"WHERE AND WHAT" INTERNET SHOPPING
Once and for all, this is a compilation of links to the shops where I buy most of my clothes and accessories.

TAOBAO INFO →
(At the bottom of the linked post I've written about shopping service, translating, etc)

∙ Wigs: Ebay, Taobao. I don't have a particular store I go to. I usually search for cosplay wigs.
∙ Clothes and accessories: Ebay, Taobao, Gina tricot, Cubus, H&M.
∙ Brand clothes: Cdjapan.co.jp/apparel
∙ Circle lenses: Pinkyparadise.com → enter coupon code "irodohieru" and receive a mystery gift!

∙ Favorite brands: Monomania, BOY LONDON, SUPER LOVERS, Listen Flavor.

∙ My absolute favorite place to shop: EBAY. No particular shops. I see something I like - a piece of clothing, a print, a color combo, anything - and use keywords to hunt down something similar.

∙ Useful Ebay searchwords for not-really-knowing-what-you're-looking-for-just-windowshopping: KERA, lolita, cosplay.

I'm sorry for not answering this sooner, since you were wondering, dear readers, but now I have! I hope this cleared things up ♡ Now let's move on to the rest!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Amandanissen: What's some of your favorite places to shop, and do you have any tips for finding things on etsy/ebay which suits your style? 

Answer : Actually, the best tip I can give for ebaying is to take inspiration from other places - like tumblr, for example - and use that to find things you like. I find it quite hard to just casually windowshop on ebay. Like with my LSD galaxy cat shirt. I saw that on tumblr, "I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE", went on ebay, typed in "cat galaxy shirt", and found it. It doesn't have to be as specific as that, but knowing what you like is always good, right. Then it's just searchwords, searchwords and more searchwords until you track it down ☆

Anonymous: How do you shop things at Malkomalka and other non-english shops? 

Answer: I bought my MALKOMALKA from Taobao (got them with legit tags and everything, so they're not fake), but otherwise I use a shopping service! I've heard Celga is good ☆

Anonymous: I don't know if you answered this though, I'd really like a list of Japanese fashion brands you buy from? ` n `

Answer: My favorite japanese brands are; SUPER LOVERS, Listen Flavor, Sex Pot ReVeNGe, Candy stripper and Monomania ☆ !

Anonymous: Where do you get your wigs and what price are they around?

Answer: If I order wigs from Taobao, around 8 USD, if I order from ebay, between 18-20 USD ☆

Anonymous: Everyone has so many great questions but...
I would like to know what hair products you use. O.O
I have brown and light pink hair, but the pink part never went back to normal and since you are so used to all this I would really like to know the things you like to use/find good for damaged hair like shampoos, conditioners or even home made treatments and things like that. (:
And... Just wanted to say to you that you really are an inspiration to me and you you are a really beautiful and nice person! *-*

Answer: Agh thank you sweetheart ♡ I just want to hug you. Let me see if I can give you some pointers! If you want a good color result, avoid any hair product with silicone. I like schwarzkopf's products. Basically, avoid products that contain silicone. Look for shampoos and conditioners with keratine in - if possible, something with oil as well. Also, investing in an expensive argan oil can really be worth it. Buy argan oil and a good hair remedy from your hairdresser (if you can afford it, it's a good idea to buy shampoo and conditioner from them as well). 

If you want a good at-home remedy: Beer, two eggs, mayonnaise and olive oil. Divide it in your hair and wrap it in plastic, leave in for as long as you like (minimum 10 minutes). Hope this helped!

Anonymous: So when you order from Taobao, how much does the cost add up to (if you don't mind sharing >_<)? And the shipping? Also what shipping method do you use? Do you use any agencies? What are your favourite stores on Taobao?

Answer: I answered all of this in my Taobao post... oh well! My stuff were in total around 700-1000 SEK if I remember it right. The shipping was 700 SEK I think. I used kinalink.se, china airmail small and I don't have any favorite shops, I just browse around with random searchwords like "nebula", "KERA", "lolita", "MALKO MALKA"... and so on! ☆

That's it! 

