CD Japan review and some outfit shots

Hello everyone!

As promised, here is a review that was based off of an online shopping excursion that I had done back in July (with the exact date being July 16, 2014). What prompted me to make the order was my obsessive urge to get into owning a copy of the latest issue of the Gothic and Lolita Bible, which will have the images shown below for more detail. In addition, ever since I had started sewing, I had been heavily interested into learning how to sew Lolita clothes, and as a result had decided to buy the latest Otome no Sewing edition as well (which I believe at this rate is the fifth edition). So without further ado, listed below are the details on the order process as well as CDJapan as a whole.

Website Link: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/

Books Ordered and Prices

• Boutique sha / Otome no Sewing BOOK Tezukuri Lolita Fashion (Handmade Lolita Fashion Clothes) 5 (Lady Boutique Sha) - 1,111 yen or 10 USD 
• Jack Media / Gothic & Lolita Bible Vol.52 [Cover] Nakamura Asumiko (Jack Media MOOK) - 12 USD  
• Total amount = 3,817 yen or around $40 (including shipping)

NOTE: The names are exactly as shown on the website. 

Shipping
After some tumultuous decision making at hand, I eventually decided on using SAL shipping over EMS or Registered Mail, primarily because 1) I have a lot of confidence in my postal carrier, 2) It is the most cheapest shipping option available, and 3) I did not feel like spending a lot of my funds on shipping at this point in time. 

If I were to give an opinion on transit time, I definitely agree with what the staff at CDJapan listed on their website in terms of transit times. In this case, orders shipped by SAL takes about 7-14 business days, which I agree with.

In addition to shipping times, you will need to take into consideration availability times, which can sometimes vary depending on how fast the staff can get it shipped to what I presume is their warehouse of sorts from the suppliers. In this case, the Otome no Sewing book took longer to be "ready to ship" compared to the GLB, with the availability time being 5-7 days in comparison to GLB's 1-2 days. However, I felt that both books had gotten shipped out in a short period of time, and therefore did not really disturb the process much.

Delivery and Packaging  

As expected from any package sent by SAL, no signature was needed and as a result you may find the package lying on your doorstep. With that being said, the package was nicely taped on both sides of the flat box as well as taped on the inside to secure the contents. The box itself was just large enough to fit around the books, which was a pleasant surprise considering that most boxes tend to be on the bulky side.

The amount of detail (and the high quality pictures) are amazing, which made me think that the purchase was worthwhile. Ever since the items arrival, I have had the chance and opportunity to take a look at both of them further. While not a self-proclaimed Japanese language expert, I can safely say that for those who are planning on getting the books that they are wonderful to just even look at without having to understand the contents. I will say however that you may have a tough time with understanding the Otome no Sewing book at first, since the instructions are kind of hard (to me anyway) to understand without reading the Japanese aspect. Of course when looking at the pictures long enough, it makes the whole process easier. Patterns are incorporated into both books, with more in the Otome no Sewing book compared to the GLB as expected. 

Conclusion: Overall the order process went smoothly. Am I willing to order from CDJapan again? Probably will if not for more chances to get the GLBs! 

Just to close off the post, here are some outfit shots that I had taken on occasions. I am aware that it has been quite some time since I had posted any outfits, but I had been busy with job hunting lately! 

An Overdue Post - A Compilation of the Past Months Part 3

Hello everyone,

It has officially been about roughly two months since my last update. While suppose to be a semi-continuation to the previous post, the update was a bit late in being posted. I am aware that my updates has been severely slowing down as of late and I honestly do not know what to do in regards to this issue. Ever since summer started and after I had finished an international financing course that I had taken back in May, I had been severely lacking in terms of motivating myself. Now I am aware that this particular situation has been going on for some time, so I am going to try and resolve it to the best of my abilities and see if my motivational drive will come back. The reason why I think that this is purely motivational-based is because my activity level had remained purely the same (if not a little lower) compared to before, and I greatly want to share that with you. So with that being said, I greatly appreciate the support that you had all showed and would like to thank you for bearing with me despite my lack of posting. Without further ado, here are the activities that I had done during the time in-between.

During one of my excursions to H&M, I had gotten this adorable shiny heart earring set that was on sale. I realized that I did not have a set like this before so I figured why not? The pair that was missing from the set were green hearts that I know I will never wear in the future, and so decided to give them to my friend.

An Overdue Post - A Compilation of the Past Months Part 2

Hello everyone,

After another long while again I had came up with the second part to my previous post here.

