Smiling female wearing a full face of stage makeup

Ben Nye Student Stage Makeup Kit Review

A small, clear plastic box containing stage makeup, powder, sponges and pencil with a label saying "Ben Nye Creme Personal Kit"
Ben Nye Student Stage Makeup Kit

The first stage makeup kit I ever saw was the Ben Nye student stage makeup kit. I have never had to buy one, so I wanted to see what they were about. I bought a kit online for about $22. My first potential stumbling block came with choosing the foundation color. The small kit that I was looking at only has one foundation color, so I had to guess.

Student Stage Makeup Kit Contents

Close up image of Ben Nye's small student kit including powder, powder puff, two wedge sponges, stipple sponge, foundation, contour/highlight/cheek/lip palette, and small eye pencil

Each kit contains:

  • Contour Palette (includes Creme Rouge, Creme Highlight, Creme Shadow, Creme Lipcolor)
  • Creme Foundation (0.4oz / 11gm.)
  • Eye Pencil
  • Translucent Face Powder (0.4oz / 11gm.)
  • Flat Brush
  • Latex Sponge Applicator
  • Powder Puff
  • Stipple Sponge

Each kit is advertised as having enough for 12 applications, which is generally plenty for one or two runs of a show. I’m not sure how they measure each application, but I’ve had friends whose kits lasted longer than 12 applications.

Ben Nye Student Makeup Kit Video Review

Where to Find the Ben Nye Student Makeup Kit

I got my student makeup kit at stagemakeuponline.com. You can also get it at Makeup Mania, Amazon, Stage & Screen FX and lots of others. The prices vary by retailer, and some may have discounts for bulk orders and/or education-related groups.

The Positive

The biggest positive for me is ease of use. The creme foundation goes on easily, covers really well, and blends beautifully both on the skin and with the other creme products. You get plenty of foundation, so there is little to no fear of running out in the typical run of a show. The powder puff is nice and large, and double sided so you can use it longer. It is also fairly large and fluffy which makes applying the setting powder easier.

The Negative

Really, the biggest negative about these kits is that you have to guess your foundation color. Ben Nye does have a collection of foundation color samples to use as test swatches, but those are for educators only (I’m not sure if high school teachers can get this or if it’s only college-level). Without the ability to test, you are really stuck with “best guess.” If you spring for the more expensive student kit, there is a trio of foundations included, but that’s nearly triple the price ($68 instead of $22). The positive on this is that for stage, an exact match is not needed, so a best guess should work out alright. The eye pencil is on the small side, but really, it will last you as long as the kit does…perhaps even longer!

Further Thoughts

I am probably the most familiar with Ben Nye products, so I feel comfortable using them. The foundation is obviously the way wrong color for me, but as I said in the video, if I blend it over my ears and neck, it would work. This group of cremes is really easy to work with, and there is enough product for more than one production/show. They don’t give enough sponge wedges, but those are relatively cheap and easy to get in bags of 100 at Walmart or Amazon.

If you’d like to read my thoughts on the Mehron Student Kit, check out my review.


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