Showing posts with label makeup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label makeup. Show all posts

May 9, 2023

RE4 Leon Kennedy costest update

 Hello!

What is this, a cosplay post? You bet! :'D No but really, I know it's been literal years since I last made any cosplay progress post or anything that's not a circle lens review lol but I promise I'm getting back on track! The past weeks I've been really getting back into the cosplay groove and I actually have regained motivation to do stuff, wow! I have some moderately ambitious plans for the future and I should start cranking out more costuming content towards the summer, if everything goes as planned.

But anygays, back to the topic at hand. So yeah, a part of this reignited cosplay hype transferred over to me wanting to fix some almost-completed cosplays so that I can debut them at future conventions. I have quite a bunch of undebuted cosplays that need some small fixing before they're show-worthy. My Leon cosplay is one of them – I'm only missing props. That, and that I've wanted to slightly modify the wig a bit more as it started to bother me over the years. 
So what do I do? Well, last weekend I headed over to spend some quality time with Sallukka and their boyfriend. Sallukka slightly tinted the wig by using brown markers to color some fibers by hand and after that was done I put it on my head and we trimmed it a bit shorter on the sides and thinned down the front because it was quite front-heavy (although it didn't look like it!). The wig felt so much nicer and breezier to wear after shedding some excess fibers! It feels like it sits better on my head now and doesn't look as bulky on the front as before.
I was a derp and forgot to take any wig styling photos (sorry!) but how the wig looked before can be seen on this post from... half a decade ago, omegayikes. Jesus Christ time flies. 
 
But what I did do was a quick makeup test late yesterday just for fun and to test out the updated wig. I'm quite excited for this costume not gonna lie, it's fun to finally get around to do a bit more video game characters as I've been a major gamer all my life!



I intend to debut Leon somewhere this year but I'm just gonna make sure I have some kind of props to use before then as I find it kinda awkward to pose if I don't have anything to pose with lol. I'd prefer to make the rocket launcher if I get a chance to do that, but if not I'll try to make at least a knife, grenades or any other small props that he uses in the game. I want to fill my pouches with stuff. :D I actually scouted Ikea for fake flowers that I could paint red for a Red Herb prop to carry around but of course with my luck there wasn't anything that fit the bill in terms of leaf shapes etc ffuu ffuu. Oh well, the search continues!

I think that's about all I had to say for this round. Stay nerdy out there!

January 22, 2022

Monster Hunter World cosplay makeup test

Hello everyone!

I've been a huge MonHun fan for close to 10 years now and, while I plan to eventually cosplay some of the established characters like the Ace Commander from MH4U, the idea to cosplay my own character has been growing on me over the years. I'll get back to this soon but first I just wanna explain a bit about Monster Hunter if anyone is unfamiliar with this game franchise. Monster Hunter games are known for having a character creation process where you get to choose how the player character, also known as the protagonist or simply "hunter", looks.
Anyways, over the years I've played several installments of the series (sinking thousands of hours into the games) but I don't think anything had such a strong impact on me as the first time I started up MonHun World on PS4 back on 9th August 2018. One needs to know here that World was my first PS4 game and I did the jump directly from PS2 to PS4 so the upgrade in graphics etc was insanely noticeable. I remember the first time I saw my own character in the first cutscenes onboard that ship that gets wrecked by Zorah Magdaros emerging from the sea and later when you explore the Ancient Forest for the first time. I was floored, couldn't believe what I was seeing! I was absolutely blown away and I've been glued to my PS4 ever since.

Character creator view of my MHW hunter.

When I created my player character back in 2018 he was simply an avatar for me, yet another one of my handful of hunters on other MonHun games that all shared some traits between them, like silver-white long hair (thanks InuYasha for this childhood obsession lol). Sure I had put several hours into designing him to please my eyes because I'm one of those people who will quite literally spend five hours on any game with detailed character customization send help.
Oh well, it wasn't until sometime in 2021 that something happened. My player character on World, whom I had named Vindulf for no particular reason, suddenly became more than just a mute self-insert through which I experienced the game. I was coaxed into roleplaying one day with a friend online, I didn't think much of it (I enjoy roleplaying in general) at first. But that roleplay just kept growing and growing. As a result Vindulf slowly evolved to get a distinct personality, a deep background story that stretched outside the bounds of the established storyline in World and so on and so on...
This character ended up becoming so much more to me than just pixels in a game.
 
