Cosplay & Photoshop

Hope you're all doing well! :D

Sorry for the lack of posts, just having a mind blank lately but yeah!
Uploaded a video on Youtube on my thoughts on Cosplay & Photoshop.
Which can be viewed here:

So this post will just be a more detailed or clearer version of the video since I mumbled and stuttered alot in the video which was quite difficult to understand.

Just a disclaimer note before I begin that I understand that you may not agree with me and what I say but these are just my thoughts and opinions, and it is totally understandable that everyone has their own opinions as well. ^_^)v

Photoshop is a program that allows you to manipulate an image according to the user's preferences, in saying that- photoshopping is the technique of manipulating the image.

In my opinion, Photoshop is quite crucial when relating it to cosplay/cosplay-photography. 
Reason being is that it's very difficult to capture a perfect image as there's so many factors that contribute to a photoshoot which where the photographs are taken.

Some examples are :
→ Weather
→ Lighting
→ Location
→ Cosplayer
→ Photographer
→ Atmosphere

Now when I mention cosplayer and photographer, I don't mean that they are at fault- so you shouldn't really (ever in my opinion) blame them.

I mention cosplayer and photographer in terms of the interaction and the comfort level to product whatever atmosphere.

For me- I really think a good connection between the cosplayer and the photographer is super crucial in producing great photographs. A good connection/relationship between the cosplayer and the photograph creates this really comfortable non-awkward atmosphere where both will get along and work together without worrying so much about the surroundings. Cosplayers feel less tense and more confident which shows alot through the expression they give along with the poses.

Sometimes the surrounding such as the location or weather turns out not what you expected it to be, and to be honest- with such good connection and atmosphere between the coser and the photographer, automatically (in most cases) both will work around some way with whatever situation. 

Overall, whatever problems you have- you should really just work your way around with whatever situation you're in :)

Moving back onto topic with photoshop, when I mention photoshop- I don't mean overdone or overkill photoshopping or shopping for short. I mean a way of editting so that it enhances the photos to capture the right feel for it.
For me, there are four different types of level of shopping:
→ Minor
→ Tolerable
→ Godshop
→ Overdone/Overkill

So lets emphasise each level of shopping:

→ Minor

Minor photoshopping is when you do very little editting on the photo to the point where it looks more natural and not even noticeable.

Here's an example of minor shopping done on the Eager Love Revenge Kagamine Len photo taken by my good friend and photographer Kenny. (thanks!)

So the left one is the original and the right one is after photoshopping it.

As you can see- 

→ the random thing floating in the air is removed

→ lighting adjustments was made. 

Looks somewhat natural as if taken from the camera without editting.

→ Tolerable

Tolerable photoshopping is editting photos with a heavier hand than the minor shopping, where used to enhance the photo to please the eye, makes it more appealing and photoshopping may be noticeable or not. Tolerable shopping is commonly what I aim for.

In the following example; from the minor shopping-

→ the color balance was changed

→ light flare added

→ wig ahoge fixed to look like the actual character.

→ Godshop

Godly photoshop is editting the photo at a high level to the point where it's super obvious however looks super appealing and catches people's attention. Requires alot of skills and care as sometimes it may overwhelm the eyes or even go towards the overdone/overkill category. This form of editting is commonly used amongst "pro" cosplayers as seen on the front page of worldcosplay as it captures the audience's attention because it's flashy *A*)b

The following  picture is an example that was godshopped by amazing Alan (http://zfx-design.deviantart.com) [THANKS ALAN!].  No words- BAM. haha! Looks super good an amazing even though its obvious it has been photoshopped.

→ Overdone/Overkill

Over-shopping is the process of editting the photo to the point where it doesn't please the eyes and just overdone because it's just too much or not done properly.

The following is an example which I overexaggerated because I honestly had no idea what to do but yeah. The photo has been killed by badly photoshopping it and there was another edit where my face was fully editted to the point where it didn't even look like me.

