Kummacon 2019 plans??

Hello guys!

It seems like Kummacon will be my first convention for 2019 and I am quite excited to be honest, it's been half a year since my last convention (Skecon) so any chance to get to geek it out is appreciated. Kummacon is held during 11-12 May in Oulu, Finland, but I will only be there on the first day on a day trip as my stepdad will drive me and Frozen Angel there and check out some stores meanwhile we are at the con. I am quite curious about the new location Kastellin Monitoimitalo though, my aunt said that it's about 3-4 km away from centrum. 

I must admit that when the con revealed that the theme this year is "seikkailu" (adventure in Finnish) I started thinking that maybe I should cosplay and not just be lazy and go casual again. But then I remembered that almost all my cosplays are currently unwearable for one reason or another and so I started brainstorming if I could throw something fitting together in time. Sadly I realized way too late that what I feel the most like cosplaying from right now is Sea of Thieves, my latest video game addiction – and the problem is that I have nothing in my closet that I could use to even do the most basic, starter pirate outfit with; I feel so disappointed in meself, lol. No I'm not doing just the underwear, even though that would be even easier. xD And I want a gunpowder barrel as a prop but that ain't happening in less than a week either. *sniff* So I have to postpone my pirate dreams for a later convention (Närcon maybe, idk?) but I feel like I'm missing such a fun opportunity as it would fit the con's adventure theme so well.

No pirate's life for me this time. I don't really have sewing equipment
at home and don't want to stress either as results would 100% be ugly af.

Oh well, I stared at my cosplay list for a while and thought that I know for a fact that I want to do a movie or a video game character. I haven't felt any hype for anime/manga in a while to be honest (except that I still want photos of my costumes, Hotaru from SDK in particular right now) and I have thought about writing a blog post about this dilemma but I'll save that for a later date.
But whatever the case I feel like just doing a random Jedi would be comfy and easy enough – and with May the 4th recently passed and a new movie in the makings it feels very relevant... and fits the theme! Now to hope that me and my anxious ass keeps to it and doesn't bail out at the last moment.

Kummacon cosplay plan for Saturday:

tl;dr - I want to be a Sea of Thieves pirate but as I'm Matti Myöhäinen again I'll just be a random Jedi knight (without lightsaber cuz I'm a poorfag) on Saturday, to fit in with Kummacon's adventure theme. 

Anyone else going to Kummacon this upcoming weekend? See ya there!

~ Shiro Samurai

Lens review: GEO Xtra Bella Green

Yo sweeties!

Gonna continue with the lens reviews for a while longer as I'm trying real hard to catch up still, lol. Okay, so today's lenses are the GEO Xtra Bella Green, identification number thingy is WBS-203. These are not to be confused with the ordinary GEO Bella series as the Xtra Bellas are actually bigger and different in design and color a bit.

Now let's go!

Base curve: 8.8 mm

Diameter: 14.8 mm

Water content: 40±2%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

This is a classic circle lens design, it's really pretty and eye-catching. Actually the GEO Bella lenses are one of the first circle lenses I ever saw in real life and thus I've been wanting to try some myself too, except that I ended up picking the Xtra Bella over the normal Bella. Oh well, I'll likely try both eventually anyway. xD

Okay so, it's a surprisingly dark lens overall with a lot of black. The limbal ring is really dark and impactful, provides a dolly look but it almost looks a bit possessed because of how much black there is – at least in contrast to how my natural eye color is very light. Yet the green color is still visible and it is a very nice, medium to dark shade that makes me think something along the lines of an emerald green?

One lens in.

As you can see the lenses are positively huge and really mesmerizing. The green parts blend surprisingly well and the black edges also at least try to fade so that the effect is not too intense and abrupt. I'm not sure how succesful to call it but the look is really cool either way, so I don't really mind the outcome at all. I mean it might not be for everyone but I personally think that the overall look of the lenses is awesome and, because of the darkness, it ends up looking mysterious and alluring on my eyes, which is always cool as I like fantasy stuff haha.

Lens photos ahead!

All photos taken by me during an April morning 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.

Indoors natural room light.

Indoors yellow room light.

Bathroom light.

Poor natural room light. Standing in a corridor.

Flash photo.

Facing a window, not sun side.

Outdoors, back against the sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the sun while being under a shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun.

These lenses are really thin, comfortable and I don't feel them in my eyes at all. I do have naturally super dry eyes so I can't wear any lenses for long periods of time nowadays (without eyedrops at least) but my estimate is that these I could use for like 4-5 hours, which is a lot in my standards. If you have more "normal eyes" you can probably count on something like 6-8 hours or such, I don't know. It's really hard to estimate as everyone's eyes are different and what's comfy for me might not be so for the next person so yeah, always take comfort grading with a grain of salt as for every review it's personal.

I would honestly though recommend these, especially if you like big lenses and with a really prominent dark limbal ring. The design is cute and very versatile and I think the Xtra Bellas can be used for a lot of different looks! It's a fun lens, classic yet different and it's sure to turn heads. You'll look like an angel wearing these.

Distance photo!

