#premium product photos

[martinworsterphotography]

Premium Product Photography by Martin Worster

Your e-commerce with Martin Worster's premium product photography. Offering sharp, high-resolution images in London and Orange County.

Martin Worster excels in high-end product photography, tailored for e-commerce platforms. His expertise ensures sharp, well-exposed, and high-resolution images that boost online sales. He offers both studio and on-site photography services, primarily in London and Orange County.

[03349656115]

appleiphone

[mirtelolivia]

Mannequin Service

[4theitgirls]

productivity apps for self improvement

pinterest

you know i had to include the ultimate form of social media. pinterest is one of the only truly peaceful social media apps out there and focuses on sharing photos to your themed boards. this app is everything if you’re into making vision boards, moodboards, beauty, productivity, and really anything else. there’s something there for everyone!

finch

this is a wonderful self-care app, in which you take care of a bird while taking care of yourself! this is my new favorite app. i use the free version and it is adorable. the app asks you some questions about your goals and how you feel about self care, and gives you some daily goals based on your answers, but you can delete and add goals of your own. the more you log in and track your goals, the more adventures your bird can go on and the more they grow. i recommend this app to absolutely everyone and i will never shut up about it.

gymshark training

this is a free training app including many different types and styles of workouts. you can search for workouts based on duration, equipment used, the targeted muscle, and so on. you can also add workouts and plans of your own and track your progress.

i am sober

this is my favorite app for if you have something you want to quit. this isn’t just for substances or alcohol, but can also be used for quitting sugar, skin picking, caffeine, fast food, and so many other things. you can track your progress, review your days, make pledges, and connect with others who are struggling with the same thing you are. you are also given motivational quotes and reminders when you log into the app. there is an option for a subscription, but i use the free version and have had no problems with it at all.

study bunny: focus timer

an adorable focus timer where you gain coins with every goal/time you accomplish something with your focus timer and you can spend your coins on cute little accessories for your bunny! the only real issue with this app is that the ads are kind of crazy, and it’s $15 a month to go ad-free.

flora - green focus

this app includes a pomodoro timer and plants a tree in a rural community based on how often you stay focused using the timer on the app. the app does not plant a tree unless you opt for their subscription, which is $2 per year and allows you to plant one tree for 120 hours of focused time. you can also plant a tree every 24 hours with the $10 plan.

focus to-do: focus timer&tasks

this app combines a pomodoro timer with a daily to-do list. the app is free to use, but includes additional features for those with a subscription, which is $3 for every three months or $9 for a lifetime membership.

balance: meditation & sleep

a great app that includes nightly reviews, meditations, and sleep sounds. this app has great reviews, but it’s worth noting that it’s not completely free. it includes a trial, after which is $12 per month, or $70 per year.

insight timer - meditate & sleep

just as it sounds, this is another great app for meditations, ambient sounds for sleep, and progress tracking. there are tons of free things included in the app, but if you want to unlock everything, the premium plan is $10 per month or $60 per year.

structured - daily planner

an app with great reviews intended to help organize your daily tasks into achievable goals and track your progress. the app has basic features for free, but also includes a premium subscription if you want to unlock all the features.

routineflow: guided routines

this app caters to those who have difficulties staying focused and maintaining a set routine by guiding your routine for you and managing your progress. the app gives you one routine for free, but if you want another, you would need to pay for the $30 annual subscription.

how we feel

a wonderful free journaling app developed by therapists and scientists for logging your emotions, talking to other users, and tracking your mood patterns.

gentler streak fitness tracker

if you’re tired of the constant work and grind mentality, this may be the app for you. this app takes a gentler approach to fitness by tracking exercise, giving encouragement, and notifying you if you are overworking yourself. the app itself is free, but certain features require a subscription, which is $8 per month or $50 per year.

glo | yoga and meditation app

glo is a highly rated app for yoga, pilates, and meditation. unlike most of the other apps listed, you can’t really access much on glo for free. to access the full courses, they offer two plans: $30 per month or $245 per year.

waterllama

another adorable app that lets you track your water intake with a cute llama! super motivating and is free for basic features. if you want to unlock all features, the subscription is $7 per year.

mindllama

made by the same people as waterllama, this app allows you to practice and track your meditation and breathwork practice with a cute llama! like waterllama, the app is free, but some features require a subscription, which varies depending on whether you want the premium plan, the anxiety relief plan, or the sleep focused plan.

daily bean - simplest journal

another super cute app that helps you track your days and moods. the app itself is free, but a premium plan is also offered, which is $20 per year.

schmoody: mood & habit tracker

this app aims to help you through depression, anxiety, and/or adhd by helping you track your habits, talk to other users, and give you the resources to get you back on track. the free version includes the “essentials” to support mental health and well-being, but they also offer a premium version, which unlocks more resources and personalized options. the subscription is $15 per month, $60 per year, or $100 for a lifetime membership.

meditation timer - zenitizer

this is a meditation timer that focuses on simplicity and organization while tracking your meditation practice. a free version is available with a limited amount of content, but a premium version is also offered, which is $3 per month, $20 per year, or a $50 one-time payment.

mineral - gratitude journal

this is a free journaling app that is secure in the fact that you have to use face id in order to access your journal. this app is definitely more simple, but effective nonetheless.

focus keeper: productive timer

this app is a popular pomodoro-style timer app. i’ve heard that this app works wonders for many people with adhd. the app is free, but includes additional content and features for those with a subscription.

[flsckgd]

Working from home means I get to go out biking during my break, and then after show you the finished product.🥵

Check it out on OF & JFF 👇❗

[empty-movement]

May I ask what scanners / equipment / software you're using in the utena art book project? I'm an artist and half the reason I rarely do traditional art is because I'm never happy with the artwork after it's scanned in. But the level of detail even in the blacks of Utena's uniform were all captured so beautifully! And even the very light colors are showing up so well! I'd love to know how you manage!

