Of Toys and Tokyo

Visee x Smacky Glam Glam Glow Eyes

2012-02-17T02:50:00.002-05:00

When these gorgeous Visee x Smacky Glam Glam Glow Eyes were released around the middle of last October, I was preoccupied with school and whatnot. About a month or so later, I finally stopped by a drugstore I don't frequent and spotted these, but by then they were already sold out at this location, leaving only the testers for me play with while kicking myself for not paying attention sooner.

I put up a good chase for these palettes, of course, but it was exhausting having to go to (and get disappointed with) several stores. Finally, it took a trip in the opposite direction of my train line, which I don't usually take because it's so out of the way, for me to get a hold of them. I then begrudgingly paid the full price of 1,680yen each, because I wasn't about to go bargain hunting after spending all that time just merely searching. And then just when I breathed a breath of relief, on a random trip up to Shibuya with hubby a few days later for a friend's birthday bash, we happened to walk by a drugstore across the street from the JR Shibuya Station with a bunch of these on display for - guess how much - 1,090yen each! Yep, was I pissed, or as the folks here like to scream, むかつく!!! Better yet, #$%^*&%#!!! Grr...

Visee x Smacky Glam Glam Glow Eyes in PK-6 Sweet Pink (left) and BR-7 Bitter Brown (right). All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Sigh. Anyway, I wasn't all that interested in the regular line up of these Glam Glow Eyes before. I did play around with the testers a few times, and the color palettes didn't really catch my attention. The cream shade at the bottom left turned me off too. Sure, they're nice for the lower lash line (yep, read the instructions this time), but I don't need a whole pan of it in the same size as the other powder shadows that I'd actually use a whole lot more of, you know what I mean? And I would rather have a powder shadow just to have the option of being able to use it all over my [oily] lids. Then these Smacky Glam limited edition palettes came along with their neon pink and orange compacts and retro flowers print packaging, and they swept me off my feet so fast I didn't even notice I was sold on them. Until I went on a mad hunt for them, that is.

These turn out to be really quite interesting. First off, the cream shade at the bottom left is rather dry for a cream eye shadow. In fact, it's so dry that the lip brush I normally use to pick up cream shadows, like the cream shade in Visee x Mercury Duo Brilliance Forming Eyes and Canmake Jewel Star Eyes, could barely pick up any. In the end, I had to switch to a different brush, the wider but still firm Stila #26 Perfecting Concealer Brush, to apply it well.

And funny enough, while the cream shade is on the dry side, the powder shades are on the damp side, almost like a cream! I literally thought my brush was wet the first time I dipped into these powder shades, because it felt just like applying a powder shadow with a damp brush! I could have sworn they were powders when I played with the testers, and I even swatched them again right then and there with my fingertip to make sure I wasn't making shit up. Nope, they are powder alright, and they're really smooth and silky, and blend really well. But when I tried to pick them up with a brush again, using a different brush no less, they still felt damp. Even when I lined my eyes with the darkest shade using the Sephora Smudge Brush, it too felt damp. It was then that I was finally convinced that it wasn't me or my brushes, but rather the texture of these powder eye shadows that were totally out of whack. Don't get me wrong, these are nice stuff and I'm really loving them, but their texture totally had me going for a loop there.

Aside from the different texture, these eye shadows have softer shimmery luminous finishes instead of being edgier with metallics. They are pretty much nude palettes with decent pigmentation level, so if bolder colors is your thing, you probably won't like either of these. On me, they last for a decent amount of time before creasing, probably around 4-5 hours.

- PK-6 Sweet Pink: a feminine soft pink palette for a feminine pinky nude look. I thought I would like this palette more because I really love that pink base and highlighter and the blackish purple liner. However, as it turns out I prefer the BR-7 Bitter Brown over this, probably because that blushing nude medium crease shade turns just a tad red my skin, though not enough to ruin the whole palette for me. I still like it a lot, but I reach for the BR-7 Bitter more often.

- Lower left: cream liner, high shimmer, very sheer. Pale pink pearl with pink iridescent sheen in the pan, it goes on with sparkling pink iridescent shimmers.

- Upper left: base/highlighter, shimmer, low intensity. Appears a warm petal pink in pan but swatched a cooler shell pink.