To start off, back in probably the beginning of this current year in March-April I had attended my first Lolita meet at Chinook Mall, which was quite exciting for self-explanatory reasons. Suffice to say, I had a great time with my new loli buddies, walking around the mall as well as doing some good old fashion shopping! While I was at Forever21, I had managed to take some photos of my coordinate. I apologize for the photo looking a bit blurry. 

Renmants of a past summer and some fashion contemplations

Hello everyone!

School had officially started for me about a two weeks ago, and ever since then I had not been able to create one blog post during that time frame! I will not guarantee that I will be able to have a stable blogging schedule, but I will definitely try my best to release a blog post during any free time that I might have had.

Also as a note, I would like to share some contemplations with you all at the end of the blog post in regards to my latest fashion choices.

First off, during the last month of summer heading right into the school month of September, I had worn the outfit on the right. Up until that time, I had not gotten the chance to wear this particular dress and I was so happy to have finally done so. As for the outfit on the left, congratulations! You are now looking at what I wore on the first day of school! ^^

Another Lifestyle Post: Movies, Outings, and Dinner

Hello everyone!

Once again, it has been a while since I had made my latest post, but lately I have been feeling a bit on the lazy side when it comes to posting. There will be no crafts or deco this time around, as it is strictly a lifestyle post. 

Back in July during the afternoon, my friend and I went to watch Pacific Rim during a Tuesday special. Unfortunately, there were a couple of complications when I got to the theater: 1) the movie we were planning on watching doesn't actually start until a later time, 2) the movie that was available at the time was the 3D version of the movie we were planning on watching, and 3) my friend was not there yet due to a prior phone call. At first we decided to switch the movie to Despicable Me 2, but thanks to the 1) numerous kids lining up and 2) the next showtime being roughly the same as the one with Pacific Rim, we ended up settling for watching Pacific Rim instead. With that being decided, we went to go kill some time, mainly in the forms of shopping and more shopping!

Dressed Up in Lavender and A Wallet Tutorial

Hello everyone!

It seems that no matter how hard I try to blog frequently, I always seem to find time running away from me. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one. I mean it is already in the middle of July, and I haven't even gotten through half of the deco ideas that I had planned up on my inspiration/ideas board! So for the time being, I am going to try my hardest to get through the projects while working on the side. 

I also realize that I have been gradually neglecting my goals as a hime in training, and I have to say, have no fear! I am still slowly but surely working towards those goals. It just does not seem as prevalent as of right now. Even though my hime goals are pretty much on the back burner, I do know that I might absolutely get a 1) half wig and 2) circle lenses. I had been diligently browsing through websites to try and get a good deal on either of those items, but we shall see how that goes. 

Anyway, here is a casual outfit that I had worn on one of my shopping excursions. I had finally gotten the chance to coordinate the lavender-blue dress that I had bought from H&M ages ago, since I honestly don't have a lot of items that go well with this particular dress. In other words, not enough lavender things. I should be able to hopefully fix that in one of my upcoming crafting marathon projects! ^^;     

Past Month Shenanigans

Hello everyone!

It seems to me that I cannot update asap to save my life, major apologies! Though to be a bit honest, I actually have not one, but two upcoming quizzes in a couple of days, but I figured that I might as well take this time to update on past happenings. It really isn't much, but it felt like I have done a ton of things in such a short amount of time. While I was browsing through the camera and my phone, I had noticed that I have a ton of photos that I had taken over the past month or so. So I figured, why not? This calls for picture spamming time! :D

First off, during the holiday break, my mom had gotten me two pairs of leggings along with the Nina Ricci Fantasy perfume! I had always been a fan of the fragrance ever since the debut, so I was so happy once I had gotten it! I had also loved how intertwined the fantasy concept is with the packaging, right down to the little "storybook" and the bottle design. 

A late holiday greeting and getting back into the blogosphere

Hello everyone!

One word: Wow! It has been quite a long time since my last post, and time sure passes by quickly! For the average person, it would still be the middle of December, and the next thing you know it the month fast forwards straight to Christmas! Though speaking of Christmas, even though this might be a tad bit late, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ^^ May everyone's year have a great start!

Anyway, with that done and over with, I would like to profusely apologize for the very late post. I am quite aware that I have not been very active on the blogosphere at all, and therefore would hopefully be able to change that for the upcoming new year!  During the beginning of December, I had been extremely occupied with studying for the finals, while during the end of December, I had been more or less occupied with the frustrating activity known as Christmas shopping (though I got better eventually and managed to get everything). The holidays had calmed down a bit, and I figured that while I still have time left before the new school term starts, why not take the time to update the blog?

