Friday, May 29, 2015

OOTD - April & May 2015

I post looks with the items I've purchased here for each of the new items but I don't always wear it out like that lol. I also have a few pieces that I totally love but were purchased from before I started blogging. Some ofc you've seen in coordinates with the new items...idk where I was really going with that. I guess I was trying to convince myself there was a real reason for a blog post "series" like this. But anyway, I wanted to start doing what is essentially an "outfit dump" of coordinates that I actually wore (for the most part) out! Sorry this doesn't really have a solid theme or reasoning behind it lol, especially not seasonal since winter coordinates would essentially look exactly like summer, spring and autumn coordinates. It's literally an outfit dump from the past month(s) with item breakdown! Most of these include Liz Lisa pieces but some feature sister brands. (A lot of my off brand stuff I probably won't post/haven't taken pictures in/of.)
Sorry if you follow me on other social media (esp IG or Dayre) because this post might be a little repetitive, but it'll have a little bit of extra information and links! I'm not sure how long this topic will be interesting or relevant without becoming repetitive (I only have so much clothes lol), but I'm trying to filter through as many pieces in my Liz Lisa/sister brands wardrobe as possible to see what I want to keep/sell/etc so hopefully you'll see a bit of variety until I run out of clothes or ideas lol.

Coordinate 1 -
Liz Lisa organdy short sleeve cardigan, Liz Lisa sweets OP, Liz Lisa clear pearl sandals, Liz Lisa rose quilted purse, (hair clip from Daiso)

Coordinate 2 -
Liz Lisa batwing knit, Liz Lisa rose embroidery lace OP, Liz Lisa flower wedge lace-up back sandals, Kate Spade New York purse, (hair clip from Daiso)

Coordinate 3 -
Liz Lisa flower logo OP, Liz Lisa heart suede pumps

Coordinate 4 -


Coordinate 5 -
Liz Lisa lace cami, Liz Lisa floral dot skirt, off brand cardigan, Liz Lisa clear pearl sandals, Liz Lisa seashell pouch, (self made floral headband)

Coordinate 6 -
Liz Lisa floral lace peek cardigan, Juge Etta floral resort OP, Liz Lisa knot wedge sandals, Betsey Johnson 2-way bow bag, (self made floral headband)

Coordinate 7 -
Liz Lisa check fitted skirt, off brand cardigan and blouse, Flag J sandals

Coordinate 8 -
Liz Lisa short sleeve linen jacket, Juge Etta floral pleated OP, Flag J pumps, Kate Spade New York purse, (hair clip from Daiso)

Coordinate 9 -
Ank Rouge blouse, Liz Lisa floral jumper skirt, Flag J pumps, Kate Spade New York scalloped 2-way bag, (hair clip from Daiso)


Coordinate 10 -
Liz Lisa gingham off shoulder OP, Flag J pumps, (headband from Icing)

Coordinate 11 -
Liz Lisa flower logo OP, Liz Lisa knot wedge sandals, Liz Lisa My Melody vol 2 mook bag, (self made floral headband)

Coordinate 12 -

Coordinate 13 -
Tralala off shoulder stripe OP, Flag J pumps


Coordinate 14 -
Liz Lisa embroidery lace OP, off brand cardigan, Tutuanna socks, Liz Lisa ribbon pumps, Liz Lisa corset side 3-way bag

Coordinate 15 -
Liz Lisa floral sleeveless top w/peekaboo back, off brand jeans, Liz Lisa heart suede pumps, Betsey Johnson 2-way bow bag, (hair clip from Daiso)

Coordinate 16 -
Juge Etta bow back blouse, Liz Lisa floral pants, Liz Lisa 2-strap bow pumps, Michael Kors purse


Coordinate 17 -
Liz Lisa summer 2014 Hep Five limited OP, Flag J pumps

Coordinate 18 -
 Liz Lisa ribbon lace faux 2-piece OP, Liz Lisa flocked cardigan, Liz Lisa knot wedge sandals, Samantha Thavasa 2-way ruffle bow purse, Liz Lisa rose clips

