10 Months

Wowwww, it's been a long time since I last wrote to you all.

First of all, Merry (belated!) Christmas! I hope gyaru Santa was kind to you all this year.




I disappeared again.

Thank you for all of the comments asking if I'm okay and where I am, I'm fine, thank you. ♥ 2015 has been a very weird year for me.

After a long time of thinking there was nothing out there better for me I bit the bullet and quit my little office job. As a result I've had no money for most of the year and I distanced myself from gyaru to stop the urge to splurge (hey, I rhymed!!) on absolutely everything. MA*RS still has a place in my heart and everytime I see news about MA*RS I just want to buy everything!! Money was so tight for awhile I even stopped wearing make-up because I couldn't afford new foundation and I'm still very carefully rationing Diamond Lash eyelashes (whilst weeping as I'm on my last set of lower lashes).

Since February I've worn gyaru around 5 times, maybe 4.

It sucked to read and follow the scene for awhile because I still wanted to be part of the culture and buy everything so I just... stopped. Went cold turkey. Bing, bang, boom.

Instead I replaced it with perhaps one of my biggest mistakes so far. The time I spent reading blogs, researching gyaru, looking at the new trends all went into...

MMO Gaming.

Aka the biggest time sink you can imagine. I also tried streaming on Twitch for awhile (which was fun and if you tuned in you would've seen me running around with no make-up on due to literally being so freaking broke).

I'm not sure if I'll ever come back into blogging as frequently as I did again but I'd like to a lot. ♥

Please tear me away from MMO Addiction, LOL!

However, I recently got an amazing job. It's hard work and does restrict some of my appearance (nude nails, natural hair colours only, etc.) so soon I'll be able to tentatively take steps into going back into gyaru.

Or at least replacing my false lashes. Those are getting nasty, yo.

Love,

Gyaru Progression 2014

In 2014 I began to take gyaru a bit more seriously and thought I'd do that kind of meme where you post what your make-up looks were over the course of a year just to see how I'd improved!


This starts at March 2014.

March 2014

I'd bought my few gyaru brand and my first pair of DreamV shoes and I was in love with them. Although I didn't have the make-up down I still did a bit of light contour on my face and wore Dolly Wink lashes which was my staple throughout the years.

I've always had a love/hate affair with white eyeliner (ick) on the lower lashline and in this phase I was all about it. Yikes.

I was still too nervous to wear circle lenses with my 'gyaru' look because it felt like a big step although I had started being able to wear lenses by this point (also the day I took this selfie I'd been wearing circle lenses as part of a cosplay so I was a bit wary of keeping them in for too long). Also: half wigs. I'd discovered how magical they were a few months prior and loved them as they made hairstyling super quick and easy.

April 2014

I was in London during this time of year. I'd actually started applying the circle lenses to go out in and loved it. I was able to keep them in for a little longer than recommended too and I felt fabulous. Those cat ears... I loved them soooo much and wanted them to be on trend forever so I stubbornly kept wearing them to try and bring them back.

I had no lower lashes at this time because I was still stuck in the era of, "I LOOK STUPID WITH THESE BOO HOO." I also was wearing that GOLDS Infinity dress as it was my most 'gyaruable' item that wasn't himekaji. Shortly after this I went back into the himekaji route only to fall out of it shortly after.

June 2014

May was a terrible return to himekaji and I refuse to talk about it as I feel so dumb looking back at it.

This month was... questionable.

The photo I'm using was from a girls night out where I was too nervous to bring full gyaru out with me but attempted to attempt an eyeshape with black kohl liner which I hadn't worn in years. Coordinate-wise I think there was something a bit 'party-gal' about it but I'm not too impressed with myself.

July 2014

This month was where I started trying to make a serious attempt. I was still relying on wigs for my hair as my hair styling skills are nonexistent. I'd purchased a few of my first ever MA*RS items and applied to an English gyarusa, JEWEL (although I freaked out when they messaged me back and ran away like a coward because I was so nervous and awkward). I put together my first ever agejo coordinate and I'm still in love with it and the items I bought. I think I'll always treasure those first few MA*RS items.

