Swimmer and Ma*rs Haul - Nostalgia and Cuteness & Gyaru Feels

Hey cuties!

First of all I just want to apologise that this post is a little late, both me and my sister Amy have been working hard sewing and making for our shop as we want to get ready to do some Christmas stalls for the first time. It's kind of nerve wracking as we haven't done it before and we've been coming up with new designs so it's really taken up all of our attention.

But when I got my swimmer order from Lolita Desu, I knew I had to blog about it! Also Amy will be popping in to talk about the Ma*rs hat she got when Shibuya 109 had a sale.

Hooray! Here's my haul. Swimmer Japan has been one of my favourite brands for a while with its magical girl nostalgic cute vibe. So when it recently closed I thought I missed my chance on getting some items, but I started seeing a few places online selling swimmer goods. For me the best prices were at an online shop called Lolita Desu. They sell lolita fashion but also other Japanese fashion styles and cute home ware goods. They have a big Swimmer collection too and their worldwide shipping was pretty good too.

I have a few cutesy things in my room, but I think what I got will add to my collection nicely. The milkshake hair comb totally gives me this American 50's vibe and I couldn't choose between these pocket mirrors so got both! I'm obsessed with teddy bears and bears mostly because it is my nickname (Claire bear) and this one looks the cutest, although I'm not fully sure why its in a frying pan.

Inside they have these really cute combs but they've seem to scratched up the mirrors inside. They photographed better than they actually are but it doesn't really matter as I'm just using them for decorative purposes.

These were the main reason why I made the order. I've been pining after the blue box on the right for years. Swimmer does lots of cute home ware and I dreamed of getting the mirror and more that come from that set too. Just totally full magical girl vibes. The one on the right I just happened to come across whilst looking, its more of a vanity box cause it has a mirror inside and it's all zodiac themed!

Well this is the end of my first Swimmer haul, but I know I'll be buying even more and more. Maybe more bigger items...

Hey Amy here now! I spied this hat the moment it came out when I was scrolling through Shibuya 109 online. I thought it was really cute and different but I didn't have a set outfit for it yet so couldn't justify buying it as I'm trying to be strict on myself. But when it hit the sales pretty cheap, oh boy I had to have it, and I checked Ma*rs own shop it was even cheaper so it went into my cart straight away. I love the straw hat cute country feel but it also reminds me of a vintage pill box hat which really makes it something different to me. Two of my loves wrapped together.

Oh and Himena modelled the hat looking totally cute so that totally convinced me as well.

So this is our joint haul, both totally different vibes but they both arrived at the same time so we put them together.

Hope you liked the post~!

Clairey and Amy xx

Cutie Creator Taobao Small Haul & Review - The Basics

Hi cuties, today I have a really cute and needed Cutie Creator haul. I've heard about the Taobao shop a lot on blogs and YouTube and how good value it is for its small price. Currently I'm building my lolita wardrobe slowly through pickiness and budget, so I need to be able to wear what I have multiple ways. I've got pretty far with what I already had with wearing hime gyaru before but I've found myself not wearing one dress as much and missing some basics. So I gathered my dresses, laid them out and went through them one by one to see what I'm missing or how I could wear it differently. So here is what I bought, I've split it between basics and new life pieces.

The Basics

Double rose head bow with cherub chain detailing £7.40

My wardrobe colours are white or cream x pink or lilac and I didn't have one solely white/cream head piece. I have two dresses that don't include pink which didn't come with head wear so this was needed a long time ago. Quality wise everything was good except the band aid tape binding at the bottom, but that can easily be replaced quickly. I really love the cherub charm on the pearl chain and it reminds me of Rosemarie Seoir so overall I'm quite happy with this item bar the ugly band aid tape.

White lace wrist cuffs £6.30

As I said before with my wardrobe colour way nearly all of my blouses are white so some white wrist cuffs were on the list! I really like the bow and drop bead charm and I bought them because of that. The length is a little long but I haven't worn them yet so I will wait and see how I like it. The lace is soft and I also like the ribbon choice on the cuffs too so I'm very happy with these and glad to finally have some.

