A big part of what makes a drag look is not the outfit, not the wig, not the manners, but the makeup. It is one of the first skills that a novice drag queen needs to master before she makes it onto the stage, and one that seasoned drag queens hone to make their own. Here are a few basics about drag queen makeup.
A Step-By-Step Beginner’s Guide: Dramatic Cut Crease Eye Look Tutorial
Eyes are the focus of any drag queen makeup look. Some can get away with only painting their eyes and applying foundation. This is one such look!
The eyes
- The eyebrows. Use a fine angled brush and a brow pomade to draw a straight line starting from just above the brow bone to a few centimeters above the brow, and finish horizontally until a bit further than the eye. Draw a parallel line above that joins the first line in a taper. Fill it in. Using a brow pencil, draw in a few individual hairs. Clean up underneath with a makeup wipe or concealer.
- The base. Apply a white eye base that does not dry matte to the eyelid until the brow. More is better than less, as it can be covered with foundation later on.
- The colors. Use a small dense round brush and pigmented eyeshadow to start a line from the outer corner of the line toward the eyebrow, then once high enough, come back towards the brow bone socket in a V-shape. Pack the pigment to build up color.Add dimension to the wing by adding another color in a gradient fashion along the same line.With a lighter shade, go around the outside of the wing. That should bring the whole wing to the outer tip of the eyebrow, if not further. Use a fluffy brush to blend out the outside of the wing. Reapply all of the colors in the same order in order to bring out all of the pigment. Apply black eyeshadow to the inner side of the wing. You should now have an outward gradient from black to the lightest version of your color. Apply a shimmer in the inner corner, linking the glitter and the lower part of the color wing.
- The crease. Using a flat brush and Vaseline at first, cut the crease of your eyelid, going around the inner edge of the wing. Using a spatula wrapped in a makeup removal wipe, cut the crease again, easily removing the Vaseline, the pigment, and the base. Reapply the white base in the crease. Using a flat brush, apply glitter to the upper side of the cut crease.
The eyeliner. Using a gel eyeliner, cover the entire natural eyelid, and bring the wing to the inner corner of the color wing. Set the eyeliner with black eyeshadow.
The skin
- Priming. Prime your skin.
- Foundation. Using a foundation brush, apply a thick cream foundation all over the face and neck. Using a beauty blender, blend out the foundation.
- Concealing. Using a full coverage concealer, apply to the undereye bringing it all the way up to the temples, as well at the center of the chin, the cupid’s bow, along the center of the nose, and the center of the forehead. Blend the concealer into the foundation using a beauty blender.
- Contouring. Using a round buffing brush, apply contour underneath the cheekbone, around the jawline (depending on your face shape), and across the hairline. Using a small fluffy angled brush, apply contouring to the sides of the nose. Blend into the foundation using a beauty blender. Using a deeper contouring shade, go over the cheekbone again. Blend into the foundation using a beauty blender.
- Setting. Using a big round brush, pat on setting powder in the oilier and creasier parts of the face. Using a powder puff, apply setting powder to the rest of the face. Using a brush, remove the excess setting powder. Spray setting mist on the whole face. Using pressed powders in different shades, go over the same areas of concealer, foundation, and contouring. Apply on the neck as well.
- Bronzer. Using a fluffy brush, apply bronzer to the cheeks and forehead in circular motions, starting with the lightest shade. Apply the medium and darkest shades to the middle of the cheek contouring.
- Blusher and highlighter. Using a large brush, apply the lightest shade of blush on the cheeks, temples, and forehead where the contouring meets the foundation. Using a very dense small brush, apply highlighter to the highest point of the cheekbone and the center of the noise. Lightly blend with a brush.
The lips
- Outer shape. Using your darker shade of liquid lipstick, go over the outside of the lip in the desired shape.
- Inner shape. Using your lighter shade of liquid lipstick, go over the center of the lip.
- Lip gloss. Apply lip gloss to the entire lip.
To Go Further: Other Drag Queen Makeup Looks
Glamorous neutral drag queen makeup look
A “simpler” feminine, glamorous look featuring lots of neutral colors might fit your style better. It has been a very popular trend for more female imitation-oriented drag queens over the past few years.
Follow these steps:
- Glue down your eyebrows.
- Apply foundation, concealer, and set with powder. Apply bronzer and contour.
- Draw on natural-looking arched brows. Fix the shape with concealer.
- Using browns, dark pinks, and beiges, fill in the eyelid from lightest to darkest from the inside out.
- Cut the crease.
- Repeat the color scheme in reverse order just above your eye.
- Apply eyeliner and repeat the color scheme underneath your eyes.
- Apply glitter to the lightest areas.
- Put on natural-looking lashes and mascara.
- Apply highlighter and blush.
- Put on a natural lip with a darker color outside and a lighter one inside.
Pride drag queen makeup look
What’s a drag queen who doesn’t go to Pride? It is one of the most important events of the year, and their look must reflect that. A colorful, rainbow gradient lid is the best way to do that.
Follow these steps:
- Glue down your eyebrows.
- Apply a white base to the area from under your eyes to above your eyebrows.
- Following the order of the rainbow, apply neon eyeshadows across your eyelids (but about where your natural brows are).
- Cut the crease. Apply glitter inside and on the inner corners of the eyes.
- Apply foundation, concealer, and set with powder. Apply bronzer and contour.
- Draw on dramatically arched eyebrows.
