Lens review: Princess Pinky Twilight Blue

Hello pipol ~ 

Today I will review an ice blue circle lens, namely the Princess Pinky Twilight Blue! I bought these lenses several years ago (one of my first pairs, to be honest) and I've been saving them for a specific cosplay but yeah, they expire really soon so I can't wait much longer without opening them. ^^" I originally bought these lenses to use for an Original Character of mine, but I also planned later on that these could work for Gin Ichimaru from Bleach etc. But hey, let's get to the review!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.5 mm

Water content: 38%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

Back in the days, when I started cosplaying, these were the lenses that everyone seemed to recommend to you online if you needed really ice blue or light blue cosplay lenses. The Princess Pinky Twilight Blue were one of the few, if only, actually good super light blue lenses in the market that weren't crazy animation lenses. Needless to say these lenses used to be rather popular from what I've gathered but yeah, now that they've got competition I'm not sure if they've lost their rave position in, at least, the cosplay community. They used to be the go-to ice blue colored contact lens for cosplayers, despite being infamous for their poor comfort – I'll tell you more about that soon!

But yeah, the design is surprisingly natural-looking, except for the obviously light color. It seems to try to mimic a real iris and the effect is really flattering and pleasant. Closest to the pupil hole there's some yellow and I think that's great because it makes the lenses blend more seamlessly into my real eye color, which is a light blue-gray. I think that it would have "clashed" more if the lenses didn't have the yellow inner part, if you know what I mean. They are quite realistic in terms of design – the color, not so.

One lens in.

The thing that these lenses have going for them is their color and their small size, which makes them ideal for cosplaying male characters and whatever other characters that simply doesn't work with big dolly eyes. So even though there are now other vibrant light blue lenses out there, like the I.Fairy Moonlite Blue, the Twilight Blues still appear to be the only choice for those who really don't want big lenses, for whatever reason. At least I haven't found any ice blue lens that is just as small as these.
I should also note that despite having a stated diameter of 14.5 mm these certainly don't look that big and that's because, upon closer inspection, you'll notice that the design is actually printed quite far away from the edges – which makes the lenses appear notably smaller. The "true diameter" would be more like a 14.2 mm or something like that; note though that I didn't measure them or anything, this is just me spontaneously comparing them in my mind to other small lenses I've had.

Lens photos ahead ~

All photos taken by me during an September afternoon with a semi-clear sky.
There's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Facing the window in my apartment, sun side (cloudy).

Apartment room light, only natural light from the window.

Bathroom light.

Flash photo.

White-ish corridor light.

Yellow corridor light.

Yellow light in the staircase.

Standing in the staircase, with my back against a window.

Indoors storage room, with natural light coming from the side.

Outdoors, back against the sun. (aka facing the wall)

Outdoors, facing the sun while standing in the shadow.

Outdoors, facing sun directly.

Indoors, sideway view. (standing close to the window, cloudy)

I really want to like these lenses but the comfort is absolutely horrible. ;__; They are hard to insert because they are super thin, floppy and flimsy and yeah, these lenses basically "sink" into your finger (because of their thinness) when you try to prepare to put them into your eye; this also makes it incredibly difficult to figure out which side is the right/wrong side because I honestly can't tell the difference – the print also looks the same on both sides. When I try to clean these lenses they fold all over the place and yeah, really flimsy and hard to handle. :/ But despite them being extremely thin they still feel appalling to wear – I had problems with getting them into my eyes and, once I did, they were really uncomfortable from the first second... and it didn't get much better afterwards, either. One of the lenses even folded the upper part of it while inside my eye and yeah, it took a while for them to "set". Really troublesome.
The right lens was incredibly uncomfortable and scratchy and I just wanted to take it out as soon as I put it in; the discomfort didn't go away even after I cleaned and reinserted the lens several times. The left lens wasn't much better but at least my eye sorta got used to it – the right lens kept feeling like shit though. It basically felt like the lenses glued to my eyes (a "pulling" feeling) and were overall just stingy, irritating and I could contantly feel them.
I honestly took them off as soon as I was done taking the photos, which means after approximately 30 minutes. I'd never be able to wear these for a convention day, maybe a short photoshoot at most; my rough estimate for wearing these lenses would be a maximum duration of 1 or 1,5 hours – and that's if you're really stubborn and determined. They really aren't that far from unwearable and, I'm sorry to say, but I think there's some truth to why so many people have found the Princess Pinky Twilight series uncomfortable. :( I know some people have been lucky with the comfort of these but a majority hasn't. I guess I was kinda hoping to be an exception (wishful thinking?) but turns out these lenses are just as bad in comfort as everyone else is saying – it's really a bummer because they'd otherwise be great for cosplay. I'm so disappointed because I could have had a lot of use for these peepers... :|

