For many drag performers, makeup is an essential tool for creating a distinct personal image. However, unlike other performing art forms, it’s more than just putting on a costume or wearing stage makeup; it’s an opportunity to be more dramatic than is possible day-to-day, by exploring gender, art and identity.
Cake Boi, based in Birmingham, spends his time onstage lip-syncing to Lana Del Rey and delivering fantastical performances. Judas Darkholme, who works in Manchester, is a drag performer that takes inspiration from the punk scene as well as fictional shapeshifters from X-Men. Don One is a successful London-based drag king who has performed in the West End and had a regular appearance on comedian Joe Lycett’s Channel 4 show Late Night Lycett. Here, they discuss how makeup shapes their onstage personas and their offstage identities.
SKiN: Makeup is crucial in the world of drag; how performers manipulate it is what gives them different identities. How do you use makeup for your drag persona and what products do you use?
Judas Darkholme: My drive is very non-human; I use a lot of block-coloured faces. I use Kryolan and Morphe palettes, and I get cosplay lashes from Amazon. I also block out my brows and end up having a disgusting amount of glue on my face. Drag is fun, but it’s in no way comfortable.
Cake Boi: Makeup is like skincare – it takes a really long time to find the products that work for you. I use The Vivienne Spectre Eyeshadow Palette and the Kryolan TV Paint Stick. I use a really high pigment as a base, and then everything else is bright shadows.
Don One: The biggest thing for me is putting on a moustache and shading around my jawline to create a masculine square jaw. I always go for a moustache and a goatee, which normally consists of liquid eyeliner. I used to stick on facial hair, but I stopped when I was in Death Drop on the West End because that was seven shows a week. It’s taxing on my skin to be putting on the spirit gum and removing glue.
SKiN: Do you have a set pre-performance routine? Or does it differ with the type of gigs you have booked?
Judas Darkholme: I like to take time with my makeup. It’s quite a ritualistic experience for me, so I usually do it at home. But recently I have been liking getting ready at the venue with my fellow performers, it builds a rapport. I’m blessed and lucky to be able to be in a room with people I’m comfortable with; it’s honestly quite a magical feeling.
Cake Boi: I only do one set face normally. I don’t change my look because I want it to be memorable and almost like a logo. It’s your brand, in a way.
Don One: If I can get ready at home I will because I’ve got great lighting in my bathroom. When I go to some venues there is what I describe as ‘racist lighting.’ It’s fine if you’ve got light skin but if you’re dark skinned you need light to be able to see clearly when you’re putting your makeup on.
SKiN: After all your makeup has been applied, your hair is in place and your outfit is on, what’s the feeling you get once you have transformed into this version of yourself?
Judas Darkholme: It’s empowering. It’s a pinnacle of confidence that you tap into that isn’t readily available to you day-to-day. I definitely strive for it, it’s like a pursuit of confidence and freedom.
Cake Boi: When I’m at the gig I feel good, I feel cute, but it’s just a mask. It is a job after all. I want something that’s recognisable, but I’m not trying to look like a woman, that’s not my drag.
Don One: There’s this feeling when you put your drag face on, it makes you feel like you have transformed into a character. It makes me feel like I am ready to go onstage and be a bigger version of myself. It is much more than just a costume.
SKiN: What does your drag persona represent?
Judas Darkholme: I have always loved punk aesthetics. My drag is always trying to go against the grain. On the other hand, I’m a massive nerd. I was that kid reading X-Men. I actually took my last name ‘Darkholme’ from the X-Men character Raven Darkholme, who is a mutant shapeshifter. I used to think, that’s me!
Cake Boi: I’m starting to look like a pink version of KISS. Juno Birch is a huge inspiration as well; I learned a lot of my makeup tips through watching her videos.
Don One: It’s really important for drag kings to be spotlighted. When people think of drag they often just think of queens. Drag kings go back as far as the 19th century. It’s starting to feel like there’s been a rise in awareness, but we still have so far to go with increasing drag king visibility.
SKiN: Is there a blend between your identity in your day-to-day life and the persona you have when you are in drag?
Judas Darkholme: I go by different names because I want to be known for the art form I’m partaking in at the time. But when it comes to myself day-to-day, as superficially extroverted as I might look, I’m an introvert and I need my time, I need my peace.
Cake Boi: When I do drag, I don’t feel like I’m putting on a character. It’s not like pantomime when the character and the actor are two different people, it’s very ingrained in my life.
Don One: I’m gender nonconforming and also consider myself non-binary. Being a drag king allows me to embrace that masculine part of myself I’ve in the past felt like I couldn’t. Being able to celebrate that through drag feels really empowering.