Moxxi Part 13 - Makeup and Hair (and Last Minute Batman)

Running... In this.
As if.

Love those scales!

So my big race is tomorrow, and I'm happy to say I made my fundraising goal! Well, really, after my half marathon, a 10k doesn't feel that big, I'm just jazzed I get to run it in costume! Speaking of which, guess what the hubby decided YESTERDAY. Yes, the man who saw me busting my butt getting Robin together at the beginning of the month decided he was going to wear his half-assed Batman costume that was put together for the same Superhero Scavenger Hunt that the first version of my Robin costume was for. "Maybe I'll wear my apron over the technical shirt... I have the cowl too." Yes, husband, I'm sure you'll happily run 10 km with a kid's cheap plastic Batman cowl strapped to your face. As if.

So I sprung into action and started work on a cowl (Adam West style). Really, they're quite a bit more complicated than I had imagined, but I think I can pull off a modified version! Last night I made the face plate out of craft foam, then patterned the main hood out using the fabric from an orange shirt that I had picked up at the Salvation Army Thrift Store ages ago for another project (for which it was wholly unsuited and made a big mess of

Almost finished mock-up (fits him better) - Next, in black!

orange lint everywhere). I put together my dummy cowl, and tailored it (to the best of my ability) to the hubby's head - a process he did not enjoy both because it distracted him from playing Batman: Arkham Origins, and because he apparently doesn't trust me with pins - I promise, I didn't prick him! Tonight, I will be ripping my tailored orange cowl apart and using the pieces as a pattern for the final version! Luckily, I just happened to have some black spandex hanging around (which was going to become my arm-glove for Gaige).  If I have any time left, I'll make a bat logo for him to pin onto his shirt instead of having to run in an apron. Easy peasy (I hope)!

Check me out, getting all distracted again! My masterpiece, she was almost complete! Really, putting the costume pieces together is the hard part, but I was really worried about the makeup as it's REALLY not something I have all that much experience with. The hair, on the other hand, I wasn't too fussed about, I asked my hairdresser for advice, and knew what I had to do.  Funny how the little ironies of life work, as I was totally happy with my makeup, but thanks to the rain and high humidity the day of the convention, my hair was pretty well ruined by the time I ended up inside. 

The LAST step! MAKEUPS and HAIR!

Materials needed (I listed the exact makeups I used, but use what you can find) - 

-White water based face paint (I used Craftobian Disguise Stix in Clown White)
-Makeup sponges
-Makeup brushes
-Pink blush (I used Hard Candy's Fox in a Box Truth or Dare)
-Peachy pink eye shadow (I used CoverGirl 274 Fairytail)
-Black eye shadow (also in Covergirl 274 Fairytail)
-Bright red lipstick (I used Rimmel 180 Jet Set Red)
-Black WATERPROOF liquid eyeliner (I used H2O Proof 881 Ultra-Black)
-Black volumizing mascara (or fake eyelashes)
-Black, red, and white acrylic craft paint
-Brown wig (or brown hair... I just used my own)
-Hair straightener and/or curling iron
-Lots of hairspray!
-Black nail polish (I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength 480 Black Diamonds)

No makeup? How plain!

So on to what I did well! The makeup! Welcome crappy lineart Moxxi (I pushed that pesky hair out of the way so we can see both eyes), who I put together in Paint Shop Pro for this guide because I totally forgot to take pictures as I was doing all this at approximately 6:00am the morning of the convention. I'll try to remember to take some step by steppictures next time I wear Moxxi (maybe even Halloween? We'll see)!

Step One - Full face white waterbased makeup

Starting with the face - first layer is a nice even layer of white face paint ALLLL over the face, right up to the hair line at the top, to the ears on the side, following the jaw line, and covering the eyebrows. I used a water based paint as it dries nicely, doesn't smudge like oil based face paint, and I needed to apply more makeup over top of it. Now I went and forgot to pick up makeup sponges and ended up needing to use a kitchen sponge instead (oops). It worked well enough, but took a lot of work to get smooth and even.

Step Two: Light pink blush/eyeshadow

Next up, I applied the light pink blush.  Two nice pink circles on the apples of the cheeks, I didn't go as dark as I should have, but I was trying to be delicate. Then I also used the blush as the "shading" around the edges of the face, and under the nose. Also, as it was just the right shade of pink, I applied it using an eye shadow brush directly on my eyelids.

Step Three: Peachy-pink eyeshadow

The peachy pink eye shadow then went over top of the eyelids, and around the perimeter of the eye.








The black eye shadow went slightly tighter around the eye.  I also put on my lipstick at this point, nice bright red.

Step Four (and Four point Five): Bright red lipstick and black eyeshadow

Then came the fun part - the liquid eyeliner.  Did I mention the part where I don't really use makeup all that often? Well, liquid eyeliner is a bit of an advanced tool in makeup, and while it worked, I definitely ended up dabbing it off my eye with a q-tip more than once.  Icky. I made sure to get waterproof as I needed to put some on the underside of my upper lip, and didn't want it smudging and spreading. It still did a touch, didn't make a mess or anything.

Step Five: Waterproof liquid eyeliner EVERYWHERE!

