Never take things too seriously. Consider life a gift and look stupid if you have to.

Haiii everyone!

Todays I want to talk about something I´ve been eager to talk about for a long time. Before I start

I´d like to state that everything I write is 100% my honest opinion. You´re obviously free to disagree with me and have your own opinion.

My first question is:

Gyaru is supposed to be a fun style, so why do I hear about so much drama and hate all the time?

I´m not only referring to the cyber bitching that happened recently, but also in general. Gyaru_Secrets for example. Why does it exist? Why can´t people put more effort into posting on Gyaru_Valentines?

Although I have to admit I check G_S now and then, but so do everyone else because it´s human nature to be curious and there is no reason in denying that. I won´t give that  ´´I only checked because someone told me I was on G_S´´-crap because we all know that´s pure bullshit. You checked because you either 1. wanted to  2. curiosity 3. both.

That aside, this post is not about: HEY EVERYONE! LET´S BE FRIENDS! BEST FRIENDS!!

No way, that won´t happen. You can´t be liked by everyone and you can´t like everyone, but surely you can keep the useless hate to yourself. What did mum tell you once? ´´If you´ve got nothing nice to say, DON´T SAY IT!´´. Listen to your mum because (in many situations) she knows best.

Second question:

You´re not perfect, they´re not perfect, why not help rather than... FAT!!! TOO BLACK!

TOO UGLY! UGLY MAKEUP!?

I´m the luckiest gal ever to live in Norway. There aren´t many gyarus left, but I´m close to the few ones and I have a good connection to the ex-gals! Thanks to the help from them I´ve improved so much in my ´´gal career´´ and I consider myself extremely blessed. No slandering, no bitching, only helpful constructive criticism. That´s how it should be in the rest of the gal community. No one were a perfect gyaru to begin with, everyone´s got to start somewhere. To prove what I just said, here is some pictures of two girls I respect a lot:

First up is Sari:

She is a finnish hime-gyaru! I´m not really a fan of hime-gyaru, but she has definitely got my admiration because she always put so much effort into her coords and she is way dedicated to the style. Just see how far she´s come? Improvement much!

My friend Frida and ex-gyaru who did great with the style! It´s unfortunate she´s not gyaru anymore, but she was one of my biggest inspiration when I was a ´´newbie´´. She´s gone through great changes.

...and to take it one step further, even models had to starts from somewhere :

Okarie

Maya Mori

So to say that someone´s not doing this well or not doing that well is not very helpful if you can´t tell them WHY. When it comes to race and body can someone show me where it´s written that big girls and black girls can´t be gyaru? I´ve seen many big girls who do gyaru flawlessly and the same goes with black girls! Fashion and style are not only for one type of body or race, people who think like that are way too narrow minded and need to let it go.

Third, but not least:

Too much focus on weight loss!

It´s completely fine to be cautious about what you eat and put effort into something you think will give great result, but when it´s taking over your life and causing depression because ´´why can´t I loose weight?´´ it´s gone way beyond the limit of what´s healthy. I´ve seen many skinny Gals that complain about how´´ fat´´ they are...

...

bitch please

Can I just slap you all?

You all look gorgeous and you know it, or you SHOULD know it. If not, there is something wrong with your self-esteem and THAT´S what you should be working with.

Learn to embrace your body and remember that not everyone was meant to be super skinny. Think about it this way. Isn´t it great enough that gyarus comes in all different sizes and shapes? It would be extremely boring if girls all had the same body. Having boobs, ass, hips or a bit of flabby tights is NOT fat.

The last thing I wanna say is HAVE FUN!

Whether it´s Gyaru, Lolita, Visual kei or other types of fashion you should have fun while practicing the style. If not, what´s the point? You don´t need to impress anybody, but yourself. There is no reason to throw shade at other girls because that won´t improve your style ever and to the gals and galos that has been through a lot, just remember:

The best revenge is to show how little you care, live on and do better because those who tries to bring you down are already below you.

 The freedom to express yourself through your fashion and at the same time have fun with it, that´s what gyaru is to me. Never take things too seriously. Consider life a gift and look stupid if you have to.

