Fierce makeup is the golden component for drag costumes. It shows off flair and creative techniques, using the face as a canvas. Going big, bold, and glamorous, drag makeup is a serious skill, and with advice from professional artists and practice, you can transform your face into a work of art. We focus on the importance of finding the right products for your skin, how to contour, making eye makeup truly stand out, and giving your skin that flawless bake and staying power under the bright lights!

Drag through the ages

Drag costumes and makeup have been around for years. Dating back to the 1800's, the term drag came about from the theatre, where male actors cast to play female characters dressed in long petticoats that would literally drag across the stage. The expression was then adopted for experimenting with gender, costume, and makeup.

The first drag ball was held at Hamilton Lodge in Harlem in 1867 and was one of the most groundbreaking events in drag history. It was the birth of the grand parade and the ballroom scene. The Hamilton Lodge Balls continued their annual events, with the height of their popularity peaking in the late 1920s and early 30s.

Women started performing as drag kings in British music halls at the turn of the 19th Century. Dressing in masculine costumes and makeup, they performed on stage, impersonating male stereotypes and personas. However, the term drag king was not officially used until 1972.

The word drag started being used as a discreet term in the UK LGBT+ community from the 1920s to keep their sexuality hidden, right up to when the act was eventually decriminalized in 1967. Laws that even forbade same-sex dancing in bars up until the 1940s sometimes meant half the people attending would dress in drag to avoid trouble with the authorities.

This started changing in the 1950s with more queer-friendly bars popping up, opening up the stage for drag queens and allowing performance freedom. This confirmed drag's place in entertainment and, more importantly, as an art form.

Perfecting drag makeup: The methods every drag artist should know

The skill of contouring:

Contouring is key to creating more feminine features. It is a technique that defines, sculpts, and enhances facial features, giving the appearance of chiseled cheekbones, nose, and jawline. To contour like a pro, use a cream-based product to highlight your features and then beat and blend for a perfectly smooth finish. However, don't blend too much. Keep the contouring striking and really magnify those features.

Baking the flawless finish:

First things first. Starting with a quality primer will ensure that drag makeup stays put. A decent base applied prior to applying foundation is essential.

It can be hard to find the exact correct shade of foundation for your skin. Swatching along the jawline or chest will help find the right color. There are many brands now that offer skin color matching services when choosing a foundation and mimicking the effective finish of the airbrush technique.

After applying the base, then comes the bake. Baking is a technique used that ensures an even longer-lasting application, essential for when performing under those hot, sweaty stage lights! It works by applying translucent powder on top of the foundation and letting it 'bake' with the heat from your face for 5-10 minutes, ensuring your look will not slide off.

Outrageous eyes:

Exaggerate those eyes using a technique called cut creasing. Using a paler colored eyeshadow applied along the crease of the eye, highlights the stronger main eyeshadow colour. Apply high arched eyebrows. This will lift the face whilst long and over-the-top false eyelashes open the eyes, creating an overall astonishing look.

Highlighting: contrasting with contouring

Where contouring sculpts the face, highlighting brightens it. Highlighting provides a deeper contrast, lightening other features such as below the eyebrows, inner corners of the eye, bridge of the nose, lower chin, and cupid's bow. Your off-stage face doesn't have to be as dramatic. Highlighting these areas on your face will be more than enough to make the pavement your catwalk.

All night long!

A quality strong-coloured product with long-lasting durability is highly advised for a drag artist's stage look. Stage makeup brands such as Ben Nye and Kryolan are recommended for a drag look that will last all night and longer.

Dare to be different

Be bold, be bright, be beautiful. Dare to try out different styles and colors that take you out of your comfort zone. Being different is what drag is about. A vivid lipstick and equally bright blusher will create a strong and striking look. But be careful not to add every colour in the rainbow. It is important to ensure your color palettes complement your look and character rather than outrageously contrast.

It’s all in the detail

Drag makeup is all about the detail. Polish your skills with arched eyebrows, false eyelashes, and heavy lip liner, and this will improve your look to no end. Top tip - use a smudge-proof and waterproof eyeliner to create your brows and lip line. This will keep in place for much longer than a standard eyebrow pencil or lip liner.

Make it mean something

Having pride in your story should be told through your makeup and costume. Additional elements to your look, which are personal to you, your life, or indeed gay pride as a whole, makes a costume and makeup more engaging and personal.

Work it!

We all know practice makes perfect, and drag makeup skills are no different. You've got to work at it to get that look perfect. Experiment and keep practicing over and over with different looks and colors, perfecting elements and finding your drag personality.

Unleash the Force:

Drag makeup is undoubtedly a powerful art form that allows the Diva in you to transform into a goddess. Stick with these makeup tips from the pros and combine them with a fabulously glamorous outfit and accessories from Charismatico, and you'll be the Queen of your drag performance.