Distance photo!

Check out my other review: Green

What can I say? I held up my hopes for these lenses, despite from what I've heard, but they really are as bad in the comfort department as people say – I can't wear these without really pushing myself to not take them off; already 30 minutes of wear was hard enough to withstand. So yeah, I really can't recommend these, unless you really need an ice blue lens that has a minimal enlargement effect and, even then, I'd say that these lenses fall into the "photoshoot only" category. They are not fit to wear for extended time and don't even think about wearing these to a full convention day... unless you're a hardcore masochist willing to take risks.

Sadly, the Princess Pinky Twilight Blue is the only really small light blue circle lenses that I know of so yeah, there might not be anything out there to replace them if the size is a critical factor for your costume...

Short summary:

Color: 8/10 
Vivid yet realistic ice blue color that shows up well, without being overwhelming.
Design: 7/10 
Seems to resemble a real iris design, except a bit flashier. Flattering.
Opacity: 8/10
The colored areas are surprisingly opaque.
Enlargement: 3/10

Really small with only a slight size increase.
Comfort: 2/10 
Plain bad. I feel them clearly in my eyes at all times. Really scratchy and irritating to wear – I took them off after 30 minutes because I couldn't stand them.
Naturalness: 7/10 

Despite the color these manage to balance on the fine line between unnatural and natural. The rather realistic print does factor in.

 Thanks for viewing and I hope you found this review helpful ~

Shiro Samurai out.

Lens review: TheDollyEye BarbieDoll 400 Green

Meep meep!

I have a lens review for today's post! ^_^ I actually bought this specific pair many years ago (back when I started getting into circle lenses) because I was really drawn to the swirl design. The pair I'm talking about is the TheDollyEye BarbieDoll 400 Green! I've been kinda saving them for years, waiting to get some cosplay use of them, until I realized that the expiry date was creeping closer and closer. Oops! So yeah, I can't hold on to these babies forever and so I decided to play it safe and open them before 2017 kicks in ~

The thing with these lenses though is that they are kinda... confusing. I mean that in the sense that they go under surprisingly many different names; some names I've seen these lenses under include Dueba Windy Green, Dueba Candy Roller Green and a shortened form of their usual name – BD400 Green. The original manufacturer is Dueba but my pair was rebranded under the TheDollyEye label, which also means that the "real" name would be Dueba BarbieDoll 400 Green, haha. So many names...

But now, begin the review!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.5 mm
Water content: 38%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

These were one of the first circle lenses that attracted me – I'm a fan of swirly designs and these lenses really make me think about whirlwinds! Needless to say I'm really fond of the design because yeah, when worn it looks like one has cute mini tornadoes in the eyes. c: I also like how the black limbal ring becomes a part of the design of the lens and spins towards the center – it's really pretty and mesmerizing somehow.

One lens in. Notice enlargement.

