How to Be Visual Kei
Music is what visual Kei is all about!, Become Visual., Hygiene comes first., Use foundation., Wear eye makeup!, Add jewels and other items., Lips.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Music is what visual Kei is all about!
Before diving into it, you should first be familiar with what it actually is.
You should be a fan to multiple Japanese rock and/or Visual Kei bands, understand the particular sound and why they dress the way they do.
Again, to many people this can become an awesome lifestyle, not just a pretty fashion statement! There is plenty of information available on the Internet, you can download music (But please don't forget to buy it, too! Support the artists you love!), join online forums on the subject, and much more! There are also other sources you can learn from, such as Japanese Rock magazines. (Shoxx, Cure, Purple Sky, etc.) Many of these magazines have excellent information on every aspect of Visual Kei, and feature countless bands that may end up sparking your interest.
Also realize that many fans of Visual Kei can be much different than ordinary fans of the more western music.
Their love for the bands are deep and loyal; Don't be afraid to really learn about band members and be dorky talking to other Visual Kei fans about them! You may even be inspired to pick up an instrument! To get even more into it, it's always fun to not just listen to the music, but watch videos as well.
Not only Music videos, but backstage clips, special commercials, videos for the fan club, etc.
Something very different, and usually only Visual Kei bands do, possibly for more exposure.
But all the same, this can be entertaining in itself and can help you understand how and where other Visual Kei fans pick up some mannerisms that may seem a bit odd to outsiders. , Now for the Visuals! After becoming part of the Visual Kei fan base, you'll probably be interested in looking like your favorite artists.
You should start out by doing just that; reflecting the looks of bands! Once you get used to the way it looks and feels on you, then you should start to create your own, unique look.
Do plenty of research into types of visual Kei, since there are a lot of them.
It's a style that blankets a whole range of different looks, so pick the one you want before you change., Before starting anything, you should be clean! Be sure your hair looks soft and groomed, not oily or fried.
Have a fresh face.
Use a gentle scrub to clear away any dead skin and oil, and pat dry.
You may want to use just a little bit of moisturizer to keep your skin from looking too dry and this can also make applying makeup a bit easier.
After you're all ready, clip back your hair to keep it out of your face. -
Step 2: Become Visual.
Usually, Visual Kei makeup looks pale.
However, not many bands now days go for the full white face-paint look, but there's not anything wrong with doing that, either.
For a complete white face, don't over-apply! This can cause it to look cakey.
Use a makeup sponge to spread it evenly over your face for a clean finish.
If you want even more of a ghostly glow, you can apply a small amount of powder.
If you can't find any powder foundations light enough, baby powder can work wonders.
For the more common look, you should choose a liquid foundation one or two shades lighter than your actual skin-tone, but not any lighter than that–it'll end up looking unnatural and awkward.
You might want to choose a foundation with little or no oil, because it can be uncomfortable and tends to look heavy.
Water-based ones are much better, lighter, and sometimes cheaper.
You may be able to spread your foundation with your fingers, but to avoid any streaking you'd probably be better off with a makeup sponge.
After evenly applying your liquid foundation, make sure there are no obvious streaks or lines, and apply a small amount of powder foundation or shimmer.
If you wish to manipulate lighting, or the shape of your face you should have even lighter and darker foundations handy.
To accentuate features, use darker foundation on those places such as cheekbones, on your jawline and around your nose.
To give a bit more light, elegant look you can use lighter foundation on the bridge of your nose, your brow area, and cheeks. , This is probably the most important part of the process, so be sure to make it interesting, but still tasteful.
Let's separate this up, even more to make it understandable to even the most clueless of people. =D Eyeshadow.
The makeup can be applied in whatever order you want, but personally, it's less hassle.
Putting down the color first can create less of a mess, later.
Digressing! Depending on how eccentric you want to look, it's always best to have a wide range of colors at hand.
If you only plan on using one color, you might want to have different shades of that single color.
First apply the base color onto the eyelid, usually going to the outside, or nearly to the brow for a bold look.
Next, take a darker shade and apply it to only the top of your lid, blending with the lighter shadow.
To enhance your eyes further, you could use a small amount of shadow on the bottom lid, near the outer corner and blend.
Eyeshadow isn't really a big task, so you should just experiment with what looks best on you.
Eyeliner.
This is key to making your eyes amazing! There are many different looks to choose from.
You could look natural and elegant, bold, eerie, or anything you could come up with.
First, apply black or colored eyeliner (pencil or liquid) to the inner-most part of your eye and close to the lashline of your top eyelid, to avoid any odd spaces of color, then apply thicker, to your liking.
People with single eyelids, or 'Asian' eyes should probably cover most of their eyelid to get the same desired 'thick' look.
