OCT
18

Masculine Makeup for the Stage

By Grey Pratt, Customer Service Rep, Pioneer Drama Service 

Grey has been involved in theatre for 16+ years, starting from when they were a small child.  Through the years, their participation has included acting, tech, directing, designing, writing, construction, and much more.  The theatre arts have a special place in Grey’s heart, and they invest themself in any facet they can, which has led to the exciting opportunity of being employed with Pioneer Drama. 

Makeup is often seen as a way to express femininity or to make something more feminine.  But makeup can do so much more!  Not only can makeup be a form of expression for all genders, it can be extremely helpful when you have girls playing male roles, as so often happens in school theatre programs.  It also can help add age on the face of a younger boy playing an older male character.  Below are some tips on how to use makeup to enhance masculine features.

First, there are some basic supplies you will need.  The brand is up to you, but these supplies are essential:

• Face wash/exfoliator/makeup remover
• Moisturizer
• Primer
• Foundation
• Concealer
• Setting spray or powder
• Contour kit
• Applicators (brushes, sponges, etc.)
• Eyebrow pencil

Next, let’s start with the basics for any stage makeup:

1. The first step is — you guessed it! — to wash your face.  Your face is your canvas, and you need to start it off as clean as possible.
2. After your “canvas” is fresh and dry, start applying product.  Begin with moisturizer and give it a few minutes to absorb into your skin.
3. Next is the primer.  Makeup covers color, not texture.  Primer helps get your skin to where it needs to be texture-wise before applying foundation.  Apply with either your fingers or a brush, but make sure that your primer is seamlessly blended before applying foundation.
4. Follow up with foundation.  I recommend getting a creamy, medium coverage with a shade that matches your skin type or is slightly darker (as stage lights can make you look paler than normal).  Using a brush or makeup sponge, put the foundation on using downward strokes so any facial hair lays uniformly.  Make sure this is well blended.  If using concealer, use a shade lighter than the foundation.  Blend the concealer in under the eyes or over blemishes.

Now we can get to the fun part!  To make the face more masculine, you’ll want to highlight and shade specific places, such as the temples, eyebrows, cheek bones, and forehead.

5. Grab your contour kit and an angled sculpting brush or a medium brush with an edge.  (A contour pallet usually has dark, medium, and light shades plus a highlight.)  While smiling, mark lightly where your cheek curls up.  Then use the medium shade to draw a light line from the top of where your ear connects to your jaw down to that point.  The more dramatic you want the makeup, the darker and harsher the lines.  (Conversely, the more subtle you want the contour, the lighter and softer it should be.)  After drawing that line, use your brush to pull the color down and blend it in so the line fades from where you drew it to your jaw line.  Do the same on the other side.
6. Take that same shade and brush and slightly darken your temples and back into the hairline.
7. Notice where your eyebrows peek or arch.  Move slightly inward and shade the hairline between those two points.  Use the same techniques as you did on your cheek and blend the contour down.  Make sure that the shading does not fully reach your brows, so leave at least a fingers width for your highlighter (which we will cover later).
8. Continuing with the medium tone, shade the upper eyelid and slightly down the side of the nose.
9. Use a finer brush for detail work.  Shade in the indent of your lip (called the philtrum) as well as the outside of that indent, leaving the ridges untouched.  Then shade slightly above the lip following it to the corner of mouth (this creates a slight mustache look).  Shade just under the bottom of your lips as well.  Then shade the creases of your nostrils where your nose meets your cheeks.  Lastly make a small line at the base of your chin to imitate a dimpled/crease in the chin.
10. Once you have finished all the medium shading, it’s time to go in with the detail brush and the dark shade.  Use this at your discretion to accentuate the lines made on your cheek bones, forehead, temples, and nose.  Go easy on this — unless you want to look like a cartoon.
11. Then take the contouring brush from before and a dark tone, and shade the underside of your jaw.  This helps create the illusion of a shadow under the jaw, making it look sharper.  Using the same technique as on the cheeks, blend that color down into the neck and under the ear.  Remember to be light with this shade!  (Unless you really are trying to appear cartoonish!)
12. Now, switch over to your highlight.  Using your fingers or a medium brush, lightly apply the highlighter to the cheek bones, following above the contoured line.  Highlight a line from the hairline to the arch of the eyebrow on both sides outside the contour, then on the skin above the brow down to the bridge of the nose, down the top of the nose, on either side of your “dimpled” chin, and right under your eyes.  Be very light with highlights unless you want to look like someone from a Twilight book!
13. Now that your contouring is all done, grab an eyebrow pencil.  You can also substitute the brown or black eyeshadow for the pencil.  The trick is to get a color one shade darker than your natural hair color.  Fill in eyebrows as desired to make them look fuller, following the natural shape of the brows.
14. Bonus step!  If you are feeling up to it, you can also add things like eyeliner, eyeshadow, lip color, lashes, decorative accents, and so much more.  Don’t be afraid to throw some color in there or do something big.  Do whatever is comfortable and suitable to the character you’re playing.
15. Broadly apply some setting spray or power.  Make sure to not ignore this step, otherwise your makeup with rub or sweat right off.

That’s it, you’re done!  Man, you look great!