Wanting to Dress Gyaru...

Every so often I will throw stuff together when I am lounging around my house, bored, on a weekend. I will go all-out with my makeup, or I will spend hours trying to put together the right look, clothing-wise. And then I won't go anywhere. Part of wearing gyaru is confidence and sometimes I just don't feel confident, although wearing gal does make me feel beautiful on the outside when I am sick or feeling sad on the inside. That's something I have always loved about fashion...being able to escape and go to someplace else when the real world just isn't cutting it for me.


I love the simplicity of black and white. And yet it can be elegant...or casual...depending on which way you style it.


I wasn't wearing gal makeup in either of these photos. It was late at night, I am pretty sure I had work the next day, and I was feeling like shit. Lately, I was diagnosed with IBS so I have to be careful about what I eat, drink, what medicines I take, and letting stress get to me. Stress causes so many attacks. >__<;; Sometimes dressing up is the only relief I get. But wearing tight clothing can also bring me pain, so I try to avoid it when possible...part of the reason why I get so bummed out when something I lusted after for a long time ends up being too small/tight on me. I don't know what style of gal you'd call the black x white outfit above, but I was leaning towards oneegyaru....anyone have any better ideas for what to call it? Maybe just grown-up elegant style? IDK. I always thought that's what oneegyaru was.... 'older sister gal' like a Liz Lisa graduate, lol? I will never stop wearing Liz Lisa. Or Liz Lisa-inspired outfits. See below:
I got this from a totally awesome Korean eBay seller located in California. She sells her clothing as full outfits. I highly recommend checking her out. I don't even know her or anything, but she has great style. I messaged her asking if she had a blog/instagram/lookbook/etc. but to my disappointment, she doesn't. Or maybe she didn't want to share it with me cause she was creeped out by my fangirl-ing, heehee! :D At the time of this post, she doesn't have anything up for sale. But I signed up for notifications, lol. *ebaynerd*

Anywayyyyy I guess I am done gushing about gyaru.

I also acquired this tasty garment recently:


UNIF Pastel Moto Jacket.

I saw this killer cute jacket before it was featured in Paramore's new music video, Still Into You (which I do adore, btw) but seeing one of my fave singers wearing it made me want it even more. Weird how that works.


I swear I didn't buy this pastel moto jacket because of Hayley.... but it just so happens that UNIF is one of my favorite brands and Paramore is one of my favorite bands..... hmmmmmmm. Alignment of stars, planets, galaxies, &c.?

I love Paramore even though they have a different sound now and are down a couple of a band members. ;)

Their new album is too legit to quit!! :D

...must convince my boss to let me dye my hair like Hayley's lol...! xD

And here is the rest of it.

Pastel Goth X Gyaru Fusion Madness!!!

Yes, I was just as freaked out as you were when you read the title of this post, haha. Pastel Gawth? In myyyy gyaru?! O___o;



But yes...I was bored and decided to throw this together with my new eBay wig. My BF got me the super-cute skirt from Nasty Gal as an XMas present! <3 And it fits perfectly, omg. The skirt print reminds me of a darker version of MA*RS and their gorgeous chain-looking prints with the jewelry except mine has pirate ships and a plethora of other badassery on it. Perfect for a darker look. Haven't worn fishnets in a while so I added those. UNIF Hellbounds because I never need an excuse to don these bad boys....make my legs go on for miles and SO super comfy and easy to walk in, surprisingly. They give your ankles lots of support like when you lace up a pair of rollerskates or iceskates. ^__~ The hat was switched out later for a spike headband because the hat kept falling off my head! It's too tiny for my huge-ass wig. lol! ;) And I was super happy that I got to see my bestest friend ever, Yuka! We had a delicious Japanese dinner and then went to karaoke at a Korean place we love! It was a total blast and I really missed her!
FRIENDS FO LIFE. lol. xD



Also...we couldn't stay out too late because....it snowed like CRAZY here. Wtf? It's supposed to be spring, ugh. Case in point:


Yesterday these gorgeous flowers were blooming in my back yard!!

And today?


THIS.



The fuckwhat?! It snowed like mad! That is a photo (left) of my backyard view from inside my kitchen. The red brick building is my (shitty) little garage (claimed many a fender!) and yes, snow! Snowpocalypse 2013, in fact! And on the right, my warm toasty fireplace keepin' my comfy despite it being a weak gas lighter...wish I had a legit fireplace. We may end up converting it eventually. ^__~


Oh and I also need to mention that I bought my BF an EPIC drill the other day...it's SO hardcore. And we decided to try hanging up my photo backdrop again now that we have a higher power tool. And look! We did it! Yay, teamwork, lolz.






So yay! I am glad to have a photo area now....I still need a few things though, uh, like:

-Tripod
-Longer dowel rod for curtain
-Thicker curtain material/different backdrops
-Light meter

and I need to steam out the stupid wrinkles...it was sitting on the floor for months...so it got all gross and wrinkly! BAH!
I attempted a photo with my "good" camera here, but I think I still have a lot to work on. U____U;

Until next time!

