First off, I received this dress from Farktop on Amazon in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Now onto the review! I'm really happy with this dress. The fit is true to size (they have a sizing chart for reference, as well). It stretches quite a bit, so there's some room for anyone in between sizes. The material is comfortable, flowy and thick but not too thick. It's light weight but the material isn't so thin that it's see-through. It's a nice medium.

I'm so happy with the cut as well. I love that it's longer in the back and shorter in the front and that it's off the shoulders with short sleeves. It's such a nice feminine silhouette. It's the perfect dress for a date or a casual wedding or anything where you need to be dressed up but not like "ball gown" dressed up.

Thanks again Farktop!

​~Positive Outcomes Only~

You've all be invited to join the Faerie Family's club! What!? A club where anyone can join?! Yep! That's right.

Well it's an email newsletter. That doesn't sound as cool as a club, though. But wait! Let me explain. Just because "newsletter" isn't as cool as a club, it doesn't mean that it's not cool at all! This newsletter is still pretty cool (if I say so myself).

This newsletter is sent out at the end of each month! It's designed to keep you in the know~ You'll be filled in on everything I've done the past month in case you missed posts or announcements on social media and receive cool little bonus goodies!

Let's break it down. Each month you can expect:

• A short update on how the month went
• Sneak preview of some upcoming projects
• Patreon happenings and recaps
• Store updates and links to any new products (such as prints, templates, plushies)
• Links to galleries of new cosplays/photo-shoots done that month
• Links to new videos I released that month
• And cool free goodie, such as; HD wallpapers, digital holiday cards, an exclusive photo, mini-tutorials, etc

There is none! Subscribing to the Faerie Family newsletter is completely free, no strings attach. It's simply another way for me to thank my awesome supporters like you, all while keeping you in the loop--this way you never miss an update! 

Just fill out the super-short "forum" below! It's as simple as that. Then you can expect your first newsletter at the end of the month! Exciting right?

The video pretty much says it all but I'll do a quick recap anyways. All these shoes are from ZooShoo and I received them at a discounted price or for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

These were some pretty basic heels. I decided to get these because I felt they would make a good, go-to professional looking shoe.

I feel like these would be great for an interview outfit or something you can wear to the office. The heel is wide and isn't too tall, making them really easy and comfortable to walk it,

The shoe is made from nice quality materials and true to size! They have slight padding at the soles, but not too much (so if you're someone who needs heavily cushion-y shoes, you'll need to buy some inserts for these), The velcro strap gives some room to fit around different ankle sizes.

These have become one of my favorite shoes. They have this slight edgy look and an interesting design to them. I found them to be fitting for a couple cosplays I have planned as well. They also come in a lot of great colors (such as a nice olive green and burgundy-red). 

These shoes are well made (like usual) and fit true to size. the wide heel makes them easy and comfortable to walk in--I've worn them walking around SF for an entire day on multiple occasions. The sole is the same as the last pair (has padding/cushion but not too much).

These shoes are super cute! And that's the sole reason I got these. They have this great Oxford or vintage style to them but with a twist! They're pink and have a slight heel! The shoe does come in the classic black and white, as well.

I'm really happy with these. These will go so great with pastel outfit or anything sweet lolita inspired.
The shoes are well made, as well, and are true to size! The padding in the sole is the same as the last two.

Thanks again to ZooShoo for the shoes! 

