Feeling like the Real Life Momoko

For a couple months now I've been at this point in life where I kind of have stayed isolated in the area I live in but still have that need to be unique and wonder if it's the stares or questions/questionable looks I get. Halloween passed a bit back and for awhile now, I've sported lolita every Halloween for the past couple of years. Every time I proceed to do so, I always  feel like Momoko from Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari) when I do so. No really.... 

A little back story on me, despite seeing me frequent the Bay Area and Sacramento a lot? I actually live no where near those places. I used to. But not now. I actually live a good hour and a half-two hours away from San Francisco depending on the traffic or form of transportation I take. This has been my life for four years or so. Beforehand I did live in the Bay Area fourty-five minutes away from the city and I was in the middle of everything quite literally in the heart of the Bay.

Here, I had blossomed into being outrageous and unique but when my family decided to make the move off to to the Valley I never felt so out of place and alone. To this day, I live my life elsewhere and work extremely hard to do so. Much like Momoko, I do not have friends. Would I be interested? That would be questionable and be depending on the type of company. Point is, I am very fortunate and unfortunate because I live so far and yet close. It's a weird in between, especially for a girl who wears circle lenses, lashes, frills, short skirts and petticoats. 

When I first watched Kamikaze Girls in high school. the appeal of lolita fashion is what drew me in and kept me there. However I couldn't really relate to anyone but Momoko because of her love of lolita fashion. It like she said, shot her in the heart and she wanted to die living like that forever. I could definitely see why! However, watching the movie further on down the line-I related to her character more and more once I had moved to yes, quite literally, farm land. Much like Momoko she would do anything to live her life elsewhere even if temporarily due to her love of fashion. I get that-not in the swindling sense (there is none of that and wouldn't be for me LOL) but in the work sense. I've always worked and worked and worked to life my life temporarily elsewhere because elsewhere is where I fitted in. Where there was a community that liked or understood the same passions as I do. This doesn't just go for lolita but for anything J-Fashion related or even cosplay! Feeling a sense of belonging is definitely important and I understood having that weird in between. It's not like Momoko hung out with any other fellow lolitas outside just going to buy her frills. Thinking about it now, she probably lacked the time to due to the commute she had to take just to get to Tokyo. She was close enough to get there by train but we obviously see an obvious time difference in when she departs and returns. Hence why it was kind of a running joke that I was one of probably many real life Momokos. The second time I watched the movie and then read the manga-the more I understood her character and realized why so many people adored her character and even other than that-she's gotten a lot of hidden traits that make her interesting.

For me, it felt her struggle. To get to SF I have to first be driven or bused to a train station-I take the train station and then bus it. Usually I throw on a longer coat to hide my frills or just change when I get where I need to be. A lot more recently I've worn less lolita and more gyaru clothing just because it's easier to conceal. I throw sunglasses over my eye make-up so I don't attract crazy attention but even so it still happens! Haha~ I'm always worried about my safety when I commute. 

This subject definitely wasn't written to complain but to relate. I'm very very sure plenty of girls can relate to this feeling and like I said, I'm very lucky to have that in between of being close and yet far! I can only imagine how it is for other girls that aren't as lucky to be near any of the flagship stores for J-Fashion (god bless online shopping...this totally wasn't an easy feat a couple of years or so back that is for sure!) or even near a community. I can only imagine how lonely that feels and the trek they have to take to feel a sense of community or belonging by traveling to conventions,  events, and meet ups. In a way I feel very blessed that I still can somewhat reach the city that I fell in love with that just so happens to be J-Fashion friendly. 

So with this said, I admire the girls who life style their fashion all the time especially when they don't live near a major city or where there are strength in numbers. It takes a lot of courage and tolerance of other people to go that route and push for what you want. Even I have still yet to do that fully on the lolita front because I've gotten smashed on plenty (called a whore, prostitute, sexually harassed ect) as a gyaru where I live just going to the mall for leisure so I have to tone down because safety is a lot more important than my fashion being my form of art and stress reliever. 

