Matsucon 2019 plans – likely no cosplay

Hello guys!

So Matsucon is fast approaching (too fast, I panicked when I realized it's this coming weekend already!) and I have got the train tickets ready this past Saturday. Matsucon is held on 3-4 August in Oulu, Finland. Pohjankartano serves as the con building again, just as usual.

I decided to go as a con worker, just like last time. They seemed to have a shortage of volunteers so why not and besides, I'm not sure if I can live without access to the green room anymore. xD

I will be at the entrance selling tickets on Saturday at 11-13 and 15-17 local time, and on Sunday during 11-15 – unless last minute changes happen. Come say hi and entertain me as I will travel alone! I had a nightmare last night, the con anxiety is real lololol

Regarding costuming I am not sure yet what to wear, if anything. It will depend on the weather and my mood but my current plans are to most likely either go casual or wear some lesser effort alternative fashion lol. I did think about maybe going as a random Jedi from Star Wars again, just like at Kummacon. I have to wear something that I can still easily work in and that doesn't hinder movement in any way so, uh, that's why I'm so unsure about how suitable cosplaying is and honestly, if the weather is warm I don't want to get roasted alive. :D
On Sunday I will go casual as I don't want to stress with getting to the train station on time... and I'm past those weeb days when I could easily sit in a train, in full costume, and not care that people were hardcore staring at me for half the trip.

My main reason to go to Matsucon is actually to see the Valitut Lapset (lit. chosen children) play. Matsucon is the only con in northern Finland that it's coming to and thus my only chance to see this fan-made Digimon spectacle and as a big Digimon fan this is a must for me to experience! I am so excited and happy that the supervisor for the con workers gave me my break time from work to go see it, woop! But this play is also one of the reasons I'm highly considering not cosplaying and another reason is that Pokémon Go's long awaited Ralts Community Day falls on Matsucon's Saturday and this means that I'll be roaming the streets of Oulu and I'd rather be as comfortable as possible.

See you there, whoever is going!

Lens review: GEO Mimi Cafe Cappuccino Red

Woop de woop!

It's time for one more... yep, you guessed it. Lens review time it is again and without further ado, here's the GEO Mimi Cafe Cappuccino Red. Which by the way are not red at all, let's get that out of the way first lmao. 

These can also be recognized by their ID number code thingy, which is WMM-700.

Roll it out! 

Base curve: 8.8 mm
Diameter: 14.8 mm

Water content: 40±2%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

As with any legitimate GEO lenses these come with authenticity stickers that you can check up online to prove that your lenses are the real deal. Yes, there's fake lenses out there so be careful from where you buy from.

I don't know about you but to me these look like a kind of a prune purple color much more than anything even remotely red. But as the name is officially red then that's what I will list them under on my big circle lens review list. *shrugs*

One lens in.

Okay so, I didn't buy these for any particular reason – I was just simply curious and wanted to try them. Also I couldn't find any light-eyed review for these (back when I got 'em at least) so here's one now!

I immediately reacted on how big these look, most likely the blackness makes it this way because yes, these lenses are very dark. The design is pretty cool once you're up close but it quickly disappears when viewed from a distance. It's honestly just a really dark and dolly lens? It's great if you're looking for adorable big almost black doll eyes or maybe for some siren or some other fantasy being with not-so-good intentions? Actually, when you look closer you'll notice that the design is very detailed and looks a bit like the, well, surface of coffee? I don't know, I don't drink coffee. xD But in my eyes it looks a bit gothic?

Lens photos below!

All photos taken by me during a July evening with a mostly 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.

Same as above but facing away from the light.

Yellow room light indoors.

Standing in the kitchen, yellow and natural light in the distance.

Flash photo.

Poor natural light indoors. Facing a wall near the corridor.

Facing the window indoors. (not sun side)

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

Outdoors, facing the sky/light while being under a shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

Comfort appears to be fine, no real issues. The lenses are thin and comfortable to wear but I do seem to feel them ever so slightly? It's really not a big deal, it's just that I have sensitive eyes. I think that I could possibly wear these for around 3-4 hours, which is average to good for me and my super dry eyes. 