The color is a lovely soft light green that, surprisingly, despite its shade, doesn't disappear into my blue-gray eyes. I was honestly expecting these to just blend in too much and vanish but, luckily, that's not the case! The color is not super bold, vibrant or anything but it's definitely there and it sorta gives a kind and warm look to my eyes – makes me look like a cinnamon roll, hihi. I also really like how the black lines make the lenses appear dreamy when viewed from a distance. ♥ There is still a slight risk though that in some poorer lights the lenses disappear into my light eyes and turn into a muddy greenish gray...

Comfort is not the best, at least not for me. :/ These lenses are easy to insert but for me this particular pair started to feel dry and itchy after about 40 minutes and yeah, as soon as 1 hour had passed I kept thinking about taking them off because I could feel that they dried out and irritated my eyes, not in a painful way but in a "I can't pretend I'm not bothered by it" kind of way, lol. I also found myself blinking slowly, in hopes of getting those sudden stingy feelings to go away. Sometimes my vision would blur slightly too but it's not bad at all. After 2 hours had passed I took them off because they felt dry; actually, already during 1,5 hours I really wanted to take them out, but I persisted until 2 hours. Please note though that I seem to have sensitive and dry eyes so yeah, take my experiences with a grain of salt since everyone's eyes are different.
Then again, my lenses would have expired on March 2017 had I not opened them so yeah, that might play a part with the rocky comfort.

Regarding enlargement these circle lenses are not tiny but they definitely won't eat up your eyes either. I'd say that they're rather average in size and, much to my enjoyment, these lenses work really well even without any makeup on! Most circle lenses I've had requires at least some basic eyeliner to not look off but these could rock the whole everyday lens route, haha. I think they're really versatile!

Lens photos ahead ~

All photos taken by me during a September afternoon with a semi-clear sky.
There's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Apartment room light, lamps on.

Apartment room light, only natural light.

Flash photo.

White light in the corridor.

Really shitty yellow light in the corridor.

Yellow light in the staircase.

Facing a weak orange-ish light in the staircase, back against
a window (natural light).

Indoors storage room, with natural light coming from the side.

Outdoors, facing the sun while being under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing sun while it's partly covered by clouds.

Outdoors, facing sun directly.

Outdoors, standing in the shadow of the building.

Okay so, I totally think these cute lenses work for many different purposes; you could use them for cosplay, j-fashion and even as a daily or casual lens! The BarbieDoll 400 is a fun lens with a fresh color that you can just put on and go! These lenses forgive you on those days you want to wear circle lenses but can't be bothered to slather your face in products, hehe.
The design is attractive, magical and eye-catching but without being too obvious or cartoony – the softness actually makes me think about nymphs, forest fairies or some other supernatural forest dwellers. I'd recommend these for anyone who likes whirly cute lenses that are versatile ~

Distance photo, yeah!

Want to see these lenses but in other colors? Check out my other review: Blue

Short summary:

Color: 8/10 
A soft light green. Really pretty and surprisingly visible. Reminds me of fairytale forest creatures.
Design: 9/10 
Gorgeous swirl design, it's like magical whirlwinds in your eyes!
Opacity: 7/10
Surprisingly covering. I was expecting the green color to disappear into my light eyes but it shows up, and nicely so.
Enlargement: 6/10

Average. Small enough to not look freaky without makeup on.
Comfort: 4/10 
Maybe it's just this pair but they felt dry already after approximately 40 minutes. Sometimes blurs my vision and might feel stingy. Really dry after 2 hours, had to take them off.
Naturalness: 3/10 

Despite the fancy design, limbal ring and soft green color these don't come off as too unnatural. Sort of works as a casual lens.

 Thanks for viewing and I hope you enjoyed this review! ^.^

Shiro Samurai out.

Black Bullet Rentarou Satomi cosplay test

Hi there!

A couple weeks ago or so I had a realization – remember my Rentarou Satomi cosplay? Yeah, the one I finished but haven't debuted yet. Yeah, that one. I suddenly remembered that, even though the cosplay is done, I haven't ever actually tried it on. Now that needed to change!

