My local community is utterly, completely lovely. We don't meet up often, and when we do, it isn't usually more than 3-6 of us (except for that one 2010 meetup which will live in infamy), but the size of the group doesn't matter because all of the local girls are wonderfully kind, fun people. Most of us have known each other for years at this point, and I honestly can't think of a single person who isn't a total sweetheart! We're so lucky to have such a low-drama community - it's always a topic of discussion .

For this meetup, we went back to an old favorite of ours, a small-town tearoom called Tea with Tracey. Coincidentally, I returned to an old favorite as well, because holy crap I cannot stop coordinating my Little Prince JSK, someone please send help. Friends are berating me, insisting that I can't wear the same dress to every meet; in this they are wrong, so long as that dress is a galaxy print that depicts roses, princes, and foxes. What is the limit for Little Prince coordinates on Her Lumpiness? Say it with me now: the limit does not exist.

In conclusion: as long as you don't run out of ways to coordinate it, I don't think there's such a thing as over-wearing your favorite piece. Sure, I wouldn't ACTUALLY wear it to every meetup, but any time I want to be sure I look and feel my finest? You'd better believe the Little Prince is coming out!

Rundown, more photos, and all sorts of antics below the jump!

One of my first blog posts, way back in the day, was lolified versions of mainstream trends. At the time, I was getting much more interested in mainstream fashion due to my customer-facing job, and since I enjoyed writing it so much and have found myself in a similar place sartorially, I've decided to bring it back for Spring 2014! As I don't exist in a lolita-specific bubble, nor do the rest of us, it's become one of my pastimes to keep up with this season's trends for my work and general non-lolita wardrobe. I've never been a trend-chaser, but looking at mainstream fashion recently has actually proved to be quite inspirational for my lolita coordinates as well. While we obviously do have our own trends that crop up, I feel like they aren't as diverse or rapidly-changing as the mainstream world is, so even they can get boring at times.

For example, some huge trends right now is layered chiffon, longer hemlines, and more mature color schemes, but many of the American lolitas I know have been doing that for years already. I remember planning my spring/summer wardrobe for 2010 and waxing poetic about those exact same looks, and I have friends of five years whom I've never seen in a regular cotton blouse or with exposed knees. Trends in lolita take years to build up, whereas in main stream fashion they're gone and forgotten within months. While that's slightly intimidating, and certainly would be costly to keep up with religiously, I think that turning to mainstream fashion for lolita inspiration can not only keep the subculture interesting, but since we can expect our malls and department stores to carry these items, it can be a great way to expand a lolita wardrobe as well. 

Three Mainstream Fashion Trends for Lolitas, Spring 2014

Spring 2014 Trends, Lolita Versions - orchid, bold lips, fancy shades, flower crowns

The top 3 mainstream trends for lolita, in my mind, are bold lips (particularly in orchid), embellished sunglasses, and flower crowns. A bold lip can be a great way to tie a secondary color more profoundly into your coordinate, as with the shades of purple in the outfit above. Particularly fab for the spring and summer sun, embellished sunglasses are an unexpected accessory for lolitas - bonus points if they're star- or heart-shaped; here, the little 3-D roses mimic the flowers in the Lady Sloth skirt's print, while bringing some pastel life to the otherwise muted piece. And finally, flower crowns/headbands feel to me like something that mainstream fashion actually borrowed from lolita, instead of the other way around; they've been growing in popularity for the past few springs, but this is certain the heyday for lolita flower accessories.

Those are my top three mainstream trends for lolitas this spring/summer, but there are so many good ones, I couldn't only pick one coordinate's worth!

Bonus Extra Set!

Lolita coordinate with sheer accents

For this outfit, the only spring trend I went with was the previously-mentioned chiffon. While in lolita it's common for us to wear full pieces of chiffon, such as a blouse or ruffled underskirt, I've noticed that mainstream fashion is being drawn more to pieces with bits of chiffon mixed in with other fabrics, such as cottons, synthetics, and satin. When I saw this Angelic Pretty dress, I knew it was perfect for this trend, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to design a coordinate around it!

