Of course, the most common way to match a character’s hair color is by using wigs. However, you can also temporarily dye your own hair using colored hair spray, wax, chalk, or even semi-permanent hair dye. The lighter your natural hair color is, the more likely you’ll get good results.

Some products will work on dark hair, especially if you don’t need to recreate a super light color. But if you’re struggling to find hair coloring products that work on your dark hair, it really is best to wear a wig instead. While it is possible with a lot of time and hair products, it’s very difficult to cover up a dark color while also maintaining a normal, non-greasy hair texture

4. Use colored hair spray

If you really want to use your real hair, then there are still some relatively cheap and easy ways to change the color temporarily. Colored hair spray is the first option I’d consider. You can get just about any color of the rainbow and apply multiple layers for fuller coverage. Make sure to use your fingers to work the color through your hair so you’re not just covering the outer layer (wear a glove to keep from coloring your hand).

Usually, even dark, black hair can be sprayed to have a somewhat bright color if you use an entire can (or maybe two) or the spray. However, the more colored spray you use, the crispier the texture of your hair will be, making it feel like straw if you’ve used a lot. It can help to give your hair a comb-through before the spray completely dries to make the texture a little softer.

If you have long hair, a colored hair spray is one of the better options for you because it can cover a large area with less product. It won’t take you hours to get full coverage while you color your hair one section at a time, like you do with most other temporary hair-color methods.

Colored hair spray is great if you just want to color your hair for one day since it generally stays in your hair but easily washes out at the end of the day. Colored hair sprays usually don’t shed too much, but if you’re wearing dark clothing, you may see some hair spray dust when you use a lot of the product.

6. Hair makeup

There are a couple of stage makeup brands that sell a product called hair makeup. This is a liquid hair colorant that you can apply to your hair with a sponge or a small brush. This tends to not create as much of a rough texture as other methods and is excellent at covering beards and short hair. You can use hair makeup with long hair too, but you’re not going to get as full coverage.

This is mainly used for creating a white or gray-looking beard or hair, and it’s difficult to find in other colors. However, I have heard of people using liquid makeup to color their hair, and it works pretty much the same as hair makeup does.

Hair makeup tends to be a little messier to apply than other products because it’s liquid. Use a sponge or small brush (even a toothbrush) to rub it on. If you need to apply multiple layers, make sure you let the hair makeup dry before adding more paint.

7. Wear a wig

This is by far the easiest and most common way to attain the right hair color for their character. I know it’s pretty common to think of wigs as tacky-looking and unrealistic. After all, many halloween wigs are cheap-looking and fall apart almost before you wear them, but that’s because those wigs tend to be cheap-looking, low-quality wigs.

You can find high-quality wigs with realistic hairlines for costumes if you’re worried the wig will look too synthetic. Even if you have long hair, there are plenty of easy techniques you can use to get it all under a wig. This is the technique I use to get my butt-length hair underneath my wigs.

If you have dark hair and you want to temporarily color it a light or bright color for your costume, a wig will be especially useful for getting your perfect hair color.

The post How to Color Your Hair for Halloween Costumes appeared first on .

You can use white powders to create a gray hair effect. Alternatively, colored sprays and gels, hair chalk, and temporary hair dye are all products that can help you achieve a white hair color without permanently bleaching your hair. 

If you have dark hair, it really is best to wear a wig instead of trying to temporarily make your hair white. While it is possible with a lot of time and hair products, it’s very difficult to cover up a dark color while also maintaining a normal, non-greasy hair texture.

• Tips for temporarily coloring your hair for cosplay

1. Semi-permanent hair dye

Semi-permanent hair dye is essentially the same kind of product as normal hair dye, but it’s intended to wash out over the course of several weeks. This is a method that is not going to work for most people, especially if you want a pure white color since you would have to bleach your hair first to achieve it. 

However, semi-permanent hair dye can work well for creating a short-term gray color that looks and feels like real hair. You won’t have to deal with a straw-like hair texture or shedding dust and particles from the gel or spray. Overall, this method will work better with lighter-colored hair.

2. Colored hair wax

An option that’s best for shorter hair and beards is white hair wax. Hair wax is great for coloring hair if you want hair that’s spiked or textured, but you can use it with a more normal hairstyle if you also use some leave-in hair conditioner to help keep your hair somewhat soft.  Because this is a wax product that coats your hair, it can work well even on very dark hair. However, you should expect to use quite a bit of hair wax.

To apply the hair wax, make sure your hair is slightly damp. This helps the wax to stop clumping up in your hair. You’ll also want to take a comb and run it through your hair to make sure you have full coverage throughout.

3. Hair chalk

Hair chalk is a hair coloring product that is mostly aimed at kids. I don’t recommend it for trying to color your entire head to a white or gray color, but hair chalk can work well if you only need to color a couple of strands or sections of your hair. For example, the streaks of white in Rogue’s hair or the white pattern in Death the Kid’s hair (from Soul Eater). You can do your full head of hair if you want (especially if you have short hair), but expect to use a lot of chalk, and it probably won’t be as white as you want it to be.

When applying, it’s best to dip the chalk in water to help it spread the color around. Then seal it with hair spray to prevent the color from coming off right away. Most hair chalk will come in little plastic combs, but I recommend taking the pieces of chalk out of the combs and just applying by hand since I don’t find the combs do anything except pull out your hair.

