Sastamalan cosplay-päivä

 ...I know my summaries are often a bit late but this must be a record or something since the event was held in the end of May - 27th of May to be precise. This will be quite photo heavy post since the event itself was pretty small and thus I don't have that much to say about it - doesn't mean I wouldn't have enjoyed my time there though.

But, anyway.
Like I stated, Sastamalan cosplay-päivä (Sastamala´s cosplay day), was held on 27th of May and since it doesn't take longer than approximately one hour to drive there I thought "why not" and decided to pay a visit to this small cosplay event held at Sastamala's library. My company (and photographer) for the con was Shiro Samurai who happened to be in Southern Finland at the time. 

 (All pics © Shiro Samurai.)

Event schedule poster.

 

The library entrance.

 

Sastamala is pretty familiar town to me since I have visited my friend there for a few times - still had to ask Google Maps for help though when it came to the issue of navigating but we found our way to the library pretty easily after I had taken one wrong turn lol. The event had already started by the time we got there but we were still there in time - in other words, the cosplay competition was just about to start when we walked in.

 

The immediate view after walking into the library.

There were surprisingly many contestants - a lot more than for example at Euran Mangapäivä (Eura's manga day) a few years ago, even though the conventions were quite similar otherwise (read: small library events in small towns)! The contestants were of varying ages but I think that most of them were basically kids. Since most kids are known to be shy it meant that they practically walked to the stage, stayed there for a few seconds to make a couple of different poses and then walked off the stage. I think a couple of them spoke a few words to the mic but most of them didn't have the courage - which is obviously totally okay, it's not that easy! The competition took approximately 15 minutes and after that the judges made their final decisions about the winners.
The four winners were announced soon after the competition and I think both me and Shiro Samurai were surprised by the quality of the prizes - I mean, huge plush animals, anyone? It may have resulted in me wanting a big plush unicorn which I'm still yet to buy...

Cosplay competition in full swing! The lady in red and black kitsune costume works at Sastamala's library and was the main organizer of the event.

Winners of the cosplay competition.

After the competition I think we went to take a proof pic of my witch inspired outfit and then went to check the small space that was for Artist's Alley and merchants. I think I dropped my jaw luckily I´ve got two eiku when I saw a big name selling their stuff there, namely Bard & Jester - I mean, this really was a small event so seeing them there was very surprising.
...well, until we learnt that they actually have a shop at Sastamala. That explains a lot - it still left a smile on my face though since this is exactly what "support your local" means, be it merchant or event tai kyläbaari. Way to go, Bard & Jester! <3

They have so much nice stuff in sale <3

 

After checking out the Artist's Alley I chatted with the main organizer of the event for a while. Turned out the event was more successful than it was last year and that made me smile; these small events really are needed as a starting step for beginners and as a breather of more seasoned congoers. I really hope that Sastamala's cosplay day will be held in the future too!

We also took a quick check on the activities held in the library - to be honest there were more than I had expected beforehand. One could, for example, decorate a balloon to their liking, take part in a lottery draw (Sastamala's cosplay day had its own merchandise - still regretting that I didn't buy a coffee mug even though I have way too many coffee mugs already) and read and, if one had a library card to PIKI-kirjastot (Pirkanmaan Kirjastot also known as Pirkanmaa's libraries), loan theme-fitting books!

Themed books!

Congoers decorating balloons.

After that we left the library, paid a visit to a nearby Lidl to get some energy drinks it's pretty essential that the driver stays awake and drove to my place to hang out until Shiro Samurai had to leave for the North.
And that's how our Sastamala's cosplay day went! It was nice to see that many congoers at the library; even though library cons have become more and more popular it can't be taken for granted that an event would be a success. This one, however, definitely was; the congoers had fun and the ones who took part to the cosplay competition sure gained a lot of experience and confidence! <3 The library cons (pretty much all of them, at least afaik) are free too and that's a big thumbs up from me. Many times going to a con requires quite a lot of money (ticket, traveling, sleeping accommodation/airbnb/hotel etc.) and not everyone can afford it, especially in this financial situation that doesn't seem to get any better... 