So, readers, I'm curious: do you follow mainstream fashion trends?

And if so, which are your current favorites to mix with lolita?

It's no secret that most lolitas' favorite way to find inspiration is to look at photos of other lolitas, and my favorite way to do that via Instagram. There are so many awesome lolita Instagram accounts that are super popular - and usually really deserve to be! - but, like every form of social media, there are always hidden gems that don't get nearly enough love. These Instagrammers can add a little more fluff to your daily social media routine, and really, who can say no to that?!

These fancy rufflebutts were picked on the following criteria:

• Fewer than 300 or so followers
• A good percentage of their photos are either of lolitas or appeal to the lolita aesthetic
• There are at least a handful of photos on their account of them in lolita, or a similar style
• In general, their photos show high quality and talent in regards to photography, editing, coordination, and/or makeup skills (preferably some combination of the above, definitely with an emphasis on the latter two)

So, without further ado, here is my list of the top ten most underrated lolita Instagram users!

Professional creative-types:

Clockwise from left: Kate, designer for Australian brand Rouge Aerie; NYC lolita seamstress and designer Aria of Dix Macabre; the lovely Dawn of The Snow Field; American accessory artisan, Sweet Mildred.

Fierce fashion inspirations:

nynfia ; thisiscurlyb ; scarrymii ; remilade ; artemiz_xv ; bandersnatchley


Instagram is an amazing tool for inspiration - makeup, food, and particularly fashion! I don't like the Instagram web app, so I've linked to the Statigr.am pages for each of these cuties.

Followers! Who are your favorite lolita Instagrammers?

Let me know in the comments below - you can never have too much inspiration!

Lolita is iconic for our trends, which in turn are famous for being totally ridiculous. They tend to stick around for 4-8 months at a time and revolve cyclically every few years (huge hairpieces, animal print, over-the-top wigs). Everyone always has their favorites, but we also all have fads that we keep seeing over and over again and wondering when they will finally be allowed to die. I might make some enemies with this, but for this week's Lolita Blog Carnival, I present to you: three lolita trends I'd like to personally put out to pasture.

Babydoll Sweet

C'mon, you all saw this one coming.

I'm sorry, but no, I'm not six years old. In fact, I have six year old nieces who wouldn't be caught dead in the clothing that some sweet lolitas wear. It's really difficult to convince someone that what you're wearing isn't a costume when it's covered in pastel pink teddy bears. Luckily, it seems like this trend is currently on the DL, with brands putting out more refined pieces that lean closer to period fashion than preschool. Honestly, it's been a long time coming, in my opinion.

(note: for some reason, bonnets totally don't count for the most part in this argument. I know, I know, it's totally hypocritical - I just really love bonnets.)

Photo care of Caro's Instagram

Creepy Cute

Now, this is probably just me. I'm totally prepared for that, because I really want to like the creepy cute look. I want to be all over it, but for some reason it repels me almost as strongly as it attracts me, like when you try to push to opposite poles of a magnet together. Now whenever I see pastel bat jewelry I feel an inexplicable urge to both buy it and burn it. Halloween is gonna be interesting this year.

Animal ears

This actually only bothers me because it exemplifies something that's always annoyed me about lolita as a subculture, and that is how we define what is and isn't acceptable in the fashion. When I first got into the scene, I remember hearing people say that you couldn't do X or Y unless a brand did it; then and only then was it okay. I'd thought this had died out recently, but another trend in the past year or two has proven me wrong. That trend? Animal ears. It's amusing to me that so many lolitas who told others for years that cat ears aren't lolita, that they're part of a costume and not a fashion, that "they make you look sub-human," just actually needed a brand to slap a label on them and now they're suddenly ~meccha kawaii~.

Personally, they aren't my jam. If they're your style, that's fine. I don't have a problem with you - I have a problem with the abrupt about-face that so much of the lolita community did as a whole as soon as the almighty brand-gods deemed animal ears fashionable. The exception? Antlers. I want a deer antler headband like nobody's business.

