Chatting with 12 real-life mermaids at Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade

Name: Sivan
Age: 30
City: Hoboken, NJ

“My costume is very bright, so with that and the pink hair, I thought that my make-up should be minimal. I used a purple lipstick that came in my Birchbox and some reusable fake eyelashes.”

Name: Samantha
Age: 4
City: New York, NY

“I love mermaids. My favourite is Ariel.”

Name: Stephanie
Age: 23
City: Rowley, NC

“I used CoverGirl Outlast Lip Stain in Plum Pout. My sparkly magenta eye shadow is by M.A.C to compliment the gold in my mermaid costume.”

Name: Erin, Cassie
Age: 22
City: Carmel, NY

“Our inspiration was that we just emerged from the water. We glued craft jewels and beads to our face to look like droplets. On our lips, we used a Bare Minerals shimmer gloss for a similar effect.”

Name: Vallyn
Age: 25
City: Rowley, NC

“I thought to myself: This is an opportunity to not wear a shirt. It’s the Xtina 2002 MTV Video Awards mermaid look.”

Name: Anne
Age: 32
City: The Bronx, NY

“I love pinning make-up on Pinterest and I had seen a lot of the ombré lip. I used a combination of [dark blue] eyeliner and [a bright blue] eye shadow. I filled my lips in with the eye pencil and dabbed the shadow on top.”

Names: Marika, Ashley, Anna
Ages: 28
City: San Francisco, CA

“It’s our first Mermaid Parade, but not our first time dressing up as mermaids. We have a band—a mermaid band—called Seashorses Forever.”

Name: Annalise
Age: 25
City: Seattle, WA

“This is a shrimp head that was made for a previous event. The rest was made for today—and the fanny pack is for practical use.”

Name: Trinity
Age: 41
City: Hoboken, NJ

“I ordered some gold bronzing powder for the parade. I laid a fishnet stocking on my skin and applied the bronzer over top, to create a scaly look.”