Review: Sticker Monster

I'm very sorry that posting has been dead. There have been some issues coming up that took my full attention, but things are calmed down now and we're backing to the posting!
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Thanks to seeing it on a few other lolita blogs I have recently fallen in love with deco. I used to think deco was just a word of the monstrosities people made when they threw everything but the kitchen sink of themselves and what ever was in reach.

I've seen a few beautiful example lately, though, that have proven me completely wrong.

 Examples like this lovely phone case that Victoria of Lolita Charm had done come to mind.

It's examples like that that have gotten me more and more interested in deco. Then came the catalyst. This review from Violet LeBeaux did me in. I started thinking of what I wanted to order right away, but there were so many ideas! Finally, in Wednesday, May 4th, I confirmed m order and sent payment.

Without further ado, here is my review for 

The Sticker Monster.

 The Sticker Monster is a blog shop run by a lovely lady name Jolene. Jolene runs this shop out of Malaysia and is very patient with questions and was quick to help.

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Let me begin with I am somewhat slow. No, not literally mentally handicapped, but I sure did feel like it while ordering. I feel this was more error and inexperience on my part. I was completely unfamiliar with blog shops, in fact I didn't even know such things existed, until ordering from The Sticker Monster. 

Being so unfamiliar I was so happy when I found she had a proper online site in a sort of 'web mall'. Unfortunately the choices were far more limited there, but I ordered anyways. This was my first mistake.

Turns out the owner, Jolene, no longer really uses this shop. It had fallen to the wayside and was now sorely needing an update, or  simply be put down. I'd had a similar experience with trying to run an online shop, so this didn't bother me much at all. I did find it a bit silly to keep the link up that was no longer in use, but I still don't see it as a big deal. Jolene was very quick to get in touch with me to let me know that it was outdated and offer a refund. A bit more stumbling about and then we realized PayPal had automatically made USD into RM (Malaysian currency). Jolene only accepts USD for international orders. Oops.

After a little more stumbling and one more failed order I managed to successfully learn the trick, send payment and get confirmation that my package would be shipped soon.

No pictures for now since both my camera and phone decided to act up at the same time. Hopefully they will be up soon though.

Final Scores
 Communication- Excellent. All emails were very prompt, polite and right to the point, even with me fumbling things. I did wait a few days on one email, but Jolene apologized for that and informed me she had been moving houses. It wasn't any big deal though really, all other emails were replied to the day I sent them.

Shipping- Was fairly quick. Came a day or two later than expected, but I'm impatient anyways, so I'm going to rate this as a great.

Selection- Excellent. It is a little tricky getting around. Look at post dates and try not to order anything that wasn't posted a few months ago. Jolene informed me she'd be working on cleaning up the blogshop soon too, so hopefully that won't be an issue in the future. Besides that everything is lovely and varied. I'm sure everyone can find a few pieces they like.

Ordering- Good. A little tricky at first, ordering through email, but once I got the hang out it it was very simple, very clear and Jolene let me know just how much everything was. I did include prices and a total in my original email with what I wanted to order, just because I'm a bit paranoid, but she did as well and everything was right on. It was just a matter f typing it into Pay Pal and sending.

Prices- Excellent. Once I did price conversions I was amazed at the prices. They were very reasonable and better, even with shipping, than some things I have found here. I would almost suggest raising the prices a little, but I'm not sure of the economy in Malaysia, which I assume is the main market.

Overall- Excellent. Jolene was great to order from, so friendly and very patient. The shop, though needing a bit f an update, was fairly easy to navigate, very clear on prices, and had a great variety. I absolutely plan to order again soon.

Reinventing: Part 2; Picking a 'new' You

Hello again darlings!

If you haven't already I suggest checking out our last part of the lesson, Reinventing: Part 1.

Now, in this one we get to talk about one of my favorite things; creating an alias! It's just so darn fun pretending to be someone else! We're not going to be looking at making a totally new self for lolita, then we'd just be playing dress-up instead of expressing ourselves. We are going to be using some of the same basic ideas though.


First things first!

Review: Arda Wigs

I have a tendency to like changing up my hair a bit. Okay, a lot. Because of this my hair is a bit... damaged. It's naturally thin strands and a lot of them, so it tends to break easily under stress and become frizzy and fried. So I decided to finally look into wigs, only to be met with bland colours that were expensive. Looking at a lot of cosplay wigs brought only cheaply made wigs that were only good for a few uses, came pre-styled and would never look natural.

Then I heard of Arda Wigs.

Reviews and plans and weeklys, oh my!

This is just a rather small update really of a list of things I hope to do in the coming days and weeks.

• I'd like to do a little thing on decoden and deco in general.
• A few how-to articles.
• A review for wigs and a review for deco supplies.
• Star a "Pattern of the Week' weekly.
• A once a month 'Recommended Reading' post as well.
• Maybe something involving tying lolita into daily life for those of us who can be lolita on the outside everyday. 
• And of course continuing the 'Reinventing' weeklys.
• Setting up a schedule post so that if you don't feel like full-on 'following' (though I hope you do) you (and I) can still keep track of all your favorite weeklys.

I hope everyone looks forward to these as much as I do!