Chinese New Year Trivia (With Bonus: Makeup Transformations by Nico)

I decided to come up with a CNY-related feature because I want to highlight (again!) the makeup transformation talent of Nicolas Salcedo. He sent me three Chinese character makeup creations and I love them, so I thought of sharing them with you.

First off, however, allow me to share some CNY trivia that I’ve gathered over the years while researching for Geek Wars categories. (Geek Wars is a trivia event that my friends and I organize. I’ll tell you about it some other time.)

2021 Year of the Ox — Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay

So, here we go. I used various online sources for these.

Chinese New Year celebrations last up to 16 days. However, only the first seven days are declared public holidays. This year, the celebration is from February 11 to 17, 2021.
Originally, the Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) was celebrated by praying to the gods or ancestors for a good planting and harvest season.
The Chinese New Year dates are determined using the Chinese lunar calendar, which is why the dates change every year. However, the dates always fall between January 21 and February 20.
The Lantern Festival takes place on the first full moon of the lunar year. Families light lanterns, watch fireworks, and gather for a special dinner. They also decorate with lanterns, and sometimes set them to fly up high or float in the river.
The Lantern Festival is also known as China’s Valentine’s Day. In the ancient times, Chinese girls were not allowed to go out alone, except during the Lantern Festival.
To help address the problems of single men and women above the matrimonial age (32 for men and 30 for women), boyfriend/girlfriend rental websites were created. However, these services are available only during the Chinese New Year.
The New Year’s Eve Gala is televised nationwide on the eve of the Chinese New Year. It is equivalent to the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop of Times Square in New York, USA.
Dumplings are favored during Chinese New Year celebrations because they represent wealth. The more dumplings you eat, the more money you will make in the new year!
More or less 200 Mainland Chinese travel during the Chinese New Year holidays to reunite with their families. This is why the CNY is dubbed the Spring Festival Travel Rush.
Some Chinese New Year superstitions include avoiding sweeping, taking out the garbage, and washing your clothes or hair on the first day of the lunar year. These actions remove good luck and wash away your good fortune. Mirrors and pears should not be given as gifts. Mirrors are said to attract malicious ghosts and considered a bad omen because they easily break. On the other hand, the Chinese word for pear has a similar sound to the word for parting or leaving. Also, avoid cutting your hair or using any sharp object (i.e. knife, scissors; and arguing, swearing, and blurting our unlucky words should likewise be avoided.

Now that we’re done with the CNY trivia, here’s part 2 of today’s special feature: Makeup transformations by Nicolas Salcedo.

I featured Nico here last October as he showed off his Halloween makeup transformations. If you weren’t able to check that out, here’s a link to the article. Then I featured his makeup artistry again in December when I wrote about my favorite Christmas characters. Read the article and see Nico’s creations here.

Here are three makeup transformations that Nico created especially for Chinese New Year. His love for period pieces and characters is one of the things that allows him to explore his creativity. This set features his interpretations of Wu Zetian (or Wu Zhao) – China’s only female monarch (so far), an original look that came before transforming to Wu Zetian, and his version of the yellow ox (as 2021 is the Year of the Ox).