Another hair dye review...

I was going blonde for awhile so I decided to try out a new dye-

Brand: Punky Color

Color: Alpine Green

Eventhough I've been going for a bright green lately, I wanted to try something diffent-

in the container it pretty much looks like dark green acrylic paint with a hint of blue.

Off the bat it was true to the dye in the container- but now about a week later it looks more blue then anything else!

I really like the color (haha but not on my hair) but I've been getting a lot of comments on it - 'Oooh your hair looks like a peacock!' and 'If Jesus dyed his hair, that's what color he would dye it'

.... thanks? XD I guess that's a pretty high compliment?!

anyway, via shitty webcam, here's what it looks like now:

Because of the yellow lighting, it looks more greenish, but it's really kind of a bright turquoise~ (And of course that streak I left bleached has slowly gradated...)

NOTE: the museum of death ticket- AWWW YEAHHHH

ERmmm it looks like I fucked up the html somehow and that second photo is hidden unless you click the 'read more' link at the bottom or you click to make a comment.

IDK MANNN

Although it hasn't really faded- it's turning progressively blue. By the way it dyed my bathroom, it should have a decent hold on my hair... @__@ Rinsing my hair with a cup of vinigar the first time after dying it like my friend suggested, helped hold the color in really well last time, so of course I've continued doing it.

In other news I finished a commission for someone~

I was really happy to work with her again~ She was a previous customer who liked the hat I made her and decided to commission me again >3!!!

She emailed me a bunch of photos (Oh I want the veil like this: and it would be nice if you had these feathers: but really just use your judgement) as well as a photo of the dress she wanted to wear it with- SO I pretty much got free reign and it (imho) turned out really nicely <3

Read More......

FUCK YEAH WIGS

SO. I ordered a kick ass wig from Cyperous- for the record, here's my ugly mug without it

Excessive camwhoring/review past the jump if I can get this thing to work D:

AM I SMISING ENOUGH FOR YOU TYRA>?! AM IIIIIII?! D:

Anyway here's the link to the wig on Cyperous's  site: http://cyperous.com/wig/wig.cgi?cmd=dp&num=1143&Tfile=Data&dp=english.html

Came exactly as pictured, and with two hair nets and a matching wig cap :D

What can I say- I love ittttt!  It's longer then my old wig but it's MUCH less tangly and it has a nice luster to it- not dull but not the super reflective fake party store wig quality either~   It's also really easy to style because it's smooth- I could just twist and clip sections without getting my hands caught in knots and I've heard they'll bounce right back after minor teasing (hahaha I must admit I'll need to work up my courage a bit before i try that) also if I was so inclined, these wigs are heat resistant so I could curl it more or straighten it out using hot water.I was a little afraid it would be too small for my head (because the old wig was) but it's fine~ so unless you have an extremily big head you should be fine xDD Also for an extra fee they can actually make the wig a little bigger so if you have really long hair or just a large noggin, they've got you covered!

Verdict? These wigs have a great reputation already in the cosplay community and I can see why!  I think they look really realistic (from my wig and from other people's pictures that I've seen) and I think it's absolutely worth the price, but if you buy one I'd suggest you hop on a group order like I did! Shipping is killer Dx

Read More......

Sock dreams review!

Honestly I've never heard a review of sockdreams.com that wasn't positive.  Their communication is good, offers free tracking (although this  may be due to the size of my order), shipping is prompt (recieved my items in less then a week even with the free shipping!) and their selection is quite extensive.

anyway first up:

red x white striped socks 

What Sockdreams says: Soft and stretchy, these stay up well and look great doing it. More sock-like than nylon-like. Leg Avenue label. One size fits most 90-160 lbs. Women's shoe sizes 6-10. They seem to be more of an over the knee on larger legs. Also worked great as a cuffed knee high on our tester with a 19inch calf.

What I say: A good opaque striped sock- I wanted to get these because it provides a bit more cushioning then tights, also I like the look of socks better in this case.  However, on my calves (16 inches at the widest point) the socks are stretching enough to show a bit of the elastic in the fabric.  It's not too visible, but I thought I would point it out.  Also I'm a shoe size 9 and the 'feet' just fit, it shouldn'treally a big issue though unless you're wearing footwear that would show this.  For reference, I'm wearing the left sock cuffed to knee high, and the right one as an OTK eventhough it's difficult to see.

nurse sock garters

What Sockdreams says: Are you a nurse or a candy striper? Maybe you just want to dress up like one for fun... If so, these are a perfect finishing touch for your outfit! Sold by the pair with cute little matching thermometer barrettes.Medium to large, up to 20 inches. They have two red snaps to adjust width.

