I wanted to make a post about this for some time as well as I'll make another about wigs, fabrics etc.
Since last year I've been trying to perfect myself at cosplay which includes getting better at make-up. At the beginning I used to wear nothing or almost close o nothing because I was (and am) quite lazy about it but with the photoshoots and studying other people photos its obviously that make-up plays a very important part in a character personification.
Unfortunately I don´t have photos to illustrate some keys features like Applejack' freckles or Ludwig signs so I'll just post some make up stuff I have that helps me look better on photos and resemble more the characters.
Brushes:
I bought both of sets on ebay, the first one is the oldest, cost me about 6 dollars, its the regular one I use and the one that helped me understand better he usage of each brush. The second cost 14 dollars and just arrived two days ago and smells like leather. you have to be careful with what you buy especially on the internet but luckily they were both nice quality.
Type of face
This is very important because the type of skin you have determines how many steps you have to take to apply your make up, the type of products and how many.
I have a type of skin that is extremely oily unfortunately--' which means that if I'm not careful and not apply high quality products they will still start to "slide" down my face in 15 minutes max. Thats my friends always say that when i have eyeliner in my eyes I look like a clown. This means that I have to clean very well my skin and always use non greasy makeup and and powder. I also have to use as little products as possible.
Basic Routine
So after your make-up you must always wash your hands and face and then apply a moisturizing for your type of face. This will help a lot your skin always being pretty and not to be damaged by harsh make ups. Even if you don't plan on wearing any you should moisturize to prevent sun damage. your skin aging will be delayed greatly.
After this you can start preparing your skin. My basic routine includes primer, concealer, foundation and compact powder.
The make up tutorial in http://the-sushi-monster.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2zqu3b is the one I follow and it helped me a lot looking better and more natural with make-up.
«This is the the suff I use H&M, KIKO, the body shop, Boticário. They are quite affordable and nice quality, ok maybe not Sephora or Mac type but hey work great in my descusting, oily based, full of moles and marks washed out skin.
From here on it really depends on what kind of cosplay you´re doing but here are some great items that you should own:
False lashes:
I use (or used to) Claire's or H&M. They really work if your going for the sheryl nome type of eyes. you have to practice first because its takes time until you successfully put them but the effect really compensate the hard work and make up retouches some times you have to do. I wore them for my Len imitation Black and loved the look. Since then i've decided to lay them off though because I have very small eyes and big lashes look funny sometimes. Dont panic though small eyed reader like me because this leads me to my next item;
Eyelashes curler:
you should wear this if your wearing fake lashes to help them look even, if you dont like me, then you can make he falsies effect by using his and:
Mascara:
This helps your eyelashes looking really pretty and big and appropriate to your eyes. Its not very dramatic but it still has that lovely star effect.
Ponty, shadow and foundation brushes:
You can leave the others if you don't want to much stuff going on in your make up bag (you should own one too!) you just need these. It will help you have a nicer smother face and more perfect lined eyes and and control better the eye shadow.
White eye shadow:
This helps your eye look bigger. Black makes them look smaller but also gives a nicer effect. I always use black;___;
Bronzer or brown shadows:
This helps you a lot with crossplaying. I haven't tryed out yet look more manry with this tecnich, I will soon but you really can change the shape of your face, jaw nose etc and completely look like a man. Here are some examples:
There's also some other make up items that involve special effects and others way more simple bit this is the only things I use:) i hope it was useful fo someone and here's some tips.
tips
- ask a friend to warn you if your make-up, wig is messy;
- its very important that your foundation matches your skin one otherwise it will show the difference between your neck hands, arms etc;
- If you're wearing contacts put them before your make-up, i learned this the hard wayD:;
- If you messed up don´t brush your make up out, gently press it again your skin and then some foundation on or you'll mess up even bigger.
