Makeup: History and Products
You have a show that needs specialized makeup. Something like Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast or A Midsummer Night’s Dream and you’re not sure how to go about it or what to use. Do you want watercolor makeup, creme, pancake, white lead (kidding, don’t use white lead, not even sure it’s available anymore) or greasepaint. Ew, that last one sounds disgusting. I won’t go into a full history of theatrical makeup at this point, but thought I’d share some interesting tidbits.
It is believed that Thespis covered his face with white lead and red cinnabar to create his character makeup. Again, don’t try this at home. He was part of a Greek chorus and stepped into the spotlight as the first “actor”. The use of white lead continued throughout the 18th century.
The Egyptians used kohl (lead sulfide) to enhance their eyes in daily life and in ceremonies which carried over into early performance.
In early European theatre, actors used chalk or flour to lighten their skin.
The mid 19th century saw the invention of greasepaint. Greasepaint has a greasy base (lard or wax) with pigments blended into them. The greasepaint was molded into a stick form for ease of use.
In the 20th century, Max Factor developed a more flexible greasepaint and pan-cake makeup (a dry powder which is used with water and a sponge)
Now we have a variety of creme makeups, powders and watercolor face paints.
Different stage makeup companies exist but they aren’t all equal.
Ben Nye Theatrical Makeup : Ben Nye is a reliable, high quality choice in stage makeup. The creme based foundations spread nicely, come in a variety of facial pigments and look great under stage lights. It is excellent for natural stage makeup but not as good for fantasy makeup.
Mehron Cream Blend Makeup : Mehron is a creamier heavy coverage makeup for fantasy characters. They have great staying power and are saturated in their colors.
Kryolan : Another makeup company with great quality and variety but pricier. Their watercolor set is lovely. The photos in the Alice in Wonderland, above, show the actors wearing Kryolan face paint.
Makeup brushes are also extremely important to achieve what you’re looking for. There are different brushes for different jobs and like the makeup companies, not all are created equal. Don’t skimp on your brushes, unless you just want to throw them away after each show. Make sure brushes are cleaned and sanitized with a good brush cleaning liquid between shows and store them in a dry, vented plastic container.
