instant abs.

I have a reputation for being excessively lazy, especially when it comes to exercise. I hate sports (with the exception of dance), I've set foot in a gym only once in my entire life, and when it comes to jogging... I went a few times but ended up walking 90% of the time anyway. I've never cared much for having a bikini body, since I don't have nearly enough boobage to fill a bikini anyway. But since I became a member of The Lost Aria, it has come to my attention that a lot of the cosplays I want to do will require, at the very least, a toned abdominal region.

Thanks to Lullaby, who provided these links for a fantastic tutorial on open-chest binding and makeup, because really, I don't know the first thing about makeup contrary to popular belief...

So here's a Before shot of my pudgy belly prior to applying my lazy-man's abs.











And here's one of mah face lol, for good measure. I already had contacts in and eyeliner on since I wasn't actually planning to do this test-run thing in the first place.


Since I did this on a whim, I wasn't exactly prepared - I used various shades of foundation rather than the body paint that the tutorial calls for. That and the fact that I'm noob at this sort of thing, resulted in abs that are not as well-defined as Abessinier's.

The After shot. With respect to chest-binding, I found that it was better for me to apply the sports tape starting from the centre and pulling up so that the tape was close to my shoulder, instead of starting below and taping into the centre.

And I guess no matter what, the makeup still made some sort of difference. (I had to lighten this pic a little due to a spot of overcast weather... So it's a bit grainy...) All disadvantageous factors aside, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Could've done with a bit more blending, but hey. Not bad for my first try.

So then seeing the relative success of my instant abs, I went ahead and donned a wig and proper makeup, and lo and behold, take 2 of Spice! Len happened. Too bad the abs didn't show up very well in these pictures though. And neither did my contacts, for which I feel rather bummed.

Of course, I'll require much more practice. But let me bask in this moment of awesome for a while, okay?