Much love to those of you who asked me questions in the Q&A (not just the ones I published in this entry)! And to those of you who didn't as well, of course ♡ Once again I'm going to end this post by saying goodnight. Maybe I sleep a lot. Or just like writing when I'm tired. I don't know. Doesn't matter! At least I'm sick today so I have a legit reason...

Have loads of sweet dreams and happy Friday! 

xoxo 

Pics or it didn't happen...

Well here it is. That blonde thing, me when I was fifteen. 

In this picture I had already lost like 8-10 kgs. I've deleted all other pictures of myself from that time, unfortunately, so I don't have any earlier pics than this one, except for baby/kid-pictures. 

I told you I used to look different.
Just felt like posting this for some reason! 

Dear lord I'm happy my fashion sense has improved since then... 

Anyway, moving on to other stuff: this weekend I'll hopefully have time to make the Q&A video! Thank you so much for all the questions, I'm really grateful ♥ ! I'll answer as many as I can in the video, and all other questions will be answered in a post here, I promise. 

That's the end of this random post. Hope I didn't traumatize anyone. 

Sweet dreams and puss och kram! 

Q & A

Eylo, like my friend Alex would say. Good afternoon!

Decided my next video will be a lil' Q & A session. Thanks for all the suggestions dearies, got a lot of great ideas - Q & A being one of them! ♪♪

So now it's time to collect some Q's to connect to some A's. Ask me whatever you want, anything from I don't know questions about my toenails (what) to clothes, shopping, food, or how heavy my adorable fat cat is. Aske me to do things, show things, etc. Whatever random thing you'd like to know. Pretty please? It'd be fun answering some questions~!

Figured I'd gather the Q's here so there's a way to ask me stuff anonymously. 

I'll be waiting for those Q's okay ♡ ! Squishing my cheeks to show my love:

Oh god what if no one ask me anything now I'm scared and embarrassed before even posting christ.

TUTORIALS ☆ Basic makeup, basic short wavy hairstyle

I was going to clean my room but then something happened. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

My first video hair- and makeup-tutorials!

I was so nervous posting these for some reason. Guess it's because I'm still kind of hesistant towards internet in general, still, since the break I had for about a year. It makes no sense that I still get the creeps from time to time since I have accounts everywhere now. Anyway. It turns out it was a lot of fun making these ♬♪ and the feedback I got was over all very positive, so once I posted vid no 2 I wasn't as anxious about it. Thank you guys for all the lovely reassuring comments!

Yep. I think want to start making more videos from now on. I need some help with it though.

Any suggestions on video topics?

I was thinking of a Q&A thing, since it might be fun. But other than that I don't really know. Q&A? Clothes? DIYs?

I would really love some ideas, if anyone has something in mind they'd like to see. Help? ♥

Pusselipuss until next time alla hjärtegryn. 

xoxo 

New things ☆ Taobao shopping

Morning people ♪ ! 

It's been a while now. What has happened since last time, you ask? 

Among many things, this: 

A few weeks ago, me and my best friend Alex made a huge order from Taobao. Last week our stuff finally arrived! It was insane, not kidding. The combined weight of our packages was 21 kg (46.3 lbs). Me and my girlfriend Alice were both sick and since Alex was in school, we had to carry these terrifying, cardboard bombs all the way from the post office. We weren't feeling so great afterwards. Doesn't matter. Who can be anything but happy with clothes, clothes and Rilakkuma everywhere, right? 

I mean, look at all these things! 

1. Galaxy print oversized tee 

2. Panda t-shirt, me and Alex bought matching ones 

3. Adidas leopard print t-shirt

1. SHOES! I searched for lolita shoes and found these. Not so lolita, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for either. 

2. High-waist black shorts

3. A lovely jacket with studs, kind of looks like a leather jacket, but it's not

4. A bunch of Kreepsville accessories

I went completely Rilakkuma crazy...

1. Two backpacks, one Rilakkuma and one Ko-Rilakkuma

2. Rilakkuma wallet, Ko-Rilakkuma earphones

3. Ko-Rilakkuma nightgown

4. Rilakkuma pyjama

And I bought a Ko-Rilakkuma fleece pyjama for my friend Emilia, as a birthday gift! 