I tried not doing the heavy gyaru make-up I'd began learning but I think that suits me more which is a lesson I'd learnt. By this point I'd stepped away from Dolly Wink and was using JEWERICH lashes which I'd purchased for my Junko cosplay. I also had lower lashes from Diamond Lash at this point so... ~improvement~.

August/September 2014

As much as I loved agejo I went into experimenting with hime for a ball outfit. I learnt a lot during this phase.

I began doing my nails again and I learnt how to use my half wig to make my hair huge and with lots of POOF. I was wearing six types of wigs on my head including two fringes and two rope wigs, it was crazy. I had also gone back to using the eyeshape I really loved and purchased my first Jesus Diamante item.

I had a lot of fun researching hime that month.

October 2014

I put two pictures down as I did a lot that month. Both codes are MA*RS because I was in love; the first code was the same one from July but improved. I had better jewellery and a better understanding of how to use my half-wig to make my hair have more volume. I also became a lot more comfortable with how I posed in photos and what to do!

I also began to experiment how to mix other fashion brands into codes - I wore Harajuku brand KOKOkim with MA*RS and it worked a lot better than I had anticiapted. Codes aren't always my strongest point but I was very proud of that evening. I'd also tried mixing some Shibuhara looks together but I'm not personally sure I liked them.

November 2014

I'd done big gyaru hair but I wanted to try going more relaxed for everyday things, as well as using clothes that didn't look gyaru and making everything look gyaru (that turtleneck is MA*RS I'll have you know!!). Natural hair colours have been making their way back into fashion so I attempted something I'd seen by mode brands but with... well, my natural hair. Still undecided on this. It was a experiment but I think it looks a bit creepy.

Still... I learnt something which is what the point of this is all about. Mixing and matching.

December 2014

OKAY, I lie. This is January 2015 but I wanted to use this photo.

I once again began experimenting with make-up. I'd never used lipliner before, I started using lipliner. I also began on experimenting with how to make my lips look bigger as I'm unfortunate enough to have small, thin lips. I experimented with warmer winter codes and overall I feel satisfied. I also used another pair of false lower lashes I'd never tried and felt super satisfied with the result.

Just need to lose weight as I put a lot on!



To be honest I never felt much of an improvement throughout the year until I've seen everything put together. My peak this year was August - October, definitely. Now, for another year to see how I improve.

Stay sweet! ♥

Holiday Season

I thought I'd do a personal post as it's been... well, "awhile". I got focused on writing and researching too much and I thought this would be a nice break. I had such a good Christmas this year despite it being a bit of a rough time of year due to personal reasons I'd mentioned earlier in the year.

★ W O R K ★ P A R T Y ★
As you all know I work as an office manager and I kinda have to go to my office Christmas party. My boyfriend couldn't make it with me so I losered out and brought my mum as everything was paid for by my boss. I'd been totally set to dress 'normally' and not appear weird or eccentric but I got carried away with hair and make-up and next thing I knew I was rocking a pseudo-gyaru look:


My dress is a cheap ass dress I'd picked up in a market back when I was 17 and felt like wearing because it was sparkly and festive.

Although... it did get kinda awkward.

I'd completely forgotten by boss had lived in Japan for a few months a few years back and he kept making comments about how I reminded him of something. He was all, "You remind me of g... g... gy... gya.... GEISHA!" I just froze up and laughed it off but I was all, "OH NO," on the inside because I had a very good idea what he meant.

Woopsie. Silly me, etc. etc.

★ C H R I S T M A S ★ D A Y ★
Christmas was amazing.

I'm so grateful for my family in so many ways. I'd been speaking with my mum and knew not to expect much because I'm not from a very well off family. I'd been asked what I wanted and I'd said the Electric Urban Decay palette (which my sister got me) and mentioned about how I was going to save up for a PS Vita.