 Coordinate 19 -
 Liz Lisa floral shoulder cut out OP, Liz Lisa knot wedge sandals, Liz Lisa pearl flower barrette
 
 Coordinate 20 -
 Liz Lisa stripe peekaboo OP, Liz Lisa flower beret, Liz Lisa pearl flower necklace, Liz Lisa x Yui Kanno novelty jewelry box (masquerading as a clutch), Flag J pumps

Personal favorites from this set are Coordinates 6, 18 and 20 
Hopefully I can continue this topic for the next few months at least! Although I know I'll probably run out of Liz Lisa/VENT brand items soon, so maybe I'll end up sharing a bit more of my off brand wardrobe too :O. Let me know what you think!

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Vassen Sakura Candy Brown circle lenses - PinkyParadise

I'm no longer an avid circle lens wearer so these kinds of posts will be far and few between, but I had a special occasion for which I want to wear them (see related: Liz Lisa photoshoot with Rei and Taka) so I had to purchase a new pair. I used to have quite a few pairs but they have long since expired.
old circle lenses - now all expired and thrown out
I knew exactly which lens I wanted. It's the bottom pair from the picture above which I think I remember as "Sugar Candy brown" but I don't think there was a brand listed when I purchased them. There's a lot of other similar lenses so it didn't matter to me whether I got that exact pair or not, but I knew that's the design I was looking for because I had liked it a lot. I basically wanted something with a strong limbal ring and light brown color that created a nice effect with a diameter of around 14.5mm.
I've been out of the circle lens game for so long that I didn't know where to start. The blog "store" I used to buy from now seems like an odd choice to me, and I no longer want to deal with that kind of informal website where you have to copy and paste some text into an email and blah blah blah.

PinkyParadise is a site that I have purchased from before, and I know they sponsor a number of people. A site sponsoring such a huge volume of bloggers usually turns me off but since I have ordered from them before, I knew I wasn't basing my decision purely on sponsored reviews, but rather just using them as a small assurance that they were still in business and doing rather well. Due to their large selection, I had a feeling that they would undoubtedly have something similar to what I wanted.
I was browsing through all the brown lenses and found Vassen Sakura Candy Brown.
The main stock photo had me second guessing myself a bit because the inner brown color seemed too "hard" and opaque, but the pictures of a model/customer wearing them assured me that this was reasonably the same lens as what I had previous owned. They were having a free shipping promotion, so I decided it wasn't worth my time to research around for the best price to save $2-3 max and just went ahead with my purchase. I like to buy my lenses with prescription because...I need it. My eyes are actually at quarter steps, but I just round down to the nearest option. (Better to round down than round up.) I know some people like to wear their lenses under their prescription glasses, but I'm not one of those people lol. 
 
Purchased and paid on Jan 16. Received email alert for shipping on Jan 26. Package was delivered on Feb 7 from Germany. Why is this post so late? Well I received them in early February, but I didn't bother taking them out of the vials until like late March when I wanted to wear them for a photoshoot lol. And I didn't have time to take any lens-specific photos that day, so I had to set aside some time for them later. And it turned out to be much later lol.

Close-ups of my eyes lol -
Lenses in with flash

Lenses in with natural lighting

Lenses in with natural lighting looking up to the right

Without lens --> with lens

No lenses
And one shot from a bit farther away -

I'm also wearing the lenses in all the photos from my Liz Lisa x My Melody 6th collab vol. 2 items post if you want to see them worn from much, much farther away lol. For comparison purposes, my "regular" make up with no circle lenses is on the left (from my TKL order 19 post), and the same make up but with circle lenses in on the right.
Lol I'm even wearing the same shoes wtf. There isn't a huge difference from this far away, but I think you can tell that my eyes are definitely "darker" lol.

I'm no longer a really big circle lenses wearer/fan, so this isn't going to be much of a "review". It's really just kind of...sharing lol. I purchased these lenses hoping that they were really similar to my old Sugar Candy lenses, but they're really ...not lol. These do have a similar limbal ring but it seems much wider, but at the same time, not as strong/bold from far away. The Sugar Candy ones had a noticeable but very black and confined limbal ring with a contrasting light brown inside even from a distance. The brown in this Vassen pair blend a lot better with my eye, I think? So the effect they give is different. It's not bad necessarily, but it just wasn't what I was expecting based on the stock photos.