A popular look is the 'panda' look, where the eyeliner is raised thicker and farther beyond the eye.
It is very common in Visual Kei for eyeliner to go passed the corner of your eye for a certain look.
This look could make your eyes seem thinner, more seductive, menacing, or cuter depending on how you apply it.
For a darker look, eyeliner can be applied to the bottom lid but there is such a thing as 'too much' there, so be careful not to over-do it.
Again, to make your eyes stand out more, you can apply eyeliner to the outer corner of your eye, growing thinner as you go along the bottom lid.
Sometimes, using white, or lighter colored eyeliner on your bottom lid can give a nice touch and/or contrast.
Don't forget to be creative! Feel free to create designs, or use different colors against the others for a more drastic look.
Heavy, intricate eye makeup is a bit difficult to do every morning if you're in a hurry, so if you want to be quick about it, why not try experimenting with a more everyday look? Something as simple as surrounding your eye with black eyeshadow for a smoky look and wearing concealer and gloss on your lips can look great for daily wear. , Jewels are always a nice and fun touch to finish off your eyes.
You can place them along the bottom of your eye, in a row down the side, across your nose to the other eye, anything you can think of! You can get jewels at any craft store, or anywhere where cosmetics are sold.
They may come with glue or you may need to use your own.
A dandy ol' glue stick could probably do fine, and eyelash glue works perfectly! Remember, in visual Kei the sky's the limit.
Look as weird as you please.
Other items can be used, such as buttons, glitter, bits of fabric, fishnet/mesh
- even tinfoil! If you like how it looks, go for it.
Another wonderful touch for your eyes is false eyelashes.
Be as tame or as wild as you want.
Usually, the crazier-looking lashes are easiest to find during Halloween.
If you want to add some extra pop to your eye makeup, why not even try circle lenses in a variety of natural or unnatural colours? , Usually, a nice gloss will finish off your look, but if you want to go further, that's just spiffy! Some darker bands will smear makeup, usually black, from their lips to the side of their face.
While this is easy and can look great, it must be remembered that this is often ridiculed by older members of the scene due to its connections with cosplay and amateurish outfits.
Others will make their lips pale and only color the inner portion of the mouth for a creepy, rigid look.
For a full effect, you could always use lipliner, though it can be tricky so keep at it.
Again, you can just be creative with your lips:
Line them with black and color it in white, only color half your mouth, color beyond your actual lips, anything you want. -
Step 3: Hygiene comes first.
-
Step 4: Use foundation.
-
Step 5: Wear eye makeup!
-
Step 6: Add jewels and other items.
Detailed Guide
Before diving into it, you should first be familiar with what it actually is.
You should be a fan to multiple Japanese rock and/or Visual Kei bands, understand the particular sound and why they dress the way they do.
Again, to many people this can become an awesome lifestyle, not just a pretty fashion statement! There is plenty of information available on the Internet, you can download music (But please don't forget to buy it, too! Support the artists you love!), join online forums on the subject, and much more! There are also other sources you can learn from, such as Japanese Rock magazines. (Shoxx, Cure, Purple Sky, etc.) Many of these magazines have excellent information on every aspect of Visual Kei, and feature countless bands that may end up sparking your interest.
Also realize that many fans of Visual Kei can be much different than ordinary fans of the more western music.
Their love for the bands are deep and loyal; Don't be afraid to really learn about band members and be dorky talking to other Visual Kei fans about them! You may even be inspired to pick up an instrument! To get even more into it, it's always fun to not just listen to the music, but watch videos as well.
Not only Music videos, but backstage clips, special commercials, videos for the fan club, etc.
Something very different, and usually only Visual Kei bands do, possibly for more exposure.
But all the same, this can be entertaining in itself and can help you understand how and where other Visual Kei fans pick up some mannerisms that may seem a bit odd to outsiders. , Now for the Visuals! After becoming part of the Visual Kei fan base, you'll probably be interested in looking like your favorite artists.
You should start out by doing just that; reflecting the looks of bands! Once you get used to the way it looks and feels on you, then you should start to create your own, unique look.
Do plenty of research into types of visual Kei, since there are a lot of them.
It's a style that blankets a whole range of different looks, so pick the one you want before you change., Before starting anything, you should be clean! Be sure your hair looks soft and groomed, not oily or fried.
Have a fresh face.
Use a gentle scrub to clear away any dead skin and oil, and pat dry.
You may want to use just a little bit of moisturizer to keep your skin from looking too dry and this can also make applying makeup a bit easier.
After you're all ready, clip back your hair to keep it out of your face.
Usually, Visual Kei makeup looks pale.
However, not many bands now days go for the full white face-paint look, but there's not anything wrong with doing that, either.
For a complete white face, don't over-apply! This can cause it to look cakey.
