WRAITH: a ghoulish Halloween tutorial | #13DoH2k19 @ohjaechaos

Once upon a demonic mixer, a Wraith and a Crone spotted each other from across a crowed, dark dance floor, and it was love at first shriek. Fast forward, through many happily unhappy years later and their spawn, deemed two ghoulish to go to hell-school had finally come of age. Half wraith. Half crone. All gorgeous, for a particular value of gorgeous, that is. It was time she went to that once fated demonic mixer. And now she needs to get ready. 

I bring this look to you on a literal dark and stormy October’s eve… and while it’s a little bit later, She hath arrived just the same. 

The creepy hag vibes are real with this one. For sure!

—– THE OUTFIT —–

The outfit that I chose to go along with this look was intended to go with the original concept I had planned, but it still worked reasonably well with my final look. 

The dress is one I found on Amazon for a previous Vampire cosplay (link here), and the over vest and tails combo was something that came out in 2014 when Hot Topic and Her Universe did a Maleficent Collection. It’s one of my favorite “gothy” pieces. 

Accessory wise, I finally found an excuse to wear these long, extended-finger black gloves that I bought on Halloween clearance, MANY MANY YEARS AGO from Target. You can still find something similar – and probably a little more well made – on Amazon.  

My wig is from Rockstar Wigs, in style Prima Donna (Blonde Mix). This style is similar to the Rhapsody wigs, but it has about 50% more volume. I always think of Edith Sharpe from Crimson Peak when I wear it because it is so fluffy and overflowing with pale blonde volume. Like all of the Rockstar Wigs, I HIGHLY recommend waiting until the wig of your choosing goes on sale. Rockstar does daily deals that can combine with any of their ambassador or sale codes. Typically, this wig retails for around $80, but I scored it for under $40… YAY! 

—– THE MAKEUP —–

As mentioned previously, this look transformed into something that I had not initially planned. I wanted something that was eerily etherial and a little dark, but through the course of the makeup application, it changed in to … well… something completely different. 

This look doesn’t take a whole lot of skill per se, but it does take a hell of a lot of patience and blending. I recommend using your phone light to help give you a better idea of where your face contours are – especially those micro lines (THAT EVERYONE HAS BTW!). In the video, you saw me move my head around a lot and make several different facial expressions. Doing so helped me to figure out where I wanted the bulk of my character lines to be. Since everyone has a different facial structure, what works for me, “placement wise,” might not work for you. 

PRO TIP: Next time you travel to the arts and crafts supply store, check out the open stock brush section. I have several art brushes that I use for texture painting to help with fur or gore elements. Calligraphy brushes and liner brushes are great to help with details and outlines, especially tiny 20/00 brushes for simulating eyelashes or eyebrow hair strokes. Lastly, big brushes to help fill in lots of areas with face paint. 

A struggle that I didn’t initially see going into the makeup was how to find the PERFECT BLOOD RED shade in my makeup stash. Thankfully, back behind some other potted eyeliners, I found my -unopened- NYX Vivid Liner in Blood Red. The only downside to using these liners is that they are very thick and hard to work with alone. GO GO GADGET INGLOT DURALINE! If you need something to refresh a potted gel eyeliner, transform a powder pigment or eyeshadow into a liquid liner, give some more life back to your mascara, etc… get the Duraline. It has saved my buns more times than I can remember – especially around spooky season!

For those of you looking for the giveaway post, I had to take it down for a day because I needed to tweak somethings regarding entries and stuff – it will be back up HOPEFULLY tomorrow! – j.