How to Gyaru-ify Your iPhone

So ever since I invested in both an iTouch (RIP, eventually going to get that sexy thing fixed because the memory on it was so great) and an iPhone-both gen 4, I've been obsessed with Gyaru-ifying my phone much like any girl would want to probably after seeing the girls in Japan do it so flawlessly. They've been doing it even before these android phones came OUT even with their blinged out cases, multiple keychains hanging, little antenna charas, ect. In all the smartphones just opened up more possibilities the create an even more unique phone! While we've had internet on our phone for quite a while, gyaru in Tokyo have been reliant on e-mail/texting and mobile sites for quite some time. Even brands such as Liz Lisa and Coco Lulu had special edition phones even way back! How cute is that right?!

So in this entry I'll share a little bit on how to kawaii-out/gyaru-ify your iPhone. I don't have an Android to have experience in what apps they have and such but certain aspects can go for you lovelies that use also use any type of cell phone.

-Cases/Bling/Accessories

Where you DIY on you own phone case or purchase your own phone cases and such, customization is key. With the iPhone you have a couple of options. For either, the internet is your best friend. Ebay happens to be where I raid for cute things.

Strapya.com is also a good option as well.

• Cases

For you DIY gals-decoden is what you want. You can easily search for things under 'decoden', 'bling', or 'flat back crystals' for what you need. What you want to note when you bu these things-is that you have a really great glue and lacquer to keep your bling on your case and it not look all dingy and falling a part. DecoDen can be used on anything, not just phones. It just happens to be that it's very popular on cell phones. You can make phones look super sweet with fake fruits, macrons, cakes, ect. You can add notable characters from Sanrio/SanX ect. For a cute look as well. You can have the more of a mature/sexy look with added on crystals, bling, and more brand/make-up and jewelry-like elements.

Whether you want to go cute, sexy, dark, ect. Is usually dependent on the color and theme. Keep to two/three colors and a theme of what you want your case to look like.

-If you're buying your case; stick to trendy things. A lot of girls a year ago were totally rocking the couple cases with their significant others and the Rabito Bunny Cases. Rilakuma and Stitch cases are super popular as is BRAND cases. Liz Lisa sold really pretty blinged out pearls and such on cases with the brand all over it and such during Christmas time. I'm sure other brands also carry these cases.

• Accessories:

-Cellphone keychains; are relatively popular on phones and have been for a long time. Back when flip phones were around and those sound pretty freaking ancient now that the cell phone companies are pushing smartphones on their customers. Keychains on smartphone's are honestly a bit risky. They can scratch the screen or break it depending on how nice your screen protector is and if your phone is weighed down with keychains. I know a couple of girls who modify their cases to where they can hold keychains on them. If you're choosing to do so, be very careful on what you pick. Pick small rounded things that aren't sharp and that won't scratch your phone. It's easier to go with flowers or something soft or fluffy.

-Jack Plug/Dust Protector; these are what people are using as an alternative to cell phone keychains now a day I think. That are the little antenna characters that people would stick on the super old cell phones. You guys remember the little cell phone kiosks at the mall that would cell those? They'd usually light up and what not on the end of phones. Anyway, yes this is the new alternative I suppose for those decoration wise. When you don't have your headphones in your mobile device (or if you never do and use a different thing for your media) you use this to protect your headphone jack from getting dusty. Because believe it or not you can short the sound in the jack if it gets dusty. So that's why those are there, but they come in lots of decorations. Liz Lisa had some incredibly pretty ones!

-Screen Protectors/Skins: Believe it or not there are skins for the iPhone-front and

back. While there have been rumors of cheaper iPhones in the near future with color options, I feel that it's a selling point but definitely not something that can't be done right now. I'm not sure if this works super well with the black iPhones, I haven't got to even try this for myself BUT I do have a white iPhone-so I suppose it depends a bit on the opacity of the skin. So if you're not one for the cases (meaning you don't drop your phone/take extreme good care of your phone) or just want the front to look decorative this is the way. Liz Lisa displays there but there are also super glittery ones for your girls who have a blinged out case with crystals and such and want something on front that is just and sparkly for the 'kira-kira' factor.

-Button Stickers: Button stickers are decorative buttons for the iPhone's home button. This is really ig you're into detail I suppose! I see a lot of girls place their favorite characters on there or even their favorite band/musician’s logo for their home button sticker!

