Review: Dreadful Darling Art

So, I've had a package waiting on my desk for me for a week or a little over now, and tonight I finally got to open it! The package was from Dreadful Darling Art, and I'd been waiting to open it because it was my reward for getting through a really rough week of school work (I'm taking an online Spanish class this summer... I've gone through about half the class in a week! My own personal decision, cause the class itself was kinda stressful, but still...) and I'm absolutely over the moon in love with everything! 

I've ordered from Dreadful Darling Art (her store is on Etsy) once before, and while I haven't used any of her pieces for Lolita (although with this new order I think if I put together a Halloween-themed coord I definitely will!) But I think that a lot of her stuff lends itself very well to OTT sweet, Fairy kei, and a bunch of different street fashion styles. I always get lots of compliments on my jewelry when I'm wearing something of hers! 

Communication

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Angie has fantastic communication. With this order there weren't any shipping problems, she let me know when she shipped it and I got the package really really quickly and all was fine. The first time I ordered from her I had it sent to my campus, and our mail is a little weird, and so even though everything is fine, it always gets marked as "undeliverable" on tracking. She sent me a message telling me what had happened and saying that she would try to get it figured out, and while in reality there wasn't a problem, I was just really happy that she was that on top of it all. Plus she's always really nice and friendly in her Etsy messages!

Quality

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Dreadful Darling Art is the only store I've ever bought resin jewelry from, so I don't have any "in my hand" comparisons, but from what I've heard about good v.s bad resin jewelry, I can definitely say that this is really good quality. Resin aside, it's just plain good quality jewelry. The attachments for the chain (on the necklaces) are really secure, and I can now say that the ring backings are as well. The jewelry itself is nice and smooth, and it's hard like you'd expect from a good resin piece. I can be kind of hard on jewelry, especially jewelry that I wear a lot, and my first necklace from her is still in the same condition it was when I first bought it.

Likeness to Picture

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Her pictures on Etsy are absolutely fantastic. I have so many of her necklaces in my favorites list, it's a little crazy. All of her pieces are unique, and so you don't have to worry about any kind of photo difference, because what's in the photo is what you're getting, and she's very good about describing the size and everything you might have questions about in the item description.

In General

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I could recommend Dreadful Darling Art forever. I'm absolutely in love with her jewelry and whenever I wear it I can't stop staring at it and playing with it. Her prices are really reasonable, especially for good quality resin jewelry, and as a seller she's one of those perfect people who just make you want to buy from her again and again! 

And now comes the part where I show pictures and gush about everything! SHE PUT A TON OF EXTRA STUFF IN, I'M SO EXCITED!

To start off, look at the precious sticker on the package! I'm keeping it, it's so cute and happy!

Everything was packaged so nicely! The tissue paper is a nice touch, and everything was really protected! You can kind of see it in the package, but I got a handwritten note and a business card ^_^

EEE! Look at it, it's so pretty! She puts everything in these precious little bags, isn't that adorable? BUT LOOK AT IT IT'S SO PRETTY!

She gave me extra things! My eyes about popped out of my head when I saw this second bag!

Everything together! Ah, it's all so cute! And she gave me TWO necklace chains! I can't decide which one I should put it on first!

I'm keeping all these stickers! She closed up the tissue paper with them, so there's the lollipop from the outside, and then the cupcake and milkshake that were on the paper. I put them in one of the little green bags so that they won't stick to anything else ^_^

It's so pretty! I can't get over it, I keep staring at it! I fell in love with it just from her picture on Etsy, but I'm even more in love with it in person!

SHE SENT ME A MATCHING RING! Oh my goodness, I squealed when I saw this! It's so cute and fantastic and I'm so happy!

Little ghosties! These are so precious, I've been playing with them pretty much every moment that I'm not typing this out: they're tiny and cute and adorable and pretty much everything I like all rolled into one thing!

Since I mentioned it so much in the review, I thought I should also take a picture of my other necklace! It's got little dinosaurs in it! And the glitter in the back is pink and orange and it's just so adorable! 

52 Week: How I first found out about Lolita

This is going to be a short one... I don't actually remember! I know I started hearing about it around my senior year of high school (that was the "Lolita" dress that we don't speak of anymore...) and I guess it must have been via the internet, but I can't remember ever doing the "Lolita? What's that?" thing. I just know that at some point before my sophomore year of college I was doing some serious research that led to me buying my first coord.

