April 20, 2016

Hatori Sohma quick outfit test

Good evening folks!

Cosvision is really close now and I'm honestly kinda panicking here; I haven't even started packing yet and we'll leave on Friday morning or afternoon, oops. I'm just a bit all over the place and I'm currently super stressed about a shitlot of things, argh! But yeah, with this post at least I get one thing less to fret about, namely knowing that my Hatori costume works and looks as it should. Mostly.

Hatori in the anime. Just to show what color reference I'm going with.
It's heavily implied in the manga at least that Hatori is pretty much never seen wearing anything except formal wear. He also wears very expensive designer's suits but yeah, since I'm a poor student I can't do the same, obviously. ( ; 3;) I do have a few suit jackets but they're all second-hand findings so ssssch about that. I went with a black one since that's the standard color and at least he has a black one on the screenshot above.

This one looks dark brown though...
But yeah, I decided to roll with black this time since black is always black and my pants were black anyway. Hatori should technically have other colors too if that's the only things he wears lol; I'd be bored out of my mind if my whole wardrobe only consisted of black suits...!

I did a super quick outfit try-on, to check that everything looks okay, and luckily at least it doesn't look like shit, lol. The wig might need some further styling but as I said on the wig post I'll do that at the hotel. ^^" Oh and yeah, I completely skipped all makeup (sorryyyyy) because I honestly couldn't be bothered just for the sake of one crummy mirror photo. I had no photographer available. I'll just improvise the makeup on the con morning and pray to the cosplay gods that it succeeds...

Note: Obviously (dirty) mirror photo.
Hence why the covered eye is reversed.
I crappily blurred out the whole background, since it was really distracting because of the mess and yeah, blended in too much with all the black too. Oh and yeah, ignore the blank stare please – I guess I did the 'memory suppression' on myself, lolololo.
I haven't decided yet if I'll keep the jacket open or closed; Hatori does both though so it doesn't really matter in terms of character accuracy. Oh well, whatever I do Hatori does not really have any signature traits that makes him stand out from all the other "handsome and properly dressed men" in anime so yeah, I might not be recognized anyway. x) I guess the only thing really making him a bit less generic-looking is the blocked left eye but yeah, that's about it. I hope having Firith running around as Ayame Sohma with me will help people know that I'm supposed to be a Sohma family member too and not just a random guy in a suit, lol.

This is the last post you'll see from me before Cosvision! Hang on and I'll be back after 23-24th April with a con summary! 
~ Shiro Samurai out.

April 17, 2016

Hatori Sohma wig

Hello peeps!

Cosvision is really close now and I thought it's about time that I finish Hatori up! I actually have the whole costume ready, save for the wig. Closet cosplay, ssch.
I decided to sacrifice my old Hijikata wig for Hatori since I've bought another pure black wig for Hijikata, to match with the ponytail clip-on. You see, this wig, while it may look black on first glance, is actually a super dark brownish black and it looked horrible with the clip-on because, in some lights, you could clearly see the color difference – it started to annoy me more and more over the years, lol. So yeah, seeing how I'm not using said wig for Hijikata anymore I thought I could give it a new life! I don't like having perfectly usable wigs just lying around and collecting dust...

Wig before cutting. Front and side.
Hatori actually changed his hairstyle slightly in both the anime and in the manga; I couldn't find any manga references on a quick search so I decided to go with anime images since there is no difference, as far as I can remember I'm pretty sure the only notable difference on the manga and anime portrayals is his eye color.
I decided on doing the long-haired (the first version) instead of the short one, mainly because I like it a bit more. The short-haired version somehow looks so generic; I always thought long-haired Hatori was more recognizable in some way.

Hatori with long bangs...
... and with short bangs.
The reason he's covering his left eye is because he's almost blind on said eye. Fuck you, Akito. Hatori is a tragic character and I guess that's why I like him; I tend to prefer the more calm, quiet and kinda cold characters anyway and Hatori totally fits the bill.

Regarding styling the wig I didn't have to do all that much. I mainly shortened the bangs, straightened the sides since they were wavy and cut them shorter as well. I'm aware that the wig is not super accurate but I decided on leaving the sides a bit longer than what he has, mainly because I need something to frame my face because otherwise I look like shit... and then I feel uncomfortable.

Wig after cutting.
I will probably need to put in some more styling products and use some pins to keep certain parts in place but yeah, I'll save that for the con – don't want the styling to wear off before I even get to the hotel, lol. Might need to thin it down a bit too but yeah, we'll see.
Sacchan helped a bit with the cutting too, mainly to get both sides the same length since I have tendencies to fuck that up, haha.

Not so much more to say. I still need to do a preview test for Hatori, oh shit!
Shiro Samurai says see ya later!

