Thread: Belly dance makeup for newbies?

I'm pretty satisfied with my makeup application for daily wear, but I've honestly never known how to get a really glamorous look. I know that when I start performing, that's something I'm going to want! I'd like to start practicing and gathering supplies now.

Does anyone know of a good book/DVD that explains the basics (tools, techniques, styles, etc) of stage makeup in an approachable way? I've heard of Azhia's DVD and am looking into that, but would also like to know how it compares to other options.

Thanks!

I don't know enough either, and would love to know! :D

I did watch BDSS-tribal fusion fundamentals, and they have a tutorial for Tribal makeup & costuming that I enjoyed.
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Usually I do www.youtube.com and look up something like "Haifa Wehebe make up tutorial", the first hit is this lady called Julia- a swiss/canadian. She does some cool Bolly wood makeup too!


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And now you just skim through videos to find the right tutorial! My friend swears by this Disney Princess Jasmine video


(warning she sings for first 60 seconds)

That one is nice, she explains WHY she makes certain lines to make shadows, etc... or open up areas; what brushes to use, etc. She also Speeds up the video.

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I don't know your face shape or race so I can't tell you who is the right girl (or guy) to follow in your makeup tutorial. I'm Eurasian so I have to tweak every vid I watch!

Also Stage Vs Restaurant is Different. That's where I want to know the differences :(

Originally Posted by Ayla Almee

Also Stage Vs Restaurant is Different. That's where I want to know the differences :(

the differnce is for stage ... at a distance of 3-5 you better look like a french prostitute... or a clown

for a resturant you want a well done polished look but not too overdone.

On an actual stage you will have light- and a lot of it- sometimes different colours- and you need to work on not getting washed out to your audiance who may be 30-40 feet or more away so everything has to be BIGGER AND BOLDER more contrast and more everything. You need to be more concerned with taking your foundation and powder all the way down your clevage (if you stop at your neck- all the sudden your head is there then they look and see a blinding white area that is your chest)

you need to make more usage of contouring- using a bronzer or darker shadow to make your cheekbones pop- and using the right eyeshadow in the right place to make your eyes appear wider or more highlighted or whathave you. (white in the corners- many people often rim their waterline in white to make their eye appear bigger)

For stage your face is a canvas- and you put make up on to paint it to make them see what you want them to see- if you want something "higher" highlight it with a lighter colour and use a darker shade underneath to bring out the "depth" and shadow.

I always want people to see me with much higher more pronounced cheekbones- so I always use my bronzer in the hollow of my cheek- with a pinkish/silver shade on the bone itself to give it a shadow effect- essentially giving myself higher cheek bones.

In a resturant- just go for classy- remember people will be looking at you from 3-5 feet away. maybe a little more depending on the resturant- but you are pretty close proximity with folks- you don't want to scare them.

Final thought: Make up takes practice... you aren't majically born with it as a skill. And you don't get good at it overnight because you want to be. Its a skill just like anything else- on top of that YOU have to get used to seeing yourself in make up. (when I was bored on friday nights- I'd bust out a good movie and some make up or just watch UFC and play with the new stuff I got that week)

oh- and blend blend blend- thats the other key.

Disclaimer- I don't have the video, but I have greatly benefited from Azhia's advice- she REALLY knows her stuff & is good at explaining things (& is very generous with her advice as well!)
http://www.azhiadance.com/store.aspx

Originally Posted by Ayla Almee

And now you just skim through videos to find the right tutorial! My friend swears by this Disney Princess Jasmine video


(warning she sings for first 60 seconds)

That one is nice, she explains WHY she makes certain lines to make shadows, etc... or open up areas; what brushes to use, etc. She also Speeds up the video.

Hey Ayla---I just wanted to say thanks for posting this Princess Jasmine vid. The singing is rather obnoxious, but there are some really great tips in there. Thank you!!! I'm a fan of MissChevious, and I copy her looks a lot but I've never heard of the Princess Jasmine girl. Maybe I will look further into her library now. Awesome!

Originally Posted by Alexa

I'm pretty satisfied with my makeup application for daily wear, but I've honestly never known how to get a really glamorous look. I know that when I start performing, that's something I'm going to want! I'd like to start practicing and gathering supplies now.

