HI ALL!

So Gal is characterised by a few things, a tan, light hair, light makeup and big eyes with a couple of variations in between but I mainly want to talk about how the end of the gal boom was a catalyst for the natural-shift in Gal makeup and how it changed from that point up until now where a new "look" is starting to emerge. In the last few years, the international Gal community has shrunk and in my personal opinion, this has been down to the apparent dimming down of the look of Gal.

Why has Gal changed? 

Gal moved away from thick eyelashes, dramatic contact lenses and bright blush to a more natural, cute, casual look. Gal appeared to turn away from everything that made it interesting to the Western world. Gal started to look a way that stopped feeling Gal.
As gaijin gals, who are not Japanese and/or experience Gal through 2nd and 3rd party resources i.e stuff on the internet and not living in Japan, our experience of Gal and what Gal looks like is very different to both Gals who are born and raised in Japan and everyday Japanese people who experience or see Gals.

Goodbye, sweet prince

 In the last couple of years, Gal related media has declined as demand has dropped. Magazines such as Egg and Nuts have vanished forever, Ranzuki and Popteen changed demographic and we are left with only a handful of magazines that represent a limited number of Gal styles. For the girls living outside of Japan, this can give the impression that Gal is dying the death and ceases to exist. That is simply not the case. Yes it has declined but Gals are still out there.

If you're been a member of the international gal community for a long time, you'll have witnessed two or three significant changes in Gal makeup and one of the catalysts for the change of gal makeup from a flashy look to a more natural one was the end of the Gal boom which was around 2011.

We have to bear in mind that one of the keys to the success and longevity of Gal as a subculture and style is its ability to constantly change. Like goth that exists in the West, it is a spectrum style where an individual can be a degree of gal-ness and many sub-styles and looks exist that might look different but are still strongly associated with each other by others and by members of that community.

2006 to 2011 was a big boom for Gal, this is when we had the most Gal magazines, A LOT. For all kinds of styles but the boom ended and since then, we have seen an apparent in decline in Gals wandering around. At least in their most obvious forms.

What has impacted on the decline of Gal?

Fashion is at the mercy of changes in the economy, social and cultural movements and politics. Fashion and trends also directly reflect each of these things too so any changes that have happened in Gal we can assume are as a result of changes in Japan's economy, socio-cultural and political changes.

Let's talk about a few things that have contributed to the decline of Gal

• The stagnation of Japan's economy means people are earning less, which means people have less disposable income to spend on clothes, which leads to the next point:
• Gal-specific brands are expensive, particularly for the demographic they are aimed at. 
• Gal brands are expensive because they are small scale and produce a limited amount of clothing so need to keep their prices high to turn over anything resembling a profit.
• People are buying into fast fashion brands like Forever21 and H&M because they are cheap
• Upkeeping a typically Gal aesthetic is expensive for young people, particularly those without jobs
• Gals are still associated with delinquent youth which can can inhibit education and employment
• Japan is really conservative particularly in regards to business so looking gal while trying to hold down a regular job is difficult
• The culture in Japan often makes subculture-followers feel social pressure to "rejoin" society as they reach adulthood at around 20 years of age.
• The impact of the Hallyu wave has infiltrated Japanese pop-culture and fashion.

Gal has changed a lot since its fruition in the 80s but there are a couple of consistencies in regards to the aesthetic that remain to this day. The most important one is that Gal has never strived for natural I-rolled-out-the-womb-like-this beauty. The first gals were tanned, has lightened hair and wore light makeup which stood out against a sea of girls with dark hair, pale skin and dark makeup but since then we have seen Gals with dark hair or pale skin. Gal makeup has always been about going against the grain, being flashy, having a well-defined face, having big eyes and wearing lots of slap but the techniques that have been used to achieve these things have changed, are still changing and will always continue to change. Besides, going against the grain in regards to appearance in Japan is really easy. REALLY easy. 

Mid 90s to early 2000s Gal realness.

Thick spiky lashes and big cartoony circle lenses were replaced by more natural lashes and an emphasis on the eyebags, which was a new technique that enlarged the look of the eye. This eye bag trend been banging around for few years but with its decrease, we are starting to see the tail end of the impact that the Hallyu wave has has across Japanese pop-culture as a whole.

