natural makeup vs. stage makeup

Coming from a dance/performance background sometimes it can be challenging to determine the line between natural makeup and stage makeup.

For me it was all or nothing, I either didn’t wear any makeup at all or I did a full face so that I could be #readyformycloseup at any minute. I made a promise to myself that I would never let anything interfere with me taking the time every morning to do my makeup, that was my “me time” #selfcare and no one/nothing could take that away…

Well that sure changed rather quickly. After graduating college, I started working in new york city. I had to arrive promptly at the office by 8:00am everyday which meant waking up at 5:30am just to make sure I had enough time to get ready, drive to the train station, get on the train ride into the city and make it to the office on time. It wasn’t long before I realized I needed to change my makeup routine. I started to choose sleep over makeup. The 30 minutes I would normally use to do my makeup now became an extra 10 minutes I could stay in bed. I adjusted my makeup routine to accommodate both, wanting to sleep more, and having something on my face so I didn’t look like a naked mole rat (yes you guessed it - that was a kim possible refernce) first thing in the morning. It was then that I finally found that middle ground, of wearing just enough make up that was acceptable for an everyday look.

Even now, I have days where I give my face a break and wear absolutely no makeup and then there are certain days where if I know I have a special event I will do a full face. I am still dancing; I am currently in an amazing company danceworks nyc where I still get to experiment with stage makeup for performances. So much so that other members in the company have seen how I do my makeup and have asked me to do theirs!