April 15, 2016

Darkrai gijinka preview test!

Good day everyone!

A few days ago I posted my Cosvision plans and, because both of my chosen characters are new cosplays, I felt like I needed to do some quick test runs before the con, to see if they even look presentable! Actually both Hatori and Darkrai are, in a way, "closet cosplays", because both of their outfits I could put together from stuff I already own. Sssch, I'm cheap. Darkrai mainly consists of parts from other cosplays but I still have to admit that I am surprisingly satisfied with how it turned out.

But enough blabbering, now I'll treat you guys to a couple test run photos! ~

Photographer: Sacchan


I'm sorry about the overexposed white wig but
there was no saving it.
I most likely won't change anything on the outfit itself (unless I can find longer gloves) but the makeup was just a test and it's not the final look that I'm going for. I actually had no idea what to do and the preview shooting was kinda sudden so I just threw something together quickly, in terms of eye makeup, and prayed that it would look decent at least. I have some ideas now, after brainstorming with Sacchan, on what I want the makeup to look like and I hope it'll work out at the con. If anyone's curious the real eye makeup look is hopefully gonna be something along the lines of Jack Sparrow style. Fuck yeah!
Oh and yeah, the long ponytail will be tied in some way at the con because seriously, I can't stand having such a long thing hanging free it feels like it tangles if I just look at it. It's gonna be in some kind of braid or something because that's just a lot easier and more convenient. I seriously don't have the patience to detangle long wigs and keep them neat, although I wish I had because there's several characters that I want to cosplay who has long hair...

Just a close-up selfie.
I plan to use different contact lenses too. The ones I'm wearing on these pics are the EOS Bubble Blue's and, while they'd be great for Darkrai's eye(s), they have dropped in comfort since I opened them back in October last year. I think it's better I open another bright blue pair because yeah, I can't stand wearing lenses at a con if they dry out my eyes already on the first hours; I need something comfy for a full day event.

Just a Darkrai reference for those that don't
know what it looks like.
I just hope that I'll be somewhat recognizable as Darkrai, even though Pokémon gijinkas (aka humanized versions) are not always that easy to tell apart from some random Original Character, a-character-I-don't-know or whatnot. Oh well, whatever the case I won't be gijinka-ing alone because Sacchan will do a shiny Umbreon gijinka to accompany me – we'll be edgy af together! :'D Dark types ftw!

That's about it for this time. A Hatori test run post is coming up before Cosvision too!
Shiro Samurai says bye.

April 13, 2016

Cosvision 2016 cosplans – Be black and cover your eye!

Well, guess what guys?

My next convention will be Cosvision in Hämeenlinna, Finland, on 23-24 April. I'm not sure if I've revealed it anywhere but there ya go I'm coming after all!

The con is less than two weeks away now and yeah, I thought it would be about time to finally decide on what I'm going to cosplay there since, honestly, I've had a lot of problems with my cosplay plans changing every other day. ^^" I'm still not 100% sure that this is the final line-up but it should be assuming that no sudden cosplay malfunction happens or such.

~~~~~~

Regarding the con itself I need to say that at first I was unsure if I would even attend Cosvision. I was on the very first one in 2014 and now that the second one is coming up I felt very conflicted about attending; one part of me remembered how much I enjoyed the first Cosvision and the other part reminded me of how uncomfortable I've felt at bigger conventions lately. In one way I had been waiting for the return of Cosvision very eagerly and, on the other hand, my anxieties were telling me that it's gonna be a waste of money because I might not even feel okay there. I felt so torn and it was horrible to try to decide on what to do.
One thing was sure though – I refused to go without a group of friends. And thus I quickly learned that my brother, Frozen Angel, really really really wanted to go. I didn't really want to let him down because he's been hyped about the con ever since I went to the first one and told him what a blast it was; I guess he regretted not going back then and now he wanted to make up for it. I also managed to get Sacchan interested and that made me feel safe and understood because now I had someone else who knew what I was feeling; we both were really uncertain about attending because we've both been feeling bad at cons lately, for various reasons, but then we just decided to gamble and went all "I'll go if you go and if we feel shit at the con then we'll just withdraw to a corner and play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate together." yaassss!
Originally Ronya was supposed to come with us too but she had to jump out a few weeks before the con would roll in because of health reasons. I still hope we'll get to go to a con together soon. :'(

Sorry about all the gloom but yeah, I'm really just hoping that Cosvision will be fun and that I won't feel shit there because, honestly, who wants to feel bad somewhere where you're supposed to feel safe and happy? I'm hoping it will have the same relaxed atmosphere as it had back when it was in Turku – I really want this to be a successful trip and not another Desucon Frostbite 2015.

But here comes the cosplay plans!

Saturday
Series: Pokémon
Character: Darkrai (gijinka)


This is the result of my "holy shit, I need to come up with a Saturday cosplay that I can pull from my closet!"-panic when I realized I had less than two weeks to go. Then again, I don't really mind because Darkrai is pretty cool and come on, he's like the Freddy Krueger of Pokémon, lol. Darkrai might not be one of my favorites (he's more Frozen Angel's type of Pokémon) because I prefer Cresselia and Arceus more from the same generation's legendaries/mythicals but yeah, I love me some black and spooky shit.

Sunday
Series: Fruits Basket
Character: Hatori Sohma


Hatori was not originally on my cosplay list (I had considered doing him once but that's about it) but then Firith asked me if I was interested in a Furuba pair cosplay with him as Ayame and I thought "why the hell not?". I mean, I haven't cosplayed from Fruits Basket in a while and Hatori is a very likable guy from the series – actually, he's my third favorite character from it. :) 
I'll go with the random suit version instead of the probably-more-well-known vest and white doctor-ish jacket outfit. Oh and yeah, I'll do the long hair version and the manga portrayal instead of the anime version, which means that I'll have violet eyes instead of those weird dark greenish-gray eyes he has in the anime. Violet looks more fab, period. My reasoning though? The anime sucks and the manga is awesome and, besides, the manga is the original source anyway.