Character reference.

Today I had some free time so I decided to do a quick costest to see what the whole shebang looked like when worn. And by quick I mean quick – I lazied out on all makeup, save for eyeliner and darkening my eyebrows; I honestly just can't be bothered when I don't have a photographer at hand because yeah, it won't show well on crummy self-taken mirror pics anyway...

I know that his eyes are actually blue in the manga but I'm only familiar with the anime and in it his eyes are brown. I thus decided to go with brown eyes and, besides, I think it looks better anyway.

The lenses I'm using in this costest are the I.Fairy Ruby Brown but, sadly, I will have to throw them away soon since they'll expire. It's one of my favorite brown lenses for cosplay purposes. :)

Obligatory cosplay selfie.

I originally had another wig for Rentarou but it was wayyyyyyy too small for my head and so I had to buy another. The previous wig was a bit nicer when it came to the colors but it was basically child-size for me so I couldn't even get it to stay on my head, ugh. ._. So yeah, this new wig I bought from a random Chinese eBay seller and, much to my surprise, it's actually wearable! It's still a bit tight (I can't use the hooks at all) but it shouldn't give me any major headaches. I sometimes quite often wish I had a smaller head because buying from eBay is pretty 50/50 for me if I get a wig that fits me or not...

As I said, I had no photographer available so to get any kind of full body shots I had to use the mirror, which also means that everything's reversed so yeah, it appears like the jacket's stripe is on the wrong side etc – it's not in reality. I apologize for the shitty yellow light, the mirror is placed on the bathroom door and there's only a crappy yellow light there (the window is too far away to really help bring in any natural light).

I'm not happy with the shoes because the blue colors are much more gray-based than the jacket so yeah, they don't match. :/ I'm thinking about repainting the shoes but I'm not sure what would work since the shoes are made of some kind of faux leather; need to research into that...

Regarding the debut of this cosplay I don't have a set con in mind, but I've been considering to get Rentarou debuted before this year is over – I still have a couple cons left to attend that would require a warm cosplay and Rentarou would fit the bill; the jacket is warmer than it looks so this cosplay would be a good choice unless I suddenly get inspiration to do something else, which happens way too often...

That's about all I had to say for this round ~
Are there any other Black Bullet cosplayers out there?

Shiro Samurai out.

[Sponsored] Lens review: GEO Crazy SF-34

Hello people! ╰( ･ ᗜ ･ )╯

I'm happy to inform that the lovely Swedish contact lens store, CirclelensesEurope (also known as Cirkellinser), has sent me another lens pair to review! ♥ You might remember that I reviewed the popular EOS New Adult Green from their shop last time but, this time, I was sent something quite different! :D I decided to try out the GEO Crazy SF-34 lenses – it's an ice blue lens with a black rim. I've always been curious about trying out more of those crazy/animation lenses and now it's time to step deeper into that part of the circle lens jungle! Let's roll-ahoy ~

The lenses I'm reviewing in this post were kindly sponsored by CirclelensesEurope, aka Cirkellinser. Rest assured knowing that all my reviews are purely 100% my honest opinion. I don't ever compromise the truth.

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 a little about 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, ship from the same place etc so yeah, the only difference is basically that the other one is for Swedish customers only. Neither of them is a copycat or a scam site so no worries there – you can buy from them with confidence. :)

Both or their sites are fresh, inviting, cute and easy to use. There might not be as many circle lenses to choose from as on other more well-known stores (only GEO Medical and EOS brand currently) but what CirclelensesEurope has going for them is that they sell genuine and safe lenses, have cheap shipping (only 3€ for anywhere in Europe, no matter the amount you buy!) and, also, that they have crazy fast shipping. The rapid shipping is what really sets them apart from the myriad of Asia-based lens stores because CirclelensesEurope is located in Sweden and thus, if you live in Europe, they 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 or less. *coughcosplayerscough* They will save your costume without a sweat when all other lens shops would require you to use expensive shipping methods to race against time.

