Stage actors are spotlighted by powerful lights, which wash out their natural coloring and details. Theater makeup, more pigmented than daytime makeup, restores the details of an actor's face and adds color to make him or her appear more realistic to those in the back rows of the audience.
Actors or makeup artists research the character to match the time and period of the play and the actor's role. Actors can be made to seem older or younger, healthy or ill by the magic of makeup to support their acting skills.
Instructions
Research and Preparation
1. Clean the skin with a non-oily cleanser. Apply moisturizer. Theater makeup dries the skin. Alaina Parker of Western Michigan University says men should not shave within an hour of getting made up.
2. Pat on foundation a shade darker than the natural skin tone with a sponge and blend smooth. Use a lighter foundation to highlight areas like cheekbones, chin and forehead to contour the face. Apply a darker foundation to receding areas under the cheekbones, the sides of the nose and the temples.
3. Blend all edges and dust with translucent powder or baby powder to set the makeup.
Apply powder rouge with a natural or synthetic hair brush to the cheeks, forehead and chin. Apply more lightly on men than women.
Features
4. Apply colored eye shadow on women and highlight the upper lid with winter white for both men and woman. Use a softer brown to line the lower eyelids on both. The line above the eye can be black if appropriate to the role. Darken brows to highlight the eye area even for elderly characters.
5. Curl women's lashes. Apply mascara one coat at a time, using fewer coats for men.
6. Line the lips with a color one shade darker than the lipstick on both men and women. Follow the natural line of the lips and fill in with a lipstick brush. Finish with powder to set the makeup.
Aging
7. For a younger look, cover the lines and wrinkles on the actor's face with foundation. Use a lighter color to highlight the contours and under the eyes. Apply light yellow on the upper eyelids.
8. For an older character, have the actor laugh, smile and frown and trace their natural lines with a brown pencil or brush with foundation. Emphasize the wrinkles by highlighting these lines with a lighter color and blend to smooth the edges.
9. Remove stage makeup with cream, vegetable oil or Vaseline.
