Crystal Dream Carnival GET!

This morning Crystal Dream Carnival finally arrived! I say finally but the only hold up was the headbow production, as everything arrived quickly after dispatch and without customs (woohoo!).

I filmed myself opening the pack HERE, but I thought I'd do a blog version too as it'll look much nicer!


I immediately realised that I made the right choice of main piece, as this one shows the print perfectly without overcrowding it and it is very flattering in my opinion.


The reverse scallops look amazing, and the gold star buttons are the perfect accents to the print without being over the top. The slight sweetheart neckline is perfect. The material behind the buttons is actually chiffon, which I wasn't expecting!


There are even little stars on the waist ties, and lots of little crystal drops on the points! And the lace has ponies on, as you would expect.


And the print is gorgeous, of course! There are so many details I didn't notice before, like the gold bracelets and crowns the pegasus wear. I didn't notice the little unicorns in the background before either. Adorable!


The chiffon-type train on the headbow is a little odd in my opinion, and will be difficult to make work with my flat hair, but I love that the star button and crystal drop details have been carried onto it.

I am so so glad I was able to get my first choice colour, as the print really pops on the navy. I hadn't realised how much I would love this piece until I received it. I wish I could wear it all the time!


And a quick outfit thrown on as I wanted to try it. It fits so well (I didn't even have to adjust the back lacing), and flatters the figure. I like the length too, as I like to show a bit of leg! I think the side bow suits me better than a regular centre bow as it works better without bangs. Apologied for the YRU platforms...but I love them to pieces too, and somehow like them with lolita as they balance out the big skirt! My blouse in this outfit is from Anna House.

I'm definitely thinking that this release coinciding with Sailor Moon Crystal can't be an accident...but maybe I'm just reading too much into it!

I can't express how much I love this series really! I hope to own the OP one day too as that was the cut I liked the most, but this piece is definitely more versatile. I'm so happy with my purchase! Now I just need an excuse to wear it =3

Tenso

As you probably know, Angelic Pretty no longer ships internationally. Instead, you have to the shipping service called Tenso. All that means is that they give you your own Tenso mailing address. So instead of your items going to the international shipping centre and being shipped, they go to Tenso instead. So really, the process isn't all that different!

Signing up to the new Angelic Pretty website was really difficult as it's all in Japanese. I managed to put my surname and forename the wrong way around and you can't change it!! I also signed up as soon as it went up in the hopes of getting a cute special set, so there weren't guides then! I think it should be easier to work out now. However the website still kinda sucks as the old one was in English and had stock counts and everything. I kinda miss it.


Anywho, I preordered Cosmic Series on May 30th and figured I'd buy the new catalogue & some wristcuffs to match. They got to Tenso on the 5th of June, and arrived with me today on the 9th. Seems pretty speedy to me! However you have to confirm your address on Tenso before they will ship to you (they claim it's Japanese law, and yet they're happy to illegally mark down item value?!), and it seems like they will only ship EMS. Which is annoying as I ended up paying ¥1,500 (only £9, but still) postage when I'd have happily waited longer for cheaper non-tracked post. My Tenso fee was 490yen (£3). Shipping to Tenso was ¥450 (£3).


Yay, pink goodness! This must have been AP's packaging, and it was in a document mailer.


The goods. I love how they always send a carrier bag.


The catalogue was ¥864 (£5). It wasn't really worth that as there aren't many pages, but the photos of the new collections are lovely. It probably helps that I love all of their stuff recently! I wish I could justify buying it all!


These wristcuffs were ¥3,456 (£20). I probably should have bought some in a colour that would match more things, but these were the cutest style I could find. Turns out they're a little big on my wrists, but the quality is much better than for any other wristcuffs I've seen and they're a good match for Radiant Candelight and hopefully won't be too much darker than Cosmic Series (and they'd match Crystal Dream Carnival, but I've no chance of getting my hands on it unless it goes to order production which is unlikely).

Overall I'd say this new system is no different to the old one. You just get a bit more flexibility with shipping than before, and you have to rely on Google Translate a little more!

Now the long hard wait for Cosmic to come...