The blockbuster movie “Avatar” may or may not have been a rip-off of Pocahontas, but the money that it garnered was nothing to joke about. Neither is the way that the film changed our pop culture. No doubt that the biggest costume of 2009 was a Navi from Pandora. While I admit to have never seen the movie, I know an Avatar costume when I see it, and a classic Navi costume has never really faded out. Obviously, the make-up to creating this costume takes a bit of work and if you’re reading this, you probably don’t know where to start. Let me help.
First off, if you have hair long enough, you want to braid your hair into the small braids; if not, they make wigs that emulate just about any hairstyle so the hair should not be a problem. Next, put a good layer of foundation on for a good base for your blue paint. Next comes the blue paint—similar to the Mystique make-up, a cream paint or any kind of paint that won’t dye your skin for the next couple days is preferred. However, you will want this a shade lighter than what you wanted for Mystique, as Avatars requires a lighter blue.
You’ll want to paint your entire face and any other part of your body that will not be covered by clothing with the light blue color. Then, apply the eyebrows. Eyebrows on Pandora are much more dramatic than they are here on Earth, and you’ll want to draw those in with a thick black eyeliner or even black paint. Then add black eye shadow to “recreate” your eyes, as the eyelids of Navis are black. Sticking with the theme of black, use black eyeliner to create the cat eye effect.
Then, to create the stripes that are the trademark, mix the blue and black cream paint together and paint on patterns that face down towards your nose. Then, using white paint, underneath the stripes that you painted on earlier, place small white dots on your forehead and underneath your eyes. Next, take pink blush and brush your cheeks and the tip of your nose. Once the white paint has dried from two steps ago, put fake eyelashes on your top and bottom lashes.
You’re almost done, but now you have to make the ears because your ears probably don’t stick out like theirs do. Most craft stores have what is called hard paper—buy some of that and cut out the ears in an eye-shape. Paint them the same color as your skin and add some of the blue/black mix stripes.
Then, cutting a slot in the bottom of the ear, use a bobby pin to pin the ear to your own hair. Then add feathers underneath your hair and those are pretty easy to find at most department stores. Finally, put in yellow contacts if desired and voila! Your very own Navi from Pandora!
Emma Rae Curtis is a costume/dressing up/makeup & accessories expert. She mainly writes about Halloween but also about all things costume and dress-up related.