What I say: I've said it before, and I'll say it again- it's the thermometer hair clips that won me over :B  (pictured clipped onto the left sock garter),  yes, if not obvious I have a weakness for cute relatively useless things that I don't need D:  The sock garters them selves are as pictured, cute, and the adjustable snaps make it so you can wear it on your thighs or around your calves.  Constructionwise, they decorations are just glued on which was a dissapointing, however there's no globs of hot glue visible, so it's all cool. All in all I'd say they weren't the 24$, but they're cute and serve their purpose.

(shoes pictured are from Naturalizer and ring was bought in Santee Alley)

Trouser socks  

What Sockdream says: Floral lace pattern from the tops of the feet to just below the cuff. Beautifully hand-screen printed with no overlaps or gaps in the pattern. These look amazing with a skirt and your prettiest shoes. Made in the USA. Tube style socks which will fit most feet and will look best on women's shoe sizes 6-10.5 
Maximum top stretch 17.5 inches.

What I say: These are everybit as gorgeous in real life as they look on your screen *3*~ Also I guess I made a good decision to buy them when I did because the blackxgold is sold out! (haha I think I got the last pair~ I'm sure they'll restock eventually though)  White x black looks just as lovely and probably more versatile.  Again, the max measurements sock dreams gives are a bit generous.  I probably wouldn't go over a 9.5 in shoe size, because with my size 9 feet combined with my calves, the socks already fall a bit shorter then I'd like.  Also, there is some minor crackling in the screen print near the top that I feel like would be visible if your calves were the max 17.5 inches.  

The final say: Sockdreams ships quickly and delivers true to photo.  Although some of the prices on the items listed as 'hand made' or 'made specially for sock dreams' are a bit high, if you don't have the knowlege/knowhow to construct certain things or want something unique but don't have the time to make it your self, I'd say go for it.  Also, when ordering if the stretching of a print bothers you I'd definately err on the smaller side of max measurements given by them.

Shipping: 5/5

Customer Service: 5/5

Quality: 4/5

Type rest of the post here
Read More......

Reviews pending~

A bit of a minipost right here becauseI have quite a bit of work to get done for tomorrow (Thank heavens for noon classes! I'd die if I had an 8 AM tomorrow!), but I managed to have some *ghasp* extra money this month from doing commissions, and decided to splurge at sock dreams-  if you refer to that socks post a couple entries down, I ordered the black x gold trouser socks and a couple things for my halloween costume :D

Of course I'll give pictures and review when it comes!

Also, just a word of warning, for those of you looking to purchase fake hair or dread falls, STAY AWAY FROM JADED DREADS -  I ordered from them 7 months ago and they finally sent me my stuff!  I gave them my home address this time because honestly I was expecting them to drag on another 7 months.  I am happy that they've decided to improve their customer service lately (which honestly isn't saying much seeing as previously it was literally nonexistant), but I'll try to give a nonbaised review when I can go get them on break.

I'm not saying that Jaded Dreads are total scammers (well technically I don't know, maybe there's a  pebble in that box or something lololol)  but they dissapeared with a chunk of my money for quite a while with no communication whatsoever and didn't respond to the multiple emails/myspace messages which I worded politely. (and one which I wasn't so polite in :B)  Finally after a snarky myspace reply to the notice that they were having a sale, I got a response...  and then nothing to confirm that they took note to the new address, but my mom called and confirmed they'd gotten the package, so I suppose that's fine.  

However I do have friends who have ordered stuff from them before me and still haven't gotten their products, so just make sure to research sellers before you commit! If I'd googled jaded dreads before paying, I could have saved myself a lot of grief and nail biting.

Type rest of the post here
Read More......

Hair dye!

SO.

I'm not sure at all how relevant this is going to be to the rest of you but I recently redyed my hair :D

Over the years I've had literally every color in the rainbow in my hair, and so far I've exparmented with green hairdye using three diffrent kinds-

Brand: Manic Panic

Color: Electric Lizard, amplified formula

Results: Came out streaky yellowish green and not bright at all- I even dyed twice and I still didn't get results I was happy with! Dye faded out into a yucky brown-green within a week.  In Manic Panic's defense, my hair was aznblonde (aka that orangy color asians get when they bleach their hair half assed)  and it was left over from a previous dyejob that had faded.  However, I've had this problem when I had prebleached so I haven't really had a good experience with the brand ):

Brand: Splat

Color: Neon Green 

Results: I know it looks like seafoam green but it was more of a super bright blue toned green. I was definately happier then I was with the manic panic dye, but the color was much lighter then I was expecting it. (Splat works decently for all the other colors considering there's no reference photo on the box... just models with badly photoshopped hair!)  The color was completely faded in the back to blonde and brown in under three weeks.   (umm plus side is it comes with bleach?)