~~~~~~

That's about it for my plans. I hope to meet some friends at the con and I pray that it's gonna be worth it. I can say already now though that, as far as the cons in Finland go, I'm very unlikely to attend any other big con for the whole year; I'll still attend the local small cons but otherwise I'm really trying to save my money and prioritize some other things in life that are coming up this year. I have some Swedish cons in mind *coughnärconcough* that I want to go to but we'll see what my money situation says when the time is closer...

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for cosplay previews! Bye bye ~

April 11, 2016

Lens review: I.Fairy Star Blue

Welcome ~

Today I will treat you all to a circle lens review! I will be reviewing the super adorable I.Fairy Star Blue lenses! o(・ω・)o These lenses feature a really unique star-shaped design with a thick black limbal ring – perfect for big-eyed cute and magical looks!

Let's roll!



Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 16.2 mm
Water content: 55%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)


As you can see my lenses came in different I.Fairy vials – but that's really nothing to worry about. It just means that the lenses are from different production batches; it happens every now and then and, especially, if you order lenses with different prescriptions. :) As long as you have the I.Fairy authenticity stickers on the vials you can be sure that you've received genuine and safe-to-wear lenses!

I put the lenses to soak the evening before I had planned on wearing them; you should take them out of the bottles at least 8 hours before wearing because the solution used to store them in the bottles is not the same you use.

One lens in. Shows enlargement effect.
Upon insertion the lenses felt very slightly irritating for the first minute, but that went away rather quickly. They are comfortable and don't block my vision in any way but, most of the time, I could tell that I was wearing contacts. They seem to dry out fast for me though; the first punches of dryness came already within the 1,5-2 hour range and after 3 hours had passed I really wanted to take them out. Please note though that I've had especially tired and sensitive eyes lately, which might be part of the reason why I couldn't stand these for very long. 
Another thing is that after taking off the lenses my left eye was really sensitive and stingy for about 30 minutes it basically felt like there was an eyelash hair in my eye that I couldn't get out. My eye hurt if I put pressure on it, rubbed it or anything like that. Luckily it went away by itself but it was weird since I never experienced anything like it before. I think it might be because the left lens would have expired on June 2016 if I had not opened it. The right lens expired first on 2019 so yeah, might explain why it was only the left one that gave the "afterburn".

Lens photos coming up!
All photos taken by me during an April afternoon with a semi-clear sky. All close-up photos are free from color filters and such and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.


Facing window in my apartment. (sun side)
Natural apartment room light, facing wall. (lamps off)
Bathroom light.
Flash photo.
Standing in the corridor.
Under white corridor light.
Under yellow corridor light.
Yellow weak staircase light.
Outdoors, sitting under the roof/shadows. Facing sun.
Outdoors, facing sun directly.
Outdoors, back against sun.
Indoors storage room. (natural light)
Facing staircase window.
As you can see these lenses are rather big and they have a really prominent thick black limbal ring that gives you a cute dolly and/or animated look. ^.^ The lenses have a really unique star-shaped design and I think it's really cool! I've never come across other lenses with a similar print so I do like it a lot! What makes it even better is that the blue shade is really beautiful and it shows up well and does, in fact, blend rather nicely with my light blue-gray eyes; I didn't expect them to fit in with my eyes as well as they did, considering how vibrant the color is and how artistic and unnatural the design is!