You know what's really fun? This used to be something you put in your site information section, the software and tools used! Not something that's as normal anymore, but let's give it a go, sorry it's long because I don't know what's new information and what's not! Herein: VANNA'S 'THIS IS AS SPECIFIC AS MY BREAK IS LONG' GUIDE/AIMLESS UNEDITED RAMBLE ABOUT SCANNING IMAGES

Scanning: Modern scanners, by and large, are shit for this. The audience for scanning has narrowed to business and work from home applications that favor text OCR, speed, and efficiency over archiving and scanning of photos and other such visual media. It makes sense--there was a time when scanning your family photographs and such was a popular expected use of a scanner, but these days, the presumption is anything like that is already digital--what would you need the scanner to do that for? The scanner I used for this project is the same one I have been using for *checks notes* a decade now. I use an Epson Perfection V500. Because it is explicitly intended to be a photo scanner, it does threebthings that at this point, you will pay a niche user premium for in a scanner: extremely high DPI (dots per inch), extremely wide color range, and true lossless raws (BMP/TIFF.) I scan low quality print media at 600dpi, high quality print media at 1200 dpi, and this artbook I scanned at 2400 dpi. This is obscene and results in files that are entire GB in size, but for my purposes and my approach, the largest, clearest, rawest copy of whatever I'm scanning is my goal. I don't rely on the scanner to do any post-processing. (At these sizes, the post-processing capacity of the scanner is rendered moot, anyway.) I will replace this scanner when it breaks by buying another identical one if I can find it. I have dropped, disassembled to clean, and abused this thing for a decade and I can't believe it still tolerates my shit. The trade off? Only a couple of my computers will run the ancient capture software right. LMAO. I spent a good week investigating scanners because of the insane Newtype project on my backburner, and the quality available to me now in a scanner is so depleted without spending over a thousand on one, that I'd probably just spin up a computer with Windows 7 on it just to use this one. That's how much of a difference the decade has made in what scanners do and why. (Enshittification attacks! Yes, there are multiple consumer computer products that have actually declined in quality over the last decade.)

Post-processing: Photoshop. Sorry. I have been using Photoshop for literally decades now, it's the demon I know. While CSP is absolutely probably the better piece of software for most uses (art,) Photoshop is...well it's in the name. In all likelihood though, CSP can do all these things, and is a better product to give money to. I just don't know how. NOTENOTENOTE: Anywhere I discuss descreening and print moire I am specifically talking about how to clean up *printed media.* If you are scanning your own painting, this will not be a problem, but everything else about this advice will stand! The first thing you do with a 2400 dpi scan of Utena and Anthy hugging? Well, you open it in Photoshop, which you may or may not have paid for. Then you use a third party developer's plug-in to Descreen the image. I use Sattva. Now this may or may not be what you want in archiving!!! If fidelity to the original scan is the point, you may pass on this part--you are trying to preserve the print screen, moire, half-tones, and other ways print media tricks the eye. If you're me, this tool helps translate the raw scan of the printed dots on the page into the smooth color image you see in person. From there, the vast majority of your efforts will boil down to the following Photoshop tools: Levels/Curves, Color Balance, and Selective Color. Dust and Scratches, Median, Blur, and Remove Noise will also be close friends of the printed page to digital format archiver. Once you're happy with the broad strokes, you can start cropping and sizing it down to something reasonable. If you are dealing with lots of images with the same needs, like when I've scanned doujinshi pages, you can often streamline a lot of this using Photoshop Actions.

My blacks and whites are coming out so vivid this time because I do all color post-processing in Photoshop after the fact, after a descreen tool has been used to translate the dot matrix colors to solids they're intended to portray--in my experience trying to color correct for dark and light colors is a hot mess until that process is done, because Photoshop sees the full range of the dots on the image and the colors they comprise, instead of actually blending them into their intended shades. I don't correct the levels until I've descreened to some extent.

As you can see, the print pattern contains the information of the original painting, but if you try to correct the blacks and whites, you'll get a janky mess. *Then* you change the Levels:

If you've ever edited audio, then dealing with photo Levels and Curves will be familiar to you! A well cut and cleaned piece of audio will not cut off the highs and lows, but also will make sure it uses the full range available to it. Modern scanners are trying to do this all for you, so they blow out the colors and increase the brightness and contrast significantly, because solid blacks and solid whites are often the entire thing you're aiming for--document scanning, basically. This is like when audio is made so loud details at the high and low get cut off. Boo.

What I get instead is as much detail as possible, but also at a volume that needs correcting:

Cutting off the unused color ranges (in this case it's all dark), you get the best chance of capturing the original black and white range:

In some cases, I edit beyond this--for doujinshi scans, I aim for solid blacks and whites, because I need the file sizes to be normal and can't spend gigs of space on dust. For accuracy though, this is where I'd generally stop.

For scanning artwork, the major factor here that may be fucking up your game? Yep. The scanner. Modern scanners are like cheap microphones that blow out the audio, when what you want is the ancient microphone that captures your cat farting in the next room over. While you can compensate A LOT in Photoshop and bring out blacks and whites that scanners fuck up, at the end of the day, what's probably stopping you up is that you want to use your scanner for something scanners are no longer designed to do well. If you aren't crazy like me and likely to get a vintage scanner for this purpose, keep in mind that what you are looking for is specifically *a photo scanner.* These are the ones designed to capture the most range, and at the highest DPI. It will be a flatbed. Don't waste your time with anything else.

Hot tip: if you aren't scanning often, look into your local library or photo processing store. They will have access to modern scanners that specialize in the same priorities I've listed here, and many will scan to your specifications (high dpi, lossless.)