I sure wish to see Sastamala's cosplay day happening in the future too and will be happy to attend it again! <3 

My witch-inspired outfit of the day!
Necklace: Niramuchu Art & Design

 

 

 

Sooo... I also have other summaries (and circle lens reviews) that I should write and I sure hope to find some time to do so. I'm writing my thesis at the moment and just trying to get it done so I would graduate in planned schedule.
Next post will also be a con summary - I attended Nekocon in July - so stay tuned!

 (Oh! I also bought a few magnets from aroaava and even took a pic of my con loot but the pic disappeared when my phone broke. I will upload a pic here when I take a new one.)

- Firith

Kummacon 2023 - surprise visit in Oulu

Yeah, I know, it's been ages since the con but working and studying have been eating up my time and I haven´t had time to write this summary, sorry about that x__x
But enough of excuses, let's roll~!

Frankly, I have as much to tell about how I ended up in the con as about the con itself; don't get this wrong, I really enjoyed Kummacon, but the way I ended up there was... Interesting... xD
I was supposed to spend a long weekend with my best friend Gure at her and her girlfriend's place. We left Eura early in the Thursday (18th of May) morning to get as much time to hang out as possible. Since we live a few hundred kilometers apart these days, each minute counts when we see each other. This time our reunion was... A bit shorter than we had expected xD

We got to their place and went straight inside. Her girlfriend had been sewing me a cosplay costume since I really wanted to do a photoshoot but didn't really have time to sew myself this time. The costume in this case was Miku Hatsune's Rotten Girl, Grotesque Romance - I will sew that myself when I have time but frankly, I don't have much of that at the time really, no pun intended.
After exchanging a few words I noticed that something was going on; Gure's girlfriend seemed to be deep in thought. The conversation that followed shortly went like this:

Le girlfriend: How long were you planning to hang out exactly? Like, how many days?
Me: Over the weekend. Why?
Le girlfriend: ...Gure. Did you actually forget you booked flights on 20th of May..?
Gure: Wait what I was sure it was 21!? I haven't even started packing yet... And I have no idea where my passport is!
Me: Ehm what? How do you forget a thing like that? And where have you seen that passport last time?
Gure: I... Think it was in my student apartment... In Oulu...
Me: ...roadtrip, anyone? :D

So that's how I ended up in Oulu in the first place; my dear best friend had accidentally double-booked herself and now we had to fetch some stuff from Oulu! Gure, if you ever read this: never change, please, I need entertainment in my life xD
We left in a hurry; it was "OHMYGODISITALREADYTHATLATE" o'clock so yeah, had to start driving to reach Oulu before 3 a.m. or something x__x I also took the cosplay costume with me; the upper part of it didn't really fit but I don't blame Gure's girlfriend of it; after all she had been sewing the costume without seeing me even once during the process. It's not that badly off, I just couldn't fix it on the road, but I will certainly do that! The skirt, however, was very beautiful and nice to wear. Thank you so much! <3

We only stopped once; I think it was at Viitasaari when we stopped to eat something at the local ABC service station, otherwise we just drove to reach our destination in time. During those way too many hours we concluded that a mosquito made out of toxic masculinity is a masculito and also begun to plan what we could do when we actually do have time to hang out next time xD
It was past midnight when we finally reached our destination and went almost straight to bed - or, well, two mattresses spread out on the apartment floor. I was a bit tired after driving so many hours so I slept pretty well - only woke up a couple of times when I slept in a bad position and my back started hurting. 

