If you have to pretend to cry for a play, a disguise, or a joke, it can be very difficult to try to have your eyes red and sore just as if you were actually crying. Eye blushing is not an exact science and the result can be different with each attempt, even if using the same method. However, with some safe and smart strategy you can achieve your goal. You can also use practical effects like makeup that give good, if sometimes unpredictable results.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Irritating without Damaging the Eyes
Step 1. Peel an onion and rub a small piece under the eyes
There is no other product as cheap and always available as onion to make you cry instantly! Onions release S-oxide of (Z) -thiopropanal, an irritating chemical that makes the eyes cry and redden. Peeling and chopping onions causes the cry reaction, but prolonged exposure to this element is necessary to have red eyes as well. Take the center portion of an onion and rub it under the eyes a couple of times when you need them to look red.
- Avoid using what are called "sweet onions" (such as the Vidalia variety), as they don't cause enough irritation. If you want great results, use stronger ones like white or yellow onions.
- If you want a gentler approach, place the onion pieces in a tissue and then rub it under the eyes. The fabric works as a barrier that protects you from direct contact with the vegetable, but you will only get the effect you want if the handkerchief is not too thick.
- If you also have to pretend to cry, try rubbing some into your nostrils to encourage some runny nose.
- Be very careful not to put it in your eyes - it can be really annoying.
Step 2. Try peppermint oil as an alternative
Apply some under your eyes, the oil vapors will do the rest. Again, don't let peppermint oil get into your eyes or you'll experience an intense burning sensation.
You can find peppermint oil in grocery stores and health food stores. However, if you can't get it, you can opt for the less expensive menthol or onion, as peppermint oil, in relation to the volume, is quite expensive
Step 3. Resist the urge to blink
If you need the effect to be immediate, you can achieve your goal without using any products. Just try to keep your eyes open as much as possible, fighting against the natural instinct to close them, until it becomes too painful to continue. Since blinking is the body's tool to keep them lubricated, stopping it causes immediate dryness. When this happens, the eye becomes irritated, swollen and often starts watering. Know that this could be a rather unpleasant method!
If you want an even more realistic effect, try to stare at a light with wide eyes. However, do not look into a very strong light source or the sun - you could cause permanent damage or blindness
Step 4. Rub the area under the eyes gently
This is also a trick used by film and television actors. This is a slight physical irritation that causes the same effects as onion and other chemicals: red, watery eyes. If you want to try this technique, remember to apply only light pressure. The front area of the eye, iris and cornea, is very delicate and it is not worth damaging it just to make it red.
Also remember to keep the eyelids closed to avoid touching the eye directly, otherwise you could transfer bacteria from your hands (which come into contact with millions of microbes every day) to the eyeballs and cause infections
Step 5. Spend some time in the pool
Chlorine is an excellent sanitizer, but it is also an irritant. The gases produced by chlorine are strongest near the surface of the water. Chlorine causes your eyes to become red even if you open them while swimming underwater for an extended period of time. In both cases, make sure you are not wearing goggles as this will block the contact between the chlorine and the eyes.
Saltwater pools are also great for this purpose. However, it appears that salt is less irritating than chlorine, so the effect will be reduced
Step 6. Sleep less
This is not a one-size-fits-all solution (especially for those people who need to be focused and alert the next day), but spending a sleepless night usually makes your eyes red. If you don't make it a habit, losing a night's sleep doesn't have a dramatic impact on your health.
- Conversely, repeated sleepless nights are not recommended, as it could have serious health consequences including: impaired cognition, decreased libido, depression and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Remember that you must never drive when you are very tired and sleepy. Sleep deprivation slows down reflexes and interferes with the ability to make quick decisions, you would be a danger on the road. An Australian study revealed that people who have been awake for 24 hours have a level of cognitive difficulty equal to an individual with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10 g / l (the legal limit in Italy is 0.5 g / l). L).
Method 2 of 4: Psychological Strategies
Step 1. Get sad
Learning to cry and blush on "command" is a difficult task - even the most experienced actors have problems. There is no right way to do this, but some psychological tricks can help you. One of these is focusing on sad memories or thoughts, such as the death of a family member, a humiliating episode you experienced, or your greatest fear. As unpleasant as it may be, know that the more distressing the thought, the more realistic your expression will be.
- Here are some examples of sad thoughts: the end of a romantic relationship, a recent quarrel, problems at work, a betrayal by friends or relatives, people who have moved out of your life, or situations where you have felt great fear for yourself or for your loved ones.
- It can be effective to try to think that everyone has a life full of prospects except you. Try to evoke feelings of despair and distress; try to convince yourself that you will never have a happy and successful life. However, do not linger and believe these thoughts beyond what is necessary to stimulate crying. You certainly don't want to get depressed!
Step 2. Focus on personal pain
According to some acting teaching techniques, an actor who has to pretend to cry should "link the moment or the text to a specific event in his real life, so that it becomes less and less an attitude to be simulated and more and more a real and profound emotion. ". In other words, the best way to get sad enough to cry is to focus on your personal thoughts, on your darkest and most secret fears. Try to mentally convince yourself that your task of faking crying depends on your judgment of yourself as a person, even if it's not actually true. Get ready to delve into your unconscious and confront your demons.
