Pure Peerless Beauty VS. Abandoned Concubine: Which Shanghai Hanfu Look Won?

Hi everyone! It's Julie. Today we're going to review two photoshoots that I did in Chicago. I really couldn't resist doing more than one. So I want to show you my innocent daytime look, the pure peerless beauty, and my nighttime look, the abandoned concubine in the cold palace. If you're a C-drama fan like I am, then you know exactly what that means. So come with me to these two photo studios and let me know which photos you think are more beautiful. This first studio I found randomly on Instagram. There are so many dresses to choose from and all from different dynasties. If you want a specific dynasty, I'm sure you can take a look at their lookbook. There's the Han Mi series which is about 338 yuan, the Exquisite series 368 yuan. The price difference is between 50 and 55 USD or 80 and 86,000 Korean won. I love this blue and yellow dress so much and just this plain blue one too, but my inspiration pick was green. I think this pink and green number is also really beautiful. It's one of my favorite color combinations. Dark green could also give a similar look, but ultimately I picked this one. I think it was the right choice. If I could go back, I would definitely try on the blue and yellow one and maybe do a different hairstyle. The first thing I did was put on the dress. I was kind of surprised that we were doing hair and makeup in it. Look at the sponges, they're so clean. They do tell you in advance that all of the makeup is shared in public so you can bring your own, but I didn't want to carry around all of my makeup. She took off my makeup and put on the base. I know it's super white and pale, but that's exactly how the C-drama actresses look in the movies and shows. I do think it was a little bit dry and I was kind of shocked, but I trust the process because all of the pigments of the makeup show up better when the tone is really light. The nose contour really shocked me. I've always wondered what it would look like for me to have a nose job and I think she kind of gave me an idea. The tone of the blush is really beautiful. I thought she went lighter than I expected. I couldn't record her putting the eyelashes on, but here's how it looks. It really transformed my eyes and made them look bigger. I have to say she flopped on the eyebrows. Honestly, they're not the right shape. It's unflattering and it doesn't suit my face. Also, she drew too many strokes that kind of look like caterpillars. I smiled through it though. Here are the two hair reference photos I found on my Instagram using the same dress. I really wanted to pick the first style, but my friend recommended the second one to me. When she started to put my hair up, I could see that it was going to be really big and I was really excited about it because I love dramatic hairstyles. I used to work in a costume department. Getting ready was always the most fun. It's really nice to be the one sitting in the chair. She put more extensions into my hair, but I'm pretty sure my natural hair is longer than the extensions themselves. When she was putting the hair up, she put these loop-de-loops around which I requested and these little loop-de-loops are my absolute favorite. I want to wear my hair like this all the time. If I could go back in time and travel to the past, I think this would be my favorite hairstyle and I would wear it every day. But honestly, maybe she gets a lower score for her hair skills because one side is further back than the other. It was a little bit lopsided. Once she put in the hair clips at the top, I was really amazed. It didn't feel as heavy as I expected. Her overall skill was probably a 3.5 out of 5. The hairpins really saved the day though. I think the detailing and the colors are so beautiful. I wish we could still wear hairpins like this today. I was amazed by the earrings that she put on me with medical tape. I don't have my ears pierced, so I really liked it. Now for the final review, what do you think? I think if I could go back, I would only ask her to change the hair so that it would be even on both sides. But overall, I couldn't stop looking at how pretty it looked, despite my eyebrows being out of shape. Sadly, I forgot to ask for a photographer, so I waited one hour for him to show up. It's okay because he ended up agreeing to take me to Panglai Park. It turned out that my reference photos were not taken in Union Garden and Union Garden is actually quite busy. Panglai Park can look beautiful at night, but I prefer daytime photos. Here are the example photos and here's what I got. My favorite shot must be the one of me holding this book. In the end, I paid for extra photos to be edited. I think the extra photos cost the same amount as the hair, makeup, and hanbok experience itself. But overall, I was still happy and I didn't want to take the costume off. I consider it a success. Let's head to the and it is completely transformed with the