Other blogging beauties!

Lace a la Mode

LemonTree11

Under the parasol
Lolita Glamour
Dollhouse Diaries

This week, the Lolibloggers of LBC are blogging with the budget-conscious in mind! Our challenge this week was to create a fab coordinate for less than $100. Well, as everyone here knows, I have a problem with designing coordinates - or, more accurately, with stopping. I was designing these with a beginner lolita in mind, so I thought, why stop at one? Someone new to the fashion is going to want ideas on building their wardrobe; they're not going to want to buy a single-use outfit that doesn't have any other practical application. So I took one skirt - $40 by the Etsy shop Eat Me, Ink Me - and built three outfits that are definitely different and aimed towards different temperatures/times of the year, but that still have the cohesive style which we recommend that newbies develop so that coordinating within their wardrobe is that much easier.

An easy way to do this challenge would've been to hop on any of the awesome, wallet-friendly lolita shops on TaoBao. However, because my first priority is always to support small artisans when possible, I decided that this would be a great opportunity to represent some of the amazing crafters and vintage shops on Etsy, so I took as many items as I could find that suited the aesthetic and price point, and then filled them in with easily-accessible Western stores, some of which sell online, others which populate every mall worth its fluorescent lighting and fatty food court. The key to these coordinates is accessibility, because for so many girls who are just starting out, the idea of buying a full outfit online and then paying all those shipping fees/customs can be really intimidating. So instead of just designing a cheap coord, I took it a step further by making three $100 outfits using only items from easily-accessible stores, because god forbid I let anything be easy on me! But I love making coordinates, so the challenge just made it even more enjoyable for me!

Before I get to the outfits, you may be wondering- what on earth is a Lolita Blog Carnival? Well, it's a group of Lolibloggers like myself who all blog together about the same topic on the same day. The topics are voted on at the Facebook group and a deadline is set, and everyone works on their articles until the posting deadline. At the end, we all link to each others' entries at the bottom of our own, so all of our lovely readers can see what other participating Lolibloggers had to say.

skirt  ♥ hair clip ♥ blouse ♥ shoes ♥ socks

This first example uses a vintage blouse, glittery flats from Forever 21, thick ankle socks from Sock Dreams, and an adorable hand-crafted leaf hair clip to echo the floral pattern in the skirt. I see this as being a perfect outfit for early summer, when it's just warm enough to feel the breeze on your calves, but not quite warm enough for short sleeves.


blouse ♥ headband ♥ tights ♥ earrings ♥ shoes ♥  skirt
This time, I went for a more toned-down approach, opting for a cheaper blouse from Forever 21 so I could give my newbie loli a little wiggle room with her accessories. For a casual summer outfit like this, I wanted something that would be easy and breezy (and certainly beautiful!) for long, hot days spent at ice cream parlors or boardwalks.

skirt ♥ ring ♥ headband ♥ socks ♥ blouse ♥ necklace ♥ clutch ♥ belt

With this last one, I cheated a little bit. I figured, at this point, our lolita had invested in a proper pair of shoes for herself, or that she could reuse one of the two other pairs of flats I've already given her, so I gave her some more budget-room to build up a collection of accessories which would work with almost any of the other coordinates. This outfit reminds me of early fall, the type of weather I'm in right now - sheer fabrics because it's warm in the sun, but you can still definitely feel a nip in the air that warns of changing winds. I hope my budget-loli is saving up for a winter coat!

Other blogging beauties beating budgets:
F Yeah Lolita
Darkly Darling
Ramble Rori
Parfait Doll
Starry Dreams
Magic A la Mode
A Lace Jail
Her Curious Elegance
Puppenschloss
Sweet and Simple

A few weeks ago, I was killing some time downtown while waiting for my boyfriend to get off work, and somehow I ended up, after a good bit of coaxing, in the makeover chair of a Benefit boutique. While we began by discussing concealers, after hearing that I had a couple minutes to waste, my sales associate ended up going to town and showing me a huge host of her best-sellers du jour. One of these was the brand new They're Real! Mascara, which I was told is currently the best-selling mascara in the world - and let me tell you, I can see why!

