I would be lying if I said that this whole string of events and hauls didn't re-kindle my love for gyaru. There were so many things I gave up around a certain period of my life and I feel like I've slowly reconnected with all of that in the past couple of months. Truly it feels like I've been reconnecting with my identity and it's such a crazy feeling. I had probably lost it for awhile. Four or five years even way before certain things took place. The more I am more comfortable with my external life-the more I've been indulging in the things that make me a happier and better person.
Being a college student only now, it's given me the ability to do my nails and indulge a bit more than when I was working miserably. I think is just now occurred to me, I can do what I want and that I should enjoy it while I can before I delve into a writing or teaching profession and get much older.
I did my nails in four hours. They didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted them too honestly. Working with nail tape is a lot more difficult than it looks. Especially since I didn't have the specific set of nail scissors than I needed. I wanted to do laced up nail with the tape that looked very teal and agejo. In the end it just looked abstract. Near the end I had completely fucking forgot that I had bought nail stickers with moons and stars and could have kicked myself. In the end, I just ended up decking my nails out in jewels. I'm proud to say that as I am typing this, none of it has popped off or chipped. I did them Friday and it is now going on the second week of Tuesday. So at least that says something. Watch them stay on and grow out being all gross and shit.
The only unfortunate part about myself was my inability to sleep that night. I was so wired and ready to go that I couldn't relax. I kept plotting in the mind as I laid there how I was going to do my hair and make up in my head. By 3:00 am I knew I would oversleep. A big mistake of mine was applying tons of skincare too. I had done a sheet mask earlier in the day around noon after a facial peel and a couple other things- and then at 4 am I left on another sheet mask and applied essence from Etude House. I assumed because it was going to be cold and rainy that my skin would just dry the fuck out and that it would need all the moisture it could get. Boy... was I so wrong. Applying primer was okay but as soon applied two different concealers (because they kept slipping) and NARS Sheer Glow foundation, I knew this was a fucking mistake. I had over done it with the skincare.To the point where my foundation was not setting at all/was separating.
My skin unfortunately looked more oily than glowing. Big, big, BIG mistake. Oh well. I tried. Never again.
So I did the rest of my make up, powdered the life out of my face trying to matte-ify it to al l hel, and then for the first time in years stacked multiple lashes together at the end of the make up routine. I had such a hard time with that too because I hadn't done something like that in so long. I knew if I only applied one set of Diamond Lashes that they wouldn't photograph well. I'm actually glad I went through with that. Despite not doing such things for years now, it reminded me why I used to do it and how much better it looks with brand eyelashes and not the cheapy Daiso ones. Recently I've went back to old make up techniques I used to do back in 2011-2013 but I've applied the skills that I've learnt last year and it just looks so much cleaner. I see the difference completely. -proud of self-
Hair was a serious race against time. I tried to do those little separated suji curls I see a lot of the girls rock. I had completely done it on accident without the intention of that happening at all. However, the pieces weren't staying glued to where I wanted them and AS SOON as I got out of the car and into the rain my hair died. I think I need to relayer my bottom bits too so they'll curl easier. My hair is still recovering from where I fucked it up way back in 2012. Ugh.This is what happens when you cut your own hair out of bad experiences at shops/salons.
In terms of the trip and setting, rain was a huge hindrance that Saturday. This was the first time I ever attended a festival in Japan Town and it be super gross outside. I brought an Alice and the Pirates umbrella to help not get me as wet and it was a total lifesaver. No regrets bringing it. Hell it matched my outfit and wasn't boring looking at all. It was as frilly as the outfit. I don't usually get to bust out that umbrella very often since I live in California but I certainly utilized it that Saturday.
I went over to Japan Town, bought some taiyaki breakfast for myself and others, and met up with people as they got ready. The walk over was a total work out. My legs seriously felt it in my cheap ass Yumetenbo boots that lost padding. I don't know what was crazier. Walking uphill or downhill because both were pretty horrible. Uphill was me feeling the burn (which wasn't so bad actually if I hadn't had a fashion show to do two hours later and didn't want to look like I had ran a marathon lmao). Downhill was me praying to god my feet didn't slip and be roll down a hill and into traffic. It was an truly experience. I clearly need more comfortable but fashionable shoes. My nicest and most comfortable shoes are unfortunately a frilly pink pair of Liz Lisa ankle boots that I have yet to test their limits in the city.
