Patron Spotlight: Ziffey Cos

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Featured photo by Raveander

This month's Patron spotlight is Abby, known on the internet as Ziffey Cos! Abby hails from Australia and has a self-described "insane anime addiction." It's this anime addiction, as well as her interest in games, cartoons, and D&D, that motivate her cosplays. 

She's only been cosplaying for about two years, but she's been interested in costuming for way longer. "I've always loved dressing up for any chance I had," she says. "Once I found out there was an entire community dedicated to this vice, it seemed asinine to not dive head first into the wonderful and wacky that was cosplay!"

Her first cosplay was Lucy Heartfilia from Fairytail. "I bought the skirt and top from Best&Less and coloured the stripes in with a sharpie and painted on my insignia with liquid lipstick," she admits. "Everyone has to start somewhere, haha!"

I asked her which cosplay she's most proud of, and she showed me her K/DA Akali cosplay from League of Legends. "This was my first time styling a wig and lets just say it was a nose dive into the deep end!" she says. "After 20 hours of cutting, teasing, combing, and an entire can of got2b hairspray, I'm pretty proud of how it came out in the end."

Photo by vyxenahstudios // Evelynn is synodics

Abby says her biggest strength in cosplay is makeup. "I'm a professional makeup artist by trade, so this is something that is second nature to me," she says. Even though her daily fare is usually fashion and bridal makeup, she likes how cosplay makeup looks challenge her to think creatively.

"I tend to use makeup more to show the characters personality than to make myself look exactly like them," she explains. "For example, making myself look cuter with bigger eyes and lots of blush, or using strong brows and eyeliner for the more serious characters."

I asked Abby how she would advise other cosplayers to use makeup in their work. "Makeup definitely boosts your cos game, so when time or money allows, I would suggest everyone look into it," she says. "The best advice I could give to a beginner would be learn to use what you already have. Don't worry about spending hundreds of dollars but instead find singular products that can double or triple up on uses."

Photo by Mark Hummer

Abby is super excited for her next cosplay, which is the Fantasy AU version of Momo Yaoyorozu from My Hero Academia — her first armor build. "I have a bad habit of being a stickler for details and accuracy," she admits, "so I'm hoping that cosplaying something from an alternate universe will help me take a little more creative liberty with my costumes."

To keep up with Abby's work (or hit her up with some makeup questions!) be sure to follow her!