- Upper right: medium crease shade, luminous satin, medium intensity. A blushing nude with a unique wet sheen that I don't see often in powder shadows. Out of all the times I've spent playing with eye shadows I've only found two others like this, the first is the Etude House Orgel Light Eyes in 04 Peach Brown and the second is a couple of shades in the Coffret D'Or Trance Deep Eyes, the dusty rose in palette 01 Rose Variation and the grayish taupe in palette 05 Beige Variation.

- Lower right: liner shade, shimmer, high intensity. Looks like a deep blackish purple with some taupe in the pan but goes on me more brownish.

- BR-7 Bitter Brown: I guess the "bitter" in its name is to pair up with the "sweet" in the palette PK-6 Sweet Pink, because there's nothing bitter about this palette. In fact, it's pretty sweet to me :P This is a warm but not too warm peach beige palette for a natural nude look. I didn't expect to like this palette as much as I do, but this one actually surprised me a bit.

- Lower left: cream liner, high shimmer, very sheer. Appears a white pearl with a pinkish iridescent sheen but goes on with sparkling ivory shimmers instead.

- Upper left: base and highlighter, semi metallic, medium intensity. A gorgeous golden peach that goes on me more pinky but I love it nonetheless.

- Upper right: medium crease shade, semi metallic, medium intensity. A beautiful golden beige in the pan but goes on me with a pinky undertone. This is actually a very nice medium crease shade because it looks very natural on me.

- Lower right: liner shade, shimmer, high intensity. A deep neutral brown with some taupe in the pan but goes on me without any taupe and just brown ^.^

Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss Part II

2012-02-16T04:24:00.001-05:00

Since my last post on Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss in which I reviewed the color 953 Hi-Tech Plum, I've been chasing down a different color, 945 Salsa Sun. Along the way, I've stumbled onto a couple others in the same series, namely 943 Tangerine Tango and 944 Sangria Sunrise, and picked them up too since they all look orangey.

Top to bottom: 943 Tangerine Tango, 944 Sangria Sunrise, and 945 Salsa Sun. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

They arrived super duper fast, within the same week, even though I didn't ask or paid for express international shipping. Luck, I guess? Anyway, I was so excited to finally got my hands on them, as they look just like they do in pictures, all are orangey, just what I love xD

- 943 Tangerine Tango: this color disappointed me a little. It swatched a nice tangerine orange, but goes on me completely sheer. Still, I carry it in my book bag because it's just one of those glosses that is sheer by itself but layers really well. In addition, I haven't tried this yet but I bet it would totally warm up a cooler lip color. Overall, I wish it wasn't so sheer but I don't regret buying it. If you want some color though, this won't do.

- 944 Sangria Sunrise: forget using lipsticks as a stain, this gloss has now become the mainstay in my bag. It's translucent, but not as sheer as 943 Tangerine Tango, and it gives me a really nice wash of coral. It's like a my lips but glossier and more coral ^.^ And while I do have to apply a couple of layers to get enough color, I don't need a mirror to apply it, which makes it very convenient to carry around for someone lazy like me. Love it! So glad I bought 2 tubes of this color!

- 945 Salsa Sun: holy hell, this color turns out to be a lot more than what I bargained for - a bright, potent, and opaque orangey red. It turns so red on me! Check the swatches and see for yourself how much more pigmented it is than the other 2 colors! Don't get me wrong, I love yellow based reds, just that I can't wear this as often as I'd like. I totally would at home, since I'm a lot more comfortable in a familiar environment. But here in Japan, I'm still a bit self conscious and tend to shy away from bold colors. But I'm still happy I bought 2 tubes of this! It's the most perfect red gloss ever!

Left to right: 943 Tangerine Tango, 944 Sangria Sunrise, and 945 Salsa Sun.

See my previous Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss post.

Canmake Cheek Gradation Part III

2012-02-15T02:30:00.002-05:00

Just got around to using this Canmake Cheek Gradation 06 Candy Stripes recently. After having discontinued 01 Pink Stripes, Canmake replaced it with this 06 Candy Stripes, which is an excellent move if you ask me! Yes, I like this 06 Candy Stripes a lot. Actually, I like it the best out of all the Cheek Gradations, and I even made a convert out of my mum ^.^ She was a long time loyal fan of the 01 Pink Stripes, as in she wouldn't use any other blush I sent and stuck with just 01 Pink Stripes. When I told her that color had disappeared from all the drugstores I frequent, understandably she freaked and made me go on a hunt for a backup source online. And then along the way I snuck in one of these 06 Candy Stripes for her and what do you know, Pink Stripes? What Pink Stripes?

