Cute Make-up and Hairstyles

I like the gyaru style of Japanese make-up. I have been doing something similar for a couple of years before I even heard of this stuff. I'll describe my daily look that takes me 15 minutes maximum:

• After my face cream I use concealer under my eyes and a mineral powder on my entire face. I also use a primer on my eyelids, forehead, and nose.
• I ALWAYS fill in my brows with a dark brown brow pencil. Ladies, please do this, it just polishes the look.
• I line the inner corner and inner half of my lower lid with a silver eyeliner (no sparkles). I line the rest of the eye with black eyeliner.
• I wear two to three coats of mascara.
• I may wear a bronze eye shadow on my lids with a bluish gray in the crease (it actually looks pretty natural). I only wear that at night. During the day I may go without eye shadow or just wear a dark brown.
• I line my lips with a plum lipliner, fill in the lips with a bronze/brown lipstick, and then add a pink or bronze lip gloss over top. It gives me a pinkish bronze lip that matches my skin.
• I wear a lot of pink blush. I add it to the front cheek area, and even a bit on the bridge of my nose. I don't use it under my cheekbones because I think that makes you look old.

The photo below is an exaggerated version of what I do. I use silver liner instead of white (more subtle), no false lashes, no green contacts (I think her eyes are natural though). I wear more blush and less white eye shadow. The Barbie tutorial will give you a similar look.

I think big, long lashes are very feminine so I really recommend wearing mascara. I also recommend RapidLash because it really does grow your lashes. I'm not a fan of the false lashes because I prefer the natural look (enhanced by make-up). If you tend to lower or furrow your brows, try this exercise to raise them again. I found it helpful because once I began to notice the different feeling when my brows were up versus down I was able to correct myself. You will have to do it twice a day for a while.
Make-up Tutorials:
I chose these tutorials because I think they look nice on Black women. Many of the tutorials for Black women use really bright, unnatural colours that I think EBWs should avoid.
Gyaru Make-up Video 1 (final look is very nice but I think it can be done with fewer steps)
Gyaru Make-up Video 2 (cute, but forgot the brows)
Kelly Rowland Tutorial
Kim Kardashian Inspired Make-up (on a Black woman. I know, I know, but KK does know how to look good)
Gyaru Make-up Video 3 (she used a lot of make-up and steps to get a natural look so I think it was excessive). 

Black Gyarus (excessive at times, unflattering piercings)

Great hair will really improve your appearance. I have been natural for over three years and my hair is finally long enough for me to feel comfortable. I did not like it when it was short and it is so much better now. I think natural hair is very feminine. I have lots of little coils with lots of movement and volume. If you wear wigs or weaves please choose something that looks natural or relaxed instead of an unusual colour or super straight and shiny texture. 

Ways to Look Cute and Feminine

I've been searching the Internet for ways to look cute that would be suitable for adult women who don't want to pretend they are little girls. I love kawaii fashion but I would only wear little bits of it myself otherwise I'd end up looking like Nikki Minaj. We have to abandon the hard, ghettofabulous, hip hop look and go for something softer and more innocent. It's okay to look like and be a girly girl! These tend to be things other women wear, but why can't we? So here are some ways to add cute to your look.

1. Cute accessories. You can wear cute ear muffs, gloves, scarves, hats, belts,  leg warmers, and arm warmers.
2. Cute outerwear. Choose a cute coat that only a woman would wear.
3. Cute dresses, skirts, and tops. Try to find dresses that are flattering for your figure in feminine colours and patterns. Nothing too tight or revealing. You will also get more out of your money if you buy dresses that are appropriate for work or after work (e.g., pair the dress with a cardigan or blazer at work). I avoided dresses for many years, but now I find them more comfortable than pants. They are more forgiving if your weight fluctuates and they accentuate your curves while hiding oversized hips and thighs.
4. Cute shoes. Anything with a bow, curved toe, and pretty colour is great.
5. Cute purses. These can be as adorable as you want with bows, hearts, flowers, and even cartoon characters if you dare.
6. Cute makeup. There are many videos on YouTube that can give you tips about cute make-up. Many of the one's done by Black women are too colourful and unnatural, but I did find a few.
7. Cute hair. In my opinion, cute hair looks natural not artificial. It looks soft to the touch and doesn't look like you spent all day working on it. Don't go overboard with the hair accessories.

I'll do a post on cute make-up and hair next ;)

Cute Fashion:
Kawaii Couture (great examples of cute and feminine clothing)
Kawaii Craving
Asianicandystore

Videos:
Winter Fashion Tips: Dress Warm, Look Cute
15 Dresses, Which One is Your Favorite (you can watch the entire playlist to pick out styles that would look good on you


Black Girls and Women Who Embrace Cuteness
Amayamor.blogspot.com (interesting post here)
Choco Barbie Girls (I wish they didn't get piercings)
Usagii's Blog
No Beauty Limits
NaijaBarbie

Japanese Kawaii Girls are Experts on Cuteness!

This video explains Lolita fashion culture. I tried to find someone Japanese but none of those videos were in English.

"Kawaii" is a Japanese word meaning "cute". In one of my YouTube searches about how to be cute I came across videos by young women about how to look kawaii! Let me tell you, these ladies know how to do it! They wear cute makeup that accentuates their eyes, circle contact lenses to make their irises larger (I heard these are dangerous though), false eyelashes, pink make-up, adorable doll-like hair, and cute, girlie clothes. Here are some sample videos: Video 1, Video 2, Video 3. I also found some videos by young Black ladies who are also kawaii: Video 1, Video 2, Video 3.
These young women are undeniably cute. I know that this is a young look, but I thought there were a few things I could incorporate into my look. I recently bought some pink eyeshadow and lipstick which also fits with the Barbie trend. I like the lipstick but wearing it with the eyeshadow was too much for me so I will only wear them separately. I also did something rash although I had been considering it for a while...I gave myself bangs! Unfortunately, kawaii style bangs don't look so great with my natural curls and I ended up looking like I had an 80s perm! Fortunately I did not cut the hair too short so it actually looks cute when I pin it to the side. So as a lesson to my natural sisters, just smooth out the front of your hair and pin it to the side if you want to get a similar look or you could curl your bangs. It was very hard for me to find images of Black women with a cutesy look and straight bangs but Elise Neal below comes close as does Thandie Newton. I think we try too much to look sexy and not enough of us try to act and look cute. Why? Can we only look sexy or hard? These are some videos of Black women with something similar to the kawaii look: Springtime Barbie Inspired Tutorial. 

There is one thing about the kawaii girls that I find absolutely charming. They have poses you can see at Asian Poses.com! These are poses that they use in photos that make them appear way cuter than the average girl. The website even has people of different ethnicities and even men doing the poses (video of young Black woman doing 28 poses). Using some of them will make your photos adorable, but I'm not sure if they pose this way when they aren't being photographed :)

Articles about how to be cute:

How to Act Cute in Front of Guys
How to Look Cute for a Guy