The Hallyu Wave was the name of the period of time that Korean pop-culture and music became incredibly popular outside of Korea, Japan included. Nearing the end of the 2011 Gal boom, Gal adopted a more Korean-centric look. We saw shorter, sparser lashes than we were used to in Gal, tinted lips, big puppy-like contact lenses and most significantly, aegyo-sal aka eyebag makeup which was something that has never existed in Gal before.
This was a shift towards Seiso-Gal, or "polished" Gal and we will refer to this era of Gal as the seiso period for the sake of this post.

Does this FEEL Gal to you? ...NOPE!

The power of the Hallyu wave worldwide is beginning to wain and Korean music doesn't hold the same power that it did a couple of years ago so I think this trend reflects a shift in interests amongst those who are gal-inclined. Plus people get bored and want something new to be inspired by.

What new trends are emerging in Gal?

Ok I went off topic but through my research i.e me obsessively hunting through Gal instagrams for new makeup ideas, I have started to notice a distinct shift away from seiso looks, particularly in regards to makeup. I'm seeing a shift away from the naturalness that was emphasised in seiso gal and a return to glamourous statement makeup. There's more emphasis on looking sexy rather than cute which is something we haven't seen in Gal in a while. Here are some of the things I have been noticing.

• Bright, clear contact lenses with minimal enlarging effect, particularly in blue and grey
• Thick, medium-to-long lengthed, feathery eyelashes
• Long cat eyeliner with eye makeup that emphasises is on the top and sides of the eyes
• Grey eyeshadow with gold accents
• Thicker, defined eyebrows
• Soft contour and a more dramatic highlight
• Generally nude shades on the face
• Matte lipsticks 
• and the tan is BACK

The most distinct changes we can see in this look are the long, almond eye and the nude colour pallet. Note the distinct lack of pink particularly in the cheeks.

Eyes

The look for the eyes is big but long and almond-shaped. Largeness is achieved from the bright clear coloured lenses which make the whites of your eyes look more noticeable and draws your eye into the middle of the eye instead of the black abyss of the surrounding eyelashes. The shadow and eyeliner are applied with a focus on and around the top eyelid in an effort to enlarge the eyes.
Eyeliner is used to create a new shape rather than through using false lashes. The attention is on the outer corners and top eyelids with minimal alteration of the natural lash line. No fancy bottom lash applications here but eyeshadow or liner is a must, Long and large, man.
Makeup around the eye is kept light in colour minus the liner, there are less blacks and deep brown shadows and more greys, golds and light browns to create a gentle 3d form.

We are also seeing less of the korean-inspired eye bag makeup. Girls are opting for a silver or gold highlight under the eyes and no longer contour the eye bag using brown shadow or pencil or at least less obviously.

Brows

So the Japanese love shaving off their brows and just using a pencil and powder to create a soft faded brow.. imagine those blush art sets you had as a bit. This new trend  calls for darker and more defined brows, which are popular in the West.. Gal brows generally go 2 ways, super straight or super arched, These brows are naturally arched but super defined. It is also ok to have brows that are darker than you hair which is never done here.

Lips

there are exceptions to the rules however

Small cherry-like lips are a thing in Japan so you'll see a lot of girls concealing down their natural lip size or using a gradient effect to make them look smaller and thinner but we're seeing full lips now.
We're seeing more matte lipsticks in a variety of nude and berry shades,
Face

Healthy-looking polished skin

We are still seeing matte foundations but dewey ones are used just as often. Gal makeup has always used contour, generally on the nose and cheeks but we're now seeing more obvious silver and gold toned highlights along the cheekbones, the nose bridge and thinly applied under the brows to define them.
There is a definitely lack of pink in the cheeks and Gals are opting for orange and brown toned blush, which achieves a mature look. The blush is also applied following the cheekbones rather than the apples of the cheek. The foundation aims to look polished and well blended.

What influenced this change?

Instagram. Other than Ageha and AneAgeha, Gals can't rely on print media for fashion inspiration anymore but they can still rely on the girls who appeared in those magazines.
Most celebrity or Charisma Gals are adopting Instagram and through a trickle effect, that happens in any subculture, culture or trends, new ideas, looks and styles spread.

If we want to get really specific about what the catalyst was for this trend, I'll just tell you know, it's Kim Kardashian.

As much as you dislike it, the impact that the Kardashian/Jenner clan's have had on pop-culture as a whole has been absolutely mind-blowing. Kim and her sister Kylie normalised glamorous makeup for the daytime.

Casual look for a trip to the supermarket