So what is so special about this 06 Candy Stripes, you may wonder. Well, the concept of these Cheek Gradations is that each has 4 bars of color that are more or less in the same scheme. Together they form a (duh) gradient, from the darker and more pigmented bars at the top for coloring to the lighter and much sheerer bars at the bottom for highlighting. The most obvious feature that sets this 06 Candy Stripes apart from all the other Cheek Gradations is that it doesn't quite follow this gradation concept, having two very distinct and equally pigmented color bars at the top, one a bright tropical orange and the other a bright hot pink. Also the very bottom bar, instead of being a pale pink or pale beige that goes well with the over all color scheme, it's a stark chalk white.

06 Candy Stripes. All pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.

Other than that utterly gorgeous orange, I can also see an improvement in the formula of the blush itself. It's not softer and is possibly even more pigmented than the 2 previous gradations, the 04 Chocolate Stripes and 05 Peach Stripes. The first time I used this I didn't expect it to be so pigmented and proceeded to apply it the same way I apply all my blushes - swiping the brush twice, once to the left and once to the right to coat the brush evenly, then shake off the extras. Holy crap, the result was cheeks so clowny red I had to wipe them off with a tissue! So now when using this 06 Candy Stripes I swipe my brush only once, and very lightly so, dabbing the blush onto my cheek to even out the application before blending. Even then, sometimes my cheeks still end up way too red and the color had to be wiped off a bit using fingertips. Eeps!

- 06 Candy Tripes: this blush sure appears shimmery, but it doesn't go on nearly as shimmery as the 04 Chocolate Stripes. The shimmers just give a nice glow and they do a good job in bringing out the cheek bones. I especially like appreciate the 2 distinct color bars at the top because I can use them separately. And when I'm not in the mood for (or don't the have guts to pull off) that fiery orange or that bright hot pink, or when I'm plain lazy, I just blend all 4 bars together and get a more feminine reddish pink blush. Love, love, love this 06 Candy Stripes!

Top to bottom:
- Bright tropical orange, scatter shimmer, medium intensity. Applies luminous and is much brighter and more vividly orange than the oranges in 02 Orange Stripes.
- Bright hot pink, scatter shimmer, medium intensity. Applies luminous.
- Princess pink, fine shimmer, low intensity. Applies with just a touch more shimmer than the top 2 colors.
- Chalk white, shimmer, low intensity. Out of the 4 color bars, this is the most shimmery and opaque. I know it doesn't appear that way in the swatch, and that's because I only swatched it lightly.

Top dot: all color bars swirled together. Picture taken in natural light without flash.

See my previous posts:
- Canmake Cheek Gradation
- Canmake Cheek Gradation Part II

VOV Castledew Diacut Cheek Marble

2012-02-14T15:39:00.001-05:00

While I was wavering back and forth on whether I should get the VOV Castledew Diacut Cheek #902 Jewel Highlight, I spotted these Diacut Cheek Marbles and this decision was an easy one to make ^.^ There are only 2 varieties available for these so far, #1 Shine Dia and #2 Lovely Dia. I bought both of them, despite guessing they would both be baked and frosty again. I'm such a sucker -.-'

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Both of these come in the exact same pearly white compacts as the Diacut Cheek 9-Colors, and I was right again that they are baked. However, they have very different texture and finish than the Diacut Cheek 9-Colors. They feel softer and not as dry as baked powder would normally feel, which is interesting. Even more intriguing is that neither have any hint of metallicity in them! Instead, they both have a satiny pearl finish that gives a very gorgeous soft focus glow with some shimmers. Finally, these are scented, which is a huge departure from most baked product that has no fragrance at all. It's very mild, but is definitely a feminine powder scent which I don't mind but not exactly thrilled about. I just prefer my makeup to stay unscented in general, especially with face powders.

