Mana-hime (

mma10nam) wrote in

dixcosplay,
2005-07-16 21:38:00

Mood: GOLD STAR FOR MEE~

Tutorial!!!!

I have FINALLY gotten done typing and taking all needed pictures!!!

This tutorial covers all needed knowledge for Mana make-up, plus tips and notes from me, and a section on photo posing. If anything is too confusing, let me know and I will re-write that part. If you have anything to add or have a question on something, ask. I shall answer with all of my knowledge. Oh yeahs, and if there are typo's lemme know about those too...e.e;;;

Let me reinterate, THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION HERE~!!!! Lotsa pictures and words~!!!!

Now please sit back, pop in a Malice Mizer CD, and relax...

Mana Make-up Tutorial:

This is a make-up tutorial for a normal colored face. If you are looking to do a white face cosplay, follow the instructions below for the white face and than follow the rest of the normal instructions for the rest of the make-up.

First, take a look at the Mana you are cosplaying. MAKE SURE THAT HE HAS A WHITE FACE! Many people think that ALL Mana cosplays have a white face, this is incorrect. Mana's face is always super pale, but not always white. There is a big difference. Doing the white face on a cosplay that doesn't use it can totally ruin it! The only cosplays that should have a white face are:

**Gardenia
**Kyomu no Naka de no Yuugi
**Le Ciel
**Mervielles ( Half of it depending )

There are other times when Mana uses the white face, but people normally don't cosplay those.
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What you will need ( White face ):

**Paint setting powder:
-It is very important that you get some of this! It prevents your paint from getting blotchy or smudging.
**White face paint
-This stuff is pretty cheap and lasts a long time. You can find this almost anywhere during Halloween.

TIP: Make sure when you apply the paint that you cover all needed areas!!! Be sure to close your eyes and get your lids, make sure it is close enough to your hair line, and try to put a little on your ears and neck if it shows.

TIP: Applying make-up to a white face can be very hard. It is easy to make a mistake and smear it. Just remember to practice on perfecting your make-up skills sans the white face so you will cut back on those mistakes. Just take it nice and slow and you should be fine. Also remember to use the trick of using a blush applicator to wipe away any make-up that falls.

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What you will need:

**Soft powdercreme foundation ( Made by L'Oreal. Color is Classic Ivory )

-This stuff words really well. It glides on evenly as a creme and looks like a powder. It makes your skin feel soft too.

-If you are going to be wearing Mana make-up to a con, I suggest you buy some sort of sweat proof foundation. Chances are you will get pretty hot at a con and depending what cosplay you are wearing you can get even hotter. No one wants a shiny Mana face.

**Powder foundation ( Optional. Color is Ivory )

- I use pale ( Ivory ) powder foundation overtop of this just to give my face a slightly paler look.

-This is also helpful is you might need to use just straight up liquid foundation. It will give your face softer look.

**Eyeshadow of your choice

-Unless your eyeshadow is a creme to powder kind ( Like mine, found at: http://truecolors.com/ ) I suggest that you get some eyeshadow sealent. This will make your eyeshadow much easier to work with because you wont have little flecks of eyeshadow on your face.

**Lipstick of your choice ( Possibly not even lipstick sometimes, maybe an eyeliner pencil XD )

**Liquid Eyeliner ( What I prefer, I use the brand Retro Glow, the color is Kohl )

-You can of course use an eyeliner pencil if you are more comfortable with those. I suggest though that you still try to go over it with liquid to give a crisper look.

**Fake top eyelashes ( Fuller & Longer )

**Fake bottom eyelashes ( Short & Spaced out )

-These are painstakingly hard to find. I found the ones that I use at a Halloween store. This October be sure to check one out!

**Black Mascara

**Necessary make-up applying tools

**Blush applicator tool

-This is really helpful!! Don't try to wipe away eyeshadow that has fallen onto your face with your hands, chances are you will smudge it.

**Moist handtowel of some sort

-I always get a buncha make-up all over my hands. You need to make sure that you wipe your hands off each time you get something on them. You may end up getting a smudge of eyeliner on your cheek if you don't!

**Tissues to fix mistakes

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START!: This is me, taaa~daaaa! I have no make-up on, I look horrible.

Face:

STEP 1: Apply creme foundation to you face as you normally would. Make sure it is even all over your face. Make sure you apply it to your eyelids and take extra care around your eyebrows as well.

STEP 2: Apply powder foundation if you are doing so. Try to pat the powder on your face instead of smearing it. By now your face will look disgusting and caked with make-up up close, but will look very nice and pale from far away

NOTE: People with darker skin, if you try this method of foundation ( The white face or the normal color ) please tell me if it works on you alright. I've heard from people that trying to look pale like Mana with darker skin can be very hard and annoying. If there is someone reading this who has darker colored skin ans knows of a few ticks to making yourself lighter please let me know and I will add your information to this.