A big question for you readers is, do you wear J-Fashion outside of events or where there's a lack of strength in numbers? If so how do you keep safe or conceal your outfits? How much do you relate to Momoko or what was your first impression of the movie or her character?

Twenty-three but no wiser~

These past couple of months, as I've been saying, have just been so strange. Like a whirl wind of stuff-lots of self reflection. A lot has went on but not a lot has at the same time~

So first off my twenty-third birthday passed. It was the first time I ever spent my birthday alone. I went to SF alone to celebrate a couple of weekends later! Haha~ I suppose it's all a part of growing up really-being independent. But it for sure was such a strange feeling. 

The day of my birthday I dressed up for absolutely no reason and just lounged around the house. I tried to do a slightly more mature look. I did a new hair style too! I really love how I just rocked simple make-up and nothing but Dollywinks~ It kind of made me feel like an older Popteen gal or something! Haha! The day of my birthday was bizzare because of the weather too. it was sunny ad storming at the exact same time while I headed up to get a boba... What the hell? 

A couple weekends later I hit San Francisco solo and went for a totally different look. Because I was hitting the city I wanted to kind of being flashier since I can't get away with certain clothing out here as is. I decided to goth it out and wear my Ghost of Harlem dress out. It was long enough to feel safe in and throw a jacket over without feeling unsafe considering I was alone in the city and taking the BART for the first time in two years. 

It was a nice quiet trip. I ended up getting ramen and takoyaki at my favorite ramen place, Yamadaya and just sat there thinking about a lot. I really liked the quiet time in a certain sense and I felt relieved knowing that I wasn't the only girl dining alone. Haha~ It was super hot out and I just have not been using to eating out, I took the takoyaki to go hoping it would survive the trip back to the valley and couldn't finish the noodles I ordered. 

I hit Kinokuniya got the September issue of Kera because well...the birthday issue had Akira on it, so why the fuck not? <3 Then hit Nijiya to stock up on Dollywink eye lash glue because I refuse to use anything else. I always end up taking a rest in Hotel Kabuki's lobby (also they have an outlet for my phone ;A;) and sat there skimming through the magazine I got sipping on tea feeling fully out of place next to the tourists staying there. 

Eventually I did deck it out of Japan Town because due to personal reasons there's just a lot of memories there that I just wasn't ready to deal with or face. Next trip down that way I am for sure going to go crazy and just spoil myself rotten because I want to be happier down there next go around!

Downtown was the next destination and I just hit Sephora to restock up on foundation. I kind of swear by NARS and Kat Von D... This round I was getting Kat Von D. I'll probably head back there for NARS next go around possibly. NARS is lighter feeling than KVD but I love both. They have different effects. I ended up getting birthday gifts with my purchase! I got to try out the make-up forever lipstick and mascara. The lipstick is okay, I still like my Colassal Rocket mascara though!

I hit Forever21 just to stall around.Why is it that every time I have cash I hardly find anything but then when I don't have cash I want to buy out the entire floor? LOL Next time for sure!! I have to buy work clothes in solids and I intend on buying drapey shit and some fuggin' cute dresses for school ontop of that. -intends to have no self control- 

After that trip I did a bit of make-up experimentation with my friend Cross (ya'lls know her as Dearxx) with visual kei style. She did hers first because she had the right wigs and shit (haha I was stuck with my long ass girly fucken hair) and we were dying laughing the entire time on skype. She then shot at me, "Girl where the hell is yours?!" Challenge accepted. I tried my best to be as badass as possible. It's kind of hard to do now that I wear girly kind of minimal eyeliner type of looks~ It was so hilarious though. Cross and I while we were never really active in the visual kei scene here, I think we for sure had the visual kei/J-Rock spirit alive in us and still do even to a certain extent-we were never blantly visual kei or really embraced or claimed the title I don't think. For me it's because I never really truly had the look down. I had style icons but I never wanted to look exactly like a band  member like a lot of kids do now a day. Honestly,  we just grew up and all with the times and grew out of the scene. Cross and I got girlier for sure~ We were laughing because it took us this long to be satisfied with the look. Our make-up skills have for sure improved since a couple years ago when we had teased hair and shitty eyeliner. LOL 

I felt like I looked slightly like miko from ExistTrace when I restyled my hair. I've always kind of liked Uruha's hair too but that shit wasn't happening with these long layered. The right picture is what I used to rock and I obviously had tease-able layered hair. I ain't willing to sacrifice the length for the experimentation -ain't about that life any longer- LOL but it was funny seeing how I had improved for sure!!!

