Outfit of the day Post- Visitors!

by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 2, 2010 | Hime Gyaru, Outfit Of The Day

This is an outfit from earlier in the week when James’ childhood friend came to visit us! I baked macarons that day which were an unfortunate failure. I was too overambitious and I doubled the ingredients and ended up with… one gigantic tray shaped macaron. Epic fail.

Outfit run down:

Floral dress- made by me
Jacket- Angelic Pretty
Shoes- Wittner, modified by me
Bow- by the awesome Susie!
Jewelery- random places, described below

I made these earrings with some little cake charms I bought in Melbourne 😀

I love the details on this jacket, it’s the perfect thickness to take out on nights when there is a bit of a chill but not too cold!

James bought me this ring. I told him if he ever wanted me to marry him, he would have to find something at least twice as big for my engagement ring mwahahaha! XD

I completely love this hair bow. I want one in every colour!

This little crown is my favorite detail on the AP jacket but I always find that because it’s so heavy it can swing around and damage things >_<

These shoes were my back ups for the Nuffnang awards ^_^ I bought them for $40 but I thought they were much too plain so I added the bow, flower, pearls, pleated ribbon and the diamantes around the buckles! I’ve had a request for a how to on a hime-style shoes tutorial out of normal shoes and I definitely want to do it but at the moment I can’t find any good shoes to start off with >_<

Bonus picture: OooOOOooOOOoo I’m a spooky ghoooooost!

Thanks for looking at my silly outfit!

Easy Macaron Recipe – The Adventure Continues…

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 24, 2010 | Baking, Cooking-Tutorials, Hime Gyaru, Tutorial

Macarons… they’ve become a serious obsession now.

I blame Lolita brands for this obsession. If they didn’t keep including them in prints or in sweets deco maybe I could forget about how melt-in-your-mouth-delicious they are… maybe I could ignore the fact that they are incredibly pretty… and maybe I could stop thinking about how I desperately want one for breakfast today with a cup of tea…

But no!

And so it goes on until one day I got so frustrated I decided to make them myself. I suppose that’s in keeping with the spirit of this blog ^_^

I searched and searched for a recipe. Many were too complicated with things like measuring the temperatures in the room and comparing the humidity to get the correct amounts for different parts of the world!? Macarons are apparently the most fickle of all deserts.

Finally just as I was about to give up a friend sent me a link to Not Quite Nigella’s Recipe. It seemed easy enough but I wasn’t too keen on the idea of pistachio as I wanted James to actually eat them too. I kept searching until I found the Tasted By Two version. Seemed easy enough… and so the experimenting began! After maybe 10 batches I have modified the recipe for our kitchen/temperature/humidity/what ever other ridiculous things macarons are scared of. I am not a baking purist, I just did what worked! These techniques might not work for you but I assure you that my result was freaking awesome 😀

So here is everything I’ve learned about macarons and my modified version of the Tasted By Two Recipe:

What you need:

Ingredients for chocolate macarons with chocolate filling-

For the outside bit:

65 grams Almond Meal
80 grams Icing Sugar
40 grams Caster Sugar
1 table spoon Cocoa Powder
50 grams Egg White at room temperature
Oil spray
Pinch of salt

For the filling:

Cooking chocolate
Butter
Thickened cream
Icing sugar

Utensils-

Scales
Sieve
Aluminum foil
Mixing bowls
Electric beater
Baking trays
Spoon etc
Piping bag/Small plastic bag

Gather everything together 😀

Line your trays with aluminum foil. Yes in the photo I’m using baking paper… and you know what, it sucked. Every recipe I found said to use baking paper but EVERY batch that I did using baking paper failed miserably. So what I ended up using for the successful batches was aluminum foil *very* lightly sprayed with olive oil. I’ll talk more about the failed batches and how to avoid that later!

Measure out your almond meal. Having the correct weights is very important so be quite careful. Now about the almond meal… many recipes I found said that you should crush the meal even further in a food processor to make it extra fine. I don’t have a food processor so I used it straight from the pack. No problems so far.

This is how fine it was:

Do the same with your icing sugar and sift them into your bowl. Make sure there are no lumps.

