How to Apply Makeup for Drag Shows

Good lighting, nice hair and a lot of makeup can go a long way.

Makeup is the most important part in transforming a male into a female.
Dressing in drag should always be fun, but a proper understanding of contouring and how make up works is key in taking in turning just a plain old cross dresser into a drag queen.

Things You'll Need

• Foundation Concealer Shaving kit Tweezers Moisturizer Eye shadow Mascara Faux lashes Makeup remover Eye liner Powder Bronzer and blush Lip liner Lip stick Lip gloss

Instructions

Start Clean

1. Shave! No side burns, no mustaches and no 5 o'clock shadows.

2. 

   Pluck, wax or tweeze your eyebrows too; however you do it, it needs to be clean.

3. Don't forget nose hairs. This has to be the most clean shaven you've ever been. Remember your suppose to be a girl.

4. Moisturize. After you've shaved everything off, just like any lady, you have to moisturize your skin. This is of the utmost importance because your clean shaven face is the palette that everything is going to be based on.

Eyes

1. Eye makeup can be messy so I like to start with the eyes. This way you don't have to reapply concealer or foundation.

2. 

   A classic smokey eye can almost instantly transform any masculine face into a more feminine one. To keep things soft and feminine looking, I like to start by blending soft grays and browns as a opposed to blacks. Black eye shadow can often times look too hard and bring back the masculine features.

3. Nothing sets off a good smokey eye like fake lashes. After you have finished applying eye shadow, finish off the look with a nice set of fake lashes and mascara.

Concealer

1. Clean up an smudges from mascara or crumbs from eye shadow with a little makeup remover.

2. Brighten up around the eye area with concealer. Blend the concealer into the upper cheek bones to create a contour effect.

3. This is also a good time to look for any blemishes or areas where there may be hints of facial hair that need extra coverage.
   Double check around the eye brows, because most men have thicker brows than girls do. This is where you might want to cover up any stray hairs around the brows.

Foundation

1. Use your fingers to blend foundation into any areas in the skin where it needs to be more evenly toned and to smooth out concealer.

2. Set the foundation and concealer with loose translucent powder.

3. Let everything set for a minute after adding powder.

Cheeks and Countouring

1. 

   Apply a light amount of powder bronzer under the cheekbones and under the jawline. This will create a more feminine contour effect that should highlight the cheekbones and jawline.

2. Find a soft pink tone that is complimentary to your model's skin tone to use as blusher. Apply the blush to the "apple" of the cheeks.

3. Set this again with loose translucent powder.

Lips

1. Start with a soft pink lip liner ( I prefer softer pinks because they appear more feminine than bright reds). Over line the lips as much as you can before it starts to look fake. The bigger the lips the better. Fill the lip liner into the entire lip, not just the outside, to avoid any kind of Tammy Faye look.

2. 

   Apply a matching lipstick over the newly lined lips.

3. Finish the lips off with a dab of a lighter colored gloss in the center of the lip, for a fuller effect.

Finishing Touches

1. Go back to the brows and fill in any gaps in the hairline.

2. 

   Find a wig or hair style that compliments your drag queen's new and improved feminine features.

3. Put on your best dress, push-up bra and heels. Presto! Your ready for a night on the town.

Resources

• Megan Dodge