So speaking of work clothes-a couple weeks later I ended up scoring not only one job interview but two! I was pretty flipping shocked not only because they were both the same week as each other but they were both in cosmetics and we all know how I am a bit of a beauty product whore. One was with Ulta and the other was with Estee Lauder. 

Both interviews went insanely well, I was actually kind of shocked. I was really pleased. I ended up choosing Ulta because they weren't seasonal and Estee was. Plus Ulta has a wider range of stuff to throw onto customers so you damn well know I will lure ladies and confused boyfriends/husbands right into the Prestige isle for Urban Decay/Too Faced/Benefit ect. LOL 

I don't start until Tuesday but you all wish me luck because I've really been hoping to find a job where I live where I fit in a little bit better! The past two jobs I've had haven't been quite what I was looking for but it was work. Being a Beauty Advisor is tough work but I want to come off as friendly and like you're almost shopping with a friend who's happening to make suggestions and such! 

As for the interview looks Estee was really neat, light, and feminine. For Ulta I wanted to be super high end and trendy. 

Lately as you can tell, I've been kind of in a dark mood and it's been reflecting in my clothes and make-up for sure. I think it's due to a lot of things and all but I've been a lot more mature for the most part with each look I've been doing. Obviously I didn't wear circle lenses for the interviews but LOL this is the first time you readers get to see me without contacts in! Yes those are my real eyes. Yes they're naturally green-I just happen to like the enhancement of circle lenses (especially when I wear heavier lashes) and changing my eyes colors! Haha~

So that's been life recently. Eventful but not so eventful~ Hopefully when I have cash rolling in and once I take care of necessities I'll be able to do a bit more and talk about stuff from a personal point of view yeah?

The Appeal of Japanese Fashion magazines

I was watching a couple Popteen videos recently and two of my favorite Popteen models have graduated. Okarie being the first and Kumiky recently being the second one. The idea of explaining the appeal of Japanese fashion magazines versus the American ones kind of came into my head. I'm always asked why I'd pick a Popteen over a Teen Vogue since obviously I can read English and not Japanese. I can explain this a bit in a couple of different ways. This isn't only for just Popteen but the deceased gyaru magazines and the running of Gothic Lolita Bible and Kera which I also follow pretty closely.

I think the coolest thing about Japanese fashion magazines is the relatability. The way they market these models is really great. Of course models here are scouted too but the cool thing about Japan is a lot of the girls start out as 'reader models'. They're not exactly cast by any agent I don't think-they followed the magazine they're representing pretty closely and know the history behind it. It's not "oh you're going to be on the cover of this random magazine." A lot of these girls live a specific fashion life style (gyaru/lolita/punk/ect) and grew into the fashion looking at the older models. A lot of the girls are incredibly regular and were fans of the magazine they read before hand.

Another really cool thing is this sense of family between the models. I think the closest thing we have here is the Victoria Secrets Angels who are consistent and represent that line but that's not for a magazine really. Popteen, Ageha, Egg, ect all have a line up of the same model who only represent that magazine. They will do this for years and have a certain style unique to them that will really set them a part from the other girls. In Popteen's case I always thought that it was Pikarin because she wasn't fully Shibuya-kei nor was she Harajuku-kei or Akiba-kei either-she was super well rounded. In  Ageha's case it was definitely a show down between Sakurai Rina and Himena Osaki for me. You'd follow these girls for years and be dedicated to buying the issues where they were the featured cover girl in support of their career. In Popteen's case-graduating models is always a little saddening but you know the ladies will move on to bigger things with their modeling career. 