XOXOXOXO

Manba Heaven!

So the other night, my amiga, Jax decided to come into town to go to a Hawaiian themed party with me! We decided the occasion called for manba style!

I was naturally scared as it was my first time wearing manba. Oh gosh. SO SCARED. Mostly that I'd mess up the makeup and do it a great injustice. I think I did A-OK for my first try but I hope to get better!

I spray tanned in advance for this look. I went with the darkest tan they have!

This was the result:



@___@;;

If you wanna know what products I used, click the jump! ;) Also more photos underneath the jump! >D




FIRST OF ALL: I know that the cowgirl hat is more of a kurobanba thing, not a manba thing. BUT WHATEVS. I love cowgirl hats and Liz Lisa so I wanted to do a Liz Lisa Western version of romanba! I say romanba because I feel like my outfit is not neon and hawaiian looking enough to be considered manba. But whatever, yo! Labels are labels, I just wanted to have fun.

Also ...first time doing romanba makeup, and I was scared, like I said, hahahaha. xD








Crappy bathroom lighting but you can better see my makeup in this photo.

Oh gosh, I felt so silly yet it was fun! It was cool! And different from my usual stuff, haha. Had this JASMINE song stuck in my head partly during the night:
Even though they call me bad girl. I reply 'so what?'
Even though they call me bad girl. If so, I'll puff out my chest
This is my lifestyle and no one else's
I'll see it through
(ENGL translation.)



My makeup:

- Stila face primer
- Covergirl liquid foundation in Classic Tan
- NYX Pencil in Milk (white) for pretty much all of the white stuff you see
- Geek Chic Cosmetics eyeshadow in Mana Battery for the shimmery white parts
- Too Faced Glitter for the glittery parts
- Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper for the black eyemakeup parts + kat von d black eyeshadow to set it
- Pink eyeshadow in upper corners is from Aromaleigh Rocks collection
- Make Up Forever HD translucent setting powder
- Urban Decay Shine Control makeup setting spray to set and seal it all!
- Black circle lenses. I think Barbie King Size type? from pinkyparadise.com
- Top lashes are Diamond Lash, and bottoms are generic cheapie eBay lashes from China
- Childrens stick on earrings + duo latex glue for the stickers on my cheeks
- crappy eBay wig from China, LOL
- cowgirl hat from Claire's



Also this song has been stuck in my head a lot lately. I wish JASMINE would release a new album!! Like STAT. xD

Anime St. Louis

Nothing like my bi-yearly anime con visit!

I wore gyaru in the fashion show and I also cosplayed as Baby Doll from Sucker Punch and Silk Spectre from Watchmen!

BTW Mi amiga, Jax, dressed up a friend, Aura, in Cocolulu and omg, it rocked my world! It prompted me to make a Cocolulu wishlist here:
http://pinterest.com/theflyingace/cocolulu-wishlist/


Me and Aura

I really wanna try Co&Lu style. My BF hates it though, gaaah. I think he prefers Liz Lisa but oh well whatever. ~___~;

hehehe! I had a good time, and it was fun seeing my friends!



Jax wore Kuroanba. I think I said that right. Man, she's brave. It's wayyyy too flashy for me to try, I think I'd be too shy to do it, hehe!


But she rocks it. xD

Moni was super cute in B-gal:


Lisha looked fierce and sexy in Rock Gal!


Jax dressed Aura up in Cocolulu Ameri-kaji style:

She was super cute! Good job, Jax! xD

Nami looked sexy and lovely in onee-gyaru:


Now for some non-gal:


Kayla in Gothic Loli and Yuka in Fairy Kei!


Czessie looked sooo cute in sweet loli! :)


Jax and Sage. Sage was extra cute in her sweet x classic loli coord. :D Love Innocent World!


Annnnd....It wouldn't be complete w/o a picture of me and Yuka! :D


She was wearing fairy-kei! :)

Gyaru Transformations!

The purpose of this post is to show my various gal transformations over the years. When I first started wearing gal, I had NO effing clue WHAT I was doing at all! No, really! No idea!



I remember my first post to the gal community on LJ. I was freeeeaking out. I was afraid people would tear me apart. Didn't want to end up on the pages of gal secrets, LOL. Now I don't care so much and I didn't let stupid creeps on the web prevent me from doing what I loved and wearing what I loved! So I just posted pics to my fbook, photobucket, blog...whatever! But I tried to keep it private for the most part because I knew I was still learning. And boy...did I have a LOT to learn! @___@; I still don't consider my current gal style and makeup techniques "perfect" by any means. It's all still a huge WIP.

But yeah. For your entertainment purposes here's my pics of gal through the past 3 or so years!

