Atlanta International Schools Production of 'Alice in Wonderland': Queen of Hearts Make up

The Queen of Hearts is supposed to look crazy/mean/wacky and wear mostly the colour red (as she is the Queen of 'Hearts'). The look used on Helena Bonham - Carter was great due to the luxury they had of special affects. In the movie, her body was small and her head was very large. Unfortunately, we don't have the same type of affects in a play and to do a make up job like this would be too much. However, we should still incorporate some of the main features of her look, such as the red lips, the white face and the mole.


It is important that she has a white face because not only does it make the rest of the make up look more dramatic, but it also fits her character traits of looking crazy and wacky (similar to the Mad Hatter). The Queen of Hearts is also meant to be unattractive. This feature is important because her sister (the White Queen) is supposed to be the attractive one who looks friendly and angelic. It is the contrast between these two characters that creates humor and makes for a fun story.


As the Queen of Hearts wears mostly red, it is important to go with theme and do a matte red lip. A good example of a red lipstick is in figure 1. This lipstick is from the same collection as the one I suggested for the Mad Hatter. It is a pro long-wear lipstick that won't rub off and need constant re-applying every time she gets off stage.

Figure 1: Mac Cosmetics Pro Longwear Lipreme in 'Prolong'


A mole is a stereotypical feature of an unattractive person. They have been used to describe witches and unattractive characters for a long time. Therefore, as they did for Helena Bonham - Carter, our queen of hearts should also have a black mole.


In Helena Bonham - Carter's look they raised her eyebrows and used a lot of blue eyeshadow. As we don't have close ups, the amount of tools it would take to do something that extravagant would not be appreciated. Instead we should do a thick line of black eyeliner on her top lid in the shape of a cat eye (as shown in figure 2). This look is very dramatic and can be seen by the audience. Underneath the eyeliner, we should fill her lid with a blue eye shadow (similar to the one in figure 3). To give a more dramatic affect, we should put a very thin line of black eyeliner underneath the eye and underneath that apply a line of the blue eyeshadow. This can be done using a brush like the one in figure 4.

Figure 2: An example of a Cat Eye

Figure 3: Mac Eyeshadow in 'Moon's Reflection'

Figure 4: Mac Cosmetics Flat Definer Brush


Her eyelashes should be noticeable as she is on stage and it would make her eyes more visible to the audience. However, similar to the Mad Hatter, her eyelashes need to be over the top as every other actor on stage will already be wearing the maximum amount of mascara. Fake eyelashes like the ones in figure 5 would be a good choice as they are black so they will be seen by the audience and they aren't necessarily 'glamorous'. They are a 'wacky' style that will match her 'wacky' look. As you can see in the image, the top eyelashes are thick and separated. 

Figure 5: An example of Fake Eyelashes