RANDOM | How I became The Dark Lord

Yup, I became Lord Voldemort. That was last year. For Halloween, of course. And it's not for any party whatsoever but for the office. For the life of me I've been donning Halloween costumes at work since 2008 when I dressed up as The Joker. Though my succeeding forays were rather simple in comparison, I've upped the ante again last year when our department joined our HR's Halloween decorating contest. We won, by the way.

Looking back, it was quite the effort. I'm just fortunate to have Kwittiegirl with me who painstakingly did my makeup. My main problem was finding a bald cap. I was even so close to splurging on a swimming cap until I found one at a costume shop. Other problems included where in Metro Manila I could get some liquid latex and Spirit Gum, white face paint (which was out of stock in every store I went to), and finding a tailor at the last minute. And oh, I had to shave.

The night before the big day I tried the bald cap on. It was a bit small for my head but I had absolutely no choice. I also made an attempt at creating a mold for my nose with some clay. The intent was to pour some liquid latex in it as part of creating Voldemort's infamous nose or lack thereof.

Then came the big day and I put the cap on. We used Spirit Gum to help put it in place. Liquid latex was then applied around the edges to create a seamless effect. I felt naked, especially without any facial hair.

Like I said the cap was small for my head. We cut off small parts around the ears for use in covering my eyebrows. Meanwhile, we resorted to masking tape to cover the rest of my hair.

Kwittiegirl and I were both scared about my eyebrows ripping off. It was our first time trying Spirit Gum, so we were both unsure. As a remedy -- and since the cutouts from the bald cap weren't too big, we augmented with masking tape again. I looked funny.

Afraid we would run out of liquid latex, we ditched the mold and instead stuck layer upon layer of masking tape over my nose. Kwittiegirl then applied liquid latex around the tapes's edges to smoothen things out. The clock was ticking.

More liquid latex. She also started applying face paint.

The first face paint we used was quite difficult to apply, so we went with the other brand we got even if it wasn't white. At this point it no longer mattered.

Some eye makeup and pencil for accents. I know the nose ain't perfect but we didn't have any more time to perfect it. Otherwise we would have been done by 5pm when trick-or-treating was all over.

Imperfections aside, I was good to go. All in all I think I spent a good 2 hours on the makeup -- er, office -- chair.

Well, I did manage to scare people off, especially those Muggle kids. Costume and makeup may help you look the part but for me being in character completes the circle.

Me with "The Boy Who Lived."

I can touch you now!

And then it was time to peel everything off, which deserves a photo series of its own. It was also a lot of work.

First to go off was the nose. Still scared my eyebrows would rip off, Kwittiegirl was careful with removing the eyebrow covers, using a wet sponge in the process.

She was Maleficent for Halloween earlier that day, by the way.

Is this how having a facial mask feels like?

Boy, do I look like Uncle Fester from The Addams Family! My look on the right, however, is very Joker-ish.

Voldemort hanging out at the Slytherin common room.

Anyway, it's going to be another bald character for me this Friday and after a year, I have to shave -- again. Hoping it turns out fine.

So what are you going to be for Halloween this year?