Intro post! Welcome to my blog

 Hello everyone! I’m Samii from the US and welcome to my new gyaru blog! 

My gyaru journey 

I’ve actually been interested in gyaru for quite a while, from my first trip to Japan in 2012 and my friend showed me Liz Lisa… I was instantly obsessed

Shibuya, 2012

When I got back, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole searching for Himekaji and the Dolly kei style that was so popular during that era. Confession time: I was completely enamored with Venus Angelic and wanted to be her! 

I also watched Kim Dao for her Liz Lisa and makeup content. Needless to say, I was far off from what you could consider gyaru... 

  An example of my take on jfashion at the time, complete with MySpace angle 

After being a tomboy my whole childhood and hating everything pink and girly, I was ready to dive in headfirst into trying to be a princess covered in frills and bows. I remember begging my mom for a Liz Lisa blouse from YesStyle and a fluffy pink coat for Christmas. (Remember when Liz Lisa, Glavil, and tutuha were actually being sold on YesStyle? So sad they don’t really sell jpn brands anymore.) It was my first real piece of brand and I was so excited! I wore my pink fluffy coat everywhere, but can't seem to find a good picture right now

Aside from that, I scrounged at stores like Forever 21, Claire’s, and TJ Maxx as well as secondhand stores for the best “Himekaji/Dolly kei” mish-mash with pastel elements that I could make as a broke college freshman. I never considered myself gyaru or even wanted to be gyaru, I just took inspiration from it - esp Hime and Himekaji - and wanted to be cute as possible. Looking back, it's a little embarrassing, but I was so happy and passionate that it's hard to hate on it.

I also dyed my hair black

A few years passed like this and then I went to Japan for the second time, this time to study for half a year in Kobe! I went crazy buying clothes. I found most of them at secondhand stores because the prices were so much more affordable than the ones off the rack. I've always been stingy 

Everyone in the international student center knew me as the girl with over-the-top girly and fuwa fuwa fashion. I was definitely used to standing out by then. Still, I was not wearing gyaru-style makeup.

in Osaka, wearing the Cecil McBee skirt that I found for ¥200

Finally, I graduated college and moved to the Philadelphia area. I started making friends in the local Japanese language meetup and gaining confidence, and dressed in OTT Hime - complete with proper gyaru makeup - for the very first time. I finally was living my princess dreams and I was soooo happy! 

I DIY'd my jewelry, nails, shoes, and hair accessories for this co*de and I can say I'm still pretty proud of it

I also randomly went through a small tsuyome/ora ora boom lol. I can only blame this on the fact that I started playing the Yakuza series at that time

lighter hair! I felt so confident here

I feel like I did my eyebrows better here than I do now, lol

went from wanting to be a kawaii princess to wanting to be furyou

I was always shiro gyaru because I physically cannot tan Though I recently found a promising fake tanning routine for people with my complexion... I'll write another post all about that!

But unfortunately, I was actually in a really bad relationship at the time. It slowly started to wear on my mental health. Despite my amazing friend circle (who actually helped me leave the relationship), I started to lose my sense of who I was, and I lost all my self-confidence along with it. I started walking with my head down and questioning everything I did, and even stopped dressing the style that made me so happy. Luckily those days are long in the past!

My confidence started to come back and even though I took a break from wearing gyaru and jfashion, I’ve never strayed too far from it. I kept almost all of my cherished brand pieces that I've accumulated; I’ve been keeping up with all the gals on Instagram, YouTube, and blogs and checking SnG!  I also never stopped curating my gyaru Pinterest board.

The elegant, mature girliness combined with a little sexy edge that Rady embodies is my biggest inspo right now

Oh, and I’ve never stopped using Japanese cosmetics even when I wasn’t wearing gyaru style makeup. Nothing else can compare!

 I was filled with a lot of self-doubt when I decided to get back into gyaru, even thinking that I was too old now (lol). But I realized I can wear different styles of clothing and makeup that suit me now that I’m more mature. I also realized even though I hadn’t been wearing the make, and most of my outfits lately consisted of a t-shirt and sweats (thanks, pandemic), I realized I never stopped living a gyaru lifestyle! My heart really has been taken with gyaru for the past decade, and it's where I feel the happiest and most confident. Sooo I decided to go fully into it with all my heart! 

 I’ve been feeling really nostalgic for the older days of the internet (I’m a millennial and not great with Tik Tok and Discord lol), so what better way to get hyped than with a blog? It's been ages since I ran a blog so please keep your eyes peeled for updates and improvements to my layout as I get into the swing of things!

Interests outside of gyaru

I like hiking and camping with my amazing boyfriend of 2 years (who I will call Yuchan). It's not a very gal hobby, I know! We go almost every week when the weather is nice. I also love video games, reading, writing, crafting, and I study Japanese in my spare time. I'm trying to pass the N2 soon...

I have a hamster named Mokona. I’m really into Hypnosis Mic right now and just started getting into Tamagotchi. (I'll probably do a post about my Tamagotchi boom later.) I love hamsters, Snoopy, Cinnamoroll, and still have a love for pastels that will never die. I watch anime sometimes these days and am addicted to shopping, iced coffee, and YouTube. Some of my favorite genres of music include Japanese rap and hip-hop (both modern and from the ~2010 era). My favorite band is AjiKan!

Sorry that this first post was a little long, eheh I just started a new gyaru insta, it's @Samii_Chu if you want to give it a follow! My normie insta is @Garbochii if you want updates on my hikes. I hope I can meet more amazing gals! I’m so excited to see where this journey will take me - talk again real soon! 

Thanks for reading!

Before I go - here's a pic of my new haircut! I'm super happy with it!

Ok, bye for real this time!