A lot of the models create their own brand for fans to wear. A really huge line right now clothing wise is Kokokim which is Angelic Pretty/Kera model's Kimura U's brand. A lot of fans showed up to support her line and buy her clothes. In my case she  had gained a new fan because I really loved how passionate she was on creating her own clothing line and store! It's neat how she's expanded it. Other girls create and endorse products. Tsubasa Masuwaka is known for endorsing GEO's Princess Mimi contacts, Palty Hair Dye and creating through Koji her own top selling make-up line DollyWink and CandyDoll. This will also expand their fanbase through product placement. Tsubasa, Rina, and Pikarin are also singers/idols! They have their own albums and singles expanded outside of their modeling career.

Other than this, a lot of the 'reader models' will bring clothes they selected from a certain brand to their photoshoots. These brands are usually accessible for girls to buy and own. They can wear the same clothes as the girls they admire. I just bought a Kera magazine for a matter of fact and a couple of things I own clothing wise and make-up wise are featured in the magazine and a model is wearing it! I got so thrilled seeing Kimura U in the Ghost of Harlem dress that I bought. I think that it really brings a sense of reliability for the readers. 

I read a lot of Elle and Vogue and even Seventeen in  my high school days and honestly I felt like I could never really look up to the girls in there. A lot of it was high end pretty girls in yeah...high end clothes that no normal girl could afford. I don't really remember any magazine model's names or anything that truly stood out to me. They were literally coat hangers for whatever line or brand they were endorsing. A lot of the media here pressures girls to look sexy or fit a certain image or else you don't fit the 'criteria of looking beautiful'. So the pressure is there to afford expensive things and to diet or even grow-up too quickly. 

Not that Japanese magazines don't shove ads down their readers throats. Ageha and EGG are super guilty of having pages and pages of diet pills and plastic surgery/weight loss adds saturating the back pages. And I'm very sure girls feel pressured in Japan as well- a lot of clothes are still one size only. Good luck trying to fit into ma*rs or DIA without your thigh or bust hanging out if you attempt to squeeze it. Japanese magazines definitely have their faults as well. However Japanese beauty standards are for sure different. A lot of girls are for sure reliant on make-up in Japan and I loved how EGG models especially had imperfections making a girl who looked up to the gyaru life style a lot more reachable. Even Kera model Haruka is recently decked out in colorful braces! 

The Western counter part is very organized where  Japanese magazines are cluttered despite there being a method to the madness when it comes to information! 

Which one do you guys prefer? What else do you guys like about Western or Japanese magazines and which do you religiously follow?

Summer 2014 (Fanime, Anime Expo, J-Pop Summit, SacAnime)

So as you all know, I've been kind of quiet lately. Especially with my personal life and what all I've been up to despite going  to a lot of events. I'll be honest, this has been the hardest summer I have ever endured. I've faced a lot of hard challenges and have currently been trying very hard to continue on and piece myself and my life back together after being knocked down a bit. I found it hard to blog to you guys and tell you guys to be confident and beautiful when I personally-did not feel like that at all. I didn't want to be a hypocrite. I will say though despite this being the roughest summer season I've endured so far-I've learned a lot about others and myself. I want to treat others a lot better or try to because nobody deserves to feel how I felt over this period of time. I want to try hard to be a better person and really get back to helping others feel beautiful and confident. I'll try again once I feel like I myself can be for you all. 

Anyway, I went to a couple of events and I don't really want to talk about them too much because a lot was on my mind but I'll tell you guys about the highlights.