And that's when I realized that I really want to cosplay him one day. Maybe a few years from now on (yes, I'm early with this post) because truth be told I have not even decided yet on what armor or weapon I want to make for this cosplay, possibly a mixed set or one of those event layered armors.
The reason I'm doing this makeup test now is because I happened to have fitting colored lenses lying around and figured yolo! No but really, this is mostly just for fun and for overall practice and well, kind of to give myself a general idea on what I gotta work on more. It could be a lot better but I need to invest into nicer makeup brushes (I have some cheapo ones from eBay that lowkey suck lolol) etc as I've been using the same shit for years and I sometimes feel like it's time to expand and maybe invest more into quality brands... I've been holding off on doing it though cuz whenever I try to do research I get so overwhelmed. ;_;
Oh and yeah, I did the scars very hastily (just eyeshadow and eyeliner combo #lazyaf) although I know I have Rigid Collodion lying around somewhere unless it dried up after these 10 years but yeah, didn't really have time to go looking for it with the sun going down and all. 
The wig is borrowed and it's way off in both color and style (I definitely want a lacefront for the real thing) but it was the closest I could get my hands on, in a hurry, as I literally don't own a single wavy wig myself.


 
I obviously don't have the typical MonHun undies either so I just had to take something random from my wardrobe that is as inconspicuous as possible lol. I'm leaning towards making an Insect Glaive (already have a Hunting Horn made for another MonHun cosplay) but I'm not sure yet, it's either that or Dual Blades. Probably the bug stick. And yes, I still play this game periodically, including the Iceborne Expansion.

This is probably going to be one of those "half eternity" projects, that I'm gonna work on very slowly, so don't expect any proper updates or progress in at least a year as I'm hopefully gonna try to wrap up some unfinished projects out of the way first. But this one will happen, that's for sure.
 

And that's it for the first post of the year, thanks for reading!

October 18, 2021

Prussia (Hetalia) cosplay makeup test

Hello guys!

I haven't done any cosplay content in forever and, while I can't call this one proper either, I did get a sudden urge today to do a makeup test just for fun and for practicing (it's been ages and I'm legit getting scared here that I'd forget how to do cosplay makeup at this rate lmao) and then I was like "is there anyone I can do that I already have a suitable wig for and also have lenses that I need to review?" and after a while it clicked Prussia from Hetalia: Axis Powers. I mean, I have a lot of white and silver wigs so can't really go wrong with this one!

Some of you might remember that I did actually cosplay Prussia at Närcon several years ago; it was a very impromptu thing where I borrowed Firith's Teutonic Knight outfit. I might one day steal borrow this cosplay again just so that I can at least have a proper photoshoot...

I don't have his usual uniform or anything of the sort so yeah, the closest I could use that had some resemblance to what the character actually wears was basically a simple black dress shirt. I mean he does have a black shirt under the uniform lol. xD I'm not sure if I will cosplay him seriously at some point in the future, time will tell.
 


I.. umm, have a wig dilemma. If I do eventually end up cosplaying Prussia I can't decide on which wig I should use. On the two photos above I'm wearing a silver-white wig and, while I think that it might be better in color than the pure white wig on the photo below, I'm not sure about it because I feel like this silver wig is too thick, fluffy and layered on top. But then again, the pure white wig I like the cut and style of better and it's "thinner" and less top-heavy which I feel looks better but yeah, is it too white??
I was gravitating towards the silvery wig at first but the more I think the more I'm starting to doubt. Send help. >o< If you have a preference on which wig suits Prussia better please let me know!


That's all I have for now. I live alone and no photographer available so I'm limited to selfies (I do have a tripod... somewhere) for the time being. The lenses I'm wearing I will be reviewing later so stay tuned for that~

January 14, 2018

Leon Kennedy cosplay makeup test

Hello folks!

Since the later half of last year I've been silently collecting the gear needed for cosplaying Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 4. I'm not sure if I've mentioned too much about cosplaying him on this blog but he's been in progress for a while.

Leon is not a character I would typically cosplay as I really can't stand to play any kind of horror games myself (I get too easily scared...) but watching my friend Sacchan play through the whole thing was a different deal and, quite honestly, a lot of fun! I ended up liking the storyline, the characters and the overall feel of the game – despite it being just the kind of game that I'd normally have very limited interest in as I'm not a fan of shooting nor horror games in general. ^^" I liked playing all the shooting target minigames though, lol. I must admit that I've been enjoying playing the later Resident Evil installments in the co-op mode with friends though, although I am aware that RE4 is considered one of the best ones and I can totally see why – but the newer ones I played with friends were easier on me as there wasn't that tension of a horror game and instead it was just a mash-buttons-to-kill-as-many-zombies-you-can-before-the-time-runs-out type of thing. xD
But yeah, Leon clicked with me and so I decided that "hey, why not do something different and go out of my comfort zone?". Said and done.

I think I started gathering materials for this cosplay around August something last year. About everything is purchased from various eBay sellers, except for the jacket which I got from CosplaySky (I will review it soon!) and the pants that I already had. At this point in life I didn't have the time nor energy to make the costume myself and, frankly, making all those gun holsters etc would have been really annoying and pointless seeing how cheap I could get them online. I'm lazy sometimes... and out of cash all the time.

