face-saving business after she had toquit hair styling following a back injury. She wanted something tosupplement her income while managing the Hair and Faces salon at 7011N. Sheridan.

One day last winter, she began experimenting with a mask for afriend. Overwhelmed by positive responses, she started a businesslast February called Masking a Cast of Thousands. So far, she hasdone 50 casts.

There are limits to the likeness, of course, because the modelmust remain frozen with eyes closed while the cast dries. Bricedoesn't exactly disagree with the criticism that the finishedproducts often look like death masks.

"The eyes say so much about a person. Without them it lookskind of different," she said. "Some people say it's eerie. Those arethe people who tend to want to get them painted." A painted maskcosts $75. The plain, white ones are $50.

Most clients simply are intrigued, as was Paula Flanagan, a29-year-old Chicago actress who recently visited the Rogers Parksalon.

"I'm a little nervous," Flanagan said as she lay down on amassage table covered with fresh sheets. Brice cautioned Flanagan toscratch any facial itches before the process started, then asked herto close her eyes and mouth. Brice delicately annointed Flanagan'sface with oil and rubbed water-soluble lubricant around the woman'sscalp and eyebrows.

"If there are any problems, I want you to put up your righthand," Brice instructed her. With Flanagan resting in a brown smockand covered with towels, Brice began working quickly to applymoistened strips of gauze impregnated with plaster. Flanagan's eyesand the mouth were covered last. Only her nostrils remained open.

Wrapping bothered one client, Brice said. The woman wassitting with her face caked when she suddenly began waving her hands.Brice said she asked the woman if there was a problem and gave her apiece of paper.

The woman wrote, "I'm sorry, I'm claustrophobic." She askedBrice to tell her a story. The woman calmed down when Brice begantalking and put her fuzzy poodle, Star, next to the panicked client.

Flanagan fared better. When Brice asked if she were all right,the woman made a noise, "Mnnnn," which passed for "Uh-huh." Her righthand was motionless. Flanagan was given a cassette player andheadphones to listen to "spacey" music for the 20 minutes it took forthe plaster to dry. When Brice came back into the room, she slowlypried off the mask and gave her model a hot towel to rub off thefacial goo.

Flanagan described the procedure as "not unlike getting afacial" and not scary - although she felt odd touching her plasteredface once or twice. The cast, allowed to dry, will serve as the moldfor the final plaster face. Within a week, Brice will present thefinal version to Flanagan.

And Brice hopes the actress will get the same kick out of itthat she did when she saw her own final cast.

"I felt like I was meeting a new person," said Brice. "I said,`Hi, Brice, how're you doing?' " she recalled.

She didn't say how she answered herself.