Character Makeup - Straight TV 1

In our Character Makeup class we have been researching and practising Straight TV and Straight Theater makeup. In this post I'll be covering Straight TV, as I haven't had time in class to practice the Theater look yet. That will come in a later post!

Straight makeup for television is the creation of a natural look - it is meant to essentially represent a more enhanced version of the person on screen. This look is used on newsreaders, presenters and hosts in order for them to look healthy and refined. The person's job is to connect with the viewer, so the facial features have to really stand out, while still remaining natural. This is evident from the following research:

As you can see from the pictures, this look is applied to both male and female presenters. For men, the process is more subtle; the skin tone is evened out and the eyes are enhanced by tidying up the eyebrows and applying a small amount of eyeliner underneath the eye. I have yet to practice this look on one of the guys in the class - so far I've done the look on girls, although I would like to try a Straight TV male look!

Also evident in the research is the way women are made to look - their eyes and lips are the main focal points, as they are used to convey a number of emotions and stories. Their colouring is taken into account and the eyes and lips are made up to look very striking but natural at the same time.

I first tried the look on Debbie - she has very pale skin so I chose the lightest foundation shade I could find and applied it all over. I finished by setting with powder and adding a small amount of peach blush to warm the skin. I combed her eyebrows and enhanced their natural shape and colour with a little brown eyeshadow - eyebrows are used to convey emotion so it is important they are enhanced. On her eyes, I applied a base colour which was slightly lighter than her natural skin colour, in order to even out the tone of her eyelids and brighten her eyes. In the crease of her eye I blended in a light brown colour, and swept it outwards towards the edge of her eye and up towards her eyebrow. I then chose a slightly darker brown and smudged it into the crease and down on to the lower lashline in order to give her eyes more definition. I finished the eye by applying the original base colour to her browbone to highlight, and tidied up her eyelid by adding more of the same colour on the lid.
For her lips, I wanted to keep the colour natural but warm, so I mixed my own colour from the palette - it turned out a slightly warmer and pinker version of her natural lip colour, and I applied this all over. To make her lips appear fuller, I mixed a slightly darker version of the same shade and applied it to the corners of her mouth. Observe the final result, with and without flash:

The look turned out as I hoped, however I ran out of time and didn't get the chance to apply mascara - however if I did, I would use black and apply to her top and bottom lashes, to really open her eyes. I asked Bella for her verdict, she said the eyeshadow was a little too dark in the crease, so next time I will make it more natural. She also recommended I use a very dark brown shade and a thin brush to line her top lids, close to the lashes. She showed me an example and it really helped add definition to her eyes, so I will also do that next time. Finally, for the lips, she recommended I blend the darker shade slightly better, and maybe use this shade to line.


For my first attempt at Straight TV makeup I'm really happy with how it turned out. Next blog post will be my second attempt!


Stay tuned :)

Gill