I did a makeup test for Leon yesterday and I must say that it was a bit of a different experience. You see, I'm so used to doing the heavier "anime makeup" that when I did Leon I had to do the makeup more subtle and realistic, which proved to be a challenge! I'm so used to the black liquid eyeliners that when I had to do a more natural approach –since Leon is a video game character– it felt weird. I had to avoid covering up "too much" (Leon wouldn't have perfect 2D anime skin) and for the eyes I just went with dark brown pencil eyeliner.



I'm not wearing any contact lenses for Leon on the costest photos above, although I do have gray lenses especially bought for him. I want to save those for a later time as I kind of want to make a rocket launcher prop before I have any kind of proper photoshoot.
Also, I'm still not too sure if I really suit this character but oh well, who cares? :) I want to cosplay him and so I do. Fight me bro. I might still experiment further with the makeup (especially the eyes, as it feels like just pencil eyeliner doesn't stand out enough) and I have some ideas on trying to "grease it down" or what-to-call-it like doing this kind of look that you've been out blowing zombies up for a while and there's dust and dirt all over...

Regarding the wig it was a bitch to find a suitable one, not gonna lie. The only character wig on eBay didn't look like I wanted mine to look and so I had to resort to searching for generic fashion wigs instead.. and pray for decent quality. Thankfully eBay is full of those but oh fucking boy, how hard it was to find one with a parting that is not a middle-part. >_> I eventually found a base wig that would work, although I had to compromise on color a bit as Leon's hair tends to generally be portrayed as this kind of dark brownish-blonde shade, although it is really inconsistent (I've seen cosplayers doing everything from blonde to brown and even black) and so I deemed that the wig's color wouldn't be that big of a deal. I went with blonde.

Leon's wig before cutting it...
... and after cutting.
Sacchan did the cutting while I had the wig on my head. I have a larger head than average and so it was safer that I wore the wig during the cutting process so that we'd get it to be the right length. It was really important that we didn't end up cutting it too short, as that would have looked really unflattering on me. I might eventually trim it a bit more but yeah, I can't say for sure until I've straightened it and wore the wig to a photoshoot or such, to see how it behaves.

I think that's about all I had to say for this round. The review for Leon's jacket will come up soon so stay tuned for that!

October 24, 2016

Fruits Basket Hatori Sohma makeup test!

Good evening folks!

Some days ago I felt like it was high time to grab myself by the collar and do a makeup try-out for Hatori Sohma from Furuba, whom I will be debuting at Kitacon shortly. This costume was originally supposed to be worn at Cosvision earlier this year but yeah, shit happened. :/ I did a costume test a while ago too but I never actually tried out the makeup and, well, nowadays I don't feel too comfortable just improvising something on the con morning. Too high risk of fucking it up.

I noticed when I took out the wig that, since I originally styled it before Cosvision, some of the hairs had gotten crooked while being packed away and well, now their default positions are really wonky and ugly. I'll need to run it down with a straightener and, possibly, wash and restyle it before the con because yeah, it looks like crap right now. Hatori would never let his hair be unkempt, lol.

Some Hatori selfies ahead (aka no photographer) ~
 Oh and yeah, the lenses I'm using are the Flora Diva Violet, great for bishounen characters!




I'm not 100% satisfied (can someone teach me how to makeup? ;_; it's so harrrrrd) and I don't think this will be the final look that I'll don for the con; I'm fairly likely to at least try changing it up but this should give you guys a general idea.
I'm still trying to figure out how to make the whole "anime eye" look work on my eyes because it feels like no matter what I do my (deep) eyelid crease gets in the way and fucks it all up. It's extremely frustrating and especially when none of my current liquid liners dry fast enough and yeah, then I accidentally open my eyes too early or something and, BAM, all my hard work is smeared all over my eyelids. >_> Also, lower lashes are a bitch when you're trying to use liquid eyeliner under your eye. People always told me I have beautiful long lashes but they're honestly a pain in the ass and constantly in the way, lol. Anybody wanna trade? orz

Psst, I'm going with the manga version –on which he has violet eyes– instead of the anime. I highly preferred the manga anyway and it was the one I first checked out – I honestly think the anime is crap (sorry!) but the manga is really good. Another good thing is that Firith will join me as Ayame Sohma, which should be a lot of fun as well as help with character recognization because, err, Hatori sadly looks like a really generic anime guy in a suit. Too bad I don't have any seahorse or dragon plush to carry with me, that could help as well...

That's about all I have to say for this quick costest. See you at Kitacon!

January 19, 2016

Kashuu Kiyomitsu eye makeup test

Yoo.

