Cardiff Comic Con!

 Hey everyone,

So I actually had my first con this weekend, I couldn't go last year because I was on holiday, so this was all a brand new thing for me. Cardiff is only a small place, but the turnout was pretty huge. It's mainly geared towards the comic books and superheroes but there was a super adorable Japanese/Korean stand and a few anime related stalls! There were loads of cosplayers though, there was Princess Mononoke and Gasai Yuno and Naruto and ahhhh it was great! I wish I'd got more photos >.<

(^ This is basically what I did, flapped like some kind of demented bird everytime I found a cute)

 I was going to cosplay Mikasa, but my jacket didn't arrive on time (＃｀д´)ﾉ

I did wear my awesome EOS Dolly Eye Violet contacts though! (see my previous post) and scared a few children on the way to the con

I mentioned this in a previous post and how I was going to dress Joe up as Eren/Levi. Well, obviously he wouldn't feel comfortable doing it on his own, so he let me try out titan Eren make-up anyway. I was pretty proud of the result as it was my first time and all I had to work with was a basic Elf cosmetics palette.

(I'm aware there's probably a few errors, I didn't have an image with me when I was doing it) 

 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

I have no idea at all why the image on the left has gone blue o.o

(You can check out these images properly on my instagram: @Lookaliveholly)

  

We bought loads of awesome stuff! I think we spent about £60?! >.<
Loads of comics, and I got to meet the AMAZING artist DestinyBlue, who is super popular on deviantart. I bought two of her prints and she signed them for me ヽ( ★ω★)ノ It was great to see a devfamous artist who wasn't expecting crazy prices for her artwork!

Go look at her art here: http://destinyblue.deviantart.com/
(She's my new senpai, I'm absolutely in love with her work and it's kinda inspired me to get my shit together and get some real work done, rather than half assed cartoons)

Here's some photos from the con! First is mine, others are all by this photographer: http://www.valleysshutterbug.com/2014/03/cardiff-film-and-comic-con-2014.html

Other updates:

I've just finished the anima Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) and I absolutely loved it. Yuno has been added to my cos-list. I really recommend it if you into anime which isn't all smiles and sunshine. I'm currently watching Hamatora, which was recently recommended by a friend and I'm only on episode 3 and I'm in love with Nice >w<

I've also kinda stopped giving a fuck about what people think about my love of Japan. I don't see why it should bother people, loads of Brit's bum America, is it any different because it's Japan? I like Japanese society better, they don't care about what you do as long as it's not harming anyone, the food is amazing, their culture is so beautiful and every Japanese person I've ever met has been super kind and polite... I don't know, Britain is pretty cool, I do like it here, but man I wanna visit Japan so badly. 

Just gonna go ahead and buy a million wigs and cosplays and maid outfits and uniforms and all that usual stuff. At least I'm not a weeabo using broken Japanese and pretending to be Asian.. right?

Eh, if anyone has a problem I can just send them this. 

That's it for todays post, bit all over the place and pointless but oh well.

Thanks for reading,
Love,
 Holly x

Pinky Paradise Circle Lenses Review! - EOS Dolly Eye Violet

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, been super super busy with college and exams and coursework :(
(Skip the purple text to go straight to the review!)

I've made posts about Pinky Paradise recently but I thought it was time for a more in-depth post for those of you who haven't yet dipped your toes into the magical world of circle lenses, as I now have a pair to review!

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Circle lenses are basically coloured contacts that can not only alter your eye colour but also make your eyes look substantially larger. Colours range from natural to vibrant and some have wild patterns to really draw attention to your eyes!

The colour change is in my opinion essential to a professional cosplay and are great for any Halloween costume!

The enlargement is a growing trend which has spread across the world, called "Dolly Eye" or "Doe Eye" for the innocent and adorable look it creates. Used by idols in Japan (Kyary) and the USA (Lady GaGa), circle lenses have also become popular in the new (and slightly eerie) "Living Doll" trend and are used by YouTube star Venus Angelic and Russian Model Valeria Lukyanova

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Why Pinky Paradise?

Pinky Paradise offers a huge range of the big eye lenses. With their Geo Anti-Fake system you're guaranteed to get 100 % authentic and safe lenses. They come with a free cutie lens case and free express shipping on orders over $130. They also use PayPal so you know your purchase is secure.

What if I don't have perfect vision? You can have your prescription added to your lenses for no extra cost!  They also offer lenses for people with astigmatism so nobody is left out!

Coupon Codes!

Enter the coupon code 'darkpastels' at the checkout to get a free mystery gift along with your free cutie lens case!

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Affiliation

I have recently become an affiliate of Pinky Paradise. An affiliate promotes the brand on their blog or website in turn for commission. To read more about the Affiliate program, click here.

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Added a small gallery for you below.

Now for the Review!

If you've read my previous posts you'll know I'm an affiliate with Pinky Paradise, so this is my first ever sponsored review~
I chose EOS Dolly Eye Violet, there's such a huge choice it was so difficult to chose! I picked violet because my favourite character in a manga I'm working of with my boyfriend has purple eyes and I'm hoping to cosplay her at some point.

The lenses came with a free adorable puffer fish cutie case which is pictured below, and this little hair swatch thingy to hold back your hair while you put them in (it's all in Japanese, I have no idea what it really is o~o).

