NERD CON/ANIME CALIFORNIA

SO. MANY. CONS.

I don't even know what my life is anymore, but i'm rolling with it. Two Cons in two weekends made lindsay a very tired girl, and that was only part of how crazy this summer was. Which is why it's taken me an age (read: 2 months) to get posts up. And with a couple more coming up, shit's getting real. But I digress.

But let's start with NerdCon!
My snazzy friend hit me up about this nerdy fashion group looking for models for a show, so i promptly followed all the designers and popped my name in and wound up in a couple fashion shows!

I am by no means a model, but at most of these things they're usually looking for normal nerdy girls who like to wear fun stuff show off some cool designs, and the awesome benefit of doing this is getting in to the con for FREE. well, as it turns out, free happens to be my favorite price for conventions. And since i'm not paying to get in, that means more free money to spend on stuff!
Right? Right. Well, actually i should be responsible. But hey pretty things!

Basically between the two of us we recruited more friends to model, so we wound up with an awesome group of five hotties modeling for 3 different designers- Girl with One Eye, Elhoffer Design, and 1138 Clothing. My friend Alex and I previously got to model for 1138 Clothing at this super odd event called RegalCon in Mission Viejo just a week or two before NerdCon, so our feet were a little wet before going to this much larger event (complete with a runway!) and felt pretty good about it.

I modeled for GWOE (complete with a nifty eye patch) which was a ton of fun–I love her dresses, the Lolita style is so cute and fun, and I've been eyeballing her stuff for a while now so it was great to kind of test run a dress. I'm a big fan of Dr. Who also, so getting to wear a Tardis-themed dress was extra rad. Kimberly (the designer) is such a sweetheart and just a peach to work with, which always makes for a nicer experience, so i couldn't have been happier.

GWOE group selfie pre-runway walk day 1

The lady running the event, Rigel Griffith, is an absolute doll and such a pleasure to be around, but she also created Orion's Originals, a really cool nerdy collection (she's pretty seriously talented and creative), so the whole event was really smooth and it was great to be involved with. This was a two-day event, with the second day going even better than the first, as I had a better idea of how counting works, so was just overall less nervous about the whole event.

the whole modeling crew day 2, photo by Doug Stidham

NerdCon was a really interesting convention, small but super charming with a ton of stuff to look at, and a lot of events to participate in! there was a Super Smash Brawl competition with actual people acting it out, Karaoke with Loki, bounce houses, archery, and LARPing all over the place so it was more than just buying stuff and seeing panels. Apparently there were 9000 people there over the course of the weekend, which is even more impressive. Definitely something I would be down attend again.

GWOE official group shot day 1

This is the point where since all us friends were together, we decided to do our group cosplay for LBCC, so had exactly 3 weeks to get our lives in order, which is a surprisingly small amount of time. Especially since the next weekend was Anime California and we needed that week to prepare, so let's move on to that.

Anime California took place on the other side of the Long Beach convention center, so had a super odd layout to begin with, but we got in for free again for agreeing to do a fashion show (yaaas). There were two shows actually, a lingerie/rave wear themed show friday night, and a more 'Sayonara Summer' themed one sunday morning, but it seemed like the themes were fairly ignored and designers just did what they wanted. Christina, Casey, and I were actually backup, so we had no idea what we were getting into or what to prepare for, so we mostly hung out waiting to be assigned to a designer or told to leave.






We eventually wound up modeling for Majesti Designs friday in a show that went til about 1230am, and also got an email from a designer in sunday's show at that time, implying we'd been chosen for her, so we knew we'd be back for that as well. Our first show with Majesti was so different from anything we'd experienced–we didn't get to see the room beforehand or where we'd be walking, it was an actual room with table we were navigating instead of a runway, and it was really dim for a show, so it was tough to see the marks to hit. And also, we didn't know beforehand what we were wearing, so the fits were definitely a bit off. Since it was more of a 'lingerie' theme, it was a bit more revealing than we were used to also.

whole Majesti group

Sunday's designer was A Red Thread, by a 

lovely lady who specializes in goth-lolita wear, and unfortunately since we were backups, nothing fit us that well, so i'm not sure we showed off the clothes the way they were meant
to be seen, but we met some really fun people and had an entertaining time. This one was much more intense than the one before, as not only did we see the runway, but we did a full walkthrough with music and timing so we knew exactly what to do and when.

whole AnimeCali Sunday show crew

It was a completely different experience in this group than with Rigel in the Nerd Chic show at NerdCon, much less organized and we had some pretty negative experiences overall, but hey, we got in for free so no real complaints. What was sad was that it was a surprisingly expensive convention, so i could only get a day pass for Derek on saturday, where we rocked our revised Ban and Lust cosplays.
This was pretty serious business.