Brand: Special Effects

Color: Iguana Green

Review: I was kind of weary of it because in the past I've always gotten better results from dyes which you have to mix beforehand.  Also when I applied it I was expecting the color to be quite streaky because my hair wasn't evenly bleached- when I washed it out suprise suprise! A dark rich true green! So far I haven't seen any fading (well honestly it's been less then a week so I'll keep you guys updated) and I get tones of compliments on my hair :]  Even some areas that were dyed dark brown before turned green- also it didn't fry my hair at all! Do I even need to say I'm super happy with it? 

note: Another green hair dye I've heard is popular is punky professional's Apple Green- I haven't tried it out yet but maybe in the future... I've heard people like this because the product looks less like dino snot then special effect's product.

I still don't see why looking like dinosnot is a negative ):

 

Type rest of the post here
Read More......

Dream Dress Syndrome

WHEW

to combat the ranty-ness of that last entry I thought I'd blog about something that made me really happy~
(again I'd like to apologize the swiftness in which I jumped from introduction to a informative post and then straight to uncoherant ranting! In my defense it was about 3 AM when I decided to word-vomit a rebuttal.)

Maybe it is because of the very nature of lolita fashion, the obsession with fantasy and fancy, the adoration of beautiful impractical things, that what I call the 'dream dress' syndrom is so prominant! 

Now, this isn't a lolita specific thing,  I know bjd owners often have a 'dream doll' they long to purchase, the average fashionista lusts over a pair of shoes she HAS TO HAVE, or with any hobby really, it's natural for people to make shopping lists in their head and have a particular item they quest for. (Ah glorious materialism how I love thee <3)

Anyway, back to the dream dress.  This is a fact; whether she (or he) knows it, every lolita has a dream dress.  This is the dress that maybe introduced them to the style or even fall in love with it, it's the dress that maybe sums up everything they love about lolita in one garment for them-  sometimes it might not even be a dress at all! (insert a JSK from moi meme moitie, a bonnet from tripple fortune, a tail coat from atlier boz or any other item here)

Haha unfortunately for me, what cemented this particular dress as my 'dream dress' recently, was seeing it on egl comm sales for a mere 170$ plus matching headbow and shipping.

Now, I was one of those girls who has a huge folder of dresses, hats, cutsews ect. that we one day hope to purchase (or replicate) eventually, and when ever a post on egl came up asking 'Show me your dream dress girls!' I didn't know how to reply.

But back to realizing it was my dream dress-  my heart beat quickened- my palms grew sweaty- I spazzed on aim to whoever happened to be online that OMG this dress was on sale what do I do?!  ( I would like to quote a choice couple of sentences from Kamikaze Girls here, but alas my copy is at home.  Novala, you might be a slightly creepy japanese dude, but you know the inner workings of a maiden's heart!)

At 170$, even for a Metamorphose OP which originally retailed at over 300$ (and if you add the shipping costs and the matching headbow, the price could very easily tip into the upper 400's) it is the largest lolita purchase I have yet to make- at a time when I know I'll be short of money anyway. (and yes, I am afraid I'll be living off of plain noodles ... with more noodles for quite a while)

After two days of completely irrational anxiety ( refreshing the sales page every 10 min. to see if there had been any offers so far- CHECK) I finally broke down and asked the seller to hold it a couple of days so I could purchase it.

Anyways, yesterday it arrived a couple days ago and I didn't know what to expect.  Would I be dissapointed finally holding this dress which I've longed for unknowingly for some time? Would I be completely furfilled and choose not to buy another item of lolita clothing because it couldn't match up to the hype and gorgeousness of this dress?

Can I just say that I am in love?

It's every bit as beautiful in real life as I pictured <3333>

SO my advice is as follows

- if you see your dream dress on sale and you know you're the sort of person who's going to have regrets- get it!

- of course this entails being considerate of your current financial position- last year I wasn't so smart with my bugeting and thus had be pretty thrifty so I wasn't living off of old halloween candy. (OH WAIT...)  

- So I suppose the point is, go ahead and indulge yourself but be knowledgable about what you can or cannot do- if you really want something, splurge only if you can deal with the concequences!  The saddest thing would be buying your dream dress only to sell it off soon after because you couldn't afford your rent/food/other nessecity.  

It might sound like I'm trying to act like your mom, but I know mine would say something like 'Devote your money to important things first!' That is certainly the reasonable approach, but if you love lolita, I feel that a love of a little bit of impracticality comes along for the ride!

And for gods sake if you buy that dress- wear it!  Confidence will only make you more beautiful<3

Read More......