You MUST soak your lenses for between 6-8 hours before you try them on! Seriously, I know how tempting it is to stick them in straight away, but these are your eye's we're talking about, you have to take care of them!

Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before you put in or touch your lenses to stop yourself from spreading bacteria into your eyes. Don't forget to change the solution every time you wear them! I bought my multi-purpose disinfecting lens solution in the local pharmacy, it was £6 for a huge bottle, so it's not expensive. 

If you're not wearing them for a long period of time, you still have to change the solution every 30 days to keep the lenses soft and free of germs. 

Don't forget you can use my code: darkpastels
That gives you a free mystery gift!_________________________________________________________

Comfort:*****/*****
I've never worn circle lenses before, these are my first pair, so I was expecting maybe a little scratchiness or irritation. I was SO surprised how easily they went in and how comfortable they are!. I know it's more difficult for some people because they don't like touching their eyes and things, whereas I can give my eyeball and good rub without blinking if I needed to (I know, I'm strange. I think it's because I spent years swimming underwater without goggles when I was younger.) I literally cannot feel them, infact I put them in yesterday, forgot, and freaked myself out when I walked past the mirror. 

Colour and Enlargement:
****/*****

The colour of these lenses is stunning, a really vibrant violet. I was worried it wouldn't show up too well because I have like green/grey/yellow/idek coloured eyes. My iris does show through slightly in brighter light (you can see that below because I take all of my photos by windows, the light in my house is awful) because of how small my pupil becomes, but in normal light it isn't an issue. It's kinda hard the see the colour if it's a bit darker, my eye's just look super super dark/black. 

These lenses are only 14.2mm, so the enlargement isn't supposed to be huge, however I find it's noticeably bigger than my usually eyes.

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I LOVE these lenses. A lot. In fact I'm going to try and buy two more pairs this week, which reminds me, Pinky currently have a promotion on!

Pinky Paradise is currently running a $5 of selected lenses promotion from the 22nd to the 28th of February!

CLICK HERE TO SEE SELECTED LENSES

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That's all for today guys, photo's below, as always thank you for reading!
Love,
Holly xox

Aiieeee I hate putting photos of myself on here >.<

*Update* - Pinky Paradise Coupon Code!

I know I literally blogged about it yesterday but...

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

I can now give you all my own coupon code for Pinky Paradise!
Enter: darkpastels
At the checkout for a FREE cutie lenses case and a FREE mysterious gift!

Please do NOT distribute this code on any other website. It is MY personal code for me to share with my followers and promote this brilliant brand!

GO BUY LENSES I COMMAND IT!

Review coming soon ^~^

Thanks for reading!
Holly x

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Bosto Kingtee 22HD review!

My baby arrived!

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Bosto Kingtee 22HD and it's probably up there in my 10 ten best things I've ever owned.

It's like a dream come true. £500 for a 22inch HD screen, including shipping. That's what like a 4th of the price of a Cintiq of the same size?

What's that? You think that the price is obviously lower because because it's not as good as wacom blah blah blah...

Bullshit, my friend. Pure bullshit.

I have been playing around with it for a while now. It has 0 lag, I even tried to make it lag like my mouse does and failed, there's also no jitter, no obvious gap between the pen and the cursor unless you're drawing from a pretty extreme angle and it's so light despite it's size that I can quite happily curl up on the sofa with it on my lap. I've used it in Sai and Photoshop, and honestly, I love it. 

Above: Immediately after unboxing, crappy little doodle for experimentation.

Above: My first finished piece with the tablet, messing around with pen pressures ect ect
(look at that crippled hand wow)

Above: Current WIP, doodle of protagonist from upcoming manga. Dramatic lighting experiments.
I'll be testing it with manga studio soon!


My only criticism is postage. It took over a month to get here, granted that was also over Christmas and new year.

View my other drawings, sketches and other shizzle over at my >> deviantart <<

Thanks for reading~
Love
Holly x

Cosplay and Circle Lenses

Hey everyone!

So recently I've been looking into-*cough*obcessing-over*cough* cosplay.

It's something I'm really interested in getting into, I've spent the last few days just wtaching makeup tutorials and costume tutorials and reviews and ahhhhh man I wish I could afford all this pretty stuff.
I have a few conventions coming up here in the UK, if I'm really lucky I might get to go to MCM >w< so I'm hoping to get my hands on either a Mikasa/Sascha from Attack on Titan.

 (And make my boyfriend go as Levi hurhurhur)

One thing that's common, even essential for cosplay, is circle lenses.
Which brings me to the main point of this post...
I'm a Pinky Paradise Affiliate!

I don't even understand it all yet but it's still super exciting! 

I'm going to be buying lenses this week so there will be a review coming soon, and maybe if I'm very very lucky after that and it gets some attention, I'll try and do a giveaway!

Haven't heard of Pinky Paradise? Go check them out! Affordable, cute and you can have you're prescription added to the lenses!

Also:

 really good youtube to watch if you're getting into cosplay is Sachie, she has her own channel and also blogs for Geek & Sundry, possibly the best youtube channel ever.

That's all for now ^-^

Thanks for reading~
Love,
Holly x