Today I decided that it was high time that I started practising the makeup for some of my upcoming new cosplays! Soon I will reveal for you all the first convention of the year that I will attend. ヽ(゚∀゚)ノ I'm super stoked about attending said con because I haven't been there for years but yeah, I'll get more to that later.
This post is about the next cosplay that I will likely debut and it's no less than Kashuu Kiyomitsu from Touken Ranbu! Yep, that's a cosplay plans spoiler right there. I wanted to try out a new makeup look now that I've gathered some more products. Too bad that I had to rush the whole thing because the sun was already going down before I even started! Screw you, polar night. So yeah, I'm sorry but I had to skip pretty much all other makeup save for the eyes, I just simply didn't have time. :( At least by doing this look I learned a lot of new eye makeup techniques that I sure as hell will experiment further with!


A rare case when I can smile without looking stupid...
This one is taken in yellow room light.
It's a bit annoying how my camera washes out most of my makeup, including the eyeshadows and highlights, ugh. At least it faded my pale-ass beard too so I didn't have to shave it lol. Now that I look at the photos I notice that my eyebrows are way too light; I should have filled them in some more. ._. Weirdly enough they looked dark in real life but yeah, camera...
I also want to apologize for the blueish light, the sun was down by the time I was sort-of-ready so I had to deal with the "blue hour"... or whatever it's called. I also couldn't be bothered, nor had time, to dig out the cosplay so I just took whatever red I had around me and put it over my shoulders, lol.

I'm pretty happy with this look, considering what a makeup greenhorn I am. This was also my first time ever using false eyelashes – oh what won't you do for the sake of cosplay?
For those curious I will review the two eyelash pairs that I used later so yeah, if you're interested keep an eye on my blog! ;) Fun fact is that my natural lashes are already stupidly long (been told that I have long lashes all my life by several relatives etc) so yeah, as soon as I put even a little bit of mascara on them they look like falsies lol. So yeah, when I wear actual false lashes on top of my own it's like... crazy shit.

Styled wig.
I also wanted to put in a pic of the wig when it was newly styled. My friend Sacchan did the cutting and styling for me this time; we had to make a hairline/parting and I wasn't really comfortable with that because I lacked the know-how to do it. I did tie the ponytail though, haha.

That's all for this time, see ya!
Shiro Samurai over and out.

January 4, 2016

Me VS. makeup – How cosplay made me face my long-time enemy

Hello there, people of all genders!

Now here comes a post that I've had on my mind for a while now. I thought that it could be a nice idea to write about makeup and, more exactly, how drastically my thoughts have changed around it. You see, I used to reaaaaaally dislike makeup back then, although it feels utterly weird to say it now, haha.

Without further babblings I'll get to the first post of the year! Let's go ~


You see, before I got into cosplay I had been cramming my head effectively with the idea that makeup equaled nothing more than paying obscene amounts of money to put grease on your face so that you'd look fake. Ouch!
I'm not too sure why, how and when I developed these thoughts but I assume at least partly it comes from earlier school times when suddenly all the girls started using makeup and, while most of them looked fine, others ended up looking exaggerated with their super dark "hooker bar" makeup and, well,  back then I thought it looked like shit. :)) Not like I'm the one to judge but yeah, as a kid I was really negative towards makeup.
I guess my dislike towards makeup was further inconsciously strenghtened because some of these "overly makeup'ed girls" were in reality some of the many people who bullied me in school for years. Not like the makeup in itself is the reason or that it really matters but yeah, it somehow just left an negative impact on me (probably because I remembered some specific people as "those with a lot of makeup"), even though both guys and girls were treating me like a pile of shit without human value. I hate a lot of people from my former school, lol.

But yeah, I had no idea that cheap makeup existed. I had no idea that makeup could look natural, invisible and non-fake. I had no idea that you could use makeup simply for yourself and because it's fun and not just to attract others or give off the image that you're playing sexy, popular or whatever. I had no idea that makeup could actually make you look better without looking like what society thinks the typical flamboyant gay looks like (if you're a man) or a vain and self-centered bitch. What you mean I was narrow-minded and had no check on reality?
I seriously had no idea about the actual diversity of makeup users! People who use makeup range from actors (yes, even men), alternative fashion fans to long-haired badass dudes in heavy metal bands and... cosplayers. Cosplayers. 

...
...
Wait a sec, I'm one of them!! (⊙⊙;;)

THE HORROR.
... and my peeps be like "lol chill dude".
I had been effectively avoiding makeup like the plague before I got into cosplay; it was that thing that was so foreign to me and I viewed it as little more than a waste of money. I remember even telling myself that I'd never touch that shit, lol. And now I'm knee-deep in love with said shit, oops. I'm extremely ashamed to admit it but as a young pre-teen I used to think that "the only people who use makeup are those who are too ugly without it" or, God forbid, that makeup users had poor self-confidence or were using makeup to compromise for having an ugly personality.  
Ugh, I was such a horrible, judgmental and misinformed kid. Using makeup is not a synonym nor a reason for bad self-confidence – bad self-confidence is often the result from many different factors. Sure that makeup can make you feel better about how you look (often does!) but don't ever assume that all makeup users have self-image issues. Makeup is an art form, a hobby, a passion and has nothing to do with a lack of inner beauty either. Anybody can possess wonderful inner qualities and whether your face is slathered in two kilos of makeup or not doesn't factor in – anybody can be a good person and liking/using makeup isn't detrimental. I've learned since then that makeup shaming is a huge no-no. Makeup is fun and using it doesn't mean that you lack other qualities or have personal problems. Period.

