It's not easy being green

MANILA, Philippines - We sat down with Wicked’s head of wigs and makeup, Kellie Ritchie, and got six tips on how to achieve Elphaba’s glowing, evenly toned green hue. —Cai Subijano

1. Use a pale foundation as a primer. “Otherwise, the green can stick to the skin,” Kellie explains. “It depends on the performers’ skin and what actually suits them best. On Jemma Rix, we used Laura Mercier because she has very sensitive skin.”

2. Like finding the right foundation to match your skintone, getting the right shade of green is tricky. “If you get too much water, it’s quite hard to blend MAC Chromacake in Landscape Green, so the less water the better, because it kind of just buffs into the skin,” Kellie says. The shade of green for each actress who plays Elphaba is also tailored to her particular skintone.

3. Blend, blend, blend. “I use about 10 brushes. I love brushes and I keep changing them and using different ones,” Kellie reveals. During the demo, she used a rather large brush to go over Jemma’s entire face. “That’s a just a goats hair brush from an arts store!” she says.

4. Make your products to double-duty. To line Elphaba’s black lips, Kellie actually used MAC Eye Kohls in Smolder and Rosemary and Thyme. To fill in her lips, Kellie says you can just use “black lipstick from any brand.” To make her lipstick stay, Kellie sets it with a translucent powder.

5. Oils can be a good thing. Though legend has it that Elphaba melted to death after water is thrown at her, not once does her makeup melt off in between scenes. “First, I put on the MAC Landscape Green, then I use an oil stick, which I buff on. We don’t use a lot of it and haven’t really had any problems with breakouts. It creates another layer with oil and stops the product from moving. Afterwards, I set it with powder.”

6. Even green skin needs a little dimension. To contour Jemma’s face, Kellie uses MAC Eyeshadow in Purple Haze on her cheeks and the corners of her eyes. “I think the purple is a beautiful contrast to the green opposed to using black or brown,” she notes. To highlight, uses MAC Eyeshadow in Vanilla to highlight her cheekbones and the area above her cheeks, along Wicked’s best-kept secret: MAC Golden Olive Pigment. “It’s a shimmer powder so you can mix it with water. We put it on all of the highlighted areas, which gives it a glowing look under the skin especially under the lights in the theatre,” she says.