How to Do Gyaru Fashion for Super Cheap

Hello guys! It's been a VERY long time since I've done a blog post. Mainly because I've been focusing on my YouTube channel ever since I got a DSLR. My channel has been my biggest project. However due to this, I've been neglecting my blog. Which is kinda sad and needs to change. Especially since school has been taking up my time and I can't take the time to glam up for a YT video, record, and edit it all the time.

So much has went on in this last year

or so-but instead of catching you up on the mundane shit going on my life-I thought I would write up a blog post that you all could utilize on majorly. I get asked VERY often how I can maintain this lifestyle as a college student and where I get my brand items from. 

There's a couple disclaimers and things that I want to say before I get into this blog post though. First off, living in my the middle of fucking nowhere and living at home still works to my advantage. I currently go to a community college and I am planning to transfer to a university for my classes having to do with my major/career next year. SO this indulgence is about to stop REAL SOON. Unless work study just pays me insanely kindly and I can even snag a work study job. But because of this, I do have bills to pay (cell phone, internet, dental bills, food, ect) but it's not nearly as high as paying for rent would be. It also would make any sense for me to take out a loan to pay rent in a junior college system. I rather be in debt for two years and not four to six years. This is what you should know. Going back to middle of nowhere thing-I live in a town that doesn't even have a grocery store. My family has to go to the next town over. I've often on here have told ya'll how I feel like the real life Momoko. I'm in the vicinity of SF but not quite-and I'm probably the most eccentrically dressed person where I live. I know I am at my school. >_> Because of that I don't go out often. Maybe twice a semester if not three times. 

Because of this I'm able to indulge. While most people go out to eat often or go drinking/clubbing on weekends or take a big ass Spring Break vacation-I do not. I do not have any vices. I also do not go to hair or nail salons. I cut my hair myself and also do my nails myself-while it is TIME CONSUMING it saves me loads of money that even I know girls in retail often spent their paychecks on. 

Me when I do well and finish a fucking final exam LOL

I give myself incentives and rewards for doing well in school to discipline myself and my expenses. If I pass an exam, I'm allowed to get what I want. If I do twice as better than intended by the end of the semester when my final grades are out I'm allowed to do a haul or take a big trip. If my bills are paid on time and in advance? I'm also allowed to do whatever I want with what I have remaining. Occasionally I'll even take on odd jobs (recycling for months and the like) to get extra money for an outing or a piece I want. 

TDLR; I don't leave the house/I live an incredibly boring/routine life outside of my fashion. I don't have vices. I do my own hair and nail sets. I study hard and do some things to gain even more cash. This is how I'm able to live the life I live. 

So there you go with my background on this. No, I'm not some privileged princess. I earn everything I have. I am responsible and punctual. The only time I allow myself to indulge without reason is Birthdays, Valentines day, and Christmas.  That's also because I also spend those holidays alone and try to make up for it with materialism and things that make me happy. 

My readers must also understand as well, I've been into gyaru fashion for a long time and have actively been participating in this fashion since 2011. Seven years have went by and this is why it seems like I have a huge closet full of brand. I have only even bought pieces that call out to me/pieces I really want. I've never had a turnover rate with my closet. Within that seven year span, I've only sold off one dress. 

This begins off with my first bit of advice; do not buy brand just because it's available to you. 

A lot of people hoard clothing just to have it. To be honest, I don't do this with clothing but I sure as hell do this with make up. In terms of clothing it's worse though because clothing really takes up space compared to make up. Only buy pieces that really speak to you and really are your style. This happens to be extremely difficult for me because I do not have one set substyle. I like everything.Hence my lack of a turnover rate. 

My second piece of advice is to keep your priorities in check. Gyaru fashion and owning brand is not worth being hungry or having your cell phone turned off. Pay all of your real life necessities first. Afterwards, you need to break down the costs of fashion necessities. Gyaru is a very make up based fashion-so make up, nails, and hair should come first. 

