July 7, 2014

Lens review: I.Fairy Ash Green

Hiya all!

This time I will review the I.Fairy Ash Green circle lenses that I bought not so long time ago. They are also known as Vassen Ash Green; I received the lenses branded as I.Fairy even though on the site I picked Vassen brand, haha. They actually arrived barely a few days before the con I needed them for, hah.

Let's go!


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


Lenses in their vials, taken in room light next to a window.
I must say that at first I was a bit surprised because the bottles were of I.Fairy brand, but after a quick Google search I came to the conclusion that it's just another name that Vassen goes by or more like, Vassen is the manufacturer and I.Fairy seemingly the distributor for these lenses. Same same but different, basically.

My first impression was that these contacts looked huge and actually on the bottle it says that diameter is 16.2 mm which is ginormous. On the site I ordered from it says that the diameter is 15.00, although the effect can be up to 16.2. I had a moment of "oh shit these might look freaky on me!" because of the size but I was too damn curious about these contacts to let that split-second worry do me any further scares. I went and popped them into my eyes and the first time I ever did this I had some slight discomfort (crying eyes, feeling them clearly when I blink etc) but it disappeared rather quickly; might just have been my eyes not being used to bigger contacts. I was actually surprised by how comfortable these were for long-term wear I can wear them for several hours without many problems and they don't even hinder my vision! I was expecting bigger contact lenses like these to dry out faster, constantly feel them in my eyes or at least become uncomfortable but nope, I was proven wrong. Or maybe I'm lucky...

Here's the usual "one lens in" and "both lenses in" photos, taken in room light (close to a lamp) during a cloudy day.

One lens in.
Both lenses in.
These look fairly striking and are noticeable from a distance because of the enlargement. Design wise I must say that I'm pretty fond of the design of these contacts, it's pretty and has an anime-ish look to it while still not being obviously cartoony and unreal it's a nice middle ground. Bonus points for a black limbal ring too! Oh, and these blend surprisingly nicely with my real eye color, which is blue-gray.

Here's a few cosplay photos I took pre-Desucon just to show the contacts with cosplay makeup. Character is Souji Okita from Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan. There's no color edits on the close-up photos. All photos taken by yours truly.

Room light, facing the window. (daylight time)
Bathroom light.
I must say that the more I wear these contacts the more I'm starting to love them! These certainly made me less scared of trying other bigger circle lenses in the future I had lived in the assumption that bigger ones would look off and way too freaky and/or dolly on a fabulous guy like me... but seemingly that's not the case. :-DD One more contact lens related worry erased from my book!

Distance photo below!

In cosplay ~
The color shows up well and it's a rather dark and rich green in tone, but in a good way. It's a mesmerizing color and the print of the lens makes it all the more eye-catching! These lenses are definitely suited for cosplay purposes but they'd be lovely for j-fashion and other styles that would benefit from big deep green eyes. The good thing with these lenses is that, despite the color being dark, it doesn't disappear nor make my eyes appear black when seen from a distance – the lenses stay green! And with that I also want to mention that these do look green in pretty much any light conditions, which is awesome.

-- EDIT 26.01.2015 -- 

I did one more makeup test for Okita with the same lenses but half a year later so if you want to see more photos of I.Fairy Ash Green in action then check out this one post, woop! o/ This was also the last time I wore these lenses before I threw them away. :'( But before saying goodbye to them I took two more additional lens close-up pics to add to this review. Here!

Bright bathroom light.
Flash photo indoors.
Short summary:

Color: 9/10 
It's a pretty deep green that looks green and is noticeable even from a distance!
Design: 8/10 
Design is pretty and anime-ish, almost mesmerizing.
Opacity: 8/10 
Color coverage is very good. It hides my real eye color nicely.
Enlargement: 9/10 
These are huge, period.
Comfort: 7/10 
The comfort level was a surprise! I would have thought lenses this big would be less comfy but these are fine.
Naturalness: 1/10 
Just... no.

