How to Make Liz Lisa Look Gyaru! A LL Reminisce: What the Hell Happened?

I made a video on my YouTube previously talking about my deal with himekaji and the misunderstandings that come with himekaji-but I thought I would update it via a blog post because I feel like I am much more cohesive in writing than I am in a video. Plus, I have new information on this topic that I would like to add in hopes that if I use references and explain this will be way more helpful. 

So first off, let's get into the biggest part: Hey Darla, I'm wearing Liz Lisa, I'm wearing brand-how is this not gyaru?

Well, reader, it depends on *how* you're wearing Liz Lisa. Let's start off me defining what himekaji is. Himekaji is a substyle of gyaru that appeared in the mid-00s. Himekaji stands for "Casual Hime" or in English "Casual Princess". That could be defined in a lot of different ways now considering people kind of have separated the substyle from gyaru but I'd like to say himekaji is gyaru and what Liz Lisa puts out now is its own thing. It can be princessy and can sometimes be used for gyaru but I'll actually get into how that can be done in a minute and mind you, it can only be done I feel with specific pieces. 

I have a Dec 2006 Popteen and it's a lot more casual but really girly. There's fur, glitter, and crushed velvet literally everywhere on the pieces. It's kind of a gem because I wish I could find the older bags, accessories, and dresses because they're adorable and might have been the first small step into hime without it being the OTT casual hime shit we are aquired to.  I'm not sure if the infamous floral prints were incorporated yet during this time but skirts had denim with lace, too the knee boots, and tops had lots of ruffles or embellishments. I wouldn't fully call this peak himekaji as it was just hyper-feminine gyaru because I don't think there was a focus on prints, big hair, or big hair. 

Anyway, my theory is: in the mid-00s Hime Gyaru was getting a bit of notoriety from what my research via media things shows me but brands like Jesus Diamante and La Parfait were either too extra for everyday wear or other people's cases? Too unattainable. A lot of people liked the princessy look but wanted a simplified version that was affordable and less over the top. 

Before this, Liz Lisa had a label called Liz Lisa Cruz that was very casual and mean casual: Think turtle necks and jeans. So I'm not sure if Liz Lisa fully went that round in the very early 00s (it's hard to find super vintage LL so I can confirm this) but basically, around the mid-00s they started getting really cute and and very gyaru. So I dunno if that's some insight...

Bringing this up reminds me that Liz Lisa as a brand has actually gone through many phases and I don't think is limited to pure floral print OTT himekaji. They had a boho phase as well that people can recall quite vividly at one point in time. Honestly in my opinion, what truly made the brand gyaru was how *adult* it was. 

Despite Liz Lisa's cute flair to everything, back in the day Liz Lisa felt more age inclusive. It was a brand teens could wear and feel stylish or even grown up in. But women in their 20s didn't feel left out because there were many pieces that were cute and sexy. 

Eventually, Liz Lisa hopped onto the princess hype from what a theorized and it was insanely possible. Broke bitches could be princessy and rich bitches could have outfits to wear to the grocery store.

And that's what make gyaru and him wear blend with what Liz Lisa already was and then made himekaji. To note, there are other brands at this time that also could be himekaji or really feminine fluffy gyaru wear that isn't Liz Lisa. You just have to know which brands those are and what works. For example, Cecil McBee had a himekaji phase as much as they had an agejo one. You just have to sift through enough shit to find it. 

So let's talk about clothing and eras: 

Past Liz Lisa: You either showed some leg or some arm. You didn't cover both. Most pieces highlighted the thigh/leg area especially. It wasn't a modest brand per say. It was what gyaru was. Gyaru don't give a fuck about cleavage, bare arms, or legs (when I mean leg I mean above the knee and sometimes mid-thigh). That's the point. That's what made it adult. 

If you had a maxi dress on? Your arms were bare. If you arms were covered in the winter-you sported thigh highs/knee boots with a mini skirt or a dress. Usually, coats even would be as fluffy as they were glamorous. It was sexy, fluffy, and cute.  (I don't know why this is underlined and blue-it's staying that way-my blog is being weird .__.) There was just a way it was pulled off that didn't look so....childish? Now if I tried to wear most Liz Lisa especially with gyaru make up I'd look like a mom trying to fit into her kid's clothes that were too young for me (ha, that's probably shit I already do but..:') we're not here to completely demean my tastes now are we?). 

