“Grandma, it’s me. Anastasia…”

When I was eight I remember going to movie theatre to watch a film called Anastasia. We didn’t go to the movies all that often so this was a treat for sure… and oh my sweet baby Bartok did I friggin’ love that movie.

Fast forward to 2018. I picked up the FanMail “Reigning Royals” Box and inside was a necklace, specifically the necklace similar to Anastasia’s necklace/locket that her grandmother gives here – complete with the “TOGETHER IN PARIS” inscription.

Needless to say, I’ve been wanting to put together a cosplay… or a COSPLAYish look for Anya for some time. And now the time has come! DUN DUN DAAAAAAAHHHH!

You may be asking yourself, what is COSPLAYish? Well, COSPLAYish is my version of non-screen accurate attempts at cosplaying characters. It’ll give you the gist of the character I’m going for with similar clothes, appearance, and accessories, but not the exact same ones as the original characters are wearing. I also will usually put my spin on the character as well. Like Anya… WITH FRECKLES.

ANYA with FRECKLES?! How dare I!!! Let’s be honest, she is a redhead. A FIREY REDHEAD! Over eighty percent of redheads have the MC1R gene – which you guessed it is the one that gives your skin the ability to produce lots of freckles. SCIENCE! Add to that that Anastasia has piercing BLUE EYES – which BTW is the rarest eye color for folks who have red hair to have… chances are good that if Anastasia (as depicted in the20th Century FOX – not DISNEY – movie) was real… she would have freckles. So I put freckles on… because, REASONS!

Note: I know that Anastasia Romanov was the real daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. She was killed during the upheaval of her father’s rule by members of the Bolshevik secret police and that the legend of Anastasia surviving is actually a myth. The Dreamworks movie is a hodgepodge between the legend of her survival and what actually happened with imposters trying to gain fame – and royalty – by impersonating the Grand Dutchess. There was a lady – named Anna Anderson – who was the most successful Anastasia impersonator and there are aspects of her story were worked into the movie as well.

Also, yes I know that Disney recently purchased the rights to the Anastasia story so technically she is a Disney princess NOW but she wasn’t back then … and damnit PLUTO IS STILL A PLANET.
Heh, see what I did there.

Phewww, I’m glad I was able to get that off of my chest. Alright, so with all of that random factoidal stuff aside, let us talk about this COSPLAYish look that I threw together.

Dancing bears, painted wings, and brows bold enough to kick Rasputin in his undead hiney.

Anya’s look is fairly straight forward and simple: lots of eyeliner and a grey-taupe shade on the lid. Her complexion is princess-perfect, so I had to zhush it up a bit. Wispy lashes are also optional – but they give a lil‘ something-something to the look as well since I guess it’s one of those trademark things for princesses to have amazing eyelashes.

I specifically wanted to transform into little orphan Anya INSTEAD of glamorous Anastasia because I’m a sucker for anything tomboy-esque and if I have a chance to wear a newsboy cap – I’m going to jump on it. PS: I love hats. Also, I don’t really like dressing in dresses – and with Anastasia being in dresses for the REST OF THE FRIGGIN FILM – the decision was made. Anya, it is!

My outfit was assembled from pieces that were found on Amazon. The shirt/tunic was close enough with the color and imperial collar that I thought it would work. Eventually, I would love to make my own – more accurate – Anya cosplay but that’ll be later. My jacket was a Christmas present from Mr. Chaos which was close enough color-wise to work. And the hat was one from my stash’o’hats that I bought from Amazon many moons ago. I thought that her hat in the movie was black but looking back now it goes from a deep navy to blue, to black … so… IDK. My fingerless gloves were some that I had made over the holidays – YAY DIY! Oh, and of course, I can’t forget the “Together in Paris” necklace from FanMail Box which was the whole inspo for putting this look together! What’s not pictured was the rest of my outfit – black THICK leggings and some random boots.

