Diet Talk!

Over the past few months I've been looking through some diet tips videos on Youtube, and reading different gyaru diet blogs. I'm not really interested in shedding 20lbs, and when I say diet I mean I am looking for a healthier lifestyle.

I want to change my eating habits so I can feel better, and have more energy! And live longer, lol.

I'm quite lazy so exercise is something I rarely do. I hate to sweat.When I do lose weight it's purely by accident.

But I think I bring in too many toxins and I want to stop, so I decided to try out the Paleo diet.
I'm going to wean myself into it because I don't want my body getting too crazy over the huge diet change.
For example, I eat bread every day (two slices, in a sandwich).

For now I'm just going to decrease my candy/chocolate intake, and increase on vegetables. I'm also not going to have a problem with avoiding dairy, since i already eat very little of it--usually just a slice in a sandwich. Eventually I'll stop with all the carb-full stuff.

I also realized that drinking cold water first thing in the morning really does help with metabolism! I think that's what helped me shed 4 pounds recently. In general, I don't hydrate very well. I take in about 2 bottles of 17oz Ice Mountain water per day. But I'll also have one Capri Sun pouch and maybe a little bit of pop (like a sip) later on.

Anyway, dieting is pretty tough and it takes a lot of self control! There's a Nestle Aero, of bubbly milk and white chocolate, right in front of me and I'm trying my hardest not to unwrap and devour it! >___<

Ganbareeeee!!

My first J-Fashion and Gyaru magazines~!

Thanks to a cute lolita, friend, and owner of Paradise Rose Shop (lots of super cute lolita accessories! Check it out!) I got my hands on some Japanese fashion magazines for he first time! She has recently moved to San Francisco and kindly picked them up for me while she was near the Japanese shops!
I go the ViVi 30th anniversary September 2013 issue and Ageha August 2013 issue.

As a Westerner seeing these for the first time, I'd like to comment on the quality first. These magazines are very popular in Japan, you can get them pretty much anywhere that sells magazines. Therefore for something so common, I was surprised that both magazines were made of a sturdy, thick glossy cover that I've mostly seen on textbooks here in the US, and rarely ever a magazine. The pages inside are also thick (I guess you could compare the paper to yearbook pages in terms of thickness/texture) and the print/graphics are of high quality.

The ViVi issue, since it is an anniversary issue, was quite larger than the Ageha issue in both length&width, and number of pages.

Ths issue of Vivi did not come with a gift, but Ageha did--it came with a cute Liz Lisa makeup pouch!
In terms of price, Ageha was $12.25 and ViVi was $12.85. Of course, this is over twice the price of my 900-page Sept 2013 issue of Vogue, but where the Japanese magazines may lack in content in terms of lengthy articles, I believe they are physically superior and are far more specific in their content and offer more practically useful information.

For example, Vogue is mostly perfume sample pages and photoshoots, articles on the cover girl, and advertisements. LOADS of advertisements!

Both Vivi and Ageha also had advertisements but it was more of a showcasing than blatant advetisement.
For example ViVi has a section showing makeup items and comparing them; they'd have foundation for example, on paper or eyeliner drawn on paper to show it's consistency/color.

Similarly, Ageha has photos of models in many different lenses, false lashes, and make-up, as well as clothing. They have a page showing different items for comparison and of course each is labeled with the brand/store.

The Japanese magazines do their advertising through tutorials. American fashion magazines advertise through artsy photoshoots. I feel that the Japanese magazines were more friendly and more geared towards helping you look better.

Speaking of gearing, I wanted to discuss how Ageha aand Vivi differ from each other in tersms of content.
ViVi is mostly about fashion--that is, every day cute fashion with many sections showing you how to coordinate different styles or patterns. It also had several pages wth exercise routines/tips.
The models wore light makeup (or at least it appears light) and no lenses nor false lashes. The styles presented were very innocent, girly, and sweet.

Ageha, on the other hand, is completely targeting the Gyaru audience. There wasn't a single model in the magazine who didn't have a lot of eye make-up, lashes, and circle lenses on. Articles/tutorials consisted of showing you how to do Gyaru make-up, Gyaru hair, and lose weight. The fashion brands were mostly Gyaru brands, but I was surprised to find a lot of Angelic Pretty as well! Ageha contained more advertisements for plastic surgery as well. ViVi contained one advertisement for breast enlargement and eyelid surgery, on the last page in the back.

So which do I like better? Well I like both for different reasons.

-I like Ageha for the comparisons of lashes, makeup styles and hair styles as well as clothing styles.
-I like ViVi for the outfit coordination sections, health/workout sections, and overall presentation (less cluttery with graphics).

I can't read Japanese so tomorrow I'm going to sit down with my handy dandy Google translate app and attempt to read them, however much of it is self explanatory from the images. Therefore, if you can't read Japanese, don't worry! You will still be able to follow the tutorials and you won't regret buying the magazines.

Thanks for reading, I hope this "review" was insightful♥

Korean Fest Chicago 2013!

Hello again dears~

Last Sunday, my friends and I went to check out K-Fest! I haven't been to it before and I had the day free so I wanted to go. There were soooo many food vendors and choosing what to eat was a bit tough! I finally settled on some BBQ chicken teriyaki and fried rice. Yummm!

 Omnomnomnom!

 My coord for the day~ (awkward pose, I know) I wore my newest Liz Lisa dress! I was going to wear some high heeled wedges but I decided against it since it's a bit difficult to drive in them and I wasn't sure if my feet would hurt from walking around so much!

This was a group of Korean drummers, and yes that's McDonald's, they gave out free smoothies ha!

I ended up buying some herbal facial cleansing cloths, but that's it. I had hoped they'd have more cute Korean accessories but surprisingly there weren't any! Maybe next year~

Either way I had a good time with my friends♥

My Liz Lisa Collection~ So far!

Hello dears! I waited for one more dress to come in before doing a small wardrobe post. I don't have a very big collection because I really just started getting interested in roma-gyaru fashion a couple of months ago and I've been buying only when I find a good deal. I've just picked up these pieces from the Gyaru Sales comms on LJ and FB. I've never had a problem with any of these transactions and all items are legit as stated! Right now I don't own any replicas and I'd like to stick to the original.

For those of you reading this who don't know much about Gyaru fashion, I'd encourage you to do a bit of research! There are many sub-styles, and my favorite is called roma-gyaru (romantic gyaru) and himekaji! These sub-styes are characterized by floral or solid main pieces, or a general sweet, girly, classic look.

I absolutely love florals, especially Liz Lisa ones!

Without further ado~

 The one on the left just came in today, it's a super cute summer dress!
The on on the right was my first LL dress. It's a fall/winter piece, made of soft fleecy material.

These I received in order from left to right. The first dress on the left is a cute, chiffon-like material and great for summer! I wore it for my graduation dinner with my family!

The one in the center is perfect for summer too, it's a soft, light cotton material. I wore this one for Independence Day!

Last but not least, the one on the right I received recently too,and I would say it's best for fall or spring, even winter. The sleeves are of a soft cotton, and the floral/brown parts are a soft fabric, not fleece but that terry/velvet kind? Not sure what it's called xD
The skirt bottom is made like a bubble dress, so it's pretty cute, and there's a big detachable waist bow at the back!

I'm planning to wear the newest dress for the Korean Festival this Sunday. Hope I can take lots of pics to share! 

Bis Später~~♥