Always remember EGG´s slogan: 

Get wild and be sexy!

because

Girls just wanna have fun!

Have a good evening!

-Howalon

GALTALK ! pt. 3: ´´ No circle lenses = no gyaru?´´

Hi to all gyarus and non-gyarus!

Today I wanna talk about a issue that has been debated about before in the gal community. Today I wanted to share my opinions about this matter. I even skipped jogging to finish this post, so you better read to the very end lol.

The issue is:

Are you not gyaru  if you don´t wear circle lenses?

I assume the majority here know what circle lenses are and if not, here is a short and precise description:

´´Lenses that increase the size of your iris, founded in Korea.´´

Those lenses has been quite popular for gyarus to wear up the years and most gyarus (models) today wear them as you can see in the pictures below:

       

However lately the focus on the lenses has become so big that people who don´t wear circle lenses (or can´t wear lenses) have been slaughtered with criticism for ´´not being gyaru enough´´. This especially happen in the gaijin gyaru community.

I had a really long debate with myself and really gave gyaru a second thought, for what is it that makes a girl gyaru?

Let´s face it.

There´s been made no such rule as ´´you have to wear circle lenses in order to be gyaru´´ ever.

Gyaru in fact started with ganguro, gonguro, yamamba which many of the gyarus didn´t wear lenses at all.

 prove me wrong!!! 

One page issue from old Egg with Buriteri. The girl who started it all.

Is she wearing lenses? Does she not look gal enough to you?

There are also models/gyarus today who don´t wear lenses. Still they look undeniably gyaru.

Sena. Model for Soul Sister magazine.

Momoko Ogihara. Producer for Murua

Ena Matsumoto. Producer for Emoda.

There are also gaijin gyarus that has proves this parochial statement wrong.

Here goes:

If you´re a part of the gaijin gyaru community you might know just as well as I who this piece of hotness is. If not: His name is Pin, a finnish gyaru who is one of the few gaijins today that still practices manba. I´ve never seen Pin wear circle lenses, yet one of the gaijins that looks the most gyaru in my opinion and I´m sure I´m not alone about it.

For those who are into shiro-gyaru (gyaru with no tan), here is a another gaijin gyaru who don´t wear circle lenses and yet pulls it off amazingly well:

She´s called Puni (also a finnish gyaru) and is most known for wearing glasses, but lately she´s been without. Does this not look gal to you?

So what makes them gyaru? If you´ve not noticed it already I´ll tell you. It´s not about the lenses.

Screw the lenses, they gives the effect of bigger eyes and so be it, but it´s the contour and highlight.

Contour highlight contour highlight LE CON-TOUR.

None of the girls in those pics has skipped over the contouring-part and with a reason. Contour is so important for a gyaru and it´s the little extra that really makes shows difference between a gal and a girl.

An another point is the hair. Hair is so important for a gyaru, you can see in all the pics above the girls made effort to style their hair.

The same opinions was shared with Valentine in this video made my LadyLi a few years ago:

4:50

You´ve got the full package here.

 (Ps. also recommend this video to watch if you´re new at the gyaru style and looking for some good tips).

Did anyone of them say that you HAVE to wear lenses in order to be considered gyaru?

The lenses wasn´t even invented in Japan. So how people started to focus so much on them is beyond me. Just find your style, have fun with it, practice on make-up , be creative and find out in what way it will make you looks the most gyaru. If you like to wear circle lenses, then by all means, do it! I´m not going against them here, but just because you do and can wear them , doesn´t mean everyone wants to or have the chance so don´t bury people with childish comments.

Variety is what makes every gyaru unique and it should always be that way.

-Xiao

GALTALK! pt.2: Being a gyaru, two-faced?!

This is meant for my Norwegian readers, however I´ll write this in english nonetheless as some of you gaijin gyarus might´ve faced the same issues and find this interesting.