4. Hair makeup

There are a couple of stage makeup brands that sell a product called hair makeup. This is a liquid hair colorant that you can apply to your hair with a sponge or a small brush. This tends to not create as much of a rough texture as other methods and is really excellent at covering beards and short hair. You can use hair makeup with long hair too, but you’re not going to get as full coverage.

Hair makeup tends to be a little messier to apply than other products because it’s liquid. Use a sponge or small brush (even a toothbrush) to rub it on. If you need to apply multiple layers, make sure you let the hair makeup dry before adding more paint.

5. Colored hair sprays

White hair spray is another way to temporarily change the color of your hair for a costume. You can get white, silver, or gray colors and apply multiple layers for fuller coverage. You can usually get even dark, black hair to have a white appearance if you use an entire can or two of spray. However, keep in mind that the more spray you use, the crisper texture your hair will have, making it feel like straw if you’ve used a lot. Giving your hair a comb-through before the spray completely dries can help with the texture a little.

If you have long hair, a colored hair spray is a great option because it can cover large amounts of areas at a time. It won’t take you hours to get full coverage of white hair going part-by-part like you do with most other temporary hair-color methods.

Colored hair spray is great if you just want to make your hair white for one day, and will easily wash out at the end of the day. In general, colored hair sprays don’t shed too much, but if you’ve used a lot of spray, you might still see some hair spray dust on your clothes if you’re wearing something dark.

6. Use a white powder (baby powder, cornstarch, white powder makeup, etc.)

Unless you have very light hair naturally, powdered products, like baby powder and cornstarch, are not going to get you pure white hair. Overall it can make your hair appear one to two shades lighter than your original color. 

However, this is a great method if you are trying to achieve gray hair or a salt-and-pepper look. Apply ample amounts of powder to your hair and comb it through to get a solid color. You will need to use a lot of powder to get this to work. If you want to look slightly more mature, but don’t want to use so much powder, you can apply it to just the hair around your temples to create a graying effect.

Using baby powder, cornstarch, or even a white makeup product is a cheap and easy way to lighten your hair. However, the downside to using it is that the powder will get everywhere. Expect to be shedding powder all day and night. If you wear a dark-colored costume, you will definitely notice the powder falling all over it. So definitely keep that in mind before choosing to make your hair gray or white with this method.

Bonus: Wear a wig

When I first started cosplaying, I was hesitant to start using wigs. My experience with wigs in the past was the cheap ones you get for Halloween, and I thought it would make the costumes look tacky. However, I learned that not only do wigs look great with costumes, but they are also easier to keep neat and styled to look like your character’s hair. You just need to avoid the cheap wigs you find at Halloween stores.

Why wear a wig instead of coloring your hair?

• It’s the only way to confidently get completely white hair. While the methods I’ve gone over can help you get white-ish hair, most of the time, you won’t be able to make it completely snow white without bleaching your hair or wearing a wig.
• You can get very realistic wigs. You can get all sorts of wigs for your costume, they don’t all look like Halloween store wigs. You can even find many that have a lace-front, giving them a natural-looking hairline.
• You can more easily style your wig. If your cosplay requires a complicated hairstyle, it’s much easier to style it once on the wig rather than take a couple of hours to style your hair every single time you want to wear the costume.
• It’s considered normal practice in the cosplay community. Most people wear wigs when they cosplay, so you don’t have to worry about standing out or looking like you put less effort into your costume.
• You can get decent wigs for not too much money. It’s pretty easy to find a decent wig for $20-30. In the end, it may even cost less than it would after experimenting with a number of different hair products.

Where to buy high quality wigs?

The post How to Make Your Hair White or Gray for Halloween appeared first on .

How to reduce shine on a synthetic wig

It’s pretty common for synthetic wigs to have a little bit of an unnatural shine, even if they are of decent quality. This is because synthetic wigs are made up of strands of plastic fiber. Plastic reflects light differently than actual hair, so the plastic fibers have to be treated in a way that will change the way light bounces off of them.

That’s why treating a wig with fabric softener and baby powder works. These products can coat the fibers of the wig to make light reflect more realistically. For this tutorial, all you need is:

• A synthetic wig
• Fabric softener
• Wide-toothed comb
• Baby powder 
• Optional: foam rollers

1. Wash your wig with fabric softener

The first step is to wash your wig with a fabric softener. In many cases, just this step will be enough to reduce the shine on a wig and make it look more natural. 

1. Add a few inches of water to a basin with ¼ cup of fabric softener (you can also use a sink). You can use a little more for long wigs and a little less for short wigs. If you add too much softener, it can cause a sticky residue to build up on your wig and you will need to wash it again.
2. Submerge your wig in the basin. Gently move the wig around in the water to make sure all the fibers are coated in the fabric softener solution.
3. Let your wig sit for 10-15 minutes. Occasionally move the wig or flip it over to make sure all areas stay submerged in the water.
4. Rinse off the wig. Remove the wig from the basin (or drain the sink) and rinse the wig in running water, making sure to rinse off all areas of the wig.
5. Place your wig on a wig head to let it dry.

One thing to keep in mind is that fabric softener can make wigs a little bit more flammable and less heat-resistant. If you are planning on styling this wig with heat later, always test a small, indiscreet section first, so you don’t end up melting the wig or setting it on fire.

2. Comb the wig and let it dry completely

When your wig has dried a little bit (to the point where it is damp but not soaking wet), you’ll want to comb it out. The wig probably acquired some tangles during the bath, so you want to comb those out before they dry in place. Use a wide-toothed comb to gently comb out the fibers.