The marketing for this product is something I'm still on the fence with- it plays off of aspects of femininity which are often "faked" by women, alluding specifically to plastic surgery such as boob jobs, to go with the false-lash effect the mascara imparts. On the one hand, it's sexy without being demeaning, and in my opinion, kind of empowering - it says that whether you're "real" or "fake" (eg, whether yours is natural or artificially-enhanced beauty) is your own damn business, not the casual observer's, so why not keep them wondering? On the other hand, it does hold up this obsession with secretly-artificial beauty which, masquerading as natural, therefore means that people have to work harder to be considered attractive to society, which distances themselves from their own natural beauty.

However, as someone who really doesn't mind looking "fake" sometimes, I'm not terribly bothered by this. Which is convenient, really, because this mascara is honestly mind-blowing! As a lolita who's always had problems with false lashes (*shakes fist at latex allergy*), I'm a huge fan of over-the-top mascara. My associate put the mascara first on only one eye and held up the mirror - and I must admit, I was so shocked I burst out laughing! It honestly looked like I had just put on a pair of large and noticeable but still natural-style false lashes, and I immediately demanded the product be sold to me - after, of course, it was applied to my left eye as well as my right.

The mascara itself thickens, lengthens, AND curls- my eye shape is slightly asymmetrical, so I usually have to curl my left lashes even when I'm not curling my right so they look the same, but I was impressed to see that I didn't need to do that with this! My naturally long, thickish lashes were enhanced to falsie-proportions as well. This is combined with a pretty interesting wand, which has little spikes sticking off the ends- hard to see in this picture (indeed, hard to photograph at all, especially when you forget to clean it off first...). These are designed for getting in really close to the shorter, thinner lashes on the inner corners of the eyes and also the lower lashes, if you swing like that. It leads to greater accuracy when detail is needed and, therefore, a better end result with fewer mistakes.

Left: just with mascara. Top right: totally bare. Bottom right: with full make-up

It's a bit hard to see in these pictures, as, well, I'm still getting used to my new phone's camera (fancy phones with fancy phoneography! Welcome to the 21st, Lumps!), but even still, you can see how much thicker my lash line looks, as well as how much wider it makes my eyes. Combined with full make-up, my eyes are more prominent, rounder, and more doe-like.

As much as I love this product and don't regret the impulse buy, it's probably not something I would have bought if I'd thought about it a little more. I'm more inclined to buy mascara that can be layered so that I can put a less noticeable coat on for work or casual wear, and then add a bit more for nightwear or lolita, and at $23 a pop, this mascara isn't exactly as multi-faceted as I would have hoped. However, it works amazingly at what it's intended for. Also, it's worth it to point out that you're gonna wanna go with the industrial-strength makeup remover for this bad boy - if I don't, or if I only give it a quick, lazy wipe, I'm left with black gunk under my eyes for about three regular soap-and-water washes. While this reflects well on how long-lasting this mascara is (definitely not going to need to reapply over the course of the day!), it's also kind of frustrating, as it deters me from wearing this product on lazy days when I may not want a whole face-load of makeup. Again, works great, but makes it a much less versatile product than I'd prefer for the price point.
Verdict: Four out of Five. This can do amazing things, and I definitely recommend it, but its lack of versatility means it didn't deserve a perfect score, in my book.

Can you believe it's already been eleven years since the egl community on livejournal was born?! I absolutely can't! It's nice to know that, despite having been pointedly inactive in the past few years, I've still been one of a memeber for almost two-thirds of its life. It's with much excitement that I announce on their behalf to all of my lovely followers, for those who've forsaken the community in favor of fashion hermitage (such as myself- totally would've missed it if Caro hadn't messaged me about it this weekend!), that they're holding a call for creations in honor of their faithful followers! They're also going to be doing contests and giveaways over November and December, so personally I'm adding them back to my blogroll, and you should too! As for the potential prizes, everything will be products from community-based indie companies - it's possible that my own brand, Amaranth Opulent, may have a few pieces in the mix as well.

