Stage Makeup Problems - Not enough makeup

I will do a series about "stage makeup problems" that I've witnessed in my travels. Now, the easiest thing for these would be to show you pics... but that would mean showing specific individuals and I don't think that's fair. Also note that, while I do travel a lot for belly dance and see a lot of shows, these entries will not be about specific shows but just general things that I have seen on my travels.

Now onto this first entry...

I dare say that the #1 problem that I see in stage makeup is not having enough on. You need way more than you would for an everyday look to be visible on stage. There are multiple factors that are contributing to this.

1. Distance
   Just by the sheer fact that there is some distance between you and the audience (generally a good 5-10 feet at a minimum), you will need to have more makeup on to have it seen.
2. Bright lights
   If there are actual stage lights, then they will make your face look instantly several shades whiter than you normally are and it's like your makeup has just washed away/vanished. So, again, you'll need to have more.
3. Dim lights
   Dim lights are the opposite effect in the sense that it will make everything appear darker... but, again, if you're barely wearing anything, you'll just look like you're wearing nothing.

I love to joke that you need to look utterly unnatural to look natural on stage and in pictures. For all that I say it jokingly, it actually is very true.

So, when you're wondering whether you have enough makeup on your face, chances are, it's not enough. One tricky thing is that, when you're putting on your makeup, you'll be very close to the mirror and, therefore, it will seem strikingly excessive... If you've reached that point, then you probably have just about enough... or maybe you could have more. It all depends on what you're used to.  Most people wear very little to no makeup on a regular basis... so if I'm asking you to put on makeup like you're a drag queen, of course, it will feel ridiculous and like it's way over the top. But that's what you need to look polished on stage. Seriously. 

I've had people laugh at me when they see me apply makeup on a friend and I'll pull away a good 5 feet before deciding whether I need to apply more or not (and whether it's even or not). I know, it looks like I'm an artist painter... but, really, it's the same thing: that painting won't be seen from nearly as close as the painter is... same with the makeup. What you can do yourself (and I do that a lot) is pull away from the mirror by at least 5 feet and see what it looks like. You'll be surprised at how quickly the makeup that you thought was good ends up vanishing.  So do make sure to do that "silly" step as it will be a good indicator of what it will look like on stage.

Now the cool thing about distance and lights and all is that it will hide a host of sins... so if, while you're close to the mirror, you think that you've messed up grandly and the makeup is uneven, look at yourself from 5 feet back... it's probably fine. If not, you'll likely not need to correct the makeup by nearly as much as you'd think. ;)

Update on previously reviewed items

There are a number of items that I've reviewed or talked about that I wanted to give an update on so here it is.

Dr. Jart+ Beauty Balm

Original review: http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/09/dr-jart-beauty-balm.html 

I've been using this product for about 2 months now and I still very much love it. It's actually interesting how I haven't been using my liquid foundation but once since then. For stage makeup, though, I use a different foundation and that hasn't changed. But the beauty balm does such a great job at evening my skin (and quickly!) that it's hard to not use it. The liquid foundation, while being close to my skin tone, is actually not as close. (I am THAT fair.)

As if that wasn't enough, I've noticed that the wrinkles on my forehead are vanishing. Now, it could be due to some other factor but the timing of me starting using the beauty balm and the wrinkles disappearing indicates that it would be directly due to the use of the beauty balm. And I'm really happy with this, of course. I didn't know that this would happen at all. Whoot!

Kate Somerville True Lash Enhancing Eye Makeup Remover

Original review: http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/10/product-review-kate-somerville-true.html 

I ended up purchasing the full size product because I really liked a couple of things: 1) the lengthening of the lashes (I now have long, full, lush lashes... :D) and 2) because it leaves my eyelid so much more moisturized! The latter was a big issue that I hadn't noticed was an issue until I tried this product.  I used to wake up with such dry eyelids in the morning but not anymore. So that, in and of itself, makes the pricier product worth it. AND, I get the bonus longer lashes. ;)

Birchbox

Original review: http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/09/birchbox.html

I had a great box in October and I'm actually happy with the box this month as well. I have yet to receive it but I know what I'm getting. ;)  So it's looking like I'll keep the subscription going for a while.

In October, I received: Kérastase Chroma Sensitive (hair product), blinc Eyeliner (liquid liner), beautyblender (a makeup sponge... pretty neat, actually), theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer (makeup highlighter), and Kusmi Tea Paris (yup... tea).

In November, I will receive: Archipelago Pomegranate Body Soap, Marula Omega Rich Facial Oil (will be great for my dry skin), ModelCo FIBRE LASHXTEND Lengthening Mascara (it looks like it might be full size!), Oscar Blandi Pronto Texture & Volume Spray (they had good reviews on the Birchbox site), and John Varvatos Artisan (men cologne... so Jeff gets a gift :p).

Ipsy/MyGlam

Original review: http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/10/ipsymyglam.html

I received the November bag yesterday and it's really cool. I'm really happy with what we received. The theme was "Party Perfect" and the items were: Starlet eyeliner in chocolate (full size; not a color I normally use but we'll see), theBalm Meet Matt(e) eyeshadow (it's like a dark plum color), Nailtini Nail Laquer in Millionaire (full size; a gold sparkly color), bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie lip gloss in Daredevil (a berry color), and the "or" product that I received was Chella Defining Eyebrow Gel (I was actually happy to receive this as I'm receiving a mascara in the Birchbox and I'm always looking for ways to improve my eyebrows, especially for stage).  I haven't had a chance to play with any of these yet.  One of my students has subscribed to Ipsy and has received this bag too and was happily showing it off at class last night and another student now is considering taking a subscription. lol Seriously, for 10$, it's pretty darn good.

