Make up artist classes

Intro

You will need the following for this tutorial:

Cosmetics

A common mistake among newbie cosplayers is to use Halloween greasepaint for their makeup, since it is the most easily available with unusual colors. Unfortunately, greasepaint is hard to use and very bad for your skin; therefore, it is a good idea to invest in good-quality makeup that won’t harm you in the long run. A great brand to look into is MAC, which carries a large range of dramatic colors in their eyeshadow and lipstick collection. For the budget cosplayers, you can check out drugstore brands like Wet’n'Wild and CoverGirl. Of course, actual stage makeup from Mehron or Ben Nye is also awesome.

• Pale foundation. For some of Mana’s looks you would need whiteface (Gardenia is one of the looks), but if you look closely, most of the time Mana’s face is just really pale instead of white
• White face powder. Use the loose kind for setting your foundation, and the pressed kind for easy touchup throughout the day. It is OK if you can only find one kind, althought carrying a tub of loose powder around is kind of inconvenient
• Eyeshadows in blue, white (optional) and black
• Eyeliner pencil in blue and black
• Liquid eyeliner in black
• Eyebrow pencil in dark grey. Black is usually too harsh
• Black mascara
• Two sets of false eyelashes, one thick and dramatic, and one shorter and sparse
• Blue lipstick or creme color (both optional)

Tools

Invest in a nice set of tools to make applying makeup easier and more enjoyable. Your fingers can only go so far, and it is very annoying when you accidentally touch a dirty finger to your face! Many drugstore brands like CoverGirl and Maybelline carry well-made brushes at affordable prices; for more professional makeup tools check out Bobbi Brown and Shu Uemura.

• A good-sized mirror that you can see your whole face in without straining
• Headband, hairnet or wigcap to hold your hair back
• Powder brush
• Foundation brush or sponge (both optional)
• Powder puff
• Two to three eyeshadow brushes or sponge-tip applicators
• Lip brush (if you have the lipstick or creme color)
• Glue for false eyelashes
• Eyeliner pencil sharpener. Do NOT use a sharpener you just have lying around, unless you want graphite in your eyeballs!
• Eyelash curler (optional
• Tissue paper and q-tips for cleanup of mistakes
• Reference photos of Mana (optional)

Got all the things you need? Good, let’s get started!

Put on your headband, hairnet or wigcap to hold all your hair away from your face. Pluck or shave your eyebrows as thin as you are comfortable with; some people shave them off completely, but I prefer to just keep them well groomed. Cleanse your face thoroughly (use a facial scrub if you like) and apply moisturizer. Wait for it to be completely absorbed, because what you will be putting on your face will be pretty thick and you don’t want it to slide off before you even finish. If you are wearing contacts (I am wearing blue ones), put them in now.

A pic of me without makeup is on the right, you can click it (and any pics in the tutorial) to enlarge, although I have no idea why you would want to take a closer look of my scary mugshot, complete with wonky eye action.

Next step: Face >