So that sums up my thoughts on cosplay x photoshop.

As I said earlier, I try my best to edit my photos at the tolerable level where you know it's photoshopped but editted in a subtle manner.

Please leave a comment in the Youtube video or on the blog for your thoughts and opinions as well, love to see it as well! :D

Until then, sleep time!

Stay well, take care and good night! 

first normal daily entry + dance workout

Heyyy~ hope you're all doing well!

This will be a somewhat boring normal post with little pictures and yeah.

Nothing much happened today, HOWEVER-
did manage to get alot of workout done today after getting some dance workout videos.
The dance workout video I followed was the "Ministry of Sounds - Pump it up , Ultimate dance workout" and judging from the songs I think it's the one released in 2004 though some people say it's the 2009 edition. 

The cover should look like this : 

With the one guy where his drawstrings just hang abouts which is super disturbing in the video AND also he does these weird facial expressions when they do the thrustings but yeah.. guess there's always that one creepy in every aerobic video haha!

Apparently it was the same one that Youtube makeup guru Bubzbeauty followed along in the following video :

And yeah! It's only my first day of trying out the DVD and so far I'm super happy with it. It's so much fun and easy to follow and the song has great rhythm which kicks in great to work out to.

I think I went for like 3 rounds, not straight up though because the whole routine together is just a little over an hour and my non-fit self cannot handle that. Actually my non-fit self cannot handle almost anything. But yeah! The first round I followed the warm up section and the first 2 minutes of the Dance section. Even though I took 1minute breaks at parts where my body (especially my legs) couldn't handle anymore like doing squats, IT WAS SOO TIRING. But it's one of those tiredness where you feel good if you know what I mean :D

Second round I followed the dance section and the hardcore pump it up section which I took heaps of short breaks cos my legs just cramp up really easily even after stretches but yeah, super fun sections to do and insane sweat! 

Here's a glam pic of my sweating LOLOL 

Third round I did the more calmer section where it focus on toning the bum and tums, and the other section on breathing and stretches. Didn't take any breaks in this because it was simple and great to do without any strains.

I DO NOT LOOK FORWARD TO MY BODY ACHING TOMORROW LOLOL BUT IT'LL BE GOOD :D

Besides the dance workout, didn't do much today.
The usual gaming, the usual online job hunting, the usual helping out with parents work, the usual social networking, the usual eating and routines and yeahhhhh.

Anyway it's 3am, gonna hit the showers and then head to bed. 
Until then- stay well, take care and good night!

"Sukitte ii na yo" photoset released!

Hello there! Hope you're all doing well!~

As the title says all, the photoset for the "Sukitte ii na yo" photoshoot have been released by our wonderfull photographer Jaychu.

The photoset can be viewed at the following link : 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/churian/sets/72157632573232107/

Super thanks to Jaychu for being our photographer and tanking everything in the scorching heat and also super thanks for the time with edit!

Please check out Jaychu's blog for more updates on her photography and cosplay and FOOOODDDD at http://churian.wordpress.com/ 

The photos are amazing especially with the edit and lighting and of course MEI IS SUPER DUPER CUTEEEE! Thanks Arisu for being Mei! Please check out Arisu's deviantart at http://syaoyue.deviantart.com . 

I STILL WISH I COULD'VE DONE A BETTER JOB AS YAMATO! GAOOOOOO Need to chuck on a Yamato vibe when we decide to reshoot this, hopefully I will look good but yeah!

Here are some of the photos in the photoset. As you might have noticed, some of the photos are different to the photoset as I re-editted abit mainly with our skin and hair and etc. I apologise if the editting is very obvious. 

