Okay so get this – I’m scrolling through Instagram yesterday morning drinking my coffee, right? And BAM! This picture of Ella Purnell pops up looking totally evil, like straight outta Sleeping Beauty. The caption’s screaming about her playing young Maleficent. My first thought? “Dang, I gotta try that look!” Got me instantly fired up.
The Setup (Because Apparently My Face Ain’t Evil Enough)
Right. First things first, raided my costume box. Found this black dress thing, kinda flowy? Good enough. Then my wig stash – pulled out the longest, darkest one I had. It was tangled like crazy. Spent like 20 minutes just combing that sucker out, swearing under my breath the whole time. Found my pointy elf ears from last Halloween. Stuck ’em on. Starting to feel a little bit sinister.
Then the main event: those horns. I remember I bought these cheap plastic devil horns years ago? Totally forgotten about ’em. Dug deep into the closet. Score! Grabbed some spirit gum – that sticky stuff actors use. Slathered it on the horn bases and pressed hard on my forehead. Held ’em there forever, praying they’d stick. Felt kinda stupid just standing there, but shrug. Gotta do what ya gotta do.
Time to Get Ugly (In a Good Way, Sorta)
Alright, chair pulled up to my cluttered makeup desk. Grabbed my biggest, baddest contour palette. You know the one with the shades too dark for anyone human? Yeah, that crappy palette. Went HARD with the deepest brown, carving out these crazy cheekbones. Like, scary-shadow-under-the-cheekbones kinda thing. Looked at myself in the mirror. “Whoa. Okay, getting somewhere.”
- Eyes: Went straight for the blackest black pencil. Drew these thick lines all around my eyes, top and bottom, smudged the heck outta it with my finger. Made my eyes look super sunken. Then piled on the mascara. Clumpy? You betcha. Looked like spider legs. Loved it.
- Lips: Found this super dark purple lipstick. Forget elegant, I just slathered it on. Tried doing a perfect cupid’s bow… gave up halfway. Smudged the edges deliberately. Much meaner vibe.
- That Green Glow: Remembered Maleficent has that green magic aura. Found this cheap, kinda chalky green eyeshadow. Dabbed it lightly with my finger on the high points of my cheekbones under where I contoured, a tiny bit on the nose bridge. Barely showed up in pics at first. Annoying. Kept layering, adding a bit more. Got it to kinda look sickly and glowy? Good enough.
The Grand Reveal (Kinda Wobbly)
Got dressed, squeezed into the pointy ears again (one started peeling – quick spirit gum fix!), carefully put on the tangled black wig, then tilted my head slowly… darn it! The wig got caught on the base of the left horn. Almost yanked it off my forehead! Carefully untangled it. Heart was pounding! Finally got the wig mostly settled. Put my hair up, pulling the wig hair forward over my shoulders. Messed around with it forever.
Stood up. Took a deep breath. Looked in the full-length mirror. The horns felt weird, heavy. The contour was harsh. The green eyeshadow wasn’t popping like I wanted. But… dude. There was Maleficent staring back. Well, my messy, slightly lopsided horn version anyway. Looked kinda powerful. Definitely looked like I could curse a baby or steal somebody’s voice or something. Mission accomplished! Took about a bazillion selfies from every angle. My neck was killing me from holding the pose, and I was worried the horns were gonna dive bomb off my head.
Was it perfect? Nah. Was it fun? Heck yeah. Learned that transforming takes patience (and a tolerance for cheap, sticky glue). Ella Purnell’s probably got way better prosthetics, but my version cost me like ten bucks and a lot of swearing. Now I’m just sitting here trying to figure out how to get the spirit gum residue off my forehead without pulling my skin off. Small price to pay for looking evil, I guess. Maybe I’ll just keep it on and freak out the barista later. See how brave she is making my latte! Gotta love a good project. Might even rewatch the movie later… ya know, for research.