Does anyone know of a good book/DVD that explains the basics (tools, techniques, styles, etc) of stage makeup in an approachable way? I've heard of Azhia's DVD and am looking into that, but would also like to know how it compares to other options.

Thanks!

Just wanted to add that Ansuya also has a video where she shows how she does her makeup (Magic of Belly dance, maybe? Can't remember the title.) Anyway, I do my eyeliner like she does, and that's how I learned.

Will I be excommunicated from the BD community if I confess I learned how to do my makeup from a drag queen?

Seriously though. Lots of great advice so far about when to "go big" and when to go a bit more subtle. I just wanted to add that investing in some good quality makeup will make all the difference - and water resistant makeup!

Personally, I buy all my makeup from MAC Cosmetics. They make incredible water resistant liquid eyeliners and mascara, their pigment eyeshadows come in a wide variety of colours that are true to colour when you put them on your skin, and they make the best eyebrow pencils I've ever used (not to mention their lipsticks and gloss). If you wind up doing multiple gigs in one night, you're bound to get a little overheated, and water resistant is really the key to not having to spend too much time touching up or wiping runny eyeliner.

Not to mention, if you go to a MAC Cosmetics counter and spend more than $40 (easy to do!) they will sit you down and give you an eye demo, and show you how to apply the makeup. They're all well trained, and know the difference between stage and street, so they can help show you how to do your looks for both kinds of shows.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by Qalysha

Will I be excommunicated from the BD community if I confess I learned how to do my makeup from a drag queen?

Seriously though. Lots of great advice so far about when to "go big" and when to go a bit more subtle. I just wanted to add that investing in some good quality makeup will make all the difference - and water resistant makeup!

Personally, I buy all my makeup from MAC Cosmetics. They make incredible water resistant liquid eyeliners and mascara, their pigment eyeshadows come in a wide variety of colours that are true to colour when you put them on your skin, and they make the best eyebrow pencils I've ever used (not to mention their lipsticks and gloss). If you wind up doing multiple gigs in one night, you're bound to get a little overheated, and water resistant is really the key to not having to spend too much time touching up or wiping runny eyeliner.

Not to mention, if you go to a MAC Cosmetics counter and spend more than $40 (easy to do!) they will sit you down and give you an eye demo, and show you how to apply the makeup. They're all well trained, and know the difference between stage and street, so they can help show you how to do your looks for both kinds of shows.

Hope that helps!

i also learned much from drag queens ! i also was taught WHY we must have black around the eye...what a red mouth means...the make up is traditional.

Another awesome you tube makeup resource is Michelle Phan. She does a lot of character looks that could be adapted for bellydance.

Yes! I love Michelle Phan's Lady Gaga Bad Romance tutorial! :D

Originally Posted by zamora

.... i also was taught WHY we must have black around the eye...what a red mouth means...the make up is traditional.

care to share? other than khol being a traditional eye makeup for the desert I've never heard anything about this before.

i love the videos on m.a.c's website. they have step by step instructions, and there's a lot of them! its a great way to get ideas.

I posted some links a while back for tutorials on the makeup the female characters in the new Tron: Legacy movie (Gem and Quorra) are wearing (the makeup for each is slightly different; Gem's makeup is more extreme; pretty much her entire eyelid is done in black or deep charcoal). Black eyeliner features very heavily and I think it could totally be used for belly dance. Now mind you, I think the T:L makeup is pretty intuitive and you don't really need a tutorial to figure out how it's done--we get lots of close looks during the movie--but then, I'm a fan of black eyeliner and playing around with eye makeup in general, so maybe what I think is sort of simple isn't for everybody. However, since I found several tutorials for each character's makeup and found that each did it a bit differently, I thought they were worth watching just to get different ideas and see how everyone interpreted the look (I felt some were more true to the movie than others, but found all of them interesting and if you're merely looking for an eye makeup tutorial rather than trying to get an authentic character look, this doesn't matter).

Was it here too that everyone was posting/looking for tutorials for Angelina Jolie's makeup from the movie "Salt"?