30 Day: Day 19 : What’s in your make-up bag?

There's actually quite a bit in my makeup bag! I have two things of makeup: one in an actual bag that is pretty much all I need to grab for anything, and a bigger kinda squareish case that holds extra lipgloss, eye shadow, blush that I don't use often... pretty much everything I don't use a whole lot. I'm just going to do the bag, since there's enough in that already!

1. "Rosebud" strawberry lip balm (in a little tin)
2. "Lipsmacker" strawberry banana lip gloss
3. Carmex (in a tube)
4. Neutrogena skin clearing mineral powder, classic ivory 10
5. A pad for my foundation that came from my mom's old semi-solid foundation, it helps make it an even tone
6. Covergirl blush, it's kind of a rose color
7. Neutrogena skin clearing liquid foundation, classic ivory 10
8. A blush brush
9. Ulta plush drama mascara
10. A pack of makeup brushes: contouring brush, sponge tip, and eyeshadow brush
11. Covergirl "bronzed peach" lipstick
12. Este Lauder "frosted apricot" lipstick (my favorite!)
13. Bonnie Bell lipgloss: two shades, one is "super bronze" and the other is a clear one that smells like vanilla and brown sugar (it's a two headed thing)
14. Ulta "amped lashes" mascara
15. Covergirl concealer (it's in a tube like lipstick)
16. An eyeliner pencil sharpener
17. Ulta charcoal colored eyeliner
18. Un-labled black eyeliner pencil
19. Perfume from Magika Perfumery, the scent is "Renaissance Romance" and it's the only perfume I'll ever buy ever.
20. 3 bobby pins

So yes! That's my makeup bag... I told you there was a lot of stuff in there. It's great cause it's literally everything I need. I actually could have sworn I had a thing of waterproof mascara in there but maybe it got put somewhere else...

52 Week: 5 keywords that describe my personal Lolita style

1. Simple

I'm not a big fan of complicated things. Out of Lolita I wear my hair down, usually, or in pigtails; something I can do myself in about five minutes. My haircut is always something that doesn't need to be styled... I haven't even used my hair dryer in over a year. My non-Lolita clothes are either simple feminine or something that I can easily wear to the barn and not care if my horse rubs his muddy face on. I don't even like complicated shoes.

Simplicity extends to my Lolita style. I own one print, and even then it's a nice consistent floral all over the dress, and my solid colored dresses are my favorite: the most complicated they get are pintucks and maybe a fancy collar. Maybe. My accessories are usually pretty minimal, a low-key necklace, the occasional brooch, and even more rarely, a ring. My hairstyle is, as always, something I can do myself in about five minutes (I have a curling iron... I haven't used it yet.) See me in a group, and likely mine will be the most simple, low-key, coord. It's not that I don't like elaborate coords, in fact I gush over them just as much as anyone, but at the same time I know, even if I did the exact same thing I admire on other people... it's just not me!

2. Practical

Harkening back to that first paragraph, my simple tastes are also practical ones. I rarely wear makeup out of Lolita because on the average day... I just don't care. Even when I wear Lolita, sometimes I just decide that it's too hot and I'll only sweat it off anyway (this happens the most when I'm in Galveston and it's humid... in Dallas I usually don't feel that out of it.) My favorite shoes are my walkable, flat, shoes, and even my heels or RHS' I don't mind walking in (although let's maybe save those for the indoor meetups or when I'm running errands that don't include walking around a mall...) All my dresses can get wet, and I keep my jewelry minimal enough that I'm not worried about anything breaking while I'm out (I'm careful with necklaces, but rings and bracelets... watch out!) It's not like I'm going to go to the barn or go babysit a room of two-year-olds while wearing Lolita... but I make sure that all my coords are something that I'm comfortable going about my daily life in.

3. Doll-like

I absolutely adore dolls (I don't have a BJD but I want one) and I have a small collection of them, and they're what I tend to base my overall look on. Simple makeup, solid (or mostly solid) colored dresses, and minimal, dainty, jewelry... and I have to admit that one of my dolls has a dress that I'm thinking of replicating for myself.

4. Storybook

This word comes from one particular "nice stranger" story of mine. It was the start of the fall semester (Fall 2013) and I was bound and determined that I was going to wear Lolita the first day of my classes. Well, turns out it was raining on the first day, so I changed that plan to the first week... but I was determined! Lolita, in August, in Galveston... bad plan. I was absolutely miserable every second that I was outside. The only legwear I had (the only legwear I still have...) was tights. I was wearing a sleeveless OP with a cardigan. I had put on makeup. It was awful. I didn't change, because I was determined that I had put forth the effort so far, and I was going to make it through the day. And I did. I even wore it when I made a trip to Walmart after I was done with classes. At Walmart, I was tired, I was sweaty, I was sure my hair looked like a wreck, and I was wearing heels, and had been all day. And then, while I was trying to get my bearings in a store I hadn't been in in months, an employee came up to me, and said "I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful, like a character in a storybook!" It absolutely made my day, heck, it made my week. I STILL think about it every time I wear Lolita out, and it is a massive confidence boost.