Once upon time, when I was an extremely broke bitch, I only focused on hair and make up. I did not really own brand. However, I was very blessed to live near the Bay Area. This meant I had access to Daiso (the Japanese dollar store) and a lot of Korean owned beauty shops. The make up and lashes here are extremely cheap. When I even first started doing gyaru, I bought circle lenses for 10.00 at the Korean beauty shops that sold them under the table (risky I know LOL). I would buy multiple Daiso lashes and stack them. If you can ever find some of my old tumblr posts/maybe even posts on here, I even disclose which Daiso lashes I used. I even used top lashes, cut them in half, and reversed them for a bottom lash. I used Elf make up, Revlon foundation-and even before I knew the wonders of foundation, I used concealer for foundation. I often invested in Wet n Wild nail polishes from the 99 cent and dollar stores in my town (as well as other make up that was sold there), and raided Walgreens and Riteaid sales for Got2B hairspray for my hair. 

When I had a bit more money I built up my make up supply by taking advantage of Sephora and Ulta's sale pages. 

In terms of clothing I often wore Forever 21 coordinates. I know a lot of people tell you brand is everything-and in a way? It is. Especially for styles like agejo or himegyaru. However, if you can uniquely coordinate an outfit then it doesn't matter wtf you wear. It might not be a substyle but it can be gyaru if your nails are blinged, your lashes hit your brow bone for days, and your hair is teased big. I often wore jeans with very high heels and a very cute top. My accessories were hair bows and big sunglasses. I would pair studded belts with harder/bolder looks and wear a bold lip with big hair and lashes. 

The only advantage I ever had was having access to Asian owned clothing stores as well. For all of your San Francisco Bay Area readers, I used to raid this store in Newpark Mall called First Impression. It was a super cheapy store with a lot of gyaru inspired pieces. The sizes ran small but thankfully I was a bit smaller back then. I would find floral prints, cute belts, and shoes for 8-10.00 a piece. I would find big off the shoulder t-shirts that were long and boldly graphic and would pair them with tiered lace skirts. 

If you do not live in an area where these things are accessible then it might be a bit harder. Raid sales and don't think brand is everything. Stack your lashes and get the spikey ones. 

Eventually I did prioritize circle lenses. I could only buy one pair a year and got the chance of upgrading my cheap 10.00 Korean Beauty store finds to Princess Mimi's in Sesame Grey. They're still to this day my favorite HG lenses and getting good lenses that suit you can really make or break your look!

Me back in 2011 when I did Gyaru on a major budget.
 I owned no brand.

Looking back, I was more gyaru then than I ever am now. Being broke forced me to be creative. It made to coordinate things I might have not normally coordinated if I had access to a ton of stuff. It made me practice a lot on make up knowing I had a lot to make up for considering I didn't have a lot of flashy things. It's also why my make up back then wasn't as polished. I did not own brushes until much later or quality materials until I got my first retail job and was finally able to stock up on high end stuff. And even then when I worked retail I had all this cash to freely spend but no time to practice with my newly acquired things or time to even wear it due to a shit work/life balance. Hence, the reason why I went back to school to work on gaining my dream job so I could have a better balance. 

I'm very lucky to have that luxury.

So yes, prioritize is my big tip! 

This isn't even my best nail set I've done but those are my real nails and my own work.

Next, learn a skill set. Salons are pricey. I knew girls who worked in retail with kids would would spend dumb amounts of cash weekly on salon trips for nail sets and hair color. Nails aren't exactly a necessary trip. You can easily learn this skill set within time and with lots of practice. Honestly, not a lot of nail salons do Japanese style nails. If they do they're quite expensive due to it being labor intensive. However, buying your own supplies and spending the time yourself saves loads of money. My advice for nails is; it doesn't matter wtf your nail colors are just as long as they're not sticky or clumpy. What does actually matter is your top coat/nail base coats. This will protect your nails from some bullshit and have them chip less/you won't get those gross bubbles on your nails from cheap ass topcoat. Buy Etude House polishes or hell even Wet n Wild, I go on ebay personally for my nail decals and I'm very sure you can even find some on Aliexpress as well-however your top and base coats should be something like OPI if you want a long lasting nail job. Toothpicks also help for nail designs (and a lot of patience) but you can also buy nail brushes. For a clean application I often use acetone remover and a Q-Tip to clean up the edges efficiently! 

