Good news for H Naoto fans in the US

I had to update my last post because H Naoto have now released an American website!

http://www.hnaotousa.com/

The information was not that clear. It looks as though they only ship to the US. If they do ship elsewhere I would love to know so I can update this post.

They are holding an opening contest where you can win a T-Shirt and a signed postcard but you need to spend $50 to be entered.

I can't say I am a massive fan of H Naoto but I did like some of the items, especially the Hangry and Angry stuff. My favourite of the two is Angry. I was expecting the prices to be fairly high but it must work out cheaper than ordering from the Japanese site. Plus some of the items feature in a monthly specials bit with reduced prices. I felt that some of the prices were more reasonable than others.

So, if you are a punk fan go take a look!

Lolita Secret Santas

Sadly I have left it a bit late for me to take part in any Secret Santas, but I know other girls are doing these. I have been a bit busy lately! If you would like to take part in a lolita secret santa, I know www.myasianfashion.com members are holding one (the deadline for gift sending is the 12th of December. You will need to check if they are still letting people join so be quick). There may be others around that you can join or maybe there is a Secret Santa going on in your workplace.

I don't really know any lolitas well enough to swap presents with. I hope that by next year, this will have changed. However, I have been thinking about the sort of presents I would like to give others so I decided to make a wish list.

Please note that I live in the UK so these items may not be available in your country. I have tried to include international friendly items too. Remember you will need to add shipping costs if you can't visit the actual store. Pictures have been taken from shop websites.

£0-£5 price range-

1. Cinders Bath Ballistic £1.95 www.lush.com

2. Humming Cat Letter Set £4.20 www.artbox.co.uk

3. Jelly Belly Toasted Marshmallow Scented Candle £4.99 http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/jelly-belly-candles

4. Bodyline keychains (range from $1-6. The one in the picture costs $2) http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/frame01.asp?type=gacc&subType=keyring Add some to your regular order or do a group order so you are not hit by huge shipping charges.

Other ideas-

-Claire's Accessories Gift Voucher (any amount starting from £5, foreign countries should check minimum amount in store)

-Mini jewels or stickers for deco nails

- Hair accessories

£5.01-£10 range-

1. False Eyelashes- the ones in the picture cost about £6 by Eylure. Not suitable for sensitive eyes.

2. Cute Plush Pirate Bunny Plush Doll $15 http://www.cute-plush.com/products/pirate-bunny-plush-doll

3.Cute Plush Kira Kira Rainbow Bunny Necklace $12 http://www.cute-plush.com/products/kira-kira-rainbow-bunny-necklace

4. 6%DokiDoki Marshmallow Hair Clips 945yen http://6dokidoki.shop-pro.jp/?pid=19753259

5. Kera Magazine Back Issues (around £10)- try Ebay, Egl Sales Community and other auction sites. In England you can visit the Japan Centre or order here http://japancentre.com/items/284

6. Swimmer storage box 788yen http://www.swimmer.co.jp/SHOPPING/detail.php?code=094799

7. Cupcake Amigurumi $15 http://shanalogic.com/item.php?item_id=2844

Other Ideas-

Secret Shop Socks (try Egl Sales Community)

£10.01-£15 range-

1. Bodyline skirt (one pictured costs $19) Many styles start from $19, some punk styles start from even less http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/frame01.asp?type=gothic&subType=skirt

2. Imogen Rose perfume www.lush.com prices start at £10 for a solid perfume

3. Lollipop Earrings $22 http://shanalogic.com/item.php?item_id=1773

4. Giant Gummi Bear £14.99 http://www.firebox.com/product/2560/Giant-Gummi-Bears?via=ser

Most Secret Santas have a low price limit but here are some more expensive items I found randomly whilst searching for inspiration-

1. Elizabethan Ring £19.99 www.blackrose.co.uk

2. Toxic Candies Designer Toy $50 www.3dretro.com

3. H Naoto keychain 2800yen http://ses.s-inc.com/e-shop/app or the American shop http://www.hnaotousa.com/

4. Fuwa Fuwa Mousse Chan paper clay kits (around $32) from various locations (try etsy.com)

5. Ghostlove Screaming Violins Choker $35 http://www.ghostlove.com/item.php?id=gl000389

I always get a great buzz when I know somebody really loves the present I gave them. I hope my nearest and dearest will get a nice surprise at Christmas. I have finally finished my Christmas shopping. Sorry, if this post is a little too late for you!

I am joining the Lucky Pack rush next month

Before I started wearing lolita, I researched lolita for a few years. I generally stood back and admired the fashion and came across some great people. But on the blogs I kept hearing about this thing called Lucky Packs. After researching them a little bit I was really keen to get my hands on one. I was lusting after the bargains.

But what I am not looking forward to is the stress that comes with it. The waiting for the Japanese clock to count down to midnight, hoping the site doesn't crash and waiting for the confirmation email to come through... it sounds like hell!

I have decided I am still going to go ahead and try to get one. If anybody has any advice on how to combat lucky pack stress I would love to hear it.

I am really torn between Meta and Baby. I want a Meta one but don't want anything from the Dark Secret series. Baby seems to be the safer option but before Dark Secret, I had my heart set on the Meta one. If I get Dark Secret, it will be difficult to re-sell. I can't get Angelic Pretty because I can only fit into certain pieces and would hate it if I got a dream print I couldn't wear. I am so confused! At least I have a bit of time to make up my mind, but if anybody has an opinion on this I would love to hear it.

