My first time taking pictures outside! Dolly Dream Wig

So technically this is a wig review, but the title still holds true! I hardly ever go outside, but Oppa and I made a *special* trip to a nearby school JUST to take photos for this review! I even stood in direct sunlight, risking my mole-prone skin... Hahaha~ I must say though, my camera responds infinitely better to natural lighting~! ^.^


Anyways, back to the topic! One of my online friendsies Melanie has opened up her own little webshop called Dolly Dream. This wig is listed as “Light Brown Thick and Wavy Ulzzang Wig,” and it’s only $10!

I’ll show you the photos now, but use them as a reference for what comes after! I’ve categorized them by lighting, since you’ll find that the wig color varies slightly. FYI: These photos were taken between 5 and 6pm, during that transition interval between afternoon and sunset. I didn’t style the wig at all; this is how it looks straight out of the bag:







unflattering angle >o<












































[Length: ~67cm]
Now that we've seen the wig, a few points to discuss!



For the most part, the colors in the pictures are true to life: cool, dark brown in the shade, warm, honey-brown in soft sunlight. Note that in strong direct sunlight, it becomes incredibly bright and shiny! (In other words, quite fake...but only in direct sunlight!)



Just see for yourself! Can you tell that there is a lot of hair? There's quite a bit of volume from the ears down, but not so much ontop of the head, since it’s all weighed down.




The fibers are very thin, and a little dry towards the ends. Because of this, it tends to knot if I fumble with the wig. Check out picture #5. It was breezy outside, so I had to keep readjusting the wig, which led to that knotty mess you see in the center. It's not that bad though. In the last picture you can see how mild the tangles are, and that was actually taken after all the other pictures! It's also possible to brush it out, so long you're I'm careful! In fact, I think essence would be sufficient to fix this~



I mentioned that it looks fake in direct sunlight, but for less sunny activities, it's best to look at Picture #6, the back view. I think for a wig, it’s pretty realistic. There are plenty of thready-looking cosplay wigs that are far below this one. That being said, girls like us who are used to seeing wigs, can probably tell it's a wig. That’s because the fibers are unrealistically thin, smooth, and densely packed. But even expensive Gabalmania/Pinkage wigs are like that too.




I would totally wear this outside, so long as it’s not uber sunny or windy! Really, I think all it needs is a bit of essence and trimming! (Well I’ve never actually used essence before, so perhaps it may need more than just “a bit”…) All in all I think it's a very nice wig: really pretty color, beautiful soft curls, and the quality is great for only 10 bucks! Seriously, 10 bucks!!

Many thanks to Melanie and Dolly Dream for this lovely wig~! I can't wait to get essence for it!


Has anyone used wig essence before? What's it like?!

Skinfood Rice Mask Wash Off

With it's ground rice texture and rice extract ingredients, this wash-off mask is meant to brighten, soften, and moisturize your skin.
It retails in Korea for 7,700KRW. You can get it at Koreadepart for only $6.44. ^^





Simple! 1) Massage over dry, clean face.   2) Leave for 15 minutes.   3) Wash off.
Skinfood recommends using it with the black sugar mask for maximum effectiveness.





It’s your typical Skinfood tub packaging: plastic, sturdy, sticker labels, includes an inner lid, etc. No spatula included! Also, it was practically filled to the rim when I got it.




[ cap diameter: 7.8cm | height: 6.6cm | base diameter: 5.6cm ]









It smells just like the Egg White Pore Mask: somewhat…floral? Floral as in flowers, not roses.





Here’s a video that takes you through scooping it, applying it, and spreading it out. I’m a total newb at videos, but hopefully it’ll give you some sort of idea about the texture! Youtube decided to change the lighting and make it REALLY dark and weird, but I decided to leave it since the mask shows up better this way! ^^


As you can see by the glisten, the mask is very moist. It also spreads very easily, but because of its grainy texture, it doesn’t spread evenly.

It’s thick in a sense that it's goopy and sticky like congee, but in no way is it heavy like how emollient creams are.