Heads up, cuties- this is an awesome way for loli-bloggers or creative entrepreneurs to get your name out there, and also to give back to the community! Even though I've had a rocky relationship with egl in the past, I can't deny that I certainly owe them a lot from my own days as a newbie, just discovering the fashion, lost down a dark, winding road of scratchy lace and square dance petticoats with no hope of finding the light, except for the loving, caring community of egl. (#hyperbole!)

So far, I'm planning to submit two pieces: one for the "lolita and feminism" prompt and another that Caro suggested, "lolita and sexuality," which will probably either be for the former,"Thoughts on EGL & the internet Lolita community," or "Thoughts on the Lolita Lifestyle." Either way, I am super excited to see what everyone thinks! Here's a snippet from the second of the two, the first draft of which is already finished:

"A pretty big proportion of a lolita's time discussing the fashion with those not in-the-know is spent saying things like, 'Lolita is not a sexual fashion. No, seriously, it isn't.' I'm pretty sure that most psychologists would say that, the more one says something aloud, the more it's internalized in one's own mind, too, meaning it's not a far jump from 'Lolita is not a sexual fashion' to 'Lolitas are not sexual people.' From this, it isn't hard to begin vilifying any lolita who associates with deviant sexuality, and from there, any openly sexual lolita at all."

 Information on how to enter can be found here, in the main post on the egl community.

By the way, the main article makes it sound like they only want writing samples, but in her post on our local community, Caro says anything like art, comics, creative writing, etc will be accepted, so bear that in mind when deciding if you want to take part! Want to contribute, but not sure how? Here are some ideas, ranging from quick and simple to more elaborate and impressive:

• Write a short essay about your first time wearing lolita on public transportation
• Paint a picture depicting the way it felt to put on your first lolita coordinate
• Write a series of haiku about the importance of bloomers. Or on anything, because haiku are awesome and always appropriate.
• Bring a sketch pad to your next lolita meetup do quick sketches of your fellow guests - ask permission first, of course!
• Take your first picture of yourself in lolita, mimic it in pose, location, lighting, etc with your current style, and juxtapose them next to each other in the same image with photoshop or similar
• Write a short story or poem about a lolita at a museum whom everyone thinks is part of an exhibit
• Turn the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare" into an allegory for coming into your own as a lolita
• Compose a rap about the first time you wore lolita, and set it to Japanese shamisen music

One of my favorite things about lolitas is the immense amount of creativity they're capable of- everything from coordination skills to crafting to my fellow loli-bloggers, all of it seriously blows me away. I find I'm constantly stunned at what this community is capable of when we funnel our energies into positivity instead of negativity, so I am beyond excited to see what we can come up with.

Henna has been around for ages- literally. Ever since the Bronze Age, the Lawsonia inermis plant has been used for dyeing everything from hair and skin to leather and silk. It grows in tropical and sub-tropical arid regions like Southern Asia, Australia, and much of Africa, and people there have been using the plant for beauty for over 6,000 years. In many places, its use is tied to rituals and celebrations such as marriage, but people all over the growing region have used it for its anti-microbial properties as well as its powers of beautification on their nails, their hair, and their skin. It even followed trade routes to Europe and the Americas, and was a popular tool of the upper echelon as early as the 18th century. Even Lucille Ball was said to have used it to change her blonde locks into the flaming coif we know so well today! However, when chemical hair dyes became safe (well, safer than they had been) and cheap (well, cheaper than they had been), the practice of using henna faded out in favor of more easily-accessible means.

However, it's never been completely gone from the beauty scene, and in the past few decades, the earthy-crunchy crowd (into which I proudly include myself!) has led a resurgence in this little powdered plant's popularity as a rejuvenating natural hair dye that can really restore luster to lacking locks. But it doesn't only dye: henna also makes hair soft, shiny, and supple, curing dandruff and making heat and chemical damage less noticeable. The glorious, natural-ish red sheen is only one of the many perks.

