Today I wanted to make a post to address all the newbies that have joined our gyaru community recently! It's wonderful to see more activity in both the SnG Facebook group and the 109 Gals Discord, but I noticed we tend to see all the same questions being asked over and over again.
I thought it would be a good idea to make a general master post of FAQs/tips that I think every newbie gal should know for ease of reference and to give the veteran gals a little bit of an escape from having to answer the same questions over and over again ^^;;
I'm hoping this post will provide you with as much information as possible and point you in as the right direction to the answers you are looking for without having you absolutely exhaust and overwhelm the veteran community with these very commonly and frequently asked questions.
Also big disclaimer that your mileage may vary with the resources shared here depending on your location and such so please keep that in mind!
If you know of any other resources that should be shared here, please link them in the comments and I will add them into the post!
This is probably one of the most asked questions on any platform and the answer is absolutely yes BUT everything else must be extra bold and on point to make up for anything you choose to leave out.
✨ Tips:
- Hair color does not matter, you can literally be gyaru with any hair color whether it is light or dark. The important point to note here is the styling and general upkeep of the hair so that it fits with whatever substyle you are going for
- Whichever color you pick to rock, make sure your eyebrows match appropriately (either 1-2 shades darker or lighter). The tone matters as well so keep that in mind when doing your makeup!
- It is popular among gyaru to shave down their brows and completely redraw them. Depending on your style it can be redrawn in any shape! You don't have to shave your brows if you like them but keep in mind that most gyaru have very short and light brows so if you have naturally thick and full brows you may want to give them a trim or hide them with the glue technique
- Please buy your lenses from a reputable source and make sure your prescription is up to date. Pay attention to the materials of the lenses and don't wear them for prolonged periods of time.
- White eyeliner: I know this is a huge hot topic in the comm but I'm gonna come out and say it, this shit is not It. Some gals (and I'm talking mostly the jp ones) can make this work but for the most part when gaijins do it this makes your makeup look very cosplay-ish. Instead try to work with champagne/gold/pearl shadows or glitters. This will give you a similar effect but provide a much softer look. You are free to disagree with me of course, this bit is just my opinion, but a lot of gals in the comm also share this opinion so you may get crit on it should you post a look with white liner and it doesn't look right.
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| Ayutama's makeup |
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| Cosplay makeup |
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| Standard gyaru makeup with shimmer eyeshadow highlight instead of white pencil |
- Circle Lenses & You
- Easy Gyaru Makeup & Hair Tutorials by Lizziebee - Part 1 | Part 2
- Why Gyaru Clothing Is Important (But Not How You Think!) by Juupitan
- Himegyaru Wig Guide by Penelope
- The Anatomy of a Hime Gyaru by Penelope
- Want that Onee Gyaru Look? by Emi & Lea
- What you need to know to start your Gyaru journey by Reila
- How To Look Gal: Tips & Tricks by Lynn
2. Is this (item/outfit/whatever) considered gyaru or ___ substyle?
Alright, so I say this out of exhaustion and not from a malicious place but PLEASE for the love of god do not come at us with this question until you've actually researched gyaru and the different substyles. It is honestly not that difficult to gauge whether or not your hello kitty hot topic tshirt and fishnets combo is an agejo fit ok?
✨ Tips:
- Modern day gyaru is extremely accessible. You can pretty much wear anything and be considered gyaru so long as your hair and makeup are on point. The only exception to this of course is if you are picking a substyle that has a very particular and specific look such as himegyaru for example.
3. Where can I buy lashes/lenses/clothing for gyaru?
The usefulness of this section will largely depend on where you are and all that jazz, but in general you can buy gyaru clothes from brand webstores directly, second hand markets like Fril/Mercari/Facebook resell groups, and of course any local stores you may have.
✨ Tips:
- A lot of shopping services will handle the direct transactions with the sellers for you so you can feel free to ask them questions about the items you are purchasing! Many of them also offer consolidated shipping so you can get multiple items from different people and the shopping service will package them all together to send them to you.
- Be careful of shipping fees when using a shopping service! Most of them are calculated by weight so be wary of ordering things like shoes or large coats in the same parcel as it could run you a very pretty penny after fees, taxes and duties
- Currently these are my favorite stores for purchasing lenses (not sponsored):
- JFashion101 - How to buy on Taobao? by Reila
- Gyaru Taobao Store List by Reila
- Jfashion101 - How to buy Japanese clothes?: Mercari, Fril, Yahoo Shopping by Reila
- Where I buy my gyaru lashes (with links)
- Non-Gyaru Brands (That Look Totally Gal) + Offbrand Gyaru Tips by Lizziebee
- D.I.A on mercari
- D.I.A on Fril
- DreamV Store Link
4. Do I need to tan to be gyaru/self tanner recs please
No, you don't need to tan to be gyaru but some people prefer to tan or use self tanners. I am personally not knowledgeable in this area so I have compiled some recs from the community below.
✨ Recs:
- Dove DermaSpa Summer Revived
- MineTan
- St Moriz Tanning Mousse
- Tanologist
- Coco & Eve
- L'Oreal Paris Sublime Medium Self Tanner
- Jergens Tanning Body Lotion
- Doll Tan
5. How does ___ jp brand fit/is ___ jp brand plus-size friendly?
I'm gonna be straight up: most Japanese brands (or Asian brands in general) are not plus-size friendly. They often operate on a one size fits most mentality so you can expect most clothing items to fit sizes xs-s (sometimes will fit up to a medium but it depends on the article of clothing).
If you have any sort of bust or your weight sits in your shoulders/arms, hips, or thighs, you will likely run into sizing issues with Asian brands.
✨ Tips:
- Try to find the exact measurements of the clothing you're looking at when shopping as that is the most accurate way to gauge whether or not you'll fit
- Items such as oversized sweaters, cardigans, jackets, and one piece dresses can be a little more generous in sizing so keep your eyes out for deals on these kinds of items
- Pay attention to the fabrics and materials of these items as some of them may stretch or shrink with wear & wash or require special care
- Be careful of purchasing replicas. Brands like Liz Lisa and MA*RS are very heavily replicated so do your research carefully! There's nothing wrong with owning replicas btw as there are actually lots of really well made ones out there, but there are also tons of poorly made ones so you want to do your due diligence to make sure you're getting what you're paying for.
- Real vs Fake Liz Lisa Labels by Kim Dao
- Tokyo's Cute Plus Size Fashion Stores by Otaku in Tokyo
That's all I had for this post! Again, if you have or know of other resources that would fit well in this post please leave them in the comments below and I will add them in~
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you found this helpful and informative. Please share this to all your newbie gal pals and let me know if you have any other questions or topics that I should address! If I get enough points I will make a part 2 to this series :3c