We woke up during the Friday morning, Gure found her passport - and then surprised me by saying that I could have a mini vacation there since I drove that far! She lent me the other key to her apartment and shortly after took a train back to south. Still thankful for this gesture; I've been stressed out to Hell and back for a few months now so I could really use a vacation <3
So yeah, now I was in Oulu all by myself so it was time to start figuring out what to do. I started googling events on 20th and 21st of May and immediately stumbled upon Kummacon's website. It lit a light bulb over my head; I had my Miku cosplay stuff with me since Gure and I had planned to take a photoshoot during the weekend (she would have been my KAITO) so I could attend the con and even cosplay in it! I first thought about informing my northern friends about my arrival but then decided to keep it a surprise this time - after all I was quite sure I would bump into at least some of them. And I was right! <3

Saturday morning came after an almost sleepless night; that house had walls as thick as paper so I could hear some drunken shouting from somewhere, not directly from behind the wall but I think it was someone at the floor below. People: there is a silence time for a reason. Please, could you even try to obey it..?
So I woke up and started putting on my costume and make-up; didn't really feel like eating (I often feel nauseous on mornings and this was no exception) so I skipped the breakfast. Besides I knew that Sini Helminen would be having a panel in Kummacon and since I admire her work I really wanted to see that panel! She is absolutely fantastic writer and her panel was about writing so yeah, I knew I would enjoy it.
Gure's neighbors got their fair share of my "fuck this shit and fuck my life" monologue I had when putting on my circle lenses; for some reason lenses have recently refused to attach on my eye and it makes inserting them a bit difficult. I guess my eyes are more dry than normally or something, that's the only reason I've been able to come up with.

I exited the apartment and when I checked the clock I realized I would probably be at the con venue the minute the panel would start so I had to hurry. Luckily my Google Maps didn't fail me this time and make me take routes that aren't allowed for cars (it did that on Thusday) or anything.

The con venue from the outside.

 

The entrance hall. There were visible rainbow flags, so nice to see acceptance! <3 There were also a couple of sellers downstairs.

 

All photos in this post are taken by Shiro Samurai if not mentioned otherwise.

I was right; I was at Oulu International School precisely when the panel was about to start so I practically ran into the room in which it was held, went to sit on a fairly empty row - and noticed I had sat right next to Sallukka and their boyfriend! <3 It was such a nice surprise - especially since I know that Sallukka doesn't really write that much so I was surprised to see them at the panel. The panel itself was about writing fantasy literature and what can go wrong when writing the said genre - apparently everything if one isn't careful xD Have to say, I myself have made quite many rookie mistakes when writing backstories for my characters so yeah, have to be a bit more careful from now on to avoid those traps lol.
After the panel Sallukka and their boyfriend decided to hit the town. I decided to stay and listen to the panel about LGBTQ+ literature but they promised me they would inform me when they get back so I wouldn't have to hang out alone. Thank you guys <3
This following panel/conversation was pretty entertaining to listen to. I don't think there were that many new things to me but there were topics I strongly agree with, such as "sexual and gender minorities should be more visible in literature too". I really liked this panel a lot too!

This was located near the panel room. There were different drawings on Saturday and Sunday; this pic was taken on Saturday.

 

After this I decided to sit outside for a while since I was practically dying; I could feel the air stand still upstairs and since I had a face mask (yeah I still wear it when it's way too crowded in my opinion) it felt twice as bad... So yeah, outside I went!
It was pretty warm (if one ignored the freezing wind) so I enjoyed sitting outside and watch other congoers make Tik Tok videos, chat and play different "school yard games" until Sallukka and their boyfriend came back. By the time we all were screaming for coffee so we went to check out Kumma Kahvila (a cafeteria) and saw Shiro Samurai working there! He told us his working hours and I promised to hang out with him after them; after all Sallukka had told me that they wouldn't stay for that long since they had a birthday party to attend to. So yeah, now I was sure I would have company for the whole day! 

Me, Sallukka and their boyfriend drank our coffees (and both of them ate their hamburgers they also bought from the café) and then decided to scout artist's alley that took place in both floors. It was a wise solution; the place was pretty damn crowded at times and it was hard to move around. Maybe next year a bigger event venue would be a good solution since Kummacon apparently has become more popular during the years? Oh, and please, no more sitting on the stairs and blocking the way. It was quite difficult to walk up or down the stairs at times when people had decided to use them as chairs (well yeah there weren't too many chairs around but still)...
We also checked out Kumma Kirppis (a flea market) and both of them found some manga to read. I didn't really find anything to buy and, well, I need to get rid of some of my stuff anyway since I'm moving soon so yeah, no reason to buy more stuff when I already have tons of it x__x

Pictures from Artist's Alley, both upstairs and downstairs.

