Lesson Seven: Gender-Bending--Ronald Colman

       For this lesson we were to transform ourselves into a believable human being--and not a caricature--of the opposite gender. I chose Ronald Colman, my favorite actor from the Classic Hollywood period, who also happens to share my birthday!
       I contoured some angles into my forehead, cheekbones, jawline, nose and chin. I added some wrinkles to the forehead and his dimples; as well as thickening my eyebrows and giving him his signature dapper little mustache. I did not use crepe hair for the mustache, because it was so thin (as matinee idols tended to have it in the 1930s--especially if they were British as he was and wanted to project a dignified image) that I could just use an eyeliner pencil. He projected a gentle warmth, had a voice like a Stradivarius violin, was considered one of the handsomest actors in Hollywood, and aged so gracefully that he was still playing leading men into his 50s and 60s, so I didn't want to add a lot of wrinkles and lines because he didn't have them. I fortunately also have his dark brown eyes.
       Again, my short hair came in handy, and I added a blazer and a fedora to complete the look, because I had them and I was able to, rather than just doing my face/neck, putting on a headband so people can ignore my hair, and calling it good. This was actually one of my favorite looks I created, and gave me a new-found power with makeup I didn't know I really had. I can literally transform myself into anybody I want to, and age and gender needn't hold me back at all!