PastPaperHero | Costume Design Skills

Learning Outcomes

Explain what make-up design can communicate to an audience.
Identify how make-up supports character, period, genre, style and mood.
Use script evidence to create appropriate make-up design ideas.
Describe make-up choices using accurate drama vocabulary.
Link make-up design to costume, hair, lighting and performance space.
Avoid common exam mistakes when writing about make-up design.
Apply health, safety and practicality considerations to a design.

AQA GCSE Drama (8261) Syllabus

For AQA GCSE Drama, costume design is one of the recognised theatrical skills. Costume design may include clothing, masks, hair and make-up, so make-up can be discussed as part of a wider costume design response. In the exam and in practical work, you need to show how design choices communicate meaning for an audience, rather than simply describing what a character “looks like”.

Make-up design should support characterisation, mood, status, age, period and dramatic style.
Designs should be based on script evidence, performance context and directorial intention.
Make-up must work with costume, hair, masks, lighting and set.
A design response should explain intended audience impact.
Practical choices should be suitable for stage distance and lighting.
You may need to describe colour, line, texture, placement and application.
Strong answers justify each design detail, not just the general appearance.
Health and safety, quick changes and continuity can be relevant in design planning.

Test Your Knowledge

Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, look more closely at that area during your revision.

Why does stage make-up often need to be stronger than everyday make-up?
What can make-up reveal about a character’s age, mood, status or situation?
How could smudged make-up communicate emotion or conflict in a naturalistic play?
What is a face chart, and why might a costume designer use one?
Why must a make-up designer consider lighting and audience distance?

Introduction

Make-up design is the planned use of facial or body make-up to help create character and communicate meaning in performance. It is not just decoration. A make-up choice can tell the audience that a character is tired, wealthy, ill, glamorous, comic, violent, anxious, old, young, rebellious or trapped by social expectations. It can also help show the historical period, genre and style of the production.

In GCSE Drama, make-up design is usually studied as part of costume design. A strong design answer links make-up to the whole production: costume, hair, props, lighting, set, acting style and the character’s journey through the play. For example, in a naturalistic play set during a hen night, make-up may show social ritual, femininity, pressure to look “ready”, and the emotional strain beneath the surface.

Key Term: Make-up design
The planning and use of facial or body make-up to communicate character, period, mood, style, genre and dramatic meaning.

What make-up communicates on stage

Make-up design helps the audience read character quickly. In theatre, spectators may be several metres away from the actors, so the designer often has to make features clearer than they would be in real life. This does not always mean extreme make-up. It means make-up must be visible, purposeful and suitable for the performance space.

A designer can use make-up to communicate:

Age: wrinkles, shading, greyed eyebrows, paler lips, under-eye shadows.
Health: flushed cheeks, sweat, dark circles, bruising, cuts, pallor.
Status: polished grooming, expensive-looking products, neatness, neglect, dirt.
Occupation or lifestyle: stage performer glamour, office neatness, punk styling, outdoor weathering.
Mood: smudged mascara after crying, tense drawn features, bright party make-up.
Genre: realistic make-up for naturalism; exaggerated shapes for pantomime, horror or expressionism.
Transformation: a character becoming older, injured, supernatural, disguised or socially changed.

Key Term: Theatrical make-up
Make-up designed for live performance, usually shaped by stage lighting, audience distance, character needs and production style.

Make-up can also show how a character wants to be seen. This is very useful in plays where appearance, social rules or identity matter. A character may put on glamorous make-up because they want confidence, attention or acceptance. Another character may avoid make-up to reject expectations. A third may have make-up that gradually breaks down during the performance, showing stress or loss of control.

In Stags and Hens, the women spend time in the Ladies’ toilets preparing for a hen night. The repeated concern over make-up is not random detail; it shows group pressure and social expectations. Linda is told not to go into the dance without make-up because she would “look a mess”. Frances helps with Linda’s hair and make-up, suggesting friendship but also control. Linda’s appearance becomes linked to how the group thinks a bride-to-be should behave. A designer could use this to show the difference between Linda’s public image and her private doubts.

For example, Linda might begin with neat, conventional party make-up: foundation, blusher, mascara, glossy lipstick and carefully styled hair. As the night develops and she questions her wedding, the make-up might become less perfect: slightly smudged mascara, faded lipstick, or a less controlled hairstyle. These choices would communicate her emotional strain while still fitting a naturalistic setting.

Test Tip: In an exam answer, do not stop at “she wears red lipstick”. Add what the lipstick communicates: confidence, sexuality, social pressure, period style, glamour, rebellion or another clear effect.