As soon as Jaychu linked me the photoset, THIS PICTURE LITERALLY CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. I don't know, it just has such a great atmosphere and THE GRASS LOOKS SO NICEEEE HAHAA! But yes I re-editted the picture mainly on my skin and the hairline and added the title. Kinda looks like another live-action promo doesnt it? XD

Just had to mention this picture in the post because the time and effort it took for Jaychu to edit this. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH JAYCHU FOR THE HARDWORK T_T <3 Like everything is soooo nice AND THEN there's me. I'll be honest that I don't like my figure in this and of course I mentioned it to our photographer and I really don't want her to fix it because it's one of those inevitable things. I just looks so stumpy hahaha! Just wide and short in this shot but in the walking shots- I have a tall figure. But yeah, SO SORRY JAYCHU AND ARISU FOR RUINING THIS PICTURE. Once again super thanks to Jaychu for the photo :)

Definitely had to put this here too, super thanks to Arisu and Jaychu for the edit! It just looks so nice and so much like the manga *A*)b

Lastly for the post, just sharing this photo and edit. Editted the words in this morning and it really buggered me so much because the colors I wanted to use for the title (taken from the manga's front cover) just didn't match the color of the photo. So ended up with this one which isn't bad at all in my opinion but yeah. 

Anyway that's all to share, again please do check out the photoset for the rest of the photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/churian/sets/72157632573232107/
And please do check out Jaychu's blog at http://churian.wordpress.com/ 
And also Arisu's deviantart at http://syaoyue.deviantart.com

Thank you so much once again Arisu and Jaychu for making this happen and I very look forward to reshooting :D and hopefully I don't fail Yamato like this time orz

Haha! Have a great evening, stay well and take care!

Stocking -cop ver- photoset released & Sukitte ii na yo editting

Whatsup everyone, hope you're all doing well!

First is first, the photoset from Pandori-san (another photographer at the Stocking -cop ver- photoshoot) has finished editting the photos and has released them. Both Furorensu-san and I are super happy with how they turned out and yeah! Thanks heaps Pandori-san!

Here are some of the photos:

One of my favorite shots of Furorensu-san. SUPER CUTEEE! *A*)b 

Also super love the bubble shots of Furorensu-san. It gives it such a great feel to the photo that's very Stocking like. Thanks to Wayne-san for being out bubble blower haha!

One of my favorite solo shots. Actually to be honest- I'm quite happy with all the solo shots that Pandori took :D

And lastly to share is the group shot of both Stocking. Resembles Stocking well as it's somewhat innocent yet badass ;D And the angle of the photo is great too, gives it a great retro feel to it.

Thanks so much to Pandori-san for being our photographer and the photos, hope to shoot with you more often! 

If you guys like to see more of the photos- please visit : http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.196317953845944.62216.100004032222114&type=1
Hopefully the link will work, if so please leave me a comment and I'll try to get it fixed up. :) I'll ask Pandori-san for his page so you guys can check him out ;D

MOVING ON, was actually busy today helping my aunty with her photography work once again and got home quite late so couldn't do the reviews or open box review I wanted but all good, got to receive the photos from the Stocking photoshoot and a couple more from the "Sukitte ii na yo" shoot.

We're all currently still discussing and editting the photos that Jaychu took and just trying to capture the feel like the manga/anime does.

I won't release the other photo yet until the set is released but here's one of the photo that we are all editting on.

YAMATO SO SASSY WITH THE WALK AHAHAHA!! I don't even know why it turned out like that, I swear I don't walk sassy... or maybe i do? LOL! 
ANYWAY still doesn't feel right though, this is just my random take I did last minute for the blog but yeah- definitely doesn't have that feel yet. Mainly because of the lighting and coloring. Because we all want it to be soft but at the same time have some of the colors such as the sky and the greens and of course the cosplayers to stand out. But just not sure how yet, just gotta fiddle around with photoshop more but yeah! Definitely going to be fun ^_^)b

Alrighty time to head to bed since it is almost 5am zZzZz
Until then stay well, take care and good night!

A photo from "Sukitte ii na yo" photoshoot & Editing

Hello there everyone, hope you're all doing well!

Nothing interesting for today since I was mainly out helping my aunty doing photography as a volunteer thing for temple and continuing tomorrow as well but hopefully tomorrow (well today) ends earlier. 