Unfortunately, this post is not really going to contain much content. It is more of a "letting others know that I am still alive and kicking" post rather than containing chalkfuls of content, as I am sometimes prone to do after coming back from a short break. But since I have not finished receiving or giving out the presents from Christmas (and I so wanted to list them all in one post for the sake of efficiency and completeness), I will save the Christmas posts until next time.

Though just going a bit off-topic, is anyone feeling a sense of "loss" in regards to their I guess you could say fashion identity? Lately, I have not been feeling up to or even in the mood for dressing up nicely, though I guess you can say that no one has the time to dress up when they are too busy worrying about finals. This has been equally compounded by the increasingly cold weather in the area where I live in. (Canada has and always been a cold place most of the time *sigh*) I hope that this will all change with the year 2013, where the old gets swept out and the new gets swept in. I'm pretty sure that I could use a wardrobe revamp anyway and who wouldn't want one? Surprisingly one day, I had managed to pull off this outfit, despite the lack of inspiration and motivation!

Dress/Onepiece: Urban Planet
Cardigan: Guess
Necklace: Claires
Bracelet/Hairpiece: Ardene

Until then, I would like to wish everyone good luck with the upcoming year 2013! 

What I have been up to for the past two weeks

Hello everyone!

It has been a long time since I had posted! In fact, it has been roughly two weeks, give or take. So why so long? Well, it all comes down to this: during the past two weeks, my parents went on a cruise trip to the states and took the camera with them, leaving me camera-less for those two weeks. Pretty fun right? Not really. Not if most of your posts are pictures-related that is. I'm quite sure that I can do a post without having the need to post up pictures all the time, but I find that it will not be as "fun" as if you were to post a blog post with pictures. Not as much enjoyment, since what is the joy in reading a blog post without pictures? There must be a sort of balance, just like there is balance in every aspect of life.

Bag Modification, Cute Stationary, Outfit Pictures, and a Juicy Couture Surprise

Hello everyone!

After what seems to be a month full of blood and sweat and tears, I am finally finished with modifying the bag that I had gotten a while back. Now if you had been around back when I had first started the blog, you would've noticed that I had gotten a large black "The Bay" bag from my mom that looks like this:

A Sight for Sore Eyes along with the Old and the New

Hello everyone!

How have you all been doing? It has been a long while since my last post, but I haven't really gotten the chance to blog ever since I had started taking spring courses. They actually go quite fast what with only lasting about 6 weeks or so, so let's just say that a ton of studying has to be done and leading me to having no life what-so-ever. Major apologies for that. Fortunately for me, I had managed to find a little bit of time in between all the studying and actually got some stuff over the month of May! Both old and new! Yes I am aware that I am "suppose" to be currently on a budget, but I figured that I deserve to get something after going on a month or so without actually buying anything. :/ Yes, a month no joke, though I suppose that having a distraction that goes by the name of school can help out a lot. 

Anyway, I had first bought a cute ring from Forever 21 for around $6. It was after watching I believe The Hunger Games I think? (Which was a good movie) As you can tell from the picture, I really love the bling circling around the face of the ring along with the flower gem in the center. Really lovely and it was one of those "must haves" for me, especially if it is pink. Plus you can tell that you really love it if even your friend picked out the exact same ring for you. 

I then got some essence nail polish and Maybelline Masterprecise pen eyeliner for a total of $14 from Shoppers Drug Mart. I had a $10 off card last time I had made a purchase there and I wanted to use it before it expired.  The nail polish were really cheap, less than $2 for each.

A couple of days later, I got this nice 1920s style nude dress from H&M for $19.95. I really love the style and had been looking for one for a while now. However it was not really "love at first sight" when I had first seen it in the store and had been trying to decide which dress I should pick out of three dresses. Eventually I had decided on getting this one not just because of the style, but I don't have a nude dress yet. I guess now is a good time as any to get one.   

Detail of the front and the torso

Detail of the back

There is where I had finished my old haul and took a long break from the shopping world. Of course by the time the end of May came along, I started having a feel to get back to shopping and my new haul started up. I stopped by Urban Planet after work and I found out that they were actually selling what looks to be bandeau tops for $5! I had been obsessing over bandeau tops ever since I had purchased one off of Yesstyle and had been wearing it constantly. So to actually see them in the stores and in a lace pattern no less got me straight to buying one in black and white (so they could go with everything). 

