The Kawaii Society: Soft Launch

April 15, 2017April 16, 2017 / lolitaland / 2 Comments

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Have you heard of The Kawaii Society? It’s an adorable organization recently founded in the United States! The Soft Launch took place at Radio Star Karaoke in New York City on Sunday, April 2. I was invited to the Soft Launch as a press blogger, and I’m excited to introduce you all to The Kawaii Society.

Here is The Kawaii Society’s mission statement from their Facebook page: “Kawaii Society is an organization that aims to share Japanese pop culture world wide. We are passionate visual artists, fashionistas, gamers, otaku, entrepreneurs, bloggers, musicians and so much more! Join us in discussion, collaboration, events, and celebration of all things kawaii!”

The Soft Launch was definitely full of amazing artists and designers, kawaii fashion, and more. Before I go over my experience at the Soft Launch, I want to share my interview with the founder of The Kawaii Society, Miss Candyholic.

1) How were you introduced to Kawaii culture?

“I was introduced to kawaii culture as a child thanks to my older cousin. She was like a big sister to me and loved anime and cosplay which inspired me to research more about Japanese pop culture. I soon fell in love with harajuku fashion and became an avid reader of Fruits and Gothic & Lolita Bible magazines.”

2) What inspired you to create The Kawaii Society?

“I have been deeply involved in the otaku and J-fashion community since middle school from every aspect- convention attendee, cosplayer, Lolita, maid cafe, J-pop performer, Twitch streamer, artist alley, etc. My goal is to bring all the experiences and connections I’ve made throughout the community together under one brand. I have made so many friends who are bloggers, musicians, fashion icons, and more, and that is something to be celebrated. We often have to rely on meetups to share our love for kawaii culture with others, but I want to create something much more than that where everyone’s talents are utilized.”

3) What’s your favorite fashion style and why?

“I don’t think I can pick one specific fashion style because my favorite fashion styles are those that don’t follow the rules. However, I will say that my favorite aesthetic is pastel and magical girl inspired. Anything baby pink and dream-like gives me life. I also love gothic styles but there is no inbetween – either all pastels or all black.”

Magical Girl inspired wands by Miss Candyholic

4) How did you start your brand Candyholic?

“Entrepreneurship has been in my nature since high school. I used to make and sell animal hats, bonnets, and jewelry to kids at school and people online in the EGL community on Livejournal. Miss Candyholic was just a username I always had since I love sweets and sweet motifs, but I didn’t turn it into a serious business until after college when I had more time to create and market myself on social media. I was invited to sell at my first con, Chibi-Con, a couple years ago and then things just took off from there.”

5) Where do you find your inspiration for your designs?

“Magical girls are a huge inspiration for me. I like to think of myself as a designer for the modern day magical girl. I also like to ask myself questions like “If Cinderella went to college, what would she wear?” Other than fictional characters, I find a lot of inspiration from my kawaii friends and J-fashion groups thanks to social media.”

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Miss Candyholic’s designs are definitely fit for the modern-day magical girl! She also made the maid dresses for the adorable maids of the Candyholic Café. You can check out her Facebook page here.

Now, onto the Soft Launch! When I arrived to Radio Star Karaoke, there was already a line forming outside the venue. So many different alternative fashion styles were represented! I saw people in line wearing fairy kei, sweet lolita, gothic lolita, and other forms of street fashion.

There was a great turnout at the Soft Launch! There were a lot of people, but it wasn’t too crowded. It was still easy to find your way around, and seating was accessible too. There were a bunch of vendors at the event too, and I was impressed by all the cute items for sale. I bought a necklace, a bunch of rings, and secondhand boots (my very first pair of Demonia Shoes)! My favorite find were definitely those secondhand boots. They look so cool, and I’ve always wanted Demonia shoes. Besides shopping, food and drinks were for sale at the event too.

Check out these cool cocktails:

I had the Pink Sugar Heart Attack drink, which is composed of vodka, peach, lime, and lychee. It was delicious!

