New Hair Color! (Palty Sakura Creamy)

So for ACEN, I've been working on a cosplay of Hachi from NANA to match my friend who is cosplaying Nana!  Rather than scrambling to find the perfect wig last minute, I decided Hachi had normal enough hair for me to actually use my own hair.  However, in the manga and specifically the artbook (which is the outfit I'm doing), she has brown-red hair, so... HAIR DYE!!

Basically, I used cosplay as an excuse to do something I've been kind of wanting to do but also too scared to just dive into.  I got 2 boxes of Palty Sakura Creamy from Mitsuwa, and finally dyed my hair on Sunday ^_^

I'll just say... there's actually a not-insignificant amount of bleach in their formulation... it stung, and my hair lightened significantly (granted, I left it in for an entire hour, not the 20~30 minutes they recommend).  Anyways, I rather like the result ^_^  Less of the dark pinky-red pictured on the box than I might've preferred, but still nice overall.  And apparently under certain lighting, it looks very red XD

Pictures!!

Before and After:

And here's what all the dye and stuff looked like before I put it on my head:

Yaay!!  I think the fact that I left it in so long is what made it lighter and more orange (since my hair tends to bleach orange).  ^_^

It did change the texture of my hair pretty significantly, although it's only noticeable when wet.  So, I notice it when I'm washing my hair, but otherwise it actually feels about the same.  I did however take care to not wash my hair for 3 days before dyeing, and since then I have not washed my hair using shampoo (not even immediately after dyeing).  I've been using just water and the deep conditioner treatment from Burt's Bees.

I've incidentally discovered that you really can "wash" your hair using only conditioner!!! I think I'm going to try this for awhile, although I'll probably switch to something less expensive than Burt's Bees after I finish this tube.

In any case... hair adventure success!!

Double Rose Pearl Brooch

Old craft is old, but unfortunately, I don't have enough free time to catch up with editing all my crafts photos T_T

For her Christmas present, I made Oli, my Lolita mentor, a set of rose brooches/hairclips. It was designed a little bit after some of the headpieces made by Victorian Maiden (roses with trailing pearls, etc) but I wanted it to be versatile, so that it could be worn in many ways, with the roses connected and without. I'm super-happy that they turned out well, and that they fit in so perfectly with Oli's wardrobe <3

Anyways, onwards to my photos/explanation of the brooch set!


Sitting innocuously on my bed... this is with the pearl chain attaching the two roses.


And this is with the unchained rose separated from the one where the chain originates.

To get a better idea of what I'm talking about with the chains and whatever, here's a shot of the back of the "main" rose (ie, the one that the chain is attached to).


One end of the pearl chain is permanently attached to the main rose. The other end has a small lobster claw on it, so you could really hook it wherever strikes your fancy. The chain itself consists of two differently-lengthed strands to create a more interesting look when it's fully draped out.

Some arrangement suggestions for dealing with the chain and roses... (and I'm sure Oli's gotten even more creative with them, she's awesome at this sort of thing)!

Single Rose, Short Loop:




Single Rose, Long Loop:




Two Roses, Clustered:


Two Roses, Spread:


I was pretty pleased myself with how they turned out! I was worried they'd stick up too much from the brooch/clip back, because I couldn't trim the stems on the flowers as close as I wanted. Fortunately, that actually worked out well, in that I could build up a couple layers of craft foam to strengthen the attachment point for the brooch/clip back.

Also... Michael's does not sell stemless/millinery flowers... I had to buy an entire flower and clip off the blossom myself. Good thing I bought that pair of diagonal cutters for cutting cable ties... >_>;;

To finish it off... an artistic view of the pearl chain (which I made by hand, by the way... man that took a really long time, but now I'm awesome at making wire loops...).


<3

[Outfit Post] KERA Inspiration + Fashion Musings

Over the past couple of months, I've spent a not-insignificant amount of time musing about various fashion leanings that I have, or that suddenly pop up in my mind.  While I love the sweet-classic Lolita style with all my heart, it's really just not practical to go full out in everyday life.  I've compromised by wearing skirts pretty casually, but I still feel like a lot of times, my outfits just look thrown together and not polished, no matter how much I try.  Sometimes I think I might even make it worse when I try.

Together with that, I've recently discovered a certain affinity for some of the younger/cuter gyaru styles in magazines like Popteen (which I love, by the way).  I've considered trying to combine some of that with my love for Lolita, but the color schemes and the style mixing just doesn't work out... I'm not good enough to figure it out.

