Anonymous Morris costume

[watervole]

I collected a batch of shirts and trousers from the shop on Tuesday, so here's what the full version of the Anonymous Morris kit looks like.

First, we have what I think of as the social version.  Can be worn when dancing at ceilidhs, etc. or when it's simply too hot for a tatter jacket.  The duelling shirt and Cossack trousers give wonderful freedom of movement when dancing and give a 'pirate' feel to the costume when worn with a red sash round the waist (or round the head).  The top hats are partly a reminder of what we're aiming for.  Top hats only tend to be worn by the really good Border morris sides.



Now, we add the tatter jacket.  Tatters are worn by about 90% of Border sides.



And, last but not least - face paint.

Face painting (usually just plain black, but there are plenty of variations) is very Border.  We don't plan to do it for every occasion, but we're dancing out for a Halloween ghostwalk in aid of Help for Heroes (organised by our friends at the Inner Sanctum who have been selling us shirts and trousers at a big discount), so it seems only fitting to dress for the occasion...

This is my test version which I did to try out the design.




I got the face paints from two different sources.  The black is Snazaroo and the white and pale grey come from the fancy dress shop at the bottom of Poole high street.  The stuff from the fancy dress shop (Grimas) goes on well and gives coverage without needing you to add any water.   The Snazaroo requires you to add a bit of water to use it.

However, the Snazaroo is much easier to wash off afterwards.  The other stuff can be removed with soap and water, but you do feel there's a little bit left behind.

Also, when painting Snazaroo on top of the other stuff, it doesn't work as well as it does on bare skin.

All useful things to note when I'm painting faces in the future.  The above was done with the aid of a mirror, but I think it will be a lot easier if we paint each other's faces as a rule.

I suspect we'll end up with Snazaroo most of the time (because of washing easily), but may use Grimas when we need paint on for a long time. 

Comments

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

That's a good costume - shape, drape, movement, flexibility, and colour.

Grimas is wonderful stuff, but you're completely right about having trouble getting it off - it's oily enough that you need strong soap or cleanser. (I assume you've got the water-based ones rather than the Creme oil-based ones, given that it's from a fancy-dress shop.)

Snazaroo comes off really easily, but the downside of that is that it gets everywhere and streaks if you sweat. You can fix it by closing your eyes tight and using hairspray, though.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

It's actually the Creme Grimas. In spite of the lady in the shop telling me it was water-based. I think it may come in handy for hot, sweaty days though.

Your helpful data on Snazaroo streaking when you sweat confirms my suspicion that it might.

(There's no way I'm spraying hairspray on my face - that'll play hell with my asthma)

Will baby wipes or that kind of thing shift Grimas?

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

I know they work on the water-based version, but I've never used the Creme. I suspect they'd do well enough for removing the remaining traces after soap & water gets most of it, though. If you're going to be using it a lot, it might be worth getting some specialist makeup removal cream - I know Grimas do one for use with their makeup.

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

The Drow roleplayers mostly use Hair Flair spray-on hair dye to do their faces, but I imagine that wouldn't be great for asthma either.

Baby wipes are a bit rubbish for getting makeup off, even Snazaroo, but proper makeup wipes work better.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

LOL! Damn obvious, but I never thought of it because I don't use make-up.

I'll get some of those. Thanks for the suggestion.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I use the Simple brand makeup remover wipes for my heavy tribal dance makeup, and they work very well. I've found them much less irritating for removing makeup around my eyes than any other makeup remover.

You might also want to try using She-laq by Benefit for keeping that Snazaroo makeup in place. It's designed for eye makeup, but you could try using it round the edges of the Snazaroo to see if it helps keep it in place.

ETA: Having done some googling, you might also want to try the Ben Neal makeup sealer. It's in a (non-aerosol) spray, but one of the comments here suggests that it's also effective if you spray it onto a blusher brush and brush it over the makeup, if you don't want to spray into your face. I also saw some comments elsewhere that recommend using a makeup primer underneath the makeup to help prevent skin oils increasing the amount of smudging. The primer acts as barrier if your skin is sensitive to makeup and makes the top layer of makeup look more even.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I'll go out and buy some Simple wipes later today. Thanks.

Fortunately we've no sensitivity problems - I did a test patch on all the dancers yesterday to make sure.

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

I don't normally wear makeup, but I bought some once I started belly dancing so I'd look better on stage.

I use Simple brand wipes as well, because they happened to be on offer the day I needed a new packet, and they get my glittery eyeliner off really well. I usually do a quick wipe with Clean & Clear deep cleansing lotion afterwards to get the last traces off.