Hair is a much more risky DIY. This might be something that I can't encourage because people might come for me for saying that it's fine doing your hair yourself. However, I actually can cut and color my own hair effectively. How? The next time you go to a salon, pay attention to how the salon stylist cuts your hair. I know a lot of people like being on their phone or conversing with their cutter and colorist-but if you pay attention you might learn and skill or two! This is how I learned how to cut hair. I also had a lot of friends back in the day who were in the process of being cosmetologists and I'd often ask questions or discuss techniques with them.

Other than haircutting-other is the next most risky thing is straight up hair color. I do not recommend this fully because you have to be a fucking chemist. This shit is chemistry. You can potentially fry or destroy your hair and have it fall the fuck out (or even bald). I also really discourage using box dye. This shit fucks up your hair and your colorist won't even fucking touch it at times. I used to dye my hair black (with box dye for four fucking years) and went as far as stripping the shit out of it after that four years (hi orange hair) and when I went to get it dyed like...two years later-the colorist still wouldn't fucking touch that shit. Don't do it. Don't even use that Palty shit. 

If you don't know how to bleach your hair-go to a salon to get it done. I know a lot of girls save money by not getting their color done at the salon but getting their bleach base done at a salon. This way you don't royally fuck your hair over. However, DO NOT use fucking box color post salon bleach treatment. This defeats the damn purpose. Use SAFE salon hair color- Hell even ask your colorist what they use because it's actually pretty accessible. I know a lot of people use Redken and Pravana. I know certain colors are a fucking pain to strip out (hi red and blue-aka I suggest semi-permanent/hair tints) so do ask about things like this before you commit to a color. Ask your colorist that if you used such and such color from said brand-would they be able to do a root touch up or strip the color out if you wanted to change colors in the future. Usually Olaplex is the life saver at salons now a day (thank you new technology) but do double check. 

This is still pricey but it can potentially cut corners. 

Personally I never dye my hair and only did so once since high school. I colored/bleached in 2015. I did bleach myself at my own risk and if you want a LOW maintenance hair job-do streaks of blonde/color-and only do the lower bits of your hair to avoid a root touch up. Eventually the blonde grow out is bearable and can be cut out easily. :) 


Onto obtaining brand name clothing-this is my most asked question. Where the fuck do I find my shit and for so cheap...

Let me just say; I partially plan to keep it a secret. I had to research and do my homework and so should you. I feel like treasures should not just be handed out to whomever. Otherwise we'd have a lot girls taking advantage of some stuff. Call me a bitch but it's just not cool. Especially when some girls can afford all of the newest stuff and buy out the discount stuff just because they can. The worst when people monopolize on the resell market when they got a piece for insanely cheap. It happens, so boys and gals-shop smart. Do your homework. 

I'll vaguely say one of the places I shop is Rakuten. Mainly just because so many people have caught on to this piece of knowledge and it's way harder for me to keep this a secret anymore. A couple years back there was a certain shop that sold a bunch of OTT gyaru brand pieces. They'd go down in price the longer they stayed in the market. So I would often wait a couple weeks until the price was where I wanted it (sometimes it would be a gamble doing this) however, usually I would get a piece for 8.00 and I'd even find ma*rs dresses unclaimed for 5.00.  Now this is a known place in the gyaru comm and if you find a piece you want? You better snag it because it's certainly not going to be there within the next week and not for a large discount like before. But once upon a time ago-I didn't have to pay service fees and a shipping fee. I used to find discounts and only pay a gross shipping fee..... -sigh- 

However, since this has happened I have found other methods and means of finding my stuff. It's a little bit more expensive so more often than not, I'm very picky about what pieces I buy-because let's face it; shits expensive.

However, since gyaru fashion has declined in popularity in the past couple of years-it's actually way more accessible and way more affordable than it was. For those of you who actively shop-you know what I mean. I used to think girls who wore d.i.a were rich girls-belts retailed for 80.00 and tops were a good 40-70.00. I find tops now for 5.00 and belts with minor replaceable defects for 13.00. Mind you obtaining them is a pain in the ass but I can gain a haul of clothes for the piece of ONE piece at retail. 

The next piece of advice is for new and seasoned gyaru when shopping. 