However, I've recently started reading KERA again, and in particular found the most recent issue quite inspirational.  I think that while I love Lolita when I'm doing full-on Lolita, for a more everyday style, something like the girlier/Lolita-ier coordinates in KERA would work much better for me.  More comfortable, less time-consuming to put on and deal with in restrooms, and just more versatile with more possible combinations of the same pieces in general.  Also, I've discovered that given the width-to-length ratio of my legs, I really do look better with skirts that are knee-length, or preferably even higher >_>;;

So... time to re-evaluate my daily style, I guess, is what I'm saying.  I'll still wear lots of Lolita, but I think it's high time I start trying to develop a better sense of how to wear it casually without looking kind of sloppy/boring.

But, enough verbal musings...  Some of the pictures in the May KERA featured bright colors with polkadots, which inspired this (very non-Lolita) coordinate.  I'm going out for karaoke for a friend's birthday, and she requested that I wear my pink Amu cosplay wig, so I wanted a poppy outfit that would match decently with it, without looking stupid while at school XD

 Cardigan: Target

Shirt: Hangry & Angry

Shoes: Secret Shop

I actually feel happy with this particular outfit, and I'm hoping I'll still be satisfied once it comes time to put the wig with it XD  In any case, I'll be dancing around and attempting (very badly) to sing Arashi songs while being unable to read the lyrics >_>;;

More Jpop!!!

Because sadly, my life isn't all that exciting during school terms...

BUT getting more CDs of my favorite bands always makes for at least a little bit of excitement, right?

So firstly, I got two more Arashi singles (regular editions this time... eh, monies...): "Dear Snow" and "Hatenai Sora", both of which I really love.  They're both excellent songs melodically and lyric-wise, but I especially enjoy "Dear Snow" because my lovely Nino-kun really gets to shine in it (along with ever-amazing Riida-san).  (*o*)/

And I also got the newest single from No Sleeves (no3b) "Answer".  I got the Miichan version, partly because she's my oshimen, but also because I wanted the nice clean instrumental for "Gyakuten Oujisama" rather than the crappy home-made one that I have currently XD

Yay Jpop!!  Too bad I wasn't fast enough to get the 1st Press for "Answer", so no member trading card or poster for me T_T

[Outfit Post] Spring Break

As previously mentioned (I think), I went to Boston for 4 days over spring break =3  And of course, I brought my little Lolita heart with me, but also didn't want to get too fussy or complicated in my packing, so I ended up wearing some casual Lolita-inspired outfits during the trip.

Firstly, for the airplane ride (both there and back), I stuck to a t-shirt under a JSK with a bolero, since this layering system made it easier for me to stay the right temperature between outdoors, airport, and airplane.

JSK: Bodyline

Beret: Handmade (by me!) with Metamorphose bow

Else: Offbrand

I brought only two skirts and two sweatshirt/cardigans, with different shirts to mix and match with them for the four days I was actually in Boston.

Skirt: Metamorphose

Else: Offbrand

Skirt: Rose Melody

Else: Offbrand

Skirt: Metamorphose

Else: Offbrand

Skirt: Rose Melody

Else: Offbrand

And of course, the only place where there was a tall enough mirror happened to be elevated such that I had to stand on the bed to even see myself fully in the mirror T_T Oh well, so it goes :-P  Also, on the way there, the stewardess told me that I looked "like a little doll."  ^o^

Ai-chan With Pink Hair?!

I've tossed around the idea of dyeing my hair for the past couple of months now, with one possibility being the Champagne Pink color from the Freshlight Blythe series.  However, I'm still too chicken to really take the plunge, plus I might actually want my hair to still be black if I do end up doing my Mio cosplay for ACEN.

That said, my favorite female J-pop idol apparently just had pink tip gradations put into her hair ^o^  This makes me consider the pink again... ^o^

Pic from her blog!

*ponder ponder*  I think something like the gradation she has would definitely be less daunting than going for ALL PINK, but I think I'd have to change the rest of my hair color anyways so it's not OMG BLACK followed by OMG PINK...

Visiting the Gibson House Museum

I was in Boston for the past week, and on Friday I went to the Gibson House Museum.  It's a historical house from the Victorian period that was preserved by its owners as a museum piece.  It's located right in the heart of Boston, and sadly is the only one that is left preserved, as its neighbors have been renovated into apartments or college dorms.