Then mix them together very well and make sure the consistency is even.

Now weigh your castor sugar.

And your egg whites. Egg whites are another highly debated point of this recipe. Some say you should leave them out over night, some say leave them for a week. I made macarons with eggs right after cracking them, over night and week old… and they were all exactly the same in my opinion. I really don’t think it makes a difference. Just make sure they aren’t too cold or else they won’t froth well.

Put your egg whites into a mixing bowl.

Add a pinch of salt to them

Now using your electric mixer beat them until they become slightly frothy.

When they look like this you should start adding the castor sugar a little bit at a time…

Keep beating…

… until it looks like this 😀 The eggs should be light fluffy and peaky.

Now this part is quite fun! You should take your mixed up icing/almond and add 1/2 of it to the egg mixture.

Mix it up carefully, don’t be over zealous otherwise it will end up like cake. Once the first half is mixed in, add the rest and repeat.

According to a lot of recipes it should form ribbons off your spoon when you’re done. XD

Now mix in your spoon of cocoa

Delicious yes?

Ok time to get ready to pipe them. You can use a proper piping bag but if you’re not keen on cleaning one you can just use a plastic bag and throw it away after ^_^

Put your mixture into the bag!

And tie a knot into the top of it.

Now cut off the corner with a pair of scissors and pipe circles onto your tray.

Apparently some people will actually draw circles onto the baking paper to make sure they are completely perfectly shaped… I don’t really think that is necessary. If I wanted perfection I would go and buy them, I like he idea of mine being a little individual ^_^

Ok! So we’ve done the hard part! You should take your tray and bang it on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Then leave the macarons on the counter for 1 hour to settle. While they are settling let’s talk about some other variations!

James doesn’t like chocolate much either so he asked for some blueberry flavored ones.

I used tinned blueberries, crushed them and added to the mixture just before piping.

This is easy enough, you just need to add slightly more of the dry ingredients to counter the wet of the blueberries. If you’ve made a couple of batches you should be able to roughly guess at what the correct consistency should be.

My absolute FAVORITE flavor is green tea with pistachio filling. OMG this is seriously awesome. All you need to do is add 1/2 a teaspoon of matcha powder to the mixture instead of your chocolate powder. I’m using one from Tea2 but any will work.

Green!

They all look so pretty!

When you come back to the macarons the icing should have formed a very slight shell, you should be able to touch the top without getting your finger wet. Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. When the oven is ready you can put in the tray and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you should be able to see the little crinkly bottom feet, if not something has gone wrong! Cook for another 4 minutes and then allow them to cool on the bench.

This is a picture of the first time I tried to make them, they weren’t very pretty but you can see the little crinkly feet I’m talking about…

Leave the macarons to cool while we make the filling.Basically all that is involved in that is melting chocolate in the microwave, adding a little cream, butter and a little icing sugar so it doesn’t go solid again. Very delicious. Be sure to taste it along the way 😉

The pistachio variation on this is basically crushed pistachios with butter and icing sugar to make a delicious paste:

Now it’s time to remove the macarons from the tray and turn them over… the bottoms should look like this:

Below is a good example of failed bottoms. The reason this didn’t work is because they weren’t cooked long enough so the insides were liquidy. They stuck to the (stupid) baking paper and collapsed when being removed. Still tasted good though.

Take a half and spread some filling on, pop another half on top and you’re done 😀

Taadaa! Success!

And here are the delicious green tea ones:

So there you have it! No longer will I be a slave to sweets deco and brand prints! Next time I crave macarons I’ll bloody well make some! 😀 Mine may not be the prettiest ever made but they tasted damn good and nobody complained so I’m happy!

Hope you all enjoyed the adventure as much as I enjoyed eating all of the failed and successful batches of macarons!

Violet's Top 10

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 22, 2010 | About Me, Hime Gyaru, Life, Outfit Of The Day

The ever lovely Mitsu over at Universal Doll was wonderful enough to translate some of the Ageha model’s Top 10’s 😀

She challenged us all to do it ourselves and after seeing how adorable her Top 10 was I couldn’t resist ^_^

So what is your Top 10 at the moment?

