I personally use Ben Nye’s Final Seal then powder over it with the Transparent Finishing Powder. It’s usually best to use the same sealing stuff that is recommended by the body paint you’re using as your primary as they’re designed to work together. Check the manufacturer for what they recommend.

Generally, I feel that the preference and experience of different sealers varies widely from person to person and that likely has to do with varied skin types and variations in personal application methods. Much like finding the right eyeliner, your mileage will vary. 

Trying to cover some backlog here.

My first thought is to grab one of the blank plastic masks at your nearest craft store, use tape or foam to modify the shape to what you need, and then use Papier-Mache to make the Vega mask using the mask as a base form. Just seal with gesso or mod podge and paint. It’s an old school tried and true method for custom mask making.

Of course, there’s a few folk on Etsy that sell the mask pre-made and finished. There’s also a classic Venetian “Vega” mask that is exactly what he uses if you can find it affordably. 

To use newer methods, I recommend pepakura. Folk have made and shared free models that work for Vega’s mask. Again, paint it once built.

I would also recommend using adhesive vinyl to cut out his blue logo for the cleanest finished look.

Use pleather or ribbon to make the straps.

I need more information on what materials you’re working with and what version of the Catwoman mask you’re attempting before I can help. What is it that’s not working?

Haha. A lot of us do those cheapo solutions for fun occasionally.

To start with, scour your wal-Mart carefully for the best of the cheap wigs. The less modifying you need to do, the better. Keep in mind it’s probably not going to look very much like the photo on the front, but depending on your goal look, a blonde wig with blended colors is probably going to look nicer than plain party yellow. – There’s only so much you can do with lesser material as your starter because chances are it’s not going to be made of heat-resistant synthetics and thusly it can’t take the same tricks nicer wigs do. – What I’m saying is, it’ll probably melt if you try to take a curling or straightening iron to it, so don’t do that.

So you’ve got your Wal-Mart/Party City/etc Wig…

Try it on. Brush it out with a wide tooth brush. Look at what you’re working with.

Trim it to the lengths you need. Add layers and face-framing cuts if you think it’s appropriate. Between short and long wigs, get one that’s longer than you need and trim it, don’t try to add hair with this type of wig.

Reducing the shine on the wig will go a long way towards making it look nicer. Putting a little dry shampoo or baby powder on the wig then brushing it through so it doesn’t look “dusty” will reduce the cheap high-sheen look of a cheap wig. You can also rub down the fibers with a dryer sheet to a similar, but lesser effect.

If you need to style it (and you almost certainly will need to), use a round brush and your blow dryer on a low setting to style. Be ready to spend some time doing this, slowly. 

If the wig has really difficult to remove kinks in it, a warm water bath followed by a low temp blow dry may be necessary to get them out. Again, given halloween wig materials, do not use high heat treatments

Hair spraying the wig while holding it upside down and waiting for the spray to dry before flipping it back (then styling further) will help add lift and body to the wig. Some texturizing spray or volumizing gel can also aid with styling. – Spray the wig with with a “freezing” hair spray to get it to stay styled once you’re happy.

I hope that helps, and good luck!

Okay, so I previously answered this question, but apparently people want this in more detail.

Note: My Shiro arm was basically made over a 3 day weekend (minus final gluing of hand pieces (drying time included, this takes a week or a week and a half) immediately after Voltron Legendary Defender season 1 was released. It’s not perfect, but I’m happy enough with it I have no plans to remake it. That also means I didn’t take a lot of progress pics. There is not a pattern, I free-formed it. Additionally I am a terrible influence and this is probably not a healthy example in so far as glue usage.

Regardless, this is a cosplay blog, and thusly really not the appropriate venue to ask for advice in making household daily use items. It’s not what I do, and I hesitate to make any recommendations in that sense.

I don’t know if the clay they’re using will take to glaze well, and most glazes for pottery (to my knowledge) do need to be kiln fired. Paints and lacquers get into potentially toxic areas, and that I don’t want to touch with a 20 foot pole as far as telling them what to use, especially if this is getting anywhere near holding food.

Well, the first question should really be what air dry clay are you using, because they have very different durability levels and component make ups.

Secondly, this is a cosplay blog. I don’t generally make bowls or other things designed for daily household use. Kind of the wrong blog for that.

BUT IN GENERAL – I don’t think air dry clay is going to be a suitable medium for making bowls you intend to get any use out of. Most air dry clay is effectively a toy, like play-dough. It’s not toxic, but neither is intended to be used to eat off of. It’s not designed to stand up to heavy wear and tear. My friends and I do use it sometimes for armor, or small detail items, but anything the least bit delicate or expecting to need to handle much wear and tear is used as a smoothing/detailing component over a much sturdier base. I think this is a case of the wrong tool for the job.