The I.Fairy Star series might be better suited for j-fashion styles like decora, pastel goth, fairy kei and such rather than for cosplay. I don't intend to say that they don't fit cosplay purposes but I think that the design of the lenses complements cute fashion looks better and, I think, that the big pupil hole might not make the lenses jump out as much as needed for cosplay photography especially when the cosplayer is seen from a distance and the eyes need to grab attention from afar.
A big pupil hole means that more of your own eye color shows through in the middle, which I know that some people with naturally light eyes finds doesn't look right and "clashes" with the color of the lens. Personally I'm neutral/indifferent to the look but I do acknowledge that a big pupil hole also means that the lens won't hinder your vision (colored corners when you move gaze etc) and this I really appreciate.

Distance photos!



I tried to go for a cute and timid candy-like look. I wanted to try to bring out a youthful, shy and innocent feeling. (◕ᴗ◕✿) wiee ~

Short summary:

Color: 8/10
Beautiful and vivid blue shade that shows up well and isn't overwhelming.
Design: 9/10
Really pretty and unique star-shaped design with a thick black limbal ring!
Opacity: 8/10
The colored parts of the lens do have good color coverage.
Enlargement: 8/10
These are big and give you a dolly look!
Comfort: 4/10
Comfortable for short-time wear but dries out fast for me (3 hours). Left lens burns my eye after I take it out, likely because of it being close to expiring before I opened the bottle it was in.
Naturalness: 1/10
Pffffft, think again.

 Thanks for reading! If you have any questions just leave them in the comments!

March 28, 2016

Childhood nostalgy & dream cosplays!

Good day everyone! o(^◇^)o

For a while now I've been itching to make some kind of post about characters that I really liked as a kid and that, nowadays, have a sort of "childhood dream/nostalgy cosplay" status to them! Even though I feel like I can't call many of my cosplays 'dream cosplays' I guess some of these child favorites of mine do come rather close to it. :) Many of these served as childhood heroes and as characters that I related to, admired or just simply really loved when growing up. 
Okay so, even though these characters listed below might be more or less vastly different from one another, they all still have something in common and that's that they were dear to me during my childhood and that also includes early & mid teenage years. Wow, that makes me sound so old.

What are we waiting for, let's gooooo ~ 


Series: Digimon
Character: Angemon

Oh man, good ol' original Digimon Adventure. As a kid I was one of those few (?) who loved Pokémon and Digimon equally, aka I never really understood the "war of copies" comparisons between them that other kids made and thus picked sides saying that you could only like one or the other, not both. I always thought that even though both had some similarities they also had a lot of differences too!
 Patamon was always my favorite of the main Digimons because he was just so damn cute! I have at least two different Patamon plush dolls lying around somewhere. I remember watching the show as a kid for the first time and when Patamon finally evolved into Angemon I was so excited – he was so freakin' cool! *o* But yeah, everyone who watched Digimon knows what happens after that and yeah, the feels are real with this one. *gross sobbing*
Angemon seriously stayed as one of my all-time favorite Digital Monsters (Takeru/T.K was my favorite of the original children too!) and now that I'm into cosplay I really want to do him. I can't live with myself if I don't cosplay Angemon one day. It needs to happen, period.
Friendly note: I know that Angemon is quite heavily inspired by Christianity but, honestly, the religious aspects of his character have nothing to do with why I like, nor want to cosplay, him. 


Series: Digimon Adventure 02
Character: Ken Ichijouji

I want to cosplay at least one of the early DigiDestined (aka Chosen Children in the Japanese version) and I remember really liking Ken when I was young; I had some sort of early mancrush on him, lol. I never saw the complete second season but I rewatched it last year and when Ken finally snapped and hugged Wormmon I had a hard time keeping the tears in check – he's so precious. ;A; I hadn't seen that part of the anime before, so I had no idea that he'd actually revert back to being a good guy and, oh boy, did that dig him up from my childhood memories as one of my human favorites from Digimon!
I really want to cosplay him but I'm not 100% sure of which version I'd do; I am currently leaning towards his gray school uniform though. It's pretty dang iconic.


