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! ♥

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! ♥

Cosplaying Junko Enoshima

Ever since the increasingly popular Dangan Ronpa made it's way into international attention it's become somewhat cool to cosplay the infamous Junko Enoshima, a super gyaru model, especially amongst those who consider themselves gyaru. I've cosplayed her, someone you know has probably cosplayed her and your pet cat has also probably cosplayed her. At every convention it's not unusual to see at least a handful of this super endearing character.

But the thing that grinds my gears about people who cosplay her the most is that people who mess up on her make-up. For someone who doesn't know that she's supposed to be gyaru that's okay but for those people who do and don't make an attempt on the make-up? Oh dear.

I'm going to cover the most common make-up mistakes I see for Junko.


1. Circle Lenses

These aren't optional unless there's some sort of medical reason why you're unable to wear these. Junko has blue eyes - implied to be natural - but as Junko is gyaru we're wanting to go for the full look. Try and obtain a pair which have a dark limbal ring for that dramatic effect such as G & G Max Pure Blue or Super Pinky Blue. The main purpose of this is to prep your eyes for the dramatic gyaru make-up Junko would wear and to give your eyes her colour.

2. Eyelashes

In order to stand out in photos, I recommend rokku or agejo styled make-up as this shows up on camera better and considering Junko's personality I feel like she'd opt for one of these styles. The main focus is going to be your eyelashes. The best brands to go with for this are Japanese lashes that are intended for gyaru such as Diamond Lash or Jewerich, especially in their bolder and more dramatic styles. Dolly Wink doesn't work for Junko as the lashes aren't dramatic enough for her.

For her upper lashes you're looking at one of the bolder styles as opposed to a half lash. It's best to get the 'spiky' kind of lashes as opposed to fanned out lashes as these look more dramatic and more 'old school gyaru' which is what we're going for with Junko. Diamond Wink has plenty of lashes in their Series 1 and Series 2 collections which are suited for this!

For her lower lashes you're looking at something that you're going to be able to use to extend your lashline. Personally, I think it's a good idea to make a good investment in these as I think the eBay lashes are a bit harder to make look nice. I once again recommend Diamond Lash as I've never had a problem with their lower lashes.

3. Cheeks

Pink blush. Lots of it. Do it.

Gyaru are famed for their pink cheeks so it's important to apply this to Junko. It's even more important if you want the blush to show up on camera. It's an infamous cosplay secret to do your make-up to drag queen levels so it shows up on camera and it shows. It can look a little ridiculous in real life but on photos I guarantee it'll show up.

4. Lips

"Oh, she's a fashion model who wears lots of make-up. I'll give her a red lip!"

If that fits your line of thinking stop right there. As we've put a lot of emphasis on her eyes with the circle lenses, false lashes, eyeliner and all of the other important make-up we don't want to be having red lipstick for Junko. The best thing to do in this case is to use a neutral lipstick or a light pink shade to let Junko's eyes do the talking.

After all, she is crazy. Better let it show.

5. Nails

Most girls do her nails false and red which is completely correct, but my favourite thing in the whole wide world is when girls gyaru-fy Junko's nails. We're talking about accents, beads, nailart, sparkles, claw shaped nails... whatever suits. It's not necessary and the standard red nails will work, but adding that extra detail just goes the extra mile for Junko's personality.


That's it. Those are the 5 things about Junko Enoshima that bother me the most when people cosplay her. Of course, there's the outfit but I always tend to harshly judge people by their make-up when I see cosplays of her. Even though I've cosplayed her three times myself I'm still unhappy about my own rendition of the character.

It never ends.

Stay sweet! ♥

Eyes