~Positive Outcomes Only~

• A) Crossplay
   B) Genderbend
• A) Attend a popular, large, amazing con by yourself
   B) Attend a small con with you best friends
• A) make your next costume entirely out of satin
   B) Make your next costume entirely out of snakeskin PVC
• A) Carry around a large, heavy prop all day at a con
   B) Wear large, heavy wings all day at a con
• A) Deal with a sewing machine that acts up on a simple costume
   B) Sew a lined/multi-layered, complex cosplay by hand
• A) Cosplay 1 character your whole life
   B) Cosplay only characters you hate
• A) Explain cosplay to your family
   B) Explain cosplay to your friends
• A) All your costumes are skimpy
   B) All your costumes have you completely covered
• A) Cosplay someone with a giant prop that can't fit through doors easily
   B) Cosplay someone with a giant costume (ex: hoop skirt, armor) that can't fit through
        doors easily
• A) Have a complex (ex: spikey) wig damaged enroute to a con
   B) Have a prop get damaged enroute to a con
• A) Act in character (opposite to your personality) and be loved for it
   B) Be yourself (no acting) but have people really dislike you for it
• A) Be too hot/warm in a cosplay
   B) Be too cold in a cosplay
• A) Get more attention online for your cosplay but barely any at cons
   B) Get more attention at cons but barely any online
• A) Have all your cosplays destroyed
   B) Never make a new cosplay again
• A) Have a snobby, condesnsending, elitist friend with fantastic cosplay making skills,
       who'll help you improve your costumes
   B) Have a super sweet friend with no or horrible cosplay making skills, who you have to
       help all the time
• A) Go to a local small con with a short drive
   B) Go to a big con 5+ hours away
• A) Cosplay a spin off of an existing character
   B) Accurately cosplay a character who looks very casual and uninspired
• A) Cosplay a popular character done averagely and still be popular
   B) Cosplay an obscure character exceptionally well but receive little attention
• A) Shave your head & wear cosplay wigs til it grows back
   B) Not wear any wigs with your cosplays for 2 years
• A) Have correctly colored fabric but the wrong type of fabric
   B) Have the right type of fabric but not quite the right color
• A) Wear a costume that's too small and looks bad
   B) Wear a costume that's too big and looks sloppy
• A) Have less spending money but a nice hotel next to the con
   B) Have a bad hotel, far away but more spending money
• A) Wear painful, hard to walk in shoes that are accurate
   B) Wear non-accurate but comfortable shoes
• A) Cosplay a character you dislike with a friend and make them happy
   B) Cosplay solo but your friend will be sad/disappointed
• A) Have a beautifully made costume that stays nice and gets verbal compliments but 0
       photos
   B) Have a beautifully made cosplay that falls apart but gets a lot of photos
• A) Have an amazing cosplay of a character you hate
   B) Have a terrible cosplay of a character you love
• A) Bring a sibling to a con
   B) Bring a parent to a con
• A) Cosplay a character with incredibly long, complex & annoying hair
   B) Cosplay a bald character
• A) Have an amazing prop but bad costume
   B) Have an amazing costume but bad prop
• A) Only make armor cosplays from now on
   B) Only make fully sewn cosplays from now on
• A) Be surrounded by people with bad breath & B.O. for an entire con
   B) Be surrounded by rude & snarky people for an entire con
• A) Have a rip in your cosplay in an inappropriate place with no back up clothing
   B) Have a suggestive stain with no back up clothing
• A) Receive negative attention only for a cosplay
   B) Receive no attention at all

*I recieved this 3D printing pen from Morph Pen in exchange for a review.*

I was so excited about this offer. I've been wanting a 3D printing pen since they were first "announced" and finally got to try one out! For me, it lived up to it's hype. I plan to try to find ways to incorperate this into my cosplays but I definitely feel this is more for fun arts and craft projects, rather than just super serious builds. That doesn't take away any of the fun though!

The pen is very straight forward and easy to use. I do believe it can be kid friendly--parental guidance may be needed since there are hot and electrical components. The instruction manual explains everything clearly and after looking over that, I found it very easy to pick up and any questions I had answered.

Once you begin using it's basically like drawing normally. There may be a bit of trial and error when it comes to figuring out how to build certain things--but the template book it comes with offers an easy way to create a variety of things. For my first go with this, I decided to create a fantasy tree jewelry-hanger, sort-of-thing and pick-up how to use the pen within seconds--that's how user friendly it is (because, trust me, I'm really bad with most technology).

So overall, I'm really happy with the Morph Pen and definitely recommend it for anyone wanting to explore new arts and craft activites. 

​~Positive Outcomes Only~

I received these boots at a discount price in exchange for an honest review, so lets begin. These are platform boots that can be found here, on ZooShoo's amazon store. I only had one probably when ordering them and it wasn't that huge of a deal. I had originally ordered that pair in white and black but received it in all black. I originally was going to get it fixed and they were very willing to correct the mistake, but due to all the bad luck with shipping companies I had been having recently, I decided not to and just kept them as is.

These shoes are made from faux leather and are really sturdy and well made. They are extremely tall so they may not be good for someone who doesn't typically wear, nor enjoy wearing, heels or platforms. Although, because of the wide heel, they are easier to walk in than some others may be, so if you're wanting to wear platform heels more then this may be a good pair to start with.

The shoes are lace up but you'll probably never have to bother with the laces again after the first time because the zipper along the side makes it easy to take them on and off.

