"Why do I need stage makeup?"
"Why does a young competitive or recital dancer need to wear ANY makeup on stage?"
"Why do dancers need to wear “professional” stage makeup and not drugstore makeup?"
These are by far the most frequently asked questions about stage makeup. There is no shame in wondering, though! Stage makeup is, after all, an art in itself with a very particular technique. For some insight into why stage makeup is important, read on!
5 Reasons To Wear Professional Stage Makeup for Dance Performances
Distance between the performer and the audience
The distance between the performer and the audience prevents them from seeing your facial features, and therefore the emotions on your face, unless you enhance your features with makeup. Your makeup must to be dark enough for your features to be visible to the first 8 – 12 rows of the theater. Typical street makeup brand colors will not get be heavy enough even when layered, because of their low level of pigmentation. JAM Cosmetics' professional stage makeup is versatile because it is highly-pigmented. You have control over how light or dark your makeup is depending on how much you put on – the less you apply, the lighter it is – the more you apply, the darker it is! This is an absolute necessity for stage makeup.
Intense stage lighting
Stage lighting can really “flatten” your face and take away all of the dimensions that help the audience see your expression clearly. Emoting is a huge part of any performance, so improper makeup can really diminish in the audience's experience. Again, because street makeup brands are limited in their amount of pigment and just cannot get dark enough to offset the intense stage lighting. Great professional stage makeup will be highly-pigmented so that it can be seen under the stage lights – it won’t disappear when the lights hit you!
Decorative costuming
Performance makeup is part of your costume. If you were to put on a long evening gown, have your hair in an up-do, put on high heels and some jewelry but put nothing on your face, you would look like you were missing something. Your face would be overshadowed by your outfit and would look drab. We never want our costume to overshadow our face! JAM Cosmetics' makeup primarily uses neutral, earthy colors to coordinate well with every costume change, every lighting situation and every skin tone.
The Sweat-Factor
When you are performing on stage, under intense stage lighting, you will sweat! This can create a whole bunch of issues. Most street makeup brands are not sweat-resistant, meaning you are almost guaranteed to have a mess of makeup when finished your performance. Beyond the annoyance of having to re-apply and constantly touch up your makeup, these street brands are almost never made with sensitive formulas, meaning if sweat and makeup get into the eyes, it can cause serious irritation. Or, if your lipstick sweats off and goes in your mouth, you will actually be ingesting those chemicals! NONE of these are things you should have to deal with! JAM Cosmetics' mineral, high quality, professional stage makeup addresses these issues as our products are naturally sweat-resistant, hypo-allergenic and will not irritate sensitive eyes or skin.
Protect the skin
Professional stage makeup should be highly-pigmented, hypo-allergenic (no known allergens used), non-comedogenic (non-clogging to the pores, so no break outs), and as naturally sweat-resistant as possible. Street makeup brands will clog the pores, especially when being worn for long periods of time, and during performances where you will be sweating. If you are using professional quality stage makeup, like the carefully formulated products that JAM Cosmetics carries, there is no need to endure these awful post-performance breakouts!