-iPhone Bags/Cell Phone Bags: Ank Rogue, Liz Lisa, Sanrio...lots of places so these. They are SO clever. The ones I've seen in the states are nearly as nice as Ank Rogue's deck out SHOULDER strapped bag. But they're for extra protection for your phone. Lots of bags now actually have a pocket for your cell phone but I suppose other bags don't, which is why these bags specifically for your cell phone is super nifty.  

Internal

Now that you have gyaru-fied your smartphone, you can now create the beauty within! A lot of people jailbreak their iPhones to have further free reign in customization but I find it a bit risky. The phone itself will conk out a bit even on iOS and it AT LEAST can recover due to it having that system in there, so I'd hate to see what my poor iBaby would do if I actually jailbroke it. Here are ways to actually still make your iPhone beautiful even with the limited mobility on the iOS setting.

-Apps:

SOCIAL NETWORKING

This is how my apps are set up. Gyaru I think are hooked on their phones when they're not socializing or shopping in person. So because of that social media sites are a huge deal. Lots of gyaru probably stay on their blog sites and Facebook to socialize, upload pictures, plan meet ups, like pages of their favorite brands, ect.

Instagram has became a huge player for the gyaru community as well because it's a photo app where you can share whatever you want. It's globally popular. I've seen a lot of gyaru use this in both the East and West. There are a lot of selca (self cam) and OOTD (outfit of the day) pictures as well as pictures of places they go to, purikura, pics with friends, food pics, ect. You get my point; it's more or less a picture blog.

Twitter is also a great form of socializing for everyone. Here we use it quite a bit to keep up with friends, celebrities, ect. Keep updated on brands we like or sales. Twitter has always been friendly mobile wise even before the smartphones were out with internet and easier to access keyboards-Twitter was and STILL CAN BE text message dependent. Text messaging and e-mailing has always been a huge trend in Japan for communication. The mindfuckery about this is how once I started doing a couple of statuses in Japanese, I realized; holy shit-in Japanese you can say a shitload more than you can in English. The character limit is still on but the fact that they don't have to use multiple characters for one word and just kanji helps a shitload. I'm sure there's also gyaru slang/shorthand still too that they can use to their advantage.

Tumblr's a big one for a boredom buster. I always try to look up things to show friends style wise or upload a picture of my current make-up and when it doubt? Tumblr. Especially if you're looking up pictures! You'll most likely find the best references on there!

MESSAGING

Other than using social networking as a way of keeping in touch-for a more personal touch (especially for iPhone users since we can theme out our text messaging) there are messaging apps. No I'm not talking about skype or aim but ones that are actually meant for the phone.

The cool thing about these apps are that they're internet/wi-fi friendly but also work super fine on 3G/4G networks as well. They're the best also if you have international friends. 

The most popular one right now is 'Line' which what to do you, is by Naver of Japan. Line has tons of little gadgets. A status/social feed, texting, voice messages/calls, cute emoticons you can buy, GROUP messaging (which is super fun btw), celebrity updates (you can get updates on Tsubasa!!! and other J-Pop artists!), and they also have little games such as LinePlay which you can play with you friends and J-Pop artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki has items on LinePlay that you can get through gacha! In all it's a super neat app. You can also use Line messaging on the PC which is a HUGE plus when you're on your home computer and away from your phone.

The second best one next to this is Kakao. I used this before I discovered Line and liked that I could theme it up a bit more than Line and they gave free emoticons. After that I also doubled the App with WhatsApp because my friends were using both but were split down to either Kakao or WhatsApp.. I created a huge trend after following the trend of using Line. As soon as I said I was no longer using either Kaokao or WhatsApp-I brought both splits into one. Now everyone and more uses Line! I'll show you how to gyaru-ify your Line profile and messaging in a bit.

PHOTOS

Us gals are relentless photowhores. As soon as our face is done we just HAVE to snap a picture. You can't yell at us though! We spend a lot of time on our hair, make-up, and coordinating and outfit. It's not that we're narcissistic! We just love showing our art off just like an artist does. Other that its about sharing inspiration towards others, blogging, and creating memories with friends. There are TONS of photo editing apps out there. I'm pretty limited on memory space so I only choose ones that I know I use the most.