Derek looking supa fly with his gorgeous glitter beard and handmade weapon. so handsome.

I colored and glittered derek's beard, wore purple contacts (first experience with contacts so that was something special), and with all that on top of our actual outfits we were so done by the end of the day. Having never worn contacts before, I had a hell of a time getting them in, and when i could finally take them out i was near tears as my nails are super long, and i basically had to stab my eyes with my nails to get the damn things out. But holy shit they looked good. These were our first really worked on cosplays where we actually made an effort to make stuff, whereas our first ones (steampunk ariel and eric) were more bought stuff put together, i really only made his red sash and decorated his hat. So making Lust's claws out of Insta Mold and stitching red shit all over gloves, as well as tailoring them to accommodate both the claws and restroom trips was an experience. Derek also got some good practice in stitching his rivets onto his clothes, as well as making a weapon. so all in all, not too shabby.

Derek, Christina, and I also got to do something a little different, and were all lip-synching in this super nifty cosplay video by Nerd Reactor which was surprisingly fun! You can check out Derek's snazzy dancing skills in it as well, so go check it out here, I highly recommend it.

There were definitely pros and cons to Anime California, but tbh i didn't get a huge 'anime' vibe from it; there were very few exhibitors, and the layout was a bit difficult to follow, so this might have been one of those things where if we weren't in for free we may not have gone in at all, since there were so many fun people outside of the convention center. Getting a chance to try out some fun cosplay is always a good time, and we've met some really fun characters as a result, so again i can't complain too much about the situation though it wasn't ideal.

Maybelline VoxBox!!

Man, Influenster is the best. Go sign up.

But for real, they just sent me this awesome VoxBox from Maybelline that had two colors of their new SuperStay24 Longwear Lipcolor, so I got to try out a new lipstick for freeeeeeeee woohoooo! The box came with the shades 'Constant Toast,' a nice shimmery nude, and 'Keep Up the Flame,' a classic red.

swatches 30 hours later

i found a picture! god these were bad

Now, these components and whole system reminds me SO MUCH of the CoverGirl Outlast ones from like, 10 years ago, but with a clearly updated formula. Remember those? the commercials had like, women getting married and it was like, don't you want a color that'll last all day on your special day? I found a picture! I remember this being like a major deal cuz they were waterproof and supposed to last through food, and you just reapply the balm all day, but it was so flaky and dry, and the balm took off more than it helped, and it was just overall gross. Well, the Maybelline ones aren't really like that, but the texture and process was like the exact same.

Anyhow, I had different experiences with the two Maybelline colors provided, but they both smelled/tasted awesome and fruity, were decently opaque, and the balm was So soft and smooth, it just glided right on.

pretty nude shimmer at the end of the day

So, I definitely preferred the nude color to the red–it was really flattering, i loved the subtle shimmer, and following the two minute directions exactly I had amazing results. It really lasted like it was supposed to, I even wore it to bed, and woke up with the color still on my lips, and they still felt soft even after all night wear. Totally impressive. The balm also glided on with absolutely zero pressure, and didn't take any of my color off. It also stayed on through chips and guac, and no evidence on the glass i was drinking from that i even had color on. Pretty snazzy.

The red on the other had was a bit of a problem child.
I went the first round following the directions, applied then waited two mins, and the balm took off a TON of color, with flakes all over the balm. So i was like whatever, i'm sure it's fine, but by the time i finished my coffee, almost all of my color was gone, i just had some thick patchy liner looking red on. So i redid the thing, waited 5 mins this time, and the balm was nice and clean after application, so I figured it just needed a little more time to set. Also, the relayered pigment came out darker, so you could see where the reapplication happened. Again, nothing flaked off with a second application of balm, so i felt like i was on the right track. After lunch however, most of my color had flaked off, and i was left with super patchy redness. So the moral of the story, wait extra long to apply the balm the first time, and expect to reapply the color after eating and drinking.

first application | after coffee | after food

This was ultimately a case of hit and miss for me. I've heard people are having amazing results though, so you never know. The nude was pretty great, but I'm definitely less than impressed with the red. Also the packaging was a bit cheap, i'm never a fan of those clear plastic boxes that break sharply upon opening, and the component itself is decently boring. it's kind of tough, as the swatches on my arm are perfect 30 hours later, so it would be hard to tell without wearing which shades are best.

Regardless, I was so stoked I got to try these out and will probably include the nude in my routine, I'm always looking for the next greatest liquid lip, and these are pretty cool, especially that it's not just a matte finish, there's a nice shiny long wear option in the world now too. 

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