Short summary:

Color: 7/10
Dark lens with a splash of an emerald green color. Alluring and mystical.

Design: 7/10
Simple and classic, yet impossible to miss! Really cute and dolly.
Opacity: 6/10
The green parts are definitely green and not muddled, which is great. A lot of the lens is black though so that's obviously gonna be opaque.
Enlargement: 8/10
Really big, just like the Xtra in the name implies – extra big.

Comfort: 8/10
Thin, invisible to wear and really comfy. Estimated 4-5 hours on ultra dry eyes, which is a lot in my current standards.
Naturalness: 2/10
No, not on light eyed people at least. Might be a different matter if you have dark eyes though.

Thanks for reading! ^-^

~ Shiro Samurai out.

Lens review: ICK Petal Brown

Yoo~

I was supposed to write this yesterday but I completely forgot because Avengers: Endgame happened. xD I work at the cinema so I watched it of course, it was fucking awesome! But yeah, this is not a movie gushing post, this is a lens review post and today it's the ICK Petal Brown that I'll show you guys. Let's do this!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 15.0 mm

Water content: 42%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

It's a cute doll-like lens, pretty big and the dark limbal ring adds to an 'anime eye' look as well. The color is a soft brown, kinda toffee or caramel in color I think. The lenses are a single color but the different levels of transparency make for an amazing blending effect and thanks to that these look really good on my light eyes!

One lens in.

As you can see the pupil hole is pretty big but because of the way the color fades it doesn't clash at all and looks really seamless, in terms of color transition from lens to iris I mean. The black limbal ring is not a solid, bold black but more of a faded or kinda diluted black and it also adds to the overal soft and delicate look. I think that the ICK Petal series are absolutely lovely and one of my favorite lenses in the dolly category.

Lens photos ahead!

All photos taken by me during an April morning 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.

Natural room light indoors.

Yellow room light indoors.

Bathroom light.

Poor natural light indoors, facing a dark corridor.

Flash photo.

Facing window, not sun side.

Outdoors, back against sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing sun.

The design actually looks like some sort of ancient magical spell or such when you look closely, it's very detailed and unique. I can definitely see these used for j-fashion styles or just alternative fashion in general. Possibly cosplay as well, if you are looking for a more pastel-ish or soft approach to a character.

Comfort is great – these lenses are thin, invisible to wear and just really comfortable all in all. There's no random itchiness, red eyes or any notable annoyance. I estimate that I can wear these for like 3-5 hours, which is really good as my eyes are really damn dry naturally and anything past 2 hours is generally good for me, lol. For 'normal eyes' wearing time would probably be more like 5-7 hours or such.

Distance photo!

Looking for other ICK Petal reviews?

Check these out: Blue, Green
 

Short summary:

Color: 7/10 

A cute fresh, soft and soothing brown. The color is like caramel or toffee light.

Design: 8/10 

Artsy print with a magical-looking unique pattern. Really detailed when up close.

Opacity: 6/10

Color coverage makes my eyes look brown but the transparency also does a stellar fading effect.

Enlargement: 7/10 

Definitely a dolly lens. Big and cute.

Comfort: 8/10 

Thin, comfy and I don't feel them in my eyes. Estimated wearing time around 3-5 hours on super dry eyes, probably like 5-7 on 'normal eyes'.

Naturalness: 4/10 

If you don't count the size and dolly look then it's actually not dumb at all.

Thanks for reading my blog! Do you like these lenses too?

Shiro Samurai out ~

Lens review: ICK Petal Blue

Hi everyone!

Yeah it's one more lens review again, this time the ICK Petal Blue that I have been drawn to ever since the first time I saw them – the design is really different and, as far as I know, there's not a "copy lens" out there with the same design.

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 15.0 mm

Water content: 42%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

If you look closely you'll notice that the colored area is actually not just a solid blue color but in fact a detailed, really artistic pattern. I don't know what it reminds you of but, as a gamer, my first thought was that it looks like that kind of symbol that appears when a character is casting a magical spell in JRPGs and such. xD 

One lens in.

My natural eye color is a light blue gray mix and these lenses go really well with that. They fade beautifully towards the center, erasing any risk of a 'clashing effect' – it could be that a lot of the good blending comes from both the lenses and my eyes being blue but I do think that the Petal series will likely be good at this regardless of eye color as the design is soft and has varying transparency.

The color is a pretty, fresh and youthful blue. It's not too unnatural of a shade but it certainly still stands out. These lenses also come across as really dolly, thanks to the thick dark limbal ring and the overall big size. When worn these lenses remind me of the popular 'Candy' lenses (EOS Sugar Candy and Vassen Sakura Candy etc) in terms of overall look, except that these are softer in appearance and I'm pretty sure that the Petal lenses have the black rim a bit toned down in intensity.

Lens photos ahead!

All photos taken by me during an April morning 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.

Indoors natural room light.

Indoors yellow room light.

Shitty (natural) room light in a dark corridor.

Flash photo.

Facing window, not sun side.

Outdoors, back against sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the sun while being under a shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun.