Since The Kawaii Society Soft Launch took place at a karaoke bar, there was lots of karaoke-ing! It was really fun watching different people sing their favorite songs on the karaoke stage. For this stage, many people in the audience sung along too! “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey is definitely a karaoke staple.

Me and Bubbles (our table’s maid for the evening

One of my best memories of the Soft Launch is definitely the Candyholic Café! This was my first time at a maid café, and it did not disapppoint. All of the maids were adorable! I was so happy that Bubbles was assigned to our table. It was a long time since I’ve seen her, and she looked like she was having so much fun working at the café too!

The dessert came out first, but I didn’t mind at all! This pastel cheesecake was so sweet and yummy. Following dessert, I had crispy onion rings! While eating, me and my table-mates chatted about random things: from fashion to food to music to yaoi.

During the Candyholic Café, I really enjoyed the performances by KuroPOP! They even performed one of my favorite K-pop songs: “Excuse Me” by AOA. Another memorable performance by them was “Boombayah” by BLACKPINK.

Candyholic Café, the Maid Café at the Soft Launch

If you were at The Kawaii Society Soft Launch, please share your experiences too! I hope everyone had tons of fun like I did. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay the entire time; I had to leave early to catch the subway back home (and of course, get ready for the work-week grind). Definitely check out The Kawaii Society if you are in the New York City area! April 30th will be their Unofficial Sakura Matsuri After Party. I am sad I won’t be able to make it to this party, but hopefully I’ll be able to attend other events in the future. If you go, take lots of photos! I’d love to see what the After Party is like.

To end my blog post, here’s a coordinate rundown of my outfit for the event:

Headbow and Skirt: Metamorphose
Small Bows: Offbrand
Blouse: Bodyline
Capelet: Offbrand
Wristcuffs: Classical Puppets
Tights: Offbrand
Boots: Bodyline
Purse: Offbrand
Rings: Offbrand

Note: Photos of Miss Candyholic’s designs and of the Candyholic Café are directly from Miss Candyholic and included in this blog post with her permission.

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Instameets

April 1, 2017April 9, 2017 / lolitaland / 3 Comments

Have any of you heard of Instameets? They’re basically meetups among people who are active on Instagram. I had never heard of these meetups until I moved to NYC. I got invited to my first Instameet by theamazingknight, and it was a cool experience!

Photo by theamazingknight

My first Instameet was the Broketographers one on January 21, 2017. I got totally lost trying to find the meetup location though… It was in Battery Park, and I had never gone that far downtown before. Other Instagrammers told me to look for people with DSLR cameras, since this was a photography meetup. However, there were a lot of people with DSLR cameras. I awkwardly asked a group of people, “Are you guys here for the Broketographers meet?” And they were like: “Uh… we’re just tourists.” Right. Tourists sometimes carry DSLR cameras too.

Eventually, I found the meetup (but it was after wandering around aimlessly for over an hour, plus buying a hot dog from a stand and messaging people on Instagram trying to figure out where everyone was).

Photo by theamazingknight

The meet itself was pretty chill and fun! Lots of people were there, but the vibe was generally friendly and cool. I didn’t know anyone, and it was also my first time meeting theamazingknight. Since the group was so big, it split into smaller clusters of people. There were also many more photographers than models, so I noticed a bunch of photographers would cluster around a single model or two models. There was some fluctuation though when people would switch groups or break into smaller groups.

I also went on the Staten Island ferry for the first time! We basically all went on the ferry to Staten Island, took some photos, then immediately hopped back on the ferry to Manhattan.

Photo by theamazingknight

Next, people started wandering off for dinner or to find other things to shoot. I joined a quickly forming group too, and we all introduced ourselves and decided to walk to find food. However, it took us hours to actually get food since the photographers kept stopping to capture cool shots. Street shots, creative shots, and more! I modeled in some of the shots too.