New Life

Rose pearl broach/clip £4.40
I bought this to go with my love potions dress, the metallic goes well with the magical girl nature of the print. The flowers are made out of a paper/gauze however it does look really nice so I don't mind. the pearl chain is quite stiff and maintains its shape well. The broach/clip fixture is really secure and good quality too.

Flower Broach Chain £8.40
I bought this to go with many different dresses and update them but my solid dresses in particular. I tried to buy one of these in pink as well however it sold out. Solid dresses can be dressed up or down easily and this will completely transform those dresses. When it arrived it came safely in this box too which I now use to store my earrings. I love this piece the drop gem charm is multicoloured and the chain is nice and strong too. I'm really happy with this and shall try pick up the other colours in the future.

So this was my small haul, I was really happy with everything and it has opened up my wardrobe at such little cost. I'll definitely shop at Cutie Creator again too as I was really strict with what I bought since I didn't know the quality. There is so many different things to buy from there and they've already added new products since I've ordered. Hopefully it cools down soon so I can wear my new pieces and lolita wardrobe again, I've missed it!

Blog soon

Amy xx

Craft Update No 1 - Pink Knitting, Pretty Yarns, Floral Paradise & Patches

Hi Cuties

I'm so excited to do our first craft update! Amy's set up her past craft history well in her lolita sewing post but I like to craft too! Between us we like to sew, knit and DIY. I'm going to split up the post by showing my updates and then my twins Amy's.

Clairey

After showing my pin and patch collection I decided to take one of my jackets and lay out some of my patches. I want to have this jacket to have a sweet kawai feel and I already realise that I need more patches, but this is a good start for sure!

I've also been working on items for our shop Magical Harts. I'm planning on making this flower bow a necklace. I've just got to finish adding the flowers, then dotting on some pink crystals to make it really pop. I think I might also try different colorways! Also I made another bear bracelet which is super pink and romantic. When I'm crafting I normally get a lid of a box and put everything on and get started! Keeps everything in front of me and I can craft where I want to!

Amy

In my passion I steamed ahead with my knitting without taking any photos at all. When I last showed my jumper it was at the mock belt area and now I'm finishing off the last strap. I was a bit nervous with continuing my jumper as finishing it would mean assembling it which I haven't done before. However once again YouTube has been my savior and the next techniques I need to do are a lot easier that I thought. Learning all these new things has inspired me to tackle new patterns in the future.

Which leads to my new yarn purchases, Drops Alpaca boucle in off white and Brushed Alpaca Silk in powder pink. I was looking for a mohair yarn for my next pattern and found the Drops yarn. I never knitted with alpaca fibre and the yarn really interested me as a mock mohair. I plan to take this knitting with me on holiday so I chose a simple project of a ballerina wrap, which I think will go well with lolita and my more casual clothes. Hopefully by the next update I'll have finished the jumper and started on a large head bow to go with it hime style. I absolutely love the yarn I've bought because it looks so dreamy, and it's just so soft! 

And now back to crafting, blog soon! xoxo

Clairey and Amy 

Sunny Chester Haul - Dr Martens Lush and Disney

Hi cuties!
Earlier this month Clairey and I went on a city break to Chester in Cheshire. Chester is known for being a historic city being found as a Roman fort and has near complete city walls which you can walk around Chester on. It also has adorable black and white shop buildings which are double stacked having another shop on top of them all in the old tudor style. Oh and a Roman amphitheater too and so much more that we didn't take any photos of as it was 30 degrees Celsius both days! We had lots of fun in Chester though shopping, sightseeing and then retreating to cafes and our hotel for cool AC when it got too hot.

However when we got home we did take photos of our combined haul!

When we first arrived in Chester we walked around in the evening to find everything and get a clue where we were we spotted a Doc Martens shop that was having a summer sale so we decided to definitely hit it up the day after and here is what we bought! Clairey bought the Yelena iced metallic pink sandals and I bought the Virginia shoe in lilac as well as pink ribbon laces to wear with them. When we walked in the store we didn't intend to buy any shoes but we fell in love with them and I did really need a pair of summery shoes however, I didn't know they would be docs! If you can see in the picture the pink sandals have been chewed up a bit near the buckle. Unfortunately our loveable baby boy Archie, our Golden Retriever puppy has been teething and managed to run away with them. Luckily it's not the main bit of the shoe so a bit of a doh moment. But it won't stop us from naming and shaming him.

