Coming to the Wuxi anime convention this time, I originally wanted to save some time and directly wore an everyday-style brown wig. As a result, when the photos came out, I found that the fit between the hairstyle and the overall makeup styling was indeed a bit awkward. The hair luster and crown fluffiness of an everyday wig are very different from a specially customized styled wig. Coupled with the fact that this time's outfit is a white uniform with a relatively crisp overall style, the fluffiness brought by the everyday wig instead made it look a bit top-heavy. The bangs of an everyday wig also easily stick to the forehead; after walking around the anime convention for a long time and sweating, the bangs become stringy, which seriously affects the shooting effect. It seems I still shouldn't be lazy in the future; a styled wig should still be made if needed, even if it's just simple trimming and setting, it's much better than a completely everyday style. However, I am personally quite satisfied with this makeup attempt.
The focus of the makeup was placed on the eye area and facial contours. To match the cold feeling of the clothes, I specially chose red contact lenses, a large-area smudging of lower eyelid extension and red-pink eyeshadow, plus exaggerated lower eyelashes, wanting to create a visual effect with a slight sickly and emotional feel. The blush was also applied relatively heavily, using an expanding color of the same color scheme, so that under the complex top lighting of the anime convention, the face is less likely to appear flat. The base makeup had full concealer applied; because the overall makeup look is relatively strong, the base makeup must be clean to hold it up. The clothes are a white uniform, with black round buttons matching that acrylic capsule clip and name tag on the chest; the detail design adds a lot of points. The pictures and text on the name tag were formatted and printed in advance, which, combined with the white uniform, gives a strong sense of specific occupational role-playing.
At the anime convention site, I went to the Danhuangsu anime convention, Naihuangbao anime convention, and Wuxi anime convention; running them back-to-back is indeed quite tiring. The lighting of the venue is headachesome as always; white clothes are particularly prone to overexposure under flashlights, and many direct out-of-camera raw photos look grayish. So this time I indeed heavily retouched them, mainly adjusting the exposure curve, darkening the cluttered crowd in the background, highlighting the character's facial contours, and unifying skin tones. When retouching, I found that the hair parting and crown of the everyday wig required a lot of liquefying to adjust, which invisibly increased the post-processing workload. For friends who want good photos, it is recommended to try to find places avoiding direct light during on-site shooting, utilizing the natural diffuse reflection light at the edge of the venue, which will make post-processing much easier. In addition, for the makeup look of red eye makeup look with red eyeshadow, attention should be paid to retaining the translucent feel of red during post-processing color grading, and not making the whites of the eyes too blue, otherwise it will look very fake.
Although every anime convention is tiring, being able to wear clothes I matched myself, put on makeup I like, stroll around the venue, and meet some interesting booth owners and fellow fans—that sense of atmosphere is hard to experience in ordinary times. Although this overall styling had some minor regrets, it can also be considered a good attempt and accumulated some experience. Next time, I will be more fully prepared in wig selection and lighting. After all, the most important thing about doing cosplay is being happy yourself; being able to find such a relaxing space in a busy life and communicate with fellow fans is already very satisfying.