(The point of this being, you don't just have to look for "belly dance" makeup tutorials)

I LOVE that peacock look. LOVE. Could never pull it off in real life on a day to day basis, of course, but I just love playing with color. So many people don't seem to know you can get a "dark eyeliner" look using color as well as just plain black (either you can use a dark version of your chosen color, or a light version and still get the "I'm wearing dark eyeliner" look by adding a thinner line of black or dark brown eyeliner on top close to your lash line). And it adds variety just because of the color. I can use the exact same makeup application technique every day in the week but it will still look different because on Monday I used blue, on Tuesday I used green, on Wednesday I used plum, etc. And you can TOTALLY use color--even teal!--without looking like Tammi Faye Bakker or Mimi from the Drew Carey Show (which is something I never learned until I took the plunge and started playing with color, lol).

another thing to be aware of is the difference between stage makeup and character makeup. when we do the colorful eyes, the glitter, that is all character makeup. when you exaggerate the contrast of light and shadow on your face so that your features show up at a distance/under performance lighting, that is stage makeup. (shaping your face with the light and shadow of your makeup is called contouring, it's like when you draw a circle, then gradually shade one side to turn it into a sphere)

it makes the most sense to have your character makeup do double duty, giving you color and glamour of the bellydancer AND allowing the audience to see your face in-spite of the performance conditions. the distinction helps you understand what you're doing with them, and helps you remember that even folkloric performances need stage makeup. if you want your character makeup to achieve the contouring you have to be aware of the value of the colors you're using. basically, imagine that they are in black and white and ask what shape they would give.
here's the peacock eye from the tutorial above in black and white, notice how it deepens the crease, and pushes the brow-bone out -visually- in order for color to work it has to have the right values in the right places, which this definitely does.
tag-ca-4.jpgb&wPEACOCK.jpg

i like the book "getting gorgeous" from in style magazine, which gives tips about different makeup application for different face, eye, lip, etc, shapes (ex: where to put blush on round cheeks, where to put blush on a long face, etc). depending on your venue the intensity needs to be turned up.

for any performance makeup, and any contouring really, there has to be a shadow for every highlight, and a highlight for every shadow. (the exception being when you're highlighting smile lines and under-eye circles to hide them/ prevent them from becoming dark "jowl" lines under the stage lights)

the differences between stage and restaurant are a matter of degree of contrast. the farther your audience and the more the light will wash you out, the less you blend. this is because the distance does the blending for you (ask any near sighted person ^_~) think of it like turning the contrast up on a photo:
closerestaurant.jpg
med distance/lightingmed-stage.jpg
far distance/harsh lightingharsh stage.jpg

Originally Posted by Basha

the differnce is for stage ... at a distance of 3-5 you better look like a french prostitute... or a clown....

hehe, my aunt used to be a pro-ballarina. well my other aunt took my cousin to see her perform once and they went backstage before the show to see her, then went to their seats. my cousin said to her mom "mommy, aunt Lisa looks like a lady of the night". when she came out on stage my cousin said "mommy, she took her makeup off!" of course she didn't, but it seemed that way because the makeup was in it's proper setting.

There are lots of ideas on Asma's channel on YouTube. Asma is a hijabi whose channel is a goldmine for the techniques to achieve "Arabic style" make up and also for hijab stylings.

Originally Posted by raqFariha

care to share? other than khol being a traditional eye makeup for the desert I've never heard anything about this before.

what khol is made of, wards off eye illness. it deflects glare..foot ball players wear blak by and under the eye for the same reason.it is also believed by some sects that the soul can escape from the eyes if not circled in black.

Originally Posted by zamora

what khol is made of, wards off eye illness. it deflects glare..foot ball players wear blak by and under the eye for the same reason.it is also believed by some sects that the soul can escape from the eyes if not circled in black.

thanks, now that you say it it does sound familiar. what about the red mouth? that's what im most curious about ^_^

Originally Posted by raqFariha

thanks, now that you say it it does sound familiar. what about the red mouth? that's what im most curious about ^_^

the oulid nail used colorful hankies flutterd around the body parts "for sale". a red mouth means you are good thing is oral sex. remember, with islamic law, no body parts ! like in saad's song, all fruits and veggies!..and a red mouth.

Originally Posted by zamora

the oulid nail used colorful hankies flutterd around the body parts "for sale". a red mouth means you are good thing is oral sex. remember, with islamic law, no body parts ! like in saad's song, all fruits and veggies!..and a red mouth.

i was afraid of that. hahaha