5. Mom-approved

From the time I started dressing myself, my dad has always urged me to ask my mom if my outfit looks okay. I love the way my mom dresses, she always looks nice. While we're at home, or at the barn, yes of course then it's holey barn jeans or a stained sleep shirt, but when we're in public, she looks amazing. And so from elementary on, I've always asked my mom if I'm unsure about an outfit; even now that I'm in college I'll text her pictures or video call her so she can see what I'm wearing, and tell me "yes that shirt does clash with the blazer" or "no, that pin isn't too much I don't know why you're worried." And so my mom has had a hand in all my major Lolita pieces. When I bought my first dress, I narrowed it down to four, and she picked the one I was leaning towards the most (it's still my favorite dress.) She bought a dress for me for Christmas. She helped me make my brown skirt. I showed her my blue dress before I had even considered buying it to check on her opinion. So I would definitely say that my Lolita style is definitely "kid tested, mother approved."

30 Day: Day 17 : What do you want more than anything right now?

What I want the most right now is what I JUST MISSED getting from the actual website, so I'll have to see if I can find it secondhand. It was going to be my next purchase, and hopefully it still will be:

The Sleipnir JSK! 

52 Week: Why don't I wear Lolita more often?

Ahhh! It's been so long since I've posted! Well, if I tell you that I just finished up with my finals, that'll explain all of it ^_^; At first I was going to try and catch up with what I missed, but it's really easier to just start where I left off. So, hopefully I'm back to posting Monday's (well I'm off to a great start...) Wednesday's, and Friday's!

I think the reason I don't wear Lolita more often can be best summed up with the fact that I'm a little fearful of getting my dresses dirty. I got a stain on one of my dresses while in a friend's car and it almost completely ruined the evening, and I literally felt sick until I got the stain out. I don't wear it if I know the weather will be bad, either, so down in Galveston sometimes that knocks out a good chunk of time. And, at home, honestly there's a great deal of potential for stains: we have two dogs who are barely over 2 years old, and still act like puppies (which includes running around in the mud and then jumping all over me) and shed a ton. So I tend not to wear Lolita unless I'm going out, and then I don't really get dressed until shortly before.

It also needs to be said that Lolita is not a very practical fashion (I don't think anyone would argue that) and so it's a little hard to want to wear it for anything besides meetups, going to class, trips to the mall, or other special things during the year like concerts, haunted houses, or conventions. My family lives a fairly practical life; I'm the "collector" of the family and I really don't have large collections of any particular thing, but we have lots of animals, from turtles to my horse, and so for an average day, Lolita just isn't practical, and while I think that the "lounging princess" sort of thing is fine for other people... it's just not me.

I love Lolita, make no mistake, and when I wear it I feel completely comfortable and happy with life, but with a fear of getting my dresses too dirty... with my house, I'll never be a "lifestyler," that's for sure.

52 Week: Why I wear lolita

Okay, yes you can't see any of my coord (I'm on the right) but this is part of the reason why I haven't been updating ^_^ I went to a B.A.P concert (my first full concert!) over my (extended) Easter break, and studying after I got back has kept me from updating!

But I wore lolita to this concert, because B.A.P means a lot to me, and lolita does too. And while I was waiting for the concert to start, I kinda started thinking about this post a little bit.

My lolita style (sweet-classic blend) is, essentially, me. My mom helped me pick out my first dress, after I had narrowed my choices down to four, and she picked my favorite of the bunch, telling me it "looked like me." This is the style that I had been looking for without knowing I was looking for it, and even my non-lolita clothes look very similar to what I wear in lolita, either in color, general look, or both.

The day of the concert was the first time in a while that I'd worn lolita, simply because I hadn't had a chance to, and when I was ready to go I looked at myself and thought "this is good. I feel good, I missed this." For various reasons, I sometimes struggle with body image issues, but when I wear lolita, even just a casual coord, I really genuinely feel pretty and for once I don't compare how I look with other people.

I wear lolita for that reason, and that's why I get excited about other people's fashion choices, cause it means the same thing to them.