I went to Fanime back in May and I was pretty excited about going. I met up with a lot of lovely people from out of town and because everyone was together was the whole reason I scrapped up the cash to go! haha bad choice but anyway, I had an okay experience. I didn't really hit the convention a lot but I did go on a lot of boba runs with lots of close friends. One being my best friend who always puts the effort into see me or pick up things for me knowing I dress like a hooker/I wear horrible shoes. haha thank you Isabel for always enduring me! You're the best friend anyone could ask for!!! <3

I ended up attending a gyaru meet up! It was really fun meeting girls who liked the same fashion as I do. A lot of girls had went in cute Liz Lisa/Hime Kaji there were a couple of ladies who went a different route but at the beginning of the meet up I felt like such a black sheep! I ended up dressing in ma*rs since I felt like I would be unique going that route and not to mention I really love agejo fashion and I feel like that style suits me best! I wish I owned more ma*rs!!! Back to the subject though, I had such a great time taking pictures with the girls there!! I really hope we have another one next year if I end up going to the convention.

(nicked a couple of pics because they were in a full group! I hope nobody minds!)

I did Sydney and Emma's make-up for their Panty and Stocking cosplay! It was the first time I had worked on anyone's face all out in a very long time!!! I loved how it turned out. They ended up getting Sugarpill loose eye shadows and I just...I fell in love. I really wish I could have some for myself. They're also wearing blinged out Sugarpill eyelashes! -in love- both are wearing NARS blush and mac lipsticks in 'Pink Nouveau' and 'Nikki II Viva Glam'. Panty's make-up was warmer and Stocking was cooler. I thought it kind of fit with their personalities. So SO proud of how their faces turned out. I couldn't get over it. Now I'm just direly wanting Sugarpill products to go crazy with and try other looks out!

Another highlight of the con was getting to go with a couple friends to a Homemade Kazoku concert! Haha~ It was pretty fun. I only knew one song and I think was from Bleach I'm pretty sure (I don't watch Bleach either LOL) go figure. It was a really fun concert because of how they all made their audience feel so included even if we had no idea who they were or followed their music. They mc'd through a lot of it and it was great that they spoke English!! I haven't been to a really fun concert in a long time so it was a fun experience. Their style of music makes me direly wish we could bring m-flo and a couple artist he collabs with over for a concert because it would probably be in the same style as Homemade Kazoku's!

After Fanime was Anime Expo!! Kyaa! It was my very first AX and I was pretty excited to get to return to LA again after awhile. I was going to see friends and see a couple of designers! Plus is was the huge Sailor Moon Crystal debut and I was pretty flipping excited about that! Pre-Day 1 I went to San Jose to chill out while I waited for a friend to get off of work. I re-lived Fanime without the crazy crowd and hung at the convention center for most of the evening. Beforehand I went to mitsuwa found the last issue of Egg ever..only a copy left and I just felt like it was meant to be so I did buy it (RIP EGG you are missed) and found a great deal on Dollywinks so I got No. 2s and 5s. I never tried bottom lashes before so I was really excited to try that out!

Day 1, I arrived in LA with literally two days of no fucking sleep. How I survived and looked okay, I truly have no fucking idea. I just applied my make-up as heavy as it would go and hoped to god I wouldn't die on the convention floor. It was a huge hassle all morning I'll admit. We changed hotel rooms, ran errands, saw the badge line from hell...with me barely having any sleep I was really irritable. I didn't even wait for the badge to get into dealers. I went in and just bought what I needed. I found it a little ridiculous to wait that long outside in the heat for a badge so I literally just got what I needed the day of in the last hour of the dealer's hall.

First stop was Ghost of Harlem! I found the dress I had been stalking online. They didn't have the purple colorway so I bought the black since it was neutral. I almost bought the fleur cuff but the designer specifically picked out the cross cuff for me and I was pretty convinced when she corrected it. LOL I was crazy flattered that she liked how I did my make-up because let's face it-she's got Sakurai Rina who is a hot bitch-as her face/cover model. I felt like I was given blessings to other than the fact I wore a wig out of time constraint and knew for a fact my wig looked a hot mess and that the heat and running the fuck around everywhere had definitely melted off my make-up a bit. D:

Second stop was Kokokim where my lovely friends Leslie and Olivia (you probably know her as LemonTree <3) were working at the booth!! I should have taken a picture with GoH's designer but i was SUPER intimidated (especially speaking in Japanese. every bit of grammar went out of the fucking window out of intimidation) to ask but I did get Kimura U's picture and shared the picture with Leslie because she was kind enough to be a translator for me and looked equally as cute. I ran into Sara (CharmieSweets) for a bit and we fawned over the Kokokim collection. The garter I wanted sold out quick (thank you errands and lack of badge) but they did have the Love Hospital dress I wanted and I was bribed by friends to get it. It was too cute to pass up and I really wanted to support the fact that two of my friends were working the booth and that Kimura U is so passionate about her brand. What isn't to love about that?!

