How to Put on Stage Make-Up

Bright theatre lights can wash out facial features, so makeup is a must for men and women on stage. With stage makeup your facial expressions can be visible to the audience and your acting ability is enhanced.

Stage makeup will be applied heavier than the makeup you wear everyday. For most theatrical applications, you’ll apply a slightly darker shade than your normal skin tone depending on your character. Colors will be exaggerated because the lights will fade them out. What this means is that a typical red will appear pink, so if you want red lips or red cheeks, you will want a dark shade of a true red.

Makeup kits are available from theatrical makeup companies and costumer stores. A basic makeup kit should include foundations that blend with your skin tone and then go two shades up and down. This allows flexibility for all types of characters. Add to this some shadowing colors in light brown or grey, a highlight, a blush for your cheeks, eyeliner, shadow, mascara, some face powder if you are using crèmes, and lipstick, brushes, sponges and cleanser. There are some other items you’ll need if you want to attach facial hair, scars, or special markings, but for today, let’s talk about the basic makeup application for the theatre.

The guidelines below will help you get noticed when you walk onto the stage.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Face cleanser
• Moisturizer
• Basic stage makeup kit
• Makeup brushes
• Mirror

1. 
    

   Cleanse your face. You want a blank canvas to work with when you sit down to apply your makeup. Cleanse thoroughly and follow up with a small amount of moisturizer. Make sure you apply moisturizer all the way to your neck and chest as well.

2. 
    

   Apply your foundation. If you use a crème foundation, use a triangle sponge to a shade that is slightly darker than your natural skin tone. You can mix your shades together to create a custom color. Apply along the hairline, nose, cheeks, and on your neck and chest. Applying makeup to your neck and chest will keep you from looking like you’re wearing a mask.

3. 
    

   Once your foundation is on, you can add age lines or special features depending on your character.

4. 
    

   Apply blush to your cheeks in an upward motion. Again, darker colors will show under the stage lights. Pinks will wash out.

5. 
    

   Add eye shadow. The best colors for a natural look are browns and neutrals. Blue shadows, or exotic colors may be used for special characters.

6. 
    

   Follow eye shadow with a dark liner. A thin line of black eyeliner is good for most male characters. Women need a thicker liner. Liquid liners have the smoothest application and play better under stage lights.

7. 
    

   Finish your eyes with black mascara or false eyelashes.

8. 
    

   Use an eyebrow pencil that is a shade lighter than your natural eyebrows to fill in and complete your look. Eyebrows are often overlooked, but on stage under the lights, your natural eyebrows can disappear. You need to make sure to darken thin eyebrows and even out the length if necessary.

9. 
    

   Use a light brown or grey powder to apply facial shadows. You can mask a heavy chin or neck, you can make a nose appear thinner, or thin your cheeks with some light brown shadow. You can add brown shading under your eyes if you want to age your character.

10. 
     

    Apply a highlighter to areas you want to stand out or to hide natural shadows.

11. 
     

    Your final step is to color your lips. Dark colors show up better than light colors. Light pinks will result in a natural look onstage because the lights will wash out any color. Dark reds will lighten, but show up under the lights.

Tips & Warnings

• Build your own make-up kit including brushes. It’s not sanitary to share.
• Keep your brushes clean.
• Start with the basics and build a kit to include special characters.

[mralarcon]

on 3/31/2009 Good info thanks

[sonni57]

on 3/31/2009 Nicely done article with good info on how to put on stage makeup.