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! ♥

Make-up Shields

One of the things I've always loved about gyaru is how different it can make you look. Sure, it's fake with the heavy make-up and false hair and all of the other additions but it's different. It almost feels like I'm dressing up in some sort of elaborate costume or as my 'true' self that only the addition of a ton of blusher and false eyelashes can bring out. I know that I'm not the only one.

But I also recently realised that I use gyaru as a shield to protect my true self.

It all stems back to a lack of self-confidence and some self-loathing that sits deep rooted within my very core but am I really the only person who hides behind a layer of foundation? Not really. And it's okay to feel like that (to be honest I'd die if any of my real life friends saw me without make-up and I make a ton of apologies whenever I show up without a scrap of it on!). I think that there's a fraction of us girls who do follow the gyaru style to enable us to hide our ourselves from those around her; it's hard to believe I'm the only one who wears it as warpaint!

Looking around some old books I picked up over the years I found Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno which does cover some of the legacy of Buriteri, one of the most famous gyaru of all time, and this particularly struck a chord with me:

'Buriteri never showed her face without make-up. ...... Buriteri would shout back, "I am too shy to show you my real face!" She said doing herself up like that was a tool to hide her true personality. She was actually really shy and inhibited.'

If Buriteri, one of the most famous gyaru pioneers who helped evolve gyaru into what it would eventually become today, was using the gyaru persona and make-up to hide her true self then how many other people are doing it? How many other gyaru are taking off their make-up at the end of a day and falling into bed and burying underneath the duvets? How many other people are using their make-up as a shield?


Sure, the gyaru make-up in recent times cannot even begin to be compared to the highs of ganguro and gonguro and manba but there's still a lot to it. Even though it's toned down and become less about the bleach blonde hair and the fake tans there's still girls hiding behind their make-up.

And why? Why is that?

Is it the pressures of society? Is it the that we feel as though our own beings have no self-worth but only physical worth? Do we not feel as though our make-upless selves are adequate enough?

I wonder how many girls feel the same under their false eyelashes and cheers of, "Agepoyo~! ✩" I know I'm not on my own when I say my false eyelashes are my sword and my circle lenses are my shield.

Stay sweet! ♥

Upsides to Being Alone

You've seen them everywhere; gyaru on the front of magazines, gyaru on various blogs on the big old Internet, gyaru in the streets-- or maybe not. Living in the North East of England, I find that finding other people who share similar fashion interests to be non-existent. Nil. Nope. Nada. Not gonna happen. I've heard of the lolita meets with their frilly petticoats, I've heard of V-kei meets with their overly impressive hair but I've never heard of a gyaru meet-up this far up North.

It feels like all of the gyaru in the UK live further South. (In fact, when I met one of them I sort of drunkenly screeched, "I LOVE YOUR OUTFIT!" oops)

As a North Eastern, Newcastle born and bred gyaru, I often find myself running around on my own with my somewhat eccentric clothes and make-up which often leads to negative comments, even from a city that prides itself on big hair and make-up. I'm sure there are other girls out there who have to settle for being alone whilst being gyaru.

There's plenty of things to do whilst being by yourself.

1. Being confident.

I cannot stress this enough. If you're going to act shy then perhaps it's not a good idea to wear a fashion and make-up style that is absolutely going to garner attention because it'll make you vulnerable and an easy target for people who want to make rude comments. Gyaru fashion is different from the norm and whenever something is different people will look. Being by yourself makes you an even bigger target to people. Confidence is key.

2. Experiment with new things.

You know those times when you want to try something new and it just goes completely wrong? Without having other gyaru peers who can pick up on your make-up, fashion, hair, etc. mistakes, being by yourself means that you can laugh it off to people who ask. That extra line on your eyeliner? Totally intentional. Just because you know it isn't doesn't mean others need to.

3. Shopping becomes easier.

As a girl, there's nothing better than shopping. I could spend hours in a store just looking at what's there. One of the fortunate things about being a lone gyaru is that I can spend as long as I want in a store without feeling like I'm holding the other girls up, or I can leave when I'm ready without waiting for anyone. It's nice to go browsing by yourself once in awhile.

4. There's less pressure.

Maybe I've got this all wrong but there's less pressure on being a 'perfect' gyaru when you're by yourself. Sure, there's standards to upkeep but there's no urge to be constantly dressed up to the 9s. If I want to dress gyaru and maybe wear a pair of flat shoes, it's comforting knowing there's not going to be anyone turning their nose up at my shoes when I could've worn a cuter pair of heels.

5. Be who you want.

I think this one goes without saying. I've heard of some girls sucking up to others to score brownie points with them which I think is just wrong. If you're by yourself there's no one to suck up to and you can be yourself, or the person you want to be. There's no need to tell someone who's outfit completely sucks that they look great, there's no pressure on feeling like you're underdressed compared to your friends, and there's no one to compare yourself to and nitpick over. It might suck being alone but there will always be the opportunity to be the person who you want to be; in some friendship groups there's so much fakeness to make even the fakest of people sick. You're free to be who you want; you can nerd out over what you want without worrying what the other gyaru will think, for example.

There's a plethora of other reasons, of course, but these are what I can think of. If you have any further tips, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

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.

Too Old?!

As a young lady in her 20s I always wonder, "Am I too old to wear this?" I sometimes look at my comfy old Twinkle Bat jumper from the very brief phase where I decided I too could be Kyarypamyupamyu and think, "At 22 maybe I shouldn't wear this anymore..."

