We realize that women want to look as pretty as possible, while keeping themselves looking historically accurate. Below is a guide to being pretty, and period, while working at Faire.

Makeup
Even peasant women can wear makeup. Just keep it looking natural. Everyone is going to need to wear sunscreen under their foundation, even if their foundation has an SPF. For some reason, Faire is a place of sunburns if you're not careful. All the walking around outside can lead to serious discomfort if you're not vigilant with your sunscreen. For those women wearing foundation, what you're going to want to do is this. Before you put on your foundation, put on sunscreen. I personally recommend Water Babies SPF 45. You must have a SPF of at least fifteen, higher is better. Let the sunscreen settle on your skin for between two to five minutes before applying foundation. If you don't, it will mix with your foundation, and become sticky and smear. You don't want that. When choosing foundation, either wear something very light, or something very sturdy. Women playing nobility will want to wear a very light, or white foundation. Do not use the white foundations they sell at Halloween at the drugstore. These are made from horrendous ingredients, will not apply smoothly, and will streak by mid-day. I have found that stage makeup is wonderful, the best brand for foundation is Joe Blasco. It gives moderate to heavy coverage, and does not streak in the sun. Makeup For Ever is another great brand. Their powders are especially good. Rice powder, and even pure cornstarch baby powder is good, too. If you are of the type of complexion that white looks good with, you can go full force with the white face. Women in that time period used white makeup quite a lot. Of course, theirs was made out of lead, and eventually scarred your face, and made you insane. Thank goodness for technological advances. If stark white would not flatter your skin, go with a very light beige. Be careful with ivory tones, as some women look decidedly orange in those tones. Powder is a must. Also, blotting papers, sold by Clean and Clear, Sephora and the Body Shop, are a great way to soak up excess oil and sweat from your skin without disturbing your makeup. On your lips, peasants and middle class can go with lip gloss, which is wonderful for your lips in the hot sun. It keeps them moist, and choosing one with a SPF factor is a great idea. Nobles can wear lipstick. Red was a common colour choice. As for eye makeup, all women should keep it pretty tame. Peasants and middle class can go for a natural colour theme. Browns, soft oranges, beiges, bones and yellows are good colours for a smidge of eyeshadow. Subtle mascara is fine. Noblewomen might want to outline their eyes with a thin black line, and use mascara. Heavy eyeshadow is not very period. Blush can be used by anyone, peasants and middle class should use it as shading to bring out their bone structure, nobles can be a bit more heavy handed, if they wish. You can use eyebrow pencil to add beauty marks, if you so desire. A bit of advice. If your skin is at all oily, or if you tend to sweat a lot, you do not want to use cream based eyeshadows, eye pencils or blushes. The more cream based anything is, the more likely it is to streak and smear. Powder can be used for eyeliner, for shading brows, for shadow, and for blush, and is much less likely to wear badly. Avoid anything with a distinctly metallic or glittery tone. Avoid vibrant shades of green, blue or purple. Also, as well as blotting papers, think about carrying baby wipes or individual cleansing towelettes. They're great for fixing smudges, or wiping off a bit of sweat. You may also want to carry a pressed powder compact , tissue and lip gloss in your pouch for fix-ups during the day. When applying sunscreen, apply it to ALL visible flesh. Decolletage, neck, face, any parts of your arms, the tops of your hands, your ears...anything and everything the sun will hit. Nothing ruins Faire faster than a sunburn. Some people even carry a small tube of sunscreen in their pouch for additional applications during the day.

Hair
Women are encouraged to wear a hat or headpiece. Women who didn't wear something on their heads, were generally thought to be of rather questionable virtue. Not wearing a hat was actually illegal in some places. Very young girls often went about without hats, it was fine if they were young and unmarried. However, we do not require you to wear a hat. If you choose to wear your hair down, or if any of it is visible, make sure it looks nice. You can do nearly anything. Put it up in a bun, curl it into ringlets, braid it, string it with pearls or beads, braid ribbons into it, anything that looks lovely and appropriate. Please hide all modern hair colours (Purple, Blue, Pink, etc) under a hat. Also, if you have bangs, consider pinning them back. Bangs weren't very period. If there's no way to do that that you're pleased with, leave them. Another grand idea that our Artistic Coordinator had, is to attach hair pieces to your hat or headpiece. This gives you the chance to do really artistic things, like string pearls and beads, braid the hair with ribbons, and so on, without you having to re-do it every time you dress for Faire. It also makes getting ready for Faire ever so much faster and worry free. And that's a good thing. Snoods are wonderful, as well. You can wear them alone, or under a kerchief or hat. A bit of advice. If you plan to do extensive curling of your hair, don't wash your hair the day before. Hair that is slightly dirty is much more likely to hold a curl. Also feel free to use modern hair products to keep your style in place.

Perfumes and Fragrances
We have no objection to actresses using modern perfumes. However, when exposed to harsh sunlight, modern perfumes can smell entirely different than they are supposed to. Sun can truly ruin perfume. It also can cause rashes on some types of skin, and white blotches on others. It's generally not a good idea to spray modern perfumes all over you when working Faire.
Essential oils, and blended oil mixes are nice. Some of our merchants sell those, as well. Try not to slather those on areas the sun is going to hit, for the same reasons as perfume. It can irritate the skin, and alter the scent.
Demeter Fragrances are a wonderful choice, as well. You can purchase them from Sensia.com and Sephora.com, and they come in many wonderful scents. Wood Smoke, Dirt, Grass, Ocean, Saddle, Crust of Bread, Mulled Cider, Stable, Whiskey Tobacco and countless other single note scents. These always smell "like something". They tend to run from about $12.50 to $16.00. Additional Information:

Website: Hairstyles of the Elizabethan Period