Here it is!

Image from: http://www.thegibsonhouse.org/index.asp

We got a one-hour tour of the house, which consisted of the basement, ground, 2nd, and 3rd floors.  I took a couple of photos of things I found particularly interesting to me, but feel free to visit their website to find out more if you're curious!

We saw the dining room first:

 The tableware was very pretty, and there were several more sets stored in cabinets around the room!

The next picture I have is from the music room.  The piano is a Mason-Hamlin, and it has a butterfly hinge design, meaning that it's symmetrical, and the lid can be opened to either direction.  That's pretty cool!!  If only I could have played it XD

Next, we went up the back staircase to get to the 3rd floor.  There was a really cool-looking telephone on the wall:

And the third floor had... a study room, which I didn't take any pictures in... and a bathroom!  Which incidentally didn't look all that different from bathrooms nowadays.  The toilet is prettier?

And next to that was the bedroom, with beautiful furniture.  I only took a picture of the writing desk, because that was my favorite:

Oh, apparently the Gibson House was particularly awesome for a Victorian house, because it actually had sort of a central heating system.  There was a big circular channel going up through the middle of the house from the 2nd floor up, which apparently would help all the hot air circulate up the middle of the house and into the living areas, and allow the cold air to go down the back/side staircases, creating a nice airflow and distribution of heat.  I tried to take a picture, but the sun made it kind of hard:

Last but not least, we went into the basement to see the laundry room and the kitchen.  There was an awesome call-bell system that was still in place:

Also, I thought the rice jar and its matching littler cousin was pretty:

So there you go!  A brief whirlwind through the Gibson House.  There were lots more things in there that I didn't take pictures of, partly because my camera was giving me the low-battery warning T_T.  For example, there was a cabinet Victrola in the music room that was really cool, and there were sooooo many books all over the house!!  Also, the butler's pantry had awesome teacup sets - including a pastel-colored set, where all the cups were a different pastel color <3<3<3  Such an awesome idea... I totally need one!!

Anyways, a more fashion/outfit-related post pertaining to my trip will be coming soon, but I thought the Gibson House was too awesome to not share (^o^)/

Tea Party @ The Drake!

To open this post in a less-than-bubbly fashion... Everyone knows about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, with the subsequent nuclear reactor situation.  I'm lucky that all my friends live in Tokyo, so they are all safe and in much better conditions than the hard-hit regions.

I had stopped following American news media, mainly out of laziness, but after seeing how they reported this natural disaster, I have decided they are largely full of money-grubbing/ratings-chasing idiots and will now actively decide to not follow/highly distrust them.  Their fear-mongering of the nuclear situation was entirely unnecessary, and only incited panick rather than helping anybody.  I'm also now painfully aware of how gullible large portions of the US population are...  But then again, most people don't have much knowledge about radiation/nuclear science; heck, even I have very little knowledge, and trust my boyfriend to be honest about giving me the info on this stuff.  What makes me mad most is that it made everyone essentially FORGET about the people are still struggling to survive in the shelters all over the Tohoku region...  A lot of people, living in winter weather with no heat, no food, no water...

That said... please, especially now that the nuclear situation is coming back under control... if you haven't already, please donate to any of the number of organizations that are helping with relief efforts in Japan.  Even a little bit, $10, will add up if a lot of people donate.  So please do so!!

List of good organizations (both US and international) can be found here: http://thecrowandtheradio.blogspot.com/2011/03/list-of-international-trustworthy.html

Now on to less ranty/sombre stuff...  Weird juxtaposition, isn't it?

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I got to go to a lovely fancy tea at The Drake yesterday!  Many thinks to Alice for working so hard to host the party!

It was my first time going to any sort of fancy tea service, and I was very pleased <3  The tea was great, the snacks were tasty, and I had a wonderful time meeting new people and hanging out with friends ^o^

I used this opportunity to debut my Viennese Waltz Frill JSK from Innocent World, as well as my pink heels that I bought specifically to match "IW Pink" (the dusty rose color that IW tends to call "pink").  I also spent like a hour curling my hair so it would blend in with the two large-pieces from my extension set.  I think I need more practice at being a girl... an hour just to curl hair and clip in extensions is way too long XD

Picture!