If your wig has waves or curls, this is also a great time to restyle those especially if it’s not heat resistant. While the wig is still damp, add foam curlers to sections of the hair. As the wig dries, the fibers will stay in place. Use larger foam rollers for wider, looser curls, and smaller foam rollers for tighter curls.

Before moving on to the next step, you need to make sure your wig has dried completely. I will usually let it dry overnight with the foam curlers in place. By morning, you should be able to touch it and feel that the wig is dry. Remove any curlers and give the wig a quick comb-through if necessary.

3. Apply baby powder to the wig

At this point, your wig might already look good enough. Using fabric softener usually makes a significant difference, so you can stop here if you’re happy with the result. However, if you want your wig to look just a little more natural, all you have to do is add some baby powder.

1. Pour some baby powder onto your hands. Rub your hands together to coat them. Start with a small amount of powder. You can always add more.
2. Scrub your fingers through the wig. Go section by section and scrub your fingers through the wig as if you were giving it scritches. You want to make sure you give a light coat of powder to the fibers all the way through the wig, not just those sitting on top. If you don’t want to use your hands, you can also use a large makeup brush to help distribute the powder.
3. Use a comb to distribute the powder through the wig. A wide-toothed comb can help get a more even look throughout the wig. 

At this point, the powder should help to diffuse the light on the surface of the wig, making it less shiny overall. 

The post Tutorial: Remove Ugly Shine from Your Halloween Costume Wig appeared first on .

(Faux) Fur Animal Ears 

This tutorial will take you through the steps to make three-dimensional ears using faux fur. When it comes time to color the ears (if you choose to do so), you can stick to more realistic shading colors or add fun colors like I did. You can use this same technique for any kind of animal ear, even long rabbit ears, by adjusting the shape of your pattern in the first step.

Supplies needed to make these fur ears:

• 4mm EVA foam or 2 layers of craft foam
• A Heatgun
• Faux fur
• Thread
• A sharp razor
• Fabric glue or hot glue
• A wide-toothed comb or wig brush
• Fabric scissors
• Electric razor (optional)
• Hair chalk
• Fabric paint
• Small paint brushes
• A headband or hair clips

Step 1: Make a pattern for your ears

Like in every tutorial, the first step here is to make a pattern for your ears. The easiest way to do this is to look at photos of the ears of whatever animal you want. Look at real bear ears, cat ears, fox ears, etc. depending on what you are cosplaying. Then sketch out your ear on paper based on your reference photos. Remember, we’re going to make bended, three-dimensional ears here, so you’ll want to make your pattern wider than you’d expect at the base to account for the shape.

Cut out your paper ear and hold it up against your head or a wig head to see how it will look. Then make any adjustments to the shape. Don’t be afraid to make changes now, because if you get toward the end of the process and don’t like it, the only way to fix the ear is to start from the beginning. 

Step 2: Cut out EVA foam and heat form it

To get your ears to stand upright and maintain their shape, you are going to insert plastic foam pieces. I recommend using 4mm EVA foam for this (so that it’s not too thick but not too floppy), but you can also use Worbla, or glue two sheets of craft foam together and use that.

1. Trace your pattern onto the foam sheet and cut it out. Repeat so you have one piece of foam for each ear. 
2. Use a heatgun to heat up your foam and bend it into your desired shape. As the foam cools, it will maintain its new shape, no longer laying flat. Repeat for the second ear. Make sure your two ears are mirrors of each other so that one will be the left and one the right ear.

Now you have two foam pieces that are shaped like three dimensional animal ears. You are going to use these later as inserts inside your fabric ears.

Step 3: Cut out your fur pieces (add seam allowance)

Now it’s time to get out your faux fur and cut out the pieces you’ll need for your ears.

1. Trace the pattern from step one onto the back of the fur material four times. For two of them, you want to flip the ear pattern over so that you have fur pieces for the front and back of each ear.
2. Add ½ inch seam allowance around each traced ear pattern. This will give you space to sew the front and back of each ear together.
3. Cut out each piece using a razor. You don’t want to use scissors for this because you’ll end up cutting the fur fibers. I find it easiest to use raw razor blades, but you can also use a sharpened box cutter or precision razor if you prefer.

Step 4: Sew the ear pieces together

Now that you have the front and back of each ear cut out, you’ll want to sew them together. Sing the fur material doesn’t fray, you can glue the edges of the ears together to make the process quicker. However, you’ll get better results if you take the time to sew the material instead.

1. Take one front and one back piece and brush the fur to the inside. You want the fur fibers sandwiched between the two fabric pieces.
2. Pin the top and side edges of the ear pieces together. Leave the bottom open and un-pinned.
3. Sew the two pieces together. You can hand sew or use a sewing machine. The material is fluffy, but now too thick for a machine.
4. Turn the ear right side out and comb the fur out of the seam. If there is a lot that got caught in the thread, you can use a pin to help pull it out.
5. Turn the ear wrong side out again and trim the excess seam allowance. This will prevent the excess material from becoming too bulky inside the ear.
6. Turn the fabric right side out and repeat on the second ear.

Step 5: Insert the foam pieces and glue them in place

Now it’s time to combine your ears and foam pieces to get them into the right shape. This step is pretty simple:

1. Insert your foam pieces into each of the ears.
2. Glue the front of each ear to the front of the foam. Otherwise, the fur material won’t keep its shape against the insert and will be loose around the curve of the ear. I use tacky glue for this, but hot glue is also okay to use. You don’t have to glue the back of the ear down, but you can if you prefer. 
3. Wait for the glue to dry completely. Now you’ve got your two ears ready for trimming and details.

