Makeup for dance recital

Dance recitals are a big deal for little ballerinas. Getting their makeup done is one of the highlights of their day! And as you know, there’s nothing worse than seeing your daughter or son go out on the stage looking anything but perfect. These couple of tips can help ensure that your little one shines – both on and off the stage.

The makeup you wear for your dance recital will be a reflection of your personality, as well as the style of dance that’s being performed. If you’re wearing a more classical piece, such as ballet or jazz, makeup should be natural and matte. For contemporary pieces, you can experiment with bolder colors like red or blue.

For foundation, use a light-to-medium coverage product that matches your skin tone perfectly. You want it to look like you’re not wearing anything at all—just smooth and even.

Then add blush on the apples of your cheeks using a cream blush that matches your skin tone. This will give you a healthy glow without looking overdone or fake. Be sure not to add too much color; just a light touch will do!

Next, add contour around the sides of your nose and underneath the cheekbones (where shadows naturally fall) with a light brown cream shadow or powder. It’s best to use an angled brush for this step—it gives you more control over where exactly the color goes on your face.

Finally, highlight under the brow bone with white shimmery shadow or powder and along the top of your eyelids with gold shimmery shadow or

Makeup for dance recital

Easy Dance Recital Makeup in 7 Steps

To start, let me explain WHY your child needs recital make-up.

1. Stage lights are very bright. Because of this, dancers appear very washed out and pale. Facial features are lost and expression is hard to see.
2. Dance costumes are over the top! They sparkle, shine, and can easily overpower your child’s sweet face. We want to make sure their beautiful smiles are seen. This requires bright lipstick (among other things!)
3. The stage is huge — not to mention quite far from the audience. This is another reason we need to enhance your child’s features.

A few notes on make-up type. I recommend using makeup that is hypo-allergenic, sweat proof, and long-lasting. Dancers should come to the recital venue with makeup already done. It needs to last through several hours of waiting backstage, traveling in the car, sitting with friends, and creating adorable memories.

Before you begin, make sure the dancer”s face is clean. Add a light moisturizer or primer, if desired.

STEP 1: FOUNDATION
Use a make-up sponge or foundation brush to add foundation that is slightly darker than the dancer’s face. (Advance tip – If you are a pro and know how to contour, use a lighter foundation and add bronzer to highlight bone structure. )

STEP 2: EYEBROWS
Use an angled brush to fill in eyebrows and make them more prominent. If your child has light or blonde hair, use a medium brown to highlight their eyebrows. If they have dark eyebrows, match their hair color to simply fill in between the hairs and shape.

STEP 3: EYESHADOW
Apply a dark brown eyeshadow from the lash line to the crease of the eye. Apply an even darker shade in the crease of the eye and blend thoroughly. Apply a white shadow directly underneath the eyebrow. I always recommend a little sparkle in eyeshadow

STEP 4: EYELINER
I know what you’re thinking, “There is NO way I’m putting eyeliner on my child.” If you are working with a wiggly three-year-old, I agree with you. If you’re working with a calmer child, go for it. You can either use a dark brown or black eyeshadow to line their eyes with a thin angled brush or be brave and use black eyeliner for a bigger impact.

STEP 5: MASCARA
Another sharp object…I know. If you are able, apply black mascara to the lashes…VERY CAREFULLY.

STEP 6: BLUSH
Directly under the cheekbone, near the hairline, brush a line of dark pink or peach blush downwards towards the lips. Stop near the apples of their cheeks and blend, blend, blend! Do not solely put blush on the apple of the cheeks or they will look more like clowns than dancers!

STEP 7: LIP LINER AND LIPSTICK
Use a bright red, hot pink, or maroon liner to line the lips. Fill in with a similar color lipstick. This is one item of make-up that will likely need to be reapplied before going onstage. I do recommend a high-quality lipstick to maintain an intense color for longer than 5 minutes.

Now, that wasn’t so bad, right? However, the key to looking stage ready on recital day is practicing these techniques. Adjust color choices based on skin tone and most of all, have fun getting fancy with your little lady! I should note, boys should wear stage make-up too! But, that”s a whole other topic! Enjoy and I hope this helped.