Here are some photos to show you details:




(↑ Those little bubbles you see are the rice bits!)





Amount Needed: Because of the texture and its uneven spreading, I tend to use a lot each time, even though I only apply a moderately thin layer.

How it feels: When I first apply it, the small bits of rice feel mildly exfoliating, but only at first! After I start massaging, they soften and feel more like clumpy congee instead. As it sits on my face, it feels decently moisturizing, especially as time goes on. However, given the sticky, gooey texture, it doesn’t give that hydrating feel that sheet masks do.

Gradually it absorbs, and I’m left with a thin layer of oily-ish residue that reminds me of natural sebum. It's almost as if the rice bits melted...? I have no idea. -.-






Don't mind my weird hairline...

(↑ This was taken right before I rinsed. This is the "sebum-like" residue I was talking about.
It really looks and feels like sebum to me!)

(↑ That shine is actually water I hadn't wiped off.)
Not really much visible difference, really.

Brightening/Whitening: I know many others have testified to a brightening effect, but I see none. Although the pictures suggest a bit of softening of my blemishes, I hardly notice anything in real life, to be honest. Though to be fair, I rarely ever experience brightening effects... T^T

Moisturizing Ability: It's got the type of moisture that washes off easily when you go to rinse. After rinsing, I still feel a little more moisture than I began with, but it’s light.

Softening: My skin didn't feel any softer than it usually does.




I will admit that the natural ingredient-type feel of this washoff mask is quite refreshing--but then again that’s probably just Skinfood’s marketing scheme, haha! The sebum-type feel was quite interesting, but I must be honest: I’m not really keen on using “natural and organic” products--been around too many chemicals to care at this point--so for meeee, there’s not much incentive to buy this. It didn’t really stand out to me. I prefer the Holika Holika Sheep Milk Yogurt Mask :) But it seems to be quite the steady seller in Korea, so maybe it's just not my cuppa tea!


Many thanks to Koreadepart for sponsoring this, alongside many of my other recent reviews! ^3^



Anyone else tried this mask, or other similar rice products? How'd you find it?

Inspired by Dolls

There’s no doubt about it; I love dolls. I don’t own any, but I love gazing at their photos. That enchanting balance of calmness, beauty, and childish innocence just pulls me in. I feel like I’m in an imaginary world just by looking at the photos, you know?


Today I stumbled upon a flickr account filled with these type of doll photos. I fell in love and had to just share some of them. It’s owned by a Korean girl—I’m assuming it’s a girl—and she also has a website, but I wasn’t able to gather any pictures from there. All the credit goes to her and her amazing photography and makeup skills!
















Love her hair in this one:











I cannot even begin to describe how much I love this one:


And this one. Omg, her outfit!








And I've saved my favorite for last.
Her pose is a bit more spirited than the rest~

I must confess; dolls inspire me. Is that so weird? Is it so bad that I want to look like one?

(I mean, obviously I have my limitations; I know that much! ^^ But it still makes a nice concept for photos, you have to agree~)

To be honest, the fact I’m inspired by dolls (and want to look like one) is something I am reluctant to admit. My experiences are that most people who aren’t into Asian fashion and culture don’t take kindly to the idea of looking innocent or dolly--or at least, their concept of cute is quite different.

These are the same people who think I’m trying to look white for bleaching my hair, who sneer at the idea of “colored contact lenses”, or who give Valeria Lukyanova a hard time. (Although I’m actually quite impartial to her—and she is indeed a veeery extreme example—I do feel that a lot of the mocking that she gets demonstrates the mindset I’m referring to.)

I guess I’m partially just ranting here; part of me still feels insecure to admit it publicly. But that’s one reason I created this blog, to find people with similar interests across the world~! I'm sure I'm not the only one here who loves dolls or wants to look very dolly, right? >:)


So does anyone know what these types of dolls are called, or where I can find an internet stash of photos?!

Has anyone else gotten that vibe/experience from people as well?