I think I did alright? But what do YOU think? Tell me if you think I pulled off a proper COSPLAYish version of Anya – in the comments.

MAKEUP DETAILS:

COMPLEXION:
– Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer
– Milk Makeup Flex Concealer in Fair + CoverFX Power Play Concealer in N1Light
– Milk Makeup Sunshine Skintint Foundation in Fair + Blur Foundation in Porcelain
– Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in Endless Cacao
– BIte Beauty Multistick in Blondie
– Milk Makeup Lip+Cheek Color in Rally+Work
– European Body Art Encore AAM in Clay and Ash
– Milk Makeup Blur Loose Setting Powder

EYES:
– Melt Cosmetics Eyeshadows in Blurr, Assimilate, and Classic
– Milk Makeup Gel Eyeliner Pencils in BOSS (black) and BCC (nude)
– NYX Epic Ink Liner in That’s the Point (a fine-tipped liquid liner)
– Cheap False Lashes – Brand is Laflare
– Milk Makeup KUSH Mascara

BROWS:
– Danessa Myricks Colorfix Waterproof Cream Paints in Primary Red, Primary Yellow, OliveYou, and Blackout. I basically tried to color match the wig I was wearing – but give it a little deeper tone.

LIPS:
– Farmacy Honey Savior Salve for lip prep.
– Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in Boundless Berry
– Bite Beauty Lip Pencil in 010

ACCESSORIES:
– CONTACTS: Pinky Paradise Twilight Reborn contacts in Blue
– WIG: IMSTYLE WIG Auburn Short Lace Front
– SHIRT: Mustard Imperial Collar Shirt
– JACKET: Gothic Victorian/Steampunk Jacket
– GLOVES: Fingerless Gloves – I made ’em. Want a DIY for them? Tell me in the comments!
– HAT: Newsboy Cap
– NECKLACE: Together in Paris Necklace from FanMail’s Reigning Royals Box
*FYI: The links to Amazon ARE referral links and I do make a tiny (and I mean TINY) bit of commission from them.

I will say that I was feeling myself with this wig. I felt glamorous with just a touch of Dana Skully from X-Files, which I think is because of the length and slight curl. The combo of the contact lenses and the all-around eyeliner really made my eyes pop, too… so that was nice. But oh my gosh, during application of the makeup right after I drew on my brows I spent a good 5 minutes doing my best Groucho Marx impersonation because Anya’s brows were definitely FULL.

It was RIDICULOUSLY cold outside during our little photoshoot and I was freezing. My skin, which is usually dry all year round was like WTF IS THIS and decided to become even drier. Go figure!

Whelp, that’s it from my end. I hope you enjoyed reading and watching my tutorial transformation into Anya from the Anastasia. Now, I want to know what other COSPLAYish character tutorials you’d like to see from me. Go ahead and leave me a comment below or on the YouTube video and I will see what mischief I can get into.

BY THE WAY:
My birthday is on Sunday. The big 3-0, HOLY CRAP! If you want to join us over on Patreon for our end-of-the-month live stream on the 31st, I would love it! There will be a live smashing of my face into some cake – so that’s something… I know I’ve been plugging Patreon a bunch but I am doing a lot of cool stuff for my Patrons including shooting an exclusive tutorial / fantastical makeup creature in the new few days. Patreon also helps me improve my content here on the Interwebs – so if you want to join in the Chaos Community, that would be awesomesauce! Every little bit helps each month and honestly, the Patreon community has been so positive. I don’t have to worry if Patreons are missing my content due to stupid algorithms. It really is so cool and I’m happy I took the plunge – AND that there are folks out there who want to support me. I’m thankful for each and everyone one of them.

PS: I’m hip deep in costume and prop making so if I don’t post a ton, that’s why. I have to make this costume fairly warm as I will be traipsing through the snow on a friggin mountain to take pictures on Tuesday! Again, it’s a Patreon exclusive thing… so there’s a little incentive… *wink wink* /gets off of self promotion soap box.