When people think about cosplay they think about the costumes. However, there’s more to the cosplay than just the costume. Cosplays also have unique makeup needs. Some makeup is complex while some is simple.  Here’s what different types of makeup looks for different characters require.

Some cosplays are easy when it comes to makeup. I did a Ron Stoppable cosplay. For that cosplay all I needed to do for the makeup was put some freckles on my face. It was a quick and simple makeup look.  Other cosplays are easy because the character has a signature look.  For Sailor Pluto it was easy to know what makeup was needed because all she had was the signature anime eyes. Some cosplays like that are easy, because the look is handed to you. Others you need to figure out yourself.

When you’re cosplaying a character that’s an animal you need to design the makeup look yourself.  When I did Lady Rainicorn I did my best to capture the essential parts of the character in the makeup look. What I did was a lavender and pink look so my face makeup would be an extension of the lavender on the top of the costume.  Another look I’ve had to design is my look for Oogie Boogie. For Oogie Boogie I’m taking the essentials from his face, the stitched mouth and black eyes.  The plan is to paint the stitches onto my face and do a dark eyeshadow.  This translates the important parts of the character into my cosplay. For these kinds of cosplay makeup looks it’s important for the look to just be inspired by the character.

Sometimes cosplay makeup is obvious, but beyond difficult.  The biggest difficulty that people run into in cosplay makeup is body painting. There are characters, like Lapis Lazuli, that are not a natural color. This means that any skin that is shown needs to be painted.  This can be cheated on the arms with arm socks and the legs with tights, but you still need to paint your face.  Another difficulty is prosthetics. Some characters have very specific facial features, and the only way to achieve those is prosthetics. Characters with body paint or prosthetics involved can be difficult to tackle.

Cosplay is more than just a costume; it’s makeup too.  Makeup for a character can be simple or incredibly advanced.  If you’re just starting out I recommend that you stay away from the characters with more difficult makeup. Give yourself time to learn how to do the makeup rather than just jumping into the deep end. What’s the most difficult makeup look you’ve done for a cosplay? If you’d like to read more about cartoons, cosplay, media, and more, then please subscribe to Media Mania.