Planning to do some reviews and open box reviews and etc etc real soon, so please check out the blog often and yeah! Oh and I realised that my grammar, well actually my english in general in my blog posts are as terrible as my speaking- even though I am born and raised in Australia LOLOL! Oh the influences which makes english starting to look like my second language. BUT ANYWAY, yeah!

Moving on! Jaychu (photographer for the "Sukitte ii na yo" photoshoot) sent me two photos that she finished editting with the lighting etc and after me editing a few tweaks such as even out eyes and wig etc etc, Arisu and I started discussing about putting the title onto the photo, the color of the title and how to position the title haha! 

So after deciding on the color based on the manga title as each volume has a different color combination and had to choose a combination which stood out but suited the photo; it was then time to figure out how to place about this title. I did a first test (picture above) and placed it randomly in somewhat similar to the manga's front cover which was alright we decided but wanted something more subtle.

I think it took us about 30minutes, or maybe even longer but it was fun sending back and forth and fixing. Because sometimes it looks right but when you reopen it, it just totally doesn't look right at all- BUT WE FINALISED IT and decided to keep it subtle using the manga title font and colors. And this is what we ended up with"

We wanted to keep it subtle and simple because we really liked the fuwafuwa atmosphere and didn't want the title/text to overpower it with the softness of the photo's lighting and yeah! Super happy with it :) AND MEI(Arisu) IS SO CUTE! <3 AHAHAHA

I somehow get the feeling we'll upload all different version on different sites because most of the positions of the title looked alright XD So which one do you guys prefer?

As mentioned that there was two photos sent, other one is still in progress of editting and discussion hahaha! BUT yeah! After Jaychu sending us these photos, I'm super excited and super happy how they turned out and super looking forward to seeing the photoset :D 

Thanks so much again to Jaychu and Arisu for making it happen! 

That's it for tonight, time for sleep.
Until then- take care, stay well and goodnight!

Oh PS :  just resharing this picture which I posted in my previous post and everywhere on my facebook, deviantart, curecos, worldcosplay. I SERIOUSLY LOVE THIS PHOTO SO MUCH THAT ITS EVEN MY PHONE'S HOME&LOCK SCREEN. I dont know, it looks like a promo for a live action like Kimi ni Todoke live action hahaha! (up himself orz)

"Sukitte ii na yo" photoshoooooooottt!

Hope you're alll doing well!

I'm doing pretty alright- just the weather still getting to me because it was apparently 46 degrees celsius max today and we tanked and had a last minute planned photoshoot haha! We cosplayers and photographers are crazy indeeed. Why last minute? Well we originally decided to postpone the shoot because it was too hot, but then realised we cannot shoot any other time unless super delayed so we just decided last minute to tank the weather and shoot.

Today we shot manga/anime "Sukitte ii na yo (say 'i love you')" with our photographer Jaychu and cosplayer Arisu who cos'd as my Tachibana Mei *A*)// <3 This shoot took quite alot of planning and effort (mainly for Jaychu and Arisu) because we had no idea where to shoot~ in the end we shot in the hearts of Chatswood where the area was more modern yet retained its grassy features.

But yeah, was difficult to capture shots because of such harsh lighting from the sunlight and just bits and pieces didn't seem so right or not what we all wanted. ALSO WAS JUST TOO HOT IN GENERAL, was actually super worried about Jaychu in hopes that she doesn't push herself so much in the weather because she was just SO RED LOLOL <3 and Arisu (our Mei) had to wear a long sleeve shirt with a vest in this hot weather, that's like death hahaha. Of course we took it easy throughout and had lots of rest and running around to spot for shady cool areas and had plenty of fluids to keep us hydrated and ate in an aircon'd area so all was good. Better if friendlier weather haha!