Basically, if you like huge dark eyes then these are right up your alley! It's not a black lens but it's still a very dark color that looks close to black on a quick glance. It's a fun lens and I can see it used for fantasy, goth and dolly styles. Could also likely be used for some special effects stuff because of that strange alluring effect that comes from wearing really dark lenses on light eyes. It's worthwhile if you like this type of lenses but just don't go in expecting a red lens because these are far from it, lol.

Distance photo~

Want to see another GEO Mimi Cafe Cappuccino review?

I have reviewed the gray pair (which are not gray either lol): Gray

Short summary:

Color: 6/10
A really dark prune purple. It's not a red color so if you hoped for that then you will be disappointed.
Design: 7/10
Unique detailed design. It's probably supposed to mimic coffee patterning, but, if you ask me, these would fit really well for any gothic looks or for big black dolly eyes!
Opacity: 8/10
They are more opaque than I thought at first – definitely delivers on this front! The color is less opaque and lightens around the pupil though, which saves you from appearing as if aliens abducted you.
Enlargement: 8/10
These are big and will suck your soul in. Almost.
Comfort: 6/10

Seems to be decently comfortable. Thin and overall okay but I do feel them slightly.
Naturalness: 1/10
I am light-eyed and on me these look pretty far from natural. Likely meant for dark eyed people.

Thanks for reading these! I will get back to cosplay content eventually, hold on!

Shiro Samurai out.

Lens review: Neo Sunflower Green

Hi over there!

Here I am again, another circle lens review coming up! This time it's the Neo Sunflower Green and let me tell you, these are vibrant! A lot brighter than I expected.

Let's go~

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.2 mm

Water content: 45%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

This is a two-tone lens according to the vial labels. When I look at the lenses in their glass bottles they don't look all that inspiring nor interesting. I'm not sure what I even bough these for originally but whatever the case I didn't really have any expectations... and that's probably why I was so blown away.

One lens in.

I mean seriously, look at that color!! That's an almost insanely good color payoff for a lens that looks honestly quite dull and average when not worn. For real, by the design alone I half expected these to do the typical disappointing turn-into-a-muddy-indistinguishable-color that some green lenses quite often do on light blue eyes like mine. But they did not. Not even close. Instead I got this vibrant as fuck green color that almost looks like it would glow in the dark at some rave party. It's rad as all hell and, quite literally, once I popped the first lens into my eye and looked in the mirror I swear my facial expression spelled out "holy shit, this is amazing". xD

So yeah, what we've got is a very vibrant light green. It touches slightly very into the seafoam green territory but it's a super radiant color regardless of what shade it is. Also, I swear that something with the design makes these lenses look really sparkly and vivid!

As with all Neo lenses these are on the small side for being circle lenses. There's a slight enlargement effect but it's nothing you really notice all that much, to be honest. It's great though as most circle lenses are big in general, so having some smaller alternatives that still have a rich color is a huge plus in my book and very needed.

Lens photos below!

All photos taken by me during a July evening with a mostly 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.

Flash photo.

Poor natural light indoors, close to a dark corridor.

Facing a window. (not sun side)

Outdoors, back against the sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the sky/light while standing under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

Comfort appeared to be really great. These lenses are very thin and I honestly didn't feel them at all, it was like as if I wasn't even wearing lenses! And I have sensitive and really dry eyes naturally. But yeah, really comfortable I'd say. Estimated wearing time on ultra dry eyes around 4-5 hours without eyedrops, possibly longer with.

I love these, it's so great to find small lenses that pack such a punch of color. This is a great cosplay lens and for male characters in particular, especially those on which you want to avoid huge dolly eyes. I wholly recommend these lenses, be it for costuming of just for fun. These would be lit for any fashion styles as well, especially the colorful, bold and wacky ones. Well worth to grab these lenses as they really make you stand out and shine!

Distance photo.

