Hope you're all having a wonderful start of summer!
I want to make a quick review of these makeup brushes from Zaful.com
As you might have realized by now, I'm a huge makeup nerd. I have brushes and tools of a million shapes and sizes, so when I saw these wonderful ombre brushes from Zaful I just had to try them out!
As you might have guessed, what drawed my attention to them was the look of them. They are made in a metallic, glossy ombre color, with faceted handles. The shape of the handles makes it easy to grip the brushes and hold a steady grip. The brushes come in various different sizes, ranging from small detail brushes to larger powder brushes, all in all there are 10 of them.
I made a makeup tutorial (link below) to show how the brushes work in applying makeup, and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised! Often when you buy brushes only because they look pretty they seldom actually work good, but these did! I love how thick they are, but still soft enough to easily follow my facial shape.
These brushes costs $12.99 if you get them now, and I would absolutely recommend them! You'll find the brushes here!
I made a simple makeup video tutorial to show how the brushes work, you'll find it here below. The tutorial teaches you how to apply discreet, simple makeup routines to cosplay characters that might have less to no makeup at all, all beginner friendly :)
We premiered our Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines group for Comic Con, finally!
This is one of the best games I've ever played, but since it's not exactly new I never imagined we could have an entire cosplay group from it, but we actually did. We had so much fun with this group (#vampirefam<3) and I can't wait to make this gorup happen again. We have gained a lot of characters just these past few days, and will have an even larger group next time!
We had a couple of photoshoots with this group, which means a lot of photos. I will post these photos in sets, to make it easier to give each photo its spotlight. So this will be Photo set #1 out of several :)
Before Halloween I got the opportunity to make a Halloween transformation video for Pinkyparadise.com, using any of their contact lenses. Since I'm always a sucker for crazy and odd lenses, the choice wasn't difficult!
Since I am still stuck in my Steven Universe-phase, I wanted to combine my Halloween look with one of the characters form this amazing tv-show. Which is why I decided to do my own take on Lapis Lazuli, in her cracked gem form!
My idea was basically that it would have been really cool if her physical form reflected her cracked gem (or even her mirror form??).
As always, I made a video tutorial on this look and you can find it here;
Info about the contacts;
Name: Princess Pinky Cosplay White Mesh (With Prescription)
The contacts are super comfortable and fits me well. Since they have a mesh layer, my vision is slightly blurry while I'm wearing them. This is nothing that can be avoided with contacts like these though. I'm super satisfied with my contacts and highly recommend you to get them if you want a similar look!
Buggy the Clown and Mr 3 - One Piece (Impel Down Versions)
YOU HAVE NO IDEA FOR HOW LONG I'VE WANTED TO DO THIS DUO: Buggy is one of my absolute favorite characters from One Piece (I crushed so hard on him back when I was a wee lass lol). This is just a quick first makeup test with our wigs, as you can see we still need to fix the 3 on Rake Makes - Cosplay/SFX's wig and add some details, but it will be somewhat like this!
We will be weaaring these cosplays at MCM London in May, hopefully with Sedra Art & Cosplay as Bon Clay and E V E Cosplay as Luffy!
I made a second makeup tutorial for Undyne because I was dissatisfied with my first one, lol. This one combines the best elements of my previous makeups and I think this is the one I will actually go with for my finished cosplay!
Okay so this is my 49327589325632th verison of Undyne, and I think this is the final one actually!
I recieved a lot of positive feedback and great suggestions from the people at my social medias, and I think I'm actually pretty satisfied wit hit. What do you think?
I brought back the black eyebrows and red lips, as well as lightened the skin a bit. I think it looks better!
Of course I had to goof around in video as well, lol.
I was given an opportunity to review a wig from CosPicky, namely their Monokuma wig, and since I'm a HUGE Dangan Ronpa fan I was really excited!
The wig is split in two parts; one black and one white. It's made out of high quality fibers and was very easy to style and arrange due to the wig being so thick and the strands flexible. The wig has adjustable hooks on the inside, making it easier for you to adjust the size to your own head.
I have always been a fan of thick wigs, haha, and this one even has some grey strands in the middle to even out the line between the black and white! I barely had to cut it anything because the style it arrived in already fit my take on the character so well. The "ears" styled themselves pretty much, because all I needed to do was pull my fingers through the wig a couple of times and the shape would still stay. I do reccmmend fixing your wig with hairspray though, just in case!