Regarding the shipping and handling time I want to say that I've always received their lenses really really fast. Both times the lenses were sent out on Sunday and arrived directly in my mailbox on the following Monday! 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 bullet-speed service! o/ They really prioritize quick handling and speedy shipping and that's amazing! I honestly swear by them.

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 amazing!

 ~***~ Lens review continues ~***~

The lenses arrived in a small regular bubblewrap envelope. On the envelope was a cute little 3D smiley sticker and, better yet, a Pride motif stamp that's currently available in Sweden! As a person who really cares for, and is part of the LGBTQ+ community, it made me extra happy. ♥

Inside the white envelope the lenses are packed in a small cute drawstring bag! With the order also came a free lens case, a business card with a hand-written 'thank you' text on the back, a GEO Medical information sheet (because I received GEO lenses) and, of course, the shop's own note with information about their guarantees, wear & care etc – a really good papery piece of advice for all the first-timers!

~***~

I put the lenses to soak the night before wearing them. I had no problems putting on the lenses and they were instantly comfortable – but as with many similar crazy lenses my vision is a bit obstructed and blurred because of the small pupil hole. The good thing with a small pupil hole is that your real eye color won't show in the center and the bad thing is that you'll have colored corners in your vision field at almost all times, except in places where it's really bright – like outside when facing the sun, lol.
I can quite easily wear these lenses for 2 hours while staring at a screen (aka playing video games) non-stop, which is a pretty good sign. 4 hours tick in nicely too and I don't experience any discomfort like stinging, itching or anything of the sort. After 5 hours the lenses start to feel dry for me and I need to blink more often – I think I could perhaps wear them a bit longer, if needed, but I decided to take the lenses off after 5 hours had passed. Overall these GEO animation lenses are surprisingly comfy. Please note though that I do have rather sensitive eyes that also dry quite easily.

One lens in.

As is to be expected these animation lenses are REALLY PIGMENTED. The color ranges from an ice blue to an almost whitish blue, depending on the light – it's an extremely unrealistic color but it's hella eye-catching and it stands out a mile! I can mention too that in your average crummy (yellow) indoor light these lenses look like an intense, almost possessed, pale blue. On photos though they look really striking!
I'd say that it's a really funky and fun color to have because it sure will get you noticed and it makes your eyes look borderline scary too, especially up close, hehe... But yeah, whatever color your real eyes are these will cover them 100% – so high is the color coverage!

Lens photos!

All photos taken by me during an August evening with a clear sky.
There's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Bathroom light.

Flash photo.

Yellow light in the staircase.

Facing a weak orange lamp in the staircase. Natural light coming from the side (window).

Outdoors, back against sun. Facing the wall.

Outdoors, facing the sun while sitting under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing sun.

Regarding size these are slightly bigger than your average Halloween lenses but not enough to be noticeable or give you any sort of real dolly look; the black limbal ring does give an illusion though that the lenses are a bit bigger than they actually are – the black rim also helps bring attention to your eyes. Otherwise the design is extremely simple, just a single bold color with a thin black rim, similar to all those 'manson' lenses out there. C: Some might think that the design is too plain and fake-looking to really look flattering on human eyes but I honestly think that these are REALLY FREKKIN AMAZING. ♥ It's the kind of extremely noticeable lens that completes gothic looks, cosplays, monsters and fantasy creatures, some more daring j-fashion styles and whatever else with tons of attitude! Don't ditch it before you try it – these crazy lenses will crown the right outfits and take them to the next level!

Now for some distance photos!