Last but not least: 

1. I've always wanted a cow kigurumi ;;

2. Mint green curly wig, a Gothic Lolita Wigs model

That is it, 10 kg!

I was like a child on Christmas Eve. Or like almost-eighteen me on Christmas Eve, I'm still pretty excited about Christmas. Anyway. 

Should write a little more about Taobao, I suppose. It is basically like Chinese Ebay. But, like with most Japanese or Chinese websites, you'll need a shopping service - or in this case, a "Taobao agent".

The one I use is kinalink.se. However, Kinalink is a Swedish service, but I've heard many good things about Taobaospree as well. Wonderful Josephine used Taobaospree, and she was happy with her order. 

So Taobaospree as a Taobao agent, highly recommended! 

Shopping on Taobao is really easy once you find your agent. You translate your search word to chinese, with google translate for example, paste it into the search field and press enter. Once you find something, just follow your Taobao agent's purchase procedure. Usually it's as simple as filling in an excel document and e-mailing it to your agent. Done! 

This was my third Taobao order. All of the things I bought add up to around 1000 SEK, shipping included. Insanely cheap for this amount of stuff. Needless to say, I have every intention to make another order! 

Not right now though. No, no. Saying I have no money would be an understatement. 

I've actually gone as far as banning Taobao and Ebay in my browser settings. Will have to survive without window-shopping, lord have mercy. 

Whatever, it's not the end of the world! Instead I'm going to take this opportunity and save some money. It's not like I need more stuff. It'll be nice having some money saved up for something bigger in the future! In the meantime I'll only spend money on a few treats, once in a while, like going to the cinema. I'm usually too cheap to do things like that since I save all my money for clothes, stupid as I am. 

Anyway! I'm sick so I'm going to curl up in bed and watch TV for the rest of the day (* ´∙ω∙`) Coughing up my damn lungs. Hope you're feeling better than I am!

Hugs and kisses from cap'n iro ♡ !

A part of my life story

This blog is usually about my interests and fashion, the fun things going on in my life. Today I want to write about something else. A more serious matter. I have to tell you something. 

A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type two. 

Basically; depression with periods of out-of-control and sometimes damaging happiness.

I will probably regret posting this later on. But right now, I want to tell my story.

I've been thinking so hard about how to write this for quite some time now. So many words to use. It's better to just keep it simple, right?

Well, the cat is out of the box now. 

Why am I writing this, you ask? Simple. I understand people I talk to frequently online have been wondering and worrying about me going to the hospital all the time. I've been tweeting about it, for example. I'm sorry if I made anyone worried in vain. I've been going to the hospital to do tests in order to get the right amount of medication to help me deal with the symptoms that comes with this diagnose. Blood samples, heart and liver function, ultra sounds, and so on. Nothing more serious than that. I'm actually happy I've finally gotten the help I need, weak as it may sound. 

Truth is, the past years have been hell for me. 

When I'm down, I don't like to write about it online. Or even talk to my friends about it. I do, but not very often. I feel annoying if I do. People in general seem to be deadly afraid of any kind of imperfection or weakness in other people, it's completely ridiculous. We're all different, but the one thing we have in common is that no one is perfect. People seem to me ignoring this. So I like to keep things to myself, most of the time.

It was all really confusing before I got it confirmed that something was "wrong" with me. The thing with bipolar disorder, is that it sort of resembles regular moodswings. Only these bipolar moodswings are ten times worse, follow a weekly schedule, and there's never even a second of peace and quiet. But still. It's like moodswings. So I thought I was supposed to feel as - pardon my french - fucking miserable and lost as I felt, because I was a teenager. I actually felt bad for letting it affect me as much as it did. When everyone else was coping with life, why couldn't I? 

For a week or two I would sit on the couch, playing video games, watching TV. Or just stare at nothing, depending on how bad it was. I did push myself to do something each day though. Like seeing a friend, or going into town, taking a walk. Dressing up and taking an outfit picture. Just because if I sat all day the guilt and anxiety would kill me. 

