The Ganguro style is a visual-intensive style that is meant to question the social standards of beauty. It is categorized by dark tanning with which highlights on the nose and around the eyes.  Wikipedia says: “The term ganguro is a portmanteau of the Japanese word gangan-kuro (ガンガン黒), meaning extremely dark, and guro (グロ), meaning grotesque, and the word ganguro can also be translated as ‘blackface’.” This challenges the thought that pale skin is beautiful.

The Yamanba and Manba styles are even more specific substyles coming from the Ganguro style. They include bright colors with lipstick and hair,and clothes, in addition to stickers, glitter, and lots of accessories.

Yamanba comes from the Japanese word “yama-uba” which is the name of a mountain witch in Japanese folklore.

~ Stacey S.