Anyway here are just some photos I'll share:

Here are just some makeup products I brought along in my makeup case along with my eyeshadow palette.
→  Liquid foundation
→  Powder
→  Spot on concealer
→  Eyebrow palette
→  Dark brown colored powder (used for contouring mainly)
→  Crayon, pencil and liquid eyeliners
→  Lip liner
→  Highlighter (below the eyelirnes)
→  Wig styling gel (the thing that says Fantasy Sheep)
→  Angled liner brushes, lip brush, powder brushes

Tried to keep it simple because its a relatively simple cosplay. After my Socking shoot, I learnt that most concealer (especially cream based) don't cooperate well in hot weathers as they melt and settle into your skin causing it to leave a crackly, spotty look. So this time since the weather was even more extremely hot, I did not wear concealer and just decided to double up my foundation. 
Despite some of my scars do peek through abit, nothing but a little shopping can't do ;) 
Secret of cosplayers revealed : we heavily rely on photoshop LOLOL!

New bag and tie my Mei (Arisu) got for me for the shoot, and now we having matching bags and tie haha! Oh super thanks to Arisu for buying it and blinging the bag for me <3 Did not expect it Q3Q.

Here's us just derping abouts the shoot and just fixing this and that and discussing on poses and yeah! Jaychu, Arisu (Mei), and me (Yamato) :D

Another derpy moment before shooting, me just getting my makeup on and Mei being.. not so Mei AHAHAH!! Props to Jaychu for the photo. So funny during this moment, this man walked by and he started asking something about makeup which we had no idea what he was saying and yeah, I somewhat get the feeling he's just amazed the fact we're doing makeup in a random area in this hot scorching weather LOLOL!
OH and see the shoes I'm wearing, they're female loafers which fits me and I wore it for Yozora Mikazuki from Haganai but yeah, first time I've had this problem but the back of the left shoe kept rubbing against the back of my foot towards the ankles and yeah, had a blister. But was worth it I guess, nothing but a little blister anyway.

Yamato (me) abducting Jaychu's camera and camwhoring with Mei (Arisu). Enjoy my awkward smile, well awkward Yamato in general hahaaha! MEI! YOU ARE TOO CUTEEEEEEE!!! <3

Picture of me driving back home after the shoot, even though I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving but it's okay, I was stationary and stuck in traffic XD! Tired and sleepy being stuck in traffic in this hot heat without air con because my car ran out of the cool air gas thingo which I really should get that repumped.

We finished up around 3.15pm because I had to leave since it's quite a travel for me and had to go back to help my aunty with her work. So we walk back to the centre we ate from and where I parked my car and turns out there was a fire drill so we had to wait at the entrance for about 10 minutes. Just our luck after the heat but all is well after we could enter and buy cold drinks *A*

SO YEAH! Was super fun as always shooting with them and I think we managed to get quite a number of photos in this hot weather, so overall really good :D Omega thanks to Jaychu and Arisu for the shoot!

Definitely think we will be reshooting "Sukitte ii na yo" soon in a more friendly weather and hopefully my make up and wig will be better as the wig just looked super flat, missing the volume that Yamato has and yeah. 

I look forward to the release of photos and reshooting <3 

Until then, time to head the showers again and head to bed for a long day tomorrow helping my aunty!

Take care, stay well and goodnight!

Stocking -cop ver- photoshoot photos!

Hey everyone, hope you're all doing welll!

Unexpectedly one of our photographers (Marupan) from yesterday's Stocking -cop version- photoshoot was done with editting our pics and released it and yeah, this post will be me just sharing and creditting marupan :D

Martin (or what we call marutan or marupan) does have his own facebook page for his photography which I think you'll enjoy at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mtknot/177524032379713 \
So please visit the link and support him and like his page if you wish to see more of him and most likely me too :D

So here are some of the photos from Marupan:

Furorensu-san as the original female Stocking. SO BADASS AND CUTEEEEE! It was apparently Furorensu-san's first shoot and she just nailed the shoot like BAM pwnage. SOO CUTEEEE! She looks great in all the photos in my opinion :D