I will note some possible negatives. The shoes are extremely thin, so if you have wide feet, even if you sized up, they probably won't fit or feel comfortable. I have fairly small and narrow feet so this wasn't a problem for me. The other possible negative is that they do make your feet look a lot smaller than normal--this is probably due to how narrow they are. If you're someone who wants smaller feet then this may be a plus for you, but it was more on the negative side for me as I already have very small feet. As I mentioned in my video review, it reminded me of how some custom content heels work in the Sims 4. 

Overall I'm really happy with the shoes. At first I was disappointed with receiving the wrong color as they looked too similar to a different pair of shoe I had but after some time I decided that these gave a much more "casual" vibe than my other pair and were more daily-wear friendly. I had a chance to wear them around quite a bit and found them to be fairly comfortable to wear for a few hours. So other than receiving the wrong color (which is an easy fix) I have had no bad experience with these shoes nor the seller.

~Positive Outcomes Only~

Received these sunglasses from Suasi on Amazon and I absolutely love them.

Right off I can say they're well made, fairly sturdy (as sturdy as glasses can get that is), and came packaged securely. It has a soft plastic wrapped around the lens so they don't risk getting scratched in shipment. The listing also includes a bag/case for them and a cloth for cleaning.

They're true to color! That's actually my favorite part. I love the style and I love the pink and gold color. It'll even appear a baby blue from certain angles (but is pink most of the time). The lens are mirrored as well! Which is another favorite aspect. 

I'm usually not a sunglasses person, but I saw these and instantly fell in love. I've never wanted to own a pair so badly. I can't wait for sunny weather so I can wear these all the time! 

~Positive Outcomes Only~

Received these shoes from ZooShoo off amazon for a discounted price, so here's my review on those!

I absolutely am in love with these shoes! They are my new everyday shoes.They're super cute and work for all season. The sandal-style these have to them make them great for spring and summer, but pairing these with a pair of tights makes them wearable in winter!

They're made from the jelly/plastic-y material. The soles have some slight give or padding to them but aren't incredibly soft. All though I have worn these for a full day and my feet felt fine! They're weren't uncomfortable. If you're someone who prefers super padded soles, I recommend grabbing some inserts for these! They're fairly easy to walk in. This may just be me, sicne I wear large platforms often, but they're definitely easier than tall heels! They are also lightweight so they don't feel heavy on your feet. The shoes also feel very well-made. I've had no problems with them so far and I've started wearing them quite often! I know in the video I'll be uploading shortly, I say that I have only worn them a little bit, you just have to keep in mind that was filmed a week or so ago? Since then I've worn them all the time! 

I seriously love these shoes so much. They're so cute and bold. Perfect for my style~

~Positive Outcomes Only~

​*I received this product for free or at a discounted price in exchange for my honest and unbiased review*

This is the Apalus Straightener Brush I received off amazon from the seller/store Apalus. It's price is $29.99 plus shipping (around the usual hair appliance price) and let me tell you, it's totally worth it! I am absolutely in love with this product!

First things first, when opening it I was already really happy with the pink shade  of color it was. When warming it up the little screen showed the current temperature and when pressing the '+' or '-' buttons it would show what the temperature it was warming up to was. I thought it was a nice little touch I really appreciated. You could see how much longer was left before it was at the goal temperature. It can also switch between showing Fahrenheit and Celsius. It did heat up pretty quickly. You're suppose to comb through your hair before using the product, so I did that while it warmed up.

Now for my favorite part. It literally only took me no more than 10 minutes to straighten my hair! I believe it was about 6-7 minutes to be exact That's insane!! My hair is incredibly thick, on the longer side and curly so it usually takes me an hour or more to completely straighten my hair. I was so happy I could've cried.

My hair did get a bit frizzy (but it did that just from me brushing it) so I honestly couldn't tell you whether or not the brush would've caused any frizzy. My hair is extremely damaged from all the dying I do to it, so it just does that on a regular basis. Either way, it's easy to fix with an anti-frizz serum or straightening balm.

The brush is also on the heavier side. I was expecting it to weight about as much as a straightening/curling iron but it definitely weighs more. You quickly get use to the weight though and it doesn't affect how easy it is to use. That's another thing! It's incredibly easy to use and the directions are straight forward.

Overall, I'm super happy with this. It allows me to style my hair more often and cuts down on the time it takes by a huge amount!