Series: Beyblade
Character: Ray Kon (Rei Kon in Japan)

I don't remember exactly when it was, but I guess around my early teenage years I suddenly got into a Beyblade craze. The original series aired on television and I saw some random episodes during a summer vacation at dad's; I later asked dad for money and went and bought some Beyblades to play with from the local toy store. xD I remember originally liking Kai more than Ray but afterwards I started digging Ray a lot and even more so when, last year, the wonderful Satu and Päivi from Leikkipuisto encouraged me to do him!
I never really told my friends that I used to like Beyblade but several toys, a GBA game and Beyblade bed covers speak for themselves, haha. I should really watch the original series properly one day. #closetfan


Series: Beyblade
Character: Kai Hiwatari

What should I say? xD We share the same name, I can relate to him in some ways and I must admit that I had a tiny mancrush for him too. :'D I just really liked him as a kid, okay? I dig his design surprisingly much too but I think one of his selling points to me was that his Bit-Beast was based on a phoenix and, well, I always had a huge fascination with birds. I also like his color scheme and I'm itching to tackle that wig because holy crud, that's gonna be one heck of a challenge!


Series: InuYasha
Character: Sesshoumaru

My first and original husbando, not gonna lie. I loved him so much and I still do!!
InuYasha was the first manga I started collecting/reading and I own every single manga volume (in Finnish) of it; it has a special place in my heart. InuYasha is what really hooked me into manga and anime for good and it's one of those series that made me realize that I had been into anime & manga *coughpokémoncough* long before I knew what it was. :D So yeah, aside from being one of my long-term favorite mangas I can say that InuYasha is very likely one of the series that also led me into finding out about cosplay. I honestly plan to cosplay a lot more characters from it but Sesshoumaru is the number one choice, by miles. I just feel like I must do him someday and I'm really relieved that I didn't decide on him as my first cosplay, lol. xD I'll do him when I feel that I can do him justice, haha. He's such a dear character to me, I don't want to mess it up.


Series: Pokémon
Character: Tracey Sketchit

Who remembers this guy?
I've been a hardcore Pokémon fan since the first games and TCG came out (I was around six years old I think) and my whole childhood centered around Pokémon, not gonna lie. x) I was one of those mildly obsessed kids and I'm still going strong about it, even though nowadays I don't require my birthday cake to be a big marzipan Pikachu, lol. Pokémon is what got me into manga and anime to begin with Pokémon is what made me who I am today.
Okay so, I honestly don't remember all that much about this guy but I remember liking him and that's mainly because he was an artist and so were I! His design is simple, nostalgic and very typical of early Pokémon and so I thought "why not"? :D Besides, he gives me a legit reason to bring along a drawing pad to conventions and actually practice sketching Pokémons... which I haven't done for years, even though as a child that was almost the only thing I drew, lol. Aaaah, memories... ~



Series: Pokémon
Character: James

Well, contrary to Tracey, James hardly needs an introduction! He's from the infamous Team Rocket duo who always tries to steal Ash's Pikachu or do some other mischievous shenanigans to mess up their day. The thing is that whatever they do and no matter how idiot-proof their idea might have been they will always end up... blasting off again.
I remember that even as a kid I thought that Team Rocket were way too predictable and annoying because you knew they'd always fail! But nevertheless I liked their silly tries and even sillier costumes they'd wear to try to fool Ash and his gang; sometimes they went to great lengths just to get that damn Pikachu and it just makes me wonder why they even bother when Pikachu is not even a rare Pokémon to begin with, lol.
But yeah, even though I did find Team Rocket mildly annoying I still always, somehow, liked James. Something about him that I can't put my finger on was interesting – maybe because he could be so goofy and fabulous at the same time. It was hard to dislike him!
So yeah, expect me to cosplay James someday, although probably not in that gorgeous af Moltres suit... xD

Booonuuuuuus!


Series: Rölli
Character: Rölli

In honor because it's my dad's birthday today I have to uncover this secret dream!
My dad got me into Rölli when I was really really young and this funny little troll (although it has been said officially that he's not actually a troll) stayed with me all my life I still listen to the songs and I own the movies! The movies actually make me cry, no regrets.
Non-Finnish readers probably have no idea what I'm going on about because Rölli is an old Finnish classic television program aimed for children (read more about it here) but it's so quirky and entertaining that even adults love it, including my dad. The show does teach you a lot about important matters and in a funny way too, so that even kids can understand and relate to more adult problems etc. Dad always called me "rölli" as a kid and he still does it, lol.
The character Rölli himself is just so lovable (even though he'd say 'yuck'!) and I would love to cosplay him someday since he has been a sort of childhood hero and model for me albeit a quite different one, haha. :') I'm unsure about which costume version I want to do of Rölli since there exists quite a few; I really liked the movie version pictured above because of those big fantasy helmets and all but yeah, the original Rölli has its charms too. Decisions, decisions...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please note that this list only includes characters with a humanoid appearance, even though I would have plenty of Digimon and Pokémon gijinkas to list. I'll save those for another time! ;)

Okay so, I think these are plenty enough to give you an idea of what my childhood was like. I am probably forgetting some characters, series or video games *cougharea88cough* but I'll just leave those for another time! Besides, it might be fun to keep some complete secrets, huehuehue ~

Thanks for checking out this post and please leave a comment if any of these characters interested you or anything! I'd love to hear about your childhood characters too and hey, I'm totally up for doing cosplay groups! *hinthint* 

~ Shiro Samurai out.

