Amewarashi - Summer Frilly Dress #3

poor smashed one-eyed birdie...

I ordered a bunch of stuff from AliExpress, including a few things for Amewarashi: the chrisantemums and a fake bird, to turn into Tanpopo, the protector bird, as it comes with Amewarashi when she visits Watanuki. Just didn't order the pleated frills, because they were asking more for the shipping, than the actual thing.

I ordered a white bird, as I didn't find any similar yellow ones without glitter, but it arrived smashed, missing an eye, and with the label stuck directly to the bird, which meant, when took it off, it was impossible not to rip it. I was going to customize it anyway, and it is a tad too small, so I took it completely apart, and painted the feathers yellow, with a Y02 Copic marker.

Since I took it apart, I'm also painting the beak orange, and will add a little bit of volume to the body. I plan to line it with some light yellow plush fabric scraps, and I just need to get some white feathers, for the wings... But then I remembered, I got a bunch of white feathers for a cosplay that got postponed... when I went to look for them, to get 4 or 6 feathers, I also remembered that I collected a bunch of fake birds, looking for the right one, and I had a pair of bigger white birds, of which I could pinch one for Tanpopo. I still would like to make that costume, but not anytime soon, and I only need one bird for it.

the bird (wrapped) and the feathers (painted)

So, I also took that one apart, saved some of the feathers and the beak (nicer than the other one), and, using the clingfilm + tape method, I made its pattern for the fabric, the short "feathers". Only the eyes will be new, as I have prettier beads in my stash.

The fabric stretches a bit, so I tried to keep the pieces to a minimum. I got 5 + the wings. This won't be sewn, for a change, but glued on.

dressing the bird up

I traced and cut the patterns on the fabric, being very careful about the pile direction, as this is important to hide the seams as best as I can. I glued the bottom parts first, with UHU universal glue, then the left side, which is separate, then the top of the body and right head piece, and, finally the top of the head. I left an opening for the tail feathers, and glued them inside. Then I glued the wing and head feathers on, and the fabric shoulder wing on top. Painted the beak orange with two coats of nail polish, and, when it was dry, attached it to the bird. I sewed the beads on, with yellow thread, across the bird's head. Finally, I glued the clip to the bottom, with superglue, and glued a small piece of the fabric across, to keep it secure.

meet Tanpopo!

+ Here I am, having a blast making small props for close to nothing, from my stash...

- It was silly to order a new bird online, especially because I had four in my stash, and it came damaged. But I used its curly pretty feathers for Tanpopo's tail, so not all is lost. And it was cheap.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Try to keep Amewarashi stuff to a minimum, although I'll be going Downtown soon, to buy the fabrics. I need to finish Hokuto a 100% (which is almost done), and start the Candy dresses and wig styling.

Make-up #02

L to R: old Primer Potion, new Primer Potion, Catrice Diamond Haze highlighter,Coca-Cola lip balm 

My Urban Decay Primer Potion, besides being too old (over 20 years old -- don't do what I do), was on it's very last legs. I believe I never tried to take so much product out of any make-up as I did with this. Primer Potion is a life saver for me, I have very oily eyelids, so no product lasts very long (and I mean minutes), especially if it's not waterproof. Primer Potion changes the eyelid texture to paper-like, and everything I apply on top lasts the whole day, besides making the colours brighter. I swear, I'm not sponsored (I wish!), it's just a miracle worker, definitely a magic Potion.

But... it's a very expensive product, it was sold for about €35 for a very long time -- that's a lot! -- and Urban Decay products were not sold everywhere here in Portugal for a long time. I bought my first one in London, and for a fraction of its price, when UD arrived in Portugal. It was first sold at Sephora, but Sephora is expensive! Fortunately, make-up retail has changed a lot since, and I've seen ads for it, with a nice discount, for a while now. For the last two years? Maybe even longer.

So, I decided to look to buy it when I had a little extra €€, and I found it on the Wells website, for just under €20. Not very bad, for a middle price range make-up product. I ordered it online, and had to go get it from a nearby Wells store, to save on shipping, and ended up spending it in other products. I got a cute Lip Smacker Coca-Cola bottle shaped lip balm, all of those that I've bought before (the normal package) tend to disappear, or get pinched, and I never got through one... But, when I took it out of the package, I noticed the label was pink (the shop lighting made it look red), and it was Cherry Coke. I hate Cherry Coke! But fortunately the synthetic Cherry Coke lip balm tastes like... normal Coca-Cola. Yay!

And then... my magpie radar sounded in my head: there was this shimmery highlighter at the Catrice counter... I love my baked highlighter by Catrice, but it is pinkish. This one is, like its name, Diamond Haze, diamond white, with a purple hue. Perfect! I tried it on, it's the tiniest glitter, I love it, it adds no colour, just the shimmer. Double perfect! Naturally, the magpie in me couldn't leave it in the store...

Lately, because I have most of what I need, I try not to buy any new make-up, except to replace empty daily products, like the BB Cream, or face powder, or eyeliner and mascara. I have threee great eyeshadow palettes, two were even gifted to me, which cover all of my eyeshadow needs, plus my oldies. I have a few cosplay specific products, but I wear most of my products in daily life, usually in a no-make-up make-up style, focusing mostly on the eyes. But sometimes I go by discounted products, or the Catrice display, and can't help myself, nowadays I try to buy only stuff I will also wear in my daily life.

+ I can finally replace my Primer Potion, I just hope the formula is the same.

- The magpie factor is dangerous, fortunately I have the make-up budget limit on, and don't need to spend it on expensive high-end products.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Well, use the products!