Step 6: Trim the fur

Believe it or not, most animal ears are not actually very furry. They have very short fur along the back and edges of the ear, with some tufts of longer fur toward the front or middle. So, don’t be afraid to do a lot of trimming in this next part. Make sure to look at your reference photos so you know which areas need to be long for your animal ears.

The best way to approach this step is actually by using an electric razor. However, if you’re like me and don’t have one available, you can still get acceptable results with sharp scissors or hair shears. 

While trimming the fur, try to go slowly and avoid rushing the process. Once the fur is cut, you can’t put it back on. Even though you’re going to end up cutting the majority of it off, you don’t want to overdo it and have to start over from scratch.

Step 7: Add color, shadows, and highlights

Once you are happy with the way your ears look, it’s time to add some highlights and shadows. This is what will bring your ears to the next level. It will give them more dimension and help them look more realistic and natural (if that’s what you’re going for) since most animals don’t have one solid color of fur.

Again, the best way to approach this is by looking at reference photos. But in general, what you want to do is add shadow to the inside of the ear and highlights around the edges.

1. Rub dark gray hair chalk on the inside of the ear to add shadow. Use a little color to start, and build up layers until your shadows are as dark as you want.
2. Use a small paint brush to scrub the chalk through the fur fibers and disperse the color. This will give you more of a gradient and help you avoid harsh lines.
3. Add white or a highlight color around the edges of the ear. If you’re working with white fur, like me, use a light gray color just inside the edges of the ear so that the white will stand out more.
4. Add whatever colors you want. Many animals have a pinkish tint inside their ear, so adding a small amount of pink color looks good. You can also add other colors to make the ear as interesting as you want. If you want to use bolder colors, I recommend using fabric paint.

Step 8: Attaching your ears to your wig

Once you’re happy with how your ears look, all that’s left to do is add clips to attach them to your wig. You can get small hair clips and glue or sew them onto the base of your ears. For large ears or long ears, you’ll want to use two clips per ear to make them more secure.

Alternatively, you can attach the ears to a headband. This is a little easier to put on and off, but you can’t be as precise with your ear placement.

If you’re not using the wig for any other costume, you can even sew the ears directly onto the wig so that you never have to worry about them falling off or putting them on incorrectly.

The post Tutorial: How to Make Fluffy Cat Ears For a Halloween Costume appeared first on .

Related Tutorial:

A More Thorough Method to Untangle a Wig

• For a more thorough wig detangling, check out this step-by-step method

The first step is to go through the wig piece by piece, starting at the bottom layer. The goal will be to gently comb out any major tangles with a wide-toothed comb. Clip out any knots that are too stubborn with a pair of scissors to avoid pulling on the wig fibers.

Next, you will use detangling spray (I like to use Mane and Hair Detangle spray). Liberally spray the wig and brush through it with a wig brush or wide-toothed comb. This will give you a basic detangling of the wig without needing to go through the process of washing the wig. 

De-frizzing a cosplay wig

Because cosplay wigs are made out of plastic, pulling and rubbing the strands can end up damaging the fibers much more easily than normal hair. This means, when you have to comb out large tangles, you’re often left with areas of weirdly-textured wig that can’t be repaired with shampoo or hair styling products.

The only way to really repair a frizzy wig is to use heat. Because the strands are made of plastic, you can essentially melt them back into place using a hair straightener. Of course, you need to be very careful doing this so you don’t damage the strands instead of fixing them, but the actual process is pretty simple.

First, if there are any damaged, frizzy areas that you can cut off without ruining the wig (such as the tips of hair strands), then get your hair shears and snip it. Any damaged areas that are left will need a hair straightener.

Make the hair straightener as hot as you can make it for the wig (usually a low/medium setting). Test it on an inconspicuous section of the wig first to be sure the temperature isn’t too hot. Then go over the damaged sections, straightening the wig fibers.

You will have to straighten curly and wavy wigs as well if you want to repair damaged fibers. After you’ve gone over it with a hair straightener, you can restyle it using a curling iron or foam curlers.

For non-heat-resistant wigs

A hair straightener will only work to fix frizz on heat-resistant wigs. Those that are not heat-resistant would only end up melting with this method. However, this doesn’t mean your wig is completely done for. There are still a few things you can try for repairing your wig:

• Trim the frizzy ends and strands. The easiest solution is to carefully trim the damaged fibers from the wig. This will work best if it’s just small amounts of the wig that are damaged.
• Let the straightener cool a bit. Some non-heat-resistant wigs can still put up with a little bit of heat. Heat up the hair straightener and then let it cool for several minutes. Test it on the wig to make sure it won’t cause any damage first. If it’s good, then use the straightener to fix the damaged areas.
• Use hot water. Boil water in a large pot and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Then dip the wig in. Test it first on the tips to make sure the hot water isn’t completely melting the wig. If it’s good then dip the wig in again so the damaged area gets wet, then comb the wig. Make sure to be careful during this process, since hot water can easily cause burns.

How to prevent wig tangles in the first place

Now that you’ve gone through the whole process of detangling a wig, you want to make some changes to your wig care routine so you never have to do that again. While you will always have to deal with a small number of tangles, there is a lot you can do to prevent a matted mess of a wig.

