Makeup For Theater (1950)

It is a rule in creating good makeup for the theater that all makeups must be checked on stage under the actual lighting conditions before the show starts. Then and only then will all the faults show up. Now, let's see how to apply a simple straight makeup. Always start with a clean face. Take off all traces of street makeup and apply some astringent to eliminate any remaining grease. Next, having determined what color found, apply the base. Squeeze about 1/4 inch of grease paint on your palm. Dot it all over the face and down onto the neck. Next, with the fingertips again, blend the foundation evenly and carefully up into the hairline, around the nose, and the eyes. Make certain that the base is not too thick. Next, apply just a dot of rouge to each cheekbone. And blend it very lightly away from the center of the dot until the rouge at the outside edge blends imperceptibly into the foundation color. If the color is not strong enough, repeat the process. The eyes are the most expressive and striking part of the face, and therefore should receive even more attention than the rest of the face. Eye shadow, that is colored liner of the appropriate shade, is best applied with a flat 1/4 in sable brush. Concentrate the color on the eyelid and blend it out into the foundation. >> Sharpen an eyebrow pencil to a wedge. Now outline the eye. On the upper lid, the thin line should start at about 1/3 of the way from the inner corner and continue to approximately 3/8 of an inch past the outer corner, at the same time rising slightly. The line on the lower lid should be about 1/32 of an inch below the lash, starting at 2/3 of the way out from the inner corner of the eye, and extending outward and slightly upward to meet the other line. With the flat side of the wedge, darken the eyebrows, extending them slightly, and blend the ends into the foundation. Unless some special effect is desired, follow the natural hair growth. Do not use the pencil heavily in drawing the eyebrows. Use it only to darken the existing hair. If the eyebrow needs filling in, carefully and patiently draw fine individual hairs, always following the natural growth. >> The final step before powdering is the application of the lip rouge. Choose the proper shade and apply it with the sable brush. In shaping the lips, remember that they, like the eyes, give character to the face. So, the lip rouge should be carefully applied to the character being portrayed rather than the style you use for street wear. Having finished the lips, apply white talcum powder to them. To the rest of the face and neck, apply powder of a shade corresponding to the base used. Use plenty of powder. It serves a dual purpose, absorbing the grease and setting the makeup so that it will not smear. Remember, too, that powder has a definite color of its own and has a tendency to tint the colors under it. We use the white talcum on the lips because it doesn't change the intense red. Using either a powder brush or the other side of the puff, remove the excess powder. With the mascara brush, dust any remaining powder from the eyebrows. And carefully apply mascara to the lashes. >> If necessary, touch up the rouge with a corresponding shade of dry rouge. Comb your hair and your makeup is complete. Let us see the similarities and differences between the makeup we have just applied and that which we use on a man. Once again, we start with a clean face. This time, however, let's see how this stick type of foundation is applied. Because this type of base has less grease in it, we spread a thin film of grease over the face to facilitate an even application of the foundation. The color used on men is generally a shade or two darker than that used on women. Blend carefully around the eyes, the nose, and the hairline. >> The man's rouge, like the foundation, is darker and is applied more sparingly. Brown eye shadow is generally used on men. Apply it gently to the upper lid with the sable brush. Darker at the base of the lid and blend it out into the foundation. With the eyebrow pencil, outline the eye. First, the upper lid starting about 1/3 of the way out from the inner corner and extending to 3/8 of an inch beyond the outer corner. The line on the lower lid starts 2/3 of the way out from the inner corner and extends outward and upward to meet the other line. Now, darken the eyebrows following the natural hair growth. The same shade of rouge is used on the lips as was used on the cheeks. But instead of the hard edge that we use on women, here we soften it so that the lips will not look made up. Remember, shape the lips according to the character being portrayed. Now, powder the face liberally to absorb the grease and to set the makeup. The white talcum on the lips is not necessary here since we are not concerned with keeping their intense hue. Brush off the excess powder from the face, the eyebrows, and the lashes. Comb your hair and your makeup is complete. >> Places, please.