Truth is that I don't even remember when exactly my opinions began to change, but at some point I realized that makeup, for me, was a neccessary evil in Cosplaylandia™ and that I had to change my approach to it at least a little – especially if I wanted to look somewhat decent on photos or at least a bit more like the character I was trying to portray. But the call to change wasn't the hard part to chew in this, no no – it was the need to learn. From scratch.

I mean, imagine this: You've been believing in Grace for all your life because she told you that Lucifer's grill foods taste like musty toe nails. But then you start studying to become a chef and suddenly it gets shoved in your face that Lucifer is actually a nice guy and that you should go and learn from him – he's the number one man who can teach you how to do the best roasted barbeque feast ever. And then, even more suddenly, you find yourself unwillingly shaking hands with your former enemy, trying to tell yourself that it's gonna be okay and that you'll learn to accept him bit by bit from now on, until you finally become friends and he'll teach you his secret mouth-watering barbeque recipes...

Just change the barbeque recipes to the mystery of makeup and you should get the idea of what it felt like for me, lol. I seriously had to step into unknown waters – I had no idea where to even begin! Everything was so strange to me, intimidating and complicated. The huge world of makeup made my head spin like a tumble dryer and, to make it worse, I didn't have anyone to turn to for help and guidance. Mom is not an option, way too awkward.

Have some (spinning) Monster Hunter meat grilling – because I can.
Nowadays it's more than embarrassing to think back about it but for my first two cosplays I didn't wear anything on my face, except perhaps for a miniscule amount of powder – and that was because mom told me to wear some at the con (yes, she was with me on my first big con). Yes, only powder. I didn't even color my light eyebrows to match the black wig nor use anything to define my eyes at all! Blasphemy!
Hell, I didn't even try to hide my dark circles or other nasty crud on my naked face; I seriously cringe beyond words when I bump into old cosplay photos that are tucked away somewhere in the deep dark corners of my computer – they shall never see the light of day or, otherwise, more than my pair of eyes will rot away. I seriously looked horrible and totally washed out, not gonna lie. It's that kind of thing when the costume is good-looking and even more so for a first one, the wig is good quality (but unstyled) but then there's *le gasp* the face with close to zero makeup on and –to put it as nicely as possible– it just crashes and burns the whole thing into cinders that float in hell for eternity. There ain't no saving that shit.

My first cosplay makeup experiences consisted of the following procedure: powder > eyeliner > fill in eyebrows (if necessary) > pale down lips (if necessary).
Nothing else. A bit later I started doing some minor contouring and after that I tried my hand at using foundation before setting the powder which, by the way, was a disaster. You see, I had always known that my skin is pale (dad would pull jokes about it) but I still wasn't expecting it to be so damn pale that I would have a hard time even finding a light enough fucking foundation! So yeah, my first foundation purchases were waaaayyyyyyy off the mark and I was nooby enough not to notice it until much later and, oh boy, do I puke at those photos now. 
Reminiscing back to that one year when I went to Sweden's biggest con (at that time) and didn't realize I had a horrible, mismatched, unblended brownish-orange foundation streak on my otherwise pale-ass jawline, that stood out like a thousand burning suns.
Finding a light enough foundation is, by the way, still one of my biggest challenges when it comes to makeup purchases, but I think I might finally have found something good – after years of accidentally buying mismatched shit that I can't use and don't know what to do with. #foundationfrustrations

I'm not gonna show you guys any old photos of my either non-existant or crappy makeup back then but I'll tell you that it looked really plain and dull; my eyebags were dragging on the floor, my face looked tired and washed out etc – it was horrible, plain and simple. I did the same very basic pencil eyeliner for all characters and yeah, it made me look like... me, except with a wig on, no matter what character I was supposed to be, lol. I also shudder at the reality that I didn't give a jackshit about my eyebrows until 2014, which means that I did a whole 4 years of cosplaying with hideous untouched hairy caterpillars crowning and roaming wild on my forehead!! *vomits profusely*
I mean, my eyebrows were so bushy that some hairs were growing on my eyelids! Eew. Nowadays I take out my tweezers and go through my brows at least every third day – what you mean cosplay changed me? No but really, cosplay made me start to seriously pay attention to my looks and I mean this in a good way! I'm super thankful about it now.