So when I woke up on Christmas morning to a small pile of presents I was super shocked!


A lot of it was clothing, pyjamas, other nice things and I got to a box and I was totally clueless to what was inside of it. I assumed it was something what my sister had so I was looking through what she'd opened to see if I could guess, I was soooo certain. So when I opened it and it was a PS Vita with one of the games I was looking for (FFX) I was super stunned and ended up crying and hugging my mum because I hadn't expected it.

I'm actually getting overemotional writing this, woops!

I just hadn't expected it and it was something I was looking at treating myself with for a few months; sure I love clothes and make-up but at heart I've always been about video games and neat technology and Christmas is never complete without me playing on a new video game hee hee. ♥

I then spent the rest of the Christmas playing FFXIV because I'm a dorkazoid (I'm Ciahnna Amariyo on Zodiark server if you wanna play ♥).

★ N E W ★ Y E A R ★

For the New Year I went to visit my boyfriend at his parents place in London. I was super muted and toned down in hair and make-up because I wanted to make a good impression so there's not many pictures of me in gyaru, sorry!

We went to the Haagen-Dasz cafe which is one of my favourite places ever. I don't care if I've walked around in the cold and been shivering for the last hour, gimme ice-cream.


It was super yummy. And expensive. But yummy.

We never ended up doing much for New Years Eve but we did order pizza and watch Zoolander and American Hustle. I've never seen Zoolander before but I love it now. BLUE STEEEEEEEEEEEEEL.

We also went to Winter Wonderland in London which was amazing! It was like a giant wintery fairground with rollercoasters, carousels, chestnuts and Santa of course. ♥

I made my boyfriend take a selfie with me so he decided to be cute.


I also did a kind of gyaru look but my coord wasn't on point because I wanted to wrap up warm since I was going to be out in the cold all day. Freezing and having a runny nose and sneezing everywhere so isn't a hot look.


Coat: Lipsy (new!!)
Jumper: Christmas gift (new!!)
Skirt: MA*RS
Necklace: MA*RS
Tights: Offbrand



Winter Wonderland was so much fun! Unfortunately I ended up falling really, really ill over the course of the day and ended up so sick I was doubled over in agony and unable to do anything. It sucks but that's life. I wanted to go on the big rides and I couldn't, I wanted to ride the rollercoasters to see if my eyelashes would come off (legit!!).

ALSO

I broke one of my New Years Resolutions already. By January 5th I already had 5 new clothing items (Lipsy coat, Lipsy cardigan, MA*RS stockings/garters, MA*RS Dress, MA*RS Jumper). So much for a new year, new me. Are you guys holding up any better than me?

Stay sweet! ♥

New Years Resolutions

It doesn't feel like it's time for 2015 to be honest. I'm still living in the middle of 2014 somewhere wishing the days away and mindlessly daydreaming about something or other (and probably looking for more ways to fund my MA*RS addiction much to the chagrin of my poor boyfriend). I've been thinking about what goals I'd like to set for the new year even though I'm not the type of person who's able to keep their resolutions too well and I thought I'd document them here incase it'll inspire some of you girls, even if it's just a little!

The new year is a great time to take a moment of self reflection and think about things you'd like to change or improve. There's also the added challenge of having a full year to keep working on them even though it can be seriously difficult.


1. Dress gyaru more!

I haven't dressed up enough this year to be honest. I'm a very shy and reclusive person by nature so I make excuses to stay home in my pyjamas and laptop whenever I'm given the opportunity. Social butterfly I am not. I'm not the only one, right? I absolutely adore the chance to get all dressed up and feel like a prissy princess in my MA*RS and GOLDs Infinity but getting the drive to go out and do it is just a huge chore for me. Therefore I'm going to make my very first resolution of 2015 to dress gyaru a little more!

