Movie Makeup: Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton is known for his dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I know everyone was excited when finding out his Disney collaboration with Alice in Wonderland. I remember thinking to myself, how is he doing to put his special twist to this classical movie and most importantly, what kind of makeup will complement his style.

Academy award artist, Valli O’Reilly is well established in the film industry working with top directors and producers. O’Reilly previously won an Oscar for her work on “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” She did such an amazing job as the makeup department head for this movie. The colors, contours, lashes, skin, and everything looked impeccably flawless. To give Alice a dark feel, O’Reilly added an eggplant eyeshadow color around her eyes.

The makeup for the Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham Carter, took about two and half hours each day. One of O’Reilly’s challenges is getting the makeup flawless everyday because they use High-Def and 3-D, which can be so detailed that they can show every pore.

How to create the Red Queen’s Look:

• Using a glue stick and spatula, flatten down the brows in the direction of the hair growth
• Set brows using a full coverage powder. Repeat with glue stick if needed
• Use light, almost white, foundation all over the face and down the neck
• Prime eyes with an eyeshadow primer to ensure longevity
• Using an aqua blue color eyeshadow, apply color from lid to brows. Clean up the sides with a q-tip

• Using a steady hand, draw the brows using a dark water resistant liner—don’t be afraid to go higher
• Apply eyeliner and eyelashes on top and bottom
• Using a water resistant or waterproof lip color, manually draw the cupid’s bow using a lip brush.
• Then, continue to the bottom lips. Clean up edges with a lip liner and concealer (if needed)