Here was one of my favorite street shots, captured in the financial district:

Photo by theamazingknight

Theamazingknight used a prism to create this effect! His photography style is so unique and memorable.

Our travel to get food took forever… We ended up getting some roast duck in Chinatown after dumplings at a cool hole-in-the-wall place down an alley. When we got the roast duck though, there was no seating so we had to get it to-go in a paper bag/plastic bag combo. Eating this duck on the sidewalk was an awkward experience (and involved me leaning over the bag like in the following photo collage).

Yes, we were getting stared at. Nope, we didn’t care. One of the photographers was joking about how this is a model’s true habitat. No one can separate me from my roast duck! After food, we went to the rooftop of a tall apartment building in Chinatown to try to capture the view of the city. It was a beautiful sight! The stream of lights from the cars traveling down the street between clusters of high-rise buildings was definitely something I’ll remember. Here are some candids Ktodoma captured of me on the rooftop:

If you want to see more photos from the Broketographers Instameet, visit this Facebook album!

The second Instameet I attended was the HEX NYC Photowalk hosted by Moodygrams on March 4. I didn’t stay at this meetup very long since it was super cold and I was shivering even with my winter jacket (and my plenty of layers underneath: thermals, big thick sweater, thick jeans, fleece socks). I really wanted to go inside, but it was a Photowalk which meant… walking outside, of course. It was really windy this day too.

Photo by Ronith

You can see a glimpse of my sweater in the photo below. Fun fact: the sweater and jeans are hand-me-downs from my mom! They’re both articles of clothing from the 1980s. I love vintage clothing because the quality is so nice.

Photo by Richard Wu

I don’t have too much to say about this Instameet since I didn’t stay very long. My body was exhausted and I couldn’t handle being out in the cold for an extended period of time, even with my heaviest winter jacket (which is an L.L. Bean jacket by the way, so definitely manufactured for the cold).

I haven’t seen any other photos of me from the HEX/Moodygrams Instameet, but if you see any, let me know. Thanks! If I ever find photos from this meet in the future, I’ll add them to this Facebook album.

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Photo by bklyn2nyc

Have you ever been to an Instameet? I’d love to hear about your experiences too!

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Emptyland: Jan/Feb 2017

March 1, 2017March 13, 2017 / lolitaland / 11 Comments

I decided to start my own Empties posts, inspired by Trash Stash by Stashmatters! I couldn’t really think of any name for these blog posts other than “Emptyland,” so we’re just gonna go with the cheesy “Alice in Emptyland” title. I’m going to post all my Empties (although some may not be empty; I might also get rid of products that cause negative reactions or products that have expired). My decision to start tracking my Empties was made to hold myself accountable, since I tend to hoard products and never throw them away (and I also take forever to finish up products…). I also want to be able to look back and see which products I’ve tried and what I thought of them. Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products!

Empties from January & February

Before I get started with my first Emptyland post, I want to share my rating system in case you’re unfamiliar with it. I’m using the same rating system that I use for my reviews, but I stick to just an overall rating rather than lots of specifics. Here’s the rundown for what the stars represent: [ ☆ = Most negative/Not good at all, ☆☆ = Not that good, but okay ☆☆☆ = Neutral/No opinion/No answer, ☆☆☆☆ = Great, ☆☆☆☆☆ = Most positive/Fantastic! ] I’ll also include my experience with each product, but the detail I go into for each product may vary.

Skincare

Neutrogena Oil-Free Cleansing Wipes: Pink Grapefruit – 25 towelettes

I used up all of them, but didn’t like them much. The grapefruit scent was way too strong for me. I usually like citrus, but this was overpowering. I also didn’t see any positive effects of using this. It didn’t make my skin feel any cleaner, and it also made my skin sting.

