purikura smartphone apps

 I CONCUR, MR. PANDA
After having prepaid T-Mobile brickphones since 2004, I've finally acquired a sumafo smartphone, a LG Revolution 4G LTE ! I have officially entered the 21st century thanks to my Mr. Bun He added me to his family plan when my ol' prepaid melted a couple of weeks ago, and since then it's been glued to my palm as I try to seek out new apps to play with...

Snapeee 

(Android)

Snapeee by Japanese company MindPalette Co., Ltd., is available for iPhone, iTouch, iPad, and Android in Japanese, English, and Chinese, and knocks it out of the park with its free selection of  accessories for making authentic looking purikura-- it has a generous and well-designed selection of stickers, sparkles, moustaches, the silliest and baubliest of the baubles, you name it. This app is great for making birthday cards and the like, messing around with photos of your friends or just embellishing blog photos or profile pictures in general.
I had trouble figuring out how to save my finished photos at first; there's no easy-to-find save button. You have to upload your photos to your Snapee "Timeline," a social feed which you can make public or private, and from your timeline you can tap your photos and email them to yourself. Using the timeline feature, you can also view other Snapeee users' purikura and rate or comment!
Unfortunately, the app seems to be unstable and continually crashes, which gets really irritating after a while. I also wish preset photo filters and a pen/paint tool were available to draw silly things on my photos, and that stickers were moveable once you place them on the photo.

 Sample Snapeee Purikura:

SO HANDSOME. I KNOW.

The translucent butterfly is the best friend I was referring to.

Mr. Bun was none too enthused, despite the dancing bear! cake.

Sleepy sleepy face...

There are some setbacks, unfortunately, that make Snapeee frustrating to use at times. The app crashes often for any number of reasons. The developers update often in an attempt to fix existing bugs, but what frequently ends up happening is more instability, the "fixed" version of the app crashing again and again just upon opening it up. I've had the most trouble when it comes to selecting photos to edit (I often have to choose the photo I want 2-3 times to get the editor to open) and downloading new stamps and borders.

PhotoWonder 

(Android)

The "beautify" filters available on PW are what drew me to this Chinese app (recently acquired by Baidu) initially. The "better skin" function is a favorite when I'm having a bad face day, and there's also a slimming function, eye enlarger, anti-acne, whiten, blusher, and anti-red eye. The photo filters include Instagram-like HDR toning effects, color exclusion, and some other neat sparkly options that are worth a look (like snowy and time travel scenes!) You can also make collages with multiple photos using a variety of different frames and backgrounds. I haven't explored the social networking/sharing aspect of this app so much yet.
The selection of frames and stickers are very lacking and even a bit boring compared to Snapeee's, unfortunately. But saving is as easy as pie, and after editing in PW I can pop them into Snapeee for a couple finishing touches.

If only there was one app to rule them all -- one that would synthesize the filter and decorative features and prevent me from having to double-up edit my phone's photos on PW and then Snapeee, ahaha.

PhotoWonder filter effects

top, l to r: SCpurple, stars, aging

bottom l to r: heaven, snow, LOMO

& a sample collage, for good measure!!!!!

Hours of fun... no, seriously, I can't stop messing around with these now, OK (breathes)

speaking of taobao... my haul, the third!

Yep, it's the fruits of my long awaited Taobao Spring/Summer spree time!

 C-c-cute cancan-esque hat! Now it really feels like summertime! So 

glad this didn't get damaged en route, these guys are so fragile. TaobaoNow is

 usually quite thorough in their packing, it seems.

  Platform Pumps from Coconuts. The bows are actually clip-on, 

andcame with an extra set in a different color if you want to change 

them up!They look a lot more painful to walk in than they are, especially

 for someone clumsy like me, hurrr. They even came with nonsense

Japanese phrase "それはである" hh

 

Look at this dapper fellow! Not Peter Rabbit... Pyotr Bunny? I dunno.

But he & this top are super cute! I like the puffy bat wings -- if

they're puffy, are they still bat wings? -- and the ties at the hem.

 

This slip dress actually came with Pyotr Bunny as part of a set,

since the top is translucent. It's a bit hard to see from the photo,

but it's got a multilayered tulle bottom with a subtle floral pattern.

Very lightweight lacy button-up. Looks like it'd be kind of

scratchy, but it's perfectly comfortable. Very airy. I wore this

to work with a white cami underneath.

 

AAAAHHHH. This was probably my favorite item, but it's kind of

like a doll sweater on me, and looks way too tight... sigh. Too 

much shoulder and boobage on my end to make this work (sob)

Let's have a picnic with the Wizard of OZ! I'll wear my ruby

slippers.

  

These are 'Barbie' shorts and are labeled as such! & It's my fault for 

not paying closer attention to the measurements, but these really feel like they 

were made to fit a lady of Barbie proportions.

Love Tutuanna socks.  I got two pairs and have been washing

'n wearing quite a bit -- I hope I don't wear them out too fast,

because they're lovely and go so well with so many things!! The Tutuanna 

socks I bought waaay back in the Fall of 2008 when I was living in 

Japan are still doing just fine, so I have high hopes for these.