The Look Bag

Original review: http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-look-bag.html

I hadn't seen what was going to be included in The Look Bag but I decided to cancel the subscription.  The thing that made me the most disappointed is that I learned that not only were some of the products discontinued (so, really, you're not getting your value as much, are you?) but one of them was actually expired. It was the Stila eye shadow. Not that it matters much for powder eye shadows: trust me as a microbiology major, not much grows on powder eye shadows. But, still, yanno, it didn't sit right with me. Especially, once they were alerted by subscribers that the eye shadows were expired, they still sold the bag as is. What I had seen as a small preview for this month was a glitter eyeliner. It could be fun but, yanno, I just didn't want to risk having products that I would be meh about in the end.

Makeup over makeup

This entry also could be titled "When you're too lazy to redo it all." Ahem. In the entry about how to freshen up the makeup (http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-freshen-your-makeup.html ), I mentioned that you could re-apply the eye shadow and that it didn't need to be the exact eye shadow.  Well, this is what we're talking about here.

A few weeks ago, I worked all day and then was going out to see a show that night and decided to just re-apply the eye shadows with an entirely new scheme and I remembered to take pictures to showcase what it looked like before (or rather midway) and then after. ;)

Why the entry could also be called "When you're too lazy to redo it all" is because, obviously, the simplest (in a way) would have been to completely remove all the makeup and then re-apply. I just didn't feel like redoing my face (beauty balm, concealer, powder) so that's why I re-applied only the eyes. See, for all that you can try to target only the eye area when removing your makeup, it's bound to spread some of it on your face and then it gets much simpler to remove everything... but then you need to re-apply everything.

I unfortunately didn't think to take a pic with my daytime look first.  But this is what you can see on  on your right here (so my left eye).  What I was wearing there was Mutt (Stay There shadow by Buxom) with the Expensive Pink (MAC eye shadow) layered over it.

On the left here (so my right eye), you can see that I had applied the new color scheme over it... and the peach color is not showing up at all. I did have a trick for it. ;)

The trick simply was to apply Blackground (MAC Paint Pot) over the peachy color. It's a black creamy formulation so it totally blocked out the peach and made for a good new base for that lavender color.  Now, this creamy formulation can be slippery, especially over an existing color so you really need to pat it down. That's also how you build it. Whereas I would normally apply just one layer of it for a regular makeup application, I applied two layers to really block out that peach.

So... what else was I wearing?  This picture showcases what it looked like once I was done.

Over that Blackground, I applied Barbarella (Eye Dust) by Medusa's Makeup in Barbarella.  At the crease, it was Psychedelic Sister by Urban Decay.  At the brow bone (which you can't really see that I was wearing something), I applied Buttercup (eye shadow by then Bare Escentuals [now Bare Minerals]; color discontinued; it's a pale yellow).

I then re-applied the eyeliner and the mascara and I was ready to go.

Here is a picture of what it looked like with my eyes open.









Note that applying makeup over makeup works really well when you have a "masking agent" like the Blackground and then you can apply whichever color you want. If you will apply powder over powder, then it needs to be darker to cover the lighter color... or it will just tweak the color. Again, not that it's bad: it can actually be quite cool. But it's just something to keep in mind as you're thinking of lazily covering up what you already have on your eyelids. ;)

Links:

• Stay There eye shadow by Buxom:
  http://www.sephora.com/buxom-stay-there-eye-shadow-P267305?skuId=1280221
• Eye shadow by MAC:
  http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/154/363/Products/Eyes/Shadow/Eye-Shadow/index.tmpl
• Paint Pot by MAC:
  http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/154/1573/Products/Eyes/Shadow/Paint-Pot/index.tmpl
• Eye Dust by Medusa's Makeup:
  http://www.medusasmakeup.com/eyedust.htm
• Eye shadow by Urban Decay:
  http://www.sephora.com/eyeshadow-P309813?skuId=1402635

Product Review - Be a Bombshell Eyeliner

This eyeliner was part of MyGlam/Ipsy bag for October. We got a full size product of this one. http://celestesmakeupcorner.blogspot.com/2012/10/ipsymyglam.html

Let me start off by saying that, at 10$ a month for a subscription, this eyeliner more than paid for my subscription as the regular price is 14$. ;)

This eyeliner is a hybrid between a pencil eyeliner and a liquid liner. The product that is being delivered is liquid. However, I've worked with felt tip liquid liners before and this Be a Bombshell eyeliner is far superior. The advantage is, as the picture showcases, the pen-like shape that is pointy to wider. So it gives you far more flexibility in how you are applying the liner than either a conventional brush that accompanies a liquid liner or the felt tip liquid liner. You merely need to angle the pen a little bit and will give you a wider line. If you keep it straight, it's going to give you a very thin line.  Essentially, I found that it was extremely easy to use the pen.

The black line that it yields is also very intense, which I really liked. It is very much akin to what a liquid liner would give you and, indeed, it is a little liquidy. Contrary to liquid liners, though, it's not nearly as liquid so it dries quickly and you have less risks of unwanted smudges.  That being said, given that it dries uber quickly, it doesn't smudge well at all, which means that you'll likely need to use something different if you want a smudged line.

Note that, given its liquid nature, I wouldn't use it at the lower lid waterline (you never want to put a liquid liner there... burns like hell... yes, I know that from experience). I did apply it at the lower lash line with great success, actually and it made a very nice line.

The price is 14$, which is on par for non-pharmacy eyeliners (they range around 15-20$) but is obviously more than pharmacy things and e.l.f. products.

I gotta admit that I'm madly in love with this eyeliner and will likely purchase it again once I run out.  I also would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have a liquid liner application but isn't used to doing it. This is so much easier to apply!

In this pic, I'm wearing the Be a Bombshell eyeliner.