May 2015 Favorites~

Whewww it's been so long since I've done a favorites post! Sorry about that ;~;
But hey, it's the last day of May, so I figured why not~

1. Anime
I'm starting with non beauty stuff because it's what I'm most excited about right now x3

Shiro! <3

Lately I've really been loving the anime "No Game No Life". Quick plot summary: two siblings, Shiro and Sora, get transported to a universe where everything is decided by games (poker, chess, tic tac toe, etc.) There's more to it, but I don't want to go in too much for fear of spoilers.
I'm about 3/4 of the way though and I'm obsessed.  All the characters are just so cute! And it's quite mind-bendy (think Sherlock). Although there is quite a bit of fan service in this (which I'm eh about), I've really been liking this anime. Some girls in my local lolita comm recommended it. I'm also a huge fan of the art- they never use black outlines, which gives the art a much softer and more interesting aesthetic.It's a very fun show to watch, so I recommend it if you're looking for something to enjoy~

At Anime Boston this year, I saw a few episodes of the anime "Lagrange: The Flower of Rinne" (or Rinne no Lagrange if you go by the Japanese title). It's both a slice of life and a mecha anime, which is an interesting combination. Basic Plot Summary: Madoka, a high school girl, gets called by an alien to control a robot in order to defeat other robots... sort of.
The characters in this anime are very lovable and double sided- at times I hated them, at times I loved them. The music is nice and like No Game No Life, it's very fun and enjoyable to watch~ Though it does get quite heavy and intense at the end. Overall I really enjoyed it ^.^

Moving on to less Otaku things...

2. Face Mists

TONYMOLY Pocket Bunny Sleek Face Mist
and
Mario Badescu Facial Spay with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater

With it being summer, I always feel like I need to cool off. I sometimes just want to dunk my face in a bowl of water, but since that would probably be destructive to my makeup, I use face mists! Both of these are really nice and they feel super refreshing on hot summer days.

3. Holika Holika Jewellight Peach Eye Maker

I got this product a little while ago in a Jolse haul, and it's been just so convenient. It comes with two colors: a peachy red and a pink toned shimmer. I just use both on my eyes rather than getting eyeshadow. It's quick and it blends really easily. The colors are also perfect for summer/spring~

4. My Beauty Diary 2-part Face Masks

I'm not really sure of the exact name of this series of masks, but I think that they're really interesting because they come in two parts. The top part covers your eyes and nose, and the bottom part covers your mouth/chin and neck~ In general I love the My Beauty Diary sheet masks because they make my skin super soft. These are especially good however because I rarely care for my neck (which isn't good), so this gives it a nice refresher~ If you ever see these around, I suggest you get them for a more thorough sheet-mask experience~

5. Candles!

Candle season is way over, I'm aware, but I just love them so much! I got this one at T.J. Maxx and it smells amazing. Very sweet and honey-like- it's positively delectable (I have it burning in my room right now). I think candles are great for gloomy days when you just want a cozier environment~

6. Rune Factory 4

This game is by the makers of the Harvest Moon series, which I'm sure at least some of you have heard of. In the game, you're a princess/prince that falls from an airship and loses all their memories. In this new town, you're elected as the royalty, and you go around slaying monsters, finding romance, discovering your past, and farming! I think this game is a ton of fun and I've been playing it for quite a while now x3 Ah, if only my true love loved me <3

Anyways, that about concludes my favorites for this month~ Sorry that there aren't very many of them ;~; 
Thank you for reading!
~Sakura

What items have you been loving this month?

How Lolita Affects My Social Life {Lolita Blog Carnival}~

Woah it's been a long time since I've done a Lolita Blog Carnival post (oops). If you've forgotten what it is, I have my first LBC post here.

Today I'll be doing a lolita post regarding social life! I thought it was good timing because I just went on my first meetup this past Sunday! ^_^ I'm not really sure how long this post is supposed to be, so I'll just break it into sections I guess...

Gosh I look so derpy here cause I had just gotten my new haircut but oh well ;n;
Photo credit to the lovely Chelsea! (though I think it was one girl's boyfriend who took the photo...)

Pre-Lolita
I've never really been super duper social- in elementary school I was really shy, and it was only in fifth grade (new school) that I got a burst of confidence and made tons of friends. However, I switched schools again the year after that and got into a much less accepting environment. After that I kindof didn't have much of a social life- I had friends and whatnot but not like giant groups of friends and tons of birthday parties and bat/barmitzvas (lots of them in the town where I live). 
I'm in high school, and the first to years (which were lolita-less) were sort of similar to elementary/middle school. I'm quite introverted, so it was difficult to be social/have a social life. The environment was so different from anything I'd experienced before, and it was scary being in such a huge school.