Overall Rating: ☆☆ // Repurchase? No

Etude House My Lash Serum

I only used about 1/3 of the bottle, but I decided to toss this because I dislike the consistency of it. It’s too thick, and when applied to my lashes, lots of big droplets get caught on my lashes and it feels strange. Looking in the bottle, I also see weird black dots floating in the serum. I’m not sure what they are, and maybe they’re meant to ve there… but I’m still paranoid about them being random contaminants. I don’t see myself using it ever again. I might try a different type of lash serum in the future, but I’m not sure. If anyone has recommendations for lash products, let me know!

Overall Rating: ☆ // Repurchase? No

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch – 24 patches

This was my first time trying an acne patch! I love this stuff because I tend to scratch my face in my sleep (and that’s really not good, especially if I pop a pimple in my sleep…). It works like a mini bandage, but better: it does make my irritated pimples shrink! Sometimes, it works quickly to make them disappear, but most of the time, it only improves it. The effect is still better than clearing gels and other treatments I’ve tried (plus it protects my skin from my fingers when I’m sleeping). Sometimes they fall off though; I have to be careful and make sure my fingers are clean and dry. If any lotion or cream gets onto the patch, then it won’t stick.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? Yes!! (I still have more since I bought a multi-pack set during a sale)

Tonymoly Timeless Ferment Snail Foam Cleanser – 150 mL

This was my very first snail product! It was a decent cleanser, but nothing special. It had a mild and pleasant scent, but it didn’t feel like it foamed up at all when I used it. Maybe tiny bubbles, but I was hoping for a more “foamy” experience. I used the whole thing because I didn’t want to waste it, but I don’t see myself ever purchasing it again. I used it as my second step in my cleansing routine (after a cleansing oil, which I’m still using now).

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆ // Repurchase? No

Tonymoly Timeless Ferment Snail Cream – 50 mL

This was an okay cream, and it had the same scent as the cleanser. This line definitely has a consistent fragrance. I thought it felt more gel-like than cream like, but it also seemed to have two consistencies inside the jar. Some parts were more cream-like, and other parts were more gel-like. I didn’t like this “separated” style of the cream. It felt moisturizing, but I also had to use a lot of it. I also used it during winter time so the air is a lot dryer. With the amount I used in order to feel moisturized, this amount also felt oily to me, which I disliked. It made my skin look really shiny.

Overall Rating: ☆☆ // Repurchase? No

Welcos Jeju Natural Green Tea Mask

This came in a box set (the same masks) that I found at T.J. Maxx. It’s a decent sheet mask, with a generous amount of essence. I liked the mild scent, and it was easily absorbed when I patted my face. I gave one to my mom to try, and I remember she told me she enjoyed the experience as well!

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? Maybe

The Saem Global Eco Mask Sheet

I got a bunch of these for free when I went to The Saem for the first time (in Flushing). It was actually my only time there; maybe I’ll check out that shop again some time. On the back of the packaging, it says Not For Sale, so I assume these masks were promotional items.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? No (not possible)

Makeup

Laneige BB Cushion SPF 50+ – 15 g

This was my second run with this product! When I purchased this from Target, it came with a free refill as well. I just finished the refill in January. I’m saving it, because I might buy another refill for it. I still have a bunch of other BB things I purchased during clearance sales that I need to use up first. But once I use them all up, I’d like to get another refill… unless I find an even better one. My initial reaction to this BB Cream was mostly positive, but I didn’t like the shiny finish or sheer coverage. However, this was something I liked to use at work or light makeup days because the sheer coverage was fine (when I just wanted to hide redness/splotchiness). You can read my in-depth review here. Interestingly enough, the original cushion and the refill last me a year! I opened the first one in January 2016, and finished the last one in January 2017.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? Maybe

Clinique Acne Solutions Liquid Makeup – 30 mL

I don’t even know how long I’ve been using this bottle… My mom gave it to me way-back-when at the end of high school I think? It has been… like 5 or 6 years? I didn’t use this as makeup since I didn’t want acne treatment all over my face. I only applied it where I actually had the acne, so that’s probably why it lasted so long. And I also didn’t use this consistently (I forgot to use it most of the time). It doesn’t have very good coverage, but it works to cover up redness. I didn’t see it doing much for my acne, but I also don’t know if it’s not effective anymore due to its age. The bottle is completely worn-down; you can’t even read any of the text anymore!