lights on. I picked this photo studio based off of their pdf of different concept photos and you can tell they're reputable based off of the three rooms they have for hair and makeup, dressing, and costume. I can see they had cheongsam and qipaos. I would love to do that 1930s Shanghai look if I have the chance to go back. This time, I picked a hanbok and I thought pink would pop best against the backdrop. Here, I met my makeup artist. She was so kind and the tools were all very clean. The products were some brands that I recognized and some new ones that I learned about. When she was removing my makeup, she was so kind to me, complimenting my skin. I was so concerned that it was just lip service, but I developed such a big friend crush on her because of her kindness. The hairstylist came. I showed her my ideal hairstyle and the makeup artist, who was really good at speaking English, was able to translate for me. The hairstylist started by putting all of my hair on my head. I have so much hair. I honestly couldn't believe that she did it and surprisingly, it didn't feel too heavy. The makeup artist started to prep my skin. The foundation she used was a wet kite, but it was also inside of what looks like a powder cushion. She brushed it on my face like paint. I'm just glad that it didn't feel too dry or cakey. Then, the hairstylist started building my hair up. I love the way she paid attention to my hair part. In the morning photo shoot, I didn't like that the hair wispies were covering my ears. I think this looks much more clean. The makeup artist also made sure my skin tone was matching from my face to my neck. When the hair accessories were going into my hair, I was just so happy with how beautiful it looked. Every single detail was placed on there with intention and she did it so professionally. It's kind of crazy how without eyebrows and anything on your lips, you can look so sick. The makeup artist was still working on my face while the hair was being done. The hairstylist was so hardworking because she ended up taking out the original accessories just to add more details. She even put glitter in my hair and hid my hairline. All of these details show that the studio is very professional. The makeup artist did my eyebrows in a way that was more harmonious with my face. I think it was much more compatible in the shape and the texture. When she was doing my eyeliner and eyelashes, I could see that my eyes were just getting bigger and bigger. I felt like an anime character. She really achieved that Douyin look. I could really tell that the makeup artist has worked on hundreds of people because when she put the eyelashes on, I didn't feel any discomfort. Even the lips, I felt like they looked photoshopped but in real life. The detail in the nose contour, it made me feel like I had that nose job but I've always wondered what I would look like if I went to a plastic surgeon. And she finally put some glitter on my face. This is the final reveal. I can't emphasize enough how professional they were with the whole process. My friend even told me that it looked a hundred times better than the day before. When I went to take photos with the photographer, it was already dark out but she had so much energy showing me how to pose, taking me to different locations. It ended up taking one hour. And here are my inspiration pics. Unfortunately, the places they took them were unavailable to the public at that time but I still like my photos anyway. Here are the final shots. I am in love with these edits. Even though you can tell that they are photoshopped, it was exactly the experience that I wanted. I've always wanted to look like a C-drama actress and I felt like the studio really brought that dream to life. I give it a 5 out of 5. Now that you've seen the photos and videos for yourself, what do you think? Rewatching the photos and videos showed me a lot of things in hindsight that I didn't notice before. I think the first studio's hair and makeup wasn't so good but the final photos made me really happy. The photographer really enhanced my vision. I'm not sure if it was the backdrop doing the heavy lifting but I was really satisfied with the overall tones of the pictures. It was exactly what I wanted. The second photo studio had better hair and makeup for sure. The photographer was okay but many people might criticize the heavy photoshop. For me, I don't think that there was that big of a difference. I just noticed that the makeup I wore showed up a lot more in the photos and I feel like I got to experience what my face would look like if I were onto yin or if I had a nose job. It answered a lot of questions for me. I would love to go back to Shanghai and try one from every single dynasty. It's a lofty dream but I hope I can do it one day. That's all I have for you today. I really really really want you to like, comment, and subscribe. It would mean so much to me if you followed along and watch my next video. Have fun! Bye!