Lastly, the latest purchase that I had gotten was these cute clay rose earrings for $10! After seeing how cute they were just sitting on the rack and in the colours pink, purple, and blue, I knew that I just had to get them. I had been on the hunt for some cute cheap earrings for a while now to fill up my earring hanger, and in particular I had been looking for earrings that come in a cute design along with some pastel colours to go with my hime wardrobe. I had been specifically looking for ones in pink, purple, and blue because those are the main colours that I had been using, more-so pink than the other colours naturally. Now these earrings were not on sale originally, but who cares! The design more than makes up for it and when I usually see something in the store that I love and did not buy, I usually never see them again! Might as well buy them while they are still "in bloom".

    

I was dressed up the day I got the earrings, so I decided to take some outfit shots. I also decided that when it comes to outfit shots, I will be taking more "detailed" shots. When it comes to outfit shots in general, I value small details like the accessories used, the hair piece, etc. I had been wondering on how to approach the concept of detail shots however. Do you think I should alter the photos to make them fit into one large photo via collage style, or do you think I should post each photo individually to keep them large enough to see the details?

Top: Zellers

Skirt: Yesstyle

Cardigan: Urban Planet

Shoes: The Bay

Tights: Ardene

Accessories: Ardene (Headband), Urban Planet (Necklace), Forever 21 (Ring), Gift (Bracelet/Bangle), eBay (Earrings)

Bag: Coach

I really love this photo, especially with the fringe!

Take care everyone! 

A Lolita Sighting, Random Outfit Shot, New Cleanser, and Hello Kitty Coin Purse

Hello everyone!

How have you all been? It has been quite some time since I had posted anything on here and for a reason (and no it is not school). At first I had wanted to delay the blog post until I had finished my latest project. Unfortunately, my project isn't even being close to halfway done yet so it will be taking a while to finish. With these odds stacked against me, I figured that I might as well get straight to posting up the activities that had happened recently and worry about the other things later. It doesn't really hurt much to mention that I was prompted into blogging recently by an amazing sight that I had seen while I was on the train going back home.

I had seen a Lolita.

Now you are probably (or not) wondering about why this is such a big deal or even wondering about the significance of seeing a Lolita on a train on what would've been an average typical day. The thing is, that is a big deal, well at least to me it is. I mean it is not often that I see an actual Lolita in real life anywhere. Of course, that doesn't mean that I do not appreciate the essence of Lolita over the internet. It just means that I have the case of "that lonely local Japanese fashion enthusiast". In other words, I feel like I am the only gal in the city so to speak despite me not being fully transitioned into the fashion yet.  I mean it doesn't hurt to see at least one other person that dresses up in Japanese fashion that lives closer to home right?

So imagine to my surprise when I saw a Lolita step on the train. The awe that erupted up within me at the JSK print, the distinct bell shape of the dress, the bow, and the...well...you get my point. Never in my whole entire life did I think that I will ever meet a Gyaru or even a Lolita in real life. The city that I live in doesn't really tend to lean toward the fashionable side. The usual sightings that I would find on a daily outing would be leggings or "jeggings", a hoodie/blouse/sweater, boots or flats, and a coat along with a random bag or backpack. Of course there is the occasional office wear and the rare dress, but it is mostly the former than the latter.

Unfortunately I rode the train at around a very busy time and did not get a chance to talk to her. I am actually a little bit shy in real life, so it was quite daunting with a lot of people packed in the train cart. Hopefully I see her around again someday.

Anyway, at first I had wanted to post up my recent Jesus Diamante buys in this blog post, especially since I had recently gotten my last package in the mail a few days ago, but I had eventually decided to delay it and post the haul in the next upcoming post instead. This is not only to surprise you (actually I was kidding about that part) but to also do an in depth review of not ONE but TWO shopping services. In the meantime why don`t you have an outfit shot instead?

Hair accessory: Ardene
Cardigan: Urban Planet
Top: Taobao
Skirt: Fairweather
Tights: Winners (forgot the brand)
Flats: Urban Planet
Accessories: Claires

One time while I was helping out my grandmother with buying skincare products, I had decided to get a new cleanser since my old one is running out quite fast. The new cleanser is the Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub and it cost me about $10. I heard of many great things about this cleanser, which was why I had decided to buy it and try it out.

     
Now I would've stopped here at this point, call it a day, and then get to work on the next post. However, an unexpected package came in the mail around four to five days ago, which contained my brand new Hello Kitty coin purse that I had gotten from eBay! So exciting! My old coin purse could use the retirement, what with getting beaten to death and all on a daily basis... So naturally after getting the package, opening it, and getting through the euphoria, I (for obvious reasons) continued the post. So without further ado, the coin purse!

Details on the Kimono part. Absolutely love the frills on the "collar".

For some reason, this little "note" came along with the coin purse. Unfortunately I don't know what it said, what with not knowing Japanese and all. 