Enlargement: 5/5; definitely great enlargement. I think most circle lenses over 14.2mm enlargement makes the iris look a lot larger and the dark limbal ring definitely helps. Enlargement is even obvious from a distance away.
Comfort: 3.5/5; I guess I would say that these are about average comfort most of the time. The first time I wore them, I didn't have many issues but there is a little difference than my regular (non enlarging) contacts which in comparison is a 5/5. I don't know if it's just me, but these weren't extremely comfortable the second time I put them on, so I couldn't give it a 4/5. I wore them for about 6 hours the first time and maybe 4 hours max the second time.
Color: 3/5; I'm very meh with the color personally. On my dark brown eyes, it just makes them seem even more dark brown to black rather than just a medium brown that the pictures seem to promise. I would prefer for this to give a slightly lighter brown effect like the Sugar Candy series does.
Design: 3/5; The design is nothing special imo (compared to the plethora of lenses that are out now) and it doesn't even show up well on dark brown eyes.
Overall: 3.5/5; I wouldn't order these again but mostly because these are not what I was looking for (since I wanted an identical Sugar Candy replacement). They're fine/OK lenses, but nothing extraordinary and I feel like there are probably better ones out there. So, there's nothing essentially WRONG with them, I just don't feel they're really special and worth a real recommendation lol.

Since I am writing this blog post, I feel compelled to add this note about circle lens/eye safety:
If you’re considering purchasing a pair for the first time, please please put your eye health FIRST. Fashion is great, but please don’t put your health at risk for it. Or at the very least, don’t give advice about it if you’re not a professional or if you didn’t get the advice straight from a professional (that you personally know and have consulted about circle lenses specifically). [Yes, I'm basically saying don't take my own word about circle lenses as 1000% fact either. But please do take my advice about seeking professional advice.] “The internet” or personal experience is not the same thing as an optometrist or ophthalmologist and should not take precedent because you “personally didn’t have any problems”. That does NOT mean that will be the case for others. Please do not give potentially harmful advice.
I know that not *everyone* can afford to go to a doctor regularly, but I think when it comes to sticking a foreign object in your eye, you should please consider at least one visit where you can get your questions answered or receive recommendations or basic care instructions and your base curve measurement.
If you’re new to circle lenses or lens wearing in general, I would suggest you start with something with a smaller diameter (maybe 14.2) no matter what brand you pick. Usually discomfort occurs because your eye isn’t getting enough oxygen. Circle lenses are larger and often thicker than prescription lenses, so you shouldn’t think that because you wear your regular lenses for 20+ hours, it would be okay for circle lenses. That’s absolutely not the case and I cannot tell you how much it horrifies me to see others openly advocating extended (over 8 hour) use. What might also come into play is just the general quality of the lenses. I’m not sure about the regulations for some of these manufacturers (none are regulated by the FDA obviously) but I’ve seen people receive warped lenses or try to wear lenses with tears. DO NOT stick these defective lenses in your eye no matter how bad you want to wear them. If it’s uncomfortable, stop wearing them.
When I was into circle lenses, I found that soompi’s Circle Lens thread was really helpful. There’s like 2000 pages and not everything is great, but there’s lots of reviews in one place. You might want to start with the more recent stuff for the most up-to-date reviews and stuff. Like maybe read the first few pages and then skip to page 1500 and forward. Depends how much time you have. You need to know what’s right for *your eyes* despite what so-and-so said works for them.
Oh, just small pointers - be sure to soak your lenses after you take them out of the vials. If you stick them straight in your eye, it may hurt like a bitch or it may NOT hurt (people have all sorts of experiences) but that solution that it comes in should ideally be soaked off for at least 8 hours. Also don’t try and use your lenses beyond the expiration date. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only used them 3 times. 1 year lenses shouldn’t be used beyond one year. Seriously. They’re marked as yearlies for a reason. And of course, check with your optometrist.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Liz Lisa photoshoot with Rei and Taka