#1 Shine Dia and #2 Lovely Dia

- #1 Shine Dia: in my experience, most baked highlighters tends to be too shimmery, if not metallic and most likely will turn frosty on me. So I set my expectation way low for this one, but it turns out to be neither frosty or opaque! If anything, its veil of pearly shimmers is quite sheer and it makes a good highlighter for daytime. In fact, I couldn't see it at all at night! And normally, a sweep and blend of any highlighter under my eyes will suffice as an under eye concealer for me, but not this one! It's honestly too translucent for this task, even during the day. The good news is that if you're highlighter-shy, this will make a good training compact ^.^

Clockwise from left:

#1 - Solid ivory

#2 - Marble pink, gold, and peach multi

#3 - Solid pastel pink

#4 - Solid lavender

#5 - Marble white, blue, and lilac multi

- #2 Lovely Dia: now this is a gorgeous blush! It gives my cheeks a dreamy soft focus pinky glow that's really pretty! I just sweep my brush over the whole thing and then blend.

Clockwise from top left:

#1 - Marble pink, gold, and peach multi

#2 - Solid hot pink (the darker pink)

#3 - Solid muted carnation pink (the lighter pink)

#4 - Solid pinkish white

- I didn't swatch the deeper marble coral peach multi because they're just impossible to pickup!

VOV Castledew Diacut Cheek Part II

2012-02-14T03:46:00.002-05:00

This #902 Jewel Highlight is the second of the VOV Castledew Diacut Cheek lineup that also includes #901 Planet Love Dia that I had review a couple of years ago. I actually held out on getting this highlighter for the longest time, a couple of years actually. I was thinking that if it is anything like the baked 9-colored #901 Planet Love Dia, all the color would be either metallic pearl or metallic, or a mix of both, and as a whole, it would be way too frosty for a highlighter.

But in the end, I gave in :P I love the #901 Planet Love Dia, and I use it for both my cheeks as well as my eyes. So I figured if I can't use this #902 Jewel Highlight to, well, highlight, at least I can use it as eye shadows. Yes, all 9 colors are light and can only be used as base or highlighter, but I'd still rather have it than not.

VOV Castledew Diacut Cheek #902 Jewel Highlight. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

This highlighter comes in the same princessy compact as the #901 Planet Love Dia, only in a pearly white color, very fitting for a highlighter I'd say. It does include a mirror and a brush, but the brush is kind of crappy and I use my own brushes anyway so I don't really care.

Other than that, I was right on all counts. These are baked and all 9 colors have metallic pearl finish. And yes, they are way too damn frosty for a highlighter, but hell, they're gorgeous ^.^ Because they're baked, they're dry and not the softest when touched, but they are pigmented and swatched true to how they appear in the pan, despite being all light colors. This is actually more impressive than it sounds, because too often lighter colors will look different in the pan but swatch indistinguishable. So to have 9 light colors swatched true to their appearance is rather an accomplished feat, so I'll give them that.

Top row, left to right:

- Jewel White: metallic pearl white.

- Jewel Light Pink: cooler metallic pearl pink, a very close color to the Jewel White.

- Jewel Light Gold: metallic pearl champagne gold.

Middle row, left to right:

- Jewel Green: metallic pearl sea foam green with a green iridescent sheen.

- Jewel Pink: metallic pearl princess pink.

- Jewel Gold: metallic pearl champagne gold, slightly darker than the Jewel Light Gold above.

Bottom row, left to right:

- Jewel Ocean: metallic pearl baby blue with a slight bluish purple iridescent sheen.

- Jewel Violet: metallic pearl, appears more lilac and not so much violet to me. What do you think?

- Jewel Beige: metallic pearl beige, goes on me with some peach.

See my previous VOV Castledew Diacut Cheek post.

Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser

2012-02-13T01:15:00.003-05:00

I'm almost 2/3 of the way through this 50 mL/1.7 fl oz. pump bottle of Instant Foaming Cleanser from the Caudalie Limited Edition Favorites Collection, which also includes 30 mL/1 fl oz. Beauty Elixir, 75mL/2.5 fl oz. Hand and Nail Cream, and a full size Lip Conditioner.

The back of the bottle says this cleanser is soap free, parabens free, and gas free, and while I don't understand the last of these claims at all (no gas? what gas?), from the ingredients list I see that it does not contain any parabens or sulfates. It is indeed a very mild yet effective cleanser, and despite the "instant foaming" in its name, it actually doesn't foam much at all, much like The Body Shop Aloe Gentle Face Wash. Sure, a pump does produce a bit of foam, but the foam is rather thin and dissipates quickly. When the cleanser is being massaged into the skin, there won't be much foamy action and if this is what you're looking for, you won't get it with this cleanser.