Since I've been red for about two years now, with an interlude of bright blonde, my hair has definitely seen some damage. A few friends have been urging me to try henna for quite some time, but I have to admit, the length of time necessary for the dye has always turned me off to it - hey, I'm a busy lady! I don't get many days off, so I had to decide whether or not I wanted to sacrifice a whole day to getting goo in my hair. After a while and some more research, though, I decided that it was a jump worth taking, and I'm certainly glad that I did.

The first step was buying a teeny test-size amount of the henna I wanted to try. My henna came from Henna for Hair, a great resource for buying as well as step-by-step instructions and lots of other information. I chose Ancient Sunrise's Rajasthani Jasmine, which the website says is good for damaged, fragile hair, and originally only bought a few of the 3-gram tester packs. I did a gloss over my hair to make sure I liked the color/process and also to test for allergic reactions (super important! I wasn't too worried about it, but if you are, only do a small test patch). No pictures of that process, because it was pretty unremarkable- I had to dilute the henna a lot with conditioner to cover my whole head, so while I loved the parts that had a higher concentration of dye, the majority of my hair had nicer quality but little color difference. If you're curious, I mixed the henna with lemon juice as the package suggests and let it sit overnight; before applying it, as I said, I mixed it with an increasing amount of conditioner, starting at the front so my bangs would have the highest concentration (though you're supposed to start in the back). I covered it in plastic wrap and a towel for heat and let it sit for six hours.

A few weeks after the gloss- it felt much nicer, but looked mostly the same as it had before.

Last week, I decided to go balls-to-the-walls and dye my whole head. 100 grams usually works well for collar-length straight hair, but mine is quite wavy, so I bought two packs and probably used a little more than 150 grams total. My original gloss had only been mixed with lemon juice and then diluted with conditioner, so I went a little crazy with this one, using all the citrus in the house (two lemons, a lime, and an orange) as well as a strong brew of black tea, chamomile flowers, rose hips, and lemon rinds. I mixed in a little bit of conditioner right before I applied it, as well. I let the original mixture sit for about six and a half hours, though leaving it overnight would've been better, then applied to my hair and let sit for about three hours - if I weren't on a time crunch, I definitely would've left it on for far longer. I wrapped it in plastic wrap, and blasted it with heat from my hairdryer every so often- probably five minutes under the dryer every forty or so minutes it sat.

How sexy do I look?! Ladiiiiies....

Rinsing it was a bit of a shit show- I took off the plastic wrap and stuck me head under the shower, which I immediately regretted, because I suddenly found myself with handfuls of wet, vegetal-smelling brown goop.  I hopped out, and removed a bulk of the goop with paper towels before washing out the rest. I don't use shampoo, so I just rinsed until the water ran clean and poured on some conditioner afterwards. Then, of course, I had to clean the shower, which kind of reminded me of that scene in Spirited Away wherein Chihiro cleans the dirtiest tub in the bathhouse. You know the one...

Anyway, here's my hair immediately after rinsing:

Remember, never dye your hair in nice clothes! This tank had a huge gloob of henna from the first application.

The color is always far brighter immediately after dyeing - if you don't like that orangey hue, don't worry, it'll fade. And if you do like it, as I did... tough cookies, kid, 'cause it's gonna fade whether you like it or not.

Twenty-four hours later, in my normal-person disguise:

Three days later, the final product!

As you can see, the henna evens itself out to a very natural-looking shade of red. My job loves it. I, personally, am kind of torn. While I really like the shade, and it's definitely office-appropriate (which I really need it to be), it's just... dammit, I wanna be one of the cool kids with the crazy hair, too, ma! I miss my fire-engine red...

However, I am very happy with it, and will almost certainly be experimenting with more henna in the future.

