Once the flakes of leftover gold (called "skewings") have been gathered, they are mixed with a small amount of honey and ground together with a mortar and pestle until they become a powder.
The honey is then removed by placing this mixture in a bath of hot water, leaving the gold flakes to collect at the bottom.
Following the final rinse, the flakes are left to dry.
Once the water has nearly evaporated, a drop of concentrated gum arabic is added and mixed into the flakes, creating a basic paint with gold flakes/ dust as pigment.
The paint may be applied to a surface using either a brush or the tip of a finger, and can be "reactivated" by only the moisture in an exhaled breath of air.