I eventually got to our high class hooker hotel (you heard me right), showered, and passed the fuck out next to the bros. LOL I regret not buying snacks in Little Tokyo because I woke up the next day starving. I had only ate once the day before and probably burnt up all the energy going on no sleep. So I was extra cranky unfortunately. BUT I got to be reunited with not only darling Mimi and Thanh! First day they paired up in Sweet Lolita and Visual Kei and it's kind of like living the dream ne? A cute lolita and a rough a round the edges J-Rocker. They're such a cute fashionable couple! I got to bond with Mimi a lot and get to know Thanh better which was great! I rarely get to see either of them and they were a huge comfort during the trip.

That night was fourth of July. Dave took us all to a really badass K-BBQ place and Sara joined us! Their whole wall opened up to the outside and we got to watch fireworks while eating our food. It was so perfect and I was incredibly happy about it!

Next day I cosplayed as Sailor Neptune in honor of the Sailor Moon Crystal

debut. I cosplayed as Neptune at Fanime as well but I didn't have any pictures to show of it. Neptune is really hard to pull off but she's a favorite character of mine so I attempt to do her anyway. Mimi wore a lovely Sakizou inspired outfit she sewed/put together herself. It was really gorgeous I was so impressed! She wants to become a fashion designer I think and I am already a huge fan!!! All those ruffles! We ended off the night with Guppy Tea House and after that day the last was uneventful. Regardless LA was a blast. First AX was very fun.

A little after this event was J-Pop Summit in San Francisco! This is a really exciting event for me because I have attended it since the New People building first opened. I've seen BPN/DokiDoki/h.Naoto come and go as well as a couple of other brands. I've participated in the Black Peace Now and Liz Lisa contest in the past and this year was the Harajuku Kawaii coordinate contest where I wore Kokokim and debuted the Pop Gyaru concept that I was so determined to commit to. I was so nervous wearing pastels! Haha... Cute really isn't a forte for me and as I grow older it's harder and harder to pull off personally. I didn't win the contest but Leslie did and Kokokim was still repped because she wore that too!

As for the festival. It was crowded as fuck. Props to anyone who went and got through it. First day high lights other than the contest was arriving in J-Town and as soon as I hit the plaza darling Akira is doing her sound check. Now mind you it got stupid crowded later on when she ACTUALLY did her concert so I felt great being one of the few that got to watch her sing for a couple seconds live before the craziness enissued later on. Plus I was backstage for the actual concert! The concert was fun backstage though!! Seeing her up close as per usual was very intimidating. I kept running into her in the crowd ALL WEEKEND LONG. Haha but she was always in a rush so I didn't want to bother asking for a picture or an autograph really knowing how crazy her schedule would be. I'd be like 'who the hell is wearing as much make-up as I am?!' as I looked through the crowds to get through and bam realized it was her. I'll be forever amused.

Day two was a lot less crazy thank god. I wanted to participate in the Baby contest and I regret not doing so but I really felt like the coordinate I had planned wasn't on par honestly. Because Tomomi Nakamura, the designer of Alice and the Pirates as there as well as Akira-I felt like I needed to wear a coordinate I was confident in. It was VERY clear I needed to wear Ghost Town because I felt like it was well coordinated and finished. It was an outfit I was confident with. Later on the day I really lucked up and got to go to the meet and greet. I was super nervous and clumsy but I am super crazy honored that I got to meet two ladies that I really look up to. I've been a huge fan of Alice and the Pirates, personally I am an AatP's girl and Akira I've been following since high school. I always thought she was incredibly unique because of her style and used to really like Ouji/Kodona back when I was eighteen or so! She looks really cool in photoshoots and she really is gentlemanly/princely in real life but she's also incredibly personable too. I was so impressed how her demeanor was. Tomomi was such a princess (she's beautiful! she seriously could model her own designs...she's so cute and dainty!) and just so incredibly proper too. Goodness I really hope I gave her a good impression. I told them BOTH that they were gorgeous and that I was a huge fan of their 
work.