"Oh god my friends will forget me and they will find new friends and I'm going to die alone and never accomplish anything in my life, I need to do something" 

Even if I felt like crying and thought everything I said just sounded stupid, I pushed myself to smile and act normal. For as long as I needed. Then it was back to the couch, completely exhausted and empty. Constantly tired, sleeping twice as much as I should. Completely lost my appetite. Got anxiety attacks over the most irrational things. I would literally kill myself with angst over something stupid I said in kindergarten, seriously. It wasn't fun at all, I tell you. 

Then out of the blue, I would wake up one morning feeling like superman. 

This phase is one I still have to deal with, since I've been given the medication that only affects my down periods, while waiting for the one that needs more "investigating" before knowing how much I will need of it. 

It's the weirdest feeling ever. I feel super creative. I can't stay still for one second, I just run around with all these ideas and everything is so much fun. In fact, it's so much fun I can't decide what I want to do first, so I end up doing a hundred things at once and leave unfinished projects all over the apartment. It's good, in a way, the extra creativity is something I like. But it's so stressful not being able to stop. And it's definitely not fun losing big chunks of your memory, noticing you've spent all your money on ebay on things you don't remember buying. 

It only gets that bad over the night, though. You see, I stop sleeping during these manic periods. The brain gets a little crazy with no sleep. I can at least pretend to act normal, if not a lot happier than usual, during the day. 

I actually prefer my down periods over my up periods. 

And the carousel goes round, and round, and round. Never slowing down. 

When I stopped going to school completely, since my depressive weeks were longer than my manic days, my parents finally accepted the fact that I might be "sick". Both my aunts are bipolar, and my mum has seen how hard it was for them before they got help. They're fine now, living life like everyone else, but it was still hard for her to accept that I was going through the same hell as she had seen her sisters go through. I don't blame her, I wouldn't want to see my kid in the state I was. By the end of last year I finally started seeing a doctor in order to find out why things had gotten so bad.

It was such a relief getting my diagnose. 

A massive weight lifted off my shoulders, learning my moodswings weren't normal. I could get help. Feel like everyone else, get back on my feet. I didn't have to experience this emotional rollercoaster for good.

I've been through a lot in my life. In short words, was bullied all the way up to sixth grade. I came across a person that mentally abused me and controlled me up to eight grade. I comfort ate and locked myself inside, afraid of people. I became overweight. I lost weight. Ended up battling an eating disorder, which I've still not fully recovered from, to be honest. Then came this complete crash. 

Through all this I've never given up, though, and I can say that I'm proud of myself. Even at my lowest point I've still fought to make things better, looked for that light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually I've learned to keep my head high and stay strong, no matter what. Because I am strong. Even if I have to live and deal with this diagnose for the rest of my life, I know I can do it. It's not the end of the world. My aunts are living normal lives with their families. So do and can I. Life will be good for me. 

Just because I have a diagnose it doesn't mean I'm no longer human, or that I've lost my personality, have to be treated any differently. I hate that people seem to think so. Really. Especially with bipolar disorder, it really doesn't affect you at all, if you're lucky enough to get the right help and have people around you to support you when you need them.

I'm really happy with my life now. I'm over all just... happy. I'm so grateful for my friends and for everything that's going so well for me, in every way. Things are really looking up. 

No one will probably read this all the way to the end. I know I wrote quite a lot, haha. But I want to be honest about this. I'm not ashamed and I wanted to clear things up, for those who have been wondering. I wanted to give a message too, I suppose. 

Stay strong and you can do anything. 

Time to say goodbye. If you've stayed with me until now, thank you for reading. I appreciate it. 

Just going to post this now before I regret being so honest. 

Go on and have a wonderful day ♥

Quick update!

I just changed around a little bit, so now two more Snow White thorns and roses headbands are availabile! I figured since they sold out so quickly, that must mean I should make more of them instead of the Little Mermaid for example. 

I have like an "empty canvas" I just fill up with flowers, so it's no problem. Look at me, rolling with the punches! 

Have to get ready for school now, bye ☆