However, it doesn't mean this cleanser can't cleanse well. It does, and I like it a lot! The scent smells more like fragrant cucumber than grape, but I don't mind it so much ^.^ Just that this tiny 50mL bottle retails for $14, and while that doesn't sound much, only 3 weeks' worth of nightly use already zipped through 2/3 of the bottle! So I'd say it's a bit expensive when purchased individually, which only make this Caudalie Favorites Collection all the more of a great deal!

Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser:
AQUA (WATER), GLYCERIN*, SODIUM COCOYL GLUTAMATE*, CAPRYLYL/CAPRYL GLUCOSIDE*, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINAMIDE MEA CHLORIDE*, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), COCO-BETAINE*, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CITRIC ACID*, POTASSIUM SORBATE, SODIUM METHYL COCOYL TAURATE*, SODIUM COCOYL ISETHIONATE*, SODIUM PHYTATE*, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, SALVIA OFFICINALIS (SAGE) LEAF EXTRACT*, CHAMOMILLA RECUTITA (MATRICARIA) FLOWER EXTRACT*, VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) FRUIT EXTRACT*, CITRONELLOL, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, LINALOOL. (012/050) *Origine végétale - Plant origin
***List of ingredients from Caudalie USA.

Oro Gold Cosmetics 24K Golden Body Scrub

2012-02-12T01:01:00.002-05:00

I received this huge tub of 300mL of Oro Gold Cosmetics 24K Golden Body Scrub as a gift from mum in law and have been using it off and on whenever I come home for a visit. I guess it's about time I review it. I'm sure I have at least one picture of this scrub somewhere, but until I go through my library again and find it, a stock picture will have to do for now. Sorry!

***Picture from Oro Gold Cosmetics USA.

This is a sea salt scrub for the body that is mixed in an oil solution (a mix of jojoba and coconut oil, I believe) for maximum moisturizing effect. At first I didn't really like the oils because even after rinsing my skin still felt filmy and greasy, but with my last two visits home when the weather was colder and dryer, I finally learned to appreciate what the oils do for my dry skin. Also, I figured out that this scrub is best used at the very last minute right before I step out of the shower instead of at the beginning or even in the middle of shower. This way, I was able to retain most of that oil on my skin and not get it all melted off by the warm water throughout the shower. Then after getting out I just gently dabbed dry with a towel, taking care not to wipe off all the oils. This had actually allowed me to skip body cream/lotion altogether while still keeping my freshly exfoliated skin super soft and adequately moisturized.

So needless to say, I do like this salt scrub a lot. However, like the Body Shop Exfoliating Skin Towel, the sea salt is quite rough on the skin and I couldn't use it as often as I would like. Too much of a good thing can be bad anyway, so as much as I want to scrub up everyday I didn't. Another thing with any salt scrub is that if you have a cut on your skin, it will sting. Sounds easy enough to avoid, right? Not so. On days when I didn't moisturize well, my dry skin itched, and when it did, I scratched. And scratching broke the skin of course, which then get stung like hell when I used this salt scrub. This cycle was repeated more often than I would like, so no, not fun at all.

Fragrance wise, I got the "Devotion" scent and I have to say it smelled quite nice. Very relaxing but uplifting at the same time with an exotic mix of sensual flower and brisk sea breeze, it made me feel like I was taking a dip at the beach of some remote island. As for the 24 karat gold that was supposedly infused into the scrub, erhh...not sure about that part. First of all, I wouldn't know what this "gold infuse" should look like, because from the scrub itself, it wasn't exactly obvious there was any "gold" in it, or did the scrub even look "golden." It just looked exactly as it does in that picture above, and you can't see any "gold" other than the words printed onto the tub, can you?

What I'm saying is that I wouldn't recommend dropping the $68 plus tax to buy this salt scrub for the "gold." If you would like to treat yourself to a luxurious salt scrub however, that would be an entirely different story, one where you can probably source else where only for much cheaper. Just be prepared to receive older stock if you do buy it online (Amazon, Ebay, etc.).