 

SPARKLESATCHEL, how I hath longed for thee! Unfortunately,

the buckles on the bottom of the bag  (which were for mostly 

aesthetic purposes anyway, who has time to unlatch your bag

every time you need to dive into it for something?!) were not firmly

attached, but rather snapped on... and both have already vanished

into the ether. 

     

 Dotdotdot all day long.... comes with belt and bow tie, whoo!

I am a British schoolboy! (Not quite)

 Long sequined bow necklace! This came with Mr. Bunbun and

the slip dress set.

 Aaaand definitely going for a lovely marine look with these

breezy polka-dot pants.

That said -- ahh, warm weather! Being landlocked right now I would love to go on a boat ride somewhere and really feel the sea breeze, sigh. As long as my straw hat doesn't blow off, I think I'll be OK.

taobao retro girly and otome shop list -- revised!!

Sporadic updates a-go-go!

I've put together this listing for others who might be interested -- & also for my own reference / selfish benefit -- of Taobao shops who carry clothes or accessories that I like and have had favorable experience ordering from (with the help of Taobaonow -- I promise I'll write a review of you guys someday!!) The trend here is pretty self-evident with its retro girly leanings, so let's get on with the list. Any suggestions of shops in a similar vein are so welcome!!

Basic list criteria:

• Good presentation
• Active store (currently in business with consistent stock/updates)
• Clothing, accessories, or other fashionable goods
• Satisfactory item quality
• Positive customer reviews
• Exemplifies some tenet of retro girly stylishness -- 'natural-kei' or 'natural style,' otome-kei or 'maiden style', 'mori-kei' or 'forest girl style,' gamine cuteness, or any other romantic feminine looks

Click on the links or photos in the left column to visit each shop! 

**last revised and simplified 13 October, 2013!

SHOP	COMMENTS
artka	very… I want to say, ‘avant-garde’? you never quite know what to expect from artka, but there’s always something interesting to see. it’s an online shopping mall in itself filled with category-defying items from the bizarre to the mundane. definitely on the more expensive side. natural-kei, mori, feminine silhouettes, nomad(??) style, hoodies that will make you look like an escaped lawn gnome… it’s all here.
bobon21	gyaru, hime, sweet. pleats, flowers, plaids, florals, lace. excellent if you enjoy looks featured by yumetenbo or liz lisa.
cicishop	retro vintage, 1960's, british collegiate (think japan's take on "british style" à la vivi magazine), mod cuts, plaids, peacoats; coherent collections with stylish presentation.
coconut	soft and sweet. still carries romantic looking otome and retro girly items, but is heading in a more streetstyle-y gyaru/ kawaii-kei direction as of late. note: double check measurements as everything tends to run small.
dearli	mori, otome, natural-kei. muted colors. romantic, fairy tale-esque dresses, outerwear, tops bottoms, and accessories. fantastic photography, and I cannot emphasize enough how great the shop's website design is! it always has me coming back, even if i'm not looking to purchase anything, just to search for inspiration and take everything in.
forestgirlfans	offers a huge variety of very embellished (and great quality) mori girl clothing, shoes, and occasionally accessories. seems to be one of the most popular purveyors of mori style on TB, and not without reason!
love pinky	mori, natural-kei, otome, lolita, hand bags, accessories. the clothing selection isn’t really tailored to one specific point of view, but they really shine with their array of "zakka," popular character goods and housewares. stocks japanese replicas from brands like Q-POT, Axes Femme, Liz Lisa, snidel, etc.
luckyhouse	otome, ‘natural-kei’, onee-gyaru, sweet, vintage silhouettes. casual OL clothing, shoes, accessories.
m.babyruy	mori, natural. all items are from the in-house brand, and are tagged as such. somewhat basic pieces that can be mixed and matched for an effortlessly cute kind of look.
maggie-z	small stock, but carefully selected bright, soft, cute, and casual pieces. mori/natural. nice shoes, too.
magic39	lots of blouses and dresses with sweet and modest details, lace collars, breezy skirts, soft colors, flower motifs. natural and mori-able items.
maomaohome	s. korea inspired casual, comfy-cute, natural-kei items, shoes, and accessories, layerable with feminine accents.
mm angel	romantic, delicate, billowy. lace, ruffles, chiffon, light fabrics. skirts, blouses, cardigans, cutsews, layerable sets.
mmbq	a small stock of beautiful mori pieces, supposedly made from all-natural cottons and linens.
platinum angel	vintage-y, comfy, shabby-chic. Lots of sweaters and DIY/ repurposed cutsew sweatshirt knit hybrids. stock is updated often and they have a small selection of cheap zakka and accessories. great for mori and natural look, and let me just note that everything i've ordered from here immediately has that special vintage-wash softness...
sunny house	great selection of natural-kei clothing! tartan, denim and fairisle that makes you want to go camping. yes, you too can look fashionable while doing outdoor activities.
guinea pig house	youthful & nostaglic s. korea women's "college" style. nautical/sailor tops, pleated skirts, school-uniform inspired cuteness, piped blazers and plenty of tartan.
vivian!	super cute mori and natural-kei collection.