Me as the genderbend male version of Stocking. Surprisingly I like this shot despite the fact when posing, it was super awkward cos it looks really feminine and etc. But yeah as you can see, I'm not looking at the camera because I'm looking at our other photographer Pandori. But yeah~

FINALLY the shot that surprisingly turned out really well and I have to say one of the best ones in the album to all of us:

In my previous post, I mentioned out testing out weird poses Marupan had in mind. And yeah- it involved me having my legs up on the wall. Originally I think Marupan wanted me higher but It just wasn't right for a guy and it was best not to make Furorensu-san risk it on her first shoot. But yeah, somehow it managed to work out well and there you have it ahahah!

Only shared a couple but if you'd like to check out the rest of the photos, please check out : http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.249537615178354.65075.177524032379713&type=1
And once again like Marupan's page to see more of his work and most likely me in the future :D

That's all for today, I'm gonna head off for a big day tomorrow. 
Until then, stay well, take care and good night :D

Stocking -cop ver- photoshoooot

Yo everyone, hope you're all doing well.

Yesterday I had a photoshoot for Stocking -cop version- from the anime "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt" where we shot both original female and genderbent male version. 

Featuring Furorensu-san as super cute AND BADASS female Stocking, Me as the genderbent male version of Stocking, Marupan & Pandori as our photographers, and Wayne-san as the shoot's assistants. Also Kenny for being there in spirit, as he wasn't able to attend due to him being down with the flu (hope you get well soon!). 

It was a great shoot overall despite the crappy hot 31 degrees celsius weather which made our makeup melt, but we tanked it and got to explore the great new location. :D

This time we shot at St Peters where there are alot of graffiti throughout the town, and was suggested by our photographer Marupan as it was a new and different location where we (both cosplayer and photographers) could play around and test the area.

So we all met up at around 3-3.15pm at the station and walked to our destination, settled down and cosplayers were just getting ready with the makeup and costume, which allowed photographers to set up their gears as well. Works both way :D

Here's a picture of me derping while our Furorensu-san is having her solo shoot. XD

The area we shot at was a street which about one third of the street was covered in graffiti as you can see above, however alot of cars and people turned into the street alot so it was quite fun yelling out "CAR" and moving aside for them. Photographers suffered quite alot (especially marupan) as most of the time they wanted to shoot from below and had to lie down and face the scorching hot concrete.

 Of course us cosplayers did suffer quite abit with posing under the hot sun and the hot surfaces but in the end, i think it was worth it. Super great fun shoot as one of the "baton" i brought along as prop still had the bubble liquid, so we decided to use it and had Wayne-san blow bubbles for the shoot. Also the many sexual innuendos made throughout the shoot, knowing me and the guys haha! Super sorry to Furorensu-san for having to put up with that hahaha!

Finished the shoot at approximately 6.30pm and it was time to head back since it was already getting late and best that we all get home before it was dark. Once again super thanks to Furorensu-san, Pandori-san, Marutan-san and Wayne-san for the photoshoot. :)

Here is some photos to be expected from the shoot from our photographers :DDD

 Credit goes to Pandori-san (Thank you!)

Credit goes to Marutan-san (Thank you!)

And that's it for this blog post. Time to get out of bed and get my day started :D

Until then, stay well & take care!

DIY: Deep cleaning Makeup Brushes

Hope you're all doing well!

*UPDATE: Here's my YouTube tutorial video on how I deep-clean my brushes :)

My makeup brushes are pretty much constantly dirty everytime I do a cosplay makeup test (costest) where I use almost all my brushes with different type products from liquid to powder. Here I will show you my method on how I deep-cleanse my makeup brushes so they are super clean and soft as if they're new; and also conditioned so the brushes last longer.

