Sunday 23 February 2014

Construction of Maya - Part 3

Make-up. Single handedly one of the trickiest parts of this costume. I blame the unrealistic colour of her eyes, and the half body tattoo that stretches all the way down her left side in typical siren fashion.

So, contact lenses. Ild never worn them before, but I was super keen to try them! My first pair I bought were from Pinky Paradise. The pair I bought were the G&G white lense with black rim. However, before I and even worked up the courage to try them on, I had to move house. Aaaaaaaaand, managed to loose them somewhere along the way. 

After getting settled into my new place, and searching through everything I owned, I gave up on the Pinky Paradise lenses, and bought another cheap pair from my local cosmetics shop (Cosmetics Plus). These seemed almost identical in appearance, though they did seem like a lesser quality brand.

And then we have the wig.... The first wig I bought (as mentioned previously) I was not happy with the colour of. The pictures online were a lot lighter than what it actually was in real life. However, I was able to make use of this wig. More on that later.

It took me awhile to get used to wearing contact lenses. And low and behold, I find my Pinky Paradise lenses the week before my first convention! Apon trying them on, I discovered they were MUCH more comfortable than the cheaper brand, and very much relieved it wasn't just the fact my eyes hated lenses!


So, I then ordered the second wig. It was a little light. But I thought I could darken it gradually until it reached a shade I was happy with. It was also a little short at the front. But with the first dark wig, I added a few extra wefts to give it slightly more length. I also added a few dark blue wefts at the back, which created a wonderful effect and gave the wig a bit more volume overall. 


Once I had the wig right, I set about trying out make up to achieve Maya's look. As dark as I went with the eyeshadow, it just didnt have the same dramatic effect as in game Maya. Eventually, I gave up on the eye shadow, and just used a cream eye liner. I still used a touch of powder to soften the edges, but I was much happier with this look than the eyeshadow. I'm not a expert on make up, but I sure learnt a lot experimenting with this look!


The lipstick was another drama. I couldn't find a shade that I liked. They were either too bright, or too dark. In the end I used the darker lipstick I had bought as a base, and lightened it up with the same product I used for the siren tattoo - Snazzaroo body paint.

Which brings us to the next part - THE tattoo. Oh my goodness.... I wanted something that wouldn't stain my skin for days after a con. So after further consulting with friends who had also used various products, I was recommended a body paint by the name of Snazzaroo. The only issue with this stuff, is that it isn't waterproof. I had no issues with it however, and it lasted well during a hot, humid and sweaty day at a convention, so I was happy. It took me around an hour to hand paint on the tattoo (I wanted it as accurate as possible too). I also watered it down a little so it didnt look powdery or flaky once it dried.


I was glad I and plenty of time for trialling various products during the making of this costume. It took much experimenting to get a look I was happy with. But in the end, it was worth all the hassle, and I certainly learned from it all. Which is one of the things I enjoyed most when creating this costume. Learning so many new things and improving and expanding on skills I didn't even realise I had :)


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