Ahem. I hope that helps, and or was interesting to someone!!!

[scullyloves-science]

A little bit of pondering

As the SS promotion campaign is in full swing, I have been thinking about what it is that is making me uneasy about the whole thing. Is it the shameless, often older female crowd that treats the whole thing as a “physical” gratification fest, or the weird, campy feeling of the videos and photos that Sam and Co post in abundance? What is the message of the brand? Not entirely sure.

The product seems to be a good contender for the market: a beautiful backstory that will connect the buyer emotionally if they are interested in that; an interesting and elegant design of the bottle, admit it we all love a graceful bottle of alcohol, it sets the mood for the evening; the taste, according to feedback and multiple awards, is of quality and authentic. So, what is it that rubs me the wrong way?

In the US liquor market, 40-50$ will afford you a decent, very good bottle of whisky; 60-70$ and you will get a great bottle of whisky that is aged and from a good-name distillery; enter the 100$+ market and you are in an elite club of whisky connoisseurs that are rich and go to a cigar lounge for a business meeting or a lazy evening in a good company. Those price points also depict different markets, markets dictate the tone of the promoting campaigns, their mood, feel, and approach to reach those masses effectively. That is where my misunderstanding comes in: on the one hand, we have a premium product, taste, look, appeal, and story and on the other hand, we have a promotion campaign that is lacking integrity.

So, we need a selling campaign that screams elegance and elite club membership for the SS whisky brand considering the price point but what we got is a marketing affair of bad congruence with “shameless granny #ss grabbers” and “bimbo-looking girls” that do not look old enough to read or even drink for that matter. Not a good look. If I could roll my eyes any harder they would get stuck in the back of my skull.

Sam`s team`s focus should be on displaying their premium product in a way that conveys elegance and luxury, uniqueness of the experience, and exclusiveness. But so far it has been a miss for me. I hope that they will be able to acquire as much momentum to carry their brand further and build a stronger following that can penetrate the, oh so tough, liquor market of the US. It is so oversaturated that it is hard to break through the multiple, multiple much cheaper options with greater distribution routes that the whisky US market has to offer to its consumers.

He needs repeated business from nonfans and, possibly, the business crowd. And a new campaign manager as far as I can see.

Sláinte!

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

a terrible practice in what not to do when plant dying: an example

[a terrible practice in what not to do when plant dying: an example]

every year family friend send us expensive premium giant!!!!! waxberry/bayberry/idk what english speaking ppl usually call it. they delicious!! only slightly smaller than mouth open widest

n every year there juice inside package. this year had idea do plant dying. < impulse decision

not prepared. have unmordanted cashmere yarn (really inexpensive got second hand idk if it real) & unmordanted cotton fabric. this be interesting.

[id: left picture show waxberry, there 4 stack on top of eachother in small bowl size of hand. right picture have bowl of waxberry & bowl with little juice with fruit fork in it & cone of yarn n some already dyed pieces on paper. end id]

grabbed white vinegar as “last minute mordant”, n to be honest was just at most dip soak, few seconds at best, so it do anything? shrug

mid way realize should probably pre wash fiber (should specifically scour but ehhhhh)—especially for this cashmere (“cashmere”) yarn because for easy (machine) knit it been coated with something that help cashmere down not get all fluffy fuzzy hard knit with. n you suppose wash out after knit n yarn will bloom n be softer. so, thought may affect dying. so pre washed some samples before dye. by “wash,” specifically mean run under regular temperature water for like some seconds until complete wet n maybe use hand soap. it do anything? shrug again

n also. know animal protein & plant fiber sometimes have different dye process. but ehhh *throw hands*. proceed “mordant” one of cotton scrap same process as wool yarn.

previous dye experience: need heat source. last time was get help keep boil. this time too little liquid n don’t want get help boil anyway. so got help put in microwave…

[id: line up final product taped on white paper. labeled as yes/no prewash, white vinegar, & heat. there 5 pieces for yarn with varying amounts. all yarn visually look same color & stiff. there 2 piece cotton fabric. they look same as eachother but slightly more vibrant than yarn. end id]

result is…. everything pretty much look same.

because like. yeah. “mordanted” but not really, not suprise 10 20 second dip in room temp white vinegar going make giant difference. microwave for 10 seconds especially without proper scour mordant fixative, also doubt make big difference.

but, is really pretty color. it prettier in liquid, n when squeeze liquid out, get more muted, but still very pretty color, pinkish purplish. beet color but lighter?

n this without wash afterwards—found that. when wash, because not soak for long, n not mordant fixative properly, not heat properly, color mostly get out. some color still stay n become more of a muted almost pastel (as pastel as natural dye can be). n normally like pastel, but want keep this as waxberry-like as possible. so, didn’t wash. result is keep about same color when dry, but stiff n not that soft, as expected.

was just for fun, not going make anything out of, not to wear, not going hang as decoration so not worried abt lightfastness. so, satisfy with whatever this is.

then, with leftover dye, didn’t want waste, so threw in as much vinager dipped yarn as can cover liquid. heat it n let it be in heat for 20 minutes.

bad lighting, but. when wet:

[id: very saturated reddish pink yarn in bowl stained slightly pink & brown. end id]

n after, still damp so feel softer:

[id: first photo two small skein of yarn in pinkish purplish color on top of plant notebook. second photo in ball with one strand yarn lighter than rest. end id]

same yarn, main color difference because lighting not because inherent yarn.

except that one strand lighter than rest—that was test how yarn look like how much dye actually took with all improper but still slightly more effort process (more heat, longer). took more dye than when no heat or 10 second heat, but still visibly lighter.

when dry, that washed strand much softer than rest of stiff unwashed yarn. unwashed yarn slightly darker than previous attempts.

now room reeks of white vinegar.

but. will be enjoying delicious waxberry for rest of week >:)))

.

google search results: “did you mean: how NOT to dye natural fibers”

ultimately knew bad practice from beginning, but not really care, because meant be impulse fun anyway. n occupied me in special interest land for afternoon.