Early Lolita
I got into lolita this previous summer, so the summer before my junior year of high school (3rd year for those of you who don't use that system). I didn't really wear it often though (because I had no way to make good coords). I was a bit nervous about lolita communities, considering how well known the drama is. I didn't want people gossiping about me and criticizing me, so I avoided joining a community. 

Current Lolita
In terms of school, my dressing in lolita has brought up more conversations with people. People are always like 'oooh cool dress', which is nice because it sort of prompts the possibility of a conversation.
In terms of specifically Lolita social lives, my first meetup was this past Sunday! I finally brought up the courage to go to a meetup, and it was fantastic! I met wonderful people, far different from what I was expecting. Everyone was really kind and accepting, which was amazing~ I was really worried and now I just can't wait to go to my next meet ^_^

And some photos of my wonderful local comm~ (I took the photos from Kristi- hope she doesn't mind! Check out her blog!!)

Both Kristi and I had on stained glass dresses! And you can see my new haircut here better than in the group photo~

Her little hair buns were so cute *u*

I loved her coord! The dress was gorgeous. I forget who it was by (some indie brand), but her friend customized it for her and it looked fantastic for the museum meet-up we had~ She also had a cute red parasol that matched her flower crown ^.^

(There are more photos of the girls at Kristi's original post, but I was feeling a bit too lazy to post them all x3 Check them out if you're interested!)

Anyways, I hope you found this post interesting! And sorry if I was too rambly ;~;
Be sure to check out the other posts on this theme!

Courtly Dreams for Burgher

Bye-bye!

~Sakura

GBT P7 Choco Lens Review {Klenspop Sponsored!}~

Hi pretties!
A circle lens review once again- I hope you aren't sick of them ;~;
Once again I'll be reviewing a pair of lenses sent to me by Klenspop, which has a wide variety of circle lenses in different colors~ A lot of their lenses are super duper cheap so I highly recommend going there if you're on a budget!
So, thank you Klenspop for sending me these lenses to review! <3

The lenses I'll be reviewing today are the GBT P7 Choco lenses~ 
As usual, first the basic information about these lenses:

Brand: G&G

Diameter: 14.3mm

Graphic Diameter: 13.2mm

Water content: 38%

Base Curve: 8.8mm

Price: $13.00 on Klenspop

Shelf Life: 1 Year

These lenses came in a box, as usual for Klenspop~ As I've mentioned before in my Klenspop reviews, this makes them great for beginners because they include everything you need aside from lens solution!

A somewhat derpy girl on the box

Lens insertion directions!

And then of course, the lens vials themselves~

They're so short and chubby I love 'em >u<

The design of these reminds me quite a bit of the Geo Ultra CK105 lenses which I reviewed a while back! These have a smaller diameter however, and obviously, are brown~

The spikes are also a bit different.

The design of these lenses is fairly natural looking. They blend in well with my natural eye color, and I feel like they'd look good on dark eyes as well (for those of you with super light eyes, I'm not sure how these would look, since it might create a huge contrast, but hey, don't let that stop you from getting them! ^_^).

Here are some photos of how they look on my eyes:

Window Lighting

They really look more black than brown... but they're less intense than my black lenses

Camera Flash

The brown feels a lot more brown here; it makes my eyes look really soft~

Dim Lighting

Aaaaand the lenses are back to black.

As you can tell from the above photos, these aren't really a vivid brown lens. I don't suggest them if you want to make your eyes brown, since they look more black than brown in the majority of lighting. However, it does create a 'soft' black, which is nice if you want a softer look without stark black eyes ^_^

Before I say more about the lenses, photo spam time!

Glasses. So fabulous.

Outfit change!

Finally, that's it with photos x3

A bit more regarding the lenses:

They're quite comfy! Definitely not the most comfortable out of all the lenses I've owned (my eyes did get a tad dry), but they're far from being uncomfortable. I wouldn't wear them every single day, but they are quite comfy.

Regarding enlargement, these do have a slight enlarging effect, but it's nothing too obscenely big. Good for everyday enlargement ^.^

Overall I'm quite satisfied with these lenses! They're comfortable and natural, so I think they're good for everyday wear~

Anyways, thank you for reading! I hope you found this review useful~

Ciao ciao!

~Sakura

Final note:

In the last couple of photos I really liked my outfit, so here's the full OOTD ^_^

Citrusy Spring Day
Dress: Anne Taylor Loft
Cardigan: J.C Crew
Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger
Hairclips: Anthropologie
Necklace: Gift from Ukriaine

Neverland Stained Glass JSK and Infanta Teal Blouse Unboxing/Review~

Hellooooo everyone!
Once again, I couldn't resist ordering from my-lolita-dress.com...
But I have an excuse this time! 
I was browsing around the site a little while ago when I stumbled upon a stained glass dress. Now, I've been wanting a stained glass dress for ages, ever since I saw Haenuli's (I think that's how you spell their name...) stained glass series. The dress was from a company I had never heard of before- "Neverland". However, the dress looked gorgeous, and it was half as expensive as Haenuli's design (and a bit more interesting), so I went for it! I also ordered a 'peacock green' blouse from Infanta which I hoped would match the dress. It didn't, but that's okay because both are still fantastic.
I did an unboxing and I thought I'd write a review as well, since I haven't seen any reviews for the "Neverland" shop. 
Firstly, the unboxing video! Sorry that I look like a derp, it was right after a big exam in school (which wasn't fun).