So that gets us to Current Liz Lisa: It's fluffy and cute but they took out the sexy factor and that is crucial for gyaru. You don't have to tan or even do your hair up super big-you just gotta dress sexy and have the makeup down. Without those factors, it's hard to really call it gyaru and throwing gyaru on with the current LL is strange though can be done with slim pickings. 

I think around 2012 honestly is when Liz Lisa's demographic started shifting. I even bought into it without being wary that *my* Liz Lisa that I had adored since I was a teenager was about to be murdered with a baby rattle. 2012 was the year of the peter pan collar when it came to fashion trends, hair was getting simpler, prints were getting pastel-er, and even Popteen was changing-to my shock and heartbreak is was a totally different magazine in 2013. It wasn't gyaru at all. It was just...a teen magazine-as it was always meant to be honestly. Oddly they were calling this shift 'otona' which loosing is a style term for "mature or adult" but this looking nothing like adult wear. It was just....babyish and plain. It was weird seeing Kumicky and Pikarin without fucking eyelashes hitting their brown bone. I didn't feel like gyaru without those big ass circle lenses staring into my soul. 

Despite the term "otona" being thrown around, Liz Lisa started getting cuter and less adult looking thus, isolating adults from its market. Of course, Liz Lisa has tried to fix this various times with brands like Peindere (?) and Emma. Each one tried to cater to "adults" but weren't very fun and were actually quite boring. There was nothing memorable about them. Hence why those sub-labels were killed off much faster than more popular sister brands like Tralala (Liz Lisa princessy younger sister label) and Liz Lisa Doll (the dark badder bitch of a sister brand-think studs and plaid without being full on rokku). 

Ironically, Tralala and Liz Lisa Doll were very gyaru at one point. Tralala bit the dust soon after the Sailor Moon collab  I assume it's because it got too cutesy and plain. Something that ironically bled into the actual Liz Lisa label. But they went all out princess at one point and was an amazing alt to hime gyaru if you-once again-find the right shit.

Speaking of unlabeled Liz Lisa was so popular at one point that they had a room wear and home line and make up that was appealing with 3-D decorative packaging that gave Jill Stuart and Anna Sui a run for its money. If this didn't prove that the brand was age inclusive (and appealed to gyaru) then I don't know what does. 

Liz Lisa began to narrow down to just it's own label and experiment some occasionally. They killed their lamb mascot for My Melody which also lead to a sub-brand that I think was featured in Sanrio associated stores called LizMelo (which was supposedly cheaper than Liz Lisa? Not sure, I never bought LizMelo-I only felt a friend's piece she bought and it felt and looked lower quality than LL) ...but as cute as My Melody is (and how it definitely has HimeGyaru potential). 

I suspect that Liz Lisa also having an audience associated with Popteen kind of killed it-or at least killed its glory days. It also made Okarie's Ank Rogue line shift. And now Ank, Liz, and Ma*rs pretty much are overlapping and looking the same at times and I'm direly wishing that Ma*rs will snap out of it and utilize on the fact that Y2K is popular with the kids and they could bring out some casual bad bitch barbie realness with bling to set them apart from these rival brands catering to look like they're 12. 

I know a lot of people say Liz Lisa has went the lolita route and I could definitely see where people are also getting that from considering that they've released print pieces. It's like they went casual lolita at some points rather than casual hime gyaru and I direly wish there was a separate name for it so there would be less confusion. Like even Axes Femme looks more adult with the fun intricacy that appealed to people than whatever the fuck LL is throwing at us.

This also doesn't mean that during Liz Lisa's peak gyaru era that normal-looking girls also didn't wear LL. They for sure did.  I just think Liz Lisa was known for being a gyaru brand. It being in 109 kind of solidified that. But even now, is 109 even associated with gyaru anymore? I don't think so. 

