The interviews have been rolling in one after another and I would like to say thank you to everyone that has allowed me to interview them. Keeping the momentum going, we have an amazing interview with @Heyr2a. She took the time to speak with us about how to apply cosplay makeup. This is a topic that I know absolutely nothing about and have been waiting forever to hear about from a makeup artist. I learned lots of useful information and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion we had during this podcast. This is one you are definitely going to want to check out as I’m sure it can help you with your next cosplay ventures.
Heyr2a is 20 years old and attends college at east Michigan University. She is based out of Detroit Michigan and specializes in cosplay makeup. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend Momocon and AWA this year because she was featured at Dreamcon. Her cosplay days began back in high school where she joined the anime club. After becoming president, she took her group to Yumacon and has been flourishing in the anime scene ever since. One of the first animes she started watching was Adventure Time followed by Tokyo ghoul. To no surprise, she chose Ken Kaneki as one of her first characters to begin her cosplay makeup career. You can see some images of this character on her IG. Another earlier character was Dr. Facilier. She recently redid Dr. Facilier from Disney’s princess and the frog to show her growth from its original debut.
Now on to the reason you are all here, the COSPLAY MAKEUP. Before you dive into painting your body or face, Heyr2a recommends that you look up tutorials on highlighting and contouring. This will help your face to look less well, flat. You can emphasize your cheek and jawbones while adding depth to your face. Next, you want to decide if you’re doing this for a photoshoot or for a convention. If you are doing it for a simple home photoshoot use paints such as snazaroo. If you are going to a convention and want longevity, use mehron. These are brands that she uses and combines for almost all of her looks. Snazaroo has a tendency to crack after being applied for an extended time hence why you use it for quick shots.
Next, before you apply any of your recently purchased makeup, you are going to want to apply a face primer. If you do not use a primer, the makeup will not appear as smooth or you will have to use extra amounts to get the appearance you want. For primer brands, she advises ruby kisses, nicka K or Maybelline. It really doesn’t matter who you use for your primer, just make sure you get one that is hydrating. Just remember that more popular brand, generally the more it’s going to cost. Next up your going to want to tackle the eye shadowing or eye makeup. Preferably, you will put your contacts in first as you do not want to risk smearing makeup into your eye. I have a terrible fear of this hence why I have not incorporated contacts into my cosplays.
There is so much more information discussed during this episode but I do not want to give it all away so definitely give it a listen. I will tell you that it can be a bit intimidating so I asked @Heyr2a what are some great starter characters to attempt? You know, nothing to complicated as you do not want to be overwhelmed. She advises attempting Diane (Seen Below) from the seven deadly sins. She’s not extremely difficult to pull off and will certainly help you get your feet wet. Last but not least you need to use the correct brushes. Use Face Painting Brushes as they are designed to help achieve the “look”. Much better than one trying the one brush fits all method.
I cannot emphasize enough how much you need to listen to this episode. It was absolutely amazing and extremely informative. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks so much again to @heyr2a for the episode and shining some lite onto the cosplay makeup scene. If you would like to hear other episodes feel free to click HERE! That’s everything for this episode. For other awesome cosplay related news feel free to check out my BLOG HERE. Until next time, stay BOUNDLESS!!!