2. Spend less money on clothing!

I have a confession: I'm a serial shopping addict. I have spend thousands on my wardrobe. I have so many items of clothing and jewellery and shoes which I've worn for a grand total of once and then gotten bored with it and look for the next new, shiny thing to keep me entertained. It's great to have a choice but it's extremely harsh on my poor bank balance. Wearing my MA*RS clothes more than once really isn't going to kill me and I'm not going to be judged for it so... let's slow down on the spending. ♥

3. Meet more people!

As previously mentioned I'm a ridiculously shy and reclusive person. Whenever I see someone I admire or who look absolutely great I tend to squeak and skitter past and freak the hell out about talking to them even though I know they're really friendly. I want to meet more gyaru who live local or in my country so this year I'm definitely going ot be more confident. Confidence is sexy, gyaru are sexy, it fits okay?! (I'm a dork)

4. Keep up a blogging routine!

Sometimes running a blog is hard. Struggling for new content ideas is the very bane of my existance and I always feel pretty awful if I can't update my blog because it's not fair on you guys. If I keep a regular routine up it should make finding new ideas a lot easier on myself and keep you guys happy.

5. Talk to my blogders more!

This sort of links to the previous resolution but I'd honestly love to take the time to talk to you guys more and get to know you all. I want to know what you like and how your days have been and I want to hang out with you all if I could. I always get slightly startled whenever one of you guys comment or drop me an e-mail and I super appreciate it. It makes me happy, honestly. If you guys leave your blog links in the comments I always do check them out as I'm gagging for new blogs to follow.

6. Experiment with make-up!

I've stuck to the 'use neutrals' for years now but I recently purchased a palette with a lot of *gasp* bright colours and after experimenting with it, I loved it. I want to try and corporate a little more colour into my make-up for special coordinates and just to have fun with my make-up again instead of stressing if my eyeliner looks decent.


What are your guys resolutions? Let me know so I can take some inspiration for them. A new year, a new me as they say!

Stay sweet! ♥

Gyaru Journey

This is something I've been wanting to do personally for myself and I thought that perhaps some of you girls would be interested in seeing the evolution of my 'gyaru' style. I've been absolutely everywhere the last few years with my fashion choices. I was inspired by gyaru, I decided I wanted to be creepy cute, I decided to be a normal girl, I decided to wear cute Japanese clothes and suddenly I found myself actually embracing gyaru style as a whole after being scared to take the plunge. My favourite bloggers have changed throughout the years too as well as my fashion inspirations which I thinks shows a lot.


★ 2 0 1 1 ★
From the beginning I always claimed I was 'gyaru inspired'. I used gyaru fashion as an inspiration for myself to dress better. To be honest I lived in t-shirts and jeans and whilst those are all cool and all, I wanted to look after myself a little better. I stumbled upon what came to be my bias, Liz Lisa, and aspired to dress like that using primarily UK fashion.

Did it work? No, not really.

I didn't think I needed lower lashes as my own lower lashes were long enough with mascara on and circle lenses were something I was in complete denial about. I didn't need those! My vision was also pretty bad and I wasn't confident with getting them incase I order the wrong prescription and my optician would've murdered me if they'd known I wanted to shove those infamous 'Lady Gaga' lenses into my eyes.

I stumbled across gyaru in 2010 to be honest and perhaps my grasp of it was a little better than what it was as 2011 progressed. I started off with curled extensions and false lashes at least! My natural hair was cut into a cutesy bob which was cute for every day wear but no good for gyaru in the slightest. I barely bothered to style my hair! I had no idea how to put a coord together or anything. As a teenager I was never a fashion conscious girl as I was very studies focused and in my early years it showed.

As opposed to what I wanted to be I was a silly girl who was just 'inspired' by it. I knew if I claimed to by gyaru it would be pointed out that I was absolutely, 100% not this thing I claimed to be.


★ 2 0 1 2 ★
From here I actually made a bit more of an effort. I was gifted my first set of Dolly Wink lashes, both upper and lower, and I felt thrilled and actually felt a little bit more legitimate. I also stopped biting my nails and letting them grow out which was great. I still loosely followed gyaru trends; during winter 2012 I went crazy trying to get hold of anything that was pastel because that was the new thing. Seriously.