It feels like I should we wearing my trendy bodycon dresses and safe shirts I often see girls of my age wearing. Bodycon dresses are everywhere as they're in fashion and when I see girls wearing them I always assume that they're older than me. Maybe I shouldn't wear my sweet styled clothes with their girly trims and lace and maybe I should settle down in jeans.

But, you know what?

H E L L N O

I'll wear my Twinkle Bat jumper if I want to and I'll look great.

Your age shouldn't stop you from wearing what you're comfortable in and what you like. In a world where the media attempts to dictate what we should wear because it's fashionable and where society has certain expectations of us, it's important to be able to express yourself. Clothes are a form of self expression. If we can't express ourselves and let the world know who we are then what kind of place are we living in?

I recently realised that I was allowing society to dictate what I wore and my age dictate what clothes I wore. That's not good at all!


Take a look at Mao-chan. She looks fabulous and wears what she wants without caring about what others perceive her. She's over 50 years of age. If a lady in her 50s can wear what she wants and look absolutely fantastic whilst doing so, why can't you?

The models in gyaru magazines are older and still look fabulous. Sakurina and Momoeri are in their 30s and the sweetheart Tsubasa Masuwaka is coming up to the big 3-0. Yet they're still wearing what they want and they rock it.

You're only as old as you feel. Of course I don't recommend going outside wearing a diaper and pacifier at any age above being a toddler but there's nothing on this earth that's stopping you from wearing what you want. If you're enjoying yourself and feel comfortable then there's no reason to stop.

After all, you only get to live once. Best do it whilst looking fantastic, right?

Cotton Candy Filter

I've had some people query which filter I use on my photos and I thought I'd show you guys how to od it. Although there's probably an easier way to do it on photoshop, I'm totally in love with how I can do this on my phone and on the go.

It makes your photos look sweet and gives a cuter look to your photo. You could almost say it's like Cotton Candy.

1. First you need a phone. I have an iPhone so it was super easy for me to go onto the app store and download the appropriate app; Camera360 Ultimate. The app itself is by a Chiense developer and is totally free. They update it constantly which makes it an app you absolutely 100% must have on your phone!

An interesting note is that the developers have an app called Pink360 which is a photography app configured to the filters and styles that girls usually use on pictures. However I prefer Camera360.


2. The next step is to import your picture into the app. The app does allow you to snap directly from it but I prefer importing my picture. When you load the app it'll give you an option to do so.

When it's loaded it'll show a interface like below.


3. From here, go into Edit and then Face Fix. It will bring up 3 options and click Quick Fix. It will bring up a few filters; click the Sweet filter which gives it a really nice colour and helps to correct any skin flaws and click Apply.


4. Once that filter is applied once again go into the Face Fix feature and instead of clicking the same option as before click the Effects. It will do another face scan and show dots on your face that you align. You can manually place and adjust these if needed.


5. Once again it's time to apply another filter. Click the 'Sweet' filter again and it will give an option this time to change the intensity of the filter. What you choose depends on the photo.

The below photo has a 3 strength.


You can finish here or you can keep going if you like brighter images as opposed to softer images.

6. Once the second Sweet filter is applied, go back to the menu and select Adjust. This will bring up a menu with several different options. Click the Saturation option.


7. The intensity of the saturation depends on the photo. For the below image I decided to make the colours 'pop'.


8. We're done! Time to save! Apply the Saturation option and then click the 'Save' button at the top left of the app. This will bring you to another menu along the bottom of the app. Click 'Export' and it will ask what file size you'd like to save as. I recommend saving as High Definition.


The photo will be saved.

It's such a sweet filter that helps to enhance what you have that I couldn't resist sharing with you all.

Stay sweet. ♥

Becoming Friends with your Self Confidence

If there's one thing I've realised about myself recently, it's that my self confidence and I are beginning to become friends again. We've been squabbling at each other for the longest time. If I took a photo I'd think, "Ugh," and Photoshop myself silly and still be unsatisfied with the girl I've been portraying myself as or delete it. I can't count on two hands the amount of times I've sat in front of a mirror nitpicking at myself or nitpicking at my photos and thinking, "Why can't I be beautiful?"

I know what you're thinking.

Become more positive!

No, you're cute!

If you think like that then you won't have any friends!

But the reality is it can be hard to accept yourself. If one person puts you down it's like poison straight to how you perceive yourself and you begin to notice flaws about yourself that probably don't exist. I wonder why we're all mean about each other, huh? There's always comments like, "your make-up isn't good enough," or, "you're too fat to do this," and at the end of the day that's really harsh. There's only so much that beauty products can help and it's no wonder that nowadays you hear about poor girls suffering from all sorts of disorders.

Even back in 2011 I was wondering if I was too fat after seeing these girls back in Ageha at the time. Those kinds of girls are unfortunately still pushed as what is beautiful.

Anyway, back to the point.

For the first time in 21 years I have been able to look at myself and call myself beautiful. It's kinda funny actually. It took wigs, circle lens, false eyelashes, more make-up than I'd ever like to admit I was wearing and a filter for me to realise I was not as bad as my mind was mentally telling me I was.

I did a cosplay make-up test for Luka Megurine from Vocaloid yesterday and after I applied the filter I was so caught off guard at how nice I looked I actually started to cry!


I just looked really pretty and I was super happy. But then even the poisonous thoughts have come back to me saying, "you're not that pretty without that filter or angles," and, "you look cross eyed because of your contacts." Even so I'm pushing those thoughts away. I think if you think positive, beautiful thoughts you will become a positive, beautiful person.

Am I right? I hope so!

So lets not have any more faces like the one below:


Let's make 2014 the year of positivity and learning to become friends with your self confidence!