New doll on the streets: British woman spends hundreds on make-up & hours to become anime doll
While most girls dream of becoming princesses when they grow up, 20 year old Katie Lawrence from Camberwell, London is actually trying to live that dream. Well, almost. She spends three hours a day on make-up alone to look like an exact replica of different Japanese anime characters.
Lawrence is a big fan of Japanese culture and video games, and she spends hours just pouring over them to get that look right. She also scours London markets for unusual outfits that will match her exaggerated make-up, and make her look like an artificial but life-like doll. Aside from that, she also has various facial piercings because even if she is imitating the anime characters, she also still wants to add her individuality. To go one step further, she plans to have surgery someday to get elf-like ears. As for other “real-life dolls,” like Valeria Lukyanova and Anastasiya Shpagina, she thinks they took the most “boring” parts of anime culture to adapt as their look.
Even if she takes a painstaking three hours to put together her look, and spends around 300 dollars a month on make-up, she doesn’t mind it. When strangers stare at her, or ask to take a picture with her, she doesn’t mind at all, even though she doesn’t do it for the attention. “Dressing like this makes me happy and I wouldn’t change it for anyone,” Katie adds. She has set up her own YouTube channel, Iska Ithil, and shares tips on how to achieve her look to her 10,000 followers.
The art student spends hours studying Japanese culture and video games which inspire her look. Katie scours London markets for outfits which she wears with exaggerated makeup to give her an artificial appearance. Speaking about her intriguing hobby, she said: 'When I walk down the street dressed like this people do a double take - some even ask to have their picture taken with me.
'I love the doll-like wide eyes that the animations have. l spend ages putting in circle lenses and two sets of false eyelashes to get the look.
'But it’s important to me to look individual too, and that’s where my piercings come in.
'It can take up to three hours to do my makeup, but I don’t mind. I wouldn’t be me without my makeup.'
Katie’s makeup addiction began when she was 11, when her mother Jill Lawrence, 54, introduced her to lipgloss. But Katie, who went to strict private school King’s in Worcester where she grew up, wasn’t allowed to wear makeup in the classroom. It wasn’t until Katie left school that she felt she could finally be herself.
Katie said: 'Even though I was bullied at school for being individual, I never wanted to conform.
'Dressing like this makes me happy and I wouldn’t change it for anyone. Even if I’m just going to the shops, I’ll always wear something flamboyant - it’s part of who I am. I don’t think that enough young people experiment with their style, so I hope I can be an inspiration.'
After leaving school Katie created her own YouTube channel Iska Ithil to show her 10,000 followers how to achieve her look. She said: 'It was brilliant being recognised by people who liked my look, instead of being teased.' Katie admits she owes her confidence to her mother who has always supported the way she dresses. She said: 'I was really lucky that my mum let me dress like this from a young age. Now I don’t even think twice about what people think about me because I’ve always been told it’s OK to look how I do by my own mother.
^ 17 year old Katie
'There are so many people around the world who can’t dress how they want - I’m quite grateful about being able to express myself. I have a friend in Latvia who dresses like a goth but people think she is Satanic.'
Katie’s mum said: 'I love the way Katie dresses, I find it fascinating because it’s just so alien to my world. There’s always a risk that people will misinterpret it, but that’s not a reason to stop doing it. I think it’s important to let children be anyone who they want and explore different ways of living.'
But as well as being a way of expressing her creative side, Katie says her doll-like appearance often attracts attention from the opposite sex.
source, Daily Mail