Introduction

Okay, you're in your first show, you've just about mastered your songs and dances, when the director mentions one thing that isn't taken care of yet: makeup!

First of all: Everybody On Stage Needs Makeup. It is not just for girls, and it is not just to create the appearance of being older, younger, or different than usual. It is not optional, it is necessary. It is what allows the audience to see your face and what is going on with it when you are far away from them and under huge amounts of bright light. Without makeup, your character is faceless.

Second of all: Do Not Share Makeup, or if you do, be extremely careful. Makeup transmits germs, and many have suffered infections from using someone else's makeup. If you must, as I occasionally do, I have some helpful tips and guidelines below.

Third of all: Ask The Director. He or she knows what your character should look like, if you are in doubt, and what makeup you need, or they will direct you to someone who does. Better to ask than guess, especially when you need to buy makeup.

The Basic Kit

So, your first step is to get yourself a makeup kit. The items on the list below can all be found at a standard drug store, and I also listed a reasonable price range. Shop around, if you have the chance at all; with everything except your liquid or cream foundation (which is the only item you should spend all that much on), the cheapest one that will serve is your aim. Alternatively, some stores that sell theater supplies or dance gear may also sell Ben Nye makeup, which is professional, quality theater makeup, and they may sell tidy little kits for actors just like you. If you live near Santa Cruz, CA, I have compiled some more specific information for you below based on my own experience shopping around for makeup locally.

WHAT YOU NEED
- Dark brown eyeliner pencil- $1 or less
- Cream or liquid Foundation- $8-$15
- Powder foundation- about $5 or less
- Puff or brush to apply powder foundation- about $3 or less
- Lipstick- about $3 or less
- Powder blush or cheek rouge- about $5 or less
- Brush to apply powder blush (if you have it)- might come with. if not, a powder foundation brush will work.

WHAT WOULD BE REALLY NICE TO HAVE
- Medium-brown eyeshadow- about $3 or less
- Mascara- about $4 or less

HOW TO PICK WHICH ONES TO BUY
- Your foundation, both of them, should match your skintone or be very close. It's a myth that it should be darker. Most stores don't mind if you dab a little on your wrist for comparison, but ask first. I once was given a very good piece of advice, I don't even recall by whom, that your foundation is the only part of your kit you should consider splurging on.
- Your blush should be the color of your cheeks when you exercise.
- Your lipstick should be a few shades darker than your lips. Boys go with a more brownish-red, girls less so, but if the character him- or herself wouldn't generally wear lipstick, any reasonably normal-looking, medium-dark shade of lipstick will do. I have a brown and a red that I mix and blend according to my needs.

Pictures from:
cherryculture.com
t-leclerc.co.uk
www.jordanaindia.com/eye.php
www.polyvore.com/.../thing?id=7349715
www.100makeup.com/100makeup/mascara.jpg
www.covergirl.ca

Your New Makeup Kit

Okay, you've got all this weird stuff... what's it for, and how do you use it? This is each thing on the list above, in a nutshell, in the order they should be applied.

1) Cream or Liquid Foundation
As the name suggests, the base on which all your other makeup is "built". Evens out your skintone to give you a blank canvas, so to speak, and gives your makeup something good to stick to.
Cream or liquid foundation is applied much the same way as sunscreen: put some on your hand, smear it on your face, and rub it in. Keep in mind that a little bit of it goes a long way and it is kinda expensive. I recommend against using sponges for foundation, as most of the foundation will soak into the sponge before it reaches your face. Don't forget your ears, the back of your neck, or to apply it all the way down to meet the neckline of your costume; you'd be amazed how much more professional it looks when your foundation doesn't stop at the jawline.

2) Blush
Once you've applied foundation, your skintone is, more or less, uniform. Without putting some color back into your cheeks, you'll look like a ghost. That's where blush comes in. You can apply more to appear more rosy-cheeked (or to look like a character who's wearing blush), but leaving it off entirely is a bad move.
Blush starts at your cheekbones (the puffiest part, beside your nose and below your eye) and is spread outward. Use sparingly; you don't need much, and it's easy to overdo it. Brush it onto your cheeks once, and then be really sure whether or not it isn't enough before you apply more. If it ends up not looking quite how you want it to, try using your fingers to blend it, not the brush-- the brush still has plenty more blush on it.

3) Eyeliner
Dark brown eyeliner is the number-one most important item in your kit. Never go to a show without one. If you have no other makeup, at least have this. Do not share it. Do not use one that isn't yours. This goes next to your eyes, and eye infections are nasty. Now. Eyeliner will create some contrast around your eyes, making them pop out more. For an audience that has to attempt to see your face, it's important.
Eyeliner application is a skill. You may want some help with this. Be patient, and be gentle. A slightly dull liner pencil works better than a sharp one anyway, and the substance of the "lead" is soft enough that you can just rub it on your finger to blunt it a bit. Use a mirror. You need to outline your eye: a line on top of your eyelid, right along your eyelashes, and another one on the bottom edge of your eye. Don't bother with the edge of the lid if you're new to this. For the top lid, close your eye-- gently, as if you're sleeping; if you scrunch up your eyes, you won't be able to work-- and use your other eye to guide your pencil. Make a line by drawing gently on the skin. For the bottom lid, it helps to look at something in front of you or to look up; if you're applying it yourself, focus on the mirror. Don't look at the pencil with the eye you're working on. Like before, draw gently on your skin; the pencil makes this easy and simple.