Short summary:

Color: 8/10
I'm not sure what I was expecting but the green color is amazingly vibrant and rich!
Design: 7/10
A rather classic base design but the pigmentation makes them stand out and look full of life.
Opacity: 8/10
Great color coverage and really stands out too. Much better than what you are led to believe by looks.
Enlargement: 3/10 

Really small, as is typical of Neo lenses. It's great to have a brand with specifically small lenses.
Comfort: 8/10 
Appears to be great, really thin and I literally don't feel them despite having sensitive and dry eyes.

Naturalness: 4/10

The size is passable but the black rim shows up a bit too much, not mentioning the color itself.

Thanks for reading! Would you also like there to be more smaller lenses?

Shiro Samurai out.

Lens review: Super Pinky Wine Red

Yo ho ho! and a bottle of rum

I'm back with another circle lens review! It's the Super Pinky Wine Red this time and it feels weird to think that all those years back the Super Pinky line was my first experience with circle lenses and here I am, again, reviewing another color. Almost feels a bit surreal, haha.

Let's do this!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.8 mm

Water content: 45%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

I'm not sure how popular these lenses still are but I remember them being all the rage among cosplayers when I started using circle lenses in 2013. Oh god that's 5 years ago, I feel the gray hairs coming lol!

There is already a red lens in the Super Pinky lineup but why have one red lens when you can have two? Yep, this is one of the few lens series with two red lenses! It's pretty boss and these Wine Red ones are quite unique in what color they bring to the table – it's a dark, almost a bit brownish red and it's great!

One lens in.

The color is interesting, it's very different from the other red lenses in the market. It's notably darker and more, err, sophisticated I guess? It's not a pushover by any means, it's not creepy looking but it's still very obviously red and lowkey still in your face. Red lenses will always be attention-grabbing purely because it's freaking red and as we all know it's really not a natural eye color. :D But seriously, this is a pretty whack color and I dig it, just see for yourself on the photos below!

The Super Pinky lenses are fairly big but since they lack any kind of defined limbal ring it's not really dolly looking. It's still a very enlarging lens, don't get me wrong.

Lens photos below!

All photos taken by me during a July evening with a mostly 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.

Flash photo.

Very poor natural room light. Next to an unlit corridor.

Facing window. (not sun side)

Outdoors, back against sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the light/sky while being under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

Color coverage is good and somehow these actually blend surprisingly well with my light blue-gray eyes! I was pretty surprised but once I looked closer I saw that there's a bunch of transparent areas between the colored streaks which makes the color appear so, umm, can I say natural?? The way the color is printed is quite soft in appearance, it avoids any kind of abrupt 'clashing' effect completely and this is a very good thing. I honestly like these lenses and wish I would have had more time with them.

Regarding comfort I had no issues whatsoever during my run with these, but as with many other reviews lately I will mention that I reviewed these past their expiry date (cuz I have such a backlog and didn't have time earlier) so I only took the photos and then discarded the lenses and yes, this means that my comfort grades are solely based on first impressions and thus likely not 100% accurate. But with that said these lenses were still immensely comfortable, super thin and I literally didn't even feel that I had lenses on! I would say that they are comfy, if anything negative they might start drying a bit fast but that could just as well be my naturally ultra dry eyes acting up. Can't say for sure but I estimate wearing time to be 3-5 hours, which is good in my standards. Remember I have very very dry eyes so my rough estimates are probably more like 5-8 hours to "normal eyes", lol.

I would recommend these lenses, in particular if you need this kind of dark red color as it's quite unique. It's like a ruby or a wine red pretty much, just as the name implies. It's a red lens that actually doesn't look creepy or scary in any way – so if you always wanted to rock red eyes without instantly being labelled as that weird vampire goth person then these might be it. xD A great lens for costuming and fashion alike!

Distance photo!