My first makeup tries looked like this. #relatable
Before cosplaying I rarely gave two shits about if I looked presentable in public or not (I could as well have walked around in a potato sack) but ever since I started cosplaying I make sure to look as clean and nice as possible unless I have a lazy day. Cosplay also made me view beauty and makeup from a whole different angle and made it more human and less superficial, funnily enough – everyone was beautiful in their own way. Cosplay made me realize that even a little change could go a long way in improving how you looked in your finished costume. I mean, the difference between using, for example, liquid eyeliner instead of pencil eyeliner already does a huge difference on photos!
Also, one thing to note is that especially on photos a makeupless face tends to look washed out and "disappear" most of the time, especially with a really colorful costume on or in strong lights, like stage lights etc. So yeah, for photoshoots makeup is really recommended and I'm glad I realized the difference it can make.

My initial response to using cosplay makeup was "meh" and then it slowly but surely grew into a "not too bad", followed by a "it looks better with makeup so I'll bother this time" and finally to a fullblown and self-admitted "I CAN'T COSPLAY WITHOUT MAKEUP! I NEED THIS SHIT!"

This is so me celebrating a successful makeup job.
So yeah, cosplay totally turned my whole view of makeup upside down. From being that kid who'd not even look twice at the grocery store's makeup counter to being that young man who walks in there and actually buys stuff and walks home being all excited about trying it out! It is awkward though when there's other people around. xD I need to get over it.
Nowadays I have quite a lot of makeup and I even have a makeup bag for it, but still I occasionally feel like I'm missing something... :'D I want to point out though that my cosplay makeup got a notable upgrade once I realized the wonders or primer, concealers and liquid eyeliner. It seriously took me until last year to understand how important primers and concealers are! *shamecorner* How can I have lived so long without these godsends?

I'm far from confident with my makeup skills and I still mess up... a lot. I also feel like I have a looooooot to learn –makeup knowledge is like an universe that won't stop expanding for me– but at least now I can honestly say that I LOVE MAKEUP. I can't even imagine cosplaying without makeup anymore and I've started to enjoy the whole process so much that I occasionally paint up my face for non-cosplay purposes too! Especially for alternative fashion because then I get to experiment and be creative, yay! o/
So yeah, to sum it up: I used to hate makeup but I've come to really value it as an irreplaceable tool to complete my cosplays. I also want to state that I think that makeup is for everyone! It's a fun and a great way to express ourselves and, for those who think that guys can't or shouldn't use makeup, I can say only one thing: "I don't give a rat's ass about your outdated bigoted opinion, gtfo and have a nice day. :)"

Friendly reminder: Please understand that this is just my personal makeup story (and my opinions) and is in no way meant to be a type of "you must use makeup to cosplay" post. There are plenty of cosplayers out there who don't want to, can't nor feel a need to use makeup and that's perfectly okay. There is no need, nor right, to judge those who choose to cosplay differently. Cosplay is for everyone and makeup is not a requirement for a successful cosplay or whatever – not everyone strives to get to the same level and as long as the costumer has fun and puts in the amount of effort they feel comfortable/good with then that's all that matters. Makeup is a tool to enhance the hobby for those who want to take it, not a neccessity.

I'm not even sure anymore what was the original purpose of me writing this post but I guess I got said what I wanted to say. I'm sorry if it's messy and all over the place though. Thank you for reading! ^_^
~ Shiro Samurai out! 

February 8, 2015

First Levi makeup test & preview!

Salut!

Today I decided that it was about time that I did a first makeup test for Levi from Attack on Titan, aka Shingeki no Kyojin. Desucon Frostbite is stressing me up in the corner, SOOOOOOOOOOOON.
Levi is one of my favorites from the series (he's badass!) and one of the main reasons why I wanted to cosplay him was because of the makeup challenge. He has a very distinct look and I wanted to try my hands at achieving this, even though I knew it's not gonna be easy and that it's a challenging character look to achieve.

At first I kept screwing up the eye makeup and I had to redo it, from scratch, two times until I got it to look like something; half the time I had no idea what I was doing lol. Funny thing was that even on the third try I was thinking "ei tästä tuu helvettiäkään.." (lit. 'this won't even turn into hell' in Finnish) but I still kept on and well, when I put on the wig it suddenly looked okay. Dafuq!
It feels so weird to cosplay Levi though, I'm used to Jäätynyt Enkeli being Levi, ha ha ha...

But without much further talk, let's get to the pictures!

// EDIT: I am aware that I got a lot of shit for this makeup because it was posted in a godforsaken place on the internet. It is disgusting how humans can act towards one another as soon as they are granted anonymity. But whatever, I just wanted to say that I stress that it is a FIRST TRY for a reason and if you're so stuck-up on not seeing past the fact that everyone starts somewhere (and improves along the way) then please take your shit elsewhere and have a good day. Cosplay is a hobby for most of us and I do it for my own enjoyment, no more and no less. //






I was trying for a dark and almost gothic, surrealistic look instead of the more usual "natural" look that some Attack on Titan cosplayers seem to do. I like experimenting and doing things differently and even though it's not always a blasting success it is definitely always a learning experience if we are too afraid to try new things then we don't learn. Doing makeup is not my strong point, but I won't learn unless I'm too afraid of trying.