♥ For more information ♥

Henna for Hair

Free e-book: Henna for Hair How-to

Henna on Wikipedia

More natural dye options

No, don't worry, I'm not getting married! Well, actually, I might be engaged but it's kind of up in the air and rather complicated right now. However, the lovely photo above as well as my duty as bridesmaid to my good friend Tina prompted me to consider the nature of weddings and the place of lolita within them.

The wonderful thing about weddings is that they're as customizable as you want them to be: pet lovers will have their dogs walk down the aisle in the bridal party, grooms' cakes which satirize the new husband's obsessions are getting more and more popular, and who hasn't seen photos of retro-inspired weddings? However, for some reason, lolita weddings seem to be a bit of a taboo in the community. Maybe this is because lolita is seen as more obscure of a fashion, not one that a couple is likely to have in common in their lives (unlike, say, punk or rockabilly) and therefore it's more likely that only on partner of the pair may actually have much of an interest in it. Or it could be because lolita is seen as childish; "things like that have no place in the most important day of your life," I can just hear a mother-in-law-to-be say. And personally, I kind of agree. I don't see myself ever having a lolita wedding, but I feel like lolita is so deeply ingrained into my aesthetic that it'll manifest itself in the proceedings somehow or other.

If you're interested in adding some lolita touches to your own celebration, here are a few tips:

♥Themes that would lend themselves well to lolification are fairy tale (think lots of carriages and tiaras and glass slippers), floral themes like cherry blossoms or roses, or Victorian-inspired with high-collared necklines or bustled dresses.

♥Floral arrangements: Consult the language of flowers, a Victorian means of communication that ascribes different meanings to different plants. Check here for Wikipedia's article on floriography. Some flowers with particularly lolita-friendly meanings are asters, lilacs, geraniums, and moonflowers.

♥Favors: Especially if you have lolitas in attendance or in your bridal party! Some lovely ideas for lolita-inspired favors include monogrammed fans (maybe with a little pamphlet on the language of fans), a small box of personalized truffles, or even a small deck of playing cards.

♥Reception: Instead of a fancy, expensive dinner party, have a tea party around brunch time. That way, not only is it often cheaper to rent venues earlier in the day, but you can also connect to your inner Mad Hatter!

♥Bridesmaid gifts: Anything with pearls, trailing ribbons, or rhinestones!

Lolitas: Are you planning on getting married? If so, will you include lolita in your festivities, or is it an "appropriate time and place" type of deal?

(Oh, also, heads up- starting Monday, I'm going to be in New Zealand for two weeks! I'm planning on having some articles scheduled to go up while I'm gone, but that may or may not happen.

I'm definitely not an beauty expert, but every lolita -hell, every PERSON - knows that make-up has two affects on your overall look: it either enhances or detracts. There are some lolita make-up moves that I've noticed in the past few years which seem, to me, rarely to do the former and almost always do the latter.

As with any part of your coordinate, everything you do with your make-up should be considered objectively to make sure it's enhancing the image you're going for. If you were wearing a completely sweet coordinate, for example, entirely of mint and pink, would you put on a big, black, gothic headdress? It may be interesting circumstantially, but for the most part, I'd advise against it. It's the same with make-up: if it detracts from the look of the rest of your outfit or overpowers it or negatively draws attention to itself, you're better off going without.

As always, remember: there are exceptions to every rule, so don't think of these as hard, concrete facts. Almost everything I mention here, while I'm typing, I think, "Yeah, but there was that really cute girl at the meet-up who..." or, "Yeah, but what about that picture you saw on Tumblr the other day?" So if I knock down your favorite make-up tip, please don't be offended! There are right ways and wrong ways to do everything.

A Loose List of Lolita Make-up Don'ts:

♥Over-concealing: One of the biggest parts of lolita make-up is a porcelain, doll-like appearance, and that's not always very easily-achieved by us humans, who're prone to redness, blemishes, and even skin tone. However, it's important to resist the urge to go really crazy on the Erase Paste, as concealers and foundations and primers and powders can cake up really easily and look overdone. Over-doing it will draw attention to whatever it is you're trying to cover up and can settle in the lines in your face and make you look old, which is not exactly the way to achieve effortless, light, child-like beauty. Lord knows I can be prone to this one myself, hence why it's right at the top of the list!

