CHAPTER 7 Makeup Equipment

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Before beginning even to experiment with the application of makeup, it is necessary to have suitable equipment with which to work. And until you have learned the tricks of doing good work with whatever equipment happens to be available, you would do well to obtain the best you can afford. That does not mean that you need a lot of makeup. In the beginning, a small kit will serve quite well as long as it contains what you really need. From time to time, additional supplies can be added. Materials used in makeup are described in Appendix A.

The Makeup Kit

The term “makeup kit” refers to either a portable container of makeup or just the makeup itself.

INDIVIDUAL KITS These are nearly always portable. (Group kits may or may not be, depending on where and how they are to be used.) They should be large enough to accommodate all of the makeup you usually carry, with room for additional items you may want to add later. You may choose to individualize your kit to fit your needs or select one of the convenient pre-packaged makeup kits available from a variety of manufacturers.

The kits should have compartments or divided trays to keep your materials organized and easily available. Whether they are made of metal, plastic, or wood is a matter of personal preference. What kind of makeup container you have—whether a case with trays or drawers designed specifically for makeup (FIGURE 7-1B, C, D, E) or a simple box with a few compartments—doesn’t really matter as long as it holds the amount of makeup you need, keeps the makeup in order, is convenient to use, and is generally practical for you.

GROUP KITS For a small group kit (or a well-stocked individual one) a large fishing-tackle box with cantilever trays (FIGURE 7-1A) can be used and is likely to be reasonable in price. These boxes come in various sizes. Similar boxes designed to be used as sample cases (FIGURE 7-1D, for example) may also be suitable for makeup.

If there is no reason to carry the makeup materials from place to place, then wood, metal, or plastic cabinets with small drawers or with shelves and pigeonholes are more easily accessible. The drawers or shelves can be labeled and the paints and powders arranged according to color. Dentists’ cases with their many shallow trays and drawers (see FIGURE 7-2) are ideal for storing makeup.

Meticulous cleanup and attention to individual health issues are critical, especially when utilizing group makeup kits. Disease and bacterial infections can easily be passed from one actor to another unless makeup and applicators are properly cleaned and disinfected between each usage. Here are some procedures for good makeup hygiene: never remove makeup from its container with your fingers; use instead a palette knife or a small metal or plastic spatula transferring a small amount to a metal or ceramic mixing palette (see FIGURE 7-3D); when applying makeup to another person use a new, foam applicator sponge or a clean, disinfected brush; clean and disinfect brushes between usage, but discard used applicator sponges; clean brushes with a good commercially available brush cleaner (i.e., brush cleaners from Cinema Secrets, Brush-Off, Ben Nye, Kryolan, or Mehron) or make your own by mixing 99% alcohol with acetone in a 1:1 ratio; sharpen eyeliner and eyebrow pencils between each use; never share liquid eyeliner or mascara (each actor should purchase his or her own product); apply powder eye color with a clean brush or sponge-tipped/cotton-tipped applicator (discard after use); before you put creme formula makeup away, spray the surface lightly with a cosmetic-grade disinfectant (i.e., Sea Breeze) to prevent the growth of bacteria.

MAKEUP PALETTES A makeup palette box or clear plastic stackable, though they are not actually makeup kits, do to some extent function in that way since they contain a number of colors. Palette boxes are available from a variety of manufacturers and provide the makeup artist with a convenient, space-saving selection of colors and products. There are palettes for foundations (regular and appliance), concealers, blushes, eye shadow, and lip colors. (See FIGURE 7-3A, C.) The clear variety are the most useful, since all of your choices are visible at a glance.

You can also create your own palette by filling them with your own choice of makeup paints (FIGURE 7-3B, D). The paints can be removed from their original containers with a spatula, melted in a metal spoon, and poured into the various compartments of the palette or stack-able (FIGURE 7-3B, D).

You can also buy inexpensive disposable mixing palettes at art supply stores. For use with makeup, the palette can be fitted into a suitable box. If the box you want to use is too small for the palette, take a pair of scissors and simply cut off as many rows of the palette as is necessary to make it fit the box.

MAKEUP MATERIALS FOR THE KIT After you have determined what kind of makeup container will best fill your requirements, you will need to decide what you want in it—unless, of course, you prefer to buy a complete kit put out by one of the makeup companies—often at a considerable savings over the cost of the makeup materials purchased individually. There are several of these available—some with cake and some with creme makeup. (See FIGURE 7-4 and Makeup Kits, Appendix A.)

The main advantage in making up your own kit is that you can combine items you particularly like from various companies and can select only those items you think you will find useful. If you decide to do this, you may wish to refer to Appendix C (A Professional Makeup Kit) and select those materials best suited to your needs. The kit has been designed for the professional makeup artist. It can and should be used only as a guide in selecting products and tools.

The Makeup Room

Given the necessary materials, a makeup can be done in any surroundings, but the work can usually be accomplished more efficiently in a room especially designed to fill the requirements for makeup.

The focus of such a room, whether it is an individual dressing room or a large room for group makeup, is the makeup table and the mirror. The average dressing room has mirrors surrounded by rows of naked bulbs (see FIGURE 7-5). A more satisfactory arrangement would be to have the light source recessed and a slot provided for slipping in color mediums to approximate the stage lighting. This will never give the same effect as the stage lights, but it will come closer to it than the usual dressing room lights. If such an arrangement is not possible, at least be sure that the amount of illumination is adequate. If fluorescent lights are used, install color-corrected tubes. Even when the lighting around the mirrors is adequate, individual lighted mirrors (FIGURE 7-6, A and B) are very helpful for close-up work. These self-contained, lighted makeup stations equipped with color corrected fluorescent bulbs are useful as mobile makeup stations for touring and for transporting to various photographic and film locations.

