I felt like we had stepped back in time when Chewiee and I found ourselves in our pj’s watching TV and scrolling on our phones. I can clearly remember the first time we had a sleepover back when we were both students, living in/near London, and at the prime of our Gyaru days. I was so relieved to have found someone who was happy just to laze about and relax (as I get really exhausted after spending a whole day shopping in London) and it has been part of our sleepover routine ever since. This time, however, we were going to do something different… For the first time in our lives, we were going to try out manba gyaru!
We didn’t decide this until we were heading out of the door to go to the kitty cafe in Nottingham, and made a note that we needed to pick up some makeup before we headed home. This was soon put out of our minds as we were both extremely excited to see all of the cats and couldn’t wait to get out of the one-way roads and inside the warmth of the cafe. It was incredibly busy when we arrived but a little kitten – obviously wanting to get away from all of the noise – climbed over to where we sat and made herself comfortable within the space between us. It was so adorable!
related post: I left my heart in Tokyo – gyaru life in Shibuya!
sweater: forever21 / skirt: boohoo / boots: boohoo / earrings: new look
After our hour was up we went to Victoria Street for a little bit of shopping – to pick up supplies for our manba gyaru look! Luckily we found some foundation and white eye pencil from NYX after spending quite a lot of time searching in boots. A few hours later we headed home so that we could start doing our manba gyaru makeup!
And gosh we had so much fun. Luckily I slowly built up the layers because I was wary of making mistakes but in the end I just gave up and had fun with it – the true gyaru way! We had grabbed some hibiscus flower accessories from a costume store and, together with our kigurumi, it completed our manba look. We couldn’t stop laughing at how silly we looked but to be honest I actually really liked doing it. It probably would be a while before I can wear this outdoors, but it was fun to do at a sleepover. The rest of the evening was spent watching friends with a cheeky Nandos.
And here’s our look!
Have you tried manba gyaru before? What do you think of our first try?
Love,
Lizzie xx
(P.S. find out more about manba and the other gyaru styles here)
Jull
May 12, 2019Your mamba looks looked great! It is a style I have always wanted to give a try, but it is quite out there so it’ll probably still take me a while…
And the cats at the café were adorable!! Cat cafés are such a fun and relaxing way to spend time~
hellolizziebee
May 13, 2019Thank you so much sweetie! And yes I totally agree with you… It was fun to do at home, but I think it’ll take a while for me to do it in public!
They really are! It was heaven for me to be surrounded by such cute kitties.
joy
May 12, 2019Omg you both look so good in manba!! And you did a great job on the makeup. I love the “gave up and had fun with it — the true gyaru way”. Manba embodies so much of the gyaru spirit that I love, the “break all the rules, let’s have fun and just do what we like” kind of style. Someday I hope to have the confidence to wear manba outside. I’m so shy, and around here, most people wear conservative and neutral clothes!
hellolizziebee
May 13, 2019Awh thanks Joy! It really does. Whenever I think of gyaru I think of old school gals with their deep tans and crazy makeup… And Ran Kotobuki from Gals! Awh that’s okay, you can always slowly build up your confidence by doing the more toned-down versions of gyaru. I don’t have the confidence to do manba in public either but I’m working on it!
Claire
May 13, 2019A cat cafe!! They are some cute cats ?
Love the look and the retro sleepover. Sounds like you’ve had a great time x
hellolizziebee
May 13, 2019They really are, and got very good tempers, too! They were so good with people and absolutely loved the attention (although there were plenty of places for them to go to sleep if they wanted to keep away from humans for a while). And thank you so much! x
Jenny in Neverland
May 13, 2019Oh my God I need to hang out with you because you look like so much fun to be around! And I’d LOVE you to do gyaru make up on me! All those kitties are so cute <3
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
hellolizziebee
May 13, 2019Tehehe oh my gosh I would love to!!!!!! I’d love to try out gyaru makeup on you, and take silly photos and watch films! <3
Boxnip
May 13, 2019Oh wow, you two did a great job with the look! I’m only vaguely familiar with it but it looks like a lot of fun. The cats were too cute in the cafe too! 😀
Sarah ? || Boxnip || Latest Post
hellolizziebee
May 13, 2019Aaah you know of gyaru? That’s so cool! That makes me so happy haha. And yes they really were!
Talitha
May 15, 2019You girls look great! I’d also like to try manba or kuro but I am not brave enough to go out with this make up, haha!
hellolizziebee
May 15, 2019Thank you so much! And you can do it! It’s taken me a long time to build up my confidence, too, so I’m going to keep practising at home first before going out in public!
Kieli
May 22, 2019Omg you two came out so cute! I love manba! I tried it for halloween last year and fell in love with it! I definitely want to do it more for summer!
hellolizziebee
May 27, 2019Ooh yes I really wanted to do it for Halloween last year but I ended up being really ill, so I’m glad I was able to try it out! And yes, manba is perfect for the summer!