• Coat long wigs with hair gel or a layer of hair spray. Long wigs are the most likely to get tangled so before you wear them brush hair gel through the wig to coat the fibers. Use a comb to distribute the gel through the wig. Then use hair spray to keep it in place.
• Spray with wig detangler. You can also spray any wig with a hair detangler before it gets knotted to help prevent tangles.
• Braid long wigs. When you are storing a long wig, loosely braid it before putting it into the wig bag. This will prevent the wig strands from moving around and tangling every time the wig is moved.
• Store in a hair net. It’s also a good idea to store your wigs within a hair net to keep the fibers from knotting.

The post Tutorial: How to Quickly Detangle a Cosplay Wig appeared first on .

Sharpie marks are going to be the cheapest option for you. Other alcohol-based markers are also okay to use (such as Copics) if you can’t find the color you want in a sharpie. But remember, even just coloring the roots of a wig will take all the ink in 1-2 markers, so Copics and other artist markers will make the process much more expensive.

Related Tutorials:

How to Tea-Dye a Wig

How to Dye a Wig With Acrylic Ink

How to Dye a Wig With Fabric Dye

What to know about wigs before you color your wig

Since synthetic cosplay wigs are not the same as real hair, there are a few things to be aware of before you start:

• You can only dye a light wig to a darker color. Plastic wig fibers cannot be bleached, so you have to start with a light-colored wig. It can be white, pastel, blonde, or anything along those lines. As long as you are coloring it darker than it started.
• Be careful about using hair products and heat afterward. The first two methods on this list use rubbing alcohol to help dye the wig. Rubbing alcohol is highly flammable, so you need to be careful about using heat-styling techniques after the wig is dyed. In addition, some hair products will react with the color and cause it to run, so test out any products on small areas of the wig first.
• It’s difficult to dye a wig black. Most of the time, black dyes are going to end up looking like a very dark blue or brown.
• It’s difficult or impossible to un-dye a wig. For the most part, your colored wig is final. You can give the wig a bath of rubbing alcohol to remove some color, but you won’t be able to get it back to the original white or light-colored wig.

Supplies needed:

• Sharpies (2 for just the roots or tips, 5+ for an entire wig)
• Q-tips
• 70% rubbing alcohol
• Large duckbill wig clips

Step 1: Pin the wig up to expose the bottom layer

Start by using your large clips to pin back the fibers and expose the bottom layer. For this method to be successful, you’ll have to go one layer at a time so that you don’t miss any of the wig fibers.

If you are only coloring the tips of the wig, you can skip this step. Instead, section off small portions of hair and go through one little area at a time, making sure to get color underneath the fibers as well as on top.

Step 2: Color the fibers with a sharpie

Take your sharpie and color the fibers. If you’re only coloring the roots of the wig, you really only need to use the sharpie on the top of the fibers. However, if you are doing full strands, make sure to color them on all sides. Test it by looking at the wig from the front to see if there are still any white spots (or any original wig color).

You might also want to use a sheet of paper or cardboard to place behind the fibers and make coloring easier. Again, this probably isn’t necessary if you’re just doing the roots, but otherwise, it can be very helpful.

Step 3: Use a Q-tip with rubbing alcohol

After you’ve colored the areas you want, dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol and gently smudge the color. This is especially useful if you’re coloring just the roots or the tips because it makes a more feathered gradient effect. It’s also useful if you’re coloring the entire wig so you can make sure you don’t miss any areas.

Step 4: Continue through all the layers of the wig

Go one layer at a time (or one section at a time) through the wig, coloring, and smudging as you go. This is a time-consuming process, so you might want to put on a movie or two in the background to help you pass the time. It took me about 2-3 hours to just color the roots of a wig.

The top of some wigs will have a skin top or lace front. These areas don’t have layers of wefts like the rest of the wig, so you’ll have to color a small section at a time until you’ve covered the whole thing.

Step 5: Rinse the wig

After you’ve finished, it’s a good idea to rinse off the wig. Run water over the wig until it drops off clear. This will ensure that the color doesn’t bleed onto your costume or clothing later. Wait for the wig to dry overnight and then you can comb and style it however you like, but be careful with heat tools and test any hair products on a small section first.

If you’ve only colored the roots, this isn’t strictly necessary. It’s unlikely that the root area will ever touch your costume, so you can probably skip this step.

The post Tutorial: How to Color a Wig With Sharpies appeared first on .

Related Tutorials:

How to Dye a With With Sharpies

How to Dye a Wig With Acrylic Ink

How to Tea-Dye a Wig

What to know about wigs before you dye them

Since synthetic cosplay wigs are not the same as real hair, there are a few things to be aware of before you start:

• You can only dye a light wig to a darker color. Plastic wig fibers cannot be bleached, so you have to start with a light-colored wig. It can be white, pastel, blonde, or anything along those lines. As long as you are coloring it darker than it started.
• Be careful about using hair products and heat afterward. The first two methods on this list use rubbing alcohol to help dye the wig. Rubbing alcohol is highly flammable, so you need to be careful about using heat-styling techniques after the wig is dyed. In addition, some hair products will react with the color and cause it to run, so test out any products on small areas of the wig first.
• It’s difficult to dye a wig black. Most of the time, black dyes are going to end up looking like a very dark blue or brown.
• It’s difficult or impossible to un-dye a wig. For the most part, your colored wig is final. You can give the wig a bath of rubbing alcohol to remove some color, but you won’t be able to get it back to the original white or light-colored wig.
• Use a drop cloth to keep your work area clean. Coloring a wig can be a very messy process and the dye will stain. It’s best to use some kind of drop cloth (like one of these) to protect your floor and clean up any spills right away.