[hotblondelizzy]

Eaaak!!! My friend is gonna come visit!!

🥳🎂🎈🎉Eaaaaak!!! My friend told me yesterday that she thinks she can come help me create some really fun and sexy birthday themed content for my birthday next month!!😈

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Remember, next month on my premium page is going to be a whole month long birthday celebration with Exclusive videos, games, content, and at the end of the month, i'll be opening any gifts I get LIVE in a special birthday party here!!

It's only right that I try them on and test them out for you live too right?

Wanna shop for the party?? Here's my wishlist! Don't forget to join my page so you can watch me open your gifts live too!!

[silencedrowns]

Wig Seller Masterlist

Some people on were asking if I had a post about this and I didn’t, so I thought I’d make a big master post of wig companies I like! It’s in alphabetical order, with information about them listed afterwards. Currently I have fifteen brands on this list, but if I try and am really impressed by another, I’ll add it. I hope maybe one of them has that hard to find wig you’ve been searching for! I have the color samples for Arda, Assist, Classe, Coscraft, Cyperous, Kasou, and Swallowtail and am willing to help you check if a color from them is correct or not.

Airily

Japan only brand, so you’ll need a shopping service. Wide range of colors, including some that are hard to match in other lines, and a lot of base styles that I like more than other brands. Sells both wefts and lace front pieces. Lace hairline wigs are also available. Fit is medium (not particularly large or small). Price is higher. Swatch book not available.

Alice Garden/aiyaya

Amazon wig brand selling lolita/natural looking wigs. The variety is not good but if they have something that looks like what you need to wear with very little styling, you won’t get something as nice for the price! Styles are all very natural looking. Fit is on the smaller end of medium. Price is low. Swatch book not available.

Aoi Wig

Taobao brand doing character wigs, so a shopping service is required. These are hands down the best character wigs I’ve ever worked with. If you don’t want to do a ton of styling and they have the character you want, you literally cannot go wrong here. Fiber isn’t the world’s most durable but will hold up for multiple wears, and the price is good enough to make up for it. Fit is slightly small but larger than most taobao wigs. Price is a bit high for taobao but is still dirt cheap for what you get. Swatch books not available but the photo color is exceedingly accurate.

Arda Wigs

American based. One of the most common brands for a REASON! Wide range of colors in a wide range of styles. If you have a larger head or a lot of hair, this is your new best friend. They sell lace fronts but not individual lace pieces. The big problem with them, however, is the stock issues. Colors run out quickly so sometimes you have to compromise on which style you buy, or place an order from one of their sister sites in another country that actually has the color you need. (OOPS this is no longer an option anymore! Luckily there are a lot of Arda wigs secondhand online.) Nobody has as much hair in their wigs as they do, which can actually be a problem in some styles; be prepared to pluck lace fronts and use thinning shears. Fit is LARGE; they have the largest wigs in the market. Price is a bit high but not exorbitant. Swatch rings are available for both their fiber types

Assist

Japanese brand, ships worldwide but EMS/fedex only so you’ll probably want to group order. Nobody in the market has as many colors as Assist; between their premium and basic lines, they have over 600 colors! DO NOT TRUST THEIR PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY TO PICK COLORS; you need to buy their swatch books or ask a friend who has them to help you choose, because those photos can be criminally inaccurate. If you ever order from them, buy a bottle of Face Cover Glue and watch it change your life as “wig sticks away from face and face framing pieces move out of place” become a distant memory, and I adore their contacts! They sell wefts and lace pieces in their premium line but not their basic. Price varies; Premium line is a great price for what you get, but Basic is incredibly cheap (but not quite as good quality). Fit is small; based on how they fit my clients they’re the smallest of the Japanese brands and if you’ve ever found taobao wigs too small, assist will probably also be too small for you. Swatch books or rings are available and also required.

Blue Beard

Taobao character wig brand, so shopping service is required. Blue Beard wigs are all affordable and decent. You won’t ever get a bad wig from them, but I’ve found that their wigs tend to require a lot of maintenance. Wide range of characters! No wefts available. When you find stolen taobao wig photos, more often than not they’re stealing from Blue Beard. The photos are all color accurate, but you’ll typically need to do a lot of styling to make the wig match the photo. Price is great for what you get. Fit is medium to small. No swatches available.

Classe

Japanese brand that requires a shopping service but oh what a brand it is. Classe has a wide range of colors but where it truly excels is in the range of extra styling supply options. You can buy lace front pieces, yes, but you can also buy stand alone skin top pieces in center whorl or long for parts. No brand is as flexible with what you can do with their wigs, not by a long shot. Make sure to check out their styling blog! Even if it’s all in Japanese, the diagrams are clear and the techniques are genuine life savers. The fiber is beautiful and the website’s color suggestion feature where the desktop version tells you a list of characters they’d use this color for makes picking colors a lot easier. You’ll pay a lot for them, but what you get will be worth it. I’ve been using them a lot lately because no other brand’s fiber is as easy to make behave like human hair. Naturalistic wig stylists and cosmetology people, this brand is for you! Fit is up to 59cm (!!) and is roomy in the hairline coverage to the point some people have to trim the ear tabs a bit shorter, although it’s my personal comfiest fit. (Upon further testing: Classe’s fit is going to be perfect for you if you’ve ever tried an Arda lacefront and found it somehow a bit too big in the cap but too skimpy in the ear and hairline coverage at the same time.) Swatch books are available and affordable.