The Body Shop Exfoliating Skin Towel

2012-02-11T03:41:00.002-05:00

I bought this Body Shop Exfoliating Skin Towel because hubby likes shower scrubs but hates the fruity or sweet scents that usually comes with the body exfoliators I buy (think The Body Shop Body Polishes, L'Occitane Polishing Shower Gels, Caudalie Crushed Cabernet Scrub, etc.). I don't blame him, as I agree some of those scrub are overly perfumy as well. So when I spotted these, I knew he'd like them and he does. I do too ^.^

***Picture from The Body Shop USA.

This Exfoliating Skin Towel works great, but I do think it's a bit rough on the skin. Hubby likes it so much though that he started using it every day and I had to tell him to curb it down a bit. He now uses it only a couple of times a week while I use it only once a week on the weekend. Unlike a bath puff, it doesn't produce tons of foam from our soap or body wash, but it does make a little bit of soap goes a long way.

That said, after a couple of weeks of hubby's daily use before he scaled it down to a couple of times a week, the towel is already showing signs of shedding on the 2 side edges. So the towel is not the most sturdy stuff, even if it's tough on the skin. Hopefully with significantly reduced weekly use, it will last a bit longer.

Kate Dual Carat

2012-02-10T05:01:00.002-05:00

I had these Kate Dual Carats on hand for the longest time but have only been using them recently. There were quite a few color combinations for these duos available back then, but I bought only 8, skipping the ones I thought I wouldn't like. Looking back now I wish I hadn't skipped them, especially that PU-1 purple combo. Oh well...

Texture wise these are smooth and blend well, though with some inconsistency in pigmentation. The finish is sparkly of course ^.^, though there are variations here too. Some colors have more shimmers than others, some are sparkly top washes even and aren't meant to be used all over the lids. I have experienced some shimmer fall outs from the sparklier colors, especially the top washes, but otherwise no fall outs from the others. They last for several hours on me before creasing, however for some reason they crease within 30 minutes when I use Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Creme underneath my sunscreen. Something in the Estee Lauder eye cream just breaks down both these eye shadows as well as my sunscreen like nobody's business.

Kate Dual Carats in BK-1 and BR-1. All pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.

BR-2 and BR-3

GD-1 and GD-2

SV-2 and WT-1

My honest opinion is that these eye shadow duos are kind of awkward to use. Most of them consist of a medium crease color and a light base/highlighter color, which means you'll need an a separate liner. However, there are some duos that have only light colors, which aren't very useful, because then you'll need both a separate crease color as well as a liner. And then there are some duos that have a light color and a more pigmented color that's along the line of a liner, which then leaves you looking for a separate medium crease shade.

- BK-1: both the colors in this combo are darker than they appear in the pan. That means the lighter color is a shade too dark to be used as a highlighter. Heck, it's already pushing the edge as a base! Mean while, the darker color is too dark to be used as a medium crease shade and really should be a liner color instead.

- Left: shimmer, medium intensity. Despite its silvery smokey gray appearance, it's more of a smokey charcoal. See the swatch for yourself! It's really quite dark for a crease shade and makes a better liner color instead. The first time I dabbed this onto my lids the only thing I could think of was, "Crap, damage control time!" Then I proceeded to try and lift as much of the color off as possible by wiping off my brush after blending. Yeah, it's now used exclusively as a liner color.
- Right: metallic, low intensity. Again this one is also deceiving as a metallic silver in the pan when it actually has more gray, so it is a tad too metallic and dark to highlight the brow bones or the inner corners of the eyes. It's okay as a base, though I do prefer my base color to be sheerer as well.

- BR-1: a warm brown combo that's also on the pigmented side. I was afraid the colors might turn reddish on me since they look very warm in the pan, but luckily they don't.

- Left: shimmer, medium intensity. Appears a caramel brown in the pan but turns more of a coffee brown on me. Although this color is pigmented, it is a medium crease color and is not dark enough to use as a liner.
- Right: metallic, medium intensity. A nice brownish nude beige that is actually quite pigmented for a base/highlighter. In fact, it's too dense and therefore might be frosty for highlighting the brow bones, but it does make a good base color.

- BR-2: this is a pretty pink brown combo that's popular among the Japanese ladies here.

- Left: shimmer, medium intensity. A taupe brown with pink undertone.