I love this makeup and would totally want to cosplay Monokuma on a convention one day with a full group! The wig was a bit big, which is perfect for me since I have very long hair that all needs to fit under the wig cap, haha.
Time for some numbers~
Comfort: 5/5
(Super comfy and well fitting wig!)
Accuracy to picture on website: 4/5
(The wig looks a bit longer on the wig head used on CosPicky's website,
but that's probably because the wig head is smaller than my head!)
Accuracy to character: 5/5
(Well, Monokuma is a bear and doesn't have hair in that sense, but color and
style-wise it's as accurate as it gets.)
Quality: 5/5
(Soft, flexible fibers and really thick in general. Easy to
style and maintain a hair style on.)
Fit: 4/5
(I just have a very small head, hahaha <3)
All in all I'm very happy with the wig and would definitely recommend everyone considering cosplaying Monokuma to get CosPicky's wig for him! This wig actually made me really hyped for finishing a Monokuma cosplay sometime in the future, but I'll need a group first, haha <3
I was actually dared to do this makeup from someone on instagram, haha. I won't make a full cosplay of Muffet because she's pretty much as far from my preferable characters as they come, being all cutsey and loli like. I'll stick with my monster fish waifu.
Quickly sculpted her eyes in doll clay, painted with black nail polish and varnish. They are attached with pros-aide! It's a shame my makeup looks really white in these pics because I tried SO HARD to mix a good violet and it really turned out nice, but the photos ruined it lol.
I made a video makeup tutorial for this lady as well, it will be up in a few days!
Bio
Character: Sylvari (Tier 1 Light cultural Snapdragon armor)
Origin: Guild Wars 2
Year constructed: 2013
Debuted at: NärCon Summer 2013
Why
I've been a huge fan of Guild Wars ever since Prophecies came out. GW was my first ever MMORPG and the one game that shaped my interest in online gaming. Naturally I was more than thrilled for Guild Wars 2 to come out, and when it did, I fell in love at once with the Sylvari race. I loved their color schemes and their nature-like designs. I also saw this as a good opportunity to try out facial prosthetics for the first time, sculpting, molding and casting. I chose to make my own character with an autumn-themed color scheme in orange and yellow colours.
Metallic robo Sylvari lol
How
I had decided early on that this would be the costume that debuted me into worbla. And so I picked the hardest part first - the flower cowl/headpiece. What I did first was making a mockup in metallic paper to see how it would fit my head. This way I could try out shapes, different sizes of the leaves and fitting without wasting worbla. So I used my plaster mold of my head and started taping like crazy.
This is a good thing to do if you need to try something out without wanting to waste material. Nowadays I always do mockups for pretty much everything I do.
I am so bugged by the small dent right in the middle of the forhead though.
After I finished the mockup I started cutting out the leaves in worbla. Now remember, this was my first time using worbla and I quickly found out how hard it was to use lol. I had already decided to use only worbla without foam, and also decided against using any form of coating since I wanted to bring out the natural texture of the worbla. Again, this was my first time experience with worbla, haha. Would probably have made it differently today!
The cowl looked way better in worbla than in paper since it got so much more volume. I also spent a lot of time making it durable, so I could basically fling it around the air and it would still hold together haha. I loved this cowl because it was sooo much comfier than a wig lol.
The weirdest photo I've ever taken ever.
I bought a yellow zentai for the bodysuit which I then airbrushed to give a more muscular and natural look, and it worked our great. I decided against using full body paint because ain't nobody got time fo' dat.
Now, I opted for worbla as material for EVERYTHING in this costume. This was a bad idea I realize now. The hip-armor in the picture was a pain in the butt to shape without a foam core for example. Luckily, I wanted to make the leaf armor look organic, natural and plant like which meant it was okay to have it a bit dented and textured in some places (I kept telling myself lol). The hip guard was help up with elastic bands like a skirt, but it kept sliding down anyways on my slippery zentai haha.
Pretty colors <3
After making all the different parts it was time to paint it all. This was the first time ever I used an airbrush and I totally went overboard with it, haha, but I loved the color combinations so much!
The base layer was spray painted with regular spray cans (I use Molotow spray paint which is usually meant for graffitti painters, which makes it super durable and sturdy). I used shades of red and yellow for this. For the second layer I went over it with airbrush paint in yellow, red, orange, sienna, ockra and other shades. For the final touch I used acrylics to make details such as the veins on the flowers stand out. I chose to make the veins on the red leaves on the cowl cartoony to make it look more artificial in contrast to the rest of the armor.
Completely destroyed my dad's lawn while painting this monse
Now, I had chosen to make the "bra" and the shoulder pads 100% worbla. This was a bad idea. The shoulder joints were so stiff they kept breaking every time a did a big movement with my shoulders. Had I used a softer material like fabric for the joint this wouldn't be a problem.
Also the bra was pretty uncomfortable being only made out of worbla, and since it was held together with velcro it would also open itself whenever I bent my back. Lesson learned; worbla is not always great for everything.
I can't seem to find a picture of my bracers, but I can tell the same about them; having the loop holes for my fingers and wrist guards made out of worbla was really uncomfortable and left scars and marks on my wrists. I learned a lot about worbla with this costume - how to use it and also when NOT to use it.
Not getting into Face Off with those edges.
Now the facial prosthetic I made was the first one I ever made, so I made it very simple for myself. It's only a half mask - once piece - that covers my nose, eyebrows and forehead. Looking back at it, I could have made it so much more detailed haha, but I was a newbie and wanted to play it safe. The edges were horribly thick and I had to incorperate lines and dots into the design just to hide them.
I used latex to cast them and prosaide to attach them. Once again, today I would have made this prosthetic very differently - I would have made several pieces to cover my whole face and not just a mask, and I would definitely have made a more complementing design lol.
Loving the hair net.
The picture to the right is the same prosthetic but with different makeup (you can see it has the same sharp eyebrows, forhead folds and lines under the eyes.
I was so unsatisfied with the first prosthetic I simply had to remakeup it, haha. I skipped the green paint because there is NO green on the rest of her costume. I also bought a gold eyeliner for highlighter, which made it a lot better. The yellow contacts added a lot to the design as well. I really like the butterfly-like design the second mask had!
Lesson learned; less is more when it comes to facial beauty prosthetics.
However I was too scared to glue the edges around the eyes because of the prosaide so it looked really crappy and unrealistic hahaha.
Plot twist; I was just being lazy.
In the end after wearing the costume three times, I just opted for regular makeup instead of the prosthetic. I was so unhappy with the quality of the mask and the rough edges, I just said screw it. This facepaint took about twenty minutes to apply - half time time the prosthetic took - and was way waaaay more comfortable.
As you can see it's way simpler than the prosthetic makeup, but I opted for comfort this time, not looks :P
Aaah look it's my old room before I moved out <3
This is the final progress photo of the costume before the con. The fabric part (the skirt in between the armor) was fake leather with a leaf texture that I found on sale, haha. It was first spray painted and then airbrushed in orange, red, yellow and gold.
After seeing this picture I can honestly say I don't know why I made the fabric flaps hang straight down, when in the reference it clearly has a lot of shape and defies gravity a little. Maybe I just didn't see it, or I was lazy or out of time. As stated before, there are many things I would remake today :P
Quick word about my bow and arrow; they are both made out of tree branches from the forest next to my back yard, haha. I picked fresh sticks so they wouldn't rot or stiffen too much before the con. Naturally I had to wait with the bow until last so the sticks would last longer. Making a bow out of real branches is nothing I recommend, hahaha, but I was short on time and thought it was a great idea. The bow was adorned with fake flowers and leaves from IKEA :D
Thoughts
This was a learning cosplay for me. It was the first time I used worbla, prosthetics and airbrushing. I was not as satisfied with it as I should have been, and looking back at it I see I could have made so many things differently! But I learned a lot and that's what counts. It was also fun to make it as a duo cosplay with my bf. However, it was with this costume I realized how much I dislike making just armor sets and not actualy characters. My sylvari had little to no personality and it was pretty boring to portray her since I didn't know any good poses or anything.
But as stated; this was a learning costume and I had tons of fun wearing it. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color scheme, I felt like a little bolt of sunlight walking around at the con, haha.
Photos
Click for larger versions!
Portrait shot of the costume.
Me and my boyfriend in a hallway shot!
The best full body shot I have of the costume. Actually kinda like the look of it here!
I wanted to update my Steven Universe makeup master post since I added a few new ones! Working on tutorials for Pearl and maybe Jasper atm!
Please note that all of these (except for Malachite and Jasper) are only makeup tests and not full cosplays, which is why the wigs are not 100% correct since I only grabbed what I had at home (for instance, Ruby's and Sapphire's are a bit off), but it's what I had Smiley heart Jasper is collab between me and my bf!
I figured I'd gather my Steven Universe makeup-tutorials in one post, for simplicity.
They're all uploaded on YouTube, and I have several other makeup tutorials on my channel, just not related to SU! Check them out if you're bored!
YES I know Ruby's wig is read and it's not supposed to be, haha. Both wigs are a bit unfitting, but it's what I had at home! Could have also used some contacts for Ruby, but same as before, didn't have any good ones at home :P
Lapis Lazuli makeup tutorial
Wig looks a lil freaky here, haha, but I fixed it afterwards! Song: 80's Rock Steven Universe - Lapis Lazuli Extended Cover by Cyril the Wolf PLEASE check out the genius behind this song, I love it so much! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNmo...
Malachite makeup tutorial
First song is Malachite's theme from the show Second song is Bubble Pop by Hyuna Third song is Hermione by Pogo :)
I used a regular white, long with with bangs as base. Not optimal, but what I had at home. Then I styled it using hairspray and a hair dryer.
Where did you get your eyeshadow palette? I don't remember the store sadly, but it's from eBay!
Is there any other makeup tutorial (Steven Universe or other) that you'd want me to make? Let me know! <3
So I just recieved my contacts, which means it's time for a new makeup test!
The contacts are 22mm Goblin scleras without prescription (meaning I'm blind as a bat wearing them) and I love them soo much! Sadly my eyes are a bit too large for them to cover the entire eye white, but I'll do some squinting and I'll be fine!
I'm pretty much done with everything now, save for actually acsting the prosthetics for the face. They're already sculpted and finished, but I'm a lazy butt and have postponed casting them for some reason. I'll try to get it finished tomorrow!
What I used for this makeup;
Fake blood (lots of it)
22mm sclera contacts
Scarecrow large fangs
Derma wax (to fasten the shards to my face)
Liquid latex (to fasten the wax)
Mirror shards (just regular silvery paper)
Liquid eyeliner (for the celshaded bits)
Aqua makeup (for her tattoos)
I can't really decide if I'm gonna celshade the mirror shards or not though? They look more realistic without, but it kinda takes the edge off the cartoony feeling, you know what I'm saying? What do you think?
We also did a fast makeup test for my boyfriend the other day!
Here you can see a better photo of my scleras, and the first makeup test for Bigby on my bf! The wig is just a substitute while we wait for his real wig to arrive :D There are still a lot of things to fix, but we'll get there!
Finishing off this post with some more idiotic lip-syncing, haha <3
I'm a huge Borderlands nerd, we all know that. No news here. And I have a gazillion badass bitches from this game that I want to cosplay. Mad Moxxi is one of them. However, her costume is very detailed, has a lot of hand painted work and maaaany accessories so I just never took the time needed to make it. Also this is not really the costume type I usually wear and I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to pull her off.
Then one day everything changed when CosplaySky offered me a Moxxi cosplay, as part of a sponsorship deal. Heck yeah, I said! Let's do this!
NOTE: This is an updated review with extra notes on the wearability and comfort of the costume, scroll down to read it!
You can also get her red outfit, but I think the purple one is prettier. If you order from CosplaySky you can either get a costume with premade measurements, or you can fill in your own measurements and have it all tailored to fit you exactly. That's what I did and the costume fit like a glove! It was a little big around the waist, but I believe that to be because I lost some weight since I filled in the measurements, and it was easily fixed!
The entire cosplay took about two weeks to make and one week (!) to be delievered. As you know I'm really picky about waiting for mail for a long period of time, haha, so I was super happy and surprised!
The parts included with the costume are as follows;
Coat
Hat
Gloves
Waist bag
Two belts
Striped stocking
Said and done, I threw together a quick test (with a substitute wig and no shoe covers) and I absolutely love it! I never thought I was gonna be able to pull this cosplay off, but I think I can actually do this!!
