Your Fantasy Costume

Kryolan is a brand of professional, theatre and fx make up that I use for my performances. Among all make up brands I always recommend MAC (that we’ve previously mentioned) and Kryolan. As both have really high quality products, Kryolan is more focused to FX make up.  It has all you may need, from fake eyelashes (remember our previous article about eyelashes) to anti-shine powder, iridescent, shimmering and glow in the dark make up. Basically it has two different sets of colors, a collection based in water (Aquacolor), that blends the colour  as nice as a watercolor palette. They’re super for body and face painting, though if you’re wearing it too long or in sweating conditions they have another brand of make up based in oil and absolutely indestructible unless you use a cleaning milk. Important thing (at least for me) is that so far I know  they don’t experiment with animals!! I have a very very sensitive skin and I feel super-comfortable with the aquacolor brand.

Also if you’re intending into a further transformation (getting old, becoming a zombie) they work with wax, putty and latex too for special fx make up. And of course they have spirit-gum similar glues and removers. There’s no limit regarding the color and materials provided to become whatever you want to be.

If you want to see their entire catalog or find a local store close to your area you can visit Kryolan official site

As we previously covered in our article about Vampire Fangs, if you’re intending to be a vampire, zombie  or monster this halloween, you may be in need of fake blood. I forgot to mention then that Kryolan works precisely with theatre fake blood up to 5000 ml bottles of pro fake blood (easily washable from your skin and clothes) and in two shades: light and gory dark.

To finish with this article, I leave you with this youtube video  using kryolan make up, this time this guy is creating a mask (great for masquerade) only with the make up and some beads

Enjoy!

Otter bay suits is a company specialized in professional swim suits with the sape of a mermaid, these are suitable for diving, like the ones below.

If you’re good at crafts here’s a tutorial about how to do-it-yourself

The Tempo is specifically designed for women’s fitness.   The fin blades are constructed with a hard rubber material to enhance stroke efficiency. The Tempo is adjustable to fit several  women’s shoe sizes , has a built in safety release mechanism and floats on water. It can be found in many sports shops. The same brand works model for children (finis wave) and men (finis rapid).

For children the “swim fin” is an inexpensive monofin model for children that can be later easily adaptable into a mermaid fin.

Another website that sells monofins and also the mermaid fins already finished emilyangelfish.

Also you can see this  youtube video of a girl that shows some tricks about how to make a fin

Having a monofin you can purchase (or make yourself) the fabric part, here’s a site called Merfolk tails where you can get some ideas, or even buy the fin wrap. They make customized models for several sizes of monofins and feature other informations as well:

Above: an example for Mermaid Fx that offer fin props in two styles “siren” and “mertail”

If you need to rent (also along with some other props like dolphins) you can have a look to Mermaid rentals, they feature a nice gallery of hand painted fins prosthetics  with iridescent colours  that will look pretty underwater too.  They also make clam and scale bra. These ones look more professional and some models reminds me to the movie 1,2,3… Splash! a lovely comedy from the eighties featuring Tom Hanks and young Daryl Hannah as a gorgeous blonde mermaid.

Above: one of the models for rental, very similar to Splash, add a long blonde wig and you’re done!

About final details it’s all up to you, there are a wealth of make up ideas in youtube, but be sure your make up is water proof if you intend to make wet shots, still for aerial here’s for example one  that you may find inspiring

Add fake pears, plastic scales or other beads to cover your chest (you can also make your own sea-shell bra or find it in any halloween custom store very inexpensive, beads and fake coral branches and shells to your hair, everything is allowed  for the final touches. Feel sultry and alluring…. Feel like a siren.

The venetian masks always cause a double impact. The first time I saw the movie “Into the labyrinth” I was fascinated by the Masquerade Ball scene where Jareth (see previous article about Labyrinth’s goblin king)  and Sarah dances. It all had a magical,  elegant yet slightly decadent  look. There’s something in the venetian masks that fascinates us and also can awake a slight sense of horror too.

