Närcon 2015 cosplay plans – Bird trainer & tragic swordsman!

Hello everybody!

Yeah, you've seen it – I AM HEADING TO NÄRCON THIS YEAR!! o/

Last year I decided not to go but this year I am once again attending it! Last time I was at Närcon was in 2013, aka before the major expansion happened. I have a feeling that this year I will be very lost and won't find my way anywhere but oh well, gonna be buckets of fun anyway! :'D You are never really lost until... you are lost. Ehrmm. Yeah.

I will be traveling alone this time, which means that no one of my usual con company (Hasakitsuki, Jäätynyt Enkeli) will follow with because of them having other stuff in the way but hey, I'm sure to meet familiar faces at the con because my awesome mate Hitsuwa and some others will be there! I can't wait!

I'm really excited to go to Närcon again and I'm curious to see what it will be like! I've actually heard really mixed opinions about Närcon 2014 (both good and really really bad) so I want to see for myself if this year's edition is anything like the horror stories I've been told. x) I'm hoping that it will be worth the heavy hole it leaves in my anorexic wallet and that Närcon will be as comfy and festival-y as I remember it!

For this Närcon I really need to lighten the cosplay luggage – seeing how I will travel with a group of con people from the north in a minibus I will have luggage restrictions. You see, we will be around 8 or 9 people in the minibus and everyone's stuff will need to fit into the goddamn thing. :'D So yeah, I really can't take a whale-sized suitcase with me and shove it into the vehicle like I owned the thing lol.

For this reason I have decided to only take with me two cosplays for a whoppin' 4-day event! I'm sure I probably couldn't be bothered to cosplay all days anyway, especially if the dreaded heat wave will hit on the Närcon weekend, which it is infamous for doing. ._. I really dislike being all warm and sweaty in cosplay... So yep, only two cosplays for me and then gargwawesome semi-casual geekily spiced gear for the other days!

So, who will I cosplay at Närcon then?

*insert drumroll here*

Series: Rurouni Kenshin (Tsuiokuhen OVA)
Character: Kenshin Himura (Hitokiri Battousai)

Series: Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver
Character: Falkner (jap. Hayato)

I have not decided fully yet on what day I will do what cosplay, but I'm thinking of doing Falkner on Friday and Kenshin on Saturday. I reserve the right for any changes lol. It will depend on the weather, mainly.

I decided to go with Falkner and Battousai version Kenshin this time – both being costumes that haven't seen the light of day since 2012 and 2013, respectively! Man, that feels like so long ago...

The main reasons for these choices being that Falkner is a lightweight costume to wear –aka I shouldn't die of heat stroke– and Kenshin is just super fun to cosplay and is on my lighter end of kimono cosplays; he also doesn't require any vintage/authentic kimono pieces (save for the shoes and tabi socks), which would be a problem to take care of during the event. By problem I mean that if I wore a cosplay with a real –most likely silk– kimono it would be a hassle to air it out after wear (hot weather wouldn't be kind to the garment, aka sweating, and it's important to let it air out properly before folding and putting the kimono/hakama/etc back in storage) because I would need to hang it and well, have fucking fun doing that when you're camping in a tent the whole duration of the event. ;) Just.... nope. NOPENOPENOPENOPE.

I'm sorry not sorry! for the cosplay recycling for such a big con but I really don't have the money right now to do new costumes and the new cosplays I could have done I, well, ran into issues with. I originally had other plans, I admit.

I hope that my cosplay plans aren't too much of a bummer deluxe. x) Thanks for checking this out and I hope to see many cool souls at Närcon!

Peace and rainbows to everyone! ~

[Sponsored] Lens review: Neo Ruby Queen Gray

Hello guys!

This time I will be reviewing the Neo Ruby Queen Gray circle lenses!

These lenses were kindly sponsored by Klenspop! They sell mostly circle lenses and makeup for affordable prices so yeah, go take a look at their store if that sounds interesting to you! ;) If you want to read more about my experiences with Klenspop then do check out my earlier review here!

But now let's get on with the review! ~

This review contains 100% my honest opinion. 

