Inspirations in Makeup
Hello my friends in costume and dance,
As you may know, (if you have attended one of my workshops, or just blathered on over a cup of coffee,) I believe that makeup and hair are layer 2 in my theory of 5 layers of a belly dancer’s appearance. It is so important for any performer who steps into the limelight to have significant makeup or you simply wash out under the glare. Daytime level of makeup is just not enough, you’ve got to turn it up megawatts to fight the light! How often have I told students… More Eyes.. More Lips..
On my own personal quest for inspiration a good friend (and co-conspirator Zemira) turned me onto a great website, The Art of Cosmetics. As I spent waaay too much time surfing through their content, I found some great video tutorials links like the one to the right. Naughty Purple Eyes Makeup Tutorial by MissChievous. (Incidentally, if you like MissChievous, you can friend her over on
FaceBook.) If you haven’t mixed up your makeup recently, now is a great time to give it a go. In Fall, the major makeup companies come out with new pallets of dark rich colors so now is the time to experiment.
So – true confession time – makeup is not my specialty! I wear makeup as little as possible in my daily life, but I’m not afraid to pile it on for performance. Early in my dance career, I took dance and makeup classes with Maleah of San Diego, and she gave me my first glimpse into the potential for allure. I quickly learned that eye contact helped me make more tips. Overtime, I’ve had dozens of makeovers at Sephora and MAC stores at department store counters. I ask for “Dramatic Evening Eyes” and every makeup artist has a different take. Most recently, I’ve had makeup classes and consultation with Adriana of SF/Bay Area, (who, incidentally, does a fantastic makeup segment on the Secrets of the Stage: Volume 3 DVD – so if you can’t get to the bay area, you can contact her about this DVD via her website. I really like and recommend this video.) I also heard that the grand and fabulous Princess Farhana of Hollywood will be releasing a makeup video at some point.. that should be really good – you know I’m going to buy THAT when it comes out!
So – I guess I’m confessing that I’m addicted to the makeover process. My favorite part are the eye transformations. Eye makeup is one of the places where you can really play with color and texture, where you can really go wild!
Of course, there are hundreds, if not thousands of makeup tutorials around the web. So hunt down a new look, be courageous and give it a go!
~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina