24/05/2012 - Shoot results and Expo tomorrow

This is just a quick blog to ask who's going to Expo this weekend? I'm more excited than I've been for Expo in years! My cosplay plans are as follows:

Friday: Haruhi Suzumiya

Saturday: Maid

Sunday: Souseiseki - Rozen Maiden

(I've been digging around my wardrobe for old cosplays haha. Haven't worn them in years!)

Come and say hi if you see me!

Also, the make up artist from my shoot a couple of days ago sent me the final photo (I love when I get the photos quickly haha):

Make-up/Hair: Jihye Sim
www.jihyesim.netai.net
Photographer: Tiffany Lin
http://www.tiffanylinphotography.com/

-Finlay

23/05/2012 - LM.C live in London

Yesterday was amazing! Before the LM.C live, I spent the day with Dom, Dodo, Emilie, Alex and Chriss.

Outfit shot (please ignore derp face):

(Bow horns and skeleton tights seemed fitting for an LM.C concert.)

Make up and accessories:

First, we did purikura. We forgot to ask for them to be emailed to us, so I had to do some really rubbish scanning myself. Here are a couple:

After that we went to Cinnabon because someone (Emilie?) had never been there. As much as I love Cinnabon, I managed to resist getting anything (so many calories!). We then got some glorious peach alcohol (not enough to get even slightly drunk though haha) and got the bus to Camden. 

When we got to Camden we went to Chin Chin Labs for delicious (nitrogen) ice cream. I got the flavour of the week: Mango upside-down cake. 

(With green tea pretzels and raspberry sauce.)

After, we got the bus to the venue where LM.C would be playing, but decided to stop at my house for drinks, as we had a lot of time and my house was on the way. Dom and I took like a million photos on the bus haha, but I won't bore you with all of them, so here is one:

Dom wore my devil horns for a bit. Because LM.C. 

Here's a group photo we took at my house that looks like a super weird family portrait:

Beautiful edit by Dodo lol. 

After drinking ALL my apple juice, we headed off, and walked to the venue. We didn't have to queue for too long before the doors opened, so that was nice. 

The concert was amazing! To be honest, I only knew about two of their songs before, and by the time we got inside, I was really tired and unenthusiastic, but within minutes of them coming on stage, I was really into it. I prefer heavier music in concerts, but this was a lot of fun, and it was hard to not dance to their music. The whole crowd was really enthusiastic too, which was nice. Maya and Aiji are adorable in person (as was the laptop/keyboard guy, who kept dancing, and seemed more enthusiastic than the actual band members haha). Denki-Man was awesome too, but he was hidden away in the corner for most of it, so I couldn't see him too well. My favourite part was probably the look of pure alarm on Maya's facewhen he realised he'd thrown water on a projector (I think it was fine though). He managed to get water on just about every piece of electronic equipment in the room by the end of the concert. Here are a few not-very-good iPhone pics I took during a song I didn't like so much:

The laptop/keyboard guy c:

The night also reminded me how much I love lives. I hadn't been to one since October, and I've really missed them! So, after listening to them for a bit when I got home and realising I really like them, I bought a ticket to see SCREW next week. 8D Are any of you seeing them?

Also, Dom gave me a shaved ice Hello Kitty phone charm! 8D

So cute! It also came with a piece of gum for some reason, haha. (If you like it, sushi noms will be selling them at Expo this weekend. Be sure to stop by!)

-Finlay

22/05/2012 - "sushi noms" and a shoot

First, let me tell you about sushi noms, the new business of my boyfriend and his brother. sushi noms sells imported Japanese accessories/cute things, and also sushi at events (the sushi is not imported from Japan, obviously)! The webshop isn't up yet, but they'll be at London Expo this weekend. I'll be helping out (with Alex's girlfriend, Emilie!), so come and see us if you're there! In the meantime, please like the Facebook page! C: Here are just a few of the things we'll be selling:

Rilakkuma ice cream pen!

Festival-themed Hello Kitty phone straps. I love these things haha.

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Today was such a nice day! Unfortunately I spent a lot of it in a cold studio, but it was nice when I was outside. I was really lazy with clothes and dressed like a farmer:

I really can't pull off tank tops lol, but it was hot so I don't really care. 

I did a creative beauty shoot (which means "crazy make up shoot") with the make up artist Jihye Sim. Her work is awesome, so go check it out! It was a really fun shoot; all very laid back and everyone involved was lovely. And they gave me food, which is always appreciated. 8)

I was a bit late, because somehow I missed my stop by about 3 stations without realising the train had stopped at all, but there was another model whose make up was done first, so it was alright. Her make up took quite a while, so I was chatting to the photographer and her friend/assistant for ages, and it turns out we have similar tastes in music (and circle lenses haha). 8D During the shoot they were playing techno and such, which made a nice change from the horrible music that I often have to put up with. 

I didn't get a photo of my make up, but it was really cool. I think it'd best be described as abstract and colourful. I'm aware that doesn't really give you any idea how it looks, so you'll just have to wait for the photos. I also had a half-mask on for a few of the photos, but it didn't fit my face properly lol, so I ended up just holding it. At some point they also decided to paint my tongue green. With face paint. So that was interesting (and tasted horrific). 

Also, are any of you seeing LM.C in London tomorrow? 8D Come and talk to me if you are~

-Finlay

22/05/2012 - Back in London and recent gets

Today was my last exam, and now I'm back in London for the summer! My dad drove up to Birmingham to get me and all my stuff. I was on a meal plan at uni (which I really didn't want, but at least there's a Starbucks), so I got money on my uni ID card every week to spend on food. Not wanting to waste money, I had to spend a whole week's meal plan in one day, which was fun. I bought dinner for my dad and myself, then all of this: 

Glorious.

Anyway, now I'm back home for several months, and I'm so happy. Most people are staying at uni for a few more weeks, but I have a lot to do in London this week, and to be honest, I'd probably just be sitting in my room if I stayed in Birmingham. 

When I got back, some things had arrived in the mail:

Ear cuff (it came with a sweet 8D ). For those that don't know, the bottom goes in a lobe piercing, and the top just fastens onto your cartilage (no piercing needed!). I've wanted one of these for a while now, but didn't get one because you never see my ears. You still never see them, but I'll figure something out haha.

Necklace from StarlightDecoDream. I ordered this an absolute age ago, but it took her almost a month to dispatch it (even though it was already made and ready to be shipped). :| I've heard a lot of people have had this problem with her, though. Terrible service aside, I really like it.

And here's how it looks worn. I was expecting it to be bigger, but I actually like it better this way. It kind of reminds me of this Monomania necklace.

Little studs and spike (for clothes etc.). I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with these, but I feel like my clothes aren't spiky enough haha.

-Finlay

16/05/2012 - Shopping and Japan Underground

I met up with Charky in the afternoon for shoe shopping, ended up buying this and no shoes:

It's a men's shirt so it's not a hugely flattering fit, but I think it'll be good for casual days, and I really lack T-shirts. (For anyone wondering, the text is just Disorder's logo and not an actual alphabet.)

Also stopped in at Gregg's because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I get it now. 

This is what I bought. They called it "Spikey Mikey" lol.

After that I headed back home to get ready for Japan Underground. For those that don't know, it's a club night-type thing that plays Japanese music (mostly rock), and usually has a Japanese band or two playing. Because I had about two hours until I had to leave, I took my time, and then realised about a minute before leaving that I still hadn't drunk anything (I wanted to get as drunk as possible without spending too much, because it had been a while haha), so had to just down everything in reach as quickly as possible before heading off to meet Izzy and Michaela. We had to get a taxi because there was no public transport (damn you, Birmingham) at all for the route, but it worked out cheap enough because there were 3 of us (and even cheaper on the way back because we met a girl who lives in the same student village, so she came back with us). 

Here is Izzy. Didn't get a picture with Michaela because she'd disappeared somewhere at that point.

All of the bands were really good. I normally don't like the bands at these things very much, but all of them were amazing this time. We arrived shortly before the first band (8otto) came on. Here's one of their songs:

The next band was Miila and the Geeks:

   

And finally, NOKIES!:

By the time the bands had all finished playing, I'd had a few more drinks, and was completely off my face (and therefore brave enough to talk to everyone ever), so I suspect I've forgotten a lot. I do, however, remember talking to MATG's drummer a lot (in terrible, drunken Japanese) and adding loads of people on Facebook.

Miila and the Geeks' drummer, Kaoru. This man is fabulous. Check out dem hotpants.

8otto's drummer/vocalist. Afro! 

Kaoru and Moe (vocalist of Miila and the Geeks). Don't even remember taking this one lol. They were so lovely though. 

And Kaoru again (he was the best!). 

I didn't really talk to anyone from NOKIES! (I think at this point I was too busy chatting/camwhoring with MATG's drummer lol), so I didn't get any photos with them, but I really liked their music. 

But yeah, amazing night. Easily the best Japan Underground I've ever been to.

-Finlay

15/05/2012 - Botanical Gardens and a get

Today I met up with Rosanna (uni friend and future flatmate) for lunch on campus, as we both had a free day. After loitering around campus as long as possible, we started to walk back. On the way, we went past the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and Rosanna mentioned that entrance was free for students at our uni, which I hadn't realised. We both had the whole day to kill, so decided to have a look around. I wasn't really expecting much, but it was amazing. It really didn't seem like we were in England, much less in a city. 

There were chickens!

I liked this guy. He was just sitting on a beam the whole time haha.

Shortly after arriving we got caught in a massive hail storm, and had to stay in this little hut thing until it was over.

Stepping stones! 8D Had way too much fun with these.

Well at least one of us was smart enough to bring an umbrella.

Some parts looked like a jungle!

I'd definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area. I'd love to go back when/if the weather gets nicer.

Also, the choker I bought a couple of days ago from here arrived today:

-Finlay

14/05/2012 - Graze boxes and Kyary-inspired make up

Firstly, does anyone want a free box of food from Graze? If so, click here, and put in the code '9YJ7F5BD' if prompted. It sets it up so you get one every week, but you can cancel it after the free one with no problems. If you don't know what Graze boxes are, they look like this:

 The shape allows them to fit easily through your letterbox. 

You get four different punnets of food. They're all healthy and delicious! You can also rate the available food to ensure you don't get sent anything you don't like. 

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I finally tried on some of the eyelashes I cut up.

The ones on top are how the lashes came, and on the bottom are the ones I edited. Not a huge difference, but I like them.

I went for a Kyary-inspired make up look, but all the photos turned out kinda blurry so you can't see half of it :<

Outfit inspiration started off as Kyary, but changed to Takeru from SuG at some point haha. Neither is evident though lol.

I'm also really coming to like my new hair.

-Finlay