Saturday, January 30, 2010

Doll Face~On Beauty and Facials

Pretty face starts with pretty skin.  If you don't have good, clean skin, then even if you cover up with makeup, in the end you are just wearing a makeup mask.  Makeup should highlight your good features to draw attention away from your not-so-good features, not completely give you a different look.  You should never be ashamed to go out without makeup on.  It is not your shield against the world!


I would like to be able to make a Doll Face series on this blog talking about skin care and beauty.

The first part I would like to talk about today is the very basic skin care.  It is not necessary to use many cleansers or expensive creams in order to make your face beautiful.  In fact, usually simple is better!

Too much cleanser can dry out your skin, making it flaky and feeling tight.  Or your skin may overcompensate by creating more oil, resulting in breakouts and a greasy complexion.  Both we would like to avoid at all cost!

How should one clean the face?  First of all, determine if you need a commercial cleanser at all.  I only use a commercial cleanser (Burt's Bees deep cleansing cream) once a week.  Try some experimentation to see what works best for your skin.  Chances are, you do not need it every day.  I just wash my face with water morning and night, apply a moisturizer, and I am ready to go :)

Once a week I like to give myself a mini-facial.  here is a good instruction on how to give yourself a facial.  It feels luxurious and it also is good for your skin!  In place of the exfoliation scrub, I do a microdermabrasion treatment.  It can be expensive to buy the equipment for microdermabrasion brush and creams, so I actually just use an electric toothbrush ^^;  I bought a kid's Hello Kitty electric toothbrush because the bristles are softer, and it is cute :)  Also, it only cost $4.99 on sale (plus it came with Hello Kitty toothpaste!)  I noticed that my milia has been reduced significantly since I started to use it.  One should always be careful around the delicate eye area, of course, to avoid pulling on the skin that creates unsightly bags or wrinkles.  Be sure that you do not overdo the microdermabrasion, or it can actually harm your skin!  It takes off the dead skin cells and boosts circulation, but too much scrubbing can scratch newly formed skin and cause redness.

This is the style of kit I got.  Mine is a bunny type Hello Kitty (she wears a bunny suit) and is super cute!

I recommend this method of cheap microdermabrasion ^u^ Next time, I will talk about masks!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Lolita 100

I thought that the Lolita 100 meme would make a good first post!
It is rather long, so I will break it up into sections!

(1) HNと生年月日、出身を教えて下さい。(Screen-name and DOB, please tell me these~.)
Sparklewolfie, May 30
d_l icecreamskirt
This is the oldest photo of me I could find! The quality of the things I made were pretty bad ^^; I would like to say that I have improved a lot since then! This is when I was 17 years old, I believe :)

(2) 身長・体重・服のサイズ・靴のサイズは? (height, weight, clothing size and shoe size)
5'6" 135lbs. M 8

(3) ロリィタファッションをするようになったキッカケは? (why did you start to dress lolita?)
Because it looked so beautiful~

(4) 好きなロリィタのジャンルは? (which style of lolita do you like)
Sweet!! Though Classic is more easy for getting around without strange stares... but I wear sweet anyway :)
BTSSB
This is my number 1 dream dress - the BABY Parfait skirt in pink!

(5) 上記に対する拘りや、自分なりの定義などあれば、教えて下さい。("If you have your own definition of the above style or some strong opinion of it etc. please state it here.)I like sweet best because it feels like the energy is more HIGH and sweet, bubbly, and fun! That matches my personality too ;)

(6) ピアスは開けていますか? また、いくつあいてますか? (Do you have piercings? Where?)
Yes! One in each ear

(7) 好きなブランドは?(Which brands do you like?)
BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT will be my favorite always and forever!! I want to quote Momoko here and say something sappy, but I will not to save your sanity ;)
Also, I actually really love Innocent World... it feels like a good blend of Classic and Sweet lolita to me :)

(8) アナタの一番お気に入りのお洋服はどんな服ですか?(Which are your favourite clothes you wear?)
It is always changing because I am always making new clothes... of course right now it is the Rococo JSK which is my newest creation!

(9) ロリィタ友達は何人くらい居ますか?(how many lolita friends do you have?)
eh... a lot? :3 I like everybody! Even though there's quite an age gap in our group, I think everybody gets along pretty nicely :3 I kinda feel closer to the girls around my age though... more like we could have hung out in high school or something XD but I think we have a really good group!
Photobucket
This is from the most recent meetup. It was small, but a lot of fun!

(10) ロリィタをした上での一番良かったことは?(What do you love most about lolita?)
Creative expression! Or something. Actually, I just like being able to take time for myself to make myself look good. I have never done that before :D

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Hello! Please allow me to introduce myself~

Hello and thank you for visiting ABC Lolita!

First off, what is ABC Lolita?
ABC Lolita is a blog I have decided to start to post about lolita fashion and perhaps life in general from my point of view~

Why the blog title of ABC Lolita?
I am a lolita, I was born in America, but raised in a very traditional Chinese fashion because my parents moved here from Taiwan.  So I thought that it would be fun to create a blog depicting my views of the world, neither fitting into American or Chinese standards, but at the same time belonging to both!

Who are you?
 I am Grace, an entrepreneurial girl with big dreams, a (sometimes overly) idealistic view of the world, and a pair of scissors.  I hope to start my own lolita clothing line someday (is that not the dream of many other lolitas nowadays?)  You can follow my LiveJournal blog for my Brand, Carousel Cafe .  My plan is to launch officially Spring 2010!
I was born in America, bilingual (English and Mandarin), and interest in French and Taiwanese (yes, we have our own dialect!  But my understanding of it is poor), a seamstress and designer, and may be moving back to Taiwan for school fall of 2010!  This year will be a big year~
I have been a lolita since 2007
My favorite Brand is BABY, the STARS SHINE BRIGHT and my first Brand item was two lucky packs from BABY!  Actually, I only meant to buy one, but it was the mad rush of 2008 where they accidentally opened the ordering window about 20 minutes too early.  I was one of the girls who ordered early (^u^);;

Have more questions?  You can ask me on Form Spring:
Ask me anything! http://formspring.me/Sparklewolfie