I do know that it's still messy and all but I'm currently looking for new makeup brushes, more colors to shade with etc. I also have issues with finding light enough products/shades that go with my very pale skin. I'm not making excuses for myself but it is the truth that I am very unlucky with finding what I need (come and live in the middle of nowhere too with shitty internet connection and you'll understand my pain) and I really don't have spending money to throw on stuff that won't even necessarily work for me; last time I had an income was last year before summer vacation started. Beat that.

Regarding what makeup I used I mostly just used some brown for shadows and black gel eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner for the eye area. Yeah, most of the "eyeliner" is actually eyeshadow and it was applied with an angled brush, hence why it's not very clean-looking. I didn't even have primer at hand.
But all in all it was a fun to try to get the Levi look down I had to keep my face as neutral/emotionless as possible. Levi just doesn't show a lot of different expressions so I better not be pulling faces either...

Oh, and I'm not wearing contact lenses this time; I didn't have any gray ones (I barely have gray ones to begin with, ffuu) that were good enough and since my natural eye color is blue-gray it was fine to go without. I'll probably add gray contacts later for this cosplay though..

I don't have much more to say... but I have extra material to share!

B-b-b-bonus pic!

"Heichou, you have a potato in your pocket... can I have it??"
Sasha Blouse by Hasakitsuki.
Bye bye. Shiro Samurai out.

January 26, 2015

Hakuouki's Souji Okita makeup test!

Chu chuuu ~

I know I know, I've already cosplayed Okita several times so why am I doing a makeup test now? You see, that's because during the last month or so I've been trying to change and improve my cosplay makeup a bit; I came to the conclusion along the way that I wanted to update and try on the new makeup first for my Hakuouki character cosplays, mainly because they have really beautiful eyes that require more makeup than some of my other cosplays. For most of the Hakuouki guys I do the same eye makeup (with possible slight differences) but since I had thrown away all my circle lenses (they expired) that I had been using for all the characters except for the green lenses that I use for Okita... well, guess? :'D

I still don't have his usual Japanese style outfit, so I just took my asanoha pattern yukata (that I'll use for the cosplay) and rolled with it for now. The lenses I'm using are the I.Fairy Ash Green and after taking these photos I threw them away. :'( I've had them since last summer and I never wear circle lenses for 1 year anymore max 6-7 months, just to be on the safe side.

Actually, when I was taking the selfies (yeah, had no photographer around...) I got surprisingly many decent ones and well, I just couldn't decide which ones to upload because they were all good so, err, prepare for seeing my face a lot... xD I hope you don't get sick of the photo spam ahead!

But I'll stop babbling now and let you see the updated makeup test results.
Sorry about the unfitting background, I didn't have much choice because the lights were kinda bad in the house and so I had to go stand next to the windows...









It was soooo hard to blink like that lol. OTL
I actually have more pictures than this but I think I'll stop here...

How do you like the new makeup look? o/ 

Personally I do kinda like it, but I really need to buy some more precise makeup tools because it felt like I didn't have the right equipment for this kind of shit. Some lines could have been thinner/cleaner/less bold *coughlineundertheeyecough* but I blame my lacking makeup brush arsenal and my lack of knowledge of said brushes for that. I also should invest in different color shades for, well, shading, as well as blending equipment etc. I don't have enough makeup and I also need to learn more. Makeup is not my strong point when it comes to cosplay.
I will do changes to this makeup style and improve it along the way; this was just a first try to try it out and see how it looks. Needs more practice ~

Not really anything else to say, sayonara!
Shiro Samurai out.

January 9, 2015

Eren Yeager makeup test!

Hello titans humans! :'D

I'm now one of those in the growing list who have gone and fallen into the Attack on Titan aka Shingeki no Kyojin fandom wave. I can't go and call myself a mega fan or anything but I must admit that the anime was very good and I'm looking forward to the second season! The soundtracks, oh my god. <3 

I took a quick liking to Eren Yeager our hotheaded main character even though he's not the usual character type that I tend to gravitate towards; I don't know, something in his character just really caught my interest and so the cosplay antennas started tingling! 

Eren's face in the anime.
Honestly, the last few days I've had a horrible itch to do some cosplay makeup experimenting and what isn't better than practicing the looks for some future cosplays? I've also been aware of the fact that one of my unopened circle lens pairs will expire after two months unless I open the vials and hey, said contacts could totally work for Eren so why the hell not? :D That's totally also why I today decided to do a makeup test to try to Eren-ify myself! o/

But first, some close-ups of Eren's big blue-green eyes!


