A cartoon princess can’t exactly drop her skin-care routine, but Melody Ricketts, of the popular feed @MelodysPrincessLife, is the next best thing. As a character actor, Ricketts dresses up as all of our favorite fantasy princesses, with hair and makeup meticulously planned to bring each fairy tale to life. Ricketts estimates that every weekend she works three parties, meets 80 kids, and takes over 200 photos — and that translates to a whole lot of beauty prep.
“The most rewarding thing about it is bringing these fantasy characters to life,” she says. To keep the magic alive, she avoids letting party guests see her with the decidedly non-fantasy aspects of real life, like her phone or car keys. “Sometimes kids will ask you ‘where’d you park?’ and I tell them I came by carriage,” she says. Fortunately for Allure and all beauty lovers, Ricketts was willing to shatter the fantasy when it comes to her beauty routine.
To protect her skin from heavy character makeup, Ricketts starts each day with her skin-care regimen. She cleanses with Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser, adds a layer of nourishment with the brand’s Protini Polypeptide Moisturizer, then follows it up with sun protection, courtesy of Supergoop Everyday Sunscreen.
On any given day, she’ll play multiple princesses, so mornings also consist of laying out all the makeup she’ll need for the various looks. Each princess takes about an hour and a half to bring to life, a feat Ricketts completes with primer, concealer, and a powder foundation.
“The reason I don’t use liquid foundation is because it does, no matter what, tend to cover up my freckles, and I don’t want to have them covered,” she says. (See, even princesses can fight outdated beauty standards.)
Her beauty stash also contains a lot of highlighters. “Having highlighter adds a level of whimsy, and gives a doll-like effect,” she says. The secret? She starts with a liquid highlighter, then goes over it with powder highlighter. “It’ll pretty much reflect whenever I’m smiling, and I never stop smiling when I’m a princess.”
The lucky kids at her birthday parties have no clue just how much work Ricketts puts into her princess cosplay. Luckily, now you can see the magic here.
Watch the full video, below:
http://video.allure.com/watch/a-professional-party-princess-s-entire-routine-from-make-up-to-happy-birthday-songs