I like these lenses, they are gorgeous and have that perfect look for j-fashion and 'anime eyes'. These lenses are magical, mystical and sport just enough color to keep it interesting! Sadly the pattern is only really visible up close, but that's to be expected with pretty much any circle lens on which intricate designs are a part of the color itself and not like drawn in black or something. The I.Fairy Trinity Green comes to mind to illustrate what I mean with 'drawn in black'. 

But honestly, I'd recommend getting these if this kind of lens is a part of your aesthetic.

Comfort is fine. Thin and overall pleasant to wear, no itchiness or some such. I noticed they started perhaps to dry a bit early but that's impossible to say for certain as my eyes are ridiculously dry naturally and it's hard to know if it's the lenses or just my eyes having a bad day.

Distance photo~

Want more ICK Petal reviews?
Check these: Brown, Green

 

Short summary:

Color: 7/10 

A cute fresh, soft and soothing blue. A bit light in shade but really pretty.

Design: 8/10 

Unique print with what to me looks like a magical casting spell design. Super nice!

Opacity: 6/10

Color coverage is decent, my eyes look blue for sure but it's not insanely opaque or anything.

Enlargement: 7/10 

Definitely a notable size increase. Dolly and adorable.

Comfort: 7/10 

Thin and comfy in general, no real issues. Maybe dries a bit fast but that could just as well be my naturally dry eyes having a bad day. Estimated wear 3-5 hours on super dry eyes, probably like 4-7 on 'normal eyes'.

Naturalness: 4/10 

Ignore the dolly style and it's actually not that bad, thanks to how delicate the appearance is.

Thanks for reading my circle lens reviews, there's more to come!

Shiro Samurai out ~

Lens review: Beaucon Vibrant Match Violet

Yo pups!

I'll bring forth the next review and today it's the Beaucon Vibrant Match Violet, a super bright and medium dark violet that's hella awesome in its own right!

Let's roll out this review!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm

Water content: 45%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

I've reviewed a few other Vibrant Match lenses in the past and these are just like the others – small, sorta realistic print and really packs a punch in color! Because of their design and size I do think that these lenses are surprisingly versatile, for cosplay they're definitely suitable but I wouldn't write them off for more casual looks either – assuming that you want a super vibrant lens.

Okay so, the enlargement effect is minimal but it's there, the color is a darker violet than what you usually run across and it's pretty and captivating as hell. Thanks to the small size these lenses actually have a small pupil hole too, which makes your eye color show through notably less in the center.

One lens in.

My natural eye color is a light blue gray and the color coverage is stellar, there's nothing to complain about. The design, despite the unnatural color, is fairly realistic as well.

Lens photos ahead!

All photos taken by me during an April morning 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.

Natural room light indoors.

Yellow room light indoors.

Bathroom light.

Poor natural room light, facing a (dark) corridor.

Flash photo.

Facing a window. (not sun side)

Outdoors, back against the sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the sun.

I'm a bit torn when it comes to comfort, on one hand there's nothing really wrong with these – they're thin and comfortable and overall all fine to wear. Except for one thing. Remember that I mentioned that the pupil hole is smaller on these than on the average circle lens? Yes, I can't be 100% certain but the same moment I put these lenses on I noticed that my vision was constantly blurred. Like so blurred that it felt like I was in a perpetual haze – and if I looked at a window there was this massive glow around the window, as if light leaked out and Jesus was about to show up or something, lol. It was surreal and disorientating. As soon as I took one lens out the blur effect instantly vanished from the lensless eye, so it must have been the lens. Now it's probably worth mentioning that I nowaday have glasses that I wear daily but even so my sight is never blurred to that degree so it was the lens for sure, but I can't recall other Vibrant Match lenses blurring my vision like these did so either I got a Monday example or the (not so long) past expiry date did something. Yeah I know, shouldn't wear expired lenses but I immediately threw these out after taking the photos.

This is a good lens for all of those who want a really strong, bold color but doesn't want big lenses. There's few colorful small circle lenses in the market that have enough vibrancy to work for cosplay and the Beaucon Vibrant Match series work for that. I feel that for cosplay lenses in particular that it's important for the color to be opaque and vivid so that it shows up from distances as well, especially on photos.

Distance photo~

Psst, you interested in seeing other colors of the Vibrant Match series?

Check out these reviews: Blue, Green, Brown
 

Short summary:

Color: 8/10 

Super nice violet that is on the dark side. Join the dark side, we have cookies.

Design: 7/10 

Fairly realistic design and size, if we only ignore the color itself.

Opacity: 8/10

Color coverage is really good, great for cosplay and j-fashion.

Enlargement: 2/10 

Really small, a good choice for those who don't want or can't wear big lenses.

Comfort: 5/10 

Thin and comfy, estimated wearing time 2-4 hours on super dry eyes. Blurs my vision a lot, to the point I feel like I'm in a constant haze or that I'm high on something lol..

Naturalness: 5/10 

The color is obviously not natural but otherwise these would kinda work. Kinda.

Thanks for reading my circle lens reviews!

Shiro Samurai out ~