♥Lining the lower lash line: Now, this isn't always bad, but in a lot of alternative fashion I often see heavy black liner under the eye with nothing in the lid. Here's the problem with that: a dark, heavy line along the bottom of the eye pulls the onlooker's eye down and makes it look like the wearer has heavy undereye circles (could I have said the word "eye" more in that sentence?!) Instead, what looks better is a thin line of eyeliner all along the upper lash line (maybe getting a little thick toward the outer edge, or finish with a cat-eye if you're feeling fancy) and line only the outer third of your lower lash line- from the outer corner to the iris, or colored part, of your eye; this will make your eyes look wider and brighter, and therefore more awake. Bonus points if you use a soft shadow instead of thick, heavy liner on the lower lash line.

♥Pink or red eye shadow: To be perfectly honest, I almost didn't include this one, because I see it often, and it's very often done right. However, with certain skin tones, pink or red eye shadow or liner will make your eyes look red, making you look tired, like you've been crying, or like you have pink eye, none of which are very loli at all! If you're very gung-ho about using one of these colors in your make-up look, try to either find a shade that compliments your skin tone, or pair it with a neutral and use the pink/red as an accent color.

♥Wash your face at night!: This is such a big one for everyone, but especially lolitas, to go back to that porcelain look we try so hard to emulate. If you don't wash off your make-up and sweat and all the other nastiness we accumulate during the day, it'll cause breakouts. I'm pretty sure everyone knows this, but it bears repeating! A daily cleanser and a moisturizer should be used once a day, and deep exfoliation once a week. Another quick fix are make-up remover wipes. Or, if you're thrifty, bathroom wipes with vitamin E and aloe- they have to same active ingredients but are much less expensive!

What are your least-favorite make-up techniques that show up on lolitas often?

(No naming names!)

Last weekend, I helped my friend Marrisa host a lovely little brunch for our local lolitas. It was a most excellent afternoon- much fun was had all around, or so I'd like to think! Here are some shots of the food we provided:

The table, minus Marrisa's salad and plus a photobombing Remi

In another life I went to school for food photography.

...in this other life, I was probably also a lot better at it than I am in this one. Oh well.

Remi + kitten: One of many more to come

Everybody!

Jillian:

Gloria:

Remi:

Marrisa, our hostess:

Me- more here!

Aaaaaaand.... catspam. I have no regrets.

Remi + Toby = OTP. Seriously, I have no idea why I have so many pictures of her with this cat, but they're all so damn cute!

I think I lied. Actually, in another life I'm a cat photographer.

♥Tips for hosting your own Loli Brunch ♥♥Offer a variety of options! Scones or waffles or cinnamon buns are delicious brunch staples, but make sure you have something that isn't so decadent. Marrisa made a delicious grilled pear salad, and I brought granola with soy milk.♥In the same vein, as always, make sure there are no food or pet allergies that you need to watch out for!♥Get creative with drinks. Everyone was excited to try the iced hojicha Marrisa had made as well as taking their pick of a plethora of teas. Another cute idea would be Italian sodas- buy a bunch of cutely-colored syrups and some Sprite or seltzer and let your guests concoct libations to match their outfits.♥Experiment with table settings! Mismatched glasses, silverware, or place settings give a wonderland vibe; use vases or milk bottles as pitchers for cold drinks; plain white teacups on vibrantly-patterned chine saucers are a stark contrast and bring life to the table.♥Have a communal bonding activity, especially if you don't know everyone well. We happened to luck out by having ridiculously personable cats to play/camwhore with and later on in the afternoon we played Text Twist, but a cute card game or a craft would be nice too.


Extra: This is how Marrisa actually, literally got me into my corset this morning! Re-enacted for the sake of the camera.