  

We popped into Lush later to pick up a lip balm and something new which turned out to be Jason and the Argan oil shampoo bar which seems to be now sold out online. The shop assistant we had was really good with suggesting which shampoo bar to get and gave good tips on how to keep it such as letting it drip dry. We don't have a rack to let it dry on so I had to get creative and use this.

Rilakkuma to the rescue! Luckily with the warm weather we've been having I've been able to hang the basket outside to dry (and forget it too.) I hope the birds don't get confused and think it's food!

After Lush Clairey and I found Disney which was also having a big sale, we planned the city break at a good time didn't we? Everything was pretty cheap too! Clairey managed to get these Ufufy note pads for £5 and they have a cute velvet touch feel on them. Mickey and Minnie are lined, Donald and Daisy are square and Goofy is blank. She also got the Stich and Angel Ufufy mini's for £3 too, though we kind of wish there was a Lilo and Scrump set too!

Being just our luck the day we finally get around to taking photographs there was rain after weeks of sunshine! So our apologies for the grey photo. Lastly we popped in the very large Primark, we saw lots of new things our little Primark at home didn't have. In the end we were quite good and we bought the Barbie sleep top to share (We both share our wardrobes a lot, it's good being a twin!) Amy picked up some socks to wear with her new docs and Clairey bought some Stitch socks.

After our stay at Chester we visited Quarry Bank Mill a National Trust property, it was a cotton mill where you could also see the owners house, the employee village and more. There has been a television show based of the mill and the true stories of the people who worked there too. In the gift shop you can buy cotton fabric that was woven on the looms in the mill with print designs designed by local artists and printed locally too! I bought this fabric which has scenes of all the different places at the mill but also has little textile motifs too. I plan to make a lolita skirt with a bustle back as I only got a metre of this fabric having already spent up in Chester. I was so surprised that actually sold fabric made on the looms and probably chatted the lady's ear off with my excitement.

In the end I think we had a pretty good haul, we did want to buy more clothing for summer but getting the docs make up for it. We never expected to get our docs but seeing the summer sale made us take a peek and we really got our dream shoes. We both really loved Chester and definitely want to go back, and maybe next time we'll get some better photos of the place.

Blog soon xxx

Clairey & Amy

Love Potions Casual Coord

Jsk: Love Potions - Rocky Taobao

Cutsew: Handmade by me
Cardigan: Offbrand
Underskirt: MeLikesTea
Beret and Tights: Offbrand

Crown Bracelet: Jesus Diamante
Bear Bracelet: Magical Harts

When I was planning this coord I really wanted to wear my Love Potions jsk again because the first time I wore it the photo quality unfortunately was really poor. My first coord with this dress was a winter Hime coord but recently I've been wanting to wear causal lolita to prove to myself I can wear it more in general life. My Hime coords take endurance with the full on hair pieces and I want to be able to wear my dresses in more simple ways too! The colours of the jsk are very soft, dreamy and mostly pink so I wanted to stick to pink and whites in my coord so I could match to my underskirt as well. The dress is quite on the short side for lolita dresses so an underskirt is definitely a must!

I think all the different pink tones work well, with the soft pinks and the pop of stronger pink on the beret. The wig is a baby pink/blonde Starlet wig from Lockshop wigs and is my go to wig when not wearing my prisila hair pieces. I definitely want to find some more lolita wigs as I like wearing hats especially berets which I can't wear with hime bump or pigtails. I used the waist bow from the jsk on my cutsew neckline as I found when wearing the large ruffle collar it needed something to balance it out. 

This was the first bear bracelet I ever made as a prototype before I started making them for my shop Magical Harts I made it to match my wardrobe with the pink and white colour way. I really think teddy bears are cute and was super inspired by seeing all the sweet lolita teddy bear prints. I hope to get one myself in pink some day but I haven't found the dress yet.