Hime Gyaru FAQ

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 17, 2010 | About Me, Hime Gyaru

I’ve been saying I’m going to do this Hime Gyaru FAQ for such a long time now but I just kept putting it off and avoiding it. I find writing things like this very difficult because there is so much about fashion, especially those whose roots are in a different culture, that is subjective. Writing essays on the subject is not something I want to do, I would be much more at home making some hair bows!

Also please note that these are just the conclusions that I have come to from my own research and opinions. I am not the be-all end-all authority on the subject of Hime Gyaru. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, I am just writing in response to the huge number of questions I receive on the subject so I don’t keep having to repeating myself.

About The Hime Gyaru Style:

What is Hime Gyaru?

-Hime Gyaru is a street fashion which originated in Japan. The literal translation of Hime Gyaru (姫ギャル) is Princess Girl. It is a fashion subculture which centers around dressing and (depending how seriously you take it) living life like a princess.

When did it start?

-While it’s aesthetic roots could probably be traced back to Japan’s 1970’s “cute” movement, today’s incarnation was popularized by the store Jesus Diamante in the early 2000’s.

So do you actually believe you’re some kind of real Princess?

-No. It’s not uncommon for a girl who enjoys the style to attach the “hime” suffix to the end of her name in Japanese rather than the traditional chan/san indicating she is a princess eg. Keiko Hime/けいこひめ = Princess Keiko. For the most part this seems to be a bit of fun, I highly doubt there are many girls out there who believe they are the long lost great granddaughter of some tiny European monarchy. It’s more in the same way that girls/women will use the chan suffix to appear cuter.

Are hostess wear and Hime Gyaru the same? Are all Hime Gyaru hostess? Ageha is a hostess magazine with Hime style clothes right so it must be the same thing?

-No they are not the same thing. There is some style cross over in the hair and make up areas and some hostesses do dress in hime styles but they are not the same thing. Many hostesses do not enjoy Hime styles and many Hime Gyaru (myself included) are not hostesses. Ageha caters to both markets with hair and make up tutorials, it also features both Hime and hostess clothing though the emphasis lately has been more on hostess style.

What are the influences on Hime Gyaru?

-Very generally speaking: Rococo France and European royalty. More modern royalty is also an influence to a smaller extent. The more jewel encrusted, the better 😉

Why do people like this?

-Because it’s pretty? Everyone has their own personal reasons, personally I just enjoy the look.

Do you dress this way to attract men?

-NO. Just NO. Yes there are *some* girls that dress this way to attract men BUT that is personal choice not something to do with the fashion.

How much does it cost to be hime gyaru?

-It costs as much or as little as you want it it. Yes that’s a very round about answer because it’s a very round about subject. If you want to buy only JD clothes, get extensions, cut and dye your hair and get your nails done at a salon every single month then it can be a very expensive hobby. However if you take the time to learn some skills like how to do acrylic nails, dye your hair at home or sew it can take the costs right down. It really is about how creative you want to get… instead of paying $700 for a Jesus Diamante dress I can make one for $10 out of a scarf and some pillow cases, no it’s not exactly the same thing but you get the idea.

Is Hime Gyaru the same as Lolita?

-No, they are completely different. While some of the aesthetics are the same (cute things, frills, lace etc) the idea is entirely different. Hime style is more grown up while Lolita is more childish. Lolita strives to be a cute little doll while Hime has a more mature element. Lolitas will wear petticoats at all times to give their skirts a bell shape while Hime Gals prefer more subtle shape. Lolita generally will have covered shoulders with a blouse and covered legs with stockings/socks while Hime Gyaru may not…. and the list goes on.

Is Hime Gyaru like Lolita’s older sister?

There has been a lot of debate on this subject but in my opinion… not really. While a lot of Lolitas tend to “graduate” into Hime Gyaru, the styles have completely different ideals and are not really linked. Sweet Lolitas have a tendency to move into Hime style because it has familiar themes and is comfortable. It can also be a lot less restrictive than Lolita can be and can be easier to incorporate into everyday life. That’s not to say that all Lolita’s feel this way, it’s just what I have heard from those who have made the change. I myself made the graduation between the two and I think Hime is more like Lolita’s slightly older cousin who has an expense account and a company car 😉

Are Hime and Onee Gyaru the same thing?