March 21, 2016

[Sponsored] Lens review: EOS New Adult Green

Hello and welcome to my review, people of all genders!

I am ultra excited to announce that I've recently partnered up with CirclelensesEurope, also known as Cirkellinser for the Swedish market! I decided to contact them for a collaboration offer and they took interest in me and here I am, spreading the good word about their awesome business! ╰( ・ ᗜ ・ )╯ wiee ~

The lenses I'm reviewing in this post were kindly sponsored by CirclelensesEurope, aka Cirkellinser. Feel safe knowing that all my reviews are 100% my honest opinion, no matter what!

I am so so sooo happy to get to work with this company and I hope you will enjoy this review as much as I enjoyed writing it. O(≧∇≦)O I will be reviewing the popular EOS New Adult Green circle lenses, also sometimes known as Blytheye Green. Let's go ~

The discount code "SHIRO" gives you 10% off on any order placed on both CircleLensesEurope and Cirkellinser – feel free to use it! ♥



Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm
Water content: 38%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)



Note: To all my Swedish readers, please scroll to the end of this post for a summary in Swedish. // Till alla mina svenska läsare, bläddra gärna till slutet av detta inlägg för en sammanfattning på svenska. :)


Before I start with the actual review of the lenses I want to tell you, all lovely peeps out there, a little about my new sponsor CirclelensesEurope, also known as Cirkellinser. You might wonder why I'm mentioning two stores but the catch is that it's actually the same store, just for two different markets – CirclelensesEurope is for the European market in general while Cirkellinser is catering especially for Sweden. Both sites have the same people behind it, the same products for sale etc so yeah, the only difference is basically that the other one is for the Swedish customers. Neither of them is a copycat or a scam site so no worries there. :)

I want to mention that I found them by chance, aka advertisement on Facebook. My first thought when I took a closer look was "oh wow, a circle lens store in Sweden that sells authentic GEO lenses and more! *_*". I was seriously super excited because I live in Sweden myself and I instantly made the connection in my head that the next time I needed to buy lenses, on a very short notice, I'd know exactly where to go! I'd also know where to refer other Swedes who were iffy with ordering lenses from outside Europe for safety and/or trusting reasons – which is understandable if you are not an avid online shopper or looking to buy your first colored contact lenses etc.

Both or their sites are fresh, inviting and easy to use. There might not be as many circle lenses to choose from as on other more well-known stores but what CirclelensesEurope has going for them is that they sell genuine and safe lenses, have cheap shipping (only 3€ for anywhere in Europe!) and, also, that they are based in Sweden and thus have very fast shipping. This is a very good trump card for them –that sets them apart from the myriad of Asia-based lens stores– because CirclelensesEurope will be the number one store where your prayers will go if you ever need to buy circle lenses urgently in, say, one weeks notice. *coughcosplayerscough* They will surely save your costume when all other lens shops would require you to use expensive shipping methods to maaaaybe make it on time....

Regarding the shipping and handling time of my experiences I want to say a few words and that's that I was utterly amazed and surprised by how quick and efficient their service was! They honestly told me on 27th February, a Saturday, that they would ship the lenses on the coming week (they actually shipped on Sunday) and I received my package already on 29th Feb, which is the following Monday. Can you believe it?? (๑>ᴗ<๑) Even though it was domestic shipping (aka within Sweden) it's still crazy fast! 
I actually asked about their delivery times and they said that shipping to Sweden is 1-2 days and to the rest of Europe it's 3-7 days so yeah, if you ever needed to order circle lenses in a pinch then CirclelensesEurope is here to save you with their racing-fast service! o/ They really prioritize quick handling and speedy shipping and that's amazing! I honestly swear by them; their shipping is faster than a bullet train powered by Super Saiyans!

If you wonder to what European countries (note: they do NOT ship outside of Europe!!) they ship to then this is what it says on their site:
We deliver to following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and Austria.
Regarding customer service they seem to always answer within 24 hours, even during weekends. :) Customer service is also really kind and easy to approach while still having that professional air to it. All in all CirclelensesEurope is very easy and smooth to deal with, safe to buy from and I would warmly recommend them to all fellow European (and Swedish) cosplayers and circle lens fans! Go and give them your love and support. ♥ They are amazeballs!