Use a makeup sponge to spread it evenly over your face for a clean finish.
If you want even more of a ghostly glow, you can apply a small amount of powder.
If you can't find any powder foundations light enough, baby powder can work wonders.
For the more common look, you should choose a liquid foundation one or two shades lighter than your actual skin-tone, but not any lighter than that–it'll end up looking unnatural and awkward.
You might want to choose a foundation with little or no oil, because it can be uncomfortable and tends to look heavy.
Water-based ones are much better, lighter, and sometimes cheaper.
You may be able to spread your foundation with your fingers, but to avoid any streaking you'd probably be better off with a makeup sponge.
After evenly applying your liquid foundation, make sure there are no obvious streaks or lines, and apply a small amount of powder foundation or shimmer.
If you wish to manipulate lighting, or the shape of your face you should have even lighter and darker foundations handy.
To accentuate features, use darker foundation on those places such as cheekbones, on your jawline and around your nose.
To give a bit more light, elegant look you can use lighter foundation on the bridge of your nose, your brow area, and cheeks. , This is probably the most important part of the process, so be sure to make it interesting, but still tasteful.
Let's separate this up, even more to make it understandable to even the most clueless of people. =D Eyeshadow.
The makeup can be applied in whatever order you want, but personally, it's less hassle.
Putting down the color first can create less of a mess, later.
Digressing! Depending on how eccentric you want to look, it's always best to have a wide range of colors at hand.
If you only plan on using one color, you might want to have different shades of that single color.
First apply the base color onto the eyelid, usually going to the outside, or nearly to the brow for a bold look.
Next, take a darker shade and apply it to only the top of your lid, blending with the lighter shadow.
To enhance your eyes further, you could use a small amount of shadow on the bottom lid, near the outer corner and blend.
Eyeshadow isn't really a big task, so you should just experiment with what looks best on you.
Eyeliner.
This is key to making your eyes amazing! There are many different looks to choose from.
You could look natural and elegant, bold, eerie, or anything you could come up with.
First, apply black or colored eyeliner (pencil or liquid) to the inner-most part of your eye and close to the lashline of your top eyelid, to avoid any odd spaces of color, then apply thicker, to your liking.
People with single eyelids, or 'Asian' eyes should probably cover most of their eyelid to get the same desired 'thick' look.
A popular look is the 'panda' look, where the eyeliner is raised thicker and farther beyond the eye.
It is very common in Visual Kei for eyeliner to go passed the corner of your eye for a certain look.
This look could make your eyes seem thinner, more seductive, menacing, or cuter depending on how you apply it.
For a darker look, eyeliner can be applied to the bottom lid but there is such a thing as 'too much' there, so be careful not to over-do it.
Again, to make your eyes stand out more, you can apply eyeliner to the outer corner of your eye, growing thinner as you go along the bottom lid.
Sometimes, using white, or lighter colored eyeliner on your bottom lid can give a nice touch and/or contrast.
Don't forget to be creative! Feel free to create designs, or use different colors against the others for a more drastic look.
Heavy, intricate eye makeup is a bit difficult to do every morning if you're in a hurry, so if you want to be quick about it, why not try experimenting with a more everyday look? Something as simple as surrounding your eye with black eyeshadow for a smoky look and wearing concealer and gloss on your lips can look great for daily wear. , Jewels are always a nice and fun touch to finish off your eyes.
You can place them along the bottom of your eye, in a row down the side, across your nose to the other eye, anything you can think of! You can get jewels at any craft store, or anywhere where cosmetics are sold.
They may come with glue or you may need to use your own.
A dandy ol' glue stick could probably do fine, and eyelash glue works perfectly! Remember, in visual Kei the sky's the limit.
Look as weird as you please.
Other items can be used, such as buttons, glitter, bits of fabric, fishnet/mesh
- even tinfoil! If you like how it looks, go for it.
Another wonderful touch for your eyes is false eyelashes.
Be as tame or as wild as you want.
Usually, the crazier-looking lashes are easiest to find during Halloween.
If you want to add some extra pop to your eye makeup, why not even try circle lenses in a variety of natural or unnatural colours? , Usually, a nice gloss will finish off your look, but if you want to go further, that's just spiffy! Some darker bands will smear makeup, usually black, from their lips to the side of their face.
While this is easy and can look great, it must be remembered that this is often ridiculed by older members of the scene due to its connections with cosplay and amateurish outfits.
Others will make their lips pale and only color the inner portion of the mouth for a creepy, rigid look.
For a full effect, you could always use lipliner, though it can be tricky so keep at it.
Again, you can just be creative with your lips:
Line them with black and color it in white, only color half your mouth, color beyond your actual lips, anything you want.
About the Author
Jennifer Myers
Brings years of experience writing about DIY projects and related subjects.
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