-No. Hime is Princess style while Onee is more for girls who have graduated from an extreme style to a more family friendly style. Onee tend to be more laid back and love high end brands. Onee can be mistaken for a more casual version of Hime style sometimes but it’s not the same thing.

What are the main identifying parts of a Hime Gyaru outfit?

Please note that all of these elements are not required to make a Hime outfit, they are the most common element.

Big hair usually with big curls too
Big eyelashes
Dark eye make up
Hair bows and flowers
Knee length dresses usually with prints or embellishments
High heels with flowers, lace or bows
Pearl or diamond jewelery
Fancy nail art with lots of embellishments

What are the philosophies behind the style?

-I think the main point is really enjoying beautiful things ^_^

How do you get your hair like that?

-You can view tutorials here and here.

Where are good places to shop for Hime clothes in Japan and in the West?

Japan- Jesus Diamante, Liz Lisa, La Parfait, 100yen stores have a surprising selection of useful things too like eyelashes and hair/nail accessories.

West- The most obvious is Yesstyle. Bodyline also has usable things. My best advice for shopping though is to look locally. I’ve found usable dresses in Target and all kinds of random places. Don’t overlook junk stores and thrift stores, I’ve found some of my favorite things there and they’re super cheap! To be perfectly honest I don’t shop in just one place. I look everywhere I go for things which are usable and even living in silly Brisbane I managed to find a whole wardrobe.

Does the fashion have a lifestyle aesthetic involved or is it simply appreciation of beauty?

-This is a bit of a tough question as it differs for every person. I know there are girls out there that take the fashion very seriously and live their lives as if they were a Rococo Princess, others just dress this way on weekends because it’s fun.

I would say for me personally there is an element of lifestyle but not because a fashion is telling me to do it. I like tea parties, making beautiful things, baking and the kinds of things you would expect someone who dresses like me to… but I like things that are in complete opposition to my fashion as well. The thing is… that I liked all of those cute frilly things before I was interested in Hime Gyaru or even Lolita fashion. Maybe it’s more accurate that my fashion is an extension of my life style and not the other way round 🙂

What is the subculture like in Japan compared to the West – does it have a large following or is it relatively obscure?

-So far as I’m aware the subculture in Japan is of a decent size. Not as big as regular Gyaru or Lolita but they aren’t uncommon. According to the Wall Street Journal Jesus Diamante turned over US$13.4 million in the year ended March 2008, so clearly someone is buying them! While in Japan in 2007 I remember one occasion of visiting Angelic Pretty in Harajuku and being very surprised that it was packed with Hime Gyaru rather Lolita! The Western world is different though. From what I’ve seen it’s quite rare to find more than a couple of girls in the same place. Of course there are exceptions but Hime is a “go big or go home” kind of thing which can be hard to keep up with no friends to talk to about it unless you *really* love what you’re wearing.

Do Hime in other countries do the fashion differently to girls in Japan?

-Yes. One obvious difference here is the make up, Japanese techniques need to be adjusted to achieve the same effect on a different shaped eye. Availability is another factor which changes the way Western girls wear the fashion. In Japan you can walk into a shop and walk out with a complete outfit. In most other countries you have to search quite hard to put together a decent coordinate out of local items. I think that this probably makes girls more resourceful and (arguably) more committed to the fashion because they have to work a lot harder for the end result. In the parts of Asia I’ve visited, staple Hime items are readily available for decent prices while in other areas of the world they aren’t. Diamantes are a great example of this, in many places in Asia you can just walk to the shops are buy a pack of 1000 or so diamantes for a reasonable price. Here in Australia our craft stores generally sell them in packs of 10-50 for $5 upwards. So if I want to complete a deco project in a cost effective way I have to order from overseas. The internet has helped greatly with shopping and making friends with similar interests so I think as more companies start shipping internationally we’ll be closer than ever 🙂

Is the style dying?