 ~***~ Lens review continues ~***~

The lenses arrived in a small bubblewrap envelope. Lately the post has been rough on my packages and so was the case with this shipment too – there was a tear on the envelope but thankfully nothing had fallen out. When I opened the envelope I was surprised to see that the lenses were inside a small cute drawstring bag! With the order also came a free lens case and a business card with a hand-written thank you note on the back – I felt really appreciated! ;u;

This is what came with the order!
You might notice that the business card has some wear/damage on one side and that's because it happened to be on the spot where the envelope was torn so yeah, normally it wouldn't be like that. ^^; That paper with a lot of text (in Swedish) is a "thanks for ordering" note with information about their guarantees, as well as how to wear circle lenses – a really thoughtful addition to all the first-timers!

~***~

I put the lenses to soak overnight, as is recommended before wearing. On my first wearing of the lenses I noticed that it took my eyes a couple minutes to get used to them and I could feel them in my eyes, which made me rub my eyes to try to get rid of the discomfort, although it was minimal; it's just that I dislike feeling that I have something in my eyes, even if it doesn't hurt. The "lens in my eye" feeling disappeared mostly after some minutes and I didn't have to take them out and put them back in; I do that quite easily if I don't like how the lenses feel as soon as I put them in, in hopes that they'd feel better on the second try.
During my first run with the lenses they felt dry very fast and I managed to wear them for a bit past 3 hours before taking them off – please note though that during the whole time I was wearing the contacts I was staring at a computer screen watching anime and, also, that my eyes had been incredibly tired and dry all day.
On my second run my eyes were feeling better but the lenses still felt dry just as fast – although I didn't get the "something's in my eye" feeling, except for maybe 10 seconds at first. I can wear them for a bit past 3 hours at most and that's about it, unless I use eyedrops of course. I find it a bit weird that these New Adult lenses are dry to me when my brother had the exact same lenses but in blue and yeah, they were godly in terms of comfort for him. :S Are our eyes that different even though we're supposed to be identical twins? lol

One lens in. Notice enlargement effect.
Honestly, my first thought when I had these lenses in my eyes was "cosplay lenses! :D". They are vivid and colorful and definitely give a cartoony look to your eyes but without it being overwhelming. They actually feel surprisingly natural-ish for their design. The green color is not a pure green but it's lovely nonetheless.

Psst, my real eye color is a blue-gray (more blue though, fyi) with an occasional greenish tint, depending on the light and time of day. I also have a golden ring closest to the pupil. :) I think these lenses look awesome on light eyes!

Lens photos batches ahead!
All photos are taken by me during a March morning with a clear sky. All close-up photos are free from filters, color edits etc and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Facing window in my apartment, sun side.
Standing under a (weak) lamp in my apartment.
Bathroom light.
Flash photo.
Facing the window in the corridor, non-sun side.
White corridor light.
Yellow corridor light.
Yellow light in the staircase.
Indoors in a storage room. (natural light)
As you can see the color appears very different in different lights – in some lights it takes on a grayish hue and in others it looks a bit turquoise! Most times it's still rather easily distinguished as some sort of green though, so it's okay! I can tell though that these lenses seem to appear as their true color in clear non-tinted lights, like sunlight etc.

Outdoor close-up photos!

Indirect sunlight. I'm standing under the shadow/roof.
Facing sun at a 3/4 angle.
Facing sun directly. My eyes hurt so much.
Back against sun, aka facing wall.
The design is, err... semi-natural I'd say? The vibrancy of the color is far from natural but I think that the print itself is not too "out there", so to say. The black limbal ring is thin and I feel like it helps to bring attention to my eyes because of how it kinda frames them in.

I must say that I love the color these have, it's such a beautiful shade that has a lot of variation depending on the light! These are definitely cosplay lenses and I can understand why they are popular with cosplayers – they do give the anime eye look without being too moe. Works great for male characters and those kinds of characters that you don't want huge doll eyes for!

Facing a window in the staircase.
Same as above. ^
Okay so, I'd highly recommend the EOS New Adult line for cosplayers and people who love colorful lenses that aren't too enlarging, because these are quite small for being circle lenses. These lenses are really versatile and can be used for more daily looks as well as some really funky fashion looks!