After checking out the artist's alley and Kumma Kirppis we decided to go outside to take some pictures and selfies. I took a few proof picture of Sallukka's school uniform!Takao and then they took a proof picture of me wearing the costume. They also lent me a hoodie to wear since it was pretty windy and I was freezing, thank you! <3

Rotten Girl loves everyone <3 Ignore my photobombing bag lol.

A better la selfie photo of my make-up. I was pretty satisfied with it to be honest, just will use different false eyelashes when I have a proper photoshoot.

Excuse me for phone quality pics that are also pretty big; didn't want to edit their size because, well, it would have had a negative effect on the quality which isn't great to begin with.
Also gotta love how my wig color changes depending on the light conditions lol.

 We also went to a nearby park to enjoy some drinks and talk about future cosplay plans before Sallukka and I decided to see the cosplay competition. Their boyfriend had gotten a bit anxious so he went back to the car to read some manga while we headed back inside to watch the competition. Neither of us has competed in ages and we wanted to see the skill level there is these days. Our conclusion after the competition: we belong in the trash can. But seriously, the costumes and props were amazing! Congratulations to the winners for winning and to all contestants for having the courage to climb up on that stage! <3
After the competition I noticed that Shiro Samurai had messaged me. His shift had ended and he was waiting for me upstairs so I went to search for him and pretty soon found him. We made a plan of checking out the artists' tables and sellers' tables; I, of course, already knew what would be in sale thanks to the scouting before but didn't really mind checking out the tables again. At this point Sallukka told me that they had to leave and we said bye bye to our friend; let's meet again as soon as possible! <3

Urumi's table.

I couldn't resist; I just had to buy a beautiful crescent moon necklace from niramuchu - I had been eyeing it for the whole day and at this point had to buy it since I knew I would feel bad if I wouldn't. I will certainly buy more stuff from niramuchu in the future; it's made with talent and quality!
And, well, I had to buy a packet of Pocky sticks too. Couldn't resist that one either; they were matcha flavored and I hadn't tested them before so yeah, bought them (and liked them!).
Oh, and Shiro Samurai was the best and bought me two key chains from the artist's alley, Klee and Mona from Genshin Impact! <3 I'm a Klee main and I also have Mona on my main team so yeah, precious mages are precious x)

After scouting the area Shiro Samurai and I decided to have some Chinese food to eat - at this point I realized I hadn't eaten anything during the day, oops - and then go to Gure's apartment; you see, neither of us have that much money and it was fine with Gure that he would spend the night at her apartment too so yeah, of course I introduced this cheap option to him.
I don't think we did much during the evening, played some games on our Nintendo Switch consoles and then went to sleep.

Sunday morning. We took our stuff, checked that everything was okay in the apartment since we wouldn't be going back there anymore and then headed out to the convention. Or, well, to be exact, I drove Shiro Samurai there (the con wasn't open to visitors just yet, only for the staff) and visited a local Prisma market myself since I was so damn sleepy I needed an energy drink to stay awake.
I got to the con when it had opened its doors for visitors too and went almost immediately to the room in which people could just hang out. Shiro Samurai was working again so I figured out I could do something productive during that time and do some school stuff; took me a couple of hours to write one essay but yeah, progress.

I think on Sunday I didn't attend any other programs than the lolita fashion show. I'm not really into lolita style myself; by this I mean I wouldn't wear clothes like that since I don't really feel like they would suit me. However, I consider different lolita styles interesting and wanted to see people show off their outfits. The fashion show wasn't that long, only lasted for 10-15 minutes, but there weren't that many models to begin with so yeah, understandable.
I don't think I really did anything else at the con since I had to leave pretty early; long driving distance is long. However, I think that Kummacon really was worth all that driving and I will certainly attend it in the future too! :)
...likely more intentionally next time though xD

My con loot. Sadly can't remember who is the artist behind the key chains but they are pretty darn cute! ;__; The crescent moon necklace by niramuchu.

So yeah, this was my con summary about Kummacon 2023!
Next post will likely be a summary of another, smaller event so stay tuned!

- Firith

Circle lens review: G&G Diamond Grey

Hello~!

Time for another circle lens review. This time I'm reviewing a very beautiful lens; G&G Diamond Grey. I had pretty high expectations for this lens and I wasn't disappointed - these ones really delivered! 

Important note: I got these lenses from a friend who lost interest in wearing and reviewing circle lenses. These lenses had a wrong prescription for me and I think that these were close to their expiration date/already expired so thus I can not grade the comfort. However, I will say a few words about the comfort in general - pretty much my first impression of these. Remember: wearing lenses that are past their expiration date/broken/have the wrong prescription for you is a dangerous thing to do and it can damage your eyes for good so seriously, don't do it. I wore these lenses for half an hour and then threw them away so I had these on only for this review. Thank you. 

This circle lens review is non-sponsored.

The vials of the lenses.

The lenses in their vials.

Base curve: 8,6 mm/8,9 mm
Diameter: 14,5 mm
Water content: 38 %
Life span: 1 year

So... Apparently with these beauties you get to choose which base curve you want. I think that choosing the one you want happens by writing it on additional information when ordering the lenses? Whatever the case I think it's seriously a good thing; 8,9 mm seems to be a trademark for G&G lenses but it doesn't fit everyone's eyes - at least not mine, I still have some flashbacks to the bloodshot effect that occurred back in the days... So yeah, if these beauties really are available with 8,6 mm base curve I can totally imagine ordering these for use!

Inserting these was actually quite easy; I don't recall any problems with it, at least not any major ones. Might have tried to curl around my finger a bit but that happens to me almost every time I try to insert a lens so yeah, nothing new under the sun. These settled in my eyes nicely after the first few minutes; I have always had more or less problems with G&G lenses because of the 8,9 mm base curve but this time I didn't feel any scratching or anything. For the first few minutes they felt like they were moving quite a lot though; I almost got concerned would they even settle but eventually they did. Thickness was pretty average I think - I don't recall these being thicker or thinner than usual.

 

One lens in.

Yup, the enlargement effect is there and it's even better than I expected! It doesn't make my eyes look huge but makes them a lot more noticeable. That much was probably to be expected though; the diameter isn't that large in the end. But even just by the size these couldn't be mistaken for my real eyes - these are too big for that.

The lens design is awesome! I have always had that eye emoji glance towards lenses which have the diamond-like print on them and these definitely do deliver; to be honest, right now these are in my top 10 favourites. The print really is diamond-like and in my opinion (in most light conditions) the print makes your eyes look like they were actually shining. Also like the black limbal ring; it isn't that thick but noticeable enough to give my eyes that "fantasy gaze"; I could easily imagine myself picking these if I ever decided to cosplay a fairy, a mermaid or some other magical creature. For alternative fashion these lenses work well - in my opinion these could fit many different styles! Also, am I the only one who sees a small halo effect too..?
These blend pretty well with my natural eye colour as well; my eyes are a mixture of grey, blue and green (grey being a dominant color) and even though I can clearly see my own eye colour shining through these lenses kind of... Boost it and make it look prettier. I could say that these work well in both light and dark eyes (the latter one judging by the official product pictures on PinkyParadise 's site)! ^__^

Now the lens pictures! Shiro Samurai took all the pictures for this review, thank you so much~!

The pictures were taken on a rather cloudy day in June 2021. These aren't filtered in any way, only their size has been changed since the original photos were quite big.
(Note: we took pictures of quite many lenses on the same day so the light conditions are going to be the same in the next few reviews too.)

 

Natural roomlight.

 

Yellow roomlight.

Bathroom light.

With a flash.

Facing the window.

Back against the sun.

Facing the (clouded) sun.

From the distance.

• The color of these lenses is 8/10; beautiful shade of grey that blends nicely with naturally grey eyes, also like how the black details add some extra spice to these!
  
  
• In my opinion the design is 10/10 - I have a thing for this diamond-like design and these lenses make no exception to that; these also work both for cosplay AND alternative styles!
  