​~Positive Outcomes Only~

Recently read something that caught my interest. There was an article where a comment was made about how "lazy" a certain cosplayer's gijinka design was. The author's solution? They suggested "just make a catsuit"...

Now I don't think a catsuit would make a "bad" cosplay (I don't think there's such a thing as a "bad" cosplay, in general). A catsuit could be great, amazing and creative! That's not the problem. To compare that idea, in such a negative way, to one who simply looked at it a different way was a little... ignorant. Part of the fun in designing a gijinka cosplay is how creative you can be! There's so many different aspects to take into account that can go a lot farther than just the physical shapes and colors. There's no limit to what one can do because it's your very own design!

If you aren't sure what I'm talking about and looking to add even more into your gijinka design or if there isn't too much there for you to go off of to start with, then this post may be what you need! 

So lets start! Since it's probably some of the most common characters that have a gijinka designed for them, we'll be using Pokemon for this example!

Okay, so we've decide what we're going to cosplay and it's a Pokemon! More specifically, let's say it's Vaporeon (at least for these next few examples). I know, this was a very basic step. Not much more to say, just needed this covered to move on.

Let's take a look at Vaporeon. It's yellow, white and two shades of blue in color. There's three "ears" on it's head, a collar around it's neck, it has a mermaid-like tail and scale/fin-like detail that go all the way down the back. It's skin/texture also appears smooth.

​So what can we do with this information?
Well, just by looking at it we can already decide on what our color choices should be for the materials (whether it be paint or fabric); blues, yellow and white. We can also decide on the texture (if you're not going for an armored version--that usually changes things up a bit, but we'll touch more on this later); smooth. We also know we should probably include some key details like the ears and collar piece. The webbed shaping of the fins, collar, and ears is pretty significant too. We can make this will be a reoccurring shape throughout the outfit.

This is very important! The area in which they live can definitely help you figure out what kind of design/style to go for. If they live in a hot, sunny dry area, you'd typically want to design something meant for that climate. If they live in a cold, snowy area you'd probably be looking towards designing something warm maybe with a lot of fur or layers. What about a desert? Or specific region of the world? Is there any sort of traditional clothing or style common to that area in real life? What about the time period? What would people where in those days? These are all things to consider!

Vaporeon lives in the water, so going for something with a water vibe--whether it be mermaid themed or pool party themed-- is a pretty fitting idea. The Pokedex entry also mentions it prefers beautiful shores. That can make the idea of designing something with a little bit more elegance and very detailed pop into our head!

What stands out about the character--more than just appearance? For Pokemon we can instantly jump to their typing, the moves/abilities they have, and other information easily found in the Pokedex in games (or Wikipedia pages).

So for Vaporeon, we know it's a water-type, it learns a majority of water-type moves, and it evolves from Eevee. The Pokedex entry also mentions that it's molecules are similar to water (it can even melt into it) and that it's tail is often mistaken for that of a mermaid's.

So from this we can decide to lean towards a water-fitting design. Maybe something mermaid inspired or maybe some sort of bathing suit--made with water friendly materials. The fact that it's molecules are similar to water can bring about the idea to use fabric that moves and even sort of looks like water. You could also go about this a completely different way. You could decide to play more into the fact there's multiple Eeveelutions and make one uniformed design with slight tweaks for each individual characters. This could completely change your choice of fabric and if they environment/typing is important to consider or not.

Personality is an important aspect! How does the character behave? Are they a bad-ass and edgy? Shy? Super serious? Young and playful? Seductive? Depressed and sad? Happy and motherly? If a character is childish and playful then it's probably a good idea to go with something youthful and easy to move in. If they're edgy and dark then maybe it's fitting to stay away from too many bright colors, throw in some spikes and a biker jacket? If they're motherly, think about what a mom would wear--maybe a classic 50's portrayal of one? 
​
Now Pokemon may be a little tricky. But if you watch the show or check the Pokedex entry you can sometimes find some information about their personalities. If they don't mention that then go with what you feel. I've personally always felt like I could do something glamorous and elegant mermaid-wise or something fun and playful for Vaporeon. 

What does your character do? Do they have a job? What about hobbies? If they like to cook, how about adding some sort of apron to the design or chef inspired outfit? Do they play sports? What kind? Maybe you can do some sort of sports attire fitting to them?