Distance photos! Enjoy ~




Want to see more New Adult reviews?
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I want to mention in the end that the only slightly disappointing thing with CircleLensesEurope and its Swedish counterpart is that they don't carry prescription lenses – at least not currently. I don't know if they plan to start selling those anytime soon but I hope so since yeah, a lot of people don't have perfect vision and no prescription lenses is a deal breaker for many. Personally my vision defects are so minor (-0,50 on my weaker eye) that I'm perfectly fine with plano lenses but if you can't wear lenses without power I'm so sorry to say that, sadly, CircleLensesEurope might not be the shop for you. :(

Remember, if you make a purchase at CircleLensesEurope or Cirkellinser you can get 10% off any order if you use the discount code "SHIRO" during checkout – enjoy! ♡

Short summary:

Color: 10/10 
Really beautiful green color that shows up well and takes on many different shades depending on where you are!
Design: 9/10 
Semi-natural design that is perfect for cosplay!
Opacity: 9/10
These cover my real eye color well. Nothing to complain about.
Enlargement: 5/10 
Feels quite small, but it's definitely not a bad thing.
Comfort: 6/10 
They are kinda average in comfort for me. They don't hurt my eyes in any way nor hinder my vision but they start to feel dry already after 1 hour. I can stand wearing these for maximum 3,5 to 4 hours without wanting to take them off or use eyedrops.
Naturalness: 3/10 
Natural-ish in terms of size, but the color is something that will never pass for your real eyes, haha.


 
• Sammanfattning på svenska

Vad är cirkellinser? 

Cirkellinser är kosmetiska linser som till en början mest användes i Asien av idoler, modeller etc men som har, på sistone, blivit alltmer populära i västvärlden – särskilt bland ungdomar som har ett intresse för japansk populärkultur. :)  Det som skiljer cirkellinser från vanliga färgade linser är att dom kommer i otroligt många olika designs och färger (även onaturliga färger så som röd, rosa och lila etc) samt att dom får dina ögon att se större och vackrare ut! Cirkellinser finns att köpa både med och utan styrka. Cirkellinser används mest av unga kvinnor världen över men även män, transpersoner, ickebinära och andra har insett hur roligt det kan vara att byta ögonfärg lite nu och då för att få en helt ny och fräsch look!

~~~~~~~~~

Jag blev kontaktad av Cirkellinser här ganska nyligen och dom frågade ifall jag ville samarbeta med dem, vilket jag självklart tackade ja till!
Cirkellinser är en svensk online-affär –högst troligtvis den första och enda i vårt avlånga land som säljer äkta "circle lenses", känd på svenska som cirkellinser.
Dock så, tyvärr, säljer inte Cirkellinser linser med styrka i nuläget
– själv så har jag så pass svagt synfel att plano linser (aka utan styrka) inte stör mig alls. :)

Jag valde att recensera ett par linser som heter EOS New Adult Green (bilder finns ovanför!) då jag länge velat testa dessa och då jag, helt ärligt, är överförtjust i just gröna linser, av någon anledning. 
Linserna kom i ett litet vadderat kuvert redan på måndag, fast de hade skickats med söndagsposten! I kuvertet fanns även ett visitkort med en handskriven hälsning på baksidan, ett gratis linsetui samt linserna själv som var förpackade i en söt liten snörpåse.

Linserna är relativt små för att vara just cirkellinser och de har en jättefin grön färg som täcker mina blågråa ögon väldigt bra! Dessa linser är perfekta för alla som sysslar med cosplay, fantasy-utklädnarer eller gillar japansk mode etc då dessa får ens ögon att se 'anime' ut!
För mig är dessa ganska medelmåttiga i bekvämlighet, men då jag har torra och/eller känsliga ögon så ta det med en nypa salt. ^^" Jag kan bära dessa som mest i ungefär 4 timmar, utan återfuktande ögondroppar. De börjar torka ut mina ögon efter ungefär en timme, vilket är en kort tid om man jämför med några andra cirkellinser jag haft. Men fast de blir torra fort så är de bekväma ändå då de inte annars känns obehagliga på något sätt (inget kliande, stickande eller röda ögon etc) och de hindrar inte min syn heller. :) Dessa är dessutom lätta att få i ögonen!
Jag kan helhjärtat rekommendera dessa linser, de är verkligen hur fina som helst!

Som sagt jag fick dessa från Cirkellinser, en professionell och pålitlig hemsida med kalasbra kundservice. De säljer endast äkta cirkellinser som är tillverkade i Korea! De har även en äkthetsgaranti samt öppet köp i 30 dagar – allt för att göra dig trygg! Beställningar som gjorts före klockan 14:00 skickas samma vardag och frakttiden inom Sverige ligger på ynka 1-2 dagar och kostar endast 19 kr snacka om service! Jag kan verkligen rekommendera dem starkt för alla!
 
 Om du dessutom använder rabattkoden "SHIRO" i kassan så får du 10% avdraget på vilken beställning som helst! Alla vi älskar ju att spara lite pengar på våra köp, inte sant?




Thanks for reading and I hope you found this review helpful. ^.-
A biiiiig thank you to CircleLensesEurope and Cirkellinser for sponsoring me!

~ Shiro Samurai says bye bye.