Reading the script before designing make-up

Good make-up design starts with the script. You need to read for both direct and indirect clues. Direct clues are stage directions or dialogue that mention appearance, make-up, injury or age. Indirect clues are found in the character’s behaviour, social world, relationships and emotional journey.

When reading a script, ask:

What is the character’s age and social background?
What situation are they in?
Is the setting everyday, formal, dangerous, comic or ritualised?
Does the character prepare their appearance on stage?
Does another character comment on how they look?
Does the character’s make-up need to change during the performance?
Is the style naturalistic, symbolic, comic, musical theatre, horror or physical theatre?
Will lighting alter how the make-up looks?

In Stags and Hens, make-up appears as part of the hen night ritual. The women are in a public social setting, getting ready to dance, drink and present themselves. One character smudges her eye make-up and jokes that she has “half an eye” on her nose. This tells a designer that make-up is practical, social and comic in the scene. It also creates stage business: one woman fixing another’s face, someone looking in a mirror, characters gathering around the basin, and appearance becoming part of dialogue.

Key Term: Naturalistic make-up
Make-up that aims to look believable for real life while still being clear enough for the audience to read on stage.

For a naturalistic production, you would avoid cartoonish lines unless the character or moment demanded comedy. The aim would be to make the make-up look like something the character would genuinely choose. Bernadette, Carol, Maureen, Frances and Linda might all wear make-up, but not identical make-up. Each design should reveal personality:

Bernadette might have bold, confident make-up, suggesting someone who enjoys attention and performs social confidence.
Carol might have careful fashionable make-up, showing interest in glamour and romantic ideals.
Maureen might have slightly overdone or less controlled make-up if the production wants to show innocence, excitement or comic awkwardness.
Frances might have practical, steady make-up and the skill to fix Linda’s, showing a more capable friend.
Linda might begin conventionally made-up but become less tidy as her emotional conflict grows.

This level of detail shows examiners that you understand character, not just appearance.

Exam Warning: Avoid making all characters look the same because they are in the same social group. A costume or make-up designer should show both shared world and individual character.

Research also matters. If a play is set in a specific period, you should research make-up styles from that time. For example, a production set in the late 1970s or early 1980s might use stronger blusher, blue or bright eyeshadow, glossy lips, dark eyeliner or party looks associated with discos and social clubs. However, period research should be used carefully. Not every character would wear the most fashionable look. Age, money, confidence and taste all affect make-up.

Colour, line, texture and visibility

When you describe make-up design, use precise visual language. Examiners reward answers that show clear design thinking. Instead of saying “dark make-up”, say where it goes, what colour it is, how strong it is, and what it suggests.

Useful areas to describe include:

Base: pale, warm, even, sweaty, dirty, powdered, shiny.
Eyes: dark circles, eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow colour, smudging, false lashes.
Brows: shaped, heavy, lightened, aged, arched, stern.
Cheeks: blusher, contour, hollowing, bruising, flush.
Lips: red, nude, cracked, glossy, dry, smudged, bitten.
Skin texture: smooth, rough, tired, scarred, weathered, bruised.
Body make-up: tattoos, dirt, wounds, veins, sunburn, marks.

Key Term: Face chart
A labelled design drawing of a face showing colours, shapes, products, placement and notes for applying make-up consistently.

A face chart is useful because it turns an idea into a repeatable design. In a practical assessment or design portfolio, it can show exactly where the eyeliner sits, how dark the bruising is, what lipstick shade is used, and whether the effect is matte, glossy, dry or smudged. In a written answer, you can describe your design as if you were creating a face chart.

For stage, visibility is a major issue. Under strong lighting, pale colours may wash out. Details that look clear close up may disappear from the back row. A designer may need stronger contouring, clearer lip colour or darker eye definition than an actor would wear offstage. This is especially true in larger spaces.

Key Term: Stage lighting
The planned use of light in performance, affecting visibility, colour, mood, focus and how costume and make-up appear to the audience.

Lighting can change make-up dramatically. Cool blue light can make skin look drained or ghostly. Warm amber light can make faces appear healthier. Red light can intensify red lipstick or bruising. Greenish light can make skin look sick. If you design a pale, tired face for a character, you must think about whether the lighting will support the effect or cancel it out.

For example, if Linda’s mascara is meant to look smudged after emotional distress, the smudging must be visible but not so large that it becomes unrealistic. A designer might use a soft dark line under one eye and slightly faded lipstick, rather than black streaks down the cheeks. This would fit the naturalistic style of a play about ordinary people in a club, while still showing the audience that her controlled appearance is slipping.

Test Tip: Use the pattern “choice + location + effect”. For example: “I would use slightly smudged black mascara under Linda’s right eye to suggest that her confident hen-night appearance is beginning to break down.”