Back in January, Rei (ramirei on tumblr) invited me to be part of a photoshoot she was planning with her friend who is a photographer! I've never had an opportunity like this fully come to fruition, and I was really excited and extremely flattered that she asked me to be part of it. We had exchanged messages a few times before and I knew she was local (from Hawaii), but we had never had a chance to meet.
We finally picked a date in April when we both had time and the items we wanted to use and agreed on a location. I packed up my car with all the things I thought I might possibly need since I don't live close to the place where we'd be shooting and I didn't want to have any regrets about not bringing something lol.
Shoes/bags/misc accessories
3 piles of clothes like this in the backseat that almost prevented me from seeing out lol

I left my house thinking that I'd arrive around 10-15 minutes early, but somehow there was a huge accident (and then subsequent smaller accidents as a result of the main's accident's traffic) and it took me almost 1.5 hours to park my car near where we planned to meet, and I was half an hour late FML. Bad first impression or not? Sigh. And then I couldn't get the parking meter to read my credit card which I was forced to use because I didn't have enough quarters (and using nickels and dimes would have been a rip off). In any case, Rei and Taka (the photographer and Rei's friend) were really nice about the whole thing, but I still felt so bad!

The first place we went to shoot was in front of Iolani Palace. I've seen a few other photoshoots take place in this area and Rei said her friends had previously shot there with no problems (legally) as well. We weren't planning on going into the palace, but rather just use the grounds and architecture as a background I think.
Rei's first outfit is her pink Liz Lisa off shoulder long sleeve floral dress from the 2014 fukubukuro and No Fall sandals. I was wearing my Liz Lisa x My Melody 4th collab OP in pink and Liz Lisa floral wedges. We wanted to try and be cohesive without being overly matchy.
Tbh I think it took me awhile to "warm up". I've never had photos taken of me like this (especially in a public place with constant foot traffic) and, while Rei and Taka are extremely nice, it always takes me a little bit to get comfortable with people when I first meet them.


We also went across the street to the Judiciary Building (Aliiolani Hale) where the King Kamehameha I statue is to shoot near that building as well. When we first got there, there were no tourists around but soon enough, a huge bus's worth arrived and swarmed lol.
Rei is wearing her pink Liz Lisa border x stripe set up (off shoulder top + shorts) with No Fall sandals, and I'm wearing my pink Liz Lisa x Yui Kanno collab rose fairy story OP with my rose clip from the same collab and pink Liz Lisa ribbon pumps with white socks from Tutuanna.


We also went to shoot near this pavilion next to Iolani Palace. This was actually our second setting but I'm posting them last because these are probably by favorite.
Rei is wearing her Liz Lisa lace sleeveless top and Liz Lisa bow shorts with Flag J heels and Liz Lisa 2014 fukubukuro 3-way bag. I am wearing the same Liz Lisa lace sleeveless top with my Liz Lisa wagon skirt and Liz Lisa knot wedges and Liz Lisa lace-up side 3-way bag.

These last three are my favorites of the day so I made them extra big lol -
Ugh I think I just love the wagon skirt so much lol. And all the pink! Plus no opportunity for awkward face ruining two of them because there is no face at all lol (which I am quite happy with).

All photos of me and/or Rei were taken by @takacosplay on IG and edited by @ramirei on Tumblr. (Except the first photo in this post which was both taken and edited by Taka.) Please do not repost these without crediting Taka and Rei! I don't own the copyright on these but received permission to post them. Please be respectful and do the same if you'd like to share them (otherwise please do not share them at all). The poor quality photos of the mounds of stuff in my car and the stalkerish looking photos of Taka and Rei were taken by me lol. 

I want to send a big thank you out to Rei for including me in this project and also just being a generally nice person to be around. It was so great to meet you and Taka and have the opportunity to get pictures like this! I really don't have many "good" photos of (me in) my Liz Lisa clothes because I don't really have anyone to take them, and I'm so, so happy to have been asked to be a part of this small photoshoot! I think I still need a lot of practice to be able to actually look good in more of the photos, but I'm thankful to have these, and I appreciate all the effort that went into the planning and shooting and editing.