Going Gyaru – With Shop Links [PICTURE HEAVY]

Let’s go window shopping!

Gyaru, gyaru, gyaru. It’s a style people love and hate. It’s a style where people can be utterly ruthless but also amazingly sweet. It’s a crazy kinda up and down loop-de-loop rollercoaster, and I want in on it. Do you want in too?

NOTE: This is an updated version of my previous post which you can see here!

Gyaru

Some say gyaru is just a style; others say it’s a way of life. Wikipedia says it’s a type of street fashion originating in the 80s. I say it’s fashion and makeup with extra doses of personality, fierceness and BAM. Gals don’t necessarily dress the same way. In fact, the substyles can be ridiculously different from each other! (Uh, hello banbas and hime-gyarus!) But you can tell if someone’s gyaru anyway.

Different but somehow the same

It’s not just a certain ‘look’ since even the makeup can be drastically different. It’s not just dyed hair, excessively decorated nails, eyeliner, fake eyelashes and circle lenses! It’s also a way of carrying yourself and having strength of personality. Gals are bold, more than a little bit wild, rebellious and confident. Even more of a plus, they know how to make themselves look even better than they already do, and they’re not afraid to show it!

See? Gorgeous.

Sold on gyaru yet?

If you are, yay! If not, stick around anyway and see how ladies of a different style strut their stuff.

If you want to meet other gaijin gyaru, check out Forever Gyaru, Daily Gyaru and the Gaijin Gyaru tag on Tumblr. If you want a lot of links to an assortment of gal stuff, see the Gyaru Library. And if you want to make really good friends and/or party with some other gals, you might want to join a gal circle!

What if you want to learn about different substyles? There are excellent posts about that at What Is Gyaru.

What about me? 

Since this is more of a post about general gyaru shopping, I'll talk about my style direction in another post. (YES! A great way to figure out what I should be spending on... Heehee)

Shopping

For the record, I got my inspiration for this list from Ricoche. I'd ask you to check it out, but it seems like the site has gone kapoot... :(

And if you want more information about being gyaru, check out  Lizzie's guide on MysticHorn!

Makeup 

Gyaru are all about makeup. In fact, I don't think you can be considered gyaru unless you're pretty much bathed in the stuff! This isn't a bad thing per se, just an observation. :)

There are a few staples to a gyaru look: circle lenses, false lashes and eyeliner. Those 3 seem to me to be the key ingredients to a lot of the looks for the very different substyles. There are, of course, heaps of other makeup stuff to use! But those three are very important. BUY THEM.

Moving on to the makeup and brands!

NOTE: Brands recommended may not be the best fit for your features. It's always best to compare and shop around to see which ones go best with your own skin.

You'll Want

• Foundation
• Black eyeliner 
• Brown, black, white eye shadow
• Fake lashes (upper and lower) 
• Brow pencil
• Brow brush
• Mascara
• Setting mist 
• Matte eye shadow (for contouring)
• Circle lenses -- It's not technically makeup, but it goes on the face, okay!

Check Out

• M.A.C cosmetics - Expensive but good quality, I hear!
• MISSHA - Famous Korean brand, great BB cremes
• Bobbi Brown - My friend recommends this!
• L'Oreal - Cheaper brand alternative
• Revlon - Also a cheap alternative
• Dolly Wink - Brand by charisma gal Tsubasa Masuwaka! Love their brow pencils, brow mascara and lashes!
• Jiemao0316 (Taobao shop) - SUPER CHEAP. Currently ordering fake lashes from here!

There are a lot of other places you can get makeup from, but those are great places to start! Don't forget to check out your local pharmacies and stores. :]

Specifically for lenses, check out:

• Shoppingholics (Popular with gaijin gals!) 
• Eyecandylens (Free international shipping!) 
• Alice and Rabbit Shop (Free shipping! And it's Philippines-based :D)
• The Doll Eye 
• Momolens
• Lens Village 
• Pinky Paradise 

(P.S. I don't have experience with all of these brands, but those I don't have experience with have been recommended to me a lot!) 

All this makeup? And work? For what, you might ask. For this! Behold... Gal make!

Let's move on to...

Accessories 

• Huge over-the-top sunnies 
• Nerdy glasses 
• Hair bows and ribbons
• All manner of hats
• Gold and silver bracelets 
• Large gold or silver hoop earrings 
• Long pendant necklaces 
• Huge statement purses and bags
• Blinged up nails (Falsies are a plus!)
• Fur (I'd prefer faux fur... But maybe you'd prefer the real thing?)
• Cocktail rings 
• Waist belts, low skinny slouch belts

You can buy pretty much any accessories and add them to your gal outfit! But for those items that aren't mainstream enough for regular stores, here are a few links!

False Nails

• http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lhouraii
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/LemonyNyanNyan?section_id=10737240
• http://luckynail.taobao.com/
• http://mikanail.taobao.com
• ** These links were taken from Gyaru Coordinates! :)

Jewelry and other accessories (These are Taobao shop links, k? :D)

• Mogugirl
• Indifferent 20k 
• Woailangman
• Xin-xing 
• Caida Sanjang
• Techfaith edge
• Luosha Baby
• The Pandora Love 2012

If you need help figuring out Taobao, check out this guide by my university's cosplay club!

So, accessories... This one... I have to work on. A lot. Which is why I'm currently ordering a lot of jewelry and accessories from Taobao. Those Taobao links to accessories listed above? I'm about to order from them! Yay!

Shoes 

• Heels
• Platform heels 
• Over-the-knee boots 
• Knee-high boots 
• Subtle heels 
• All kinds of heels. Srsly. Heels. 
• Ballet flats

If you want to see a more in-depth post about shoes (along with specific links), check out this post!

Next up...

Clothes

Tops 

• Blazers 
• Button-downs 
• Light or sheer oversize sweaters 
• Halter tops 
• Camisoles 
• Leather jacket 
• Print tees 
• Basic tees 

Bottoms 

• Tights 
• Over the knee socks 
• Miniskirts 
• Pencil skirts 
• Skinny jeans 
• Distressed denim 
• Black dress shorts 

Where can you buy gyaru clothes? You could try Rakuten, Taobao, Gyaru Japanese brands or just look for gyaru-looking clothes from your local area!

Check out Gyaru shop links from Gyaru Coordinates!

How about...

Hair

Here's a glimpse of what your hair might look like if you were gyaru! Taken from Pinterest.

Gyaru tend to have hair from short to long, stick straight to sexily curled, from browns to blonde and a myriad of other colours. It depends on what look you're going for under the gyaru label!

Plenty of gyaru change their looks using hair extensions and wigs. No shame in that, k?

Here are a few places you can get wigs from!

• Gothic Lolita Wigs 
• Lin_linting5
• The water dance Lufthansa 
• Vivian Wigs 

--

So, that's my improved going Gyaru list! I hope you learned something. :)

See you later!

Pattee

P.S. Seriously, check out Lizzie's guide!