Just do it – ‘Wicked’ style
Hey y’all. It is almost Christmas, and it feels like this year has just flown by. The only time it feels like time slows down is when you are not having fun. I swear there is a time bubble that goes at a snail’s pace when you are at the DMV or waiting for your doctor in that little exam room.
Thank God for smartphones! What did we do before them? Read magazines? Stare at our feet? Or – worse – talk to people? Eww!
Back in early October, I wrote about how excited I was about this year’s Halloween costume, and how I couldn’t wait to show everyone. Finally, for the Block Party, I debuted my half Glinda/half Elphaba look.
I honestly have never been so proud. Every detail I wanted was there — from the amazing dress made by the crazy talented Juana Velez to the headpiece to the make-up.
It all came out exactly as I saw it in my head.
The dress, which was actually two dresses, captured the essence of each character and made getting into character super easy. My bestie Sweet Mark did the wig, and it was perfection. I made the headpiece with help from the husband.
The base of it was one of my old crowns from a pageant I won a million years ago. It was either Miss Oak Lawn or Miss Metroplex. I covered half of it with that black foam clay that I see a lot of cosplayers use, then sewed on half of the witch’s hat. I added a bunch of big ass rhinestones to make it gaudier and Glinda-ish.
Then voila! I had my witch’s hat/crown.
Make-up was the thing I was the most worried about. I would practice almost every night after the shows for weeks to see what worked and what did not. I am so glad I did, too, because the first few green grease paints did not fucking work at all. It was so bad that I actually left a review on Amazon with the title, “THIS IS TOTAL CRAP.”
You know it had to be a bad product for me to go out of my way to warn others that the light green panstick make-up by Go Ho is more of a make-up remover than actual make-up. I should have known by the name “Go Ho” that I was gonna get got.
One of the main reasons I was so nervous to do my half-and-half make-up is because of my tremor. I shake; I have for as long as I can remember. My grandpa, my mom and my sister all have the same tremor. It is so annoying, and for years I have used it as an excuse as to why I don’t even try to do things where you need a steady hand.
My regular drag make-up has evolved in such a way that I rarely need precision. You need a steady, confident hand to do perfect eye liner, so I have found work arounds to keep me from even attempting wearing eye liner. I mostly do a smokey black eyelid; if you wear enough black eye shadow, nobody notices you aren’t wearing eye liner.
My vision for the Glinda/Elphaba makeup had a creased eyelid, so I could use more color and make it as vibrant as I could. I knew I would have to give myself plenty of time when I did the make-up, so I didn’t feel rushed. If I get rushed or feel like I am running behind, I basically vibrate.
It is so annoying. Would you like your drink shaken or stirred? With me, it will always be shaken.
I’ve used the tremor as the reason that I don’t do a lot of things. I have it in my head that if I can’t make it perfect, then why bother doing it at all? Then, a few months ago, I heard something that changed the way I think and feel.
My husband watches a lot of YouTube videos. (Full disclosure: So do I.) He watches videos by this one guy religiously. The guy’s name is Neil Koch, and his channel is called Dig-Drive-DIY. He has built a pond on his property, worked on his vehicles, chopped trees into firewood and all kinds of do-it-yourself stuff to save money.
His easy-going attitude and work ethic make him surprisingly enjoyable to watch. And in one of the episodes — I don’t even remember what he was doing – he said, “Perfection is the enemy of getting stuff done.”
That hit me so hard, because it is so true. Nothing I ever do is actually perfect, and not trying to do something I really want to do because of the fear of it not being perfect is stupid.
That doesn’t mean I lower my standards or half-ass it. It is more of a way to push myself while still giving myself a little grace. A little anxiety and nervousness are good things. They make things more exciting, but too much will stifle your creativity.
So, thank you Neil from the YouTubes. Your words have really affected me.
So I practiced the make-up and learned what I needed to work on. The line down the middle of my face gave me the most grief. It had to be as straight as possible for the look to work. I figured out that I had to have a confident hand and just go for it. If I fucked it up, I knew how to fix it; baby wipes and Q-Tips were my friend.
I surprised myself at how good my make-up turned out. I loved everything about it.
I had one blue contact and one green contact. My eyebrows were related but were not twins, and, in this instance, it worked perfectly. I painted my nails on my green hand a dark purplie black, and the nails on my other hand were painted pink.
I loved the earrings, too. They were made by Dragon Lady years ago. She made three pairs of the exact same style of earrings in three different colors. One pair were a.b. (auroa borealis); one pair were clear rhinestone, and the third pair were black. So one a.b. and one black completed the look. It’s the details, Shug.
It’s hard to get inspired and stay inspired. Trying to find new ways to stand out and have a unique costume for Halloween or even a regular show is difficult at times. With the movie Wicked coming out and everything coming together so well with the costume, the timing was perfect. I practiced the fuck out of “Defying Gravity” in my car. Right, left, face forward at this part – the mental choreography was a lot. But it was so worth it. I loved performing it.
I have put the look away for a while, but she … well they … will be back. Wicked, Part 2 comes out next year!
Remember to always love more, bitch less and be fabulous!
XOXO, Cassie Nova