- Apply eyeliner, dramatic lashes and mascara.
- Apply highlighter and blush.
- Paint a glossy black lip.
- Using overactivated neon liners, add rainbow drops to the lower side of your eyes.
Dramatic drag queen makeup look
As drag queens develop a personal style, some might go more demure, while some go more camp and dramatic. A lot of drag queens have developed their branding according to their unique looks: Trixie Mattel, Crystal Methyd, or Hugaceo Crujiente, for example.
Follow these steps:
- Put in colored lenses.
- Prime your skin.
- Glue down your eyebrows.
- Using a bright color, draw a high dramatic eyebrow.
- Place your eyeliner.
- Put on white eyeshadow primer all over the lid.
- Contour and conceal your nose.
- Once those bases are laid down, put on foundation, concealer, contour, and set with powder on your forehead.
- Start applying bright colors from the bottom of the eyelid to the bottom of the eyebrow, following the diagonal shape. Mix up colors as you like and create gradients, but don’t forget to blend!
- Smoke out some black eyeshadow above your eyeliner line.
- Apply some black liner over the shape that you originally drew.
- Draw out some graphic eyeliner lines with white.
- Finish the foundation on the bottom of your face. Make sure to cut the cheek with concealer. Add highlighter and blush.
- Color the lip with a bold color.
- Add colored glitter to the eyebrow, lip, and crease.
- Glue on some rhinestones across your face.
- Put on dramatic lashes on the top and bottom, below your white eyeliner.
Queen-Favorite Makeup Brands
Now that you know how to do your drag makeup, you must now learn to know what to do it with.
Ben Nye
Ben Nye is a makeup brand for stage, SFX, and drag. The real Ben Nye was a renowned Hollywood makeup and SFX artist for over four decades. Now. his legacy lives on through his worldwide appreciated makeup line.
A drag favorite is the “Clown White Makeup”, which is an amazing covering white base, either as a background for looks or a full-on foundation. Other beloved items include the makeup sealer “Final Seal Matte Sealer”, “Spirit Gum Adhesive” and “Remover” for glued-on brows, or the “Lumiere Luxe Sparkle Powder” which is one of the most vibrant highlighters on the market.
Kryolan
Kryolan is also a long established brand, founded in 1945 in occupied Germany. It was first used as a stage makeup due to its strong, covering original formulas. Overtime, some of its products became drag staples.
One of the most well-known drag queen makeup items ever is the Kryolan “TV Stick”, certain to ensure the highest coverage white base. It was also developed into a full skin tone collection, although that one is less popular than other foundation brands. The “Eyebrow Plastic” is another popular item, which helps to block out brows without the use of glue sticks or spirit gum.
NYX Cosmetics
NYX Cosmetics, lawfully NYX DARIEN, is a sub-brand of L’Oreal created by Tony Ko in 1999. It was named after the Greek Goddess of the night, Nyx. Since then, it has grown to be a very popular brand of makeup, both for casual users, and professional artists such as drag queens.
The most popular NYX products are their eyeshadow palettes, which never disappoint with creamy formulas and vibrant, varied colors. They also produce moist and glowing makeup primers, such as the “Glitter Primer”, and good eye makeup items as well, like their “Jumbo Eye Pencil.”
Makeup Brands by Queens, for Queens
Trixie Cosmetics
Trixie Cosmetics was founded by Season 7 contestant of RuPaul’s Drag Race Trixie Mattel in 2019. Despite being a young brand, it has become extremely popular within her fan base, but also the professional drag world.
Light-on-the-skin formulas and vibrant colors are always a go-to for queens, and Trixie Cosmetics focuses a lot on nudes and neutrals, which have been very popular with the new wave of drag. Her colorful collections are not left behind either, and she has had to re-release a lot of makeup items in order to satisfy her clients.
KimChi Chic Beauty
Kim Chi was a competitor on Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the first Korean-American on the show, and even made it to the finals. Known for her bold makeup with heavy eyeliner, Kim Chi started working on her own brand KimChi Chic Beauty in 2019 under the label of Tony Ko and NYX Cosmetics.
Quite the opposite of Trixie Cosmetics (though both queens are friends), Kim Chi, true to her own makeup, releases bold colors and stark black and whites for all parts of the face. Her glitter items are very popular, but so are her high-coverage, inclusive foundations and concealers.
Miss Fame Beauty
Miss Fame was a contestant on Season 7 of RuPaul’s Drag Race (the same season as Trixie Mattel, though Trixie placed 6th and Miss Fame was right behind at 7th). She is known for her couture looks, both in makeup and outfits, focusing more on realness than dramatic drag.
Miss Fame quietly released her own makeup brand in the late 2010s-early 2020s. With a focus on elegance and an almost designer-like approach to makeup, Miss Fame Beauty is on the upper-end of prices from this list, and with quality to match. If you’re looking for a beautiful neutral blush palette, then this is the way to go. Nonetheless, the brand never spits at a bit of fun, and has released some beautifully colorful eye and lip palettes.
Conclusion
Doing drag queen makeup is no easy feat. It takes years of practice and trial and error for a queen to find her own personal style. If some queens adhere more to a wave or school of makeup, others have entirely unique styles, to the enjoyment of their fans.
If you want to learn about the Tokyo drag scene, feel free to check out this article.
Japan Gay Guide is not affiliated or sponsored by any of the brands, products, or persons mentioned in this article.
