makeup – The Rebel Fae

Cosplay, has the power to completely change someone into anyone they want.

Want to become your favorite video game character for a day?

Cosplay can help with that.

Got an anime character you’d love to go as for a convention?

Cosplay can help with that.

What about an Original Character that you’ve wanted to dress up as for a D&D campaign?

Yup, you’ve guessed it…

Cosplay can help with that.

Never fear! For cosplay is here! _{Sorry guys, I had to. XD}

Every part of the cosplay helps tell a story. From the clothing of the cosplay–be it made from armor or fabric to the various props a cosplayer is no doubt seen wielding.

All of these parts work in complete harmony. But there is one more element that not many people give a hat tip and recognition to…The makeup part of cosplay!

Makeup for cosplay is like the cherry on top of a beautiful cake. It completes the entire cosplayer’s transformation.

“Cosplay makeup can really take a cosplays level up 100%,” Butter Beret, a cosplay Instagrammer said. “It completely brings the character the character to life!”

And how very true that is. From outlining the eyes, applying contour to the cheekbones and nose, and so much more. Just with a simple swoosh of a brush or a flick of an eyeliner pencil you can completely change who you look like in an instant.

I, myself believe that make up for cosplay can be super impactful. Many different people can use it in different ways from completely covering themselves from head to toe, just using it for their face, or even using it to make fake wounds and prostheses!

“Cosplay makeup can really take a cosplays level up 100%”
Butter Beret

Other people believe the same as well, and it’s fascinating to hear other fellow cosplayers’ opinions on it. I got the experience to talk to others as well about how they feel about makeup for cosplay.

“The being in character of cosplay.” – Insolublehitesh1

“For people who struggle with their beauty, cosplay can help them I believe.” – JadeSnowWhiteWolf

It is truly a powerful tool when it comes right down to it. It’s really a shame it doesn’t get as much attention as the other counterparts of making a cosplay complete. Especially with how many people–including myself, who love that aspect of the cosplay process.

“Eye makeup is the most important and favorite for me,” LatinKimchi an artist and cosplayer stated. “It just really makes the cosplay come alive to me.”

“I personally love how I can shift my look from female to male at will for genderbending or simply to cosplay a different gender,” said Anonymous.

All in all, whether you believe it’s impactful and amazing or you just plain love doing it, makeup in cosplay will always remain a major thing in the cosplay world. Well, that’s all for now my Rebels!

Rebel Fae out!

Hey everyone and welcome to this week’s What The *Bleep* Am I Doing?! Albeit a few days late, but better late than never as I always say! Anyhoo, for this week’s article, I’m going to be starting in on talking about Cosplay Makeup! So, it will be a bit of a series if you will. Kind of like how I did for explaining EVA Foam. First off, we’ll be discussing the ever-confusing terms that come along in the world of cosplay makeup and a quick and dirty run-through of how to get started with each and every one of them! I know I was put through a loop when I first started out. So, let’s get started, shall we?

The Double Eyelid

Ooh boy, this one sure gave me a run for my money when I first started cosplay. I always saw so many “pro cosplayers” copy what was called a double eyelid so very well. I personally, had no clue what it was till I not only studied it by looking up the different looks of cosplayers and the anime characters they cosplayed as, but I literally looked up the term as well.

“Double eyelids are eyelids with visible double creases”
http://www.healthline.com

Essentially, that’s exactly what it is. It’s the extra crease in your eyelid. Most common with people from Asia. Hence why in anime you almost always see a small extra line on their upper eyelid. So many cosplayers try to recreate this and when done correctly, it looks phenomenal.

Although, it isn’t the only way to do eye makeup it still makes it look pretty cool and lifelike so-to-speak. Like you’re making the character you’re cosplaying come alive. Then again, this isn’t the only way to do so, it isn’t everything after all cosplay should be fun and not hypercritical. But I digress.

A good way to create the double eyelid effect I find is to use a smokey eye pallet and apply them sparingly so you can make it appear like you have a double eyelid through a shadow/contour-like effect. Later on, I’ll have a full-on tutorial to better explain this so, be sure to be on the lookout for that!

Anime Eyes

Now, this may sound a little more confusing than it actually is. What I mean by “Anime eyes” is the way you contour your eyes with eyeliner. Plain and simple as that my friends! With eyeliner, you can control how your eye looks with ease. You can make them look sharp and angled, all the way to looking big and doll-like! It’s really something else, what a simple thing like liquid or pencil eyeliner can do. And I highly recommend using both black eyeliner and white eyeliner. These two will provide a great highlighting and well, for lack of a better word contour effect! With the white eyeliner being the highlighter, and the black providing the contour and shaping effect.

Contour

Basically, this term is pretty fast forward in the makeup world in general. But I’m sure there are some of y’all out there who were like me that when you first started out with cosplay, you’ve never touched a makeup pallet nor brush in your entire life.

So, to help all of my fellow makeup-challenged friends out there, let’s explain contour, shall we? To sum it up it’s essentially what you do to practically change your face structure.

Want to make high cheekbones?

Contour.

Want to make a fake Adam’s apple to cosplay a male character?

Contour.

Want to change or sharpen your face shape?

Contour.

Basically, if eye makeup is king in the cosplay world, contour is the queen. But it can become quite confusing if you don’t know where to put the correct shades and how to blend. So that’s where I come in! Thus, stay tuned for that article, my friends! You’ll see the link pop up here when it does. Or if you’re already following this blog, you’ll get notified right away!

And last but not least we have probably the most annoying yet important-ish (Because I know a few tricks around it, and as I have said perfection is not cosplay, this is only a guide to help with technical work that some cosplayers do for their cosplays. Not needed for fun, just something to think about) But I digress once more.

Eyebrow Blocking

This is probably the bane of almost every cosplayers existence…Which is why I found a way around it occasionally. Only if you don’t want to go for exact. Anyhoo. Eyebrow blocking is what you do so you can cover up your eyebrows to the point of them being practically invisible. This helps you make eyebrows look exactly like the characters’.

My way around this when I don’t want to go through the whole process of glue, powder, glue again, and contour–it’s a long process trust me. I just simply go over my eyebrows–with the grain of the hair of course, with white eyeliner, smooth it in, and then use whatever eyeshadow color on it that matches the color of the characters’! Simple yea? But you’ll see how to do the long way soon enough my friends.

With that, I believe that covers terms! If you guys have any questions don’t be shy to ask! I’d be more than happy to answer! And expect the rest of the cosplay makeup series realllly soon!

Rebel out!