Lifestyle Fairy Kei

Hello my Fanciful Faries, Lovely Lolitas, and Gorgeous Gals~~ 

I know I have missed far too many Storenvy Saturdays and my shop reviews have been few and far between. To tell you the truth the store that I work at hasn't been doing well and a ton of girls quit. So now since we are still looking for people to hire my hours have doubled and I get few days off. I never realized how exhausting it can be to work 8 and a half hour shifts for six to eight days straight in heels. I don't know how I got through the majority of high school in heels. O n O So that has kept me busy, plus I have been sick with a terribly sore through. Going to the doctor is so expensive though, so hopefully I don't have strep throat. [/fingers crossed]

So I decided for my return I should make a couple announcements:

I SHALL MOVE STORENVY SATURDAY TO TUESDAY. I am not sure what the catchy title shall be but Tuesdays are much better for me that Saturdays now. Friday ~ Sunday are heavy-hit days for retail so I am always working long hours and utterly exhausted by the time I get home.

And secondly, WITH MY RETURN I AM STARTING A LIFESTYLE SERIES! I knew I needed something big for my return, and there are few lifestyle references for Fairy Kei. SO I PRESENT THIS: Lifestyle tips from a lifestyle Fairy ~~

CHALLENGE START ~

I used to wish that there was a manual for a 'lifestyle' lolita or a 'lifestyle' fairy. To me, it would make things much easier if there was a visible list or a how-to book laying out exactly what one should do. Collecting dolls, drinking loose leaf tea in expensive Shelley teacups, reading original copies of Victorian novels, baking elaborate sweets, embroidering artwork. I could easily come up with a list of hobbies for lolita. Lolita is a style that tries to embody looking as doll-like as possible while maintaining modesty and obeying rules of a certain fashion style heavily influenced by Victorian and Rococo period clothing. Therefore, I would think that the activities of a lolita would be just as elegant. For each style the hobbies would alter slightly - a sweet lolita might bake cakes and macarons, while a gothic lolita may dabble in performing seances. Fairy Kei was a much more difficult style to create hobbies for; roller skating, karaoke, dance parties, bowling, video arcades, jazzercise - anything that was really popular in the 80s seemed to be fitting.  

Then I wondered the most difficult question for myself to answer: "How should a lifestyle lolita or a lifestyle fairy act?" There are very limited resources behind lifestyle Fairy Kei, which is why I am creating this, but even the lolita websites are a little lackluster. The lolita sources say to be kind, polite, demure, perhaps even timid and cutesy if you are a sweet lolita but I thought "Shouldn't everyone be polite? Lolita or Abercrombie-addict?" 

I spent forever trying to figure out what it means to be a lifestyle fairy. I soaked up everything I could from every website, every magazine snippet and all that I found was people saying "be positive and be polite". Some people said you had to act one way while other bloggers had a completely different idea. It was then that I realized something very important.

Fairy Kei isn't a structured style.

There is no handbook for how to dress in Fairy Kei because there are very few rules, and when the rules are broken it suddenly becomes a new style. Fairy Kei is all pastel with no black, add black and you look Pastel Goth or even Creepy Cute. If you add bright colors to Fairy Kei and you are now wearing Spank. There are no restrictions to how short your skirts can be, how poofy your dress needs to be, how many accessories you can wear, what your hair color can be, what shoes to wear, or what fabrics your clothes need to be. Anything from satin to silk, polyester to cashmere, vinyl to wool: there are very few rules.

Of course there are a few guideline rules as there are with any style. Everything from 1950s classic styles, to bohemian, to lolita, to gyaru, to even Fairy Kei there are rules. The first and only still in existence is all pastel colors (because anything else lands you into Spank or even Decora). It used to be that you couldn't have morbid designs so a lot of Milklim designs originally wouldn't have worked but now that has changed drastically. It also used to be that you couldn't wear sailor fuku, or even pants! That has also changed. If you want to incorporate more macabre themes, sailor fuku, or pants it is entirely up to you.

Oh, let me repeat that last bit because it is an important theme in lifestyle Fairy Kei.

IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO YOU.

If you read this post thinking I would give you a wonderfully written guide on how to be a fairy, you may be disappointed as this is not one. However, if you keep reading this post you will find many ideas and suggestions. Plus I may empower you to quit looking for that guideline.

