Saitou gets an update for the better!

Hello peeps!

On 19th March I decided it was about time that I cut my Saitou wig a little. Sure that it has always been fine but for the past few months it started bothering me slightly that the bangs are kinda long – mostly because they block out my right eye and this doesn't always look good on photos. So yeah, cutting time!

Before cutting to the left, after on right.

Also on the next day I went to a fabric store in town and bought some fabric for the scarf. Yeah, I do have a scarf already but, as some of you might know, it loves itself some strangling antics and it's just heavy and annoying to wear after a while; I've wanted a thinner and more flowy scarf and so I decided to make another one. The fabric that I bought was unusually wide –around 2,4 meters– so I only had to buy a small strip of it. I didn't purchase more than 30 cm, although afterwards I realized it wouldn't have been bad with a bit more. I tend to always buy too much fabric for bigger projects and not enough for smaller projects, lol. Not like it was bad though, the scarf turned out okay anyway.
I didn't really take any progress pictures because it's so simple to sew a scarf – just zigzag the edges, fold in the edges, fold the whole thing in half and sew it shut with a straight stitch.

Started sewing the scarf shut.

With the scarf done I was ready to go take a few photos – and so I did on 25th March, aka today.
Me and Hasakitsuki (photographer) went outside the apartment and had a quick shooting to show off the costume updates; it's nothing mind-boggling but still something fresh!

The scarf seen from the back. (yeah I know, should have ironed it...)

This fucker even blows in the wind! 8D (if you're lucky)

I'm still a bit meh because I would have wanted the scarf a bit wider (yeah, it still bugs me) than what it is but oh well, at least there's no way in hell this thing could attempt strangling techniques on me anymore, unlike its predecessor. It's very lightweight and comfortable and cost me 4 € to make.

Enough of the scarf. Next up is a photo that shows the wig's makeover better:

Oh the joy when the wig doesn't completely block out my right eye anymore! I still frequently have to move hairs away from my eye –especially when it's windy– before a photo is taken but at least it looks better and hey, it's never bad to be able to see properly in cosplay. xD
Lastly here's a cropped close-up of the contact lenses that I will wear for Saitou from now on. Yeah, it's totally the reason I opened my Beaucon Vibrant Match Blue lenses. Surprise motherfucker!

Sure that his eyes are violet-ish in the anime but in the game they are blue and well, the game came first so I consider it the official/original. Blue-eyed Saitou it is, deal with it ~

That's it, new cosplay previews for this year's con season will follow!
Valkoinen Samurai says bye!

Lens review: Beaucon Vibrant Match Blue

Hi everyone!

It's time again for another contact lens review guys! This time it's the Beaucon Vibrant Match Blue. I bought these some time ago and I've been waiting for a reason to open them and well, the reason you will find out in another post soon but now let's get on with the review!

Lenses in vials.

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm

Water content: 45%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

These lenses look a medium blue when not worn; they are rather pretty if you ask me. I like the design of these surprisingly much and I think I'm starting to really prefer lenses with a black outer rim haha. Regarding the design there are some small black dots close to the pupil hole following a star shape, otherwise the blue color is pretty solid while also imitating the patterning of a real iris.

Lens on my finger.

One thing that's not so pretty though is that when I tried to open the bottles I had problems with not one but both of them. The plastic lid just went off without taking any of the metal protection with it. Meh. I had to fetch a knife and massacre my way through the metal...

This is not cool bro.

Not saying this only happened with the Beaucon lenses; I've had this problem with pretty much any lenses. I think it's just how lucky you are if you get a metal troll in yours or not. xD
But yeah, back to the lenses. I popped one into my eye and it went in without any problems. The description on the bottles say that the diameter is 14.0 mm – which is pretty much as small as circle lenses can be.
These blend really well with my natural eye color and look surprisingly natural while still having that noticeable color oompfh. I actually went to do some quick business with these on and didn't get any comments or questions – I assume either the light was too bad for the others to see or these lenses just look natural enough to pass for real eyes. I would say these are good for cosplay as well as for everyday fab contacts.

One lens in. (taken in bathroom light)

These contacts don't hinder my vision; I have no random blue corners when I move my gaze or anything. They are pretty comfortable but even though I wore them for around 4 hours I could still always feel that I had contacts on, it was slight though. It wasn't uncomfortable at all or anything but I just felt them when I blinked. Also, maybe it's just me but it felt like these started to feel dry faster than other contacts I've tried. I don't know, might also be because putting contacts on was pretty much the first thing I did today when I woke up and well, my eyes were a bit tired. Nothing bad though overall, I'd still say they are comfortable to wear.

I took a couple photos just to show what the lenses look like when worn. There's no color filters or anything to alter the color on these photos.

Taken indoors during daylight hours on a cloudy day.

Taken while facing the window from a distance.

I don't really know what more to say. I find myself liking the blue shade a lot and I'm pleased with these contacts. They aren't super noticeable in darker/dim lights but in brighter lights or outside they turn this vibrantly awesome blue that is striking and just looks some sort of awesome. I definitely dig these contacts.

Took a distance photo just for demonstration.

(am I the only one thinking Kuroko from Kuroko's Basket? xD)

Want to read reviews of other colors in the Vibrant Match series?
Check out these reviews: Green, Violet, Brown

Short summary:

Color: 9/10 
Nice vivid blue shade that shows up nicely. Looks great on light eyes!
Design: 7/10 
Design seems to mimic real eyes and does it well.
Opacity: 8/10
Covers my real eye color surprisingly well!
Enlargement: 2/10 
Barely enlarging, which I like. I don't always want obviously enlarging lenses...
Comfort: 6/10 
I can sometimes feel I have contacts on when I blink and they seem to dry out faster than some other lenses, still okay though.
Naturalness: 7/10 
Except for the vibrant blue shade these look pretty damn realistic.

I don't have so much more to say I think.

Any questions just leave a comment! :D kthxbai! ~

Souji Okita from Rurouni Kenshin photoshoot!

 Hi everyone!

A few days ago I received a few new wigs and one of them was a wig that I plan to use for Rurouni Kenshin's Souji Okita – the Tsuiokuhen/Trust & Betrayal OVA version. Yes, I do plan to cosplay him this year!
Okay, so today I tried the wig on and decided instantly that it needs to be cut a bit to fit him and so I trimmed one of the sides, the one with the longer end, as well as shortened and layered the bangs so that I wouldn't get the Rock Lee effect when wearing it, brrr. Yeah, it had way too much hair in the front. ._.

Wig uncut, without the ponytail clip.

With the wig styled I put on the rest of the cosplay – which is basically recycling parts from earlier cosplays, haha. The violet-blue kimono is new though and it's made by Hasakitsuki's mom as a gift, thank you. I wore my Volte Brown contacts for Okita and I think they are perfect for him!
I wanted a cosplay preview and a photoshoot on the same go and so we went outside the apartment and took a shitlot of pictures; it wasn't all that cold at the beginning but it was very windy and towards the end it got so damn cold I could barely move my fingers and hold the sword and, well, I was shaking quite badly... which could have been seen as being in character *coughsickcough* but oh well. ^^"

Cosplayer: Valkoinen Samurai (Souji Okita)
Photographer: Hasakitsuki

Nothing more to say, I'm terribly stoked to wear this to a con! I hope I will find someone who cosplays Battousai version Kenshin so that we could have an epic photoshoot. Would be so awesome!

But now Valkoinen Samurai goes samurai-ing elsewhere ~