#cosplaytipsandtricks

Everyone has this problem. Whether it's light foundation or full on body paint; Makeup can be a pain to remove. Either it doesn't come all the way off, or the makeup remover you bought at the store is too expensive and/or it causes some major skin problems. Well I've put together a small list of At Home makeup removers. Most of these things I've used for years, and a few are what I've been told to by friends. I hope some of you will find this useful, especially when you get home from a con Sunday night or come back from that long photo shoot!

Petroleum Jelly:

Your grandmother swears by this product and for good reason. Whenever I have foundation or Ben Nye creme paint on, I'll use unscented petroleum jelly (any brand is fine, I use the generic stuff). I just smear quite a bit on and rub it in, circular motion. I let it sit for at least five minutes and then I'll get a soft, warm washcloth and gently wipe it off, rising the washcloth often. My skin feels soft and all of the foundation/paint comes off. I'm not sure if it's the same for others but petroleum jelly also clears up my skin. Blackheads have been removed, face looks smoother, etc. Sometimes I'll just use it as a once in a while face moisturizer, washing it off while I'm in the shower. Some do say it clogs the pores, but as a cosmetic product it shouldn't. However each persons' skin is different.  

Baby Oil:

Baby oil is a common one. Often used for pesky eye makeup, especially that waterproof mascara. Also works on regular makeup and body paint. Be warned, it is capable of clogging the pores and can be greasy. It doesn't exactly soak into the skin and most recommend washing it all off after getting the makeup off. 

Almond Oil: 

Use pure almond oil to remove eye makeup. Almond oil is rich in skin-soothing substances, including vitamin E. 

Olive Oil:

Many say olive oil is good for your skin. You can find it in just about any grocery store, and in fact I do recommend this as much as  the petroleum jelly. I also mix olive oil with other ingredients to make facial masks or hair masks. Just apply with a cotton ball or cloth and rub the makeup off, then clean skin.

No matter which you use, make sure to take care of your skin. Use a cleaner that's right for your skin type and drink plenty of water!! 

If you have any other at home makeup removers let us know and I'll ad them to the list!!

Hello, everyone!

As if it wasn't obvious enough, I'm back from Ahn!Con! I had a good time and made some new friends, as well as got to meet some pals from tumblr. While there, I learned a few new things for my Crossplay 101 panel (which got accepted to Naka-kon) and I have found a new wig company that I love. Expect a review for them soon. 

And hello to our three new followers! It's nice to meet you. :) I do hope you find this blog enjoyable. Especially since school is now starting again (or has started for some of our younger followers). Make sure to keep yourselves healthy, happy, and find some time to do what you love.

Everyone have a good week! 

Hi there! I'm going to test out a new thing for this blog; submission requests.

Each new request will be more or less either photos, or text posts. All you need to do is go to our Submit Page and type down what you want to tell us. If you want to remain anonymous  just leave a note at the beginning or the end of the post and I will just make it a text post on its own (as Tumblr now shows who submits what). 

Here's the first prompt/request: 

How does your family think about cosplay? Whether, good or bad, we'd like to know. 

Note: I will do a product review of their bleaching kit in the near future. Each one deserves it's own spot. Also warning; this one has a lot of pictures of my face. 

Name of Product: Manic Panic Hair Dye

Where Purchased: Sally's Beauty Supply

Product Description: A collection of semi-permanent, cream hair dyes. Many vibrant colors. 

Pros: Inexpensive (around $9 for a jar) One jar goes a long way if your hair isn't too long Many colors  Bright Can wash out of un-bleached hair Safe for hair Gluten free  Perfect for those near impossible anime colors 

Cons: STAINS EVERYTHING You will need more than one jar for red hair Only last long/works best if you're willing to bleach your hair Fading can be ugly, especially for blues Reds will turn pink fast  

Overall Rating:9.5

Detailed Review:

First off, let me say that I have not tried Manic Panic's amplified formula. I've heard great things, but they don't sell it near here. I would buy it online, but I'd rather save my money and get a color that I rarely see in the normal batch. So for now, this review will be about their Cream Formula. 

I really like the scent of the product. It isn't too strong and it's kinda pleasant. It's sorta easy to apply but gloves and a dye brush are a must (though I just use my glove covered fingers). It's made from plant materials so it soaks through your hair, instead of just sitting on top of it like other gluten made dyes do. Every time I used it, it made my hair feel softer. Unlike other dyes I've used which made it feel rough. 

I first bought this product near the fall of 2010. It was my first year out of high school and the first thing I really wanted to do was dye my hair a color that my old school would never allow. I had a job that did not care what color your hair was (call center) and I went to a hair salon to get my brown hair bleached (wanted to do it safely the first time).

Safely dyed~

The woman who did it recommended Manic Panic and told me where in town I could get it. I went to Sally's the next day and bought a jar of midnight blue

My hair was fairly short at the time so it barely took a quarter of a jar for me. I messed up the first time I did it, because I read the instructions wrong. That was my bad. But I redid it the next time when I wasn't being stupid. The instructions are actually very easy to read. 

I was lucky to have some petroleum jelly at my house, because without it my ears and face would have been dripped blue. Seriously, everyone. This stuff STAINS your skin. 

I left it in for about an hour under a shower cap. I applied a bit of heat from my hair dryer (it recommends that for brighter colors) every so often. It took a long time to rinse out all the excess color. I used cold water and it ran blue for a good five minutes. Luckily the water was constantly moving so it did not stain our tub. 

I let it air dry and it looked great. The color was a very dark blue, kinda.. greyish tone though. But, I Liked it.

It did fade over time, but that was because I take warm showers every day. I tried not to wash my hair too often but it gets greasy easily. 

This is after a redye and about a weeks worth of washes. 

Very faded. About as faded as I ever let it get before I dyed it or bleached it again.

I've died my hair Vampire Red with Manic Panic as well. However it came out with a big pink tint to it. I wasn't too fond of that. 

But that may have been because my hair was platinum blonde when I redyed it. 

Sooo blonde. 

Sorry for the spam of my ugly face. But this is to show the differences in the color, compared to how bleached my hair was. 

The more your hair is bleached, the more hollow the hair is. Thus, the more dye it can absorb. 

I do recommend this product to anyone who likes to dye their hair funky colors or who wants to do it for a cosplay. Just make sure to take care of your hair (hair mask, leave in conditioner, special shampoos/conditioners, etc) so it doesn't become brittle and/or fall out. 

Also to those that want their hair to be WHITE; they make a toner. Snow White toner is the name (I think). You need to bleach your hair lemon yellow (go to a salon if you're inexperienced with bleaching) and you'd apply that like you'd do the dye. If you go to their website, you'll see someone's success story with that. I believe he did it for a Dante (Devil May Cry) cosplay and it looks FANTASTIC. They also have other pictures and stories of customers using their dyes, as well as a place to buy them all!

So with that, I'm taking pictures so I can make an easy to read tutorial. I know that learning to wash our wigs is one of the first things we do, but I figure this would be good to those that want to try another technique, see if someone uses the same, or for the newbies that stumble across my blog.

On that note: How often do you wash your wig? Do you wash it right after a con? Or do you wait until it gets a few more wears into it, because of the complicated styling?

Mod's Answer:

Because my wigs are generally short with little styling, I wash them before and after every convention I go to. Especially after Motaku, as I did not have a wig cap and I wore one wig for two days. I'm a clean person, but still. Plus, many people like to pet me (with permission), wig or no. So add their natural oils to mine on the wig and it just doesn't feel clean after a day or two. Let's not even mention the heat.

So what say you? Comment or reblog and let us know!