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NOTE: I pluck my eyebrows to look like Mana's, though mine are a little thicker. The shape on me looks good anyways so it's very convenient for Mana cosplay. However, you may not be like that! If you need to get pretty Mana eyebrows follow these instructions. You can also go to:http://www.eyebrowz.com/ and get eyebrow shaping stencils

Having your eyebrows look nice is just as important as having your make-up look nice! The shape of Mana's eyebrows add to the look of his face, so you should make sure yours look good too!

TIP: Unless Mana has black hair ( Like now ), his eyebrows are a medium brown. Even with blue hair, even with blonde hair, they are medium brown

Eyebrows:

STEP 1: Look at Mana's eyebrow. I know you have a picture of him, study them. DO NOT try to put the eyebrows on according to Mana's face, you will look silly. Put them on according to you face. This is important for everything throughout the entire tutorial!

STEP 2: The tip of your eyebrow should start where your eye starts. Notice I start the line at the top of where my eyebrow will be. Take into account that you will have to fill in the bottom part!

STEP 3: Draw the arch upwards ( Not too high! ) and stop it about the middle of your eye.

STEP 4: Draw a thin, slightly slanting downwards, to just beyond where your eye ends.

STEP 5: Go back to the front point of your eyebrow and draw a line that tapers to the arch and just a little bit into the thin line.

STEP 6: Fill it in.

And now you know why I let other people do my photoshopping...

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Eyes: The way I do my eyes is a little strange and out of order like. I'll put above each step what element of the eyes you are dealing with. Try not to think I'm too strange...

Real Eyelashes:

STEP 1: Put black mascara on your top lashes. It can be any brand that you want, as long as it is black. It's important to put on mascara before you put on fake eyelashes because your real lashes will show underneith if you don't

Fake Eyelashes:

STEP 2: Put on top fake eyelashes. I put the eyelash glue on the actual eyelash and then put it on my eyelid. Make sure that you have the fake lashes pressed against your real ones, having a space between them will look silly! Don't worry about the excess eyelash glue if there is any, it dries clear. ( The white stuff is eyelash glue )

TIP: If you don't have any fake lashes handy, then I would suggest putting on a VERY heavy amount of mascara. With that much mascara on you will probably be able to clump your bottom lashes together to get a nicer look as well. This may also depend on how thick your eyelashes are as well, I'm already wearing at least 4 coats of mascara and they aren't that thick :/

Without & With fake eyelashes

Eyeshadow:

STEP 3: Apply eyeshadow to undernieth your eye. Apply the eyeshadow from the outer corner of your eye to the inner corner of your eye. Apply a semi-thick amount but, you will only want to see a small amount of it after you put on eyeliner.

STEP 4: Outline your eye with eyeliner. I start from the outer corner on the bottom.

TIP: Don't get the eyeliner too close to your eye, you might irritate it and start tearing up! This could smudge the eye make-up you have on already!

STEP 5: Next I apply eyeliner to the top of my lid. I start in the middle of my eye and draw outwards. Connect the top line to the bottom line in rounded corner.

Once again, my photoshopping skillz amaze you...

STEP 6: Now you need to connect your lines in the inner corner of your eye. Draw a straight line from where your top liner ends down to where you left off the bottom liner. Be very careful with this part! You need to make sure you it comes to a nice clean point, don't make the line too thick!

erm fuzzy :/

TIP: Not all peoples eyes are shaped closed to what Mana's are. To help make yuors looks closer to his, try adding a little extra eyeliner near the inside on the top of you lid.

STEP 7: This part of the eye make-up is not done by most cosplayers. There is usually a small tail of eyeliner under the corner of Mana's eye. Note that the tail is not coming from the corner of his eye, but from slightly underneith it. In some way's he does his make-up this tail is more recognizable, others it's not. Study your reference picture for it.

NOTE: The tail will be more noticeable in pictures with eyeshadow

Fake Eyelashes:

STEP 8: Add your bottom eyelashes. Make sure to get the fake ones underneith your real lashes!

NOTE: Make sure you don't have any mascara or eyeliner on your bottom lashes. You do not want to be able to see them so that the fake ones stand out nice and crisp.

Eyeshadow: Now you are ready to add the top part of your eyeshadow. It is easier to put the top on last because you can add in it relation to the rest of the eye make-up. If you put on the eyeshadow first and than the eyeliner and lashes, you might have put the eyeshadow on too close, or too much.

STEP 9: Look at your eye and find your crease. Everyone's is different and you need to put eyeshadow on accordingly to it.

For example, the space between my crease to my eyebrows is much bigger than Mana's. So I need to add more eyeshadow to get the same effect as his.

STEP 10: Draw a line of eyeshadow overtop of your crease, starting in the corner of your eye above the tail to get the idea of where you will add the rest.

STEP 11: Thicken the eyeshadow. Make sure to taiper it from the outer corner inwards. Also make sure that it gets small enough near the inner corner, it is easy to make it too thick. Use the picture for reference.