Style, genre and character transformation

Make-up design must fit the production style. A naturalistic design for a social comedy-drama is different from a design for a pantomime villain, a ghost story or a stylised physical theatre piece.

Key Term: Stylised make-up
Make-up that is deliberately exaggerated, symbolic or non-realistic to suit a particular theatrical style or concept.

In naturalism, the audience should believe the make-up belongs to the character’s everyday world. In stylised theatre, make-up may be more symbolic. A jealous character might have sharp green eye shapes. A ghost might have a pale white base and dark hollow eyes. A narrator in a musical might have bold contouring or heightened features so they stand apart from the realistic world of the story.

Make-up can also track change across a performance. This is called a make-up progression. A character might start neat and become dishevelled. They might age over several scenes. They might receive a wound. They might remove make-up to reveal vulnerability. In some plays, this progression is more useful than one fixed design.

Key Term: Continuity
Keeping make-up, costume and appearance consistent between scenes or performances unless a change is planned.

Continuity is especially important if make-up shows an injury, ageing or emotional damage. If a bruise appears on the left cheek in one scene, it should not move to the right cheek in the next scene unless there is a clear reason. If Linda’s lipstick fades during the night, that fading should be planned. It should not look accidental unless the accident is part of the intended meaning.

A make-up designer also needs to think about timing. Can the actor apply the make-up before the show? Does it need to be changed quickly during the performance? Can another actor realistically fix it on stage, as Frances does with Linda? Does the make-up need to survive dancing, sweat, tears or close contact?

In a play set at a dance, the design might need to allow for movement and heat. Glossy make-up may catch light well, but it may also smear. Heavy products may run if the actor sweats. This can be useful if the director wants the night to become messy, but it must still be safe and controlled.

Practical planning and safe application

Make-up design is creative, but it is also practical. A beautiful drawing is not enough if the design cannot be applied safely, repeated, seen by the audience or worn comfortably by the actor.

Key practical questions include:

Is the actor allergic to any product?
Has the make-up been tested before performance?
Can the actor see, speak and move safely?
Will the make-up run into the eyes?
Is any prosthetic secure?
Can the make-up be removed without harming the skin?
Are brushes and sponges clean?
Is enough time allowed before performance?
Does the design suit the venue size and lighting?

Key Term: Health and safety
The planning needed to reduce risk to actors, designers and crew, including safe products, hygiene, allergy checks and careful removal.

A patch test may be needed before using unfamiliar products, especially latex, spirit gum, adhesives, fake blood or strong pigments. Shared eye products should be handled with care to avoid infection. Brushes and sponges should be cleaned. Products should not be used near the eyes unless they are designed for that purpose.

Exam Warning: Do not describe unsafe effects casually, such as putting random paint on an actor’s face or using untested glue for scars. In design answers, show that your choices are stage-safe and practical.

Make-up also needs to work with costume and hair. If a character has an expensive evening dress but messy, careless make-up, that contrast must mean something. If the make-up is neat, hair is fixed and costume is carefully chosen, the character may appear controlled or socially polished. If one part of the design breaks down, it can reveal conflict.

In Stags and Hens, Linda’s make-up can work closely with her costume and hair. A bride-to-be on a hen night might be dressed for celebration, with hair styled and party make-up applied by a friend. Yet the scene reveals that she is uncertain about the wedding and feels trapped by expectations. A designer could therefore create a surface of social normality while allowing small signs of discomfort: lipstick that has been reapplied too strongly, mascara that is slightly smudged, or hair that Frances tidies in a way Linda seems to tolerate rather than enjoy.

This kind of answer is strong because it connects make-up to dramatic meaning. The make-up is not just “pretty”; it shows pressure, identity, friendship, control and doubt.

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

Make-up design is part of costume design for AQA GCSE Drama.
Make-up can communicate age, health, status, mood, period, style and genre.
Stage make-up often needs to be clearer or stronger than everyday make-up because of lighting and audience distance.
Good design begins with script evidence and character analysis.
In Stags and Hens, make-up helps show hen-night ritual, friendship, social pressure and Linda’s emotional conflict.
Naturalistic make-up should look believable while still being visible on stage.
Stylised make-up can use exaggeration or symbolism for non-realistic performance styles.
Colour, line, texture and placement should be described precisely in exam answers.
A face chart helps record and repeat a design.
Make-up must work with costume, hair, lighting, set and acting style.
Continuity matters when make-up changes across a performance.
Health and safety includes hygiene, allergy checks, safe products and careful removal.

Key Terms and Concepts

Make-up design
Theatrical make-up
Naturalistic make-up
Face chart
Stage lighting
Stylised make-up
Continuity
Health and safety

Costume Design Skills - Make-up design