The entire coat is fully lined and everything from the fabric, seams and lining to the buttons, prints and details are just perfect and so carefully attached. No hot-glue buttons here! Even the hat is lined, which is a big deal for me haha <3 They even added Moxxi's off button which is larger than the others, and they look great together.
Something else that I really love is that all the decorations, swirls, patches and logos are actually printed onto the fabric! It looks very realistic and professional.
The belts, gloves and bag are all made out of pleather and are attached with velcro. The striped sock is made out of knitted fabric and stretches up top.
Although there are several buttons visible on the costume, the entire coat opens and closes with invisible snap-buttons. This is nice because the outside buttons never lose their shape and symmetry, and the snap buttons works perfectly fine on their own!
Time for some ratings!
Comfort: 4/5
Size: 5/5
Accuracy to original: 5/5
Movability: 3/5
Quality: 5/5
After wearing this cosplay for an entire photoshoot, I can add some text about comfort! The costume itself is very easy to move in - the stockings are a good quality that doesn't slide down, which is something that usually bothers me haha <3 I also like the fact that the hat was very lightweight, making it easy for me to pin it onto my wig, and even though it was very windy outside the hat stayed put during the entire shoot!
The coat is very comfortable to wear and has a really nice fit due to it being tailored to fit me. The gloves are made in stretch fabric and I'd think they would fit most hands! Belts also comes with long straps of velcro, making it easy to adjust them depending in your size. I love the small details like the chest-part of the coat being big enough to allow me to use a push up bra hahaha <3 The only thing uncomfortable with the costume are the ridicilously high heels, haha! All in all I'm super satisfied with my cosplay <3 It looks exactly as the original Moxxi costume from the game does, all the details are included and the quality is amazing. I really recommend CosplaySky if you ever want to order a costume yourself!!
I've made a video review of the cosplay as well, check it out down below!
Okay so! The last weeks I've really gotten into Steven Universe. Like really. And of course there has been some makeup sessions. All in all we (me and my boyfriend) have done three SU-makeups; Malachite, Jasper and Opal, and I was thinking of dedicating this post to going through them step by step, starting with Malachite.
Malachite
Malachite - Makeup by me
Malachite was actually my all time favorite fusion, even more so than Opal. There's just something about her crazy face and laugh, it's such a shame you only get to see her for roughly two minutes, haha. I've been comforting myself with the huuuge amount of fanart she has on tumblr lol!
I love Malachite because you get to make all these crazy faces and expressions, haha. I'm just tired of cosplaying pretty princesses I think!
What I used for this makeup;
Green circle lenses (forgot the name, but they're from Honeycolor)
ScareCrow Fangs
Grimas Aqua makeup in green
Grimas semi-transparent white fix-powder
150 color eyeshadow palette from eBay
Black liquid eyeliner
Black eyeliner pen
White eyeliner pen/marker pen
Brown eyeliner pen
Mascara
Pros-aide glue
Cardboard nose (tutorial below)
White wig (I sacrificed an old Griffith wig for this, when I do it for real I'll use a lace front!)
Now, I'm not gonna go through the entire process because I already made a video tutorial for this one, but roughly it takes about 40 minutes to finish maybe? The cardboard nose and wig are just temporary and they work fine for tests, but when I do this costume for real I'll cast the nose in resin and use a lace front wig instead.
Here's the tutorial for Malachite; it's a timelapse with written instructions :) For this video I used a different kind of light flare for the eyes though, I personally like the first one better!
The nose in these photos is just made simply out of cardboard. When I make this cosplay for real I'll cast it in resin, but cardboard works for a test!
Here's a quick tutorial on how I made the nose;
I will actually try to make a full Malachite costume for NärCon this summer. My boyfriend has some experience building quadrapods so I'll work the legs out with him! I have some good ideas which I will try out as soon as I can <3 My boyfriend will do Jasper and a friend of ours will make Lapis, so we're super excited!