Taming the Beast: Lolita Hair Tutorial Review Part 2- Sloppy Buns

I promised I would do this today and here it is! Part 2 of my hair tutorial review series! Today's hair is sloppy buns. There are so many different places where this hair tutorial has been done so I am just going to include a link to this one-

http://herlumpiness.blogspot.com/2010/03/rapunzel-rapunzel.html

I really like Miss Lumpy! This post has some other great ideas for long hair.

The main reason why this post took longer is because I have had my hair cut. I only had 2 inches off but those 2 inches were enough to stop me doing another tutorial which suits longer hair.

No face shots today because my skin looks dreadful! I have not added any bows or accessories so you can see what it looked like underneath.

How easy was the tutorial to follow?

Well, this is pretty straight forward. The style is quite casual and it doesn't really matter how neat you are which makes things even easier. It would be quite hard to get this wrong. The problem? I never realised quite how bouncy my hair was! It was determined to ping out of place so if you have heavier hair will require strong hair ties. You will also notice I have some loose strands which you can see clearly in the first picture. For this sort of style, a few loose strands wont matter unless you like your hair to look tidy.

How long did it take?

A few minutes maximum. I got one of my buns around the wrong way the first time so I redid it.

How long did it stay in place?

When I had finished the styling I knew right away this would not last. More and more loose strands came out. About 45 minutes afterwards, so much hair had come loose that I had to redo it. To combat this problem, add some bobby pins. Try to keep the pins hidden or attach an accessory over the top to cover them up.

Was the end result as expected?

My hair looked a bit too smooth in my opinion. It would probably look good if you curl or backbrush your hair before putting it in buns. Another problem was that my freshly cut ends were sticking out and they look really obvious. Again, I would suggest using bobby pins to hide the ends. Also, my hair was determined to form a stiff loop shape instead of looking floppy. I suppose it doesn't look too bad but I would have loved my hair to look more like Miss Lumpy's hair.

Would I try it again?

I think I would. Although heavy hair will not last long with this style, which is disappointing. This look would be something I would wear around the house. If I went out wearing this I would be constantly checking and fixing it.

Rating out of 10- 6/10 It would be higher but it simply doesn't suit my thick heavy hair. I am sure all my readers can do better! :)

I really want this hat

Picture taken from Tokyo Rebel. http://www.tokyorebel.com/collections/angelic-pretty-new-arrivals/products/angelic-pretty-classic-regimental-mini-hat-two-colors

It is such a shame I can never afford brand! (at least not at retail price!) I am not too keen on the matching jacket but I love the hat. Not that I have anything to match this with...

I can't help thinking that if Meta really wanted to do a military series, they should have taken inspiration from AP. I am getting so paranoid about getting Dark Secret in a lucky pack that I am probably getting the Baby lucky pack now. It is a shame because I would have loved a Meta one if I got something like Nostalgic Chess.

HELLo Kitty?

Neo Magazine recently alerted me to this really odd website. It is basically a hate site for all the strange Hello Kitty items you can find. I quite enjoy Hello Kitty but I found this site amusing. It is worth having a look at just to see all the weird items that have been released and made by fans.

WARNING!!! This site does contain some adult content and is not suitable for work!

http://www.kittyhell.com/

I don't quite understand the sheer level of Hello Kitty hatred going on here. The people here must have a lot of spare time on their hands. This site is meant to be funny so I wouldn't take it too seriously!

I should be posting a new hair post tomorrow. It took me a while because I needed to find a suitable style. I have run out of hair spray and have just had my hair cut so I needed to factor this in. Plus I am also going to start work on my next Bodyline design contest entry. I wont say what design I am planning but it is a theme close to my heart :) Sorry, I promise there will be a proper post at some point tomorrow!

An update on Bodyline and the roses.

Do you remember me posting a coat I did for the Bodyline Design Contest? If you have forgotten you can still view the coat here-

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae277/Luna_Rain_photos/Bodyline%20Design%20Contest%20Entry/3D-Rose-Coat-Design.jpg

I never heard back from Bodyline but it would appear Bodyline have at least taken some of my suggestions. Obviously I am sad that I wont be getting a free coat (well, at least not yet...) but I would like to think that my coat inspired two of Bodyline's new coat designs. I think I have been incredibly lucky because Bodyline have blatantly ripped off other people's designs after telling them their design did not get accepted. These two coats are not obvious copies but use a lot of the details I used.

The main part of my own coat design was the use of 3D rose corsages. On my design there is is a row of roses on the bottom hem. Bodyline have chosen to use a rose by the collar area. I actually think this is a great idea. I would never have come up with the collar idea. One of the main issues with my design was the roses getting crushed when you sit down. This is a lot more practical and it looks very cute.

The second coat has rose shaped buttons and rose lace. On my design I included pictures of buttons and lace as an example. In my opinion Bodyline's lace choices have improved recently. Yes, they still use cheap lace in places but I think they are making more effort to use better lace. The one thing I will say about Bodyline's choice of design here is that this is too over the top and the pink in my opinion, is a little too bright.

Who knows... it may turn out that Bodyline were planning rose coats anyway but I would like to think that I at least influenced them a little :)

I have not been put off submitting further designs to Bodyline. There is no way I would have been able to make my coat on my own and this was the easiest way to get my design out there and possibly made. If you have the skills to make your own items then I would make them yourself. Bodyline obviously have the right to change your design and you may not be happy with the end result or they may use your design after telling you that it was not chosen. I have a plan to do a skirt design. If I finish it, I will post it on here too!

Just a quick note to say that I will be doing another post for my hair series soon. I have just been a bit busy and I had my hair cut earlier today. I purposely kept my hair as plain as possible so I had a blank canvas for my future lolita hairstyles! By the way, do feel free to suggest tutorials to me. Just send me a message and give me a link to the tutorial. I will happily give them a go but for now, please try not to make them too overly complicated.