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm

Water content: 38%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

As recommended I put the lenses to soak overnight before wearing them for the first time. I had no problems with these lenses while inserting them, everything went as it should. Sometimes when I put them in they can sting a little, but in those cases I just take 'em out, clean them and put them back in and then the problem is gone. :)

I think that comfort of these lenses is pretty okay; I've had some days when they felt rather bad and dried out around the 4-hour mark and then on other times I've worn them for around 6 hours during a convention with little to no issues. They seem a bit random but most of the time I'd say that comfort is on the better end of average.

One lens in. Pay attention to the enlargement!

These lenses definitely appear gray on my light blue-gray-green eyes. They also blend nicely and enhance my real eyes in a way that doesn't look unnatural. The diamond pattern is pretty, it doesn't jump at you but it's still there and it definitely adds something extra to your gaze!

The limbal ring is thin and the lens design fades towards the pupil hole. The Ruby Queen Grays don't really provide much in terms of enlargement so I wouldn't call these for the dolly type of lenses; enlargement is in the nice subtle range.

All of these photos are taken by me during a cloudy summer afternoon. There's no color filters added so that you'd see how the lenses really look. ;)

Inside my apartment, facing the window.

Inside my apartment, turned away from the window. Only natural light.

Flash photo indoors.

Bathroom light.

White-ish corridor light.

Weak yellow light next to the staircase.

Indoors looking/facing through the outer door's window, which is leading
to the backyard.

As you can see they do appear gray on my eyes in all light variations (even the crappy lights, woop! :'D) that I've tried so far. I'm fairly sure that these would appear gray even on other eye colors!

They might not be the most opaque ever but the color change is there and yes, it's nice enough to not completely block out your real eye color, if that's a look that you prefer.

And next for the outdoor batch of photos! Still of course taken during the same time as the indoor photos!

Outdoors under the building's roof, facing the light indirectly.

Outdoors facing the sun indirectly.

Outdoors, back against the sun.

Outdoors, back against the sun. Part 2.

Facing the sun directly.
I'm sorry for squinting but it really hurt my eyes. ;_;

Sorry about my pained expression on the photo above; my eyes were overly sensitive this day and even when I looked at the cloudy sky (aka not directly into the sun) my eyes started watering like hell and it was absolutely horrible to keep them open.

Super close-up photo! (facing sun)

I would say that I like these lenses! The diamond pattern is gorgeous without being too overwhelming, creating a semi-natural look while still providing your eyes that extra 'pop' they need to stand out in the crowd!

I'd recommend these for cosplayers who like to do more natural-ish approaches to their character portrayals, as well as to fashion people who love using circle lenses to complete their looks. ^^

And lastly I of course have the distance photo!

Short summary:

Color: 7/10
These are a nice medium light gray shade that shows up well!
Design: 7/10
The design has this kind of diamond shape but it's a tad more subtle than other lenses with similar diamond patterns, aka it mixes with your real eyes and doesn't look too fake.
Opacity: 7/10
Fairly opaque on the outer corners but towards the pupil hole the color fades and blends into your real eyes.
Enlargement: 3/10
Enlargement is small but it's there!
Comfort: 7/10 
Comfort is okay. I could wear them for several hours without getting any notable discomfort.
Naturalness: 6/10
Even though these have a fancy diamond pattern they still don't look as unnatural as one would expect, thanks to the smaller enlargement effect and the nice blending with my eyes!

And that's all for this review, thanks for reading folks!

Also, thank you Klenspop! ♡

Photoshoot: Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars!

Hello geeks!

At Skecon this year I met this awesome guy who cosplayed Obi-Wan Kenobi from the super popular Star Wars series! I offered to photoshoot him after the sun had set and we went to take some photos around the Folkparken area in Skellefteå, Sweden.

I thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to start occasionally posting photoshoots that I've held to other people on my blog as well, now would it? ;) It would feel a bit like a waste to have these cool photos lying around on my laptop and not being shown to anyone, except the model himself of course. 

Also, as I've mentioned before, I am a hobby photographer (as well as a cosplayer) so I do want to show off what is the outcome when I'm the man behind the camera at times – not the one being in costume! ^o^

Cosplayer: Mattias Dalman
Photographer & photo editor: Shiro Samurai

I would be really glad to hear if you folks out there would like to see more of my photoshooting adventures posted in the future? :D Thanks for viewing!

Shiro Samurai says bye bye ~