Unlike Lolita there are no guidebooks, handbooks, pamphlets, or carved stone tablets listing what you can and cannot do in Fairy Kei. Likewise there is no magazine, website, book, newspaper, person that can tell you what you must do to be a lifestyle Fairy. Since this style has only a color restriction your options are free for dress and for your lifestyle. (And location! Some Fairy Kei looks are ridiculous for super cold weather~!)

LIFESTYLE IS MORE THAN WHAT YOU WEAR, OR WHAT YOU DO, OR HOW YOU ACT TOWARDS OTHERS.

Lifestyle is also your outlook on life. Are you a pessimist or an optimist or somewhere in between? Are you the protagonist in your story or the anti-hero? There are many upon many more questions you can ask yourself but there is one that holds a higher importance than the rest in your journey to figure out what a lifestyle fairy is: What does being a lifestyle fairy mean to you?

I shall repeat.

WHAT DOES BEING A LIFESTYLE FAIRY MEAN TO YOU?

Since this is a blog, I shall express my own opinions here as I do everywhere else on my blog. Hopefully sharing my journey might answer some of your questions.

To me being a lifestyle fairy means waking up each morning thinking every new day will be better than the last. It means staying positive even when times are tough. (You never saw Jem [from Jem and the Holograms] pouting and moaning whenever things got rough for her, did you?) It means spreading my happiness to others and ridding anyone of their sorrows. I have always been a people-pleaser and try to make people smile. I can imagine Tinkerbell and her friends flitting around to wipe frowns from everyone's faces ~~ It means even if I fail to make a sour person smile, I still try to be polite to them and don't fret about my failure.

It means filling every dull moment of my life with pastels and joy. My desk where I do schoolwork used to be a place I dreaded to go to, but now it is a pastel paradise filled with all of the things I love: strawberries, Hello Kitty galore, anything sparkly and pastel, lots of stickers and stationary, all sorts of cute pens, pencils, etc. My bathroom which used to be so bare now has a pastel shower curtain, a cute tissue cover, all of my makeup is in adorable bags, my bath products are all adorable and they smell amazing - like fruit or flowers or even sugary candy. 

To me, being a lifestyle fairy committed entirely to Fairy Kei style it means my clothing purchases fit into the style, aside from the clothes I need for work. For work I do have to wear black, white, and graytones but I found ways with my accessories to bring in a bit of sugary sweet fun (and even in my shoes). Little things like accessories I have found are a great way to get myself excited for the workday.

Throughout each day I ask myself three questions to keep myself motivated in my Fairy Mission: what can I do to make myself better today, what can I do to help someone else today, and what can I do to make a better tomorrow? Sometimes I make myself a better person by not eating something high calorie or by limiting how much I can spend on nail polish or by laying out my days outfits the night before. To help someone else I hold doors open for people, make sure to mind my manners, and sometimes I buy gifts or bake some sort of goodies and give them to family, friends, coworkers, classmates, etc for no special reason. Making a better tomorrow covers a very broad spectrum. Perhaps I will pick up liter and recycle it, maybe I will lay out my outfits the night before the workday, or I might pack my lunch and my sisters lunch ahead of time to make the next day go a little easier. 

Fairies are rarely negative creatures in folklore, fairytales, Disney magic, and in Harry Potter. In fact it is pixies that can be the bad ones - but this isn't Pixie Kei, it's Fairy Kei. So I like to act extra nice to everyone, I like to smile, I like to perform good deeds and random acts of kindness. Every Christmas I empty every piece of change on my person and give it to the Salvation Army bell-ringers and Santa Clauses. Come Halloween I not only hand out candy but I give girls beaded bracelets and boys little swords made from the same beads. I even hand out candy to the teenagers that old enough to be neglected on Halloween by the adults (and I totally understand that getting free candy and dressing up can be more fun than going out dressed in a skimpy outfit and grinding against a stranger while drinking). All year round I go out with dum dum lollipops in my purse and hand them out to little kids, and if they are really tiny I had them to their mothers. When I have a plethora I hand them out to teenagers and the elderly too. 