A couple of other things to keep in mind when using fabric dye for wig coloring:

• Your wig must be heat resistant. You have to use boiling water for this method, so you risk melting a wig that is not heat resistant.
• You might not get as deep a color as you want. Since wigs are plastic, they don’t usually take on color very easily. Usually, this means they will be lighter and less vibrant than you might expect.
• Use dye for synthetic fabrics. Since synthetic fabrics are also part plastic, a dye made for these will perform better with plastic wigs.
• It’s safer to use products and heat styling techniques with this method. If you need to do any heavy wig styling after coloring your wig, this method is safest because the wig is not flammable, like with the other two methods.

Supplies needed:

• Synthetic fabric dye
• Large pot or bucket
• Optional: Stirring stick

Step 1: Boil water and mix the dye

Read and follow the instructions on your fabric dye. Most of the time, they will say to combine the dye with boiling water in a pot. However, you don’t want to use a pot that you also eat out of. To get around this, I boil water and then pour it into a large bucket. Then I’ll immediately add the dye and mix it while the water is still very hot. It should only take a few minutes for the dye to thoroughly mix into the water.

The instructions will give you a suggested dye to water ratio. While you don’t want to deviate too far from this, a little more water will create a lighter color and a little less water will create a slightly darker color.

Step 2: Submerge wig in the dye

After the dye is added and dispersed in the water, it’s time to add the wig. If you want a solid color, add the wig to the dye water and submerge it completely. From there you will need to stir it occasionally to make sure the dye is evenly distributed over the entire wig.

Typically this will take anywhere from 10-30 minutes, depending on how dark you want the final wig to be. The longer you leave it in, the darker the wig color will get.

If you want to make a gradient using this method, don’t add the entire wig to the pot. Instead, hang the section that you want to be dyed into the pot (in my case, it’s the bottom half of the wig). Swish it around so that you don’t end up with a line where the dye starts, and will instead create a feathered edge.

After 1-2 minutes, raise the wig out of the water an inch or two and continue to swish it around. Repeat the process every couple of minutes until you get to the end of the wig. If you realize that it’s a little lighter than you wanted, you can go back to the beginning too.

Step 3: Rinse off the wig and allow it to dry

When the wig is your desired color, remove it from the pot or bucket and rinse it off. Remember, the final color will be slightly lighter than the color of the wig when it’s wet. Run water over the wig until the water dripping off of it is clear. Then, leave the wig to dry overnight.

Once it’s dry you can comb and style it however you want. Fabric dye is usually not meant to be flammable (always check the product you’re using though), so you can still style your wig with heat. Other hair products typically don’t affect wigs dyed with this method either.

The post Tutorial: How to Dye a Wig With Fabric Dye appeared first on .

You can also tea-dye wigs to have a very slight off-white, cream color that looks better with most skin tones than pure white. It will make the wig look more natural overall while still giving you the white hair of the character you’re cosplaying.

Related Tutorials:

How to Dye a With With Sharpies

How to Dye a Wig With Acrylic Ink

How to Dye a Wig With Fabric Dye

The other caveat with tea staining synthetic wigs is that you must use a white wig. I tried to dye a light gray wig with this method, and it didn’t come out great, so I recommend making sure your wig is pure white to start with.

1. Steep your tea bags. You want to use more tea bags for wigs than you need to for fabric. I recommend 25-50 tea bags depending on how long the wig is and how dark you want it to be.
2. Add your wig and fully submerge it. Make sure to swish it around occasionally to make sure all the fibers of the wig are being touched by the tea dye.
3. Allow your wig to soak for 30 minutes to 12 hours. If you want just a slightly off-white color, 30-60 minutes will be enough. If you want a natural blonde color, I recommend leaving the wig to soak overnight.
4. Remove the wig, rinse it off and let it dry. Once you’re happy with the color, rinse off the wig until the water running off of it is clear, then let it dry. Don’t forget, it will dry a slightly lighter color than it is when you first remove it from the tea bath.

The post Tutorial: How to Tea-Dye a Synthetic Wig appeared first on .

(Faux) Fur Animal Ears 

This tutorial will take you through the steps to make three-dimensional ears using faux fur. You can attach these to your wig using clips or a headband to go for a seamless look. When it comes time to color the ears (if you choose to do so), you can stick to more realistic shading or add colors like I did. You can use this same technique for any kind of animal ear, even long rabbit ears, by adjusting the shape of your pattern in the first step.

Supplies needed to make these fur ears:

• 4mm EVA foam or 2 layers of craft foam
• A Heatgun
• Faux fur
• Thread
• A sharp razor
• Fabric glue or hot glue
• A wide-toothed comb or wig brush
• Fabric scissors
• Electric razor (optional)
• Hair chalk
• Fabric paint
• Small paint brushes
• A headband or hair clips

Step 1: Make a pattern for your ears

Like in every tutorial, the first step here is to make a pattern for your ears. The easiest way to do this is to look at photos of the ears of whatever animal you want. Look at real bear ears, cat ears, fox ears, etc. depending on what you are cosplaying. Then sketch out your ear on paper based on your reference photos. Remember, we’re going to make bended, three-dimensional ears here, so you’ll want to make your pattern wider than you’d expect at the base to account for the shape.