Ok as a gyaru I have come to prefer heavy make-up rather than light make-up (like most people in Norway do). I put on lenses, put on lashes, contour my face whenever I see an opportunity and doll myself up. That´s a part of what has become my ´´gyaru-lifestyle´´. However as gyaru is still rather unknown here in Norway I often get stared at to the point where people started to ask me questions I now will answer to the ´´public´´:


´´Don´t you feel ugly when not wearing gyaru make-up? ´´

No. I don´t and I have never felt so, because I know I´m not ugly without . Instead I feel different because I DO look different. Maybe more plain, but that´s all about it. I do go out without make-up and I do go to school with no gyaru make-up. My face without make-up has never been a issue to me. If I walked around all the time thinking about how ´úgly´´I´ll become when removing the make-up I might just quit gyaru. 


´´Do you worry about what other people think of your drastic change in look with and without gyaru make-up?´´

Never have, never will. What other people think about my face is their problem. Some people might think it´s looks rather cool, while some people might think I´m a completely fuglyface and so be it because they´re free to think whatever makes them happy. People have different opinions about what looks good and what does not. I have never been afraid of going to school one day with full gyaru-make and the next day with plain and simple make. If you ever thought I was being insecure about my look because of gyaru, please think again. Gyaru-make is not a way to hide my ´´natural´´-face as I already said: I don´t have a problem with my make-upless face. However I think the gyaru-look is interesting and something extraordinary, that´s why I enjoy doing it. My two faces are both me and I treasure them both equally.

Don´t your friend think ´´wtf?´´

I believe my friends are honest enough to tell me if they find it necessary. I would never get offended by their opinion , but I also believe it´s not only my face that counts and that despite having two different faces, my personality still stays the same. Gyaru is like a part of me. It sounds stupid, but that´s how it is.

Maybe everything I´ve been ranting about till now sounds a little bit arrogant to you, but to me it´s just about not giving a damn (and get bothered by other people´s opinions) and live your life. Otherwise girl, you´re gonna regret it.

GALTALK! pt.1: ''What is gyaru?'' ♡

Lately I've gotten quite many of these '' oh you're gyaru? You mean those super tan girls with crazy hair and white eyeshadow around their eyes? Ganguro or something?'' 

.......................

Comments like these tend to annoy me, but I don't have the right to get annoyed because not everyone know what Gyaru is....captain obvious. Then the idea of making a gyaru guide (I didn't know what to call it OK!) struck me. I know quite many of my readers don't really know what Gyaru is and since I'm really passionate about this style I would like to share my few words with you. Whether you're new to the style, wanna try it out or simply just interested in learning more. Feel free to take your time and read.

So...what is Gyaru exactly?

The term ''Gyaru'' itself is a japanese term that comes from the english word ''GAL'' that of girl being ''gaaru'' ( gyaru) . It's a type of japanese street fashion that has it's origins from the 1970s. 

Gyaru is very commonly referred as ''Ganguro or Mamba'' by people in western countries, but Gyaru is much more than chocolate covered monkeys. Ganguro and Mamba are only two of many subcategories of Gyaru who started in the 1990's and died out in early 2000's (although there are still some people practising the style today). 

As I mentioned earlier the Gyaru style started to get popular in the 1970's as an indirect rebellion towards the traditional Japanese ideal of beauty  (black hair and pale skin). Gyaru is a girly-glam style, breaking away from all traditionals. It is often identified as a sign of rebellious youths. 

Gyarus are known to use fake lashes, cosmetic circle lences, bleached hair (often in ash blonde, light brown or different shades of blonde or brown ) and  excessively decorated nails. Typically Gyarus are often known for being quite tan, but that's not always the case. Those past years, pale gyarus have become more and more popular.

Some examples of Gyarus (models and non-models):

Western countries (especially Scandinavian countries) are still unknown to the term ''Gyaru'' , not to mention the style itself. While in Asian coutries it's more widespread. By making this post I hope it will give people more knowledge about Gyaru and the Gyaru culture and if it's possible I would like to see more Gyarus in Norway in the future. At the moment I admit Norway is probably the country in Europe that has fewest Gyarus. YOU SUCK NORWAY

I plan to make posts about some of the subcategories soon, but this short summary will have to do for now.

-Xiao-

Text copyright: Howalon
Source: Wikipedia , self-knowledge