As for my Fairy Kei hobbies; I am learning how to sew mostly because I have dreams to open up my own brick-and-mortar store someday as well as an online shop. I collect Shelly teacups and I love being a barista at home for friends and family; tea, hot chocolate, fancy coffee. I make beaded bracelets out of pony beads and stretch string. I have dance parties by myself in my room and sometimes I drag my sister or my friends into them. I love going bowling at night when they have their glow-in-the-dark lanes and lights on. I love going to the arcades around here and spending an afternoon playing nickle games. I love making paper flowers from tissue paper and any thin and shiny paper. I love making origami too! Baking has always been a hobby. . .and eating too. I collect Care Bears and absolutely anything Strawberry Shortcake, strawberry scented, or anything with a strawberry motif. I love writing letters to all of my lovely pen pals. I like to collect candy wrappers - especially from foreign candy. I love turning them into artwork! My most prized artwork was taking reflective and glittering wrappers from various Japanese and Korean candies and cutting and gluing them into a koi fish swimming in a pond. I framed it because I am so proud of it! I adore roller skating because it is so obnoxiously 80s and I do drag my friends with me. Lastly, although I am not the best singer I love karaoke. There is a place locally that plays not only English music but they have a massive ever-growing library of music in Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and some Thai and Vietnamese. While my singing lacks, I do stand up and dance to all of the songs. It is embarrassing how many routines I have learned from music videos (even the more complex Korean boy band pieces. Breakdancing solos? You bet I can do them). 

So all in all if you are into Fairy Kei, you are lucky in the fact that you have chosen a very open and expressive form of fashion!! Although it can be difficult to find your way at first, I can promise that it becomes easier. Fairy Kei is very much a style that you mold to your own tastes and the lifestyle you have already given to yourself. One of my best friends is a Fairy and spends most of her days playing video games by herself, and on occasion she will go to Pokemon meet ups where we all play Heart Gold and Soul Silver. (Plus she owns so many old school Tamagotchi, it's amazing ~)

I hope this allowed you to find your personal path for Fairy Kei, and I am excited to do lifestyle DIY projects in the future as well! Comments are loved as always and I would really appreciate hearing other fairy's opinions too~~

EASY OATMEAL FACIAL SCRUB (OATMEAL & WATER)

Those of you who know my old blog will recognize this post but I thought it would be super helpful and fun for all of you! All of my new text will be in this bold pink.

HELLO OCTOBER! I wanted to start off this month with an exciting new post! Well...this is actually quite old content but I still use this recipe and I find it works amazingly well. I thought you, my readers, would enjoy seeing this especially if you haven't seen it before! SO HAPPY OCTOBER ~ (This is my favorite month and Halloween is my favorite holiday so I am excited). 

Lolitas are suppose to have the image of perfect skin just as a porcelain doll would have flawless skin. There are certainly amazing BB cremes and foundations that can really help the look of having flawless skin, however I find that some of the best are also some of the most expensive. If you already pour money into fake eyelashes and all of your cute lolita coords then spending $50.00 USD on foundation can seem rather cumbersome. So I have found that with me, having healthy skin underneath means I can skimp on the designer foundations and use something from a drugstore.

I stand by this oatmeal scrub recipe!! When I am being good and using it every day my skin feels so refreshed and it tends to limit zits, pimples, and redness for me. What may sound crazy is that is only uses TWO INGREDIENTS! Oatmeal and tap water! 

Oatmeal is not only super healthy for your waistline but for your skin as well! I know some people don't like oatmeal and others hate the way it smells but oatmeal is my go-to all natural scrub for summer. It's especially easy because you only need two things: oatmeal and water! I love making scrubs where all I have to do is open a kitchen cupboard. Firstly I can make breakfast at the same time I am doing my beauty routine and secondly it costs less than buying scrubs in store or online! Who doesn't love saving money?

So why is oatmeal so good for your skin? The number one thing oatmeal does is act as a moisturizer. A term that might be familiar from biology classes is polysaccaride. In summary a polysccaride is a very complex carbohydrate. When you eat a polysccaride it provides energy and breaks down into gluclose. Usually polysaccarides are fibrous and help lower cholesterol, but not always. What polysccarides do when applied on your skin is really good for you too. Since polysccarides expand in water they link together to create a thin mask on your skin. It keeps your pores moisturized as well as protects the skin from any irritants from getting in.

Also oatmeal helps with sunburns, chickenpox, poison ivy, rashes, insect bites, and much more! Just apply the facial scrub explained below to the irritated area. If there is simply too much to cover at once, take an oatmeal bath! ^^ I had my mom fix oatmeal baths for me all of the time when I got the chickenpox when I was little. I practically lived in the bathtub!

The benefits of using an oatmeal mask don't stop at mositurizing. Oatmeal contains saponins which is a metabolite found in natural things such as plants, and for skin it acts as a cleanser. For something that is used to naturally help chemical exposer, of course it does a wonderful job cleaning your skin! The saponins act as sponges to soak oils, odors, and anything trapped in them away and off with the next wash! This is why oatmeal is found in one variation or another in a lot of facial cleaning products.