- Right: metallic, very sheer. A pale petal pink that's too translucent for a base color. However, this translucency makes it a decent highlighter brow bones and inner corners of the eye, even though it's metallic. I wanted to use it as a sparkly top wash too, but shimmers in it are too fine for that purpose. There are some shimmer fall out with this shade.

From top to bottom: BK-1, BR-1, and BR-2. Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- BR-3: a very pretty taupe and off-white combo that's probably my most favorite duo out of the bunch. That said, the taupe color is unfortunately not as pigmented as the previous thee duos, but still I like it.

- Left: shimmer, low intensity. A gorgeous silvery taupe with purple undertone. It's not as pigmented as a medium crease shade should be, but it still works for me so I'm not complaining :P

- Right: shimmer, very sheer. An off-white that's even more translucent than the pink in BR-2 above, making it terrible as a base but a good highlighter. Again I tried using this as a sparkly top wash but the shimmers are too fine and didn't pop. There are also some shimmer fall out with this shade.

- GD-1: a warm burnish gold combo with metallic and metallic pearl finish, which sets it apart from the other duos that have only 1 metallic shade at most.

- Left: metallic, medium intensity. Burnish gold in the pan but goes on me with some copper too.
- Right: metallic pearl, low intensity. A pale but pearly yellow gold that goes on exactly as it looks in the pan. Makes a very nice base as well as highlighter.

- GD-2: I bought this combo solely for that bright yellow gold. I was hoping it would be something like the yellow gold in the Maquillage x Christopher Kane Jeweling Palettes 10 Noble Glamorous!

- Left: metallic, low intensity. A bright yellow gold that's not as pigmented as I had hoped, and so it goes on more like a golden yellow with the metallic finish isn't very visible, which is really too bad.
- Right: shimmer, very sheer. An ashen white that is actually a sheer sparkly top wash and not meant to be used all over the lids. The very first time I applied this shade all over my lids I was very sorry. Not only it was completely sheer, it left my entire eye area looking like I'd had an accident with the sparklies. There was shimmer fall out everywhere! So yes, for this particular shade, a light dusting is all you need!

From top to bottom: BR-3, GD-1, and GD-2. Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- SV-2: another very similar combo to the BK-1 above, with the silvery slate turning out to be much darker than intended.

- Right: shimmer, medium intensity. Appears a silvery slate in the pan but goes on darker charcoal, just like the charcoal shade in BK-1. It really is too dark for use as a medium crease shade in my opinion and so I use it solely for lining my eyes.

- Left: shimmer, low intensity. A pretty pale lilac that makes a good base and highlighter.

- WT-1: I honestly don't know why I bought this combo back then because it's just 2 light colors that is different in the pan but goes on pretty much indistinguishable, save for their translucency and pigmentation.

- Left: shimmer, low intensity. A translucent cloud pink that goes on pretty much white. Its translucency means a bust for use as a base, but for highlighting it's good.
- Right: semi metallic, medium intensity. A more pigmented semi metallic white that's a tad more opaque, making it a nice base but is perhaps too dense, if not frosty, for highlighting.

Top to bottom: SV-2 and WT-1. Picture taken in natural light without flash.

It's been a while since these Dual Carats were discontinued, so they're much harder to locate and I could only find a few here and there online. Worry not, however, as the current incarnation for these, the Dual Blend Eyes, are supposedly much better in terms of texture and pigmentation and less shimmery for those who are averse to the sparklies in Japanese eye shadows. And the color combos are very similar too, so you're not missing out on anything with these Dual Carats being done away with ^.^

Kate Dual Blend Eyes

***Picture from Kate Japan.

Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Creme

2012-02-09T04:01:00.006-05:00

Just started using my deluxe 5 mL GWP jar of Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Creme about a month ago. I started using this simply out of boredom, because a jar or bottle of eye cream lasts me for a very long time. After more than a year of daily use, I'm still only half way through my huge 1 fl. oz. pump bottle of BeautyMate Nano Eye Essence! If that's any indicative, the current 0.5 fl. oz. pump bottle of Body Shop Nutriganics Soothing Eye Cream will also last for at least a year with my nightly use. So I was bored out of my mind and was itching to try something new, so I did!

This Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Creme is an unscented eye cream that claims to be super moisturizing all the while being light. And it's true that the eye cream is very light and absorbs almost instantly, leaving my eye area amazingly velvety soft. However, it's not heavy or moisturizing enough for night use. I have dry combination skin, so in the winter I prefer a heavier eye cream at night and a lighter one for daytime, especially when a heavier eye creams tend to melt my sunscreen and stain my contact lenses regardless of the season.