Arriving at the hotel I helped people with make up. Thus realizing yet again, how shitty Sephora eye shadow palettes are. DO NOT get dark colors in those palettes. They just turn out muddy/splotchy and gross. You're so much better investing money in pigments from MAC or Sugarpill. If you get a Mac Fix + and spray your brush to pick up the loose eye shadow (so your pigment is intense and also to prevent less fallout) it works loads better. Darker colors can be a bitch to work with because they either apply weird or worse fade through the day. I personally don't even use pressed shadows in black/gray/gunmetal colors for the sole reason that they don't pick up well and fallout is the worst. I ended up stealing someone else's pro-palette which was okay but like I said before-I HATE using black colors in pressed pigments. Fuck. That. Shit. I'm so glad I salvaged what I could eye make up wise though. I get incredibly nervous doing people's eyeliner so I let people take over in terms of that. I feel super horrible because I know people are aware that I do some bomb ass make up on myself but I'm super used to my face in comparison to others. I know they want the same quality/techniques that I use on myself but I almost have to have my own make up with me and get more practice in on others.
Actually I think this was the first time in...three years? That I had done anyone's hair or make up. I used to never think about any of it too seriously at all when I did it. I also used to be super proud of the work I would do on other people. However, because everyone was in the fashion show; I was incredibly nervous because my skills were so rusty and they counted for something big. I was really self-conscious and hopefully if I get more opportunities and get to use products I am a lot more confident with, I'll be able to do make up more effectively on people. At the least, I was SUPER proud of how nice Sayuri's blush turned out. I tried out the really high pink blush look and added two types of glitter on her for an overlay effect. It looked really neat with the pastel and black Sex Pot Revenge stuff! I used my NARS Angelica blush and NYX Glitter Gel with Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter liner over it. She had super sparkly pink cheeks all day!
Also thank you Sayuri for the cute Kiki x Lala collab Diamond Lashes. They'll be my K-Pop/Cutesy lashes. Friends yet again, contributing to my hoarding habits. Not that I mind one bit!
I did two other people's hair that morning and had a lot of help from Sayuri too because yet again, I've lost all skill when it's not my own face or hair. I could have killed someone for using hairspray on someone's hair before I needed to flip it. It was the most nerve wracking shit. The next victim I had to work on entailed having to do high side ponytail. If we hadn't been racing against time it probably would have ended up a lot nicer but I did what I could. On that note- I am ABSOLUTELY terrified of using irons on people now. I used to not have this fear at all but now I am afraid of burning someone's face off. I am sorry if I am rough with your precious scalp in advance. Please don't hate me....
Finally, we were out the door and on our way to the fashion show-which by the way, was royally running late as is. I didn't keep track of how long but we were late. The event after us had dropped out last minute too causing a bit of confusion which shouldn't have happened since they were after us.
It was raining like a motherfucker as we walked out to the stage, which was completely out of everyone's control. That's nobody's fault. Mother nature how could you though?! Even though I know California needs it, good gawd couldn't you have waited until Sunday or rained all of Friday?! Regardless, I was impressed how people still made it work.
In the rain, I finally met up with my fellow gyaru babe Jobi at we headed to the stage area and we all gathered up to get directions on what to do. It was super relieving to see Jobi because she was also doing gyaru fashion. We were the only two gyaru but I pretty much shall assume the SF comm is deadish. If anything, this event was a small attempt to scream to the world that there are still some who still low-key do it beyond a community setting. In terms of my outfit even, I was determined to show off brands that have never been show cased in the US ever before just to really shake and diversify things up. Same with Jobi who took a really neat kogal approach. She was one of the few pink babes in the show. Props to all the girls who wore light colors that weekend because the weather was nasty and ya'll bitches had no fear.
Here's where the whole event gets critical and I'll explain what all happened and why it was SO frustrating to our coordinator for the fashion show as much as it was for all of us-Prepare for me to bitch a bit, just bare with me, it will get better after I talk about all this stuff I promise.
The stage-first off, threw us all off. Every fashion show that any of us has had experience in has been the main stage near the pagoda. I feel like most of the anime events and fashion show were thrown off to the side this year (and from what I understand it was also like this last year)-and that's incredibly unfortunate because while I can understand why things like that were done and the stigma that comes with cosplayers/J-Fashion/ect-there's also been great things from the cosplay and J-Fashion community that have been a main event. I think it's just a mater of finding the right ambassadors and the right staff to clean it up and really enforce some policies to not only make it run smoothly but be presentable enough to change the mind of others who might have reservations of community based on bad experiences or the wrong first impression.
In terms of runway/stage directions, it was like a game of telephone. The staff kept changing directions thus, confusing the shit out of our coordinator which then in turn, confused the hell out of us models. We had to go over the directions so many times. So. Many. Times. It should have been conveyed all at once and not last minute. Directions should be set in stone and not changed multiple times. The route should have been planned days before hand. Enough said.
On top of that situation, the music line up that was selected was out of order. I will get back on track later as to why this was such a frustrating thing but this contributed to me panicking because I knew the music line up already. So suddenly I felt like I had botched up something when I hadn't...as I was assured. Hearing the song I was supposed to walk to first really threw me the hell off. I'm sure things were labeled no? Yui's vocals were not suited for the dark death parade that walked out as the the opener first in the fashion show and it was slightly funny in my head now that I think about it.