Coscraft

Based in the UK but ships worldwide despite being way too unknown outside Europe. Coscraft is an absolute gem of a site with a wide range of colors (more than 80!) with plenty of unusual color options that aren’t found anywhere else that doesn’t need a shopping service, a decently large variety of base styles to choose from, and wefts and separate lace front pieces and stick on skin tops in every color. Unlike every other cosplay brand on the planet, their lace front pieces come in dark brown lace for darker skinned cosplayers and not just beige! (The skin top pieces are only in beige so far but hopefully they will work on this.) Also for some reason they sell ridiculously inexpensive corset coutil so for all the craftsmanship people, new source acquired! Even if you’re outside of Europe, Coscraft is so nice that it’s hard to believe their prices. When the pound is up vs your currency, they’re shockingly affordable. When the pound is down vs your currency, the quality per money feels straight up illegal. This is my current go to cosplay wig site for a reason. Fit is larger medium; it won’t be too big or too small on most people. Color swatch ring is available.

Cyperous

Japanese cosplay wig source that theoretically ships EMS outside Japan but I haven’t been able to get that to work for years so shopping service it is. Pour one out for Cyperous; they’re clearly in decline but as one of the original heat resist brands, they’re still here and still worth ordering from while you can. Nobody has as beautiful and delicate blondes as Cyperous; their Milky and White Milky are the best blondes I’ve ever used. They have a nice selection of lace wigs and the much rarer lace bang wigs as well as regular wigs, and wefts of course. No other brand I’ve seen has synthetic wigs that photograph as much like real hair as Cyperous. They can tangle a lot as a result but it’s worth the upkeep. I have no idea how long they’ll keep limping along, but look them up before it’s too late. Price is high but reasonable for what it is. Fit is a true medium. Swatches used to be available and no longer seem to be, but the photos are pretty accurate to my ancient swatch ring and newer wigs.

Five Wits Wigs

Five Wits is the most criminally underrated of the American wig companies because most of their stock photos suck. They really, really, really suck. The photos are somehow incredibly color accurate but represent the wigs as pulled directly from bag and plopped onto someone’s head or a mannequin without even combing them in a flattering way. I wrote them off until I got to see their booth at a con and realized quickly that these wigs are wonderfully made with beautiful fiber that typically photographs like a dream (how do they get such bad stock photos?!) and is so easy to style! Five Wits mostly stocks character wigs, but many of them are versatile enough to use for tons of other things and they offer wefts for some of their colors. The owners are friendly, the service is great, the actual wigs are beautiful, the price for what you get is wonderful, but those dang stock photos keep people from noticing why Five Wits is one of my favorite suppliers! Price is great for what you’re getting, especially for an American brand. The fit is larger end of medium (very few people find it too big or too small). They don’t carry swatch books but every single stock photo, despite being terrible, is an incredibly accurate depiction of the color so feel free to judge colors accordingly.

Kasou

I almost hesitate to put Kasou on here considering that one of the problems with them is that their shipping when it’s from their Chinese warehouse is occasionally “good luck getting your wig”, and I disqualified another past favorite of mine for this, but Kasou squeaked onto this list for two reasons: 1) their fiber and wigs really are spectacular and 2) they have the ONLY Jolyne Kujo pre made wig that I don’t hate. Order from them with confidence that whatever you get will be nice, but keep in mind that there are enough people who’ve had issues with wigs from their Chinese warehouse that you want to give yourself months of lead time if you go that route. They have a decent if slightly expensive price range, medium cap fit, and they do offer swatches. I NO LONGER RECOMMEND KASOU. I still stand by their products being nice, but there have been too many extremely expensive packages lost in the mail with them refusing to refund/replace among cosplayers I know for me to put them as a recommendation. If you order from here, do it with caution.

L-Email / wig-supplier

Not everyone needs premium wigs for heavy styling all the time, and that’s where L-Email comes in. This Chinese-based seller that ships internationally will sell you decent character wigs and decent base wigs for an incredibly affordable price. Nothing from here is going to be spectacular, but if your budget is low and you’re willing to put in a bunch of effort to make up for that, what you need is just a plain wig without tons of styling, or you want a character wig that’s a bit easier to upgrade with extra styling work than other brands because the hardest parts are typically done for you, L-Email is a great option for you. They’re just all around decent, and sometimes that’s what you need. Fit is medium, prices are pretty affordable especially if you go in with friends for shipping, and there aren’t swatches but the photos are typically pretty color accurate.

Sepia

One of the absolute oldest wig companies based in America; every cosplayer active before 2007 has bought at least one Sepia wig. They’re still here though, and now they have some heat resist lace fronts! Their range of fantasy colors is pretty atrocious but if you want some beautiful natural colors, you could do worse than shop here, especially considering there’s at least one more expensive brand (that I’m not putting in this list) that sources lace fronts from Sepia and resells! Fit is medium, price is medium, I haven’t bothered to see if they have swatches because I’m an ancient cosplayer and have the typical Sepia color codes memorized.

Swallowtail

If you’ve heard of this Japanese (shopping service required) wig brand before, it’s probably because the canon wigs in My Dress-Up Darling all come from Swallowtail. There’s more reasons than flexing about how you have the canon Shizuku-tan wig to consider Swallowtail, though! They have a massive color range with a lot of colors I’ve seen nowhere else in the world, and while the fiber isn’t the world’s most durable and is a bit shiny for my tastes in some colors, they’re affordable enough to be a competitive option even if you have to use a shopping service from outside Japan. They offer a full range of wefts and lace pieces and clip ons and a wide variety of base styles. The fit seems to be pretty true medium, and they definitely offer swatches (in the most chaotic ring setup I’ve ever seen. You’ll want to resort that one fast.)

Sylvia_Wig

You can get a lot of decent lace fronts perfect for minimal styling on AliExpress, but Sylvia is my hands down favorite. If you need a natural looking lace front and you don’t want to spend tons of money, this seller is where you should be looking first. There aren’t any swatches or wefts, true, but the wigs have so much more lace than any of the American or Japanese cosplay wig brands, the caps run much larger than most taobao/aliexpress brands (comparable to Kasou or Five Wits), and there’s still plenty of hair to do more basic styles. The fiber is a bit thin and shiny, but it still photographs like a dream, and dollar for dollar you won’t find a better balance between quality lace front and budget friendliness than here. The hairlines are so natural that I have a few from here that haven’t required a single hair plucked to just… melt into my skin. There’s a reason this is my go to first source if I want a lace front and it’s not going to be heavily anime styled (like JoJo or Dragon Ball or whatever). Color stock photos are incredibly accurate; you can trust that what you see is what you’ll get!

since people have sent me asks about this: I do not recommend Epic Cosplay at all anymore. Their construction quality has drastically decreased in recent years to the point I keep getting people asking me to help fix Epic wigs that are literally falling apart, which is enough reason to not want to order from them, but they’ve also had a decade plus pattern of labor rights abuse and employee mistreatment including racism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and pregnancy discrimination.

[beguines]

The twist that makes tradlife a phenomenon of our times is that it also includes earnest criticisms of life under capitalism. Many tradlifers are young women who hate work and celebrate arrangements where men rescue their wives from the professional realm: "When my friend's mom first started dating her husband," one viral tweet reads, "he said 'Stay with me, marry me, and you’ll never have to work again.'" Only tradition can salvage love from modern indignities and the early-morning commute. Like a trapdoor, the idea swings open to reveal a baby-pink fantasy too fragile and nostalgic to be taken in the open air. Regular people preoccupied with bills, healthcare premiums, and rising rents will find much of the tradlife lifestyle to be out of reach. That paradox is what makes it such potent social media fare: tradlife is, at bottom, perpetuated by "influencers" who know how to make others feel desirous and frustrated in equal measure. It is a menacing advertisement jingle, for a product people may not want or be certain exists.

By describing the misery of work, tradlife ennobles itself. But as an ethos it also maintains a willful stupidity about modern capitalism's historic dependence on the family, a constitutive structure of capitalism, through which property, debt, and economic interest are all consolidated (it was Milton Friedman, after all, who wrote that "the ultimate operative unit in our society is the family"). As a concept, "the family" has worked even harder than "the individual" to overshadow our ethical obligations to other people. But few have use for notions of society anymore, defined as it is by unpredictability and fear of rising crime. We want only securitized intimacy—the happy assurance of a shared mortgage.

[. . .]

On a macro and micro level, then, tradlife proffers a purportedly risk-averse solution to the political challenges that patriarchy and sexism present. It guards women from most men and from public life. Meanwhile, the ideology itself shies away from present-day discontent, further withdrawing from the world it purports to wish to change. The family has long been an exclusive realm, where people hoard both interpersonal and economic resources. Yet tradlife overlooks this contradiction of its own supposed anti-capitalism, supplanting it with the sharp and flawless grid of a pixelated image. Regardless of its nostalgic Americana, tradlife's vision owes less to Norman Rockwell than Thomas Kinkade: the glitter is cold, and the insistence on perfection almost hysterical. Rockwell, even at his most idealized, still populated his work with people and their hijinks; he was interested in the capacity of individuals to surprise each other. Meanwhile, in its videos and photos of well-lit, private spaces, tradlife makes property rather than humans its central object. As in Kinkade's paintings, the house appears as a refuge from others.

Perhaps all contemporary relationships are attended by hierarchy, and tradlife is just more honest about the power differentials of intimacy. But feminism, at its best, has always pointed to the possibility that love could one day be different. It has maintained that we do not currently know the full range of its possibilities, because love between men and women has so far only happened within a narrow patch of unjust conditions. Tradlife seeks the certainty of formulaic relationships, but it hides from its purveyors the prospect that a different kind of society may have better, different formulas, or no formulas at all. What might marriage look like without the imperative of property? How might love be lived without the dramas of jealousy, pain, and insecurity that crowd a world in which public space and dignity are never fully shared?

[meganechan05]

When Himeno wants to take photos of Rittan in exchange for a brand new Premium Chibi Moffun in pre-production.

Rita was too tempted when their friend looked at them with pleading eyes that makes them take out that cursed costume.

[fairy25]

Living in America is all about commodified community like people paying money just to have people to talk to and feel a sense of belonging like we’ve so isolated ourselves to prioritize consumerism which focuses on the individual over the collective and especially single versus communal living and transportation systems and increasing numbers of people working from home at least part time and then it sells an artificial community experience back to us like everyone paying to exercise together and learn and paint and drink together and only sharing your emotions with a licensed therapist like you’re paying for the communal experience at a premium but it’s like communal only when convenient to you and your schedule and everything has to be open 24/7 bc again it’s all about the individual here and everybody has different needs so everything has to be accessible all the time everyone has to have a product everyone has to be marketed to always forever they’d sew little computer screens into our eyelids and market there if they could like there’s ads on every building there’s ads on the clothes we buy there’s ads on everything everywhere even in your own home on the internet on the tv on mail on receipts in your family photos on social media on dating apps on communal boards in your yearbook on your food like hahaha 🦅

[somuchyoudontknow]

Hello Sophia,

I’ve been curious about any relationships and linkages between SMA title, Alba and Jinx. Finally, I’ve managed to discover Chris’ influencer profile on one marketing platform (note: Carbons Dating The Web estimated creation date: 2023-06-01).

There are some interesting facts and figures in the case study:

Premium US dog superfood brand, Jinx is redefining dog nutrition and is sold at Walmart stores across the country. Its audience are 71% female, typically single or married and aged in their thirties. English-speaking, Jinx’s followers are 84% US-based, with India, The Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil as secondary markets. Top cities for its customers include New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago.