Other than those two lovelies, I also got to bring out my gal side. Unfortunately I was super committed to wearing Harajuku fashion all weekend long but Black Diamond was also present at this festival. Holy shit KuroGals front and center. I am more into gyaru fashion than lolita and I wish I could have worn a crazy outfit to show them gyaru ain't dead over here but I did show up for their ParaPara performance. It was a blast from the past! That and seeing CocoLulu and DIA clothes in person and well as colorful sujimori hair done up was really neat. Gyaru culture is dying but it was so neat to see this here. They ran into our group and called us 'kakkoi/cool'. I think they were talking about Ying and Toshi though! Haha! Regardless of the lack of coolness, I did interview for a Japanese TV show and JapanKuru when I picked up a couple of Canmake goodies so I was pretty happy that people liked the coordinate I chose for J-Pop! I wished the Kokokim outfit got that attention but it was kinda casual!





SacAnime was pretty chill. Yet again I all nighted because I didn't hit Sacramento until very very late. It felt weird being there. I haven't been since...April I think? I really missed it there. It's a city but a relaxing one. I finally got to do Rock Gyaru and sported the Ghost of Harlem dress I bought at AX. I was pretty please at how the coordinate turned out. It was hot all weekend but it was a crazy comfy dress.

Highlights were getting bento and sitting in a circle to eat. Felt like something out of an anime! I got to really get to know my kouhai Emma a lot better (I have a couple of super sweet kouhai-tachi) during the weekend. I let her scan through a couple of Ageha and EGG magazines knowing she would never get to experience a physical copy since she is just now wanting to get into gyaru fashion. I REALLY want to bring in a new generation of gyaru girls! A couple of the younger ladies I know in the teens/early twenties want to try it out so I hope I can see a whole new era grow and one that is accepting. I want the new girls to wear and get things that are attainable so the trend and inspiration can spread. The older generations always have brand things clothes/lashes wise so it would be great to have the new girls really implement reachable things so girls can relate to them without worrying about shopping services or busting a lot of bank online. Super excited to see Emma experience gyaru fashion! I know she's going to be great!

Other than that I got to see a lot of friends and reconnect. I got to know people a lot of better and a lot of people just wanted to sit and talk/hang which was really great. It was a crazy chill convention and it was so nice seeing everyone.

Anyway, this has been the summer I've kept quiet about. A lot of good things happened along the way and bad as well. Like I said a lot of self realization and a lot of change occurred... I'm still trying to process and recover a bit. So thank you all for sticking by me and being patient. I should have a couple fashion and make-up entries really soon!!

Kawaii-ify Your Android Phone with cute/useful apps and themes!

A little over a year ago I made a blog post on how to Gal-ify your iPhone by accessorizing the outside and figuring out ways to even make the internal cute with apps and certain backgrounds. I'm here to add to the entry to include a couple of Android friendly apps that I've discovered after tinkering with a Galaxy Nexus.

Launchers:

Changing your launcher in a fool proof way to really customize your phone however you want it. There's a couple ways to do this. The top two apps I've seen people use are 'Homee' and 'Home+' once you install these apps onto your phone you'll be able to download selected themes (free and paid) that will change not only the backgrounds on your phone but even your icons/shortcuts to your apps if you let it!

A couple of popular themes? 

Sanrio and San-X (for those of you who like Rilakuma) has a couple of really great ones that are free that are super cute. The one a couple of friends and I are using is the 'my melody macron sweets' theme launcher. This changes your background and your icons! I didn't keep it but it turns your camera app into a cute bunny and also places bows onto your icons. 