Here's my eye make up, I wanted to match the pink and gold tones that are in my dress and I'm quite happy with the end result. I used a pink eye shadow from Colourpop as a base for the pink glitter I used from a palette my twin bought me. I then used a golden highlighter for my inner corner and used my staple diamond lash lashes. I don't know if you can tell in the close up but I naturally have two different colour eyes which always provides different results with my lenses!

I definitely now want to wear more casual lolita coords but I'm currently melting away in this heatwave. Has anyone else given up on dressing up nicely in the heat?

Blog soon
Amy 

My Kawaii Pin & Patch Collection!

Hi cuties!

So today's post is something I'm so excited to share, my cute pin and patch collection! I love that you really can show who you are as a person and what you like straight away by pinning and patching up your jacket making it something unique to you. I've always been into patches but recently pins have become really popular with loads of kawaii artists now coming out with their own designs you can really mix and match. I'd thought I'd give you a little sneak peak at my collection at the top but I'll be breaking down my collection in this post with all the links of course!

So let's start with the pins~

Disney Pins
Beauty and the Beast 4 piece set and Duffy pin
I got these pins when me and Amy went to Disney Land Paris and they're such a lovely reminder to have of our trip. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite films ever so I had to get a pin set even if it is a little on the basic side. Duffy was really popular at Disney Land Paris and they also had their version of "build a bear" where you can get Duffy or Shellie May with loads of cute outfits and I so wish I got one but I was getting short of money at the end.

Top to Bottom, Left to Right.

First two Shiroi Room, Sugarbones, Bubblegum Emporium and Mori Galaxy. 

Shiroi Room, is one of my favorite artists at the moment. I have loads and loads of her prints all over my room. Her work is always cutesy and has a Japanese fashion edge. Sailor Moon is my favorite anime ever and I'm trying to watch all of the original again. The makers of the kawaii Illuminati pin is an amazing shop we've been a supporter of for a while and I couldn't recommend them enough. I can't not mention that the moth pin glows in the dark. 

All of these pins except from the unicorn I got for my birthday from my twin! I love the pastel custesy theme and they've actually got glitter in them too. I've got total heart eyes for that cake. I got the unicorn pin whilst I was on holiday but I do think they have an online shop too. It's wooden so it is a nice contrast to my other pins.

Onto the patches.

Sugarbones
Wow, wow wow. The magical theme continues and I absolutely love this back patch. I love the heart bubbles plus the mermaid looks pretty bad ass. The quality of these patches are amazing too.

ShiroiRoom
I think these two patches really show my style. Dark with a bit of sweet. I really cant choose!

These were some more patches that were gifts. The heart gem is actually iridescent and the purple thread with it goes so well. I love the font of the everything sucks patch!

Lillian Cuda 
I really really love these patches. I have already sewn some on my other jacket and she really mixes cute with creepy well. I def want to buy some more patches from her. I love that you can have the same design but on different colored fabric.

Also I'm using the pins me and my twin designed for our shop Magical Harts~ They're very magical girl and Japanese fashion inspired and over the top cute!

I've already started on one jacket but I already have plans for my next two, cant help myself!

I've only sewn these patches on the back so far and haven't added any pins yet as I want to fully patch it first. Saying this again, but isn't Lillian Cuda awesome!

And these are my two other jackets! The pink one is from Primark and it has a utility feel but the pastel makes it so cute. It may be a little harder to patch as it pretty distressed and ripped but I think I can make it work. I got the denim shirt from a vintage fair and I may need to alter it a bit to fit better but I love the almost cowboy like features near the collar.

And that's my patch and pin collection! I know this post was a little on the long side but I wanted to fit everything in! In the future me and Amy will be doing craft update posts and I'll be including my progress on these jackets along with other things!

What items do you collect?

Clairey

Lolita Wardrobe 2018 Midway

Hello cuties, I know this post is usually done at the start or end of the year but I wanted to show of my wardrobe I've made so far. It's only last winter that I seriously got into lolita and started to understand what I like so it isn't a massive wardrobe but I'm very happy with it. 