Rage mode activated.
Okay so.. Eren has surprisingly big/round eyes for a guy, which also made me think that even notably enlarging lenses would be fine for him, haha. The lenses I decided to wear for this costest are called Vassen Dori Green.

I borrowed Jäätynyt Enkeli's trainee squad uniform jacket because my cosplay isn't ready, did the makeup and took some photos! In the end I'm a bit surprised; I didn't quite think that I would fit Eren if I'm honest, haha. I barely recognize myself. Oh well, it's a challenge to do something different once in a while too!

But now, Ernu Eren time!



So, whatcha think? Eren enough for the titans you?

I tried to snap photos in angles that would make me look more childlike instead of manly because I think Eren looks young; he doesn't exactly have defined features and his face is a bit round anyway, especially if you compare to some other male characters in the cast, hah. So yeah, I kinda tried to make myself look boy-ish but it was very hard on most pics I ended up looking like Jean Kirstein with Eren's eyes lol. xD Goddammit face!

The wig I also cut some days ago. I didn't put any products in it just yet because I might not cosplay Eren at a con until summer and I don't want to style my wig half a year in advance and have it turn poop on me when the con is finally approaching, now that would be a bummer...

Wig before cutting.
Sorry about the wig being slightly inaccurate on the test pics, especially the side pieces are a bit too long but I do have a reason for this I plan to use the same wig for Heisuke Toudou from Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan because the hairstyle and color are fairly similar; if I had cut the side bangs any shorter it would be too short for Heisuke and I tend to think that longer sides frame my face better and look more flattering. 

That's all for today, bye!

January 30, 2014

Liquid eyeliner test

 Hi!

For quite some time now I've considered buying a liquid eyeliner for cosplay because some things you just can't do with a pencil one. Last week or so I figured it's time I get one and so I went to the makeup shelf of the store and felt awkward as always #guyproblems, pretty much took the first one and did a quick test stroke on my arm. It seemed good enough so I rolled with it.
Funny thing is that I had this test stroke still on my arm for the coming week and barely shit happened to it; it didn't flake or fade or anything... or wait, correction, veeeeery slight fading around the fourth day or so. But whatevs, yesterday I decided to do a quick test à la Okita edition (because Hakuouki characters are half the reason I wanted a liquid one lol) and well, for a first try it's not half bad I guess?

Sorry for the slight blur.
Oh, and if you wonder the contacts are Volte Green.
I'll be practising some more before I attend my next con but it should be okay, I'll get the hang of this!

Oh, and about the eyeliner itself, well, have some photos:

Rimmel's  Exaggerate Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

I must say I'm pretty fond of the tip; it's basically like a thin marker but you have to dip it like a paint brush – best of both worlds if you ask me! Yes, that's actually a big reason why I took this as well as the fact that it's waterproof (I tried) and wasn't all that expensive. I think it's pretty good, then again it's my first liquid eyeliner so I don't have anything to compare it with. But yeah, it's easy to use, fairly precise and holds nicely. I've noticed that sometimes after some hours it might flake a bit, especially at the corner of my eyes. Also it doesn't dry instantly so be careful when you apply it on your upper eyelid etc.

Oh, and before I leave you guys I must show you the newest addition to my bed space stealers plush collection. I just couldn't resist, okay? ;_;

Okita please <3
That's about it! See ya!

February 17, 2013

Hijikata contact lens test feat. eyeliner

 Hello hello!

Last time I tried on my violet contact lenses for the first time. I didn't put on any makeup back then but today I decided to try using eyeliner and also try how it looked with the wig (excluding ponytail) on. I also got a new authentic dark purple kimono earlier this week and today on the morning I did some kimono kitsuke and, because this kimono is the same one I had planned to use for Hijikata (I keep on upgrading this cosplay!), I decided why the hell not go experimenting with the contacts when I still had the right kimono on? :D

Excuse me for bathroom shots, the lighting is a bit yellowish. Mom probably wondered what I did occupying the toilet for an hour or more. xD I tried to look Hijikata-ish but not sure if successful...


Close-up photo that shows contacts rather well
Tilting head...

.. and I ran out of pose ideas so have some KÄSIIIIIIIIIIIII
and borderline derp-smile. OTL
I don't know why but this time I had a lot more problems with getting the contacts in... but I managed, heh. Also my eyeliner is kinda sloppy, sorry about that. I'm not sure if I should have my eyebrows like that (aka naturally) or if I should cover my eyebrows and draw on new ones; I'm leaning towards the latter because it looks more anime-ish.

And here's a bonus black-&-white photo in which I edited the eyes:


I don't have so much more to say except that half-way during the photo taking I noticed the contacts didn't bother me as much – I guess my eyes got used to them because I didn't feel them as much as earlier. Yay!

Bye!