In some cases, I spot-clean my brushes where I used powdered products like eyeshadow, so I just use makeup remover wipes and just wipe my brushes clean so that no more residue is left behind. HOWEVER for brushes where I used liquid products such as liquid foundation or cream concealer- I always give the brush a deep-cleanse as liquid or moist products tends to attract bacteria and dirt; as spot cleaning does not remove all the products- which can actually harm your skin.

So here are some dirty brushes I used for the "Litchi Hikari Club" makeup inspired look, and they have not been spot-cleaned (don't worry, I haven't touched these brushes again as I wanted to make a post about deep cleaning my brush) :D 

Oh, just a side note- my makeup brushes I use are just cheap brushes in which they are somewhat great quality as the bristles and hairs do not fall out, and my skin doesn't seem to have any allergic reaction to them ;)

Here are the products I used to mix together to make the cleaning agent owo)/
I actually learnt this method from MichellePhan but just tweaked it a little.

Here's a little information on what the products do: 
→ Hair conditioner : this will condition the hair/bristles of your brushes since the dishwashing liquid is quite harsh (even if it says gentle). And makes your brushes feel super soft as well ;D
→ Antibacterial Hand wash : kills the germs and bacteria present on the brushes
→ Dishwashing liquid : Removes the products and cleans the brushes. Try to find a dishwashing liquid that states that it's gentle and/or anti-bacterial. The reason why dishwashing liquid rather than just soap is that it has more cleaning properties that enables it to remove more product that just regular soap such as oils and grease (from foundation/concealers/skin)
→ Extra Virgin Olive Oil : Removes products (especially wax based) on the brushes where oil-based cleansers must be used to remove them. Also aids in conditioning the brushes :)

So there you have it- now the ratio may differ depending on what you like and prefer.
For me- I usually go with :
→ 1 TEAspoon of Conditioner
→ 1 TEAspoon of Antibacterial Soap
→ 1 TABLEspoon of Dishwashing detergent
→ 1 TABLEspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Following that, this is what I got! ^_^ which kinda looks like egg mixture for egg wash or scrambled eggs .___.;

After you mixed your cleaning agent, it's time to clean the brushes.
What I usually do is either dip the brush in the cleaning agent or scoop the cleaning agent with the teaspoon and pour it onto my palm and just swirl the brush back and forth so that the brush is clean and the left-over makeup product is removed, and just set it aside. 
To check if there is any left-over makeup residue on the brush, squeeze the bristles out with the cleaning agent and see if there are any residues left. If not, it's good to move on.
Repeat this step for each brush, preferably from smallest to largest.

Rinse each brush under semi-warm running water until there is no soapiness when squeezing the bristles.
Thoroughly wipe the brushes with paper towel and then place it vertically so that the water can drop down out of the bristles due to gravity without enabling the water to travel up the handle to loosen the glue. Like so :D

Allow the brushes to dry vertically in open air. Be sure NOT to dry them in DIRECT SUNLIGHT as this damages your brushes and leaves your brushes damn in the centre.

Depending on the weather and temperature and the brush size, the drying vary. I think about 1.5 hours on average for my brushes but sometimes longer for bigger brushes. I also used the leftover cleaning agent to clean the brush guard for my foundation powder brush :)

Once it's dried, your brushes should feel really nice and soft and also somewhat smelling nicer than it did hahaha!

Store them like you usually do, and your brushes are ready to use.

But yeah, this is just how I clean my brushes which is technically the same method as MichellePhan as shown in her video :

Anyway that's it for this post. Hopefully it is somewhat helpful.
Until then, stay well & take care

Packages

Yo! Hope you're all doing well!
Today I received two packages in the mail, one being beads I ordered on Ebay for the "Sukitte ii na yo" bracelet; and the other one being red contact lenses I ordered for the first time from pinkyparadise.com

So the beads I ordered this time are round crackled beads to complete the ending of the bracelet which hangs off. I actually ordered round cat eye beads to complete the bracelet but turns out that the bead was just way too small for the cord to fit, so resolved in buying the crackle ones which are abit large but it does the job. Just gotta drill the hole bigger so the cord can fit. Also ordered more cobalt blue chip beads since I was running out. 