Old School Boho Styled Liz Lisa;  good for the young gals
but also more forgiving for older fans of Liz Lisa

For the new girls, while Liz Lisa can be gyaru-able and the old pieces are VERY gyaru please do know, Liz Lisa is not the only brand associated with gyaru. Matter of fact, if your hair and make up isn't OTT it ain't gyaru. This sounds crazily bitchy I know but when you're looking on the gyaru tag for inspiration and you're seeing girls in LL that are cute but not gyaru at all-it's frustrating. If you truly want to be gyaru look into hair and make up. Look into other brands too. There is a bigger world than Liz Lisa. If you do love Liz Lisa that much-I highly recommend  

1. my previous advice-work on hair and make up. Yes LL is super accessible now-but in order to be himekaji truly-hair and make up must be done. The word himekaji is defined as "Causal Hime". This is a huge debate with gyaru whether himekaji turned into it's own thing or is gyaru. I am only one person and not the law, but honestly my opinion stands as this: Himekaji is casual himegyaru. HimeGyaru is Jesus Diamante, Princess Melody,  La Parfait, and Yumetenbo pieces. HimeGyaru can even be lolita brands coordinated sexier than lolita would be. Personally, I feel like Liz Lisa became popular among gyaru because it wasn't as expensive as Jesus Diamante or other gyaru brands. It was like a trial run for girls who wanted to try hime without the commitment or hole in their wallet. For HimeGyaru-Liz Lisa was for grocery store outings, days at the beach, or days when they just couldn't be bothered to be OTT as fuck. This is why there's such a drastic difference in Liz Lisa between now and ten years ago. 

Old Popteen Mags for Gyaru Reference

If you're just getting into Liz Lisa, please look at previous years collections or old Popteen issues! :) Liz Lisa suited both a young and old audience I feel like way back in the day. Now, it definitely suits that young Popteen following demographic-which certainly excludes older women such as myself. It's a lot more challenging to coordinate. The pieces that are aimed for an "older" demographic happen to be plain and more Larme focused. 

This is why I feel like girls have SUCH  a hard time making the new pieces from Liz Lisa look gyaru. However, it can be done! Be creative. Use eye make up and blushes that match your coordinates, look into eye lashes-don't be afraid to look overtop if you want to be gyaru. Otherwise you're a fan of Liz Lisa and not gyaru. You're a cute girl in cute clothes-but you're not gal. This takes practice and a lot of work; and I believe in you!!! If you love gyaru, you can do it. If you need help-please ask a gyaru you look up to for advice or ask about where they find their resources. Heck, feel feel to dm me on instagram or lurk on my posts on YouTube and the Gyaru Amino for my finds and advice. You can also leave a comment on my blog post here. I would love to see more gyaru babes (and guys) pop up-the community feels so much smaller than it did and I would love to be of help for those who don't know where to begin. Like I mentioned, I'm not meaning to be bitchy but merely constructive. :) 

With said, for my new and season gals-did you know Liz Lisa has old sublabels that don't exist or that are hanging by a thread? 

Tralala back in it's prime!

Awhile back Liz Lisa had two very gyaru styled sub-branded. One was the darker and rougher Liz Lisa Doll line. They focused on a more mature and even rokku (dare I say it?!) approach! I've seen a lot of seasoned gals even pair D.i.a with their Liz Lisa Doll coords. Which is awesome. Don't be afraid to mix and match brand and non-brand items. They make for creative coordinates and are a lot less cookie cutter in my opinion. They make a look unique to you (and can also save money). Continuing on, Liz Lisa also had a sub-brand called Tralala which was SUPER OTT. Supposedly it was supposed to cater to a younger demographic (teens) but if you love lace and plaid-a lot of the old Tralala pieces are for you. They're so cute and frilly. Some of it can even be used for HimeGyaru coordinates!! :) 

A lot of brands have lesser known sub-labels. While finding brands for cheaper now due to lack of popularity, their sub-labels or even lesser popular brands are even more cheaper than their more well-known counterparts. 

For example-did you know that Ma*rs had a sublabel called Glamorous Jane (meJane)? If you're a fan of the very famous Ageha model Sakurai Rina and watched the movie Girl's Life, you'll notice that MeJane makes a cameo in the movie. If you like how SakuRina dresses in this movie-then this is the brand to look for! A lot of their pieces are very similar to old school ma*rs pieces and have that early era Ma*rs/agejo vibe that used to be popular. If you're looking for thigh highs or even accessories their stuff is very similar to ma*rs and is cheaper due to not being as popular as Ma*rs! 