Before I get started I would describe my style as hime (I think hime really comes to life with hair and jewellery, lolita can be really dressed up or dressed down.), sweet and building up to casual. My colours are pink, white/cream and lilac and I would also say that I am a part time lolita and don't wear it too often. Also to make it easier I haven't included many 'normal' off brand pieces to try keep down on pictures.

Jsk

Oldest left to newest right.

Perfume jsk Fraises Taobao, Dreamy Fairy Angelic pretty in pink and lilac, Love Potion Rocky Taobao and Dream Heart Day and Night Butterfly Sling Jsk Rocky Taobao. 

The perfume jsk was the first ever jsk I bought, I bought it second hand off someone on Facebook, I got it because I loved the motifs and it was a good price. Looking back on it now, it isn't the exact style I was going for at the time but now that I want to do casual it works quite well. I love my Dreamy Fairy dresses they're so easy to wear and can be dressed up nicely for hime. I love the prints that Rocky come out with and they're very affordable, not tall friendly but I have an underskirt and adjust the straps. Look out for a review on the newest dress in the future.

Blouses

Oldest left to newest right.

ShinkuRose blouse, New Look jumper, Bunny House Hime sleeve blouse, handmade cutsew and Lady Sloth crop blouse.

Again with my oldest purchase you can see it doesn't perfectly fit in with the others, it was made to my measurements and is lovely quality but I wasn't focused enough with my style at the start. With my height I ordered many custom blouses and can recommend Shinku Rose, Bunny House and Lady Sloth to anyone that needs custom sizes. I want to make more cut sews for myself as they're perfect for casual and also so much fun to make!

Skirts

Oldest left to newest right.
Metamorphose Lucky Pack skirt, MeLikesTea underskirt and Handmade plaid skirt.

This is where I'm lacking the most but I don't like to buy brand skirts in as they don't fit well. My Metamorphose skirt was bought back when I wore Hime gyaru and has a nice jewellery print on it. I've got many skirt projects in the pipeline though with my large pile of fabric waiting!

Jackets and Outer

Oldest left to newest right.
La Pafait bolero, BTSSB Teddy Ribbon cape, Handmade Matching Plaid Otome no Sewing cape and Crop Cardigan.

I'm really happy with my jackets nearly all of them are winter pieces but I only really wear outer pieces in the winter. I included one of the many crop cardigans I use for wearing lolita casually which I have in different colours as they're so easy and useful. 

Accessories
I'm not going to list them all but this is the collection I'm most proud of. I've carried many pieces forward from my Hime Gyaru days with my La Pafait and Jesus Diamante necklaces/headpieces and they all hold a lot of joy to me as I hunted them out from auction sites. My jewellery is where my lolita becomes quite Hime and it really does transform my wardrobe. You might spy a few Cutie Creator pieces which I will be doing a review on soon. I love my indie brand pieces too with Bubblegum Emporium and Puvithel being favourites. But I think all of this selection shows the hunt I had for the special items, the rare pieces or just the perfect colour or motif to go with a dress which was really fun and makes it special when it all works together. Btw the pink Onespo fox muffler is faux fur and the bear bracelet near the bottom left is handmade by me and my twin and available in our Etsy Store Magical Harts!

Bags

Oldest left to newest right.
Diamond Honey Heart Ita Bag and Angelic Pretty Heart Enamel Bag.
Since it was nearly 30 degrees C when taking these photos and having to turn off the fan so I could shoot them, I just decided to take photos of pure lolita company bags. My twin and I bought two of the ita bags together when the pre order came out and we both took them to Disney and twinned together, it's such a big bag so it was perfect for it. The Angelic Pretty bag was a gift from my twin so is very special to me, it is a micro bag and the complete opposite to the Diamond Honey one!

So that's my wardrobe so far! I'm quite happy with it considering it's only a baby part time wardrobe. I love dressing and planning my Lolita coords I feel I can make a lot of different outfits with the pieces I have and I look forward to finding new pieces and curating my wardrobe further.