4) Lipstick or lip rouge

Lipstick also creates contrast, so the audience can see your mouth: whether you're talking, whether you're smiling or frowning.

5) Eyeshadow
Eyeshadow continues the effect of your eyeliner, allowing your eyes to show up even more. Eyeshadow is simple. If you absolutely don't want to use eyeliner (and I've been there), brown eyeshadow is a decent substitute. If you use both, it's even better. The only difficult kind of eyeshadow is loose powder; it's not for beginners, or the faint of heart. It's darn useful, but if you're just starting out, or in a hurry, avoid it. I'm working on an individual essay for this site all about my experience (and experiments) with loose powder, coming soon.
Apply the eyeshadow on your top eyelid. Usually when I'm going for a look that is more mundane and less extreme, I use the bone of my eye socket to guide where to stop and color in the lines. Don't go all the way to the eyebrow, and try to keep the eyeshadow in a roundish, eyelike shape. If just a little bit is visible around the top edge of the eye when it's open, you've got it just right.

5) Mascara
Mascara is the last thing you apply to your eyes. Otherwise, the powder gets all over your wet eyelashes and then sticks. Mascara is basically black paint for your eyelashes that makes them look longer, curvier, and contrasts them more. I even recommend boys wear a bit of it, unless they would rather appear to have no eyelashes.
Mascara is kind of a do-your-best. Basically the mascara brush is a bristled brush that matches the shape of your eyelashes, making it easier (in theory) to gently run the brush over your lashes and paint them. The mascara will weigh down your eyelashes slightly. It also allows you to mold them like hair gel and cause them to be perfectly curvy and spiffy-looking. It's easy to miss your eyelashes and get it on your face, icky black smudges, but it's also easy to rub it back off again if you get it right away.

6) Foundation Powder
Foundation powder, or just powder, is not the same as foundation. It'll do in the place of foundation if you're, say, going out to dinner, but you're going on stage. It's not the same. Foundation powder is important for four main reasons, and those are why I love it. Reason one: it sets your makeup in place. You can appreciate the full wonderfulness of that magical property when you must face-paint extensively, more than just basic. It will allow you to do multiple layers of color and not risk sludging and blending them all together when you want them separate. Reason number two: It is absolutely crucial to use when working with latex prosthetics, as without it, the latex will stick to itself. Reason number three: It makes you look far more professional and put-together. And reason number four, the most important: it keeps your skin (especially your nose) from appearing shiny in the stage lights. Shine is a seriously yucky thing on stage. It's no fun. Do not let it happen to you.
So. How to apply it. It comes in both loose powder (i.e. Ben Nye or mineral makeup) or cake (compact) form. I find a powder puff works best for cake powder and a brush works best for loose stuff. Impossible to have too much; you can brush away the excess to give yourself a wonderful matte appearance that screams, "I'm ready to go onstage and act!!"

Other Tips and Information

SHARING MAKEUP
- Never, never, never share mascara or eyeliner pencils. They directly touch your eyes.
- Be extremely cautious about sharing anything else that goes near the eyes, such as eyeshadow.
- Liner sharpeners transmit the germs found on liner pencils. I keep a few to lend out when I manage makeup for a group and sanitize them afterward with a dunk in a small container of isopropyl alcohol.
- Use a brush.
- Clean that brush very thoroughly.
- Powder and loose powder are safe to share, as far as I know. My logic: once the powder touches your brush, it isn't going back into the container.

SANTA CRUZ MAKEUP
Shoutout to all of my friends and community in Santa Cruz, California. This section is based on my experience buying makeup locally.

• Rite Aid, on 41st Avenue or in Aptos, tends to be cheaper and have a more unusual selection of makeup, so I prefer to shop there. Among my more amazing finds: shiny orange lipstick and an obscure, cheap brand called "Jesse's Girl" that makes good-quality loose powder that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I also like their "Petites" and "Chameleon" brand nail polish.
• Longs/CVS Pharmacy , on 41st Avenue, Bay Avenue, or downtown on Front Street, typically has a more complete selection than Rite Aid and keeps everything in stock, but is slightly pricier. 41st, at least (not sure about the other two), has a good collection of makeup brushes for any occasion. All of them also have little travel-size containers that can be very useful in your kit to store small quantities of water, mineral oil, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and much more.
• Victoria's Dance and Costumes, now on Soquel across from Whole Foods, is the only local source of Ben Nye I know of. The selection is not very good; their bigger store is in San Jose. I hear the dancewear is better priced out of town or at Aptos Shoes and Apparel.