Regarding this Anime-style makeup and styling for Denia, the overall design concept mainly revolves around combining retro gothic and sweet elements, while fitting as closely as possible to the character's subtle sense of aloofness and resilience expressed in her line, "Please do not... pity me."
Let's start with the most complex head styling. The light pinkish-purple gradient long hair requires layering to guide the direction of the hair strands during processing, especially the curvature of the bangs on both sides and the bun structure on top of the head, which were repeatedly adjusted three times during the test styling to achieve a natural yet fluffy effect. The black hairband with a hollowed-out skull pattern on top of the head, paired with white streamers, requires special care in fastening; it cannot block the layers on top of the head, and it must ensure that the streamers can naturally drop to a beautiful curve during the shoot. Once this hair accessory is paired with the light pinkish-purple wig, it essentially sets the tone for the first half of this styling.
In terms of makeup, I chose a light pink glossy lip color that echoes the hair color, and the base makeup was made very clean and smooth to highlight subsequent makeup focuses. The eyeshadow section didn't feature large areas of dark color smudging; instead, it focused on reinforcing the redness around the eyes, especially at the lower eyelids' tear bags, paired with blue-gray colored contacts, achieving a balance in creating a slightly tipsy and somewhat dramatic eye atmosphere. This kind of makeup approach highly tests the cleanliness of the eye area; if it's painted messily, it will look exhausted. Fortunately, the on-screen effect looks bright and somewhat endearing, perfectly fitting the character's emotional expression.
Let's talk about the costume coordination details. This outfit has many layers. The first layer is a black fine-strap camisole innerwear, topped with a light pink glossy-textured bubble sleeve outer garment. A lot of thought was spent on the sleeves' design; the neckline features a blue bow tie, and golden piping along with black lace-up details appear on the sleeves, with a ring of white fluff sewn onto the cuffs. This clash of materials not only enriches the visuals but also gives the upper body great texture. The main skirt hem adopts a fluffy tiered cake skirt silhouette with a black base and white lining, and the outer edge of the black skirt hem is dotted with golden lines, which is highly eye-catching under light illumination. To support the perfect curvature of the skirt hem, there is actually a hidden petticoat structure supporting it inside.
The styling design for the lower body is also a visual focus of this look. I paired it with pure white tights and a pair of glossy black cross-strap high heels. The strap design on the shoes just happens to accentuate the ankle lines, while the classic color-blocking of white tights and black shoes, cooperating with the black-and-white checkerboard floor tiles, forms a stable color resonance in the composition. When taking full-body photos, a sitting posture with legs crossed happens to display the shoes' silhouette and the legs' elegant lines, preventing the lower body from looking monotonous.
Regarding the setup of the shooting scene, the photographer and I chose this dark red retro leather sofa as the main prop. The sofa's armrests feature exquisite carving, and the surface has a retro leather texture, offering great quality. The background is a whole sheet of deep red velvet curtain; a golden floor-standing carved mirror frame is placed on the left, and an antique-style brown leather travel suitcase stands on the floor on the right. The overall environment resembles a theatrical stage or a medieval secret chamber. The floor is paved with alternating black and white grid tiles, offering strong visual tension; in such a retro style scene, the character I play can naturally integrate just by sitting on the sofa.
During the shooting process, due to the combined use of strobe flashes and warm-toned lighting fixtures, the skin glossiness is exceptionally good, especially the light pink glossy sleeves and black glossy leather shoes, showing great highlight textures under the light. The bright red short gloves are a bold attempt for this styling; they echo the red background of the massive environment in color but are brighter than the background tone, serving as a great visual highlight in the foreground. When composing, the photographer paid special attention to the camera position; the full-body photos adopt a slightly perspective-driven low-angle shot, elongating body proportions, and the lines of the black and white floor tiles extend inward, increasing the sense of depth.
The entire set of works took a quite long time to prepare, from costume sewing and wig styling to scene construction. After immersing myself into the character, I realized that the emotions in the lines are not weak pleadings, but rather carry a touch of pride and stubbornness. As a coser, capturing that cold and slightly mysterious temperament in front of the lens while making body movements look relaxed and natural is a quite interesting test of expressiveness. When the lights dim and the red of the curtain forms a sharp contrast with the black and white of the floor, the frame quality of this set of works emerges naturally, and the Cosplay photography process was very smooth.