 For the contact lenses, I'll do a full review about them and the package in another entry when I do try the lenses on. The lenses have been removed out of it's sterile solution and placed in the contact lense holder with saline solution, gotta let it soak for minimumm 12 hours. But yeah, bought the Dolly+ Red lenses from pinkyparadise.com instead from the usual honeycolor.com (as you can see in the ad section in which I'm not getting paid to put it there, it's just a my recommendation and support). So far the service of pinkyparadise is great and arrives in 14 days as ordered as mentioned and yeah, will go into depth in the actual post.

And yeah, I shall end the post now and head to bed since its 3.20am and I gotta wake up at 7am because my cousin is coming back from her holiday at 8-9am and I gotta give her house keys haha!
Also I have a photoshoot at 3pm with Florence-san (fellow cosplayer) and we're shooting Stocking cop/police version from Panty & Stocking. I'm gonna be doing the male version. So many worries because its gonna be 31 degrees and foundation and makeup just gonna be terrible hahaah! Will try to vlog the day if I can.

Until then. stay well. take care and goodnight! :D

Camera Apps

Hope you're all doing well,
It's currently 3.30am and just got back from shower after late night gaming as usual.
Wanted to fix my sleeping pattern because my skin just feel really dull and tired, but guess that's not happening tonight! haha!

So this entry will be about the camera applications I use on my phone which is an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100). Most of the time I take pictures of random things or what's going on in my life with my phone and just throw it all on Instagram because it's such a great way to share photos despite hearing about the new policy and all but whatever. 
The main reason I actually use Instagram so much is because of its filter available, as it just makes the photo you take look so much nicer.

Now for Instagram, of course you need to take a photo and I personally do not use the built-in Instagram camera because I prefer to use the normal android camera OR other camera apps (usually) as they have better function which I can use before using the Instagram filters.
There are two applications at the moment that I am currently using.

The first camera application that I always and mainly use is called the "Line Camera". This application is super amazing because it has a function where to take photos with a square dimension which is easily imported into Instagram. Besides that, it has many amazing filters and customisables that you can jazz your photo up. It's almost like purikura on your phone honestly. And the best of all - it is freeeeeeeeeee. HAHA! Super fun to use and also doesn't make the photo loses its quality either unlike other applications I will explain later. Sorry I won't be showing examples because my phone is kinda screwing up and not letting me transfers onto my laptop -____-; But I can guarantee that you will enjoy this application

The second application is "Camera 360 Ultimate" and it is super great for its vast variety of filters available. There is just so many filters in which each filters can be customised further to enhance that filter on that photo. So for example- it has a "Light color" filter, under that there are more options of that filters such as "Sweet" which gives it a soft diffused light colored effect and so on. AND the best of ALL, is its silent camera function aka stalker-camera. Because sometimes you want to take pictures of yourself (camwhore) and not want a camera shuttered to be heard to let the whole public know you're taking a photo. so yeah. The downside to this application is that it saves the photo in an average quality, so you don't really get that clear almost-HD quality. It's still fuzzy and somewhat blurry (especially when enlarged originally). But overall, heaps of filters and silent camera and also a free application (Y)

And that brings down to my review-ish, recommend-ish post despite not able to post any pics to show but hope you are able to check it out. 
In mentioning about that - please follow my instagram via DANNCHU .

Until then, it is 4am and I am going to go sleep, since I have quite a big day ahead.
Lets see-
→ Laundry (so much piled up TT )
→ Call up & apply for job seeking networks
→ Go to my cousins house to feed her fish & clean her house abit (Since they went overseas)
→ Prepare genderbend Stocking cop version cosplay for Wednesday photoshoot
→ Buy a new bottle of liquid foundation (ran out .___.)
→ Help parents with their work
→ Deep cleaning of makeup brushes

I might blog about how I clean my makeup brushes tomorrow.

Goodnight & Take care! :D