Gothic Make-up by Lady Niav
On Ixion, the island of ever-night, revellers are treated to sumptuous dark clothing in velvets, lace, and leather. If you don’t live on Ixion you’ll have to do it yourself – starting with make-up.
Which Goth look is ‘you’?
Romanti-Goth
This look references Victorian-era mourning garb with elegant flowing skirts, lace and velvet; the atmosphere is poised and refined. The make-up is dark, sombre, sweeping, and occasionally features eyeliner decoration at the outer eye corners.
Industrial Goth
Modern, tough, and dystopian, it draws ideas from industrial music. The look incorporates PVC, metal plates, spikes, and sometimes militaristic influences. Make-up is dark and more likely to feature colours like green or electric blue.
Death Rocker
Think gore and zombies, then for maximum shock-value incorporate fake blood, black or coloured mohawks and dark highlights under cheekbones!
There are many more Goth looks and you can mix elements – I have added resources at the end for your perusal.
Once you have selected a style, the range of products can be dismaying! Read on for some suggestions.
Face
Protect your skin with sunscreen before attempting to disguise a tan or freckles; and for Goth’s sake make sure it won’t rub white onto your lovely
blackclothes. My current products are Olay complete defence, Neutrogena ultra-sheer body mist and Nivea ultra-beach protect spray.
Now select a foundation up to 3 shades lighter than your natural colour, a concealer and a light powder. Mine are the palest shades of Innoxa line-defying foundation, Innoxa loose powder and concealer stick. Use a green concealer under natural concealer for spots. If you have a lot of red-tone there are green primers available (I have never used them so cannot recommend any).
Eyes
The essentials are mascara and eyeliner. My minimum is a thick black line following the top eyelashes and sweeping up and out at the corners, then the lower eyelashes and inner eyelid are lined. Never cover your tear-duct; this can cause eye infection. Eyeliner needs to survive the Australian summer. Revlon colour-stay retractable pencil rarely lets me down. My favourite liquid eyeliner is Ecriture de Chanel. It has a ‘wind-up’ ink dosing mechanism for precise control over line thickness. As for mascara – I cannot pick a favourite but Revlon is reliable.
There are so many expressions of Goth eyeshadow. Colours include black, grey, red, blue, purple and even silver or green. For colour staying power use a primer. I love M.A.C Paint Pot (which now comes in black!!!). My black eyeshadow is also M.A.C (black-tied) but I’m not 100% happy that it takes a lot of layers to get the darkness I want. I love my intense M.A.C blues and sombre greys. Fyrinnae make nearly any colour you can imagine, including shimmery dual tones (like red/black, blue/purple). This product can flake off but Fyrinnae sell a pixie epoxy (which I haven’t tried). My favourite purple eyeshadow at the moment is Yardley ‘plum seduction.’
A thin, elegantly arched black eyebrow says a lot in the Goth world. You can enhance your eyebrows with a pencil or you can moisten a slanted brush then wipe it across black eye-shadow and apply. You can also shave off your eyebrows and re-draw them in black, green, blue or whatever takes your fancy.
Lips
Black lipstick is classic but sadly black does not suit everyone (like me, and so I don’t have any recommendations for you). Other gothy options are blood red, deep blue, dark purple, or silver and neon colours if you’re cybergoth! I’m still searching for lipstick the colour of venous blood. My bold bright red is M.A.C ‘Russian red,’ my blue is Manic Panic ‘midnight blue’, and my purple is M.A.C ‘cyber.’ Lip liner in matching colours can be impossible. Black eyeliner works for black lipstick, but I use a slanted eye-shadow brush with my dark colours as the edge provides a sharp line.
My favourite resources:
– The Lady of Manners – Gothic Charm School (the book is best!)
– Voltaire’s books ‘What is Goth?’ and ‘Paint it Black’
– Fyrinnae
– Dark music festival, Wave-Gotik-Treffen