Cut out your paper ear and hold it up against your head or a wig head to see how it will look. Then make any adjustments to the shape. Don’t be afraid to make changes now, because if you get toward the end of the process and don’t like it, the only way to fix the ear is to start from the beginning. 

Step 2: Cut out EVA foam and heat form it

To get your ears to stand upright and maintain their shape, you are going to insert plastic foam pieces. I recommend using 4mm EVA foam for this (so that it’s not too thick but not too floppy), but you can also use Worbla, or glue two sheets of craft foam together and use that.

1. Trace your pattern onto the foam sheet and cut it out. Repeat so you have one piece of foam for each ear. 
2. Use a heatgun to heat up your foam and bend it into your desired shape. As the foam cools, it will maintain its new shape, no longer laying flat. Repeat for the second ear. Make sure your two ears are mirrors of each other so that one will be the left and one the right ear.

Now you have two foam pieces that are shaped like three dimensional animal ears. You are going to use these later as inserts inside your fabric ears.

Step 3: Cut out your fur pieces (add seam allowance)

Now it’s time to get out your faux fur and cut out the pieces you’ll need for your ears.

1. Trace the pattern from step one onto the back of the fur material four times. For two of them, you want to flip the ear pattern over so that you have fur pieces for the front and back of each ear.
2. Add ½ inch seam allowance around each traced ear pattern. This will give you space to sew the front and back of each ear together.
3. Cut out each piece using a razor. You don’t want to use scissors for this because you’ll end up cutting the fur fibers. I find it easiest to use raw razor blades, but you can also use a sharpened box cutter or precision razor if you prefer.

Step 4: Sew the ear pieces together

Now that you have the front and back of each ear cut out, you’ll want to sew them together. Sing the fur material doesn’t fray, you can glue the edges of the ears together to make the process quicker. However, you’ll get better results if you take the time to sew the material instead.

1. Take one front and one back piece and brush the fur to the inside. You want the fur fibers sandwiched between the two fabric pieces.
2. Pin the top and side edges of the ear pieces together. Leave the bottom open and un-pinned.
3. Sew the two pieces together. You can hand sew or use a sewing machine. The material is fluffy, but now too thick for a machine.
4. Turn the ear right side out and comb the fur out of the seam. If there is a lot that got caught in the thread, you can use a pin to help pull it out.
5. Turn the ear wrong side out again and trim the excess seam allowance. This will prevent the excess material from becoming too bulky inside the ear.
6. Turn the fabric right side out and repeat on the second ear.

Step 5: Insert the foam pieces and glue them in place

Now it’s time to combine your ears and foam pieces to get them into the right shape. This step is pretty simple:

1. Insert your foam pieces into each of the ears.
2. Glue the front of each ear to the front of the foam. Otherwise, the fur material won’t keep its shape against the insert and will be loose around the curve of the ear. I use tacky glue for this, but hot glue is also okay to use. You don’t have to glue the back of the ear down, but you can if you prefer. 
3. Wait for the glue to dry completely. Now you’ve got your two ears ready for trimming and details.

Step 6: Trim the fur

Believe it or not, most animal ears are not actually very furry. They have very short fur along the back and edges of the ear, with some tufts of longer fur toward the front or middle. So, don’t be afraid to do a lot of trimming in this next part. Make sure to look at your reference photos so you know which areas need to be long for your animal ears.

The best way to approach this step is actually by using an electric razor. However, if you’re like me and don’t have one available, you can still get acceptable results with sharp scissors or hair shears. 

While trimming the fur, try to go slowly and avoid rushing the process. Once the fur is cut, you can’t put it back on. Even though you’re going to end up cutting the majority of it off, you don’t want to overdo it and have to start over from scratch.

Step 7: Add color, shadows, and highlights

Once you are happy with the way your ears look, it’s time to add some highlights and shadows. This is what will bring your ears to the next level. It will give them more dimension and help them look more realistic and natural (if that’s what you’re going for) since most animals don’t have one solid color of fur.

Again, the best way to approach this is by looking at reference photos. But in general, what you want to do is add shadow to the inside of the ear and highlights around the edges.

1. Rub dark gray hair chalk on the inside of the ear to add shadow. Use a little color to start, and build up layers until your shadows are as dark as you want.
2. Use a small paint brush to scrub the chalk through the fur fibers and disperse the color. This will give you more of a gradient and help you avoid harsh lines.
3. Add white or a highlight color around the edges of the ear. If you’re working with white fur, like me, use a light gray color just inside the edges of the ear so that the white will stand out more.
4. Add whatever colors you want. Many animals have a pinkish tint inside their ear, so adding a small amount of pink color looks good. You can also add other colors to make the ear as interesting as you want. If you want to use bolder colors, I recommend using fabric paint.

Step 8: Attaching your ears to your wig

Once you’re happy with how your ears look, all that’s left to do is add clips to attach them to your wig. You can get small hair clips and glue or sew them onto the base of your ears. For large ears or long ears, you’ll want to use two clips per ear to make them more secure.

Alternatively, you can attach the ears to a headband. This is a little easier to put on and off, but you can’t be as precise with your ear placement.

If you’re not using the wig for any other costume, you can even sew the ears directly onto the wig so that you never have to worry about them falling off or putting them on incorrectly.

The post Tutorial: How to Make Furry Fox Ears For a Halloween Costume appeared first on .