Regarding CircleLensesEurope I need to mention that they and their Swedish counterpart sadly don't carry prescription lenses – at least not for the moment. I don't know if they plan to start selling those anytime soon but I really hope so since a lot of people don't have perfect vision and CircleLensesEurope would get more potential customers if they took that into account and expanded. My own vision defects are so small (-0,50 on my weaker eye) that I'm perfectly fine with plano lenses but yeah, if you can't wear lenses without power I'm really sorry to say that, sadly, CircleLensesEurope doesn't cater to your needs just yet. :(

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 

Extreme ice blue lenses – not for the faint of heart!

Design: 7/10 

Solid color with a black rim, really simple but sometimes simple is what you want.

Opacity: 10/10

These will cover up your eyes... and all of your sins.

Enlargement: 5/10 

These are small but slightly on the big side for being crazy lenses.

Comfort: 7/10 

Pretty okay. I can wear these for around 5 hours before they start to feel dry but, because of the small pupil hole, I do get blurry corners in my vision, especially indoors.

Naturalness: 0/10 

Watch out so that you don't scare the bejesus out of any nearby grandma...

• 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!

~~~~~~~~~

Cirkellinser är en svensk online-affär –högst troligtvis den första och enda i vårt avlånga land– som säljer äkta "circle lenses", numera även kända på svenska som cirkellinser. Tyvärr så säljer inte Cirkellinser linser med styrka i dagens läge, så om du har synfel så får du leta vidare. :'( Själv så har jag så pass svagt synfel att plano linser (utan styrka) inte stör mig alls.

Denna gång valde jag att recensera ett linspar som heter GEO Crazy SF-34 (bilder finns ovanför!) då dessa verkade härligt fräna och iögonfallande med sin extrema färg! Linserna anlände i ett litet vadderat kuvert på en måndag – fast dom hade skickats med söndagsposten, wow! I kuvertet fanns även ett visitkort med en handskriven hälsning på baksidan, ett gratis linsetui samt linserna själv som var förpackade i en fin liten snörpåse.

Linserna är galet coola med en väldigt ljus isblå färg som täcker mina ögon fullkomligt! Storleken på detta par är inte för stort utan just lagom. Dessa linser ser vilda ut på ett onaturligt men snyggt sätt och är verkligen något att testa om man håller på med cosplay, fantasy-utklädnarer, klär sig i japansk eller gotisk mode etc! Extremt balla linser helt enkelt, och dom syns på långt avstånd!

Dessa linser är hyfsat bekväma för mig – jag kan ha dem i ungefär 5 timmar innan de börjar kännas torra och här tål att nämnas att jag har relativt känsliga samt torra ögon. Dock så gör dessa linser så att hörnen i mitt synfält blir suddiga, främst inomhus. Den blurriga effekten sker då linsernas pupillöppning är mindre än på din typiska cirkellins, vilket gör så att när du vistas i ett utrymme med sämre ljusförhållanden så blir din pupill naturligt större och "krockar" därmed med linsens extremt opaka färg. Detta är inget som stör mig mycket och man vänjer sig rätt fort vid det!

Som sagt – jag blev sponsrad dessa från Cirkellinser, en professionell och pålitlig hemsida med kanonbra 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 du ska känna dig trygg och nöjd! Beställningar som gjorts före klockan 14:00 skickas samma vardag och frakttiden inom Sverige ligger på 1-2 dagar och kostar endast fjuttiga 19 kr – jag älskar verkligen deras shop! Jag kan inte annat än att helhjärtat rekommendera deras online affär till alla!

 
 Kolla hit! Om du knappar in rabattkoden "SHIRO" i kassan så får du 10% avdraget på vilken beställning som helst, glöm inte det! Alla vi älskar ju att få lite rabatt, eller hur? ♥

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 sayonara.

SDK Hotaru wig tests – Which wig should I use?

Hi everyone!

I did today a quick wig test for Hotaru from Samurai Deeper Kyo. The thing is that I have two wigs for him and I really can't decide on which one I should go with – maybe you guys can help me out? :') The first wig is a rather vivid darkish blond gold, really poofy with a lot of fibers and hair sticking out in all directions. The second one is a standard golden blonde wig, really typical cut and not with a lot of fluff to it – but it frames my face better than the first one. Both wigs are completely unstyled and will of course be styled once I figure out which one I wanna go with.