Looking at celebrity influences, Chris Evans does not appear in the list.

Media-wise, Buzzfeed, Betches Media, The New York Times, HGTV, The New Yorker, People Magazine, Vice and Bon Appetit come out on top for consumption.

Chris’ audience is 67% female, typically single and aged 25-34. English-speaking, his followers are typically based in the US, with Brazil, India, Italy and Mexico as other territories. Top cities include São Paulo, New York and LA. On basic demographics, Chris Evans and Jinx are rather well matched, particularly if the brand is hoping to reach a slightly younger customer base.

Diving into likes and interests, Film & TV rank highly, as well as music, dance, sport, college, poetry, Mexican food and spirituality. Pets is present, with 1.5% of the share, which is 1.3x the platform average, putting Chris Evan’s profile in the top 20% of all Instagram accounts for pets.

Looking at media consumption, Buzzfeed, BBC, CNN, 9GAG, New York Times, TIME Magazine, The New Yorker, GQ and Hugo Gloss dominate. Crucially, Jinx isn’t listed as one of Chris Evan’s follower’s main brand affinities. Instead, the likes of Marvel, Disney, NASA, Starbucks, Google, PlayStation and Sephora lead. That being said, no other pet food brand appears.

It is important to note that Chris Evans is one of a few celebrity investors in Jinx. However, he is still quite an organic brand ambassador, being known for his relationship with his dog. Overall, it’s a smart match for brand and talent that taps into authentic interests and with the addition of Evans as creative director for campaigns, it appears to be a more substantial collaboration than a simple awareness-based sponsorship.

November 2020 – Chris followed Alba.

16 November 2021 – Pooch loving celebs Trevor Noah, Chris Evans, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. and CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz are among the latest high-profile investors in Jinx.

PageSix: Chris Evans and more A-listers invest in healthy dog food brand.

2022

9 March – Pet Age: Walmart Partnership Expands Distribution of Premium Dog Food Brand Jinx.

10 March – Pet Product News: Jinx Pet Food Now Available at Walmart.

21 May – People Mag: Chris Evans celebrates National Rescue Dog Day with adorable photo of himself and pet Dodger.

2 June – Buzzfeed announces Puppy interview.

18 June – Buzzfeed releases Puppy interview.

24 June – Alba’s first like in 2022 (iPhone post).

15 July – Laser focused interview.

16 July – Chris liked Alba’s MHGP post.

17 July – JustJared, Daily Mail and Buzzfeed report Chris Evans is laser focused on finding a partner (no mention of Alba).

18 July – People Mag: Chris Evans Says He's 'Laser-Focused on Finding a Partner' to Spend His Life With.

20 July – Chris’ Dating Poll by Buzzfeed.

27 July – Entertainment Tonight meet Chris Evans' 'Long-Term Partner': His Adorable Dog Dodger!

Forbes: Chris Evans Partners With Jinx Premium Dog Food.

Adweek: Chris is Future Jinx Ad Star.

CNN: Talking dog parenting with Chris Evans.

People: Chris Evans Says His Pet Dodger Is 'a Cut Above the Average Dog,' But Admits 'I'm Probably Biased'.

26 August – People Mag: Chris Evans Celebrates National Dog Day with Pup Dodger: 'In My House, Every Day.

27 August – E! news tweet: When Captain America found his perfect sidekick. ❤️ Happy #InternationalDogDay to Chris Evans & Dodger.

October – Alba deactivated her IG account.

6 October – People mag: the actor and his beloved rescue dog Dodger star in a new ad spot for dog food company Jinx.

11 October – Alba reactivated her account. Chris liked 2 WN posts.

7 November – SMA announcement on Monday's The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Chris Evans Is PEOPLE's 2022 Sexiest Man Alive.

Entertainment Tonight: Chris Evans Reacted to Getting 'People' Magazine's 2022 Sexiest Man Alive (editor Julie Jordan: “If he is dating someone he will talk about it or you will see him with the person”.

10 November – People: Chris Evans Is Dating Actress Alba Baptista: 'It's Serious,' Says Source — He's 'Never Been Happier'.

OK! Mag: Chris Evans & Actress Alba Baptista's Relationship Confirmed Months After Packing On The PDA At 'Super Affectionate' Date Night.

PageSix: Chris Evans and girlfriend Alba Baptista hold hands in first PDA photos.

12 November – Daily Mail: 'World's Sexiest Man' Chris Evans, 41, is seen holding hands with Alba Baptista, 25, for the FIRST time on a romantic stroll in Central Park.

E! News: Chris Evans & Alba Baptista Confirm Romance With PDA Stroll.

14 November – E! News tweet: The strongest bond in the universe (Dodger).

10 December – Alba deactivated her IG account.

2023

10 March – Alba reactivated her IG account.

18 April – Alba at Ghosted Premiere in NY.

26 April – People: Jinx to bring "The Dog Dream Box" to dog lovers nationwide.

28 April – Pet Food Processing: To celebrate Pet Month in May, Jinx launched a new limited-edition “The Dog Dream Box” collaboration with celebrity Chris Evans, brand ambassador at Jinx, and his dog Dodger.

J2 June – 40/29 News: 2023 Walmart Associates' Celebration.

[black-arcana]

POWERWOLF To Release New Studio Album, 'Wake Up The Wicked', In July

POWERWOLF will release a new studio album, "Wake Up The Wicked", on July 26, 2024 via Napalm Records.

"Wake Up The Wicked" — the highly anticipated follow-up to the extremely successful "Call Of The Wild" (2021) — will arrive just in time for the award-winning band's first-ever full North American tour, starting in August 2024, followed by their biggest European headline tour to date, the "Wolfsnächte 2024".

