How to Do Drag Makeup: Drag Queen Makeup Tutorial

There are a few makeup products beloved by the drag community, and it’s worth having at least some of them on hand as you begin your makeup transformation.

1. 1. Glue stick. Use a glue stick for setting your eyebrows.
2. 2. Tape. Mark Traynor’s Miracle Face and Neck Lift Kit uses string and invisible tape to lift the eyes while smoothing the jawline and neck areas. Professional makeup artists even use it to create dramatic looks for fashion shoots and runway shows.
3. 3. Rubbing alcohol. Apply rubbing alcohol to the spots on your face where you’ll be applying tape, to take the oil out of your brow hairs, and to get rid of any excess sticky stuff. Find it at any drugstore.
4. 4. Foundation. RuPaul uses five different shades of foundation when putting his face on. To find the right shade, try swatching your chest and finding a foundation that matches it.
5. 5. Highlighter. Highlighter is a useful contouring product, there are lots of highlighters on the market. Stila Glitter & Glow Highlighter shimmers from a mix of color and glitter, creating a dazzling, illuminating effect when layered over your favorite powder, used around the eyes, or even on the lips. Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Highlighter is an illuminating powder that can be applied wet or dry.
6. 6. Setting powder. Setting powder helps your makeup stay longer and can enhance your appearance. Find a lightweight formula that provides a finishing touch for makeup while reducing the appearance of fine lines, pores, and shine, like Mally’s Face Defender. You can also use it around the lip line to stop lipstick from smearing. Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder is a translucent powder that minimizes fine lines, wrinkles, and acne scars while giving your face a smoother, softer look.
7. 7. Blush. For drag queens, blush is a versatile tool that can add color and dimension to the cheekbones, or even be used for eye shadow.
8. 8. Glitter. Add a little extra glam to your look with a versatile glitter such as Lit Cosmetics Glitter in “Spark.” This white glitter can be used anywhere on the face—eyes and lips included—while casting “maximum light reflection.”
9. 9. Makeup sponge. The Original Beautyblender is a drag-queen essential tool for ensuring even foundation coverage and better penetration of primers, eye treatments, moisturizers, or any skin-care product.
10. 10. Brushes. Any queen worth her weight in wigs knows you need a quality brush set to put on your face. The five-brush Morphe X Jacyln Hill Complexion Master Collection is a great starter pack.
11. 11. Eye makeup. Dramatic eyes can anchor a full face of makeup. For your eye makeup look, you'll typically want mascara, falsies and lash glue, eyeliner, and a vibrant eyeshadow palette.
12. 12. Lip liner. In addition to lip color, you’ll want lip liner for more complex looks and to keep your lipstick in place.

Drag makeup is a commitment—drag queens spend an average of two to three hours doing their makeup. It's important to play around to find your signature makeup look, but there are a few makeup tricks you can use to get started.

1. 1. Identify and explore your drag persona. Coming up with a drag persona is a spiritual exercise as much as it is an aesthetic one. You might realize you’re drawn to a look that’s safe rather than one that actually fits you. Playing with makeup is a chance to experiment with all the colors in the crayon box. It’s an opportunity for self-discovery, rebellion, and transformation. It’s okay to get messy. Just have fun with it!
2. 2. Prep work. Shaving is important (unless you’re a gender-bending queen who wants a five, six, or seven o’clock shadow), so start with a clean face. After shaving, wash with cleanser and moisturize with a product that layers well. Next, apply rubbing alcohol to the spots on your face where you’ll be applying tape.
3. 3. The taming of the brows. Unruly bros can be tough to tamp down. Uses rubbing alcohol to take the oil out of your brow hairs, then cover them with an Elmer’s glue stick to achieve maximum adhesiveness. Uses a comb to flatten the brows against the face and press a metal spoon to the brows to flatten them out and get rid of excess glue. After applying another layer of glue, swipes more alcohol around his eyes to get rid of any excess sticky stuff.
4. 4. It’s foundational. Mixing and matching different colors can help you contour everything from the cheekbones to your eyes and chins. Cover your entire face (minus eyebrows) with a shade that matches your natural skin tone, then use lighter and darker shades of foundation, highlighter, concealer, and bronzer to play with your face shape.
5. 5. Getting nose-y. The magical makeup illusion known as contouring can, when used correctly, create an entirely different nose shape. Contouring deserves a makeup tutorial of its own, but you can get started with a few makeup tricks: Highlighter in the center of your forehead will make your forehead appear larger, while a darker shade applied around your hairline can shrink or round off the forehead. Bronzer or a darker shade applied right under the cheekbones can make them appear more sculpted. Learn more about contouring in our guide here.
6. 6. Eyes wide open. From smoky to festive, sultry to fierce, there are endless ways to frame your eyes. Decorating and reshaping the eye can dramatically change the look of your entire face (if your brow is especially masculine, for example, you can make your eyes look softer by creating a rounder look).
7. 7. Lip service. Before doing your lips, use a primer to ensure the look doesn’t get “crinkly.” Try using an angled brush to draw the shape of the lip before filling it in with other shades. To add a little shimmer, try using a highlighter instead of a gloss. Use a setting powder to decrease the appearance of the natural lip crease and reduce shine. You can also apply additional foundation on the sides of the lip to help define the lip line.
8. 8. Finishing touches. Blend out any areas where contouring looks harsh and correct any mistakes with makeup wipes. Once you’re satisfied with your makeup, use setting powder or spray to help your makeup look last longer. Then go out and have fun!
9. 9. Take it all off. A drag queen's number one beauty tip? Take off your drag makeup before bed! Full-coverage makeup can be tough on your skin, so it's important to develop a nourishing skin-care routine alongside your drag queen makeup routine. Learn more about building a skin-care routine in our complete guide here.

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