Hotaru reference.

Hotaru's hair ranges from a lighter gold to an orange-ish yellow, depending on the art. I decided to not be too picky about the color since it's inconsistent anyway. I do want to have the wig flare upwards a bit in the back though, like his hair does. I always thought that his hair was a reference to that he's a fire user and that's why I always pictured his hair as fairly poofy and wild-looking, but not in an overkill way – that's how I imagined it would translate in real life.

I didn't use any makeup because I did this quick test as soon as I got home from school and I was all tired and sweaty from the biking. My face looks like shit and I apologize if anyone gets cancer. :-D I'll do a makeup test separately later on, so stay tuned for that... I don't want to open my yellow lenses just yet.

But now, wig photos!

First up is wig number 1.

This wig stands up on its own.

Side view.

Just to show the back.

I remember I didn't really like this wig when I first got it, but the more I look at it the more it starts to win me over. It doesn't look very natural but instead it looks very... shounen. This is the wig I'm currently leaning a bit more towards but I'm not sure. The main issue I have with this wig is that it frames my face poorly – mainly because some of the fibers (especially the bangs and the sides) kinda go "outwards" instead of just falling down nice and flat, which leaves that small but oh-so-ugly gap between the wig and your face where one can see your wig cap (or a "dark spot") etc... if you know what I mean. It's hard to describe but I'm sure most cosplayers have experienced it at least once. Then again, I'm not sure if this wig is heat resistant but, if it is, then I might be able to lessen this problem by straightening the problematic areas...

Pros:

• Bigger cap size (aka no headache)
• Really poofy

• A lot of fibers in the back

• Color is deep and attention-grabbing

Cons:

• Doesn't frame my face all that well

• Maybe a bit too yellow/dark?
• Really poofy

Next is wig number two!

Tried to show the wig a bit from above...

... and from the side.

As you can see this wig looks more natural and toned down. I bought it from eBay and it has a very typical anime style and cut. What I'm worried about is that the cap size on this one is smaller (Asian brand) so it might give me a headache for prolonged wear; I have a large head. Another thing that might turn out to be a problem is that this wig doesn't have nearly as much fibers as the other one, so this one might not do as well if I want to style it to liven it up – especially the back part, which I should style anyway. If I go with this wig I would definitely need to style it because it somehow appears flat in comparison to the other wig, like the top doesn't really fluff much at all (unless you tease it).

Pros:
• Frames my face
• Color is a safe card
• Looks more natural

Cons:
• Cap size runs a bit small
• Isn't as full as the other wig
• The back is maybe too thin to be able to style well
• Appears flat in comparison
• Front bangs are a bit too short

~~~~~~~

Errr. And as one might expect the wigs of course don't photograph their true colors. *badamtss* The first wig is a warm yet slightly dark golden yellow, quite intense in color but not in a bad neon way. The second wig is a cooler yellow blonde and it's notably lighter than the first wig in real life – it has mixed fibers of different shades so it looks more realistic too. 

I tried to snap camera photos of the wigs next to each other –so that the color differences would be more obvious– but good lord how hard it was to get a photo that was at least somewhat close to reality...

This is the closest shot I got:

This is the closest I could get but my camera still pales down
and washes out the colors. The wigs are warmer and a bit more vibrant in person.

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...

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Okay so yeah, I'd love to hear your suggestions – which one would you choose? I'm really sorry if this post is messy and all over the place but yeah, just wanted to keep it from turning into a kilometer post. ^^" I'm gravitating towards the darker wig at the moment but I'd really appreciate to hear what you guys think! I've been changing my mind back and forth for months now!

~ Shiro Samurai out.