My Gyaru Makeup

Gyaru fashion is a type of Japanese street fashion that originated in the 1970’s. Gyaru is most commonly referred to as ganguro, but ganguro is actually a subculture of gyaru. Ganguro was popular in the 1990’s, but shortly died out in the early 2000's. Gyaru is a girly-glam style, breaking away from traditional standards of beauty. Dwelling on the man-made (wigs, fake eyelashes, fake nails, etc). Gyaru fashion does not fit with traditional, and media portrayed ideals of Japanese women. It is often identified as a sign of rebellious youth

During my makeup classes one of the makeup technique I learned was the Japanese Gyaru makeup. There are different types of gyaru. But two of the most commonly known or popular are the Ganguro, where the girl has fake dark tan and bleached hair, and Hime gyaru, and princess or doll like makeup. And thank goodness I learned the hime garyu technique, since I don't think it would be easy to evenly put dark foundation on my model. 

Used really long and thick false lashes
The shadow seems uneven but it's important when the eyes are open...

For the hime garyu look,  I used pink face powder with a bit of glitter, and for the eyes pink smokey eyes, and pink blush and of course pink lipstick.

The most difficult for me was to put the lashes. Since they are thick and long, it wasn't as easy as putting on regular lashes. Plus the under lashes were quite hard to control and put.

I guess since my model was just 15, this look suits her well. Good thing that I wasn't a model for this one :D 

Nami Island

Nami Island is famous setting for the Korean drama "Winter Sonata". If you are a fan of Korean drama you will know what I mean. 

I have came back to Korea after living in the Philippines and it's been 10 years already but I have not traveled around Korea that much. But since my friend came to Korea for a visit, we decided to take a tour in Nami Island.

For the brief history of Nami:

The half-moon shaped island is 4 kilometers in diameter and approximately 400,000 square meters in size. It boasts wide open grassy areas suitable for picnics and recreation surrounded by chestnut and popular trees. For Koreans and international visitors the island is an oasis suitable for leisurely strolls or romantic dates. The name of the island derives from the fact that it is home to the tomb of General Nami (1441-1469), who was appointed minister of the Military Board at age 25 after suppressing Lee Shi-ae’s Revolt during the reign of King Sejo of the Joseon Dynasty but was later branded a traitor and executed at the age of 28.

Ferry ride from the Mainland to the Island

The entrance fee is KRW10,000 (appx US$10) for Koreans and KRW8,000 for foreigners (appx US$8). It included the ferry ride from the mainland to the Nami island.

Oh... before the ferry ride, first how to get to Nami Island. From the city, you have to take the subway (this is the only method I know), and get off at Sangbong Station. And from Sangbong Station, you have to take a cab, a  bus or walk to go to Nami Island. We waited for cab since we had no idea how to get to Nami Island but it's a long line and if you are unlucky, like there's some kind of event nearby, cabs are not easy to find. On our way back from the Island we walked, and it's about 20~30 minutes walk so not really bad if you enjoy walking and the weather is cool.

Once you enter the Nami Island, you are free to roam around the area and take pictures. According to the website, there are quite a few things to do in the island but for us, we had lunch, walked around, ate ice creams, bought souvenir and walked around taking pictures.

Famous spot (seen on the drama)

It was a Sunday, and a cool autumn day so there were a lot of people. AS IN A LOT! According to a friend who went there once before told me that it was better way back. Now it's too commercialized and there are too many cafes and shops. 

We walked around for I think about an hour or so and had to go back since my friend was going back home that night. One thing, if you have some appointment at night, make sure you give yourself enough time. Going back to the mainland was a disaster! The line to take the ferry was super long. I think we waited in line for about 30 mins. And couldn't catch a cab so walked back to the subway station.

It's a nice place, I guess. But not recommended for tourist though, unless you really want to see those pine tree ways. Or if you go there during the weekdays where less people are around, it would be a nice place to go with a loved one to take peaceful walks and enjoy the nature. I hope that the maintenance of the place would be better. There are some galleries where you will find a lot of vandalism. And dirty ponds. 

Anyways, this is just my opinion. I guess for me it wasn't worth the travel and the waiting. 

Summer Look

I learned on last Friday's class, summer look. When you say summer look, it doesn't necessarily mean you should wear these colors in summer, but it should look like summer when people sees it. Gets? heheh 

For this look, I used 4 shades: base color- pearl white, up til the crease- sky blue and pearl blue, and last the matte blue (sorry don't really know the names... they use Korean)... after blending the colors, I've added loose pearl pigment of white and blue on respective colors. Drew the eyebrow and pink lipstick. No blush necessary for summer look :P

Makeup Lesson

I have been wanting to study makeup artistry for quite some time now.. and I just recently enrolled in a beauty school. At first, since I had some makeups already, I told the admin that I won't be buying the set they are selling. But as I attended my first class, I realized I need the whole set since my purpose to study isn't just purely to satisfy my want but also become a professional makeup artist... thus I will be taking the license exams. If you read some blogs about makeup school (esp. in Manila), all you need are some of the basic makeups. Unfortunately, I needed more than the basics.... which meant more expensive :( 

It was my 4th class today. On the first day, the instructor introduced me to the makeups we are going to be using and practiced application of creme foundation, shading and highlighting on a mannequin. On second day, the same thing but on an actual model. We don't have to provide models but we practice on each other. Third day, was semi-smoky, but I wasn't able to take pictures :D hehehe

Today we studied triangular pattern eye makeup. I used 5 shades of green and cake eyeliner. 

I still have to practice with gradation... as you can notice the right side lacks gradation.... :D ehhehe but for just a first try... I think I did ok. 

Stila ColorWheel

My biggest ever haul in regards to make-up. I don't really buy expensive make-ups since they do have a expiration date and I don't wear much make-up. But I decided to give myself a Christmas gift, and bought Stila's colorwheel on beauty.com. 

I actually ordered it around December 19th, but I just got the package yesterday. But that's really okay for me since buying it here in Korea would mean paying double the actual price, and no shipping fee whatsoever.

I haven't really used all the colors and actually put them on after full make-up (meaning with foundation and primer, and all)... but I am quite satisfied with my haul. You do need to use eye-primer so that they will stay on your eyes and the color looks much better. In regards to pigmentation, it's good, I think, since I don't have any other brands to compare it with. I just used cheap drugstore products so I can't really compare them :D.

Maybe when I use these colors, I will update with a photo...... or not :D