I actually tried doing proper gyaru make-up as I had the lower lashes to do so but I still sucked. Looking back, those eyelashes were no good for the make-up I wanted but they were Dolly Wink so it was okay, right? No. Not at all. I did discover hairpieces other than extensions which helped me spruce things up a little and I was less reluctant to wear wigs. Clothes wise I was still off the mark but I did manage to purchase some key wardrobe staples so everything wasn't a complete loss!


★ 2 0 1 3 ★
I barely posted at all during 2013 on my blog due to some personal issues. This is the year things actually started changing and I began making small improvements.

I purchased my first ever pair of circle lenses (for my Christa Renz from SNK cosplay) and found that they weren't as scary as I thought they were. This made me more relaxed and much more receptive to purchasing future lenses. I also purchased clothes from DreamV which was a big shove in my style and made me feel a lot more confident. I also discovered the miracle of half wigs and realised that they weren't as scary as I thought they were. In fact, they were stupidly easy to apply!

I was also approached in public and asked if I was gyaru for the first time which was... well, not something I expected. I still denied that I was and just said the same old line; that I was inspired by the fashion.

I shed what was holding me back and continued experimenting with my make-up although I was never satisfied; it still wasn't what I wanted.


★ 2 0 1 4 ★
2014 has been the year of experimenting and pushing myself further and further. I purchased eyelashes other than Dolly Wink which improved my upper eye make-up, I think! I pushed myself to wear agejo style clothes and purchased my first gyaru brand item from GOLDS Infinity and my first pair of gyaru style shoes. Even then I still denied I was gyaru but instead was 'gyaru inspired' because the gyaru community scared me and I still felt inadequate compared to some of the other gyaru I had seen, especially the other UK gyaru.

The biggest changing point for me was May Expo. I was determined to do Junko Enoshima justice and looked up how to do rokku style gyaru make-up and applied it for the first time. For the first time in my life I felt like I looked gyaru which was kinda silly because I was in cosplay! I couldn't believe it.

Even then I noted the changing state of gyaru and tried to follow the make-up trends but no matter what I still didn't feel like I looked gyaru without the rokku style make-up. I purchased MA*RS clothes and cute pumps and even more circle lenses and felt confident in myself for the first time in forever. Even when I had some potentially serious health issues that was marking my body I still felt confidence when I was dressed in my precious MA*RS. I purchased more wigs and hair pieces and began experimenting with my look and image.


I also met some of the UK Gyaru at MCM Expo and following them has helped me a lot, I think. Watching them inspired me to spruce up my own image and I gathered the courage to even apply for a gyaru unit (although I got too scared after to even reply to any of their messages) but even doing that has just helped.

To be honest, 2014 has been one of the worst years of my life so it's almost funny that this is the year I've had the most improvement. The year isn't even over yet! I'm still finding my feet because I don't know if I'm agejo or if I like rokku or hime better or if onee would be better for me but... I'll get there somehow.


Stay sweet! ♥

"Ideal Height to Weight Ratios"

I've approached this subject before and due to recent events in my own life I thought it would be interesting to go back to.

If you've ever flicked through the pages of any gal magazine whilst they were on the market, you're bound to have seen the adverts where an already tiny girl has gotten even tinier. Whilst Photoshop would have played a part in making these girls look waif as possible there's no smoke without fire; it would be insanely difficult to photoshop rib cages sticking out, right?

The below were from a particularly infamous ad in Ageha due to the Photoshop used making them seem ridiculous.


38, 37, 39kg... these girls are all such a scarily low weight, with or without Photoshop aiding them. I recently came across a blog post by Sincerely, Dolly talking about Shizuka Takeda's "Ideal Height to Weight Ratio". For those unfamiliar, Shizuka Takeda was one of the Happie Nuts models before the publisher went into bankruptcy. Therefore her "Ideal Height to Weight Ratio" is an interest insight into the world of gyaru modelling and what is expected of the girls who model for magazines, brands, etc.