So naturally I used this Ultimate Youth Eye Creme during the day instead. It's actually excellent underneath my Allie sunscreen, not too light and not too heavy, just perfectly moisturizing! The problem began when I started applying eye makeup on top of the eye cream and sunscreen's [thoroughly absorbed and dried] layers. I'm not sure what's happening here, but it seems this eye cream is actually selective of my eye makeup! The eye shadows in my current rotation include the 2 VOV Castledew Diacut Eye 6 Colors compacts and the 8 compacts of Kate Dual Carats (will post next), and while this eye cream is perfectly fine with the VOV eye shadows, it seems to not get along with the Kate Dual Carats at all!

Actually, this eye cream together with Kate Dual Carats makes a disastrous combo and my contact lenses would start staining within 30 minutes of completed eye makeup application. If you're wondering how bad it is to walk around with stained lenses, it's the equivalent of driving with a windshield that is slowly freezing up. I was pretty much blind by the time I get home and couldn't wait to get those damn contact lenses out of my eyes so I can see (with blurry vision) again! At first I thought it was the Caudalie Beauty Elixir that contributed to the meltdown and stopped using this spray as makeup base or to set makeup. Nope, still the same results with or without Caudalie Beauty Elixir. Then I thought it was because I had used Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Shadow Pencils to line my eyes on those days, which in itself is a ridiculous conjecture given this stuff wouldn't even come off the back of my hand when rubbed with a freakin' paper towel, but hey, it was worth a try. Nope, still returned home a blind person with or without using these Urban Decay pencils.

I was pretty frustrated at that point, after all, I'd been struggling to attend class and then see my way home everyday for more than a week! So I decided I would go about the experiment a different way trying to pinpoint the culprit who has been melting my sunscreen and stains my contact lenses. I went back to using the BeautyMate Nano Eye Essence underneath the sunscreen, then apply Kate Dual Carat eye shadows as usual. Ha, what do you know, I didn't go blind that day. Embolden, I re-added Caudalie Beauty Elixir as makeup base. Nothing happened that day either. Hell, I even lined my eyes with the Urban Decay pencils, and hmm, I could see perfectly that day too!

So yes, unfortunately it was this eye cream after all that made a terrible combination with Kate Dual Carat, and after this discovery, I stopped using it during the day altogether. Perhaps there was something in the Kate Dual Carat that didn't fare so well with this eye cream, but I'll be honest that I'm not exactly looking forward to find out what other eye makeup will end up with the same blinding results. But other than that random unintended melty effect, this eye cream is actually really nice. The full size jar goes for a whopping $140 for 15mL, which puts my 5mL GWP jar at a little over $46, so I'm not going to throw it out or anything. Instead it will be deferred to summer use at night, when it's hot as hell and I won't be needing any heavy eye cream at all. I can't find it on the Estee Lauder website anymore, so I guess that means it has been discontinued (hmm...I wonder why, a $140 eye cream that melts even the Japanese sunscreen that requires an oil cleanser for complete removal? Why on Earth would they discontinue that?!?).

Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Creme:

Water\Aqua\Eau, C12-20 Acid PEG-8 Ester, Cococaprylate/Caprate, Polyethylene, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, PEG-100 Stearate, Acetyl Glucosamine, Whey Protein\Lactis Protein\Proteine Du Petit Lait, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Calophyllum Inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil, Boswellia, Serrata Extract, Triticum Vulgare (White Bran) Extract, Micrococcus Lysate, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Ascorbyl Tocopheryl Maleate, Trisodium Resveratrol Triphosphate, Trehalose, Acetyl Carnitine HCL, Sucrose, Milk Protein\Lactis Proteinum\Proteine Du Lait, Saccharide Isomerate, Linoleic Acid, Caffeine, Sorbitol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Coleus Forskohlii Root Extract, Decarboxy Carnitine HCL, Camelina Sativa Seed Oil, Creatine, Fructose, Glucose, Ascophyllum Nodosum Extract, Pearl Powder, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, Lecithin, Isomerized Linoleic Acid, Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid, Ethylbisiminomethylguaiacol Manganese Chloride, Padina Pavonica Thