Master Matoya - part 1

 Hi everyone!

This is probably one of my biggest builds yet. I've wanted to tackle something like this for a while! I'm super nervous, but also excited about the cosplay costume and prop! AAAH! The character is Y'shtola Rhul from Final Fantasy XIV (Shadowbringers). I'll try to get this done for winter cons. :3 

Here she is! ❤

This is going to be a huge build, so these progress posts will be coming in parts. Not sure how many, but probably too many. We start from wig styling, since that's the easiest. We'll also drop a makeup test here while we're at it.

The base wig I used was this super long, super platinum blonde wig with bangs I bought it some time ago for Hermione from Azur Lane. It looked silver/white on screen, but is actually blonde and that bothered me, so I scrapped Hermione and was left wondering what to do. I decided to keep the wig and now I'm glad I did! I had to take a lot of length off before getting anywhere though.

This the length I cut and of course then I crimped it.

I honestly couldn't imagine doing any wig styling without a crimper. I swear it makes styling so much easier since it creates texture and the wig doesn't tangle that easily either! Once the wig was crimped, I gave it more precise cut and style.

A lil reference for what I'm trying to achieve.

Wroking in parts, so I don't cut too much and expose the net :s

I used my trusty straightener for shaping. It's giving duck butt.

Finally after!

After the precise cut I tried it on and realized I left bangs and the side swoopies too long. That I fixed while spiking and sculpting the wig! I cut very carefully and used gtb glued wax to make spikes. After that I finished it with gtb glued hairspray. :3

Here's the finished front!

And the side! :3

I know some of you may prefer the fluffier look, but I just can't help, but love the nice, clean finishing on the wig! Now, let's work on miqo'te ears! :3 For the ears I used Kamui Cosplay's tutorial as my guide. I have a cat ear template ready, but since miqo'te ears are slimmer and point to the back I had to make a new one. 

My paper pattern

I don't want ear shape to get floppy, so I used black worbla as my base!

I had a lil piece of this fabric with super short hairs. I decided to put that on the inside :3

The glue left some marks, but dismiss that please. The inside of the ears won't be that visible anyway.

Now the actual faux fur, it's all over the place, I know.

To tame the long hair I combed it and started cutting. I made a "raw" cut with scissors to make it more manageable before I brought my old hair clipper!

This thing makes fur shaping so much easier!

The difference. I left some longer tufts to the bottom of my ears, though you may cut how you like it! ^^

Here they are!

it gets messy :'D

The faux fur was this pure white and my wig was platinum blonde, so I painted it a little using acrylic paint, fabric softener and water. I tried matching the color the best I could. I also added shadows and whatnot to make them look a little more natural. Airbrush would be the best option for the seamless look, but I used an old toothbrush. :'D Sadly there is no progress photos of this, but once I was happy with the paint I let it dry and combed it after to get rid of any paint clumps there might be.

To attach the ears to my wig I used wire, just like in Kamui Cosplay's tutorial.

Here it is!

Attached to the wig. You literally just stick it in.

Ta-dah! :3

Now to the makeup test! It took me such a long time and I'm still not really happy with it. I haven't practiced much and I don't wear makeup anymore that much since I work in a kitchen. Here I just tried to achieve the most basic cosplay makeup I could and not stress about it too much. My lenses of choice were white mesh lenses. I've seen many other cosplayers use them and in my opinion they look cool! :3

Let me tell you, it was difficult to take a selfie when you can't see that well! XD

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next post! Look forward to more FFXIV brainrot. :3

me to this cosplay