-It’s true there has been a lot less activity in the last few years. According to Mitsu the Jesus Diamante Mixi forums are dead, I’ve seen less Hime in street snaps, Ageha is moving towards more generic host looks and there seems to be less talk about the fashion in general. Personally I’m putting this down to a mass graduation of the 1st gen of girls. A lot of girls who began in the fashion in 2000-2005 are now getting a bit older and graduating to more mature fashions. Even Keiko Mizoe who is Jesus Diamante’s biggest selling/most popular shop girl has retired to settle down into family life. So with that era of girls retiring their frilly hair pieces, the next few years will tell if Hime Gyaru is going to be an enduring style or end up with styles like Manba as a footnote of fashion history. Personally even if no one else dresses this way I won’t mind, I dress to please myself, not because it’s in fashion!

About Me In The Fashion:

Are you a spoiled princess?

-No. I work very hard for the things that I own.

Do you wear Hime style 24/7?

-I don’t wear full on Hime style all the time, that’s just not practical. Who wants to sleep with a head full of bobby pins? I dress how I feel on a particular day. When I am not wearing complete Hime you will usually find me in something like this. For days when I’m just staying home and working I like to be comfortable. I wear cute lounge wear with frills and lace but that’s a whole other post. I try to incorporate as much Hime style as possible into what I’m wearing at all times.

Do you spend all of your money on clothing to the detriment of being able to feed yourself? Do all Hime Gyaru do this?

-No and no. This whole issue/stereotype has been brought on by one silly article that was written about a woman who spent all her money on clothes and had no food to feed her children. That is not an accurate representation of an entire style. There are idiots in any group of people and clearly not everyone is good at managing their money. I eat very well *thankyouverymuch*, as does James.

How do you afford all of these extravagant things?

-A lady doesn’t tell and a gentleman doesn’t ask. No the truth of the matter is that I work damn hard for what I have and if I see something I want that I can’t afford it I make it.

Do you have to wear a petticoat?

-No, not all the time. A bell shaped skirt is not required in Hime style. It does depend on the dress though some things just look better with a petti ^_^

So you only wear pink?

-No. Hime style can include many colours. Pastels are common but dark colours like red and black aren’t uncommon. Pretty much the only colours that are completely off limits are fluros.

Where do you get your clothes?

-I buy at local shops, thrift stores, online and make things.

OMFGSDSD!!! I WISH I COULD DRESS LIKE YOU BUT insert excuse here

-Well you should stop wishing and do it ^_^

Other good resources:

Universal Doll- Fantastic resource for Gal information in general. Full of really well written articles!

Ricoche.net- Forum all about Gyaru, all styles including some Hime.

Hime Livejournal Community– Community for Hime girls, but not updated often.

And after all of that writing I’m pretty damn tired and I’ve earned my cup of tea! Happy to answer any Hime Gyaru related questions to the best of my ability 🙂

Big Fat Bodyline Japan Review!

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 13, 2010 | Hime Gyaru, Outfit Of The Day, Review

Quite a while ago I placed an order with Bodyline Japan for quite a few items as a belated Christmas present from James ^_^

A lot of you asked for a review of the items so here it is!

Website:

The site is very easy to use with a standard shopping cart and the ability to pay via Paypal or credit card. Shipping is offered via DHL at a flat rate of US$20 or EMS with a rate depending on your country. The site has a huge amount of items to choose from so it was a little hard for me to stay in my budget! 😉

Shipping:

I chose DHL shipping to save money. DHL has a rather bad reputation from other people I’ve spoken to, depending on what country you live in *cough*America*cough* they have been known to expedite your package through customs and then several weeks after delivery present you with a bill for doing so. As far as I’m aware this doesn’t happen in Australia and it definitely didn’t happen to me this time. That said if I was ordering again and I was in a hurry I would spend the extra money for EMS because even though the “estimated arrival time” from Bodyline was arriving on a Friday the package didn’t arrive until 4:30pm on the Monday. The package made it all the way from Japan (via a bunch of other countries) to Australia in around a day and a half and cleared the airport customs very quickly and then it spent the better part of 3 days “on route” to my house. Considering my house is around 30min from the airport that was kind of irritating! Anyway not a big deal! XD

Here is the package that arrived:

Inside I ordered the following (not the real names but I can’t find half of the things on the site anymore):

Music note JSK
Argyle beanie (for James)
White bow shoes
Black hunting hat (for James)
Short Ruffle Socks
Spotty Headband
Various eyelashes
Stripey Candy Tote

James’s mini review of the beannie and hat is “very soft and nice” XD

Ok let’s do the individual reviews!

