The reason concealer started to be used as a substitute for lipstick is because the shapes of the concealer and lipstick containers were similar! It seems that mistaking concealer for lipstick and applying it by mistake was the trigger.
What is Mamba makeup?
- The base makeup is created with dark foundation for a wheat-colored skin tone.
- A white shadow (highlight) is applied along the bridge of the nose.
- A heavy nose shadow is applied from the start of the eyebrows across the side of the nose.
- Eyebrows are thin with about a 45-degree angle.
- White eyeshadow is applied extensively around the eyes.
- This is followed by a heavy application of black shadow, finishing with a black-and-white panda-like makeup.
- Lower eyelashes are drawn with eyeliner.
- The area under the eyes is heavily decorated with stickers.
- Lips are made completely white with concealer!
Base makeup
In the era of ganguro gals (late 90's), the darker the skin, the better.
For this reason, the mainstream base makeup was a dark brown, wheatish skin, but surprisingly, there were many gals who used foundation or face powder to create a wheatish skin without tanning their faces.
The reason is that your makeup won't adhere well.
Many ganguro gals only tanned their bodies because tanning dries the skin and makes makeup difficult to apply.
Among the ganguro gals, dark skin foundations (powder type) from brands such as MAC, as well as face powders such as "Shiseido Bronze Bronze," were popular.
Eyebrow makeup
Eyebrows are drawn thin and at about a 45-degree angle.
The key is to finish them lightly with a pencil type so as not to make them too conspicuous.
Among the many eyebrow pencils, Shiseido's eyebrow pencil, priced at 200 yen, offered good cost performance and was a favorite among many Manba and gal.
Highlight
The highlight on the nose bridge should be about four times as thick as your usual makeup!
It was recommended to apply it thick enough to stand out prominently.
Many gals used white eyeshadow as a substitute for highlight.
Therefore, "highlights = white shadows" were popular at the time.
Nose shadow
To make the nose bridge stand out more, apply shading from the start of the eyebrows to the sides of the nose bridge.
Shading is optional, but adding it makes the nose bridge appear more pronounced, so many Manba used both highlight and shading together.
Eye makeup
Manba makeup is characterized by the eye makeup reminiscent of a panda, with a striking black and white theme!
First, encircle the eyes with Courreges's white shadow or Canmake's white color concealer (Canmake Color Stick 05).
Then, layer black eyeshadow over the entire eyelid, add eyeliner and false eyelashes to complete the panda makeup.
The key to eye makeup is "creating droopy eyes with black."
They used black shadow and eyeliner to create droopy, cute panda-like eyes.
Decorating with stickers
After finishing the eye makeup, apply a large number of stickers below the eyes.
Stickers vary from rhinestones to heart shapes, star shapes, and initials.
Larger stickers are applied using eyelid glue() to increase adhesiveness.
Since they are generally disposable, many chose stickers based on their mood for the day.
.Eyelid glue: A cosmetic product similar to liquid glue, used to create double eyelids.
It was widely used by gal not only to transform single eyelids into double eyelids but also to adjust the width of the double eyelids or as an adhesive for false eyelashes.
Lip makeup
Manba is known for their unusually white lips!
To achieve completely white lips, they heavily applied white concealer.
That's all! No lipstick or gloss was used!
For the Manba, "Lip = Concealer"seemed to be the norm, using the same concealer for their lips as they did for their eye makeup.
Canmake's white concealer (Canmake Color Stick 05) was popular and became an essential item for Manba makeup.
Manba eye makeup procedure
Apply white shadow or white concealer
Apply white shadow or white concealer broadly around the eyes.
Courreges's white shadow (item number: 70 Pearl White) and Canmake's white concealer (Color Stick 05) were popular.
Apply from the eyelid to below the eyebrow and about 1 centimetre below the eye.
Then, apply thinly from the inner corner of the eye to the cheekbone (diagonally downwards).
Apply black eyeshadow
Next, apply black eyeshadow up to the crease of the eyelid.
Manba makeup aims to create droopy eyes, so the eyeshadow is applied to droop at the outer corners.
Speaking of black shadow for Mamba, Testimo's "Color Eyes BK-04" was popular.
Apply color eyeshadow
While many stuck to just white and black eyeshadow, some added orange or pink color eyeshadow as an accent.
This trend spread from former egg model "Ka~tan" incorporating orange and pink eyeshadows during her Manba days.
Drawing a white line below the eyes
Speaking of gal, white eyeliner is a must!
By applying a white pencil over the tear bags that have been painted white with shadow, it becomes even whiter!
The goal was to make it as white as possible to increase the gal level.
Applying eyeliner
Eyeliner is drawn with a liquid type, encircling the entire eye area.
The key is to draw the ends of the eyes to create a droopy look!
Popular liquid eyeliners included:
- Canmake Liquid Eyeliner 01
- Inoui The Eyeliner
Drawing individual lower lashes
After drawing the eyeliner, hand-draw several lower lashes.
While false lashes are applied to the upper lashes, drawing them by hand was the norm for the lower lashes.
Applying false eyelashes (Upper)
Apply voluminous false eyelashes with eyelid glue and place them on the eye area.
Many mambas have adopted false eyelashes because they can increase the power of their eyes.
Applying glitter shadow from the inner corner to the cheekbone
Over the area from the inner corner to the cheekbone (diagonally downwards) that was previously painted with white shadow or white concealer, layer silver glitter shadow to enhance the sparkle.
Decorating with lots of stickers
After increasing the sparkle, complete the Manba eye makeup by decorating below the eyes (and sometimes other parts of the face) with a large amount of stickers.
Stickers were generally disposable, with many choosing nail stickers or colorful stickers based on their mood for the day.
Larger stickers were said to be good because applying eyelid glue increased their adhesiveness, making them less likely to come off.
The Manba makeup, the flashiest among the Heisei period gal styles, featured a stark black-and-white contrast reminiscent of a panda.
Techniques such as "blurring" and "blending" were deemed unnecessary; instead, it was considered better to have clear contrasts!
Furthermore, the use of false eyelashes started with the Manba era!
While 90s gal increased their eye presence by applying multiple coats of mascara, the early 2000s saw not only Manba but also many gal adopting false eyelashes as they became fashionable.