The most common way that cosplayers match a character’s hair color is actually by using wigs. However, you can also temporarily dye your own hair using colored hair spray, wax, chalk, or even semi-permanent hair dye. The lighter your natural hair color is, the more likely you’ll get good results.

Some products will work on dark hair, especially if you don’t need to recreate a super light color. But if you’re struggling to find hair coloring products that work on your dark hair, it really is best to wear a wig instead. While it is possible with a lot of time and hair products, it’s very difficult to cover up a dark color while also maintaining a normal, non-greasy hair texture

1. Wear a wig

This is by far the easiest and most common way for cosplayers to attain the right hair color for their character. I know when you first get into cosplay it’s pretty common to think of wigs as tacky-looking and unrealistic. After all, most people only wear wigs around Halloween before getting into cosplay, and those wigs tend to be cheap-looking, low-quality wigs.

However, you can find high-quality wigs with realistic hairlines for cosplay if you’re worried the wig will look too synthetic. Even if you have long hair, there are plenty of easy techniques you can use to get it all under a wig. This is the technique I use to get my butt-length hair underneath my wigs.

If you have dark hair and you want to temporarily color it a light or bright color for your cosplay, a wig will be especially useful for getting your perfect hair color.

2. Use colored hair spray

If you really want to use your real hair, then there are still some relatively cheap and easy ways to change the color temporarily. Colored hair spray is the first option I’d consider. You can get just about any color of the rainbow and apply multiple layers for fuller coverage. Make sure to use your fingers to work the color through your hair so you’re not just covering the outer layer (wear a glove to keep from coloring your hand).

Usually, even dark, black hair can be sprayed to have a somewhat bright color if you use an entire can (or maybe two) or the spray. However, the more colored spray you use, the crispier the texture of your hair will be, making it feel like straw if you’ve used a lot. It can help to give your hair a comb-through before the spray completely dries to make the texture a little softer.

If you have long hair, a colored hair spray is one of the better options for you because it can cover a large area with less product. It won’t take you hours to get full coverage while you color your hair one section at a time, like you do with most other temporary hair-color methods.

Colored hair spray is great if you just want to color your hair for one day since it generally stays in your hair but easily washes out at the end of the day. Colored hair sprays usually don’t shed too much, but if you’re wearing dark clothing, you may see some hair spray dust when you use a lot of the product.

3. Colored Hair wax

Colored hair wax is a great option for people with shorter hair or beards that they want to color. It’s also good for characters that have hair styled in spikes or have thick textured hair. You can also use it with normal hairstyles if you use some leave-in hair conditioner to help keep your hair somewhat soft.  Because this is a wax product that coats your hair, it can work well even on very dark hair. However, you should expect to use quite a bit of hair wax.

Make sure your hair is slightly damp before applying hair wax. This will prevent the wax from clumping up in your hair. You’ll also probably want to give your hair a quick comb-through to make sure you have full coverage throughout.

4. Hair chalk

Hair chalk is a hair coloring product that is mostly aimed at kids, but it can work for some cosplay hair coloring as well. When applying, dip the chalk in water first to help spread the color around. Then seal the color with hair spray to prevent it from rubbing off right away. Most hair chalk will come in little plastic combs, but I recommend taking the pieces of chalk out of the combs and applying them by hand. The combs don’t seem to do anything except pull out your hair.

I don’t recommend hair chalk if you’re trying to color your entire head, but it can work well if you only need to color a couple of strands or sections of your hair. For example, the streaks of white in Rogue’s hair or the white pattern in Death the Kid’s hair (from Soul Eater). You can do your full head of hair if you want (especially if you have short hair), but expect to use a lot of chalk. It also probably won’t be as vibrant as you expect it to be.

5. Hair makeup

There are a couple of stage makeup brands that sell a product called hair makeup. This is a liquid hair colorant that you can apply to your hair with a sponge or a small brush. This tends to not create as much of a rough texture as other methods and is excellent at covering beards and short hair. You can use hair makeup with long hair too, but you’re not going to get as full coverage.

This is mainly used for creating a white or gray-looking beard or hair, and it’s difficult to find in other colors. However, I have heard of people using liquid makeup to color their hair, and it works pretty much the same as hair makeup does.

Hair makeup tends to be a little messier to apply than other products because it’s liquid. Use a sponge or small brush (even a toothbrush) to rub it on. If you need to apply multiple layers, make sure you let the hair makeup dry before adding more paint.

6. Semi-permanent hair dye

Semi-permanent hair dye is a similar product to normal hair dye, but it’s intended to wash out over the course of a few weeks. If you want to give your hair a different color, but don’t want to deal with the straw-like hair texture of other products or the color running onto your costume, this method could work for you. As with most products, this will work a lot better for people with lighter-colored hair, especially if you want to turn your hair a light or bright color.

You also have to make sure that you won’t need your normal hair color again for a few weeks. You could get in trouble at schools or workplaces that have rules against abnormal hair colors since the color will still be there for a while after your convention weekend.

However, if that’s not a problem, semi-permanent hair dye can work well for creating a short-term color that looks and feels like real hair. You won’t have to deal with a straw-like hair texture or shedding dust and particles from the gel or spray.

7. Clip-on hair extensions

Clip-on hair extensions work well if you only want some of your hair to be colored. Maybe the tips of your character’s hair are brightly colored, but you don’t want to dye your own hair. Or maybe they have green bangs or one red ponytail. You can use the clip-ons instead of getting a wig if your natural hair color matches the rest of your character’s hairstyle.

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