Friday, 10 January 2025

Cosplay styles - The Eärien hairstyle (Rings of Power; Númenor and Elven OC cosplays)

Númenórean court astronomer OC, with a hairstyle inspired by Eärien's main style in S1 of Rings of Power

Back in August 2024, I cosplayed two Tolkien OCs (original characters) (more on my cosplay on my IG and TikTok), using the same basic outfit (the gorgeous 'Princess in Exile' burgundy dress and black chemise combo from Armstreet 😍) and pretty much the same hairstyle: First came a Númenórean court astronomer OC, and for this character I chose a hairstyle that was directly inspired by the braided half-up that Númenórean Eärien wears in season 1 of the Rings of Power series ✨🏰🌊🔭⌛📚📜. Then, in late August, I attended the Madrid première of the second season of Rings of Power, thanks to the invitations gifted by our Spanish Tolkien Society 😊✨💍⚔️, and for that I chose pretty much the same get-up, only now I was cosplaying as an Eregion Noldorin Elf OC, so I added more Elven-inspired jewelry (like a circlet) to this hairstyle doubling as an Elven style, and, of course, the pointy ears. The overall style and decoration of this Armstreet dress gives me both Númenórean and Noldorin aesthetic vibes, and we love versatility in cosplay, so yay xD ✨.

Elven variation of this look at the Rings of Power S2 Madrid première

My personal version of Eärien's style consists of two 3-strand side braids, braided with purple parandas, tied at the back of the head with an elastic, and then forming a half-up braided bun. When wrapping the braids around the elastic, I started wrapping both braids twice or thrice, then added a hairstick to keep them in place (using the elastic as an stronger anchor point). The rest of each braid is twisted around the hairstick a bit more loosely, letting one of the two braids hang a bit below the bun, similarly to how Eärien wears them (this is more clearly defined in one of the two versions I ended up with). Finally, I used a blue beaded necklace as decoration, tying the strings around and below the braided bun:

The Númenórean version...
...vs the Noldorin version
The inspiration: Eärien's Númenórean look in S1 of Rings of Power

  See here below for a quick tutorial and the obligatory pic spam, including pictures from both cosplays, which share pretty much the same hairstyle, with some minor differences. My take on it for the Noldorin Eregion OC, for example, resulted in a braided half-up bun that was a bit more compressed in shape, compared to how the Númenórean style turned out (this is ironically more in line to how Eärien actually wears it xD), although the hanging part of the braid is seen more clearly in my Númenórean version. Apart from that it's pretty much the same style, minus the decorations: For my Númenórean OC, I wore the hairstyle as is, with just parandas and a dangling beaded necklace as the decorative elements. For my Noldorin OC, seeing as the Noldorin Elves of Eregion are famed as artisans, crafstpeople, jewellers and smiths, I added a little more bling (Noldor in general do love their bling and their gems ✨xD), in the form of a necklace with blue crystals acting as a circlet, plus a more ornate necklace, and, of course, a ring xD 😅👍💍.

✨Also check out my other cosplay styles!

The Elven version

  • For this style I used (and you can use):
  -Comb and/or brush as needed.
 
  -A metal-free elastic to tie the two side braids at the back of the head.

 -Open pins and bobby pins (as needed): to help secure the braided half-up further, or to aid in anchoring the accessories like the necklace-circlet. 
 
 -Parandas for the side braids.
 
 -A hairstick to fix and anchor the braids in the half-up. Alternatively, you can also use a fork, or if you'd rather no hairtoy showed, also smaller clips or spiral pins.
 
  -A beaded necklace as decoration, tied below and around the half-up.

  -A circlet (for the Elven version) - be it a regular circlet or a necklace acting as one. To keep it secure, I added some thin wool strands to each end and and tied them around the braided-half-up, further anchoring the necklace at the sides with bobby pins. 

 -Hairspray and/or fixing gel and/or aloe vera as a light fixator, as needed.

The Númenórean version

  • Steps:
1) Side braids: Separate a piece of hair at each side and braid it, adding a paranda for added volume and colour (video tutorial  here). I went for simple 3-strand braid, but you can also go for a lace braid, French braid or Dutch braid.


2) Forming the half-up
 
-Secure both side-braids at the back using a metal-free elastic. If the braids don't lie flat against the head at the sides, you can use a couple of open pins to help, and also some aloe vera gel/hairspray/hair wax or your fixator of choice to keep the flyaways at bay.
 
-Start coiling each braid around the elastic base 2-3 times (this depends on the starting length as well), and then add a hairstick or fork (speared through the elastic for a firmer anchoring point) to start securing the half up. Instead of a hairstick or fork, you can also use clips or pins (spiral or open).
 
 -Twist the rest of each braid around the hairstick, but a bit more loosely this time, letting one of the two braids hang a bit below the bun as you coil it, so that it hangs below the rest of the braided half-up. Secure with additional pins as needed.

 
 3) Final touches
 
-For the decoration that Eärien wears below the braided half-up, you can use a beaded necklace or beaded strings, wrapped around the below the braided bun. For a more Elven look, you can also add a circlet.

-The rest of the hair hangs loose. Add texture to the length and ends if you wanna (braidwaves or curls). I chose to wear my hair in its natural straight form.
 
-Add more aloe vera gel or a bit of gel or hairspray to set the style and potential flyaways (if you want), and it's done!


More pics:
 
🔭Númenórean OC






💍 Eregion Noldorin Elf OC:









SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

Do not copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without any permission, credit or link. Preferably ask before using my work, and if you do, please give credit to me and my blog (beauty site who kept stealing my content a while ago, I'm looking at you).