I think where there was confusion in the West is over the fact that Liz Lisa peaked as its gyaru era was phasing out. Some of us only got to see a glimpse of Liz Lisa when it was gyaru-late 2009-2012ish (if that even counts). That's a super short frame of time. And if you were lucky to see Liz Lisa around 2004-2008-then bitch, why didn't you save your stock photos? Because I have a need and Tumblr ain't doing it. :') I vaguely fucking remember trying to load up their page in 2008/2009 and basically gave up looking at shit because I was in high school broke and torturing myself with shit I couldn't get. I think a lot of people like Liz Lisa but when you're new, you don't look into substyles deeply. You think: okay manba/yamanba is too crazy and I don't know how to do hime gyaru. Himekaji looks attainable and easy. And yeah, that's probably what got a lot of people into gyaru when LL was gyaru even. It was a good beginner brand and was an easy way into the fashion. I've heard a lot of the same story: I was into HimeGyaru but then you don't know where to find the clothes or the hair and make up looks intimidating but of course, via the internet you stumble into Liz Lisa and try to take a shot in the dark at that. The problem is Liz Lisa isn't catered to gyaru or even adults anymore so people confuse it with gyaru based on its past rather than for what it currently is.

 

I noticed a shift in even the shop staff that I was extremely lucky to be chosen by and meet for the San Francisco Liz Lisa content and showcase for J-Pop Summit ages ago. Their make up was much lighter and the hair was less big. There were a few sexier pieces but a lot of them were moving onto something a bit different and at that time, I couldn't put my finger on what exactly felt off to me. I even was guilty like said, of buying a piece that was in the midst of a shift because it was my first Liz Lisa piece and a bitch was determined I was getting a famous floral print and it was going to be brown.

And let's talk about that for a minute: why Liz Lisa was exciting at one point (at least for me): 

They got known for their florals. There was something that just hit different about and every year there would be a different design of floral print. And it wasn't shit you could get anywhere else that looked *exactly* like theirs (this changed eventually). Their whole store was basically floral and they prided themselves on it. Basket bags had flowers, the make up deco had flowers, their STORE smelled amazing and like floral and something else. It was wild but it's what people began to associate the brand with even though Liz Lisa didn't start out being known for that exactly... And I blame hime gyaru in a way for that because we had these princess dresses with floral print that popped off but were $$$. 

Lots of pieces had really lace or ruffles if it wasn't donning a floral print. Sometimes the florals were even in the embroidery of tops or in the lace edges of tiered skirts. The brand also had a unique ass shade of brown that drove me batshit up the walls. Why? Because I could never find the right shade of brown in America for some fucking strange reason. I could never find a bag or a pair of shoes to match my clothes at first and eventually ended up importing some Liz Lisa shoes (a couple of pairs actually) because fuck not matching. The two things I will always associate LL with is that shade of brown that drove me crazy and floral prints. That was consistent every fucking season even though they'd come out with different designs. 

If it wasn't floral it was a neat shade of cream or brown. Their releases for each season were so exciting and not as predictable. I used to wait for that season's Tokyo Girl's Collection with bated breath because it meant seeing what the hell Liz Lisa would put out. Matter fact, no offense TGC but you used to be way more exciting with way cooler brands. Look up 2009/2010 Tokyo Girls Collection and you'll see a stark contrast. 

What was more exciting is seeing your favorite model wear the brand. This goes for all gyaru brands. I still get excited seeing a piece from any brand I own in a fucking magazine on a model I'm a fan of. We don't have that anymore and it's a little sad...  It was truly a wild time to be alive and I'm glad I got to witness and participate in the last leg of all of that while it was big. Liz Lisa and outside of it. It was so fun and I'm sad that people missed out on getting to talk about brand releases, getting excited about the magazines being flooded with clothes that you also could obtain. 

Seeing brands deteriorate and for people to confuse things like Liz Lisa that was going way too soft for gyaru with being gyaru and just seeing a  whole ass shift in gyaru was hard.  Instagram tags for gyaru would get flooded with girls in really cute Liz Lisa wear from that season or whatever-but it wouldn't be gyaru. Many would not understand why they didn't meet the mark. The sexy-princess eccentricity wasn't there and if it wasn't that-where was the boho chic or cool fall wear filled with faux furs, tartans, etc? More importantly-where was the hair or make up? There was no excitement. There was no discussion. Just misunderstandings and critique...