I'll start with a review of the dress, because it was the main reason for my purchase (and because the dress is fabulous).

Neverland Church Window High Waist Lolita Jumper Dress

They didn't have stock photos of the dress in the black colorway, but this is the design

I fell in love with the design of the dress, and I'm so very happy that I decided to buy it <3
I'll just show photos and explain along the way.

Dress top!

The fabric of this dress looks very shiny on photo, but that's mostly because I had to use flash when taking these photographs. Although the black of the dress is a bit lighter than the black of the accent fabrics, it's not that noticeable in real life. I love that the top of the bodice is lined in velvet ribbon- I love velvet. The lace they use on the straps is quite nice- not too overwhelming, and it works well with the design of the dress.

Back of the dress

The back of the dress has shirring as well as corset lacing. Because of this, it can fit a large range of sizes. Neverland carries 2 sizes of this product, and they also do custom sizing (which is nice). It's a little bit too big on me, so I'm glad that it came with the corset lacing.

Big bow!

In addition to there being corset lacing and shirring, on the back are 'waist ties'. But... not really! It's a bow that's already been tied (and you can't really untie it- which I'm grateful for because I can't tie waist ties for the life of me). The ends of the bow have lace on them, which is nice~ I think the bow looks really pretty, and it's removable too which is nice! (If you don't like the look of the bow).

And now what I think is the most interesting part: the print!

I think the print is super interesting- although it seems quite religious. I had many people telling me that they felt like they were in a church when they looked at my dress xD The print isn't perfect (it's not perfectly crisp), but you can't even tell that on photos, so it's alright~

Bottom of the dress layers~

The bottom of the dress has a layer of super soft lace followed by two super soft chiffon layers. It looks much nicer than if the dress just bluntly ended at the print.
I forgot to take a photo of it, but the dress is also lined! So it feels very soft against the skin~ Overall the dress is super comfy- it doesn't squish me to death like some of my other dresses do, so that's a plus :3

And now, photos!
I decided to do a gothic style coord with this dress, and I like it quite a bit considering that it's my first try at gothic lolita.

You can't really see the flower that I'm holding between my teeth, which makes the pose look awkward xD

And now, moving on to the blouse!

Infanta Swan Lake Blouse

Pretty <3

I think this blouse is a really unique color, which does make it hard to coord. I haven't worn it in a lolita outfit yet, but I have worn it in a sort of 'casual' way (though it really can't be that casual since it's so fancy...), and it looks great like that~ 
Whenever I wear this blouse I feel like a pirate renaissance painter princess, which is fabulous~

One of the things I love about this dress is the collar. The lace on it is really nice and soft and not at all scratchy, which is a huge plus. The lace actually lining the collar isn't stiff, which is nice. The buttons are heart shaped, which I didn't notice originally. I think I might replace them- while they are cute, they don't really fit my aesthetic. Maybe I'll replace them with brass buttons- I think that would look pretty.

My favorite part of this blouse has to be the sleeves- they're so puffy! They're the tiniest bit too short, but it's really not noticeable. The poof starts 1/4 of the way down your arm, which has a really cool effect (and thus keeps you from looking broad shouldered). I also really like the cuff of the sleeve. The lace is different from the lace on the collar, which I think is a cute touch. 
The material of this blouse is so soft. As I mentioned in the video (if you watched the video), it's chiffonish, but at the same time it's not see-through, which is a huge plus. The fabric is wonderful for the summer- I wore it today and wasn't at all too hot in it. The problem with cotton blouses in my opinion is that they can be a bit uncomfy in the summer- this is really nice on the other hand.
Regarding the fit of the blouse: be sure to measure carefully! There's hardly any stretch to this, and the measurements I find are quite exact. This fits me well- I was mostly measuring so that the sleeve length would be fine, since I have long arms, but if you have a bit bust for example, I suggest you measure it and chose the site accordingly.

Overall I'm super happy with all of my purchases! I'm wearing the JSK to a meet-up (my first meet-up!) this Sunday. We'll be going to an art museum, so I feel it won't be too out of place there~ The blouse I also love a ton <3

Anyways, thank you for reading! I hope you found this post helpful.
Bye-bye!
~Sakura

What's a dress print that you'd like to see?