Feeling confident in a carnival costume is number one for me on parade and for many others. A TikTok follower of mine posed this question and because I tend to shy away from costumes with nude or illusion mesh, I posed it to my Instagram community instead and they had really helpful suggestions:
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@missmeilia on IG:
“Not a solution but sometimes it’s illusion mesh so it should match. Worth asking the designer or band.”
@nattralmystic on IG:
“They usually blend in on contact with the skin and body oils.”
@fitgyal_tia on IG:
“Lace tint spray from the beauty supply”
@xoxo_shanz on IG:
“They can try rit dye. It’s fabric dye. Once they find their shade in craft stores.”
“Makeup! Mesh can kinda be hard to dye so get some skin tone make up to make it blend.”
Actual Carnival Costume Hacks For Matching Nude Mesh
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- Lace tint spray (wig products)
- Foundation/body makeup
- Ballet “pancake” method
- Self-tanner/spray tan
- Dying or altering (advanced)
Tips/considerations:
- Test BEFORE the event
I think you definitely should test this out before the parade.. buy a swatch of mesh type material and get to applying to see which one is best for you. Waiting til the day of the parade or your actual trip might be chaotic and trialing for the first time on the costume is probably not the best idea.
- Seal with setting spray
If you go the make up route I suggest mattifying products, water resistant makeup and using a strong setting spray.
- Consider lighting and photos
More than likely you will be taking photos in your costume so making sure you dye the mesh and do a “wear test” under bright sunlight to ensure its a good match. Also, consider how it looks under flash or translated over photos so even placing your trial piece or finished costume pieces on your body and taking pictures would be a great “trial run”.
