Makeup magic brings living color to pageant ...Middle East

How do you get oil-based paint off the human body?

You make like a duck.

And oily ducks use Dawn dish detergent. At least that’s what the TV commercial says.

Dawn is just what they use backstage at the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach to get oil-based paint off the volunteers who pose as sculptures in the production’s “tableaux vivants,” or living pictures.

That’s the word from Juli Berryhill. The Laguna Woods resident paints the bodies of the female volunteers who pose in the sculptures that make up part of the pageant, along with paintings and other unique pieces.

Berryhill was backstage on the pageant grounds on Saturday, Jan. 10, as droves of people passed through to be measured and photographed and, hopefully, chosen to be a part of the production, so that they could remain perfectly still on stage for 90 seconds to recreate masterpieces of art. Hundreds of hopefuls turned out for three days of auditions Jan. 9-11.

If Berryhill paints bodies, Laguna Woods resident Jan Enns sticks with faces. For 17 years, Enns, 81, has been applying makeup to the faces of the volunteers who pose in the paintings – and sometimes the arms and chests, too.

“It’s very challenging,” Enns said backstage. “There are a lot of subtleties in each piece, and you’re trying to create the colors and tones and shadings – and we have to put all that on the faces.”

The most difficult parts are the lips and the eyebrows, she said, because they’re different in each art piece.

Enns, who is originally from Michigan, first saw the pageant in 1989 and knew right away that she wanted to be a part of it someday. She told the producers that she would “do anything,” so they assigned her to makeup.

Enns worked as a clinical social worker and had no background in makeup. In fact, she said, the producers prefer that the makeup volunteers don’t have any experience in the art.

“It’s not like regular makeup,” Enns said. “It’s a totally different type of makeup. They want to teach you to do their makeup.”

To re-create the look of the subjects in the paintings, Enns said, the chief of the makeup department creates a foam head with the exact makeup for each person posing in the pageant. Enns and the other makeup artists each receive made-up foam heads plus instructions, and then re-create the makeup onto the “live” person each night.

Berryhill, 68, worked in the makeup department at the pageant for three years before she was transferred to sculptures.

The Southern California native – Laguna Beach by way of Whittier – worked as an aesthetician for 40 years. In that profession, she needed to blend the makeup lines on the face, whereas for the pageant, she said, the lines need to be stark because of the lighting.

This year will be Berryhill’s fourth working in the sculpture department. She typically works with water-based paint, but for sculptures that have to be gold or silver, with a sort of metallic look, she uses oil-based paint.

The brushes she uses are mostly typical house paint brushes, with finer ones for the faces.

Any model who poses nude for a sculpture must be at least 18 years old, Berryhill said. Many of them are returnees, so they’re comfortable with the process. Besides, she said, they wear “privacy patches” down below, and the painters stay with the model the entire time, covering them up as they walk them to the stage and then back to the dressing room.

“The minute we put the paint on, they feel dressed,” Berryhill said.

A special painting technique she does is to make the “older” sculptures look marbled. She paints the bodies, then uses a sponge to mottle the paint.

“Those are fun pieces to do,” she said. “It’s more than just painting. It’s the artistic side.”

One of Berryhill’s more memorable sculptures she worked on is from last year’s pageant – re-creating the statue of tandem surfers Barrie and Steve Boehne that stands in Dana Point’s Waterman’s Plaza. In that piece, the woman, who was gold highlighted, is held up in the air by the man.

Another favorite was also from last year – the marble “The Three Graces,” by Antonio Canova. A replica of the sculpture, depicting three nude women in stark white, stands in Hearst Castle.

The pageant uses two casts of 150 people who rotate each week. So there will be plenty of folks who’ll get that magic makeup touch by Enns or Berryhill. The show runs July 9 and through Sept. 4.

Hence then, the article about makeup magic brings living color to pageant was published today ( Monday 19/01/2026 - 07:21 AM ) and is available on The Orange County Register ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

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