Common misconceptions about gyaru

Common misconceptions about Gyaru

No. 1: 'You can't be gyaru with dark hair'

Dark hair is extremely common in gyaru, especially in substyles like goshikku and rokku. Additionally, the kogals of the early 90s would wear their natural hair colours like black and brown, and some would even dye their hair to be darker. 

Dark hair in goshikku: 

Dark haired kogyarus:

Gyarus from other substyles with dark hair:

(Girl on the left) Hime/agejo 

Banba

Manba

Tsuyome

No. 2: 'you can't have dark lip colours in gyaru, only nude/concealer lips.'

This is incorrect because the majority of rokku/goshikku looks include darker lip colours like reds, pinks and purples.

No. 3: 'you have to tan to be a gyaru'

I don't even know why this is still a discussion lol. There are two umbrella terms for gyaru: kuro (black) and shiro (white). Shiro gyaru means that you don't tan. Now, this doesn't mean that tan isn't required for certain substyles, because it is (for example ganguro, manba, banba, yamanba, tsuyome (to an extent)). However, there are many gyaru substyles that don't require tans, such as hime, himekaji, agejo, amekaji, haady, goshikku, rokku, onee, and mode.

No. 4: 'you don't have to wear makeup to be a gyaru'

Okay, I can't stress enough how incorrect this is. Makeup is the most essential part of gyaru, more than the clothing, because it is utilized to break beauty standards. Without makeup, gyaru would be unrecognizable. Without the makeup, you are not gyaru, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise isn't educated. If the substyles with heavier makeup aren't your thing, I recommend researching substyles that require less extreme makeup, such as hime and agejo to name a few. Even if it's lashes, nose contour and nude lips, you will always need to have at least some makeup to be a gyaru. 

I've gotten into many arguments online with people who claim that some substyles don't require makeup (unsurprisingly these all take place on pinterest lol, never listen to anyone on pinterest who is trying to give you gyaru advice). There are absolutely zero substyles that don't require makeup. Please keep this in mind, because if it becomes more common to not wear makeup with gyaru then the subculture will only get watered down and the reason for the existence of gyaru will be forgotten !! 

If you're going to take this advice from anyone, take it from Harutamu.

No. 5: 'you can't do a white droop in gyaru makeup'

I have already made a blog dedicated to this, but to put it shortly, it depends on your skill in gyaru makeup and which substyle you are aiming for. The reason people believe that you can't do a white droop is because it is hard to pull off, and when executed poorly it can make your make come across more as dolly makeup than gyaru. However, a white droop isn't unheard of in gyaru, and this has only been a discussion as of recently. In the past, a white droop has been very common than not in styles like yamanba and manba. It can also be seen occasionally in styles like banba, ganguro and tsuyome. I've honestly seen a lot of jp gals pulling it off for ages before this even became an argument lol. 

Examples of a white droop done right:

^^^ this is actually a hime look, but notice how the white droop works? It all boils down to the skills and techniques of the gyaru doing it.

In my opinion there's nothing wrong with beginners at least trying a white droop, otherwise how else will they be able to practice? Also, idk how people are fine with white underneath the eyes and on the eyelids, on the nose as a nose strip and on the lips but in the droop is where they draw the line lel

No. 6: 'you need lashes for gyaru'

This depends on the substyle. If it's an extreme substyle like yamanba/manba that you're going for, then you're probably going to need lashes (However, if you look at the photo above of Pinky from Angeleek, I don't actually think she's wearing lashes, so it depends on the specific makeup look). However, styles like ganguro/old school gyaru from the 90s started off with no lashes. The lashes were a fairly recent addition (I'm talking mid to late 2000s here). Before then, a key element of the look was thick mascara. It was mainly the mascara on both top and bottom lashes, tan, and white underneath the eye that defined the look.

Examples:

No. 7: 'you need long bedazzled nails to be gyaru'

Long bedazzled nails in gyaru actually came along fairly recently as it was a trend popularized by Black Diamond. Before then, short nails that were either painted+slightly bedazzled or natural nails were the norm. This doesn't mean that long nails are now a requirement though, it's just something that you can do that can make your look more recognisable as gyaru.

Short/natural nail gyaru examples:

^^^ girl on the left

^^^ girl on the left

No. 8: 'You have to be japanese to be gyaru because it's japanese culture'

There are two things wrong here. One, gyaru isn't japanese culture. Gyaru as a subculture isn't on the same level as geishas and kimonos, which have years and years of history, it's a fashion subculture that got its first mentions in the 70s and gained popularity in the 90s. You are appropriating nothing if you try it as a non Japanese person. Secondly, seeing as it draws inspiration from black people, it doesn't even originate from Japan !! Also, Black Diamond has a black member called Barbie, so if you're going to use anyone as an inspiration, use Black Diamond.

No. 9: 'You have to do para para and listen to gyaru music to be a gyaru'

The reason why I think people think that you have to listen to certain music to be a gyaru is because they heard the discussions about how goth is a music and politics based subculture and thought that applied to every other alternative subculture. Firstly, there is no such thing as 'gyaru music'. Yes, gyarusas and gyarus have made music in the past, but 'gyaru' isn't a specific music genre. What I think people mean here is eurobeats and techno-beats. However, you don't need to listen to either of those to be gyaru. This is where para para comes in, as you also don't need to do para para to be gyaru, which is something else I've seen people say. Para para originated outside of gyaru and it's just a hobby that was popular among many gyarus seeing as club culture was common. Many non gyarus do para para, while many gyarus don't. It's all down to personal preference. 

Anyway, that includes my long rant about gyaru misconceptions. If you have any questions about anything related to gyaru, then feel free to ask in the comments ! I highly recommend doing research beyond this blog to get a better idea on gyaru if you're interested. If you got to the end of the blog, then I hope you have a sunny day !