THE RECIPE
This basic recipe is super fast to do. Simply plug the sink, take a small handful of oatmeal and run it under lukewarm water until it becomes damp. Squeeze out the water and collect it in your free hand - the water from the oatmeal should be a transparent khaki color. Put the water on your face especially in the dry areas of your face. If you don't have any dry spots go ahead and put it where you have acne. Next take the damp oatmeal and rub it all over your face. Oatmeal will drop off, but that's why the skin is plugged! Oatmeal can clog the drain! Let the mushy oatmeal sit for a few minutes and then rinse it off with water. I use a small mesh strainer to fish out the oatmeal and put it in the bathroom garbage. Then de-plug the sink and let the water drain!

A friend of mine uses collodial oatmeal all of the time - I do it sometimes. Colloidal oatmeal is just oatmeal that has been ground up into a super fine powder. I have three coffee grinders in my house; one for coffee, one for spices, and one for beauty materials such as oatmeal. If you only have one coffee grinder then clean it really well before and after. Put in your oatmeal and grind it up until it is a super fine powder. When it's a thin powder you can really make it into a paste with a little bit of water. (If it is not becoming paste-like then add a teaspoon of baking soda to the mix, works every time!)

Adding a drop or two of honey to your oatmeal masks are an excellent variation. Honey is also good for your skin. Sorry vegans - blue agave nectar doesn't do the same thing here. Honey is so full of so many nutrition for your skin and tummy that I could dedicate an entire blog to it! But, someone already has a webpage all about honey so I shall link it here. The site even lists recipes for anti-aging, ance removal and every other facial treatment under the sun involving honey so check it out!

Likewise lemon is amazing for your skin, but a little bit of lemon goes a long long way! Livestrong has dedicated many articles to how beneficial lemon is for your skin, hair, and body. Thanks to all of the vitamins crammed into lemons, it's a wonder add on to oatmeal masks, especially if you have sensitive skin that cannot take all of the lemon juice!

Oatmeal lives on my counter next to my mouthwash and my sister's detangling spray for her super curly hair.

I am constantly refilling this cute jam jar full to the brim with oatmeal. In a week I shall need to fill it again!

Just a handful of oatmeal is needed, this is at most what I use unless I am making a really thick paste-like mask.

Quick in-and-out under the warm water and the oatmeal is already mushy!

Even though most of the water drained while I carefully picked up my camera, you can see some of the transparent tan-ish colored water from the oatmeal. Be sure to use all of the nutrients in that water! Rub that 
amazing water on your skin and then scrub with the oatmeal! If your skin is sensitive don't rub too vigorously but if you have tough skin like I do then go for it! If the oatmeal is too thick then you may need to get more dry oatmeal and restart the process since thick oatmeal doesn't spread well. After scrubbing I like to leave it on my face for a couple minutes. Then you just rinse it all off with warm water (and check for any oatmeal that may have gotten into your hair) and you should be done!

It helps to plug the sink while doing this so your skin doesn't clog with oatmeal bits. The same applies if  you are using this in the shower or bath - plug the tub before you start. I use a mini plastic strainer to gather all of the oatmeal bits and then I just throw them out.

Random note: MY NAILS ARE SO SHORT! My nails were so damaged after removing the tips that I had to cut them down all of the way to let the damaged nail grow out. Applying vitamin e oil to the nail and cuticle every day is helping them grow out a lot faster though! :D

TIP # 1: The Money Jar

If you have been interested in Lolita for a while you will understand that descending into the style is expensive. Brands do not come cheap especially when shipping charges are added to the total cost. Some Lolitas think Brand is the only way to be a "true Lolita" whilst others think straying away from brands and coming up with original coords is still embracing Lolita. No matter which side of the debate you support, both ways come with a heavy cost to your wallet.

The best tip I can offer for anyone looking to join the community or old community members looking to save for their next item is to get a money bank. Some girls prefer the classic "piggy bank" while others decorate an old soup can. The best thing I can suggest is that you find a place to put your spare change that makes you smile. I used to be terrible with budgeting, and I will admit that I still fall victim to a spontaneous splurge because "it was just so cute," but having a place that I looked forward to placing any spare change I had on me really really helped.

I know the thought of a money bank seems old fashion, especially with debit cards and credit cards. (I usually run around with my debit card and rarely have spare cash on me.) However getting into a habit of withdrawing a little cash every once and a while and placing the change away is a healthy habit to start. You would be surprised by how much you can save up.