Anyways, enough of me woeing-let's talk about make up and hair for old style Liz Lisa: 

Now, I've been guilty of wearing my own hair flat or straight with Liz Lisa. It *can* work but your make up has to be on a certain level to get away with it with Liz Lisa. 

If you want to be true as hell to himekaji though, do up the hair. Be extra. Incorporate the headband braids, do a cute curled updo, teased the hell out of curled hair and pull an old-era Tsubasa, or heck? Side ponytail it and curl it and then build your way up. Add mini crowns for that princess touch, ribbons, or what I like to call flower combs rather than the flower crowns. Have fluffy earrings to accent your hair even because it draws people's eyes to your head. 

But you def can do a rendition of straight hair. I've done it. It works. Just pick the right outfit and really showcase the make up. 

When it comes to what makes Liz Lisa himekaji or just himekaji in general gyaru is truly the make up. Himekaji kind of has a different style of make up that is unlike styles like agejo or tsuyome that can be a bit bottom/lower lash line heavy with darker colors and can be bolder even. Imma describe make up via letters: 

T=Top heavy. Bearly any blush or lip. Probably idea for rokku. T could also be those nose nose contour done up.

Y=The make up is gradiented from top to bottom. Lashes are main focus. Blush is next. Lips are lash and lightest. You want your lips to be smaller and your eyes bigger and your blush accented. Usually perfect for Himekaji, certain styles of Tsuyome, and agejo. 

t= When you eyes and lips are not the focus but your blush is. Think igari make up. 

W=Lips and cheek are focused. Eyes aren't fully the primary focus. This is partially where modern Japanese style is at. 

Liz Lisa is definitely top lid focused and the colors are neutral. Pinks, creams, oranges, and browns are your best friends for eye shadow. The more glittery the better. You want to still make your eyes huge but if you're doing earlier LL-they're focused on lashes. Be careful if you do go senseless with lashes though because too heavy of top eye make up can make your eye make up look top heavy! 

Lashes should be things like Dollywink #1s and 2s. Diamond Lash Celeb or Angel eye also work beautifully. I almost want to say focus on length more than volume when it comes to himekaji but I've worn volume focused top lashes before with Liz Lisa and it looks nice. Eyeliner can be black but it's also acceptable to wear brown or burgundy eyeliner depending on the outfit!

Lower lashes can be almost anything but I really like Dollywink 5s a lot. If you want a more eccentric lower lash def try some that kinda are lightly clustered for a baby doll look. 

Don't throw eyeliner too heavy on the lower lash line. You want just enough to blend your bottom lashes in. What you really want to do is throw eye shadow on your lower lash line-usually a light brown/brown on the outside with a lighter glittery color gradient into the center. 

For a true himekaji look-pack on the blush. It's kind of a 2009-2011ish Popteen staple. Everyone wore too much blush. Props if you find Candy Doll's Strawberry Pink and Marshmallow Purple because that is the most gyary AF combination ever. NARS' Angelika is a good dupe. 

For lips you wanna do a baby pink, nude, or coral. Props if you do incorporate a tan (I feel like it makes everything pop and look more adult for some reason) but it's not necessary. For lips I used to use two Mac Colors Fleur de Coral (it's limited edition sorry), and Mac's Angel which is my closest dupe for Candydoll's Ramune Pink! Sometimes I'd also wear a Jill Stuart lipstick as well! :) 

For contour-don't contour to hell and back. This isn't old school or tsuyome or whatever else. You want your face to look three-dimensional but you don't wanna look romanba or some shit. That's a different demon. Liz Lisa could potentially delve into that if you have old enough Liz Lisa (like really old) but that's not what himekaji is. For himekaji you want a fawn brown as a contour and you wanna really lightly place it on. You actually want your face to be kind of top-heavy. Your eyes are the biggest feature-you want those to pop, you then want your blush and highlight to be the next thing someone notice, and last your lips-hence why your lips are a wash of color/pale...usually it's because you want them to look smaller. 

Here's some himekaji shit I threw together..hell I'll even show you where I went right and wrong

Ha! Straight hair with some Liz Lisa. See how my arms are showing so it's a bit more adult? See what a pain in the ass it is to find Western style brand sandals or anything that fucking match? Ugh. I pulled my bangs back which can be quite popular in gyaru hair styles. 