Granted her opinion is based of those of Japanese girls. As a Westerner I am used to girls being slightly 'heavier' so whilst it might be shocking to Westerners that these numbers are being idealised, for these girls they are able to carry such little weight with little health risks. The numbers that Shizuka recommends are as follows:

♥ 155 cm → 38 kg
♥ 156 cm → 38.5 kg
♥ 157 cm → 39 kg
♥ 158 cm → 39 kg
♥ 159 cm → 39 kg
♥ 160 cm → 40 kg
♥ 161 cm → 41 kg
♥ 162 cm → 42 kg
♥ 163 cm → 42.5 kg
♥ 164 cm → 43 kg
♥ 165 cm → 43.5 kg

I personally stand at 162cm and at 42kg (and have actually dropped below this weight). My BMI is 16. In order to have a healthy weight my healthcare provider recommends I put on an additional 15kg. If a hospital is recommending that I should put on that much weight then surely this can't be healthy even for Asian girls with smaller frames and possible smaller bone density than myself. I wear a UK size 4, or a US Size 0

To put it into perspective, here's a lazy day picture of myself trying on a MA*RS skirt (I was wondering if it was too short to be honest and was asking a friend for an opinion but I digress):


Not healthy. I'm pretty much flat everywhere, if you get what I'm trying to say.

Alternatively, the Korean "Ideal Height to Weight Ratios" are as follows:

♥ 150 cm → 40 kg
♥ 152 cm → 41.6 kg
♥ 154 cm → 43.2 kg
♥ 156 cm → 44.8 kg
♥ 158 cm → 46.4 kg
♥ 160 cm → 48 kg
♥ 162 cm → 49.6 kg
♥ 164 cm → 51.2 kg
♥ 166 cm → 52.8 kg
♥ 168 cm → 54.4 kg
♥ 170 cm → 46 kg

These are somewhat better and would put a girl of my size into a BMI of 18.8 which is considered healthy. These numbers are a lot easier to read and not as shocking as the ratios that Shizuka suggests following. Of course, the modelling world is vicious with new girls lining up to replace the established faces we all know and love so the pressure to remain thin is high but I can't help but worry about the advice that is being given off, especially if you're a Westerner such as myself who are reading these numbers and thinking how?

What do you guys think of the "Ideal Height to Weight Ratios"? Would you guys aspire to fit this?

If you or someone you know is suffering from a eating disorder, please seek medical advice. These images are not healthy. If you do wish to achieve such numbers do this by eating healthily and excercising.

Weekend

For the first time in what feels like forever I had an excuse to dress up and make myself look pretty. It was my cousin's birthday party and she threw a big night out for us girls. It was nice to let my hair down on Newcastle's Quayside and just let all of my worries go for a short while. I only stayed out until 10:30pm though because I ended up too drunk; to be fair I'd been drinking since 4pm!

I'm not a tank!

It was really busy because there had been horse races throughout the day so there were a lot of people to have a good time with. I got to dance and ended up laughing until my cheeks hurt. ♥

Enough of my rambling: here's my look!



I kinda wanted to go a rokku eye look but it doesn't feel like it transfers well without circle lenses. I've been avoiding wearing them recently until my optician says it's okay for me to wear them again after I was in a lot of pain at MCM Expo so forgive me TwT

The dress is one I stole from my cousin because none of my clothes fit me at the moment; everything's too big!

At one point we stopped near the Millenium Bridge for photos. I'm the palest person there!



My cousin brought her mum along as well as my mum and friends so they wouldn't feel lonely.

Which reminds me...

Look at this drink!


The table was wet from people spilling their drinks. Mine included. I feel so bad.

But this tasted exactly like candyfloss! I think I'd die if I could drink these all day without any consequences. It was a little sickly sweet but so yummy!

How do you guys like to let your hair down? Let me know!

Stay sweet! ♥