Okay, so the eyeliner went first where eyeliner usually goes (the hard part). The edges of the eye were extended just a bit on the right eye, then a little further on the left where the "tears" come down. I went a little conservative on the black tears, I only drew on three, and ensured that there would be a little "web" at the top where the drops come down. I used just a little on my eyebrows to draw them back in, but tried not to go overboard. Then the rest of the cell shading came in! I did lines around and on the button of the nose, and over the top of the chin just under the lip. The lips are a little complicated - a very thin line on top, then a thick line around the bottom of the bottom lip.  I also shaded under the top lip, and had to stand around with my mouth open for a bit to ensure it was COMPLETELY dry.  Aaand the little curve out to the right of the lip, of course.  The final touch was the beauty mark.

Step Six: Pick your own eyelashes

I didn't bother trying to draw this stage, but I applied the black volumizing mascara at this point. I had planned on picking up fake eyelashes to give that extra little emphasis, but they didn't have any to my liking at Wal Mart when I was picking up all of my makeup and hairstyling goods. You can't really see Moxxi's eyelashes in detail in Borderlands 2, but in the first Borderlands she appears to have eyelashes that are very long on the outside of the eye, and pretty well unnoticeable on the inside. I'll look for them again beofre next wear.

Step Seven: White paint. On your lip.
Not bad! Speedy PSP sketching win!

Finally, I highlighted the lips with white acrylic craft paint - a thin line along the top of the top lip, a thin line along the top of the bottom lip, and little dashes and lines down from there as necessary. Again, I stood around with my mouth open to allow the paint to dry. Face finished!

Introducing crappy lineart Moxxi chest, here to help with the rest of the makeup! For the chest, I started out with the liquid eyeliner, making the marks as per the reference - collarbones, cleavage, and little dashes where necessary. I painted the heart on in red acrylic craft paint, then once it was dry, outlined it in black acrylic craft paint, and painted on the "shine" in white. In putting this guide together, I noticed that I applied the shine on the wrong side of the heart - oops! And with that, my makeup was complete! I then coated my face and chest with a thin layer of hairspray to help seal all the makeup in, carefully closing my mouth and eyes so as not to poison or blind myself.

Blank| Step One: Liquid Eyeliner Cell Shading| Step Two: Red acrylic heart| Step Three: Acrylic black outline, white shine

Don't forget to bring your makeup with you to the con! I needed to touch up a few times over the day!

Poofy, wavy, messy hair.
Photo from Just Push Play Ottawa

On to the hair! So as I said, this was pretty well a disaster in the end, in part due to the weather, and also because I wasn't willing to cut my hair as short as would have made my life easier (I grow and donate my hair every few years, so I don't tend to take all that much off if I don't have to). Okay, so first things first, I straightened the whole head so it would be nice and smooth, and gave an overall coat of hairspray. Now, the theory for the curls is that to get them to curl UP instead of corkscrewing, it needs to be pinched (in either a hair straightener OR a curling iron) then pressure needs to be applies as the tool is pulled downward, then start twisting slowly upward when you reach the point where you would like your curl to start, and keep turning until you're out of hair.  Keep to smallish chunks of hair, and hairspray each one as you go along.  Once it's all done, give a final decently heavy coat of hairspray over the whole mess. And it was almost perfect!! Uuuuuntil the rain and humidity and whatnot, after which the curls released, and my hair went right back to its standard wavy, poofy self. 


The very last bit, the nail polish! Easy peasy, black nail polish, and I painted it on standing in line because (if it isn't obvious) I ran out of time! So there we were, standing outside in the line up, Julian holding the little bottle of black nailpolish while I painted my nails. It was a moment to be sure! 


And that is it! She was finished! I have a bunch of work to do before I wear her again, but I'm a wee bit preoccupied with Rubi at the moment, and have Gaige to worry about when I finish Rubi.  I have everything that I believe I need for the moment (though as you know, there's always more to buy, no matter how prepared you think you are) and I'm really looking forward to seeing her come together! That said, when I DO fix Moxxi, I'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress, and if I come up with any new and exciting ways to do things, I'll be sure to post all about it! If you find yourself trying to follow along and have any questions, feel free to let me know, and I'll be happy to help shed some light on my methods of madness!

My cover shot from the Ottawa Sun's Digital Lounge - I'm Invincible!!

So next time, my first non-tutorial post! Shock! I'll be talking about my experience as Moxxi at Ottawa Comiccon, and sharing some pictures of our costumes, video from the masquerade, and, of course, sharing the latest progress from my Rubi! She's getting there I tell you! Oh, and I'll report back on how the Batman experiment went, and give you a Race Report - until then!

Every single Moxxi cosplay tutorial you could possibly need to make your very own Moxxi! (Or so I would like to think!)

Part 1 - Spats
Part 2 - Finding Fabric and Starting the Jacket
Part 3 - Jacket continued, Stripes and Zipper
Part 4 - Cuffs and Collar
Part 5 - The Button Solution
Part 6 - The Patches!
Part 7 - Belt and Buckle!
Part 8 - Rubi's Holster and Garter 
Part 9 - Finishing the Jacket, Piping, Rick-Rack, and Curly Tails!
Part 10 - The Hat, Card and Feathers!
Part 11 - Cell Shading and Blood Spatter
Part 12 - Shopping and Accessories to Complete the Look!