JSK: Innocent World

Blouse: Metamorphose

Socks: Innocent World

Headbow: Innocent World

Shoes: Secret Shop

I think I need a better petticoat for my empire-waist dresses...  And I just need a new petticoat in general, but that's another issue. ^_^

Tea was followed by hanging out, and going to a vintage sale as well as I Cream, where they make liquid nitrogen ice cream!!!! <3<3<3

Jpop Bonanza!!!

Well, totally not fashion-related, but getting new CDs is always an exciting part of my life, so I figured I might as well share ^o^  ESPECIALLY ARASHI CDs!!!

Lotus, their newest single! ^_^  I absolutely love this song... it's different from the majority of their other songs which tend more to the bubblegum pop side, or at least gentle ballads.  Lotus is on the more intense and dramatic side, which is cool!  And all the boys sound great in it, especially my lovely Nino ^o^  And the dance is awesome too, so much so that I'm even considering learning it as a dance cover, even though it's a little weird for a girl to dance-cover a boyband? I don't know XD

I got the Limited Edition because I wanted the pretty lyrics booklet with all their photos in it >_>;;  That means I don't get the 2 B-sides, and I have a DVD that I can't actually watch in any of my DVD players... but IT'S OKAY, right?  Pretty pictures...

Also, also, also, AKANISHI JIN's debut single Eternal!!! Containing two of the most beautiful jpop songs (in my repertoire, anyways).  While his voice can't compete with my lovely Nino's, or even Ohno's heavenly one, he's still fantastic, and the fact that he can COMPOSE such awesomeness makes up for any vocal lacking...

Got the... some-letter edition... XD  There were like 5 versions...  This one didn't have the extraneous DVD, but still had a pretty insert-sized photo booklet.  Yay!

And the third jpop awesomeness is AAA's new album Buzz Communication.  ^_^  I adore this group... they have an awesome mix of singing, dancing, and rapping skills, and one of their leads Takahiro Nishijima has one of the most wonderful male singing voices ever (I love him so much, even if he looks kinda awkward in some pictures) XD  I really like their most recent style, which works out great for this album ^_^

It came with so many unexpected extra goodies O_O  A member trading card (I got Urata...), plus a really beautifully done glossy-covered photo booklet!! Haha awesomeness!! ^_^

Also... my roommate bought a soysauce flavored KitKat bar on eBay, and we tried it today.  It was... interesting.  Tasted more like a cross between white chocolate, vanilla, and maple syrup.  Certainly not soysauce XD

On a more fashion-related note, my package from Innocent World arrived today, but I ordered with Yoshi-chan, so I won't be opening until we meet up on Monday evening ^_^

[Outfit Post] Lolita at School

One of the things I'd really like to write an entire entry about one day is that of balancing my fashion taste with what's considered appropriate for my everyday lifestyle.  Being a graduate student in a social science, I have more leeway with what I can wear on a daily basis (no restrictions from lab activities, etc), but at the same time, I have to be careful when attending conferences and other events outside of my home university.  It would be unfortunate to become "that girl who wore the crazy costume at the LSA".

At the beginning of my Lolita journey, I was very much straddling the sweet/classic divide, and felt magnetically attracted to all the OTT sweet things.  To the point where I even attempted a bit of a dabbling (for example, I have the Bodyline carousel skirt in pink, and a variety of fluffy Chocomint bows of all sizes).  However, I've more recently started being more honest with myself, and realized that while I looooove looking at OTT sweet (and I mean looooooooooove), I never really feel comfortable actually wearing anything that flashy, and it's really a more muted type of sweet, bordering on classic, that really makes my heart throb, and makes me feel most at home.  And luckily, this direction also fits in better with trying to not look toooo crazy to the academic world.

Long-winded stream-of-consciousness is long-winded.  The point is, I decided I wanted to dress up a little for a presentation today, because hey, dressing up makes me feel better, even if every other aspect of my day is a failure.  So I put together a very simple coord that is comfy (yay cutsew), but still pretty.  I've been finding that my headbands, lovely as they are, all give me a splitting headache, so until I have time to remove the decorations and turn them into clips/demi-headbands, I've just been mostly foregoing head decoration.  Which makes me sad, but hey, spring break is soon, so I can revamp all my hairthings then!

As for my outfit... le voila!

Skirt: Bodyline

Cutsew: Innocent World

Shoes: Secret Shop

Now I just have to survive the rest of this quarter before I get a short break!! ^_^