Acclaimed actor Bryan Cranston, famous for the American TV series Breaking Bad, revealed in an interview how his deepest fears helped him convincingly act out a scene in which he witnesses the death of a young woman. He claimed to imagine that this woman was his daughter
Step 3. Try to get angry or frustrated
Red, weeping eyes aren't always the result of sadness. Sometimes intense feelings of anger or frustration, especially if caused by a loved one, can also cause crying. If you have a hard time crying with just sad thoughts, try adding a hint of anger! For example, you can think of those difficulties in life that make you frustrated or the self-destructive behavior of a relative who does not want to follow your advice.
Here are some more examples: there are situations in which you have been "bypassed" for an award or a promotion at work, sometimes an enemy has been more successful than you, on some occasions you have been treated unfairly by someone who has power about you or you have been a witness, or you have suffered social injustices
Step 4. Get the media for help
The motivation to cry doesn't have to come 100% from you; sometimes external sources can help you too. This is a strategy that actors often use to get into the right mindset and play the part of a person experiencing intense emotions. A movie, book, song, or other art form that arouses deep sadness and frustration can be effective for this. Here are some ideas:
- Movies: Life is Beautiful, The Green Mile, Titanic, Up, The boy in the striped pajamas.
- Books: Wuthering Heights, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, If This is a Man.
- Songs: Yesterday (Beatles), The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young), Caruso (Lucio Dalla), Nutshell (Alice in Chains), Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton).
Step 5. Keep your expectations in check
It is important to remember that the strategies in this section are more difficult to put into practice than the other tricks in the article, even for those who cry easily. It can be very difficult to grieve to cry, even the best actors struggle with this problem. So remember to have a backup plan ready if you fail.
Method 3 of 4: Tricks to Pretend You Have Red Eyes
Step 1. Consider using makeup
If you can't really have red eyes, fake it! With some makeup, you can make your eyes look puffy and red as if you just cried. Since these are techniques that don't really irritate your eyes, they won't bother you at all (unlike the methods described above). For example, try one of these strategies:
- Apply small dots of red eyeliner around the lash line. You can also use a red eyeshadow or mouth pencil, just make sure that it is gentle enough to be used on an area as sensitive as the eyelids. Make strokes along the entire lower lid. If you want a more incisive effect, also make up the upper ones.
- Blend the eyeliner into the skin with a cotton ball or makeup smudge. To make the eyes appear red, the surrounding skin must also be lightly made up, with a red "shading" effect. The original dots and lines should not be visible, so keep fading them until they are completely gone.
Step 2. Consider using colored contact lenses
This is also a simple method to make the eyes red, in fact there are special lenses with a design of red capillaries or with a particular red color. If you decide on this method, it is important to get a product that "colors" the whites of the eyes and not the iris (the area which is usually brown, green or blue). If you buy red iris contact lenses, you will look like a demon or a vampire and not a person who just cried.
Some companies specializing in stage make-up and theatrical material make handcrafted contact lenses for movies and theater, so you can do some research and see if you can buy high-quality products from them. Know that this is not a cheap solution, professional contact lenses can cost well over 200 euros per couple
Step 3. Enhance the effect with a menthol stick
If you have to pretend to cry over a play or movie, you can consider purchasing a menthol stick. It is a kind of lipstick that professional actors use to help themselves in crying scenes, basically it is a semi-solid gel or a menthol-based wax which, when rubbed under the lower eyelid, causes an immediate tearing. The effect is definitely very realistic.
Since the "active element" of this product is menthol, this method works exactly like the one described in the previous section
Method 4 of 4: Things to Avoid
Step 1. Do not use aggressive irritants such as pepper, mace and so on
It is never a good idea to put your health at risk just to have realistically red eyes. Avoid putting anything in your eyes that can seriously irritate them, including chemicals like pepper spray or other natural substances derived from chili peppers. When used in sufficient quantities, these products cause permanent damage and even blindness.
Step 2. Do not directly irritate the eyeball
If you are using a method that involves rubbing the skin around the eyes to induce redness, be sure not to touch the eye itself. Even if you are able to avoid immediate damage, there is always the risk of transferring the bacteria that are present on your hands and causing infections (as written in the previous section). This danger is greatest if you have touched an object teeming with bacteria, such as a door handle.
Also, since the eyes are very delicate organs, direct contact could cause trauma. Even the slightest scratch can cause pain, while more serious injuries (such as corneal irritation) require medical attention
Step 3. Don't use marijuana as an eye redness product
We've all heard that using marijuana makes eyes comically red. While this is true, it is not a good idea to either smoke or eat it; if you need your eyes to be red for a play, know that the effects on your cognitive abilities will interfere with good and convincing acting. In addition, you may be punishable by law, with penalties ranging from a fine to imprisonment, according to the laws in force.
