How to Make My Face Look Like Anime

Anime characters have big eyes and small mouths.

Anime, once commonly referred to as "Japanimation," is an animation style originating in Japan. In the 1990s, due to internationally broadcast cartoons such as Pokemon and Dragonball Z, anime became a pop cultural phenomenon in the U.S., a trend that continues today. Many teens and adults strongly identify with certain anime characters, and enjoy dressing up like them for Halloween, comic conventions or other occasions. When making up your face like an anime character, the main idea is to make your eyes big and your lips small. Since the makeup will go over your eyes, you might want to ask a friend to apply it.

Things You'll Need

• Concealer lighter than your skin
• Face paint
• Brightly colored hair dye or wig
• Tweezers

Instructions

1. Pluck your eyebrows until there is nothing left.

2. Apply concealer all over your face to make it paler than your normal shade. Cover your lips and eyebrows with the concealer as well, since you will be drawing on new eyebrows and lips.

3. Using face paint or lipstick, draw a tiny mouth in the middle of your lips.

4. Close your eyes, or close one eye if you're working alone.

5. Use face paint to draw--or, ideally, have a friend draw--giant anime-style eyes over your eyelids. Draw the top line of the eye over where your eyebrow used to be. Draw the bottom line below your eye line, about flush with your cheekbone.

6. Fill in the eye with white face paint. In the center, draw a giant pupil and brightly colored iris. Use white paint to draw huge shine spots in the pupil.

7. Draw long eyelashes in straight diagonal strokes, near the outer corners of your eyes. Three or four eyelashes each should suffice.

8. Dye your hair a bright color, or wear a brightly colored wig. Choose a straight style that matches the anime character you want to portray.

References

• Trend Hunter: Manga Makeup
• Almost Japanese: Anime Eyes Makeup Tutorial