Click below. ;3



My first attempt at gyaru makeup:


Circa late 2009 ~ early 2010 ish

I know. I know. Painful. No fake eyelashes. Just circle lenses. Clumpy-ass mascara. I look back on this and while I do feel a little embarrassment, I am mostly just like "wow, I have come a long way!"

A little later on (a few weeks):




A few months later:




My outfits weren't that great either:


Cute but not really gal? IDK.

I finally buckled down and bought a Liz Lisa replica dress from DreamV on Rakuten:

Still not perfect but oh well! I love those cowgirl boots too btw. I still wear 'em daily!

Circa Summer 2009 (or maybe it was 10?) I forget...

I tried a boho look but decided it wasn't for me.

Circa Summer 2010: I decided I wanted to be more princess-y so I bought a REAL Liz Lisa dress (black, lol!) and paired it with my hime wig (which up until then I tried to wear only with lolita so I could learn how to style my hair as a gyaru.)



I gave up on curls for a while (damaged my hair) from all the styling and decided to go split! I asked my hair stylist to bleach half of my hair, leaving the other half darker! This was really on-trend a few years back. I still have a split wig but it isn't anywhere near as extreme as this look was for me. I think I will look back on this and be like "wtf was I thinking" but it really was on trend for gal at the time! ;)


Split hair with a coord:

I was actually spotted by a girl who started a vintage fashion business and she asked me to model for her because she loved my style! She said this reminded her of vintage from the 1990s and I've also heard people say it reminds them of Blossom which I've never seen (a TV show) but apparently she loved hats and denim! LOL.

October 2010, more split hair and Western trending:


A friend drew a cute pic of me:
:D

Makeup was starting to improve a bit:



Here's another coordinate from ages ago. Really simple/casual:

Can't tell in the pic but my makeup still needed tons of work!

Bought some maxi dresses, decided I wanted to work those into coords:


Late 2010/Early 2011:

I attempted the "droopy" eyelashes and failed pretty hard.

annnd again:


LOL. My style during the winter and colder months ended up being more rock gyaru than Liz Lisa which I reserved for summertime. I also experimented with dolly kei in the winter and mori girl in the autumn!

Full coord:

I can't believe I had those jeans, haha. WTF. My friend Michael calls them the "ripped cat vomit jeans!" xD

Also thought of attempting kogal but realized I looked retarded in it:
xD


Back to Liz Lisa again (circa Summer 2011):


My makeup was improving too:




Summer/Fall 2011:

Liz Lisa again.
Make up was getting a bit better:



I met some pro photographers who agreed to do some TFP shoots since they had never shot gyaru before. ;)

April 17th, 2011: Some of my gal friends and I decided to run a gyaru panel at Anime STL for 2011:

Sadly it was not well advertised so we had minimal turn out but I still had fun!! :D

Make up was getting better too! :)


November 2011: I wanted to try "Mode gyaru" but wasn't really sure how to do it. This was my attempt (with some of my gal friends at a circle meet.)


We got our nails done too:

Acrylic tips with gel coat. I wish I could keep up on my gal nails but it's really a difficult thing for me as my job involves a lot of typing and they just end up getting destroyed! D:


Late 2011/Early 2012:
I decided I wanted to try a MA*RS coordinate. A bunch of my gal friends from our circle here, Sugar Gyaru, decided to go on a gal shopping trip to a local mall. We stopped by DEB where I found looots of ultra cheap and cute stuff! I got a pink and black animal print top, some cheap jeans which I've worn to shreds, and super adorable leopard print chiffon skirt with pleats for like $4!!


I decided to try Diamond Lash bottom lashes and was really really pleased with the effect!


Present-day, March/April 2012:

Bought this dress from TaoBao from a shop that makes Liz Lisa inspired stuff. Quality was awesome but it was uber short. Decided I would wear this tonight to the Anime STL Fashion Show! (I will add pics to this post later.)


Sorry for crappy pics. Every time I go out in gal, my BF isn't home to take pics of me in good lighting and I always forget once I'm out! LOL!


Here's myself and my gal circle! One gal is missing though, she couldn't make this meet-up:

I was wearing rock gal that night and my gal sistaaah, Yu-chan helped style my hair that night, yay! :)

Finally I leave you with some purikura from Summer 2011:

Me and Yuka. She said I looked "the most gal I ever looked" in this outfit but sadly I didn't get a single good pic of me in it! D: Some random girl who saw us walking to my car said she "loved our costumes" and when we told her we dress like this normally and it wasn't a costume, she FREAKED OUT, omg, hahahahaha. Was like, the funniest thing ever! WTF! xD

But yeah, pretty crazy that I went from this:


To this:


In the span of ~3 yrs!! So if you're trying to improve your make-up technique, don't worry. Read lots of articles, watch youtube vids, and practice, practice, practice! Don't give up!! :D



~~BONUS PIC!!!!~~
My deco'd iPhone case!

:D