  
• I had to think about the opacity for a while but I would say 5/10. These do indeed blend nicely with my natural eye color, however they also let it shine through quite a lot.
  
  
• The naturalness is 2/10. The color adds some point to this section too but c'mon, who has diamond-like eyes by nature? These are also a bit too enlarging to look natural.
  
  
• Speaking about the enlargement, I would rate it 6/10. These are not HUUUUGE but the enlargement effect definitely is there.
  
  

Phew, that's one more review off the table - many more to come so if you're interested in circle lens reviews, stay tuned! 

Until next time.

-Firith

Cosplay plans for 2023

Hello folks!

It's been a lot of time since I wrote a post like this. Yeah, I published a part of my Genshin Impact cosplay plans but it's certain that none of them is going to happen this year. However, I am going to make at least one cosplay this year but aiming to make these ones!
I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about making a costume again... It's been literal YEARS since I last sew anything. Yikes. Wish me luck with these.

Let's take a look!

Chizuru Yukimura from Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan

...yep. She's very likely to happen this year. I've always liked Chizuru; she's gentle and genuinely wants to help people around her - even if it endangered her. She's determined and strong-willed young woman - probably not that much of a fighter but definitely not a damsell in distress. I have already bought and gotten some stuff for her and am likely to do a make-up test during the spring. The costume is likely to be debuted during autumn. I will cosplay the anime version of her; in all honesty I don't have the time to make the details of the game version. 

Miku Hatsune, Rotten Girl Grotesque Romance

This costume will certainly be re-made; I have already bought her a new wig and the lenses are on their way. I'm once again going to make my own design but the character will be recognizible; her trademark hair, red dress etc. I'm going to have to re-make pretty much everything - last time I wasn't 100 % happy with the costume. Cosplaying her back in the days was fun though, probably mainly because the costume was so comfortable to wear and it didn't take ages to dress up lol. I hope I can make this new costume as (or even more) comfortable as the old one...

Luka Megurine, Magnet

Well, let's say that there will probably be some WIP posts coming this year about this costume so that's why I decided to add her on my 2023 cosplay plan list. I'm likely to do a long dress this time since I think it suits me better than the short one. I know I won't be able to finish this costume this year but yeah, at least gonna start making it. Probably gonna start with buying a new wig for her, the one I have now is okay but not fully what I want.

Not that many plans for this year (and two of them are re-makes lol) but hey, it's a start after a quite long hiatus.
Mostly I will make these for photoshoots - I'm likely to attend a couple of cons this year but frankly I prefer photoshoots to cosplaying at cons these days.

Next post will be a circle lens review - I have quite many of those waiting to be written. However I will also write - at least some kind of - WIP post of Miku during the spring so stay tuned if you're interested in hearing more of that project!

Until next time.

Firith

Circle lens review: Pop C Dark Grey

Hello people!

This time I'm reviewing a dark lens - Pop C Dark Grey. To be honest I was quite excited to see how dark lenses would look like in my eyes; I've worn plenty of brown lenses but never dark grey or black. Well, less talk, more information and pictures - let's go! 

Important note: I got these lenses from a friend who lost interest in wearing and reviewing circle lenses. These lenses had a wrong prescription for me and I think that these were close to their expiration date/already expired so thus I can not grade the comfort. However, I will say a few words about the comfort in general - pretty much my first impression of these. Remember: wearing lenses that are past their expiration date/broken/have the wrong prescription for you is a dangerous thing to do and it can damage your eyes for good so seriously, don't do it. I wore these lenses for half an hour and then threw them away so I had these on only for this review. Thank you. 

This circle lens review is non-sponsored.

 

The lens vials.

The lenses in their vials.

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 15.5 mm
Water content: 38 %
Life span: 1 year

I have to mention at this point that finding the basic information wasn't a task too easy; the base curve and diameter were mentioned in the vials but the water content and life span were not. I'm still not sure who is the manufacturer of these lenses but the best search result implied that these lenses would be manufactured by Dolly Eye so I used the basic information I found with those key words. I'm still not sure if this is the case so don't consider this to be the one and only truth - the vials and information otherwise matched so I assume this is the case but like I said, I can't be 100 % sure.