Jasper
Jasper - Makeup by Rake Makes
My boyfriend wanted to cosplay from SU as well but found it hard to pick a characters out of the myriad existing ones. Until he saw Jail Break, haha. Jasper has a very muscular and large frame, which is perfect for my boyfriend who has a very masculine build. And Gems are genderless anyways so what the heck. He has very sharp facial features that can be enhanced with makeup to look more like Jaspers, so I think he'll make a great cheeto puff <3
BF is a very skilled makeup artist and of course did all of his makeup for Jasper himself. For this once he mixed two shades of yellow and orange for her signature skin color. The stripe is drawn on with red eyeshadow. The yellow lenses are actually his Nuada (Hellboy) lenses, but since they are semi-scleras they give a very alien and scary impression. His nose is made using the same method as the tutorial on Malachite's nose above!
The makeup itself took roughly an hour to finish, mostly because it has a lot of contouring and shadows!
Things used in this makeup;
Yellow aqua makeup
Orange aqua makeup
Yellow, red and orange eyeshadow (for contouring)
Black eyeliner pen
Mascara
Liquid eyeliner (for eyebrows)
Orange lip liner
Pros-aide glue
Fake nose
Yellow semi-scleras (from 9mmsfx.com)
White wig with bangs
The wig in this picture is another one of my Griffith wigs (yes, I have a thousand), just poofed and tousled to resemble Jasper's messy do. Just as with my Malachite, he will get a "real" wig for the finished cosplay this summer!
Opal was my first Gem makeup ever and for that I love her, haha. No but really, I do love her design which I think is the most beautiful and prettiest color-wise out of all the fusions so far. I love her clean look with the white hair and lavender skin. I really want to cosplay her in the future! I had planned at first to do her for the summer, but then I stumbled upon Malachite and realised how much I needed to make a costume with four legs.
For Opal's arms I was thinking of making a silicone cast of my own arms, and wire them with a skeleton to be able to pose them. I'd build them into a harness and attach them to my own arms using a thin wire. It's a fun project that I'm eager to start with maybe after the summer!
I don't have a tutorial for this, but the makeup base is pretty simple. It's white creme makeup with a lilac powder on top. I gave her some turqouise eyeshadow because it compliments the lavender skin. I love coming up with makeup designs for cartoony characters with simple designs, haha.
For this test I used the same wig as for my Malachite test and I quickly shaped two gems out of worbla (molded in spoons lol) and painted them with some nail polish. I know one of them is supposed to be faceted but this was just a test!
I experimented a bit with her lips since she obviously doesn't wear lipstick but still has very defined, rounded lips. I tried using both grey and purple eyeshadow, but in the end I opted for contouring the lips with a grey shadow to define them without having to color them.
The makeup took about 30 minutes to make!
Products used;
White creme makeup
Lavender eyeshadow powder
Turquoise eyeshadow
Light grey eyeshadow (contouring)
Regular, non circle lenses
Dark grey eyeliner pen (eyebrows)
Mascara
Liquid eyeliner
White wig
Two worbla "stones"
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For the summer we have actually several friends who will join us as Lapis, I'll make sure to add their names as soon as I have some photos and info to give <3
Another friend of us - Panztar Cosplay - will most likely cosplay as Garnet this summer, and we look forward to having a photoshoot with him fighting my BF as Jasper! <3
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So there we go, a short summary of each makeup done! If you have any questions regarding any of the processes, products or anything else, feel free to ask away in the comments <3
Right, so I got SOO many good tips from you guys on tutorials I should make, so I'm starting off with this one! It's a simple, very basic tutorial on how to lay a foundational makeup for female and male characters. On top of this, you can add whatever characteristic makeup your characters might have
.
As stated before, this is just how I personally do it, I'm sure there are other ways that might even work better for you, but this is my personal routine Smiley smile
List of products used are found in the video's description!
Finally took time to actually do this makeup! I so wanna cosplay Bloody Mary some day Smiley heart
Used eyeshadow, derma wax and fake blood for this, eyes (obviously) shooped because this is only a test, and the mirror shards are cut out of a bunch of silver envelopes haha </3
Process;
Lined the facial structure with celshading lines.
Lined eyes with tons of eyeliner to darken them.
Painted on eyebrows and the final celshade lines
Drew her tattoos using reuglar grey eyeshadow and an angled brush
Cut out the mirror shards out of a silver envelope
Glued them on with spirit gum and covered the edges with derma wax
(The shard in my hair is put in place with hair pins)
