lovepinkcross

putting on my press on nails! on 12seconds.tv

I’m going to try to post more on 12 seconds, because that’s the longest time I can talk without running out of stuff to say. LOL

I love Egg, only because it is usually the first magazine anyone into gal reads. You can definitely see how long someone has been into gal by how they feel about Egg magazine.

Phase 1: Obsession – Egg is the gold standard. They read scans and go for the most extreme styles. Old Egg with Ka-tan are usually the most revered.

Phase 2: Disgust – After discovering that Egg is not the only magazine out there and that most people don’t think Egg is really that great, quickly pick another magazine to love. Will complain about Egg whenever mentioned.

Phase 3: Apathy – Looks at scans of Egg when posted, either doesn’t admit it or plays it off as too cool to be held down by what everyone else likes.

I’m phase 3, I won’t lie.

But anyway.

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Most Westerners feel like they are really alone when they first become interested in gyaru. They see other people getting together and wonder why the world is so big. (Man, that sounds depressing already.)

But do not fear lonely one! If you are reading this, it means you have access to the internet! And now the world is small and everyone knows each other once again!

Let me steer you along by listing a few cool places to meet gals, online and in real life.

1 – Livejournal is a blogging site that also has a large amount of communities for various topics that people can post and reply in. Gal Style, Kogal Panel, and Everyday Gyaru are some of the most active and well moderated communities. (Ignore the fact that I co-mod the last one. Heh.) I really got into the style and met tons of cool people this way. Add people, comment on their stuff and blog about your own stuff.

Just don’t be boring, because I just skim over all that crap.

Kidding! (or am I? )

2 – Myspace – I actually hate myspace only because I’m an old woman and can’t handle 50 million things going on at once like most profiles have. I don’t like music or blinkie things or 20 quizzes that crash my browser. But rant aside, there are a lot of gals on myspace and although not many pages provide advice, they do provide friendship, and that was the point of this blog post. I recommend Go Go Gyaru for information and other coolness.

3 – Ricoche – the only long term successful gal forum, some of the posts can be very helpful. I’ve probably only made one friend through Ricoche, but I’ve chatted with some people from there, so I guess there’s hope for you too.

4 – Gal Circles – if you are committed to the style, gal circles are a great way to meet people and get involved in events. Here is a list of some homepages of various circles. Most circles are by application or invitation only, so you’ll have to pass a screening process to get in. I promise you it’s worth it!

5 – Events – I put this last because you will find out about events from these other mediums. GO TO EVENTS! Meeting gyaru in real life is seriously the greatest thing ever. People seem mean and elitist on the internet but I promise you, I get nothing but love when I hang out with people. It’s amazing! Save up all your money, work super hard, but GO! I would never have been invited to Bulaklak if I hadn’t met them all.

How have you guys met other gyaru?

I know there are some who read my posts who have no clue what I am talking about, and there are some who may want a better grasp on things other people talk about. So I formed this small list of general definitions. Add, subtract, comment.

They’re alphabetical!

Circle Lens – Contact lenses with a dark outside circle, which makes your eyes look bigger. All makeup styles in gal focus on making your eyes look big, so these are commonly used. Some people feel that this is a quick fix for Western gyaru, and no focus is put on the rest of the makeup when these are used. I’ve seen this done as well.  Some only use colors like brown not to appear too outrageous. I personally want the brightest, most over the top color possible. It’s just not worth the trouble just to have lighter brown eyes.

Deco-den – The art of decorating various objects with rhinestones, clay, stickers, or other small things to achieve a unique and overdone everyday use item. Cell phones (ketai), handheld mirrors, and boxes are most common, although I’ve seen laptops and such done as well. I’m personally much too lazy to take the time to decorate in tiny detail, but for those of you who have iron patience, it’s a fun hobby. Nails sometimes fall under the deco category when searching on ebay or etsy.

Gal Circle - or “gal-sa” is a formal group of gals who depending on the structure of the group, create and promote events with night clubs or organizations (event circle or ive-cir), or attend said events and generally socialize (nago-cir). Here in the west, events are coordinated with anime conventions, and attendance is still fairly low. Joining is by application, and is governed similar to a sorority. Men either have separate circles that plan events with the female only circle, or the circles are co-ed.

