Those ‘100 layers’ videos got nothin’ on kabuki makeup
The meditative art of Japanese stage makeup
The viral “100 layers” videos taking over YouTube provide more than entertainment. If you try them at home, you’re sure to be left with a galaxy of zits.
More experiment than makeup tutorial, YouTube beauty vloggers are painting on 100 layers of foundation, 100 layers of lipstick, 100 layers of nail polish, and more. The results are sometimes shocking, always creative.
If you get a kick out of watching the application process, you might enjoy learning about kumadori, stage makeup painted on kabuki actors. Originating in 1603, kabuki is a Japanese style of theater and dance with exaggerated movements and dramatic singing.
Initially, female performers played both male and female characters, and many were prostitutes whose services were available for purchase. To dissuade such mischief, the shogun government switched to male performers in the mid 1600s. Then those men prostituted, too.
Kabuki experienced its golden era until the mid 1800s. During this time famed actor Ichikawa Danjūrō I introduced aragato, a style of acting characterized by dynamic movements and speech. Danjūrō also popularized the kumadori makeup.
Kabuki actors are encouraged to apply their own “masks” in order to map the makeup around their bone structures. In this way, kumadori is seen as “pattern-taking” to “project the inner persona.” It can be a very personal and private process.
Traditional kumadori makeup application begins with a layer of oil and another of wax; this glues down the eyebrows and keeps foundation in place, much like contemporary makeup primers. Using a brush — not a delicate cosmetic sponge — the actor paints his entire face, neck, and sometimes scalp with a thick white paint called oshiroi, which is made of rice powder. Actors apply different shades of white based on the age, class, or gender of their characters. A translucent white powder helps set the thick foundation. Historians believe white paint was initially used to make the actors’ faces more visible to the audience (no electric stage lighting in the 1600s).
Again depending on the character, certain colors are applied around the eyes and mouth. Warriors or samurai often wear red to denote blood vessels, or fierceness; indigo blue may characterize evil or jealousy; brown might signify superhuman or animal-like powers; a villain may wear a black beard or veins. The rules are not absolute but follow patterns.
In the end, the makeup should be so thick and pronounced to be visible to the audience but able to move with the actor’s exaggerated expressions.
When a performance is complete, an actor may press his face to a cloth to create an imprint known as oshiguma. The prints function as souvenirs of the play, documentation of an actor’s performance — a more substantial artifact than a YouTube video.