Want to see the Super Pinky lenses in other colors?
Check out these reviews: Violet, Red, Green, Black

 

Short summary:

Color: 8/10 
It's a dark, aged red. Different from other red lenses and really pleasant.
Design: 6/10 
Simple but it does it's job and looks lovely in its own way.
Opacity: 8/10
I have no complaints, my eye color definitely changed.
Enlargement: 7/10 
Big but I don't feel like they look all that big, lack of a black rim does a lot to the illusion.
Comfort: 7/10 
Appears to be great. Really thin and I don't even feel that I have lenses on, which is great as my eyes are really dry and sensitive. These lenses might dry a bit faster than some others, not sure?
Naturalness: 3/10 
For being red it's among the best you can get but... uhh, still red.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop a comment if you have any questions.

Shiro Samurai out.

Lens review: Vassen Bambi Blue

Hello gentlefolks!

It is time to continue my seemingly never-ending supply of circle lens reviews, this time the Vassen Bambi Blue. Sometimes these lenses might also be known as Vassen Bambi Queen Blue. They are also very likely the same pair as the Kimchi Bambi Blue as well, since as far as I know Vassen is the company that manufactures the lenses that both Kimchi and I.Fairy sell.

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.5 mm

Water content: 42%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

These lenses have an extremely similar design to the incredibly popular GEO Princess Mimi series, so if you recognize the print from somewhere then that's why. No wonder that design gets copied though, it's super cute and really versatile!

Always put your lenses to soak at least over the night before wearing them for the first time! The solution that the lenses are stored in while in their small little glass bottles is not the same kind as ordinary lens solution that you buy from the pharmacy etc.

One lens in.

This is a big lens, no doubt about that part. The blue color also shows up very nicely and is of a fresh, youthful tone. It's kind of a light blue but it's a really pretty color and I personally like it a lot! The random orangeish yellow dots towards the center actually help with the color transition in my case, I actually thought that it would make the blending worse but it does help. xD Could be though because I actually have a goldenish ring closest to my pupil...?

The limbal ring is a bold black and the rim itself is rather thick, thus creating a very dolly appearance. The black streaks have the effect of pulling the viewer's gaze in and also make the lenses have some "life" to them and not look soulless.

Lens photos below!
 All photos taken by me during a July evening with a mostly 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.

Flash photo.

Poor natural room light. Standing close to a dark corridor.

Facing window. (not sun side)

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

Outdoors, facing the light/sky while standing under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

Comfort was a bit conflicting for me. I can't grade comfort properly though as I sadly got around to do this review only after the lenses had expired (I literally just took the photos and discarded the lenses immediately after that) so my comfort grading is based on first impressions only. With that said it's also worth noting that I have immensely dry eyes naturally. But yeah, the comfort – these lenses are thin and otherwise great and invisible to wear except that, for some reason, the other lens was scratchy and slightly blurred my vision; possibly a defect or that dirt somehow got under the lens but I can't be sure. In whatever the case I'd estimate comfort around the 3-5 hours range, which is like above average considering how dry my eyes are. I guess for someone with "normal eyes" it's anything between 5-8 hours, likely?

This is honestly a super pretty lens that works for almost anything – be it cosplay, fashion or just a fancy day out. The design is simple and what many probably see in their minds when they think of circle lenses. It's an adorable lens with a good color payoff that doesn't look too unrealistic while still maintaining that kind of cutesy fairytale aesthetic. Definitely worth trying this staple design if you like the bigger kinds!

Distance photo!

Wanna see more Vassen Bambi lenses?

I got you covered: Green, Pink

Short summary:

Color: 8/10
Lovely medium lightish blue. A very youthful and fresh shade!
Design: 8/10
Beautiful design that makes your eyes look alive and young. Simple but brilliant.
Opacity: 8/10 
Color coverage is better than what I initially expected. Looks great.
Enlargement: 8/10
Definitely on the dolly scale but will work for most styles.
Comfort: 6/10 
Above average I think. I don't feel them and they are thin, the other lens was weirdly a bit scratchy? 3-5 hours of wear on ultra dry eyes.
Naturalness: 2/10

The color is a bit too strong, not to mention the size and highly noticeable black rim.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Shiro Samurai says bye.