Homee has a lot of different options to choose from based on your personal style. There's everything from 'Princess-esque' things to sexy gyaru prints with bling to creepy cute and Alice in Wonderland for your punk and lolita needs! 

Another really popular option is 'KiraHime' which I've talked about before. This is one of those animated backgrounds. What makes this unique is that your background will move and sparkle. 'KiraKiraJewel' is also the same concept as 'KiraHime'. Honestly I like it a little bit better.  They have a couple of trial backgrounds but the only down side to these other than from the fact that it can eat away your battery life is that you do have to pay for them! It's worth it though for sure if you like really pretty customized themes and use your phone frequently. I think there are also apps by the same makers that can change up your Widgets/Calendars/Clocks ect. You just have to look hard enough!

Another theme changing option (usually you do have to pay for this option) is the brand backgrounds! Certain gyaru brands collab up with app makers for a theme! Right here  I found a ma*rs one! You guys know how I love ma*rs so I fell IN LOVE with this background. It's also a Hello Kitty collab surprisingly. Not sure if Liz Lisa did one with 'my melody' considering they are also in a collab with Sanrio! I can assume these are crazy popular. Etude House also has a launcher app that works as well!

Another really fun option is to use Cocoppa. There are a ton of options on this app. It's not very iPhone friendly honestly-this was truly made for the Android babies since you can delete the original short cut and replace it with the icons of your choice. While this does of have theme and background options-this also can change up your icons. You can create your own, buy a couple of official ones,  that or download the ones that other people make! Currently; this is what my Nexus looks like! I like it a lot! I'm still an iPhone user (I adopted a neglected Nexus to tinker with it due to not getting access to everything because of the iTunes store and all. I wanted the best of both worlds) but it was a fun way to try out certain things! 

A couple of Android apps or apps I found on the Google Play store that caught my eye that are very J-Fashion friendly; 

Camera Apps:

The top one that's popular for people is 'Line Camera'. A lot of people already use 'Line' as a messaging app and I've talked about it before-but Naver has released a couple of 'Line' apps that can co-relate with eachother. One of those was the Line Camera app! You get a little bit of everything with this sucker! It's super convenient and impressive! There's PuriKura for those of you who like decorating your pictures (you can also purchase super cute stamps from their store) a collage option, and a beautifying option all in one that really helps really refine your selcas. This is probably the most used app for pictures for me just because I can do everything in one app instead switching around with different apps.

For those of you who want to do other things to your pictures I have not left you out!  I use Perfect365 a  little bit less now but back when I had a bit of weight on me to slim down my huge face. You can definitely start looking alien thought so be careful with the effects and don't over do it! 

I used PicsArt and Pixlr for a lot of different filters and effects that don't exactly fit into the J-Fashion category. The 'Reira' cosplay pics were editing with those really neat pink filters using these apps. They're super useful. I've been using Pixlr since 2011 even before I started really selcaing and editing  my selcas! 

DecoPic is another app I use for PuriKura. It's okay. It offers a bit of the things that I can't access on LineCamera. A huge trick I do is to just layer on each apps on effects..yu have a lot of 'progress' pics as you edit true and it's not as nice as just having one app to do everything but you'll have a pretty kick ass selca afterward. The power of picture editing is insane! Don't believe everything on the internet!!!

Extras: 

Liz Lisa has two different shopping apps. I obviously do not use these for for shopping but I do use these for keeping updated on what's released! It's actually pretty neat that there's a mobile friendly version of their online shopping store on the phone versus trying to open it via a web browser. 

The more impressive app is DreamV/Yumetenbo's hands down. It will show the new collections and keep me updated on when new items are released. I can look as each section like 'dresses' 'shoes' ect. and while I can't shop on it, yet again I can easily just know what all has been released and then go on Rakuten later on to buy what I want from there. It helps me not only study trends but certain new items tend to sell out quickly so it helps to be able to be the first to know when to haul ass to the shopping site for a must grab wardrobe piece!