Inserting these was... An operation in itself. I hadn't worn circle lenses in ages so I had pretty much forgotten how to put them in my eyes. I recall these curling around my finger quite a lot but, then again, my finger was still moist because of the lens solution etc. so it might have played a part in this. The diameter is also quite large but the lens didn't look so big on my fingertip so I have to admit, I had problems to figure out how big the lenses actually were and thus failed to keep my eye open enough when inserting the lens. However, when I finally got these in my eyes they settled easily and were surprisingly comfortable to wear! They were a bit on the thick side though but it didn't really disturb me that much.

One lens in.

 

I have to say that even though the diameter is quite large these lenses don't look that big. There is some enlargement going on and these are definitely too big to look natural, but... Still. I was kind of expecting at least a small "moe eye effect" but as you can see it's not there, at least not in my opinion.

I like the design of these lenses a lot. It's quite simple and, to be honest, when the lenses were still in their vials I thought that these would look quite boring in my eyes. I assumed there wouldn't be much color; the almost black limbal ring surely caught my attention immediately when I saw these lenses but otherwise it looked like the lighter part of the lens would disappear in my natural eye color. However, when I put these into my eyes the effect was immediate - they gave my eyes this "dark, deep and mysterious" look and I love it!
This definitely is a dark lens - almost light black in my opinion! As you can see, my eyes are a mixture of light grey, blue and green (light grey being the dominant color) - in other words, I have light-colored eyes. I don't know how these lenses would look like in darker eyes but I think that the 'light grey' part blends with my natural eye color quite well making the lenses look slightly more natural than they actually are.

And now, the lens photos! Shiro Samurai was once again the one who took the pictures, thank you so much! ^^

The pictures were taken on a rather cloudy day in June 2021. These aren't filtered in any way, only their size has been changed since the original photos were quite big.
(Note: we took pictures of quite many lenses on the same day so the light conditions are going to be the same in the next few reviews too.)

 

Yellow roomlight.

 

Bathroom light.

With a flash.

Facing the window.

Back against the sun.

Facing the (clouded) sun.

From the distance.

• I rate the color 8/10. It's definitely dark grey, in my eyes almost light black. However, had the color been a bit more vibrant it would have made the lenses a bit livelier.
  
  
• The design deserves the same grade, 8/10. I seriously like it and it fits many different situations from cosplay to alternative fashion. It's not the most original design though - it's quite simple and someone could consider it even a bit boring.
  
  
• The opacity is 7/10. My own eye color doesn't peak from behind the lenses that much and they also blend with my natural eye color very nicely.
  
  
• I think that the naturalness is 4/10. The design makes them look more natural than they actually are - yet these could never be mistaken as my real eyes.
  
  
• The enlargement is 6/10. There is some enlargement effect going on, however I expected more since the diameter implied these would be big lenses. Not claiming that these would be small lenses either, in my opinion something in between.

 

That's all for now!
Be prepared for a bunch of circle lens reviews in the future - they will be the main content of this blog for a while now so yeah, prepare for that.

Until next time.

- Firith

Genshin Impact = 90 % of my cosplay plans pt. 1

A bit over a year ago I begun to play Genshin Impact. At first I was thinking that I'd just check it out and would continue to play if I enjoyed it.

And now... Well, I'm not going to lie, it's part of my daily routines to play Genshin Impact. I fell in love pretty much with everything in the game; the story is awesome, the characters have become quite dear to me, the graphics are top quality and the music... I could listen to it for hours and not get bored. At some point the characters of this game begun to invade my cosplay plans and now 90 % of said plans are Genshin Impact characters send help - and now I'm going to list which characters I'm likely to cosplay in the future! 

Obviously not in the near future though; these costumes require quite a lot of money, time and skill - and I have none of those at the moment but... I can always dream about cosplaying these dearies. 

And no, I definitely didn't steal this blog post idea from Shiro Samurai. Definitely not.