No matter what type of illumination is used at the dressing tables, it is always desirable to have two spotlights in the general makeup room with colored mediums to approximate the lighting used for the play. The actor can then check the makeup as often as wanted, at a distance and under appropriately colored lights. The spots should be mounted one on each side of a full-length mirror at a sufficient height for providing a reasonable angle of illumination.

The dressing table should be about 29 inches high and should contain a drawer with a lock for storing the makeup between performances and for keeping the actor’s valuables during performances. A dispenser for cleansing tissues either above or to one side of the mirror is a great convenience. Either a wastebasket or a special section built into the table should be provided for disposing of used tissues. If there is an additional space above or at the sides of the mirror, a row of small shelves or pigeonholes for makeup will help to avoid some of the usual clutter on the table. A row of cabinets above the mirrors can be very useful for getting personal belongings out of the way during performances or for storing wigs on blocks. It’s a good idea to equip such cabinets with locks.

A stool is more practical than a chair for use at the makeup table—unless, of course, the chair is padded and has casters, as in FIGURE 7-5—since it enables the actor to get up and back away from the mirror quickly and easily without having to move the chair out and then maneuver it back into position when sitting down. A piano stool is especially practical since the height is adjustable. Padding and upholstering the stool, though not necessary, adds considerably to one’s comfort when sitting for several hours at the makeup table.

In many regional theaters, including dance companies, performers customarily do their own makeup, but in opera, television, and film there will be a makeup person or even a makeup crew. This places an additional burden on dressing rooms, which are often overcrowded anyway. When that situation exists, there should be a special makeup room large enough to accommodate several actors in addition to the makeup people.

There should be running water in every dressing room. A makeup room should contain not only running water but also convenient facilities for storing makeup and wigs. Cases with small drawers are particularly useful. A reclining barber’s or dentist’s chair (see FIGURE 7-5B) is enormously helpful to the makeup artist and should be standard equipment in any makeup room.

A general makeup room, when there is one, should be as near to the dressing rooms and to the stage as possible. Since makeup may need to be hurriedly touched up between acts or during an act, having the makeup room near the stage is particularly important. Good ventilation is essential, and air conditioning is usually desirable.

The Makeup Workshop

The makeup workshop differs from the makeup room in that it is used primarily for laboratory work by the makeup artist. It may or may not be used for actual makeup. It should contain equipment and material for modeling and casting (including an oven for foam latex), for the construction and dressing of wigs, and for any experimental or preparatory work done by the makeup artist before actually applying the makeup. It should also contain ample storage facilities, allowing frequently used items to be within easy reach. The workshop may or may not be equipped with a dentist’s or barber’s chair for casting or with a mirror and a makeup table. In other words, it should contain whatever is useful to the makeup artist for the work.

The university makeup laboratory shown in FIGURE 7-5 was designed to function as a makeup room, a workshop, and a classroom. FIGURE 7-7 shows a corner of a professional makeup artist’s workshop.

The Makeup Morgue

One of the first requisites of a good makeup artist is a keen sense of observation and the ability to apply what you observe to the creation of your makeups. To help you remember what you observe, a makeup morgue (a term used to designate a file of clippings) is indispensable. (See FIGURE 7-8.) The morgue should contain, first of all, unretouched photographs of people. Illustrated magazines are a good source for these. Reproductions of works of art are useful for historical characters. Much of this can be found in second-hand bookstores. In addition, your morgue should contain makeup catalogs, price lists, and any information you collect on makeup techniques. Anything, in fact, that relates to makeup should be included. Clear acetate sheets are very helpful in keeping smudges off your pictures.

Below are suggested classifications for your morgue. As your collection grows, you may want to make certain changes or add subdivisions.

ACCIDENTS: cuts,
bruises, burns, etc.

AGE, Female

AGE, Male

ANIMALS

BALD HEADS

BEARDS and
MUSTACHES

BIRDS

CHEEKS

CHINS

COLOR CHARTS

COLOR, skin

CORRECTIVE MAKEUP

DISFIGUREMENTS

EARS

EQUIPMENT

FASHIONS, filed
by decade

FICTIONAL, Female

FICTIONAL, Male

FISH

FOREHEADS

HAIR, Female

HAIR, Male

HANDS

HISTORICAL, Female,
filed by decade

HISTORICAL, Male, filed
by decade

INSECTS

LATEX & SILICONE

LIGHTING

MAKEUP MATERIALS*

MAKEUP SKETCHES and
DRAWINGS

MAKEUP TECHNIQUES*

MOUTHS and CHINS

NASOLABIAL FOLDS

NECKS and JAWLINES

NONREALISTIC*

NOSES

PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS
(with date and artist)

PROSTHESIS*

RACES and
NATIONALITIES*

SCULPTURE

SKIN

TEXTURE

SUPPLIES

TEETH

TEXTURES

WIGS, Female

WIGS, Male

WORKSHEETS

A very practical type of morgue is a set of loose-leaf binders with 8 1/2 × 11-inch protective sheets to hold your pictures. (See FIGURE 7-8A.) These pages can be rearranged or temporarily removed at any time. You will probably want to start with a single binder, then expand as your morgue increases in size.

If you want a convenient way to store your pictures until you have time to paste them onto the binder pages, an expanding file (FIGURE 7-8B) can be very useful. If you have a large collection of pictures, you may find a metal filing cabinet with removable manila folders (FIGURE 7-8C) more practical. If you also have or expect to have a number of books related to makeup, you should, of course, have bookshelves in your studio or workshop. You may or may not want to combine these with your drawing table and drawing materials, as in FIGURE 7-9. In any case, keep your pictures organized and ready for instant reference. Keep adding to your morgue continually. It is your private library and an important part of your makeup equipment.

*Can be subdivided.