( CNN ) It 's Movember , that time of year when men everywhere grow ridiculous looking mustaches to raise awareness about men 's health . Dallas photographer S. Van Lokey may not be able to grow a bushy mustache , but that has n't stopped her from taking her own `` hairied '' journey . Yes , that 's a woman in those photos . For the second year in a row , the short-haired , part-time office manager has been transforming herself into old-timey mustached men with the help of black face paint , some hair gel , a few props and an iPhone . She shoots hundreds of photos in slightly different poses and picks her favorites to make her Facebook profile picture throughout the month . She recently shared some of them on CNN iReport with the headline `` Just a crazy woman wearing mustaches . '' As she describes it , `` What started out as a wacky Movember mustache photo project turned into a serious exercise in making me unrecognizable even to myself . '' Send us your Movember selfies . While some of these mustached-characters may look familiar , most are n't based on real people though Lokey draws inspiration from her Italian family and old photographs she finds online . She estimates she owns more than 50 mustaches of varying thicknesses , her favorite being the big and bushy style . This year , in particular , she 's going with a '40s-inspired look . She 's modest about her talents , hesitating to call herself an artist despite a degree in painting and drawing and a freelance art and photography business . `` I love doing it and it 's definitely fun , '' she said . `` I try not to fixate too much on just one . It either works or it does n't . '' It all started last year around this time . Lokey had some goofy stick-on mustaches lying around . She decided to take a picture wearing one and post it on Facebook in honor of the Movember campaign . She thought about posting one every day of the month , but quickly got bored . That 's when the characters began to come to life . Lokey used props she found around the house and bought more realistic-looking mustaches from an online theater supply shop . `` I decided to spice it up a little , and then eventually my friends were like , ' I do n't even see you in this photo . ' And that made me think , 'Wow , let me see what I can really do with this . ' `` Soon , Lokey 's friends were finding her pictures unrecognizable and her face completely lost in the midst of makeup and facial hair . Lokey says she has always liked playing characters . You can see her zany sketches on YouTube , including a woman named Penny , who she describes as `` this drunk person who 's really drunk all the time . '' After last year 's Movember series , she compiled her characters in a self-published book for her friends . If she ever makes any real money from the book , she says she 'll donate a portion of the proceeds to the Movember Foundation . To become her mustachioed men , Lokey plays around with accents and poses , extending her jaw or turning her head in a certain way to manipulate the look . Then it 's time for the shot . No fancy camera or tripod here -- Lokey does it , selfie-style , with an iPhone 5S . For the final effects , she makes no alterations in Photoshop but uses photo apps on her phone to add filters , brighten the images and achieve the vintage feel . `` Even though my pictures are not real , in that I 'm trying to be someone else , I try to make sure they 're real without altering them too much digitally , '' she said . `` Keeping the fake real is what I 'm trying to do . '' The entire process can take a couple hours and ends with Lokey looking nothing like herself . `` People ask me , 'Oh , who is this in the photo ? And I 'm always like , that 's me , ' `` she said . `` My stepdad tells me all the time that it 's not me in the photos . '' And that 's exactly what she wants . `` My goal is to lose myself , '' she said . `` If someone ca n't recognize me , I have done my job . ''
The Movember Challenge encourages men to grow mustaches in order to raise awareness for men 's health . Photographer S. Van Johnson was inspired to create her own ` ` hairied '' image . ` ` If someone ' n't recognize me , I have done my job , '' she said .