TIP: When trying to match the eyeshadow shape on both eyes you may make a mistake. You can take a tissue and wipe the eye make-up off to fix it. Make sure you press down hard enough so that you don't get any color left behind!

Also be sure not to make your eyeshadow dip down onto the eyelid. You can fix this mistake with a tissue as well. But be very careful, since you also have eyeliner close to it as well!

If you are doing a white face and this happens, simply take some face paint and paint over it.

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Lips: Lips are by far the most important part of a Mana cosplay. The shape of Mana's lips are very distinct, and the way you draw them can either make or brake your Mana face.

STEP 1: Take your lipstick and make two mark on your top lip where the dip will be. Some of you will have to dip down onto your actual lips more than others. This is fine, but make sure you add foundation to this spot and than apply the lipstick.

STEP 2: Draw a line out from the corners of your mouth. when you close your mouth they should stick out just past your closed lips. This line is where you will connect your lips.

STEP 3: The most fatal mistake by most cosplayers, filling in the lips. When you go to fill in the lips do not follow your own lip line! I repeat, do not try to fill in the lines of your lips to achieve Mana lips.

Incorrect Mana Lips: As you can see from the picture I drew the lip line in a curved line back down to my natural lip line and filled it in. This results in pointy Mana lips, which is not what you want! You can also see the points in the corner of my mouth where you should have connected the lips.

Correct Mana Lips: Curve the points of your lips downwards and connect the line to the points in the corners of your mouth. As you can see in the picture, I have to draw the line quite away on my actual face above my lips. After you have connected the lines, fill your top lip in. Make sure when you fill in the points that you don't ruin the point! Now, the corners of your upper lips should stick out past your bottom lip, you want this to happen.

STEP 4: For your bottom lip make sure you curve the lipstick into your mouth. If you don't, than you will loose how the top lip sticks out past the bottom lip.

TIP: To make sure you have drawn the lips correctly, turn your face slightly to one side. Can you see your top lip poke out?

TIP: If you are using something other than lipstick for lipstick ( i.e. eyeliner pencil, creme eyeshadow ) I suggest you get some chap stick to put on overtop. It gives your lips a slight shine without being too much like gloss would and keeps them from getting cracked. It also helps to smooth out the color.

Congratulations! You are done with the Mana make-up!!! How do you look??

Are there any smudges of make-up on your face?

Are there any specs of color on your cheeks?

Any lipstick in your teeth?

Are all the shapes of your make-up symmetrical?

Now, how about some photo taking tips?

1. Now that you look like Mana, you need to act like Mana. Pretty simple, isn't it? No talking, no facial expressions...but no facial expressions doesn't mean to look bored out of your mind! I seem some cosplayers in pictures who look so incredibly bored! Don't do this! Look at a picture of Mana...there is a certain elegance, a certain sense of charisma that he carries with him.

Bad Example: This is me looking bored...can't you tell?

Good Example: See how big the difference is?

2. As you are looking at your pictures of Mana, how is he facing? More often times than not, he is turning his head slightly to one side. Try to do this when posing for a picture. It will help with your Mana-like apperance.

3. Have you ever seen Mana in a clip or DVD? Look at how he moves around when he is spoken to, when he is posing. Mana fidgets a LOT! Seriously, I don't think the man can stand still... When he poses for pictures he is always slightly moving. You can immitate this when you are amongst a big crowd of photographers. Also remember to give a little bow with your head after someone thanks you, or compliments you..since you can't say "You're welcome!"

4. Do you have a friend who you are going to be hanging out with during your con? Ask them if they would want to be your speaker. Nothing makes fangirls go crazier than waiting for the Mana cosplayer they are talking to to get down whispering their answer into a Gackt cosplayer's ear!

The more you think that you are Mana, the more you act like Mana, the more you look like Mana, the more compliments you will recieve! Good Luck on your Mana cosplaying journey!!!

And now....SILLY PICTURES!!! Cause I just LOVE em :3

First and foremost....DIX!

What is Mana doing with that sneaky smile....

I'm sorry...I had to U___U;;;

Mana grew himself a bitchin stach :{

And that's teh end :: kissies ::

~Mana-hime

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81 comments

moonacidyue

July 17 2005, 05:00:13 UTC 6 years ago

Some day, after climbing down off of the celing in fear, I shall attempt this. It did answer many questions I had, though! ^^ The photos were also very helpful.

dunkelheitweint

July 17 2005, 05:00:36 UTC 6 years ago

AWESOME!!!!!!! THAT WAS SO GREAT! I'm going to practice tomorrow. lol...I hopeI have the right shade of blue!!

May I ask how long you've been practicing this? because...YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!! Whee!!

Now go check your email, pretty please ^_^

btw, when doing whiteface, I usually mix the white with a little pale skin color so it's not so ucky and a little more realistic. ^_^

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Tutorial!!!!

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Making dark skin look pale...

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