Spotty Bow

Price- US$3

Made from average quality ribbon, finished quite nicely.

On the siteI thought it was a side bow but it’s actually right in the middle, now looking at it I think she’s just wearing it to the side. The plastic band it’s on is a little flimsy.

Over all: happy with the quality for the price. I’ve worn it several times now.

Short ruffle socks

Price: US$5

The lace is nylon but it’s still very very soft. The actual socks are incredibly soft. I’m really happy with these especially for the price, they are adorable!

Music Note Dress

Price: I think it was around US$35-ish I can’t find it on the site now but it was very cheap.

This is the packaging. Something about Bodyline’s international packaging has always made me happy.

The dress:

I fell in love with this print. It’s not top notch quality, up close the print gets slightly pixeled and one thing that irritates me is that some of the treble clefs are backwards… but unless you’re staring at it from 2 inches away and are a music nut like me I don’t see it as a reason not to buy.

The quality of this dress is fantastic for the price plain and simple. No it’s not the same quality as AP or BtSSB but it’s still better than the average dress you would pick up at Supre or even Target. All of the seams are finished well and though there is no lining every stitch is in it’s place. *edit* I also forgot to mention that this jsk comes with bow ties for the back and shirring with ribbon so the size is quite adjustable. The bow ties are not detachable unlike other brands.

The quality of the lace was as good as any brand piece I’ve seen, no nylon at all.

It came with 2 detachable bows on the collar which I totally love. They are the perfect size to use on my beret or just in my hair. The only problem I had (and this is really nit-picky) was the clips were put on backwards compared with everything else I own so I put them o upside down a few times out of habit ^_^

Eyelashes:

Price: US$1-3

I was really happy with the lashes, here in Aus lashes are usually $8-10 which I think is quite unreasonable. These are a great price and decent quality. They also offer many many different styles.

This was my favorite pair:

Diamantes!

Shoes with bows

Price: US$37

I can’t express how happy I am with these shoes, they are exactly what I was hoping for! I bought them so I would have good walking shoes for Melbourne, the reason I chose these ones is because the front platform is almost as high as the heel so there isn’t as sever slope as appears. Apart from rolling my ankle once they did their job fantastically and I didn’t have any major dramas.

I picked the non-shiny version. They are very sturdily made and surprisingly light. I went through two airports with them and didn’t set off security so I imagine they are made of hollow plastic.

The heels are thick and the bows on the back are so cute!

One feature I really liked was the fact that the top buckle is on a snap closure. This means when you have ridiculously long nails you won’t have problems with putting your shoes on 😀

The tread on the bottom was a nice touch too that a lot of these style shoes seem to miss out on.

The only problem is that being white they do scuff quite easily. That’s not a design flaw, it’s just how white shoes are so if you’re going to get some you should get some shoe polish too.

Stripe Candy Tote bag

Price: US$6

I was a little disappointed with the colour of this one, on the site it looks like a very pastel blue but in reality it’s about half way between my photos and theirs.

The pattern is so cute!

For some reason the straps are made from a shiny slightly stretchy almost cheap vinyl fabric. It’s a very strange choice because it feels so much more flimsy than the rest of the bag. That said I used it to carry my heavy laptop to and from Melbourne and all around the place and it still hasn’t broken. It hasn’t broken yet but I still think I want to replace the straps just to be safe.

It’s lined with pink cotton. For $6 you can’t really go wrong though.

So what does it all look like on? Well it looks like this…

The skirt of the dress has lots of room for a good sized petti. Without the petti it is the perfect shape for hime style.

And co-ordinated slightly differently. Also don’t worry I haven’t forgotten that you all want a tutorial on this hair style, I’m just a bit behind at the moment *_*

Overall I’m happy with my purchases. I think it was great value for money and I was able to buy a lot more items than I was expecting.