The total price that I had paid for the coin purse had amounted to around $20 including shipping. Not exactly a cheap coin purse but meh! What are you going to do right? (At least it is cute...) On a serious note however, I still think it is worth the money.  

I am quite aware that I have not been posting as much nowadays as I should've and I apologize for that. Lately I had been undergoing the dreaded "writers block", not knowing what to do and being confused over the matter with the simple task of what to blog. Hopefully it should go away soon, right after I sort out my thoughts first. So bear with me. It also usually takes me a few days to type up a blog post, since I tend to think before I type, which adds onto the length of time required. 

Now as a last note before I end this completely, I had noticed a gain in followers and I would like to say thank you to all the marvelous people who decided to follow me. I hope that I make my personal journey through the land of frills, pearls, and laces worthwhile and enjoyable to read. I would also like to thank The Glass Princess for awarding me the Liebster Blog Award! I am honoured and will try and spread the love another time! <3 For those who haven't heard of her, please check out her blog if you have the time. She is a great Lolita with a ton of awesome coordinates! :)

In the meantime, take care and stay classy!     

Top Alteration, Outfits, Claires Haul, and a Gift

Hello everyone!

First off, I would like to say Happy belated Valentines Day! ^^ I know that it is quite late for it (and by five days no doubt), but it is better than never right? I hope that you all had plenty of time to spend with that certain special someone or that you were celebrating being single by loving yourself. I had just finished a midterm, so I am currently in a relaxed phase at the moment. Of course, that will change once my break ends and I will have to write midterms for my other classes. In the meantime as of now, I am on "vacation".

Ever have one of those problems where you just cannot find a cute hime top anywhere or you don't know what to do with your old clothes once you had acquired some cute ones? Well I had been going through that. Lately, I find that ever since I had gotten some cute tops from Taobao and I had been gradually moving myself into the hime scene, I had been neglecting my plainer tops and leaving them in the drawers collecting dust. I figured that this calls for a modification or alteration! Changing the clothes to better fit your personality! :D Plus you won't have a guilty conscious of carelessly throwing your old clothes away.

So here is my first attempt at modifying a "scrunched" short-sleeve top that I had gotten a long time ago at Stitches:

Before

Of First Outfit Shots, Pom Poms, and Disney Calendars

Hello everyone!

How have you been? I haven't updated in quite a while so I figured that now is a good time as any to do so before I get swamped in the sea of assignments and quizzes. Also, my schedule is quite lax at the moment so I got a bit of breathing room.

Anyway, as I try and gradually ease myself into the Himegyaru style, I figured that I should start getting into the habit of taking outfit shots. I know that it has been taking me a while to get into the whole style, but I'm trying to adjust to the style and figuring out a routine that would be able to work with me on an everyday basis. Also, I know that a few of you wanted to see some pictures of me, which I don't blame you for, since I'm very aware of the lack thereof and something that I hope will remedy.

So without further ado, here are some old outfit shots that I took a while back.

Note: Please ignore my derpy weird facial "expressions".

Headband, Bracelet: Ardene

Necklace: Urban Planet

Watch: Ebay

Top: Taobao

Skirt: Yesstyle

Leggings: Possibly Urban Planet? (forgot)

Tights: Ardene

Handbag: Coach

I wore this outfit during the holiday break before school started. I basically went to go see Sherlock Holmes and ate a delicious fruit custard crepe with my friends (strawberry flavoured of course)! :D

Headband, bracelet, necklace: Ardene

Watch: Ebay

Inner Top: Sirens

Dress: Yesstyle

Cardigan: Urban Planet

Leggings: Urban Planet

Handbag: Gift from mom

There was no special occasion or event going on when I wore this outfit. It was just shopping with a motive! More on that below.   

Recently I had been into pom poms, no thanks to Jesus Diamante, and had been subconsciously hunting for anything that is pom pom related. I eventually got lucky and had gotten some cute pom pom accessories and miscellaneous items for basically $2 a piece except for a particular item at Claires, which was a headband. At first I had thought that the headbands went on clearance as part of the end-of-season sale but I was so disappointed when I actually got to the store. They weren't on sale! I personally blame myself though, since I had checked the American website by mistake. I hate it when that happens... ^^ Fortunately a trip to the dollar store made up for it. Got a few plush bears and a set of lace toppers for room decor.

Photos of JD ladies sporting pom pom wear:

 

Since we are still in the month of January (although it is going to pass very soon), I figured that it was a good time as any to go get a calendar. Organization is key when it comes to managing school work. I got this cute Disney calendar! I absolutely love the artwork found in the calendar.

    

That's all! Until next time!