I have really horrendous skin and you all are WAY too kind saying I'm pretty-because I had a habit of using 'moreBeaute2' for the longest time to whiten and smoothen out my skin. Between that and plastering myself up against a window, THAT is the trick to my selcas honestly. Even my FRIENDS don't even know I use this method, so I suppose the truth is out. Though I actually have tried lately not to make a habit out of using this app actually because I feel like I lie to you all. It's definitely great though if you're a little self conscious like me. I'm sure tons of people have met me in person and get disappointed/confused that I look NOTHING like my selcas!

Pixlrmatic is also something I use. This app has some seriously, kick ass filters and frames. A lot of times I will go in edit a pic, open it back up in the app and edit again and again until it's just layered to perfection. It's ACTUALLY honestly, how I edited the banner for the blog. The Shibuhara Glitter font and editing was done by my lovely friend Yoshiki but after that, it was just actually fiddling with pictures on my phone an layers the shit out of one picture. Yeah you guys, the truth hurts a little doesn't it?

PicStitch is another SUPER nifty app. Perfect for blogging, perfect to show multiple scenes in pics, and just amazing at showing before and afters!

NOW here's where we get gyaru'd the fuck out in the picture department. 

PuriKura. PrintClub. Hell yes. So are my Puris from apps? Actually, no. I am so BLESSED/PRIVLAGED to be near San Francisco's PikaPika to take some badass PuriKura. I seriously hope they never ever leave or go out of business because PuriKura and legit PuriKura is my guilty pleasure. Back before I could take PuriKura I'd look at gyaru/kogals that would have those huge ass PuriKura books filled with PuriKura and weep because I wanted to play in photobooths and not the lame ones that we had in the States.

PuriKura is just classic-it's seriously part of 'gyaru-lyfe' as friend and I gangsterly call it, and I hope everyone who's in to gal seriously gets the experience of owning PuriKura because that shit is stickers. Mind you, because they're stickers, you can ALSO decorate your cell phone with Purikura but the pictures do fade out after a while and get ruined so I honestly don't like using my PuriKura for my phone. But it was definitely a classic decoration method way back in the day!

Now that I've ended my rant on how fucking great PuriKura is, I will say despite having PikaPika in my reach for PuriKura, I do own PuriKura apps on my iPhone. The top there are right there. GirlsCamera is actually a super popular too but I got bored with it. So these three are probably the favorites on the pic I posted. They have their own pros and cons honestly. Some are good with group pics, or you can use Bluetooth so you and your friend can use the same app to edit the picture together, some are good for filter and lighting customization, some have better stamps than others, ect. Usually I edit solo so I don't have to worry which app I have to use to edit something into a Puri. I usually use all three and just take the decorated pic and edit it more in another PuriKura app.

PuriKuras are great for Instagram, facebook, profile pics on Line/Kakao/whatever, and blogging.

INTERNAL PERSONALIZATON

So how do personalize a phone's wallpapers and such to look really blinged out or cute? Unfortunately the android app market does have gyaru/blinged out themes for their phones. KiraHime is pretty popular for that and if you can manuver through the Japanese, it looks super gorgeous. There are WAYS around this for the iPhone this. As you saw on my app list, I have a super cute wallpaper that's exactly for the iPhone/cell phones.

I googled KiraHime and KiraKira Jewel and got tons of wallpapers. I saved them on my iPhone and merely cropped what I needed to. These are the examples that I have to give! 

You can ALSO use this on Kakao on Line! You go to settings>wallpaper>album and as you saw, I have my own fucking album just for wallpapers and you can choose from there. Each of my friends has their own wallpaper for our chats. It's actually pretty freaking neat!

Another thing you can also do with your phone is with your PuriKura set your lock screen to whatever PuriKura you have. Right now mine's the prints from Cherry Blossom Festival! This shows that your phone is even more customized and is a modern way of showing off the PuriKura like people would do when they'd literally stick the prints on the back of the phone a while back ago!

Another way to customize your iPhone is to change the ringtones. There's tons of ringtone apps that you can download or make ringtones for your phone. As you see I have tons of different J-Pop. Everything from Namie Amuro, Kana Nishino, and m-flo. Even my text tones/voice mail ring/other tones are set to Sailor Moon sparkles! Each friend has their own song/ringtone too.

In all, this is all I've done to gyaru out my phone or plan to bling it out to make it more unique!! I hope this was helpful for you guys!

Hopefully this tides you lovelies over for the Yumetenbo article/review I have planned to try to release NEXT WEEK! Until next time you all!