The Carnival of Venice  o Carnevale di Venezia ( read wikipedia article for in detail historic information) will take place next February in Venice (Italy) but throughout the year the masks and its symbolism have become part of every masquerade ball and fantasy party and meetings.

Masks  (traditionally made of leather or papier-mache) have always been a central feature of the venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano ( December 26) at the start of the carnival season and midnight of Mardi Grass (Tuesday). They have always been around Venice. As masks were also allowed  during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise. Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society.

Portale di venezia This is another website that offers information and historic background about the Carnival of Venice and the masquerades.

Venetian Masks Shop offer a wide range of superior Venetian Carnival Masks to wear and suit your individual requirements at sensible prices. Their  Venetian maskmakers (Italian: mascareri) are all based in Venice and provide us with the highest quality handmade Venetian masks. Many of which follow a long history of excellence and skilled craftsmanship that has been passed on from generation to generation. This websites features one of the most extensive collection of models I’ve found on the net and you can complete your search with some accessories like three horned hats, capes and hooded cloaks.The website also includes a section telling about the history of the maks.

For people based in UK I recommend  masks of venice where  you can find also the typical cloaks, gold and silver sticks and some models inspired in movies like the phantom of the opera

If you happen to be in Italy and want to opt for renting an accurate replica of a masquerade garment, from wig and mask to shoes, you can have a look to this site called Marega. To look for more garments in this XVIII style please have a look to our previous article about Marie Antoinette and rococo

Another recommended website is maskitalia.

In Ebay  you can find a wealth of affordable models too,  but also  some one of a kind items as well Have a look to Venetian masks on ebay

In particular in ebay  I’d recommend and highlight  the store Venice Buy, it has masks that are very expensive, but they’re certainly unique, some even with oil paintings with Venice scenes. This shop really has a collection of very unusual venetian masks like the ones below.

As there are so many resources about them, we’ll update this article very soon in an organic way.  So bookmark it to know when it expands.

I love making floral headpieces myself, they’re useful for your dryad, fairy or nymph dress, and a common element for your masquerade ball or performing garment, not to say also a key element for a wedding or flowergirl dress, thus   surfing the net to polish my technique I found some tutorials you might find worth. Making them is inexpensive and you can unleash your imagination choosing a palette of colors and designing  them to fit the seasons or the color of your garments. Also you  can make smaller versions for a ponytail and add some ribbon steamers and other ornaments to make it stand out.

to get this wonderful result or whichever your imagination renders

This is another simple tutorial I found in save on crafts and also this other one in Forever wed focused in circlets for brides and flowergirls, this other in the princess portal

If you’re just too lazy (LOL) or you’re in a hurry  this is an ebay store  called Kcfairy with cute and quite affordable ones, not to say I find them rather cheap for the detail they have

Above: example of crown in Kcfairy ebay store

You can also check these others made by Art of wings (we covered it in a previous article), they’re simpler but not because of that less cute.

Above: example of Art of Wings Faery Crown

One of my favourite places for this is our previously covered  “Hairlooms” article. You can see an example of this wonderful crafted headpieces below. The site worth a visit if only to gather some ideas as they’re simply gorgeous.

Above: example of Hairlooms headpiece

This is a picture of one I did myself for a photo shoot of my song “the long way”. I used some fake branches and only brown, yellows and reds to provide an “autumn” look. I used wire to tie all the pieces to the tiara and after that I used ribbon and fabric straps to wrap  and smooth the possible wire endings that could scratch my head and make it more comfortable or you can use the stem wrap floral tape too. I use fake faux flowers but you can try drying leaves and flowers  and try to do the same, but they’re more delicate if travelling. So yep, that one below is me with my attempt of an “autumn crown”.  I added too some matching golden and red beads with the wire aside from the leaves and flowers and sometimes I even add feathers (check this previous article to buy all sorts of feathers).  Right now i’m working making a matching “leaf-mask”  but that will come in an upcoming article.

Another recommended site is Avalon Fantasy like the one below:

Above: me with my own handcrafted autumn crown