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR OWN DESIGN

This is my money bank. I labeled it "Rainy Day Fund" because I don't always use it to fund my Lolita and Fairy Kei obsession. Sometimes I use it to see a movie with a friend or go out for Baskin and Robbins Tuesday Ice Cream Deal. (Does it date me by saying that I remember One Scoop for One Dollar Tuesdays at B&R?) Now I look back thinking that calling it a "Rainy Day Fund" is rather silly because almost every day in Oregon is a rainy day. 

Admittedly it's not that cute. Pink deco tape with a makeup print, a hello kitty memo pad, a hot pink pen, and some ribbon and stickers created this jar. Now I could have gotten fancy and used wrapping paper, lace, hot glued rhinestones, glitter, flimo designs, fabric paint, and so the list goes on. I just made it cute enough that I smile when I see it and drop my change inside. 

I think personalizing your own bank better motivates you to place your change inside. If you can become excited about how cute your bank looks than I think it helps you want to place your change inside when you have it on hand. It's similar to the feeling when I see a Santa Claus ringing a bell with a red bucket asking for spare change for the Salvation Army (something we see in the States very often at Christmastime.) My sister and I used to always beg our parents for spare change to drop the coins in the shiny red bucket. Because these people and the shiny red bucket got us excited when we were young, my sister and I always wanted to give them our spare change (upon both entering and exiting the stores).

THE REASON WHY YOU SPENT HOURS PAINTING A JAR

So now that you have a place for your change that you think is adorable you need to focus on actually putting money inside of it. If you are young and live with your family then place spare change from spending your allowance. Ask your parents if you can have all of the change that falls underneath the seat cushions in the couch. Or perhaps your mother will let you have all of the coins found inside pant pockets when she does the laundry. Alternatively, become excited when you see Santa Claus ringing his bell asking for Salvation Army donations. Beg your parents for change since it is such a good cause. Place some of the change into the shiny red bucket but keep some of the change and pocket it to place in your bank. If your parents catch you remind them that you are a good cause too.

If you live on your own it becomes a little less rewarding if you look under the couch cushions to find your own change. (Although it's a good idea to check under there every once and a while. I have found many of my DS styluses and hair pins suffocating under there.) However, if you live on your own chances are that you carry cash on you every so often because not every place takes credit and debit cards.  This results in spare change since there are very few times that transactions leave you with an even number. Instead of counting out pennies to a cashier (that is clearly getting nervous about counting the ridiculous amount of change you are about to hand over since you don't want change back) SAVE YOUR CHANGE FOR YOUR JAR. Unless you have used all of your bills, don't spend your time counting out change to pay for your item(s). Use bills because it will result in more change for you to place away.

EXTRA TIPS

1) Location, location, lolication. Place the jar somewhere you will actually see it and in a place where it is convenient for you. For a while I had mine by the front door so I could drop my change off when I came in but I soon found it was a poor spot for me. I rarely stopped to take my shoes off and empty my purse right inside the door. Plus my sister often enjoyed trying to snag a few coins for the jar she started. Then it was in my bedroom on my nightstand and now it has worked it's way to my desk. Whenever I switch purses, lose something in my purse, or freak out because I misplaced my phone, all of the contents of my purse are emptied onto my desk. I figured it was the best place for me to have my coin bank. If you look above you can see her new home where she can happily chat to all of my wonderful friends I have sitting around. 

2) Don't count your change every day. Better yet, don't count your change every week. I noticed the more I counted my change the more likely I was to feel disappointed that I wasn't saving up fast enough. I always felt more accomplished when I checked a month later and have saved up a large sum more so than when I checked it every day to track how much I saved. Plus you won't be saving the same amount every day. Sometimes you do a lot of shopping and therefore you have more to place in the jar where as some days you might have done little to no shopping and don't have anything to place inside. 

3) Place one dollar in your jar every week. I know it sounds silly since a dollar a week only ears $52.00 a YEAR. However this can help you feel like you are saving up rapidly and can encourage further savings. So many people start saving and then give up because it is such a little amount. Yet if you put in a dollar it takes up a lot of space until it gets crushed by coins. Forming a habit to keep a money bank revolves around staying motivated and good progress may just help you do this.

If you cannot afford one dollar per week then do one dollar per month or one dollar every paydal. Perhaps you can budget putting in a dollar a day! Some people put in five dollars each month. Do whatever works for you and your budget. 

If you have your own money bank or create one after reading it yourself I would LOVE to see pictures. Perhaps all of you will make me want to redecorate my jar!! ^^ <3