Make up wise-top heavy? Check. Blush check? My nose contour is apparent here which is fine. I have lower lashes in and even threw color down in the bottom which is kind of edgy considering I was doing himekaji. See how I threw a lighter color on the lower inner corner and how a darker corner is outside? Also! There's that Jill Stuart lip.  I'm pretty sure this is back when everyone was into doing thick brows and I was *just* learning out to do my eyebrows but you really wanna look more "adult"-thin em and arch them. It just looks more gyaru. Don't' do angry bitch brows (it looks amazing on tsuyome and rokku) but just...don't make them as thick if you don't want to look baby!

Here's the model in a stock photo for reference with the same dress in a slightly different colorway. Honestly, her shoes look way better with those ruffled socks than my shitty sandals that I was stuck with because well...finding shit that matches it a pain in my ass and importing murders my wallet. Anyway, look, her make up is cute. You can see her blush even from the outfit shot!

This is a darker lip. Sometimes I feel rebellious and want to do that. Once again, my eye make up is a huge focus tho maybe my lip takes in an I pattern rather than a Y pattern for makeup. Here are some low twintails I did! My arms are showing. There's that infamous brown and floral print that I can't get enough of! 

Here is high twin-tails, a very cute Samantha Vega bag (the old ones are a gyaru staple with those ruffles and heart buckles) with a pretty famous print! Everything here is Liz Lisa. My coat I think is a newer piece and if I had the potential of buying another LL coat it might be one that is more glamorous. This is a bag wing style one with lace and fur. It's winter time in this pic so it's def less sexy but that's where my make up and showing of the legs come handy. This looks like a that weird 2012 shit but it can pass. 

For reference, this is the same dress done way more gyaru. I think the hair really fucking changed the way the dress looked. She's got that trademark hime-bump that just really makes this look so flawless

I did this look before the look before but it's one of the last few himekaji looks I've done before fully immersing myself into fucking ma*rs and Golds Infinity (sorry, it's been a thing guys lol) when it hasn't been witch-bitch shit. So I tried to purposely make my hair look short but's actually long! :) 

If you like the make up I did here, this look is actually the first makeup tutorial I had filmed on my DSLR back in 2017. It's here:

I also filmed a shitty rendition of the look I did with straight hair here:

I feel like one of my recent make up tutorials I've done could also pass for himekaji style make up as well (and is way more blended and fun than my first two atrocities up there lmao) :

Always feel like my shit is a nod at fucking Yui Kanno or Kumicky. jfc. One day, I need to do a proper all out gyaru look for Liz Lisa like I do for Ma*rs and my rokku shit. pffttt. 

Okay, so for the last part of this blogpost. Darla, I'm bored with old Liz Lisa. I wanna modern up himekaji style. Can I use the new clothing in anyway? 

Yes. Think Y2K Princess. Thankfully for you, Liz Lisa is using gem embellishments since last year. You probably want to aim for skirt and top combinations since their dresses are too fluffy cute and not sexy cute. You want to basically glamorize and sexify everything (in a classy way-that's what makes it hime :P) to make it gyaru!

Here's a couple items I've chosen that I could work for gyaru. 

Aim for Liz Lisa camisoles. Especially if they have chains and bling like this one. Place your hair in a cute updo to accentuate this feature!

Y2K fashion was all about denim skirts. This one is short enough and the white ribbon detail matches the camisole for a princess-y feel that still gives an adult/gyaru vibe!

A cute bag is everything. This has bows, bling, and ruffles. This is super princessy and doesn't have to be deemed too fluffy to be gyaru. Aim for a pink or brown colorway!

These make the camisole and the bag! A princess is nothing without her jewelry right?

You can always add your own things that aren't Liz Lisa to the mix! These are just some items I've found from their current website that could work for gyaru. :) Unfortunately their shoes right now ain't it. If you can deco up a pair of kitten heels with bling, lace, ribbon, and flowers you're set though!

Anyway, I hope this kind of cleared the whole himekaji deal up with Liz Lisa. As always, I'm not the be all say all. This is just my outlook with some references from the internet and from myself in hopes that this can guide people a little better if they really are pursuing gyaru and really like that himekaji Popteen/Liz Lisa-y type of vibe. 

Until next time guys!!