Character: Lisa

Let's spark things up a little~

 

The Witch of Purple Rose, the lazy librarian, the perfect waifu... A dear child has many names. When I first saw Lisa I fell in love with her personality; she's quite laid-back but does her duties as a librarian - and she can be quite fierce when she gets angry. To this day she's still my favorite character in the game. I also love her design - the color scheme, the clothes, the details, everything. She's probably going to be one of the first ones I'm going to make and a sure one to happen too.

Character: Rosaria

Work hard and live each day to the fullest. That is what life in Mondstadt is all about, isn't it?

 

Rosaria... She's a very dear character to me. Being a bit of a lone wolf she wanders along her own paths, not really giving a single fuck what anyone thinks of her. She's strong and independent lady who doesn't take orders from others - except if she really has to. Rosaria has strong opinions about... Well, pretty much everything and doesn't really hang out with anyone. I actually pulled her from a wish banner before I met her in the game for the first time so at first I fell in love with her design - and when I actually got to know her personality too I realized that I like this character a lot. She's also a sure one to happen at some point.

Character: Amber

 

Outrider Amber reporting for duty! Just say the word if you ever need my help!

 

To be honest, this one surprised me, myself and I too. I don't usually like characters like Amber; she's "The little Miss Sunshine", always kind and polite and usually over-enthusiastic about her work and life overall. I have to say that at first I didn't like her that much and found her a bit annoying - she was way too positive about everything if you asked me. But, at some point, I noticed that I didn't hate her that much anymore and that she's actually quite nice character; she's helpful and kind and she also has the talent to see the silver lining on a storm cloud. She's a sweet one. I also love her design, especially the new outfit (seen in the picture above) and it's likely the one I'm going to make.

Character: Lumine (the female Traveler)

There´s still a long road ahead.

 

In the beginning of the game the player gets to choose whether they want a male or a female avatar. Usually I take the male one but I found myself liking the design of the female avatar, Lumine, more so I chose her - and I wasn't disappointed in my choice. Her design is simply amazing; it looks very simple (or at least when compared to other Genshin Impact characters) but actually it's filled with small details. I'm not usually a fan of pure white color either but it fits this character pretty well! I can't say anything about her personality in this context; you see, the player kind of builds the Traveler's personality so it really depends of the player what kind of a character the Traveler becomes. I went with the sarcastic one.
Lumine is pretty likely to happen - probably even among the first ones yet definitely not the first. 

Character: Beidou

I chose you as my crewmate, as my comrade on the sea. It gives me great pride to be able to say that.

 

Beidou - this goodhearted and straightforward pirate queen stole my heart when I got to know her personality. To be honest, at first I wasn't too fond of her design; in my eyes red and purple never really were a good combination but after a while I realized that those colors reflect Beidou's personality; if there was such a thing as "responsible yet passionate wild child" I would definitely use it to describe her. She's also very smart and opinionated character - just the type I like. She's one of the characters that is pretty likely to happen.

Character: Ningguang

There's no style in resorting to violence. It's simply the worst of all the bad decisions you could make.

 

Ningguang... I'm not going to lie. At first I outright hated her with passion; she seemed to be the worst kind of snob out there. It took me quite a while to learn to appreciate her personality and realize that she hadn't gotten everything on a golden tray - she has had to work hard for her success, sometimes even without proper rest. When I finally convinced myself to give her a second chance I noticed that her personality is actually great; she is hard-working and sophisticated yet ready to defend her people when it's required from her.
I still dislike her regular outfit but I love this Orchid's Evening Gown; in my eyes blue suits her much better than gold and still symbolizes her social status - after all, in the past blue was the color meant for royals and the rich. Mainly because it was expensive af but... Anyway. 

So, here's part one of the characters I'm going to cosplay in the future - and yes, this is the first part. I'll also write a second part in the near future since I realized that if I had put all the characters I want to cosplay in one post it would've become a kilometer long list so... Yeah. 

Oh, and if you wonder - those cursive parts are character voice-overs. 

Until next time - which is likely to be another circle lens review.

- Firith