When I was a kid, I wasn’t too much into Disney or the abundance of Disney princesses. Don’t get me wrong I watched the movies, but I wasn’t a fanatic. However, there were two princesses I found I favored; Pocahontas, and Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Putting a fantasy into reality, I transformed myself into a mermaid this weekend for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

I have only been one other time before, and I just remember thinking this would be so much more satisfying if I were to join in the dressing up festivities. Because that’s all you see there. An array of colors, and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it is crowded and you need to either have patience, be really outgoing/carefree or be drunk. 😉 I was none of those and I survived so, you can too! (shout out to my anxiety keeping cool! #claustrophiacity) And did I mention, someone stepped on my shoe causing it to break…yea that wasn’t fun. But thankfully it was a cool day, a little sun would have been nice, but I wasn’t complaining, because no one wants to stand for hours, standing in a crowd of people, in the heat.

The parade is funky, it’s definitely eccentric and anything goes. It never fails, you will see boobs, it’s just a given. But I will say that what I realized was that the parade has a message far greater than just what you see at it’s surface. It’s about acceptance. About having an open mind, appreciating everyone, and everything they are. Being proud of your weirdness, or uniqueness. There is no shame in being who you are. That’s what I got from my second experience there. And I think that in itself is a beautiful thing.

So here’s me transforming myself into a mermaid esque character. With the help of makeup, some glitter, a few accessories and a quick little DIY.

You didn’t think I’d leave you without some crappy cellphone pics did you? 😉 One of these days I’ll get my act together.

Ariel listen to Sebastian, “the human world is a mess…”

Listen as you read…

BECOMING MERMAID…

HAIR & MAKEUP

My eye makeup was made up of a mixture of purples, greens, blues, and pinks. Then using purples and blues I contoured my forehead, cheeks, and jaw line. A little bronzer and coral colored blush were a nice touch too. I used jewels and glitter to add some “scale” affects to the sides of my face. Then I put some glitter along my collar bone too.

For my hair, I washed it the night before and braided it before going to bed. It dried while in the braid, and I left it that way as I did my makeup, then I took it out and it left me with these really cool crimped waves. Very beachy, very mermaid-y. So I didn’t have to do too much, I just added some mousse, and dry shampoo for extra volume and curl.  I sparingly curled a few pieces too with my curling wand, mostly just my bangs to frame my face more. Then a bunch of hair spray, before finally having a reason to use the teal colored hair chalk I bought a few years ago. (my hair is dark so it doesn’t last too long, but it gives it this gray blue textured look, so its worth it) I also clipped in a teal hair extension, that matched the chalk, a little more hairspray and the added touch of my starfish hairclip and my hair was mermaid ready.

OUTFIT

As for my outfit, I just went with some flowy/bohemian, blue pieces. A very free spirited, comfortable look. And with my hair and makeup and accessories, I think it came together nicely. I didn’t have anything too mermaid-y, so I worked with what I had. This is if you want an understated mermaid look. (although not much is understated at that parade, but I still felt like I did my part) 😉

ACCESSORIES & NAILS

OPI Nicole’s “Mer-maid for each other” is a shiny metallic green,

perfect for mermaid inspired nails.

Walgreens actually sells a Little Mermaid nail line, that I wish I would have known about before buying my other nail color. But either way it worked out.

Where I got some of my ideas from…

Gotta love YouTube, you wouldn’t believe how many people want to be mermaids! 😉

DIY starfish hairclip

This was the last piece of the puzzle, I wanted a starfish for my hair so bad, and after searching and searching, my mom was the one who found a package of starfish for like a dollar in a 99 cent store. I was super excited. So then I found some other hair clips to work into my hair piece. The cream colored net was attached to a bow hair clip, so I just removed it and then the actual hair clip used to clip it into my hair was from a big flower clip. So I just hot glued all the necessary pieces and voila! I think the net really made the difference, it made it look very ocean inspired. The starfish had a bit of a weight to it so I just used two extra bobby pins to fasten it into my hair, for a better hold.

Some pics from the parade…

Oh and I ran into some friends of mine…

“Legs are meant for jumping, dancing…”

You are so right Ariel!

There you have it, my quick, crappy pictured Mermaid inspired look. Try it out! It’s super fun, except be prepared to be covered in glitter and hair chalk. But it’s all in good fun!

So Ariel has Flounder, and Sebastian.

If you were a mermaid, what sea creature would you want as your sidekick?

I’m thinking like a seahorse that could drive/swim me around or something…you know when I get tired of swimming myself. 😉 His name would be Skylar.

*I do not take credit for any videos/songs, gifs, or Little Mermaid pics

All others are my own.*

-<3-

Part 10 of Love Conflicted coming your way…Thursday!

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