I know for Pokemon this can seem a bit irrelevant. For most gijinka designs this can be difficult to think about. After all, gijinka designs aren't inspired by humans... or at the very least, they don't always have human-like traits (such as jobs and hobbies). So instead think about it in a different way. If they were human what would they do? What do you think their job would be? Would they have any hobbies? Do you see them playing any sports? Their owners/trainers, what are they like? What do they do? Does the Pokemon get along with their trainer? Are they similar? If so, you can probably bet they'd be doing the same things as their trainer if they were human. Is their trainer more like a mother to them? Like how Misty is to Togepi! We could easily make a Togepi design inspired by children wear or something youthful. You can get fairly creative here! 

For Vaporeon, mostly because of the water aspect, I can see it being a swimmer. Maybe a mermaid--I know not fully human but close. Maybe some sort of royalty?!

For a Pokemon like Chansey we could probably go with something motherly! Chansey is usually in the Pokemon Center in the cartoon, so if Chansey was a person we could only assume it'd be a nurse, doctor or some sort of caretaker. Something that comes off as warm, caring and welcoming, probably modest and mature, seems fitting. Obviously a nurse or doctor inspired outfit would be great!

At this point, you collect all the research you've done, taken into consideration many different aspects and now it's time to piece it all together. 

So for Vaporeon we know we want something water-friendly or water-themed. We probably want to use smooth or flowy fabric (most likely bathing suit material), maybe a mix of both. We also want to keep significant details, like the ears and collar. At this point we could come up with a few designs. There's the option of doing something mermaid-y. Add many elaborate details, use light-weight fabrics that could be airy and flowy in water, and give it a mermaid gown shape to it (if not a full on tail). Or we could do a bathing suit. Something fun and cutesy with extra shapes added on and hems cut to match the shapes of the fins. Now it's just up to you to decide and give it your own personal touch! I think the design above (by hokoricupcake on DeviantArt) is a great mix of both! 

​I want to use two examples for this. I've touched on Vaporeon but now I want to do an overall look at another Pokemon. So let's use Litten. Looking at Litten we know it's a cat-inspired Pokemon. It already looks a bit sassy just by design (also cats are typically full of sass, lets be real here). The colors we'll be sticking to are red and black and there's a significant marking on it's forehead. The cheeks/whiskers, tufts of hair on it's head, tail end and stripes on it's legs can also be taken into consideration. From looking at the colors, I instantly go to something edgy, punk-ish and rocker. Red and black are a common combo seen in punk/rock outfits and styles. I feel for a cat this is also fairly fitting. We could also take into consideration other cat-themed characters, such as Catwoman. It's common to see cat-themed characters portrayed as sexy and a villain, so creating this sexy, bad-ass design is another path we can take. It's also a fire type! With fire I usually go with something, well, fire-y (spicy, edgy, sexy, etc--can all be fitting options). I feel Jessica Nigri and Danielle Beaulieu did fairly decent takes on this! But don't worry. If that's not you're style you can definitely go with something else! It is a starter Pokemon, so another option could be something spunky, young and playful. Or even a catsuit can work! Throw in the colors you need, add little touches and bam!

Okay so this is where things really change up! If you're doing an armored design, or something glamour inspired (like a red-carpet gown), pool party themed or even PJ themed, it'll be a lot different. You don't have to consider as much. When you have a bigger theme to stick to then all you really have to take into consideration is the colors and signature markings or details.

Take this Venusaur design (by bulletproofturtleman on DeviantArt). You can see the Venusaur in it and at the same time it still may be something different then what you were originally thinking was fitting for Venusaur. It has all of the colors, the designer changed the signature flower on the back to a weapon/shield so it's still included in the design, and they also threw in other flower aspects--keeping true to it's design as well as considering the fact that it's a grass-type. While it may not be a soft or hard of a design as you'd think when thinking of Venusaur, it still represents the Pokemon well.

It's taking classic armor pieces and modding them to fit a Pokemon. There's many people who take inspiration from various World of Warcraft sets, for example. They use those sets as a sort of starting point and then change and recolor pieces as needed--adding on details and removing others, changing shapes of the edges, etc--to make it better represent a different character.

My point is, you don't always have to take into consideration every last details. You can pay more attention to some details than others. It's all about what you feel would fit your design the best. The only thing that may be really important to keep are some signature aspects the character is know for (for animal-like character it's typically the ears, tail and/or the texture of it's fur/skin and maybe the pattern of it). And even then you don't absolutely have to if you don't want to. There's many ways to incorporate these different aspects.