"Wake Up The Wicked" was once again produced by Joost Van Den Broek at Sandlane Recording Facilities and marks a new benchmark and undisputed career highlight for the band. The new album is hard, surprising and full of variety. While staying true to their established, loved sound, POWERWOLF go one step further and showcase a different facet of their deft musical and technical skills. This is evident, for example, on the outstanding single "1589", which is based on a true story from the 16th century.

20 years after their formation in 2004, POWERWOLF are expanding their repertoire with the highest quality and adding many future live hits to their extraordinary discography. "Wake Up The Wicked" is yet another statement cementing the status of the band as a leading force in the world of heavy metal

"Wake Up The Wicked" track listing:

01. Bless 'Em With The Blade 02. Sinners Of The Seven Seas 03. Kyrie Klitorem 04. Heretic Hunters 05. 1589 06. Viva Vulgata 07. Wake Up The Wicked 08. Joan Of Arc 09. Thunderpriest 10. We Don't Wanna Be No Saints 11. Vargamor

POWERWOLF are undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and successful heavy metal bands of the last decade. Multiple No. 1 album chart entries, gold and platinum records, huge sold-out arena shows, as well as headline slots at the biggest festivals have paved their way. In less than 20 years of band history, POWERWOLF has made it to the very highest league of heavy metal.

POWERWOLF has conquered countless stages at the world's biggest summer festivals, and their last "Wolfsnächte" headline tours (2019, 2022),as well as their aforementioned North American debut in early 2023, were almost completely sold out — resulting in a massive triumph. They have performed headlining sets at Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze, as well as held premium slots at genre festival giants such as Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Masters Of Rock and many more, captivating enormous audiences. No other German metal band has been able to write a success story even remotely comparable in recent years.

Following their onslaught of North America, POWERWOLF will embark on their most impressive European tour yet in celebration of their highly anticipated 2024 studio album. Amid 16 shows in total, the tour will visit colossal venues in Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Hamburg and Antwerp. POWERWOLF will be accompanied by Swedish heavy metal legends HAMMERFALL as special guests, with support from viral rising stars, dwarven metallers WIND ROSE.

The story of the frontrunners of today's German metal scene, POWERWOLF, began in 2004 and only knows one direction: ever upwards. Their trajectory may seem like something out of a fairytale, but it is the result of the band embodying the highest quality of heavy metal in the universe. Outstanding album production, bombastic live shows and a tireless drive for perfection on and behind the stage are what this exceptional band is known for around the world.

Over the course of their career, the band has not only fascinated metal fans, but has also won over international press and critics. Countless cover stories in the most important magazines, critics' awards such as the Metal Hammer Award, and effusive album and concert reviews underpin POWERWOLF's outstanding international status.

POWERWOLF is:

Attila Dorn - vocals Falk Maria Schlegel - organ Charles Greywolf - guitar Matthew Greywolf - guitar Roel van Helden - drums

Photo credit: VDPictures

[usafphantom2]

Northrop Grumman releases new photo of B-21 Raider, after receiving prestigious award from Aviation Week magazine

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/21/2024 - 22:28in Military

Northrop Grumman Corporation received the Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award in the defense category for its role as the main contractor in the delivery of the B-21 Raider to the United States Air Force. Aviation Week announced the Grand Laureate winners at its 66ª annual Laureate award in Washington, D.C.

"On behalf of the entire B-21 Raider national team, Northrop Grumman is honored to receive this prestigious award," said Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. "The Grand Laureate represents the pioneering spirit, innovative technology and pioneering approach to contract management that gave life to the world's first sixth-generation aircraft."

In the fall of 2023, the U.S. Air Force confirmed that the first B-21 test vehicle had entered a flight test, followed by a low-rate initial production premium. The aircraft is currently undergoing a robust flight test campaign run by the B-21 Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Base in California. The program continues to meet all technical, schedule and accessibility requirements of the Department of Defense on its way to operational capacity.

Developed with the next generation of stealth technology, advanced network capabilities and open systems architecture, the B-21 Raider will serve as the backbone of the U.S. bomber fleet. Capable of carrying conventional and nuclear loads, the B-21 will be one of the most effective aircraft in the sky, with the ability to use a wide combination of isolated and direct attack ammunition.

“This bomber will be able to defend our country with new weapons that have not yet been invented,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin when the B-21 was launched in the spring of 2023. "Even the most sophisticated anti-aircraft systems will have difficulty detecting the B-21." The Raider is also "multifunctional," says Austin. "He can do anything."

Details about the progress of the program were only made available in pieces from the beginning, because the myth of secrecy surrounds the project. Only a few scattered observers recorded the start of the first flight on November 10, 2023, which took the Raider prototype from its place of origin in Palmdale to Edwards Air Base for posterity. Since that day, things have been calm in relation to the B-21. The manufacturer and the U.S. Air Force remained silent about the status of the flight tests. All that is confirmed is that they are happening and that they are obviously on schedule.

Tags: Military AviationB-21 RaiderNorthrop GrummanUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

Sharing

tweet

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

Related news

MILITARY

NORDIC RESPONSE 24: US F-35 fighters land for the first time in Sweden

21/03/2024 - 16:00

MILITARY

Russia intensifies airstrikes in Ukraine

21/03/2024 - 14:00

QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80 carrying Rattler ST MkI.

MILITARY

QinetiQ: first successful flights of the new design of the rattler supersonic target

21/03/2024 - 13:00

HELICOPTERS

Greece receives its first three MH-60R Seahawk helicopters

21/03/2024 - 11:00

MILITARY

The Netherlands allocates 350 million euros to Ukraine to acquire air-to-ground weapons for the F-16 and drones

21/03/2024 - 09:00

MILITARY

USAF gives up installing a laser gun on AC-130J Ghostrider

21/03/2024 - 08:08