Showing posts with label Tolkien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tolkien. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 July 2026

Cosplay styles - Elrond braided half-up and length shots

 

  Long time, no cosplay hair post! So here's another Elven style, a couple of multi-braided half-up styles for my Elrond cosplay, from an Autumn 2022 nature shoot. The main style I went for is a couple of thin three-strand side braids in front of the ears alongside a fishtail/herringbone half-up braid at the back (well, a fishtail braid that evolved into a regular three-strand braid, because fishtail braiding at the back of your head is not for the weak-minded and is a real workout 😅 xD). 

  This style takes elements out of several Elrond hairstyles from the Peter Jackson movies: LotR Elrond tends to wear a fishtail half-up braid at the back with intricately looped sections in front of the ears, and sometimes, more intricate criss-crossing basket weaving braiding at the top of the head as well (see photo below, left).  In the Battle of Dagorlad (during the Fellowship of the Ring prologue, see photo below, middle) his style combines the fishtail braid at the back with two side fishtail braids looped into and around the main herringbone braid. Elrond's main style in the Rivendell scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (see photo below, right) features a couple of three-strand braids in front of the ears instead of his signature looped look in LotR, and he switches the more elaborate fishtail and basket weaving braiding for what looks like a couple of side rope braids tied at the back alongside another minibraid at the top of the head. 

LotR Rivendell Elrond (FotR, Council costume) (left); LotR Battle of Dagorlad Elrond (centre); The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Elrond (right) 
 

  My version combines the fishtail braid at the back from most of the LotR styles with the three-strand braids in front of the ears from The Hobbit, which I tried to loop a bit at the ends as a callback to his signature LotR look (but three-strands overall were easier to do and more comfortable to wear). I actually could also replicate a near version of his Dagorlad style with this look (see below), by looping the front mini braids into and around the main braid at the back (the only difference being, in the Dagorlad style it's all fishtail braids, but lol nope, I tried that style with what I already had at the very end of the shoot xD).

  • For this style I used (and you can use):
-Sectioning comb, wide-tooth comb and/or brush, as needed
-Transparent small elastics for the accent braids and the braided half-up
-A circlet and a leaf slide/barrette for decoration
-Aloe vera gel/fixing gel, as needed 
  • Steps:  
1) Section the hair: one small section at each side above the ear for the accent side/front braids that will hang in front of the ears, and one section for the braided half-up at the back.
 
2) Fishtail+three-strand braid:
 
  To be honest, I've had very little practice doing fishtail/herringbone braids because they're pretty time-consuming and they involve considerable arm workout when you're doing them at the back of your head xD, but I was happily surprised to see that, considering the little practice I had, this one didn't turn out so bad and it was a bit easier to do than I had dreaded! Still, hard on the arms, and I was running late for the shoot, so it's not a fishtail all the way down - one third down (or so), it ended up morphing into a regular three strand 🤣. Still, I think it still looks pretty cool as is! And it's a good hack if you also have long, long hair and don't want to spend so long fishtail-braiding xD. I secured all sections of this braid with transparent elastics.
 
 
 
3) Accent side-braids:  Separate a piece of hair at each side and braid it. It can be a simple 3-strand braid, or a lace braid, French braid or Dutch braid. In this case - three strand, imitating Elrond's main hairdo in The Hobbit movies. You can rest your arms a bit more with this step, even if mini braids can also be pretty time consuming with very long hair. Secure with transparent elastics.
 
4) Final touches:  I added a thin circlet, tied at the back with some golden cord and also secured with a silver leaf barrette (which also serves to hide the knot). You can also use bobby pins/open pins as needed to fix anything in the braids.
 
Add aloe vera gel or a bit of gel or hairspray to set the style and potential flyaways (if you want), and it's done!
 
 
 
For the Dagorlad style, I just looped the front mini braids into and around the main back braid. I tried this at the end of the shoot, and also ended up wearing the style as an updo, with a fork and a casual cinnabun :
 
 
 
 
 
 
  I also used these couple of video tutorials as reference, from Loepsie and Silvousplaits
 


  
Picture gallery with more shots from the 2022 cosplay shoot, also feating mid-thigh length shots:










 
SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

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

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).

Tuesday, 27 September 2022

Cosplay hair - 2016-22 Elven nature shoots

Another Elven cosplay post (usually a Rivendell OC, but could also be Arwen), containing mainly lots of pics with length shots and circlets 😄🍃✨. There are two sets of pics of the same cosplay from two different nature shots, one from 2016 (with knee length hair, in a bit of a worse condition hemline-wise) and a more recent one from June 2022 (a bit past fingertip length, shortly after a seasonal trim):
 
🍃2016 shoot:








 
 
-Also, the first pics from the 2016 pics include a length shortening half-updo which was originally a seashell bun, and it also looks quite nice in Elven cosplay: 






🍃2022 shoot:
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 
SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

Don't copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without permission. If you want to share this work, please give credit to me and my blog.