Cosplay tips for cosplayers

Like I promised you before, here is a small article about my cosplay secrets and tips. This I hope will be useful to cosplayers.    

This article doesn't do any promotion for any company, I'm just sharing with you the products I use, I get nothing by sharing them.    

•  When I want to pick a costume, I almost always choose a character who looks like me body and soul. This way, it is easier to achieve the “cos” and the “play” part. The closer you are from the character, the easiest it will be for you to play if you are a beginner.     

 Well, not entirely true... If you like acting, you will probably enjoy playing a character opposite to you.   There are figures I've been dreaming to personify but I look nothing like them so, what do I do?... I don't cosplay them.

That's a bid sad and dumb I think and I'm going to change that way of thinking.

 Cosplay should also be about embodying characters we like, not only the one we look alike.   

Aside from that point there are some little things that will always make your cosplay look cleaner:

• Be picky and perfectionist. Pay attention to every little details.   I won't hesitate to redo a part of my costume several times if I'm judging it bad. I will try several wigs (yes it costs money so it's better when the first try is the good one), I'll buy cheap shoes for almost every costume .  Cosplay costs money: Worbla is not cheap, makeup is not cheap etc (unless you buy crappy makeup from doubtful stores and get a risk to poison yourself).  

• Some materials are very expensive but sometimes the choice of your fabric will be the detail that will make all the difference ! Cheap fabric will make a costume look average even if it is very well executed.      
  
  
• 

(http://saraqael.deviantart.com )

Wear a wig when you cosplay. Most of the time your real hair won't have enough thickness. (if you have this type of hair, you are a lucky one, otherwise: wear a wig!) And wig's prices make also a big difference.

See the difference ?

• Wear contact lenses to change your eyes color but don't buy anything and everything. (first make sure your eyes are ok with an ophtalmologist) then buy your lenses on verified website or shops. For example I get my circle lenses here : Honey Color
  
  I never got any issues with their products (but be careful to not wear them too long and to trow them away if they look dry or more curved than usual)  Sometimes wearing lenses hurts or causes fatigue and headaches. Then I put some saline solution drops in each of my eyes and if it is too much to handle, I will remove them ( don't wait till it is too late, you only have 2 eyes).  I won't deny the truth, I prefer when a character has the same eye color as me. ^^ I don't really like wearing lenses.  

There is also something else that will make a cosplay look neat:  Paying attention to your body and face.
I don't this mean by losing/putting weight or muscles, no, you can look good both ways.  Just make sure to pay attention to every little detail on your body and face that will make a change to the final result.   

•  There is something that a lot of us won't think about but that will make a real difference on pictures : having clean and bright teeth.    
  
  Like I told you, every little details will make a difference at the end. I remember photographers changing the color of my teeth on every of my smiling pictures . It made me feel really uncomfortable and that's when I realized my teeth weren't that white and that by photoshopping them, it looked slightly better on the pictures.   
  
  Now, I don't have this issue anymore (But I like having imperfect teeth/rabbit teeth, it is also what makes me look like me :))
  
• 

  This is me before/ after  So, yes, I look a bit older because the pictures are more than 10 years apart XD (rikku 2003, Rapunzel 2015). Not my best rapunzel picture but I wanted to show you the same angle.

Another example :

I know, my teeth weren't that bad but now the overall look of the pictures look cleaner.    (It is not only the makeup, I assure you the difference is there.)

I use whitening strips once a year, 30min a day /14 days. Don't buy unknown brand product.

 I also don't drink tea or coffee or Coca cola (they make teeth yellow and I don't like any of these products anyway) When I brush my teeth I use bicarbonate of soda on my toothbrush.


Et voilà , cosplay tips are over for today.
Don't hesitate to ask questions.

Bonne année !