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆ // Repurchase? No (my mom gave me another bottle, so I still need to open up and use that one)

Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner – 5 mL

I’m guilty of using this product for wayyyyy too long… This jar has lasted me about 4 years? Possibly more, but this is my go-to liner for photoshoots and cosplays. I really shouldn’t be using the same jar for that long, but there was so much product and I didn’t want it to go to waste. The consistency was always fabulous! It didn’t dry out, and it was easy to apply. The color was the perfect black too, and it didn’t fade. It also came with a brush, but since I periodically wash and clean the brush, I think there’s some more life left in it. I’m keeping the brush in my stash for now. This eyeliner was well worth the $17 I spent on it, and I would totally get this again. Although before I do, I want to try out other liners to see if I can find one that’s even better.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? Yes!!

The Yeon Lotus Flower BC Cushion Pact – 14 g

I got this at such a great deal during a Labor Day Sale at The Yeon! I bought a whole bunch and gave some to friends as presents as well. I wonder what my friends thought of it… It was a decent BC Cushion but didn’t match my skin tone very well (it is too pale). It also oxidizes and doesn’t last very long. However, it didn’t break out my skin and it feels light and also moisturizing. It also has sturdy packaging (I’ve dropped it so many times, and no chips or anything). It’s a nice product, but I don’t think I’ll repurchase it. There are so many other cushions I want to try!

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆ // Repurchase? No

Body Care

The Body Shop Atlas Mountain Rose Body Butter – 200 mL

I was introduced to The Body Shop pretty late (senior year in college, I think?). This is my first product I purchased, and it wasn’t even from The Body Shop store. I found it at either Marshall’s or T.J. Maxx. I love anything rose-scented, so I snagged this when I saw it at such an affordable price. The scent is heavenly and it provides great moisture, even in these terribly dry winter months.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? Yes

Hair Care

Eufora Nourish: Deep Moisture Cleanse – 250 mL

This shampoo has the following description on the bottle: “Extra moisturizing sulfate-free shampoo restores softness and manageability to dry and stressed hair.” I didn’t find this shampoo to be particularly moisturizing though. However, the main purpose of this shampoo was to preserve my hair color when I lightened and dyed it for the first time. At the salon I went to near my college, the stylist mixed some of the hair dye she used into this bottle. Every time I shampooed, I redeposited the hair color. I heard from that hair stylist that red is the hardest color to maintain since it’s the most difficult to deposit, and the easiest to wash out and fade. But… red is my favorite color, so I really wanted to make sure my hair stayed red for as long as possible. This shampoo may not be as moisturizing as I would have liked, but this may be due to the dye mixed in as well. However, this concoction worked miracles for keeping my hair red! Check out this photo from months after the dye job:

My hair was still super vibrant and red! I ran out of the shampoo early on in January (literally on New Year’s Day, January 1!).

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ // Repurchase? No (not possible)

Sample / Travel Size

Tokyomilk/Dark: Pretty Rotten

I got this as a sample in one of my Sephora orders a long time ago. I rarely buy perfume since I have soooo many of these random sample vials lying around. This is a unique scent with a kick to it; I love it! It’s difficult to describe, but it stands out as something with a bit of a rose scent, but much darker. I can also smell apple in there (and I LOVE apples!). There’s no staying power though; I feel like it just lasts 10 minutes or so on me, then I can’t smell it anymore.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ // Purchase? No (but I’ll gladly take another sample)

Did you try any of these products? If so, I’d love to hear your opinions as well! I have combination skin (oily T-zone, dry everywhere else), in case you were wondering. My skin gets really dry in the wintertime, and I also have eczema flare-ups sometimes. Feel free to give me your beauty/skincare/makeup recommendations too! Hope you all have a great week.

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