What piece are you coveting for your wardrobe next?

Blog soon x
Amy

Life's a Peach at the Weekend Festival - Beauty Haul & Thoughts

Hi cuties!

I adore makeup, I really really do. It's one of my main loves next to sewing and Japanese fashion. So when I started running out and finishing some of my products I wanted to try out some new things that would be perfect for summer.

I ended up ordering from Beauty Bay (an online makeup shop, based in the UK but ships worldwide) and Debenhams. From Beauty Bay I got the Weekend Festival 10 piece Brush Set by BH Cosmetics after getting the Weekend Festival palette and loving it. I also got some Blotting papers from BH Cosmetics too and I ended up getting a freebie too. I got the Eyeko Lash Alert mascara in a cute little travel size. From Debenhams I got the Sex on the Peach bundle from Too Faced after seeing it on Fyi Beauty (a UK beauty instagram). 

So what's inside this bundle? Well it comes with full sized Better than Sex mascara and Peach Perfect setting powder as well as travel sized Primed and Peachy a matte face primer and Peach Mist mattifying setting spray. It retailed for £33 which is quite a saving for all these products which finally made me want to try some of the Too Faced Peach range.

First of all I love peaches, and this collection smells just like them but not in an over the top way. I've already had the Better than Sex mascara a few times before and it is one of my favorites for sure. It really does lift and makes your lashes look so thick so I was pretty happy to see it included. The only problam I can have with it is that it can sometimes get a little clumpy on the brush. But I was really here for the peach collection.

Primed and Peachy is a cooling matte skin perfecting primer. I was kind of nervous using a matte primer because if my skin can get a little oily, when I've used matte primers before they can make my skin feel greasey and feels like it's just sliding around. The product comes out peach coloured but it doesn't come off that way on the skin. I've worn it a few times now and I'm really impressed. It is a thick primer but I have no problems with it being oily or feeling like it's sliding around. It truly is a great matte base and I'll definitely be rebuying this. 

Next up is the setting powder which actually is my fave product of the bundle. The packaging is amazing and you are getting a lot of product. The sifter even is in a peach shape. It's such a fine powder and feels perfect on the skin and the scent isn't overpowering at all for me. 

Lastly up is the Peach Mist setting spray. I've heard some people complain that it smells very alcoholic which even though I could smell it a little it didn't bother me although the scent is more strong so it could be a problem for some people. The spray comes out as mist but me and my twin kept having problems with the spray button getting stuck and the nozzle getting build up so it wouldn't spray properly. I would say it did perform well keeping my makeup on especially as it was extremely hot when I was wearing it too. But I don't think I'll get this again.

Now onto the Beauty Bay portion of the haul which was a bit of a disappointment but not on Beauty Bay's part. They delivered it really quickly and packed it well. It was more on the BH Cosmetics brush bundle. I have seen some great reviews for BH brushes before and seeing how cheap they were at £22 for 10 brushes I decided to check them out. The bristles are really soft and the brush handle itself felt nice to hold but I can't use most of these brushes. They hardly have any density or firmness so when I tried to use them to contour and apply eye makeup it wouldn't really apply any product and when it did splayed them all over my face where I didn't want it. The eye shadow blending brush was way too long so it was hard to control. I think I can use about four of these brushes. I'm sure BH has some great brushes but I would give the Weekend Festival bundle a miss. I haven't tried out the blotting papers yet but they're nice and cheap at £2.95.

The Eyeko mascara is pretty nice. It's infused with Caffeine, Arginine and Biotinoyl which I don't understand how caffeine is good for your lashes but hey. It has a curved brush which was amazing for my lower lashes as it curved to their natural shape but I don't think I'll be reaching for this mascara over my other ones.

So overall, I'm more happy with my Debenhams haul than the Beauty Bay but I'm glad I tried some new things. I think for me brushes are something I can't just cheap out on. 

So what did you think to this post? I really wanted to include more beauty type posts on the blog as I love reading beauty posts myself. 

Thanks for reading~

Clairey xxx