SkinnyLip is the more affordable and bright sister to d.i.a!

ALSO, while SkinnyLip isn't a sub-brand of D.i.a-they're known as the brand that was a cheaper form of D.i.a Honestly, even some of their pieces are as unique as d.i.a and even more creative/colorful depending on whom you're asking. While they were way cheaper than D.i.a-they're even MORE cheaper than d.i.a on resell because they were never as popular. Yet again, if you like how SakuRina used to dress-she modeled for this brand!

Looking for old Yumetenbo pieces/shoes is also a good place to start as well. If you're into HimeGyaru/agejo/Tsuyome you can occasionally find someone selling off the pieces for dumb cheap because they're not trendy anymore. 

When I mean dumb cheap I mean like..5.00 all the way to 20.00 for a piece. I encourage all gals (and gyaruo) old and new to look into more obscure Japanese brands even if they don't exist anymore. They're not only great for saving money but they're also good for style inspiration. A lot of lesser known brands have similar (if not nicer) pieces compared to the big flagship brands. Examples of obscure brand are DigDeep, StripCabaret, MeJane, and GalStar. Known brands that don't get nearly as much love that have VERY gyaruable pieces are Ank Rouge (look at their old school pieces-they're similar to Liz Lisa), Cecil McBee (a popular 109 brand that hopped on the gyaru train when it was popular and had trendy pieces), GLAD NEWS (if you like Tutuha and Ghost of Harlem this brand is for you!). Finding obscure brands also helps expand your horizon and really diversifies your wardrobe! 

Another suggestion is to not be afraid of buying decently prices bundles. Sometimes people straight up sell off their wardrobes or sell off an outfit as a set. This can really help save money if a bundle fits your aesthetic. This can save on service fees and even shipping costs. It's super helpful. I did this recently and was pleasantly surprised. Honestly my limit on bundles is 50.00 but I've found 3 tops for 15.00 and really felt like it was a deal.

Another thing to not be afraid of but to watch out for  is defects. Sometimes clothes are often cheaper due to defects. When looking for clothes on resell please look at pictures of the clothes closely or even ask the seller the condition of the clothes (or in more seasoned shoppers case-google translate or your Japanese skills are your best fucking friend). Defects to avoid-stains and rips on fabrics as well at broken zippers. Also avoid PVC/leather defects in bags and shoes. 

Defects that are okay-paint chips. These can be respray painted or even polished if you have the right materials. Often in D.i.a's case these little charms on their clothes can be removed from the clothing. Often people mistakenly forget to remove the charms from the wash. Often the paint chips or the jewels are removed. With that said, buy extra jewels so you can replace jewels that are missing. If only one or two are missing-these can be super glues back in place. I'd avoid non-detachable jeweled details that have been removed by the wash. Only settle for things like belts, bags, jewelry, removable charms that have minor defects/missing jewels. 

This is how to get a major discount in clothing and accessory items! So please pay attention to that and buy at your own risk. 

My last piece of advice-much like hair/nails-don't be afraid to DIY things. You want hime gyaru shoes? Get artificial flowers and bling and epoxy glue that shit on. You want that cute bag? Get a bag base and slap some chains and details onto it (tho do pay attention to the material of the base bag when you're buying). You want jewelry or hair accessories? Don't be afraid to make your own. The cool thing about DIY is its your own. You made it so it's something that's going to be unique to your wardrobe and coordinate. Nobody will quite have what you have. 

My DIY Dupe of an expensive Princess Melody belt

A good example of this is the waist belt a made. The original Princess Melody one that does with this dress even on resell was 30.00! I paid 1.00 for a bow waist belt and glued jewels and chains on to make my own! It cost me less than 5.00! Things like this can be done and for clean looking accessories-practice a lot! 


Anyway, this is the end of my "being a gyaru to cheap" post! I know gyaru seems very high maintenance but it doesn't have to be. You can cut corners by prioritizing, having goals, shopping smart, and DIYing! :) I hope this post was helpful! Until next time lovelies!