What’s not to love about makeup? It’s fun to put on and it is a form of creative self-expression. Many of us use it for the dramatic arts, and others use it for cheerleading, marching band, or color guard! Halloween is just around the corner, and a lot of us will be busting out our favorite special effects or character makeup. That’s a lot of heavy makeup application going on!
With all that thick makeup, and colder weather approaching, your skin is going to need a little extra TLC. Many of us are all too familiar with “stage makeup acne”, otherwise known as the acne or skin irritation caused from the skin being covered for long periods of time underneath layers of dense makeup.
Even if you’re someone who doesn’t wear stage-grade makeup, these tips can help you make sure your skin feels the best it can be!
Taking your makeup off is crucial in order to have skin that feels good. Keeping makeup on (especially stage makeup) when you sleep or for longer periods of time can be irritating to the skin. You might notice swelling, acne, dryness, or even eyelash fallout from neglecting to remove, or improperly removing makeup.
- Start with a Makeup Wipe
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When you are done with your performance or activity, gently wipe off some of your makeup before leaving the venue. This will jump-start the cleaning process, and since stage makeup tends to be very exaggerated, it will also tone the makeup down enough for leaving.
Take off any false eyelashes if you were wearing them, and put them back in the box. Take that box home with you because you need to clean the falsies. Instructions for cleaning falsies are below.
A makeup wipe alone is not really enough to completely cleanse the face. So, don’t feel tempted to scrub and scrub at your face with a makeup wipe. I like using Equate Pink Grapefruit Oil-Free Cleansing Wipes, which can be bought in large amounts, which are perfect for tech week or show season!
- Rinse Your Face
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Once you get home, you should take some time to really deep cleanse your skin. After using a makeup wipe, there will still be some product left on your face. Our goal is to get that off as best we can.
First, rinse your face with some warm water. This will help remove more of the makeup, as well as prep your face for soap application. Be gentle, and rub your skin softly with the washcloth in upward circular motions.
You can wipe your eyelids, but be very cautious, as this is sensitive skin. If you choose to do so, wipe side to side, on the lid. Then wipe downwards over the eyelashes. Next, wipe upwards at an angle from below the eyelashes to get their underside. Finally, wipe underneath your eyes to remove any smudging.
- Soap Time
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Now that your face has been rinsed, you can apply your favorite face wash. I like to use a gentle face wash when I am dealing with stage makeup. However, you should choose whatever face wash works best with you. Apply it and lather it by rubbing in upwards circular motions. Avoid getting soap near the eye area.
After this, you can rinse off the soap as usual, but we aren’t done yet!
- Exfoliation
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Exfoliation is key to removing any lingering makeup and makeup deep in the pores. However, you should only do this step around twice a week. Exfoliating too much can irritate the skin. I like to use a gentle exfoliator without any salicylic acid or other similar ingredients, because those ingredients are already in my face wash. I like to use Clean and Clear Everyday Exfoliating Face Wash. This product is gentle, and also is plastic free (as of 2017)! Those little exfoliating pearls will not harm the environment.
- Eyes
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Chances are that there is still some makeup left over on your eyes. This is when makeup remover especially created for eyes comes in handy. These types of removers are excellent at removing eyelash glue residue, glitter, waterproof mascara and eyeliners and more. I like to use Equate Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover.
To use it, shake the bottle to incorporate the ingredients. Pour some of it onto a cotton round, and apply to eyes with the same method I described above: wipe side to side on the lid. Wipe downwards over the eyelashes. Next, wipe upwards at an angle from below the eyelashes to get their underside. Finally, wipe underneath your eyes to remove any smudging. You are going to have to repeat this a few times to get the makeup off completely.
Be gentle, but be sure to get as much of the makeup off as possible. You don’t want to experience eyelash fallout due to caked on mascara.
Once you are done wiping with the remover, gently rinse your eyes with warm water until the slick feeling comes off of your eyelids.
- Wrapping Up
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After washing your face, feel free to apply micellar water or witch hazel to your face to tone and make sure that everything is clean! Finish up by applying your favorite moisturizer. Repeat this process daily to save your skin from harsh stage makeup, or to just make sure you really get your everyday makeup off. Be careful not to over exfoliate. Limit that process to once or twice a week.
- Falsies
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If you were wearing falsies, you should have brought them home. Remove them from the box and place them in a small cup. Pour a little bit of eye makeup remover in the cup, just enough to cover the lashes. Allow them to sit for around five minutes.
After they have soaked for five minutes, you can take them out of the cup and remove any glue that might have been stuck to them. Gently, between two fingers and a washcloth, rub the lashes in one direction to remove any mascara that was stuck on them.
Gently rinse the eyelashes with warm water in the sink, and then reshape them using a clean plastic spoolie and an eyelash curler.