Gyaru - (sometimes called Gal) a style focused around an overdone, iconic image of Western pop culture. Hair is big and curly, usually blonde or honey brown, skin is at least a warm glow, if not a solid tan color. Nails are long and extremely decorated, makeup is perfect, with big eyes and nude lips. Clothing is usually overly sexy and/or youthful. There are many variations to this style, including Hime and Manba.

Gyaru-O - the male equivalent of gyaru. Long spikey hair (called a wolf haircut in Japan), clothes are well fitted with attention to details such as jewelry and shoes. I’ll be honest, I suck at defining this one. But I looked through a Men’s Egg to try to get a good idea of what to say and finally thought some of them were cute! I was never attracted to Gyaru-O before this. LOL

Hime-Gyaru – Hime meaning princess, is a fairy tale done only the way a gyaru can. HUGE curly hair, sweet and fun dresses (not ballgowns, more like tea party). Deco everything, crown everything.

Manba - gyaru done to the other extreme. Dark tan, white or unusual color hair, white eye makeup and nose stripe, (it’s like makeup contouring overdone) big lashes and contacts.  Clothes are neon bright (sometimes black) and very sexy. This is usually the first style people try, and really really suck at. But you really feel like a rebel when you do it right?

Para-Para - coordinated dance routines to techno, eurobeat, and other dance songs. Mostly hand and arm movements, these routines are similar to line dancing, only in that you learn them in clubs, to repeat them in clubs, and everyone does the exact same routine to the song. There are group competitions and para teams both in Japan and in Western countries. Most event circles expect you to know some para, since they compete as well.

Shibuya – a ward of Tokyo, known for gyaru to meet up and shop or go clubbing.  Shibuya 109 is here, which is a famous department store among gal.

I might add to this list if I come across something that is used often enough without ever being defined.

I got an email from one of my favorite stores today, Wet Seal,  saying I could get free shipping on all orders today. I may just have to look around and see if I can find any pants or skirts I like, since I feel like I’m lacking there!

I found some lashes!

I bought these Ardell brand lashes when I bought my bleach at Sally’s. I’ve heard good things about these, and I think they are very cute. There are a ton of different styles, which made it very hard for me to pick one. The “demi wispies” won my heart.

The box says 100% european human hair. lol.

I’m also wearing my contacts. I love the color that I bought this time, but they aren’t as comfortable as the ones I bought last time from Secret Eyes. Definitely ordering from them next time instead of from livejournal.

click to see in all it's glory

I’m going to sound like a total jerk here, but I love my hair. Look at that stuff! I just woke up, brushed it out a little, and sprayed it with hair spray. (I need to bleach it again though.) Envy it!!

Anyway, tell me something you like about yourself, ask questions about hair to me or anyone else who reads these, or comment in some other way that keeps this from looking like a vain cop-out post because I had to close the store last night and I’m about to head back to work now.

I’m counting on you guys to make this post worthwhile! Don’t let me down people!

I love Ranzuki. It is the greatest gal magazine of all time. Because I look young, and I am going to milk that until I turn 30 and all you younger gals force me out of it by posting pics of me on livejournal communities. Then I’ll print those for framing and hanging in the apartment and perhaps move on to onee-gal. But anyway, this issue was especially nice since I had gone through two magazines already this month that weren’t particularly appealing to me. But this one inspired creativity!

“I’m gonna knock you out for making me believe Ca Priccio was Japanese for Dr Pepper by reading your strange shirt!”

“Oh noes!”

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I was really bored today, since it decided to rain AGAIN on my day off. So I figured I would try these lashes I bought at Walgreens the other day. (I live a block away from it, ok? It’s going to get mentioned a lot.) But these things SUCKED. I tried to get them on the first time and the stupid inside ends kept coming up. I gave up that day and washed them to try again.

Those stupid little things got all gross when I washed them. They were supposed to be made of human hair, but apparently it was from someone who’s hair got gross when she washed it. No wonder they donated it to make eyelashes, not like she could get a normal job with crazy gross hair!

So I thought that today I would try again, because it’s not like I’ll be going out until later and then if anyone talks about my lashes I can act offended because I have some weird condition where my lashes reacted to water. Which will totally work because it was raining today. But I couldn’t because those stupid little things not only don’t glue down on the inside ends again, but they were sharp and pokey there and my eyes refused to tolerate that. In my anger, I tossed those freak lashes away.

At least I don’t have hair like that. Eww.

I came across this video while reading a thread on ricoche about bleaching your eyebrows. More funny than informative, it’s something to watch while making your weekend plans.