Dancesport is a world where performance is everything. And part of the performance as a whole is your makeup look. You need to be flawless and you need your makeup to enhance and complete the rest of your appearance. When the audience and the judges look at you, they need to see that you’ve made an effort to be as presentable as you can be.

Unlike regular makeup, in stage makeup, everything has to be accentuated. 

There’s an unwritten rule in makeup: for example, if you use bold colors for the eyes, then the lips should be very natural and vice versa. Well, in stage makeup this rule doesn’t apply. Because lights are very strong and the audience is quite far from the dance floor, everything has to be pretty dramatic: contour, eyes, lips, eyebrows, lashes. Only a makeup artist can combine these elements together in a beautiful manner. And it’s actually our duty to offer each performer an unique makeup that can not be achieved by someone else.

If you want to see how I apply the tips I give you here, you can check my tutorial on YouTube. 

1. Your Makeup Look Should Always Enhance Your Best Features

Makeup is supposed to make you look and feel beautiful. So in order to do that everybody should know their face and eye shape and what works on them. Girls do a bit of research on that, so you know yourselves better. I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes in makeup…when you just copy something or someone without knowing if it’s going to suit you. Spend some time practicing it. 

In a competition, you have to look flawless. Just like you want to have the best dress, best hairstyle or choreography. Makeup is a very important part of your appearance on the dance floor.

2. Clean and Prep The Skin Before Makeup

Any girl should know that one of the most important steps in makeup is actually prepping your skin. This has to be a routine, just like you warm up your body before you start dancing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a stage or a day makeup, you have to make sure your skin is scrubbed, clean and moisturized. If the canvas on which you are working on is dry, tired, cracked or oily the foundation will look patchy and flaky. 

Of course, there are different types of complexions. Therefore each one should find the best products for their own skin. Don’t think that if you have an oily skin you don’t need hydration, you do! Just use a lightweight texture moisturizer and a good primer to help control sebum overproduction and for a long-lasting matte finish. Cosmetic and makeup products are best friends and one can’t do without the other!

3. Apply Makeup In A Timely Order

What to start with? Why do certain things go on before others? 

I usually start with the eye area because there can be fallout from all the eyeshadows. When needed I apply a toner and I moisturize the skin. After the skin is moisturized, I like to apply a primer, usually a pore minimizing one. 

Next stop is the foundation, make sure you blend it very well and don’t forget about the neck area. Everything has to be nice and even. My holy grail foundation is MAC Studio Fix because it provides full coverage. I apply it with a damp sponge (Beauty Blender). 

Then comes one of my favorite parts, which is contouring and highlighting, followed by setting everything in place with powder. After that, I enhance the contour even more with powder products. At the end, I apply fake lashes, lipstick. 

The finishing touch is using a setting spray to make sure everything stays in place.

4. Make Sure The Skin Looks Even and Without Any Patches Or Streaks

In order to have an even look, first, you have to match the foundation with your tan. This might be the tricky part. When you find your favorite tanning product try to also find the best color matching foundation. You can use both, a brush or a sponge, as long as you blend everything. 

Again don’t forget about the neck, ears, hairline, even the back of your neck if needed!

5. Get An Intense Eye Makeup

Make the eye makeup pop up in dancesport competitions. Everybody has to see you’re not there to play, you’re there to slay 🙂 

Here you can play with colors, glitter, shimmers, eyeliner and of course eyelashes. The most appealing look is the cat eye look because it gives you a sexy, yet elegant look and it’s flattering for any eye shape. So this means you have to apply dark eyeshadow (most often black ) in the outer corner and blend it towards the temple.

Always apply fake lashes. In stage makeup, more is more, so don’t be afraid to step up you’re makeup game with a nice pair of lashes. In my opinion, applying lashes on a beautiful makeup look is like accessorizing a dress with a nice pair of shoes. It will just make the difference.

6. Long Lasting Makeup Is A Must

Unfortunately sweat and strong lights are a killer indeed 😢.

There’s a rule in makeup: everything that’s liquidy or creamy has to be set with powder. We’re not going for a friendly daytime look, so after the foundation, contour, and concealer you have to lock everything in place. The best way to do it is to apply setting powder with a sponge. Take your time and cover all the areas you applied foundation and concealer on, using tapping motions. 

Also very important, during competitions don’t rub your face with a towel but use the same tapping motions to remove sweat. After this, you can use a fixing makeup spray.

To sum it up, a dancesport makeup look needs to be extravagant, it needs to highlight your best features and to still look flawless through all the rounds. But even more importantly than that it has to be long lasting and water resistant because we all know that dancers can sweat a lot.

Also, I know there are a lot of makeup lovers reading this, so if you want to share some of the most helpful, amazing makeup tips you’ve learned over the years, don’t hold back.

If you want to find more about what it means to be a dancesport makeup artist, check our previous article.