Finally got the article, from the newest Kodinkuvalehti, scanned ! I decided to put it up here in case of someone of you is interested in reading it but you don't subscribe/wanna buy the magazine.
fashsion & beauty
My very own styleViivi Räisänen, 21, has been writing a blog for 4 years about japanese gyaru style: flashy makeup and colorful giant hair.
- I keep my blogging subjects in my daily activities, I don't reveal much about my relationships or school-/work related stuff. I want to keep that part of my life private. I started a blog because I wanted to tell there's other ways to dress up and doll yourself up than to go with the flow, Viivi says.
Viivi's blog has reached many people interested in gyaru style. It has up to 4000-6000 readers a day. Along with Finnish, Viivi writes everything in her blog in English as well, and her blog has readers from America and Germany too.
In her fierce makeup and wig or huge hair extensios Viivi definitely stands out and is easy to spot on the streets.
A gyaru-girl won't be seen in public without a complete hair-do, makeup and nails.
- Every now and then someone comes to at the street and tells me she's following my blog. On my holiday trip to Nice, France one German girl recognized me and told me she reads my blog too.
www.cupcakexcouture.org
Anneli Leppänen photo Jouni Harala
>> Read from the next page what the mom thinks about Viivi's style!
From modest to wild
Viivi Räisänen, 21,
graphic designer, Helsinki
Arja Räisänen, 52,
interior designer, Laukaa
Viivi Räisänen respects her mother's style, but could never imagine dressing the same way. Linnea Erkamo on the other hand would borrow her mom's clothes, only if they would fit her. (there was another mom&daughter couple too but I didn't scan those pages)
"Little details are important in Viivi's gyaru-style."
ArjaThe limit was crossed only once
"When Viivi was little, I dressed her up in personal and fresh colored clothing. I've always liked 'clean' styles and tried to avoid cutesy stuff like frills and romantic flower prints. I was interested in visuality and I graduated as a cosmetologist at the time and later as a makeup artist. When Viivi was 10 years old I did her makeup and styled her as a punkrocker as a part of my thesis.
When Viivi turned 13, she started to pick her own clothing suitable for her own taste. Our family relationships have lasted surprisingly well, even tho the daughter with a strong opinions has always kept her head.
As a kid I lived in the country and dressing up back then was very functional. To my mother the most important thing was that the clothes were nice and clean.
In my twenties, dressing up wasn't indifferent to me, but I didn't want to stand out from the crowd with it. The craziest thing I had was probably the platform boots I begged my parents to buy for me. Nowdays I appreciate the comfort in clothes the most and try to pick timeless items.
Viivi has been more brave to express herself with the clothes, and I always tell my opinion of her choices. The limit only crossed once when we were supposed to go to the city and Viivi had cut out pieces from her old stockings and put them around her arms and legs. The sight of that made me gasp. But getting to go to the city was important enough for my daughter so she was willing to remove most of the pieces.
My interest in makeup and hair has probably encouraged Viivi to try different styles too. She started to dye her hair when she was 8 years old and dyed some stripes to it. 5 years later she dyed her hair pink, after that there was a black period in the way she dressed and her hair was bright purple.
After many different styles her looks started to become more gyaru-ish about four years ago. At home, japanese rock was always playing and Viivi took inspiration from japanese fashion.
I've been admiring Viivi's detailed makeup. I couldn't imagine that kind of hair for myself, but Viivi has proved me good points in wearing a wig. The eye gets used to differt looks surprisingly fast."
ViiviA wig is a savior in a hurry
"Mom always gave me the freedom to dress the way I wanted to, and we respect eachother's visions. That's why our relationship has lasted well. Actually it was my mom who suggested I could dye my hair pink in the first place.
I found the gyaru style online but I didn't like it at first. But after a while this japanese streetstyle started to look good in my eyes, and I started to adapt inspiration from the gyaru style to my own way of dressing up. From my blog, it's interesting to follow what kind of different style periods I've gone through during these years.
At first I bought all my clothing from Finland but they didn't quite look like how I wanted them to. On my trip to Japan I got familiar with the japanese sizing in clothes and after that it was easy to order the right kind and size of clothing online.
Gyaru is a colorful and fierce style in the first place, with girly and detailed clothing. It has different sub-genres and all of them have big hair and bold makeup.
My personal colorful period has already faded away, at the moment I like black, white and gray colors the most and I like to add bright colors like red or metallic colors as an effect. Jewelry are a must. In my nails, I use long nails tips which I decorate myself.
To look gyaru, big hair, bold makeup and decorated long nails are often more important than what you're wearing. If I have time, I do a big hair-do by using extensions. In a hurry or when feeling lazy I wear a wig. I own 4 wigs and all of them are made of Kanekalon fiber: new wig usually looks shiny and plastic-ish, but when you add baby powder to it, the shine disappears.
With my own looks I want to expand people's view of beauty, because in my opinion natural beauty is overrated."
Couple looks my mom was talking about in the article. I've never been this embarrassed to post a picture before, I can tell you... Oh well.