Bodyline had such a stigma in the Lolita community because of quality issues many years ago, since then they’ve worked hard to change their image. Yes you will still find maid style items and no not everything there is good BUT if you are prepared to do your research and study the pictures carefully it can be a great place to pick up well priced lovely items.

I will definitely be ordering from them again 😀

Yay Bodyline Japan!

Circle Lens Tutorial and Review from E-CircleLens

by VioletLeBeaux | Feb 25, 2010 | Advert, Beauty, Beauty-Tutorials, Hime Gyaru, Review, Tutorial, Video-Tutorials

So if you’ve been following my Twitter you’ll be aware that I’ve been testing out Circle Lenses!

So what are circle lenses? Basically they are coloured contact lenses which make your eyes appear bigger, they are very very popular in Asia especially with Hime Gyaru models. I’ve been interested in trying them for like 2 years but never got around to it until now when E-CircleLensoffered to send me some 😀

You can’t imagine how excited I was when I came home from Melbourne to a package from E-CircleLens!

Inside the package were 3 different lenses, some pamphlets and instructions, 3 cases and a cute little doggie travel kit!

How cute is this? The little cases for the lenses have bows on them!

They came with cartoon instructions showing you the do’s and don’ts of putting them in and caring for the lenses.

This is the little doggie travel case! He’s found his way to my handbag now!

The doggie opens up and inside is… a mirror, tweezers, a bottle for contact solution and a case!

All of the lenses come packaged really well in styrofoam, when you take them out they are in little glass bottles like this:

It took a bit of work to get the aluminum lids off but that’s probably because I’m incredibly weak heehee!

These ones here are the Aryan Ring Circles.They have a diameter of 14mm which is huge and they last 1 year.

This is a photo of me trying to put them in for the first time. Considering how un-coordinated I am, it’s surprising I didn’t lose an eye! It was a lot easier to do than I was expecting, I think if I can do it anyone can!

So what kind of difference do they make? Here is me with one of the Aryan Ring ones in and one eye natural. Big difference right?

And when you add some make up, they look awesome!

These ones look really dark but still have a burst of natural colour through the middle.

Here is a close up comparison between natural eye and made up eye with the Aryan Ring Circles:

The second set that they sent me are called Walkure Brown and they have a diameter of 14.5mm! These ones are my favorite because they are the absolute biggest! Here’s the comparison between my natural eye and the Walkure Brownup close:

These ones were slightly harder to apply because of the size but once they were in, they just look fantastic! The dark brown works really well with hime style as well which is great for me!

I was surprised how natural they looked on me as my eyes are actually green normally ^_^

From a distance they just look cute!

The third set I received was the Angel EX Greenwith a diameter of 14mm. I was excited about these ones because they were so natural looking and they really made the green in my eyes pop! It probably helped that I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them in Ageha as well 😉

It’s such a pity that these photos don’t seem to capture the real colour of these lenses, they are a really deep vibrant green in real life. I wore them to lunch the other day and got 3 compliments about my eyes, no one even guessed I was wearing lenses XD

They are darker than my natural eyes but the green really stands out!

Pretty!

So my review! Ok the quality of the packing was really good, the box arrived dented by a careless post office worker but the insides were still perfectly ok because of all of the packaging. The complimentary instructions they include are really easy to follow and well set out. I have never used lenses before and I managed to put them in very easily. I have to say that unlike some other resale companies I’ve dealt with, the staff at E-CircleLens were super helpful and really knowledgeable about their products. I couldn’t have been happier with the support I received. The actual lenses were really comfortable to wear and after I got the hang of actually putting them in I didn’t really notice that they were in during the day. On the first day that I wore the Angel Ex Green ones I actually forgot they were in, if James hadn’t reminded me I probably would have gone to bed with them in XD If you want your own sets, all of these lenses can be bought via E-CircleLensfor around US$40 and they last for 1 year if taken care of correctly.

I’ve made a fun little video tutorial to show you how to apply circle lenses, click below to see!

So in conclusion, my first experience with Circle lenses has been really positive, I’m definitely going to keep wearing them and I want to get lots more different colours to try out 😀

What do you all think? Do you wear circle lenses?