I don’t have any formal theatrical/costume makeup training, although my experience as a children’s face painter for school functions, local fairs, Canada Day etc, and my 5 years working in the paint department at a hardware store taught me that any kind of white paint is incredibly unforgiving.
I previously used a white pressed powder to give my face a sickly, kind of dead looking pallor for my Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd) costume, and I found that was tricky enough making sure it didn’t appear blotchy.
The first time I wore the costume I bought a water-based cream, and I applied it with a white triangular foam applicator available at the drugstore. I used a pouncing/stippling application technique in order to avoid the makeup looking smeared, or having visible lines. I needed to work extremely quickly because the water-based product dried incredibly fast. I was also unable to do more than one coat because unlike other colours, adding more coats of white doesn’t even things out, it makes things worse. It will inevitably start looking blotchy, patchy, and some of the paint may decide it no longer wants to stick to your face, giving you a lovely leprosy-esque appearance. So, it’s a fine art of adding just the right amount all over your face, quickly. Using water-based makeup doesn’t require a setting powder, but setting spray can be used. I disliked the water-based makeup because the coverage wasn’t as opaque as I wanted, it didn’t wear well (my face sweats a lot), it dried out my skin, and it was tricky to apply.
After speaking with a wonderful and knowledgeable lady at my local costume shop, she recommended a Ben Nye cream based white, and setting powder. For my second attempt, I used the same type of sponge and technique to apply this new product and the application was much more enjoyable. Working time is greatly extended, the coverage is incredibly opaque, and it feels light and comfortable to wear for 12+ hours. It’s much easier to add the amount of colour you want, in a single, even coat. I applied the setting powder using a large, fluffy cosmetics loose powder brush and lightly tapped/patted the powder onto my face. Do NOT rub/buff the setting powder – it needs to be pressed on in order to properly set the makeup. The setting powder also allows you to ever so gentlyblot any sweat without the makeup coming off, running, smearing, or getting blotchy. It’s pretty magical stuff. It also allows for extremely light touching, and I find that it’s pretty near crease proof (and I have some decent smile creases in my cheeks which the water based paint liked to settle in after I smiled).
Since I always struggled to apply the white on my nose, around my nostrils, at the inner corners of my eyes, under and between my eyes, around the blue on my eye lids, and around the red heart on my lips accurately and esthetically with a large triangular sponge, I decided it was time I stopped the nonsense and found a better application tool.
The search for better tools lead me to discover a better makeup sponge as well. It’s called the ‘Beauty Blender’ and they are available in drugstores for about $5 or on eBay for about $1 each. They’re made of extremely dense, very soft foam that doesn’t soak up the product the way the white foam triangles do. The blenders are also teardrop shaped, and using the wide end to apply the majority of the white (cheeks, jawline, forehead) is a dream since the rounded applicator doesn’t leave any lines. The product claims the pointier end of the sponge is good for around the eye area, and it might be for traditional foundation, but it’s not good to use when applying white.
After much research, I decided the best tools to apply the white to the aforementioned problem areas is a couple different sizes and shapes of dense “smoky” eye shadow brushes. I lightly brush a coat of white under my eyes, in the inner corners of my eyes, around my nostrils, down my nose, and around my mouth and heart, and then I go back and add a little more white to all areas using a stippling/pouncing technique in order to make sure that the texture matches that of the white applied with the sponge. I always do the ‘tricky’ white areas with the brushes first, and then I apply my cheeks, forehead, and jawline, making sure to blend well.
Finally, the aforementioned setting powder is a must if you’re working with cream based makeup. I have Ben Nye Neutral Set, which is a white setting powder that goes on translucent – I use it for my white, and Lit Soong uses it for Nightcrawler, Data, and his Pandaren Monk. I apply this with a powder brush and a heavy hand, especially under my eyes, my forehead, and the smile lines in my cheeks.
How do you work with white? Any product or technique you’ve found particularly helpful? Horror stories of white gone wrong? Let us know!
It Takes A Village To Cosplay!
Earla Alara
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