The Ultimate DIY Guide-Cortana Costume
Cortana is the name of Microsoft Window’s new virtual desktop assistant. But did you know they named her after the mysterious and beautiful blue AI in the Halo series? Throughout the games, Cortana helps Master Chief until her heart-wrenching betrayal in Halo 5. Here we will be showing you how you, too, can become this blue, intelligent AI from Halo 4 without having to fully blue yourself with body paint.
Design
Every time Cortana speaks or moves, her entire body glows and the circuits flash white up and down her body. In order to create the circuit board designs on Cortana’s body, you’re going to need to do a lot of painting. Mix a white and a blue fabric paint if you can’t find a light blue color for the designs. Be sure to outline the shapes with a tailor’s chalk before you begin to paint the shapes. You might also want to set up a system with cardboard where the fabric is stretched taut while you paint, as when you wear the body suit, it will be stretched. With the same white and blue mixture, you can use a tiny brush to create the small details that line the portions of dark blue on her body.
Bodysuit
Cortana’s body resembles a computer and always seems to be glowing a blue hue, as she is a holographic projection. First, start with a base color blue for your body suit. If you don’t want to paint your hands, get a body suit that includes the hands. In addition, if you want to show your toes, go for a footless bodysuit.
Hair
Throughout all of Cortana’s iterations, she is always seen with a short dark blue bob. If you’ve already got a cute ‘do, great! You can dye your hair. But if you aren’t ready to get a new hairstyle, it might be best to get a wig. Here are some options for both dying your hair as well as purchasing a wig.
Body paint
If you decided to buy a bodysuit that doesn’t cover your hands and feet, you’ll need to use body paint to create a seamless look. Cortana’s face, hands, and feet are all the light blue color. You’ll need dark blue body paint to add some details to her hands and feet.
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a complete body paint tutorial!
Shoes
Of course, Cortana walks barefoot throughout the games, but if you don’t want to do that, you can wear flats that you don’t mind painting over. If you have the footless bodysuits, you can paint your feet and your shoes to look as if you weren’t wearing any shoes. Get flats that are soft and flexible with no design.
Eyes
Because of Cortana’s holographic nature, she has bright glowing eyes. In order to recreate this effect, you will need contact lenses! However, you need to get a prescription from your optometrist in order to purchase any decorative colored lenses.
Now you're all ready to be the sexy, super smart AI of the Halo series!
CORTANA Halo 4 Body Paint Tutorial
Who is the video game character that Windows named their new virtual desktop assistant after? Cortana from the Halo series. Just in time for Halloween, now you too can become Cortana! With this body paint tutorial from YouTuber Elsa Rhae, you’ll be good to go as long as you’re not afraid of the cold. Her amazing creation is uncanny to the real character, however, you will need to wear nothing but body paint on top. Elsa has created an updated body paint tutorial based off the latest incarnation of Cortana from the Halo 4 series. Elsa has made videos about Photoshop techniques as well as face and body paint tutorials. Let’s see how she does it!
1. First, to prep for this you’ll need to be naked from the waist up. If you’d like, you can use pasties. Elsa uses basic cloth nipple covers and applied a liquid latex in order to maintain a skin-like texture. She also as her hair done in a braid bun.
2. Elsa begins by covering her face and neck in the Global Colours water-activated BodyArt face paint in the baby blue color face paint using a big fluffy brush. Careful! When going over dry paint spots with fresh wet paint, you get splotchy spots!
3. Next, she uses Mehron Star Blend Cake Makeup powder in blue to contour the cheekbones and temples.
4. She uses the same powder to color in eyelids.
5. Use a basic black eyeshadow to darken the corners of your eyes.
6. You can use the same eyeshadow to fill in your eyebrows.
7. Elsa didn’t show it, but before the next step, you’ll need to put on false eyelashes.
8. Then take a blue eyeliner to outline your waterline and lower lash line.
9. For your lips, you can use a blue lipstick. But if you don’t have a blue lipstick lying around like Elsa, you can use a jumbo blue eye pencil and cover that with the blue Star Blend powder face paint.
10. If you don’t have black hair, you can use a black water activated face paint and a sponge or brush to press the paint into your hair and hairline at your scalp.
11. Elsa doesn’t show it, but before you start painting the details, you’ll need to finish painting the rest of your torso with the baby blue paint.
12. Use a ¾” brush to draw the outlines of the main black sections on your body using black body paint. Then fill these spots in.
13. Elsa then uses a small brush with Wolfe white body paint to draw the white details on her body. Try to create a circuit board design between the two main section of black, and small white details on the black section themselves. Use whatever image of Cortana you can find and best base your design off of for the details.
14. As a final detail, you can wear electric blue contact lenses as Elsa does.
And now you look just like the digital Cortana in Halo 4!
To watch Elsa's full video, check it out here!
Here are the different products Elsa used in her tutorial:
Global Colours Water-Based BodyArt Face Paint in baby blue
Mehron StarBlend Cake Makeup dry powder in black