I don't have much more to add. Any questions just leave a comment! ^_^
Thanks for viewing ~

July 2, 2014

kimono!Gakupo preview – The [not-so] serious part (2/2)

Hello fellow derps! o/

Here comes the long awaited or long feared second part of the Gakupo preview post!
For the serious prequel, check here.
I hope you have prepared and warmed up to the rhythm of the derpy arm dance gif because what is to follow here is very dangerous stuff. Really, really, dangerous. You better lock your brain away somewhere safe or it will never be the same again...
Because, you see, one does not simply have a completely serious photoshoot 3-4 o'clock in the night/morning without it getting out of track sooner or later. Yeah, pulling serious faces wasn't all that I did back then and here comes proof of that proof that I can be a complete derp at times. :-DD

Are you ready to scroll down? 
Ready, steady...

.
.
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3
2
1
LET THE DERPS RAIN DOWN! GO!!
(photographer: Hasakitsuki)
 
I flip my hair back and forth... out of frame.
Grumpypo.
BLEEAAAAGH.
Just let me pretend for a sec that I'm
in a mahou shoujo anime... la la la ~
hurp :|
This is the reason why I don't smile so often on photos. xD
I am disappoint.
I have no idea. Don't ask me.
MOTHERFUCKING KAWAII BLOWFISH.
I yawned but it looks more like a laugh – my life is beautiful.
"THERE'S A TAXI!!!"
(yeah, it was barely 4 in the morning and I saw a taxi outside, ermahglerb people)
...
...
And the best for last. Maybe.

COME WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEE.
(this shit gives me nightmares, lol)
Because everyone knows that cosplay is so very srs bsnss. Not so. Sometimes it's nice and refreshing to just loosen up and fool around a bit and hey, why not share the fun even if it looks all kinds of bad and "oh god this pic should never see the light of day" horrible? :D I hope everyone will live a bit longer now because of the laughs I hopefully provided you on my expense wohoo! \o/ Ah, the feeling of making a fool out of myself for shits and giggles. xD Life is too short to take yourself seriously all the time, hehehe.. ~

In 3, 2, 1...  
Valkoinen Samurai runs off to rebuild his face in the cosplay world, byee ~~

June 29, 2014

kimono!Gakupo preview – The serious part (1/2)

Eiyoou guys!

So the night between 28 and 29th June neither me nor Hasakitsuki were tired so we decided to be vampires go and preview photoshoot my original kimono!Gakupo cosplay for Skecon outside. Yeah, it's the Gakupo preview I promised earlier in the cosplay plans post
So uhh, it was 3 in the night/morning and I was in cosplay outside our apartment having a shoot and the sun was up and shining everything's perfectly normal! :D Ah, midnight sun is so handy; I wasn't even tired! Or just a little, towards the end of the shoot, maybe.
As far as the outfit is concerned it's all authentic pieces from Japan, mostly vintage. Earlier when I first came up with the idea to do a kimono!Gakupo design I pretty much instantly knew what kimono coordination to wear. Oh, and because Gakupo is quite fabulous I wanted to spice it up a bit and of course a violet kimono was a must to get a less bland/generic coordination, which is typical for male kitsuke.

Cosplayer: Valkoinen Samurai (Gakupo Kamui)
Photographer: Hasakitsuki
Photo editor: Valkoinen Samurai










This is a bit random but here's what the wig looked like before I had spiked the bangs. Hasakitsuki braided the long front pieces because I'm a derp and can't braid. Actually on the photoshoot pictures I'm pinning some of the bangs to the sides because otherwise this wig is quite the hair curtain.

le wig.
Oh, and about the shoot itself; it was a fun shoot even though it was surpsisingly cold. We were shooting for approximately one hour and well, at some point the I'm-tired-but-not-really-tired-so-I-will-just-do-stupid-faces-instead mood activated for me and... uh... you better go hide under your couch because this post will have a follow-up containing all this extra material! >8D Yeah, we actually got a ridiculous amount of not-so-representative pictures so instead of having a few bonus pics at the end I have gathered enough material for a whole Gakupo derp compilation post. *whisper* Stay alive, it shall arrive sooooooon...

You thought I'd let you go now? Hahaha noep!
Here's a teaser just so you'll get some foretaste of what is to come so that you can prepare accordingly. Or not.

Derpy arm dance!
Hueheuheuehue ~
Valkoinen Samurai heads off to prepare for making a fool out of himself...