Because it was raining, a lot of the models who had umbrellas strutted the shit out of our walk way (I refuse to call it a runway ) while holding them but I knew it could have hindered with the photos for sure. As for the walk way we were to walk on.... Oh boy here we go with all my rage. First off, like I keep mentioning, its raining. Some of us bitches are in some high ass heels. So when someone told me there are cords/wires in front of the walk way and some very slippery flooring on the actual stage/tarps I facepalmed so hard. Not only were we confused with the directions onto where we were to go after we did the round about on the walkway but as soon as each of us got on the stage there was a line up because there were wires everywhere and I don't think any of us were quite sure where to stand/had to maneuver around shit that was in the way anyway. Personally, the walk down below the stage was fine. The stage area was a mess as much as the music line up was. Nothing was marked like it would usually be onto where to stand. I made note as I got on the stage to close my umbrella for hopefully proper pictures in hopes for some type of redeemable anything.
It came to the point where I just did my best. And as Tim Gunn would infamously say, "Make it work."
However despite the whole "make it work" concept being no doubt the mantra to maintain sanity backstage and on-this completely frustrated people. Why? People had been planning this show for months. Ying had carefully chosen the music to suit each style and lined us up according to style.I even think everyone there would have really appreciated even a beforehand walk-through I'm very sure. His models had been prepping for just as long as he had too. And what people don't know is while we planned this for months, our line up probably would have been a lot larger if it hadn't been promoted three weeks before the show was.The whole "make it work" thing shouldn't have even be a thing because of how carefully people were trying to plan it even weeks/months before it was even publicly announced.
The fact that it was this disorganized beyond the control of the people who were literally in charge of that department was really was the sprinkles on the cake. I really do hope regardless of this and the shit weather that those of you that had attended still enjoyed. thank you for waiting for us and thank you for being out in the damn rain. That's some dedication. For those of you who have been the other J-Fashion shows, next time it will be better. All of us I think want a proper re-do one day, and want to do things like this more often and more effectively. There is a huge lack of J-Fashion related events or shows at events and it would be cool to change that.
Transitioning this post as to why this fashion show was so great and bringing it to a more positive/less of being bitching note-I saw a lot of sweet younger people who have known of me even before this event took place this past weekend, and seeing them excited or happy/hyped up really salvaged the entire experience for me. Every time I get sweet comments on my Instagram, FB, or even in person-I feel the pressure to be even better or be a role-model of sorts to those people. Mainly because it isn't done enough. That, and I know how it feels to be on the other end looking up to someone and they not interacting with those who appreciate their work (being cliquey or having totally different persona online than they do in real life). I don't want to be that girl. I am by no means perfect but I really try to be as conscious as I can be about my decisions and be as raw/open/honest as possible with people. I really appreciate the support at the show. Even though they didn't know I was in it, them being excited to see me and them remember me (and me remember them!! kyaaa!! xD) made me really happy. It made me feel like some minor model in Tokyo Girls Collection or some shit. If you guys have seen how excited the audience gets at TGC , then you know what I mean. Thank you for making me feel special? ahaha <3
Most of us gathered up at the photo booth afterwards for photographers to take pictures. That truly salvaged the day for all of us personally. I think it made everyone feel proud/happier which I'm super glad about because like I said, some of us had been plotting for awhile for it for us not to have anything to show for it. We all took some huge group photos and then I and some other people took solo shots for anyone who asked of them.
I huge shout out to Miguel and Kulotski Dee for your photography work. I know I don't always do shout outs to my photographer friends (I REALLY SHOULD...ya'll should have business cards and fb pages so I can link them your guy's work and it be okay so I don't feel like I'm having people creep on you all) but I super appreciate them. I know there are most likely other photographers that took pictures at the booth and of the show, but I don't know where their pictures are located. Please give us your business cards so we know where to find your pictures! That way we get our photos and we can all promote your page properly with your consent! So far I just have Miguel and Kulotski's because they're on my facebook/I know of them. I super appreciate them for taking pictures because otherwise we wouldn't have any idea where to look. Because people knew me, Jobi, or others, they were able to find their pictures and feel like their hard work paid off. Here are a couple of my pictures from the show/gathering.
Making it workkkk! Photo by Miguel
Trying to do some old school posing that I was always told to do a couple years back ahah
Photo by Kulotski Dee
Outfit shot. Top and Belt are D.i.a Spec, Skirt is WC, Boots are Yumetenbo, and Cardigan is Offbrand
Photo by Miguel
Some Gyaru Magazine Esque Posing with Jobi
Photo by Kulotski Dee
Group photo of ALMOST everyone.
Photo by Kulotski Dee (nicked his cell pic because it fit everyone in it, I hope you do not mind sir)
After the photo gathering, we were all pretty damn hungry and ended up deciding to get food. It was perfect ramen weather considering it was rainy. I actually was shocked to know we got into Yamada-ya without too much of a hassle. The line was crazy when we first checked and usually now a day, Yamadaya is always crazy packed. Once we were seated, we all had delicious food and I properly got to get to know people I hadn't been acquainted with through the food wait or through dining with them. Food truly brings people together I feel. My really lame weeb side came out as I figured out peeps cosplayed from the same series that I used to also cosplay from. I seriously might have to bring Sheryl back just for the fact that I've honestly never truly gotten any friends into Macross Frontier. I kind of told them about it or they already had a group to cosplay with. But I haven't made friends with someone that I didn't have to teach or push to get into it. Yay for new friends who are inspiring me to want to do things that I intended to give up on completely. It was also reaffirmed that I am the biggest prude at the table during lunch and that people have iron stomachs for spicy things. 
After food, we ended up walking around and looking at make up shit. I ran into Mari for a quick second and I was really happy to see her because it had felt like years since I had last seen her. It was a quick hi and bye but it made me really happy.
Friends and I lurked around the mall looking at make up and stuff. I really want more Sailor Moon make up because I'm complete trash. The compacts were 'okay' in terms of price I think but I think I'm going to wait for the compact powder in the 'flat' release because it comes with refills and it's cheaper.
After browsing around the crowds got pretty crazy and me and a couple of friends escaped into Tan Tan for some really good tea. When we first arrived into the cafe it was totally empty. However, I think us sitting there made others want to come in as well. It was a full house once we left. I felt bad for the lady in the back because it was just her! If you guys have read this blog before, you've read about how great I think Tan Tan is, so it will go without no explanation.
I'll jokingly always say my form of drinking is tea. I don't drink alcohol so if you wanna roll with me, you gotta do tea. It was fun experience to share with others. I think almost all of us except for one, got matcha green tea! The matcha at TanTan is really yummy. The cafe is a really good spot to get away from the crazy crowd in the mall and people watch.
After tea Jobi and I decided to do PuriKura! Johnny was with us but I felt like we might have tortured him with the cute shit. Plus, I've never actually done Puri with just Jobi and that was super nice. It felt very fitting since we were in gyaru fashion. I'm not sure if she had gotten to try out the newer machines but the newer machines are awesome because they take outfit shots, and I still can't get enough of that feature. Especially when you work so hard to coordinate an outfit, it comes in handy!
I forgot what I did afterwards. I think Jobi had to race to her car to pay the meter. So it was just me and Johnny who ran into people and more friends and even met new people. Yay for new people/friends? We just sat and lurked because I was suddenly super dehydrated even though I JUST had tea. I blame the liquid lipsticks. They're really trendy right now but guys, they're super drying because they liquid matte. Basically we all just weebed out at the table and got acquainted with eachother. Which was very nice.
Eventually some of us did part ways and the rest of us made our way back to a friend's hotel... I limped back personally because my Yumetenbo boots lost all of it's insole piece/flattened it. When we all arrived there I jacked a outlet for my charger, gave people so much shit (jokingly I promise), and met new people yet again. Which lead to us wondering what to do again. Purple Kow was something considered but because parking was god awful for everyone that didn't happen. THANKFULLY they opened a T4 on Fillmore that stays open pretty late. It's basically the previous Quickly cafe I used to raid for Takoyaki and late night lurkings years ago. A T4 just opened in my town as well and they must been opening up in a couple different locations because this one was super duper new.
So instead of eating hella meat or K-BBQ (I'm kind of glad I didn't, I seriously need to save for the Gazette =_=) we had snackies and boba instead which was a lot lighter. I wish Miguel brought Jenga like he said he usually does. Because T4 didn't have it and it would have been fun to entertain ourselves with our horrible fucked up-ness. Next time hopefully.
That's basically my trip in a nutshell guys. I haven't been to San Francisco in a while and it felt super refreshing to be back in the Bay Area among familiarity. The area is seriously my home away from home it's where I feel most comfortable, so it's nice to hang out with friends there the most. There's always something to do. Just this time the weather was super unfortunate.
Surprisingly because I had my hands full most of the weekend and all, I really didn't take a lot of pictures on my phone to document my trip. It's super shocking too because usually, I'm pretty attached to my phone FOR that reason alone. I take pics of everything, not this time though. Which must kind of announce that I had my hands full and had a lot of fun.
I'll be heading to the Gazette concert on the 1st of May, and I'm hoping to maybe have a chill time exploring downtown SF and J-Town without a crazy huge event going on. The concert is a huge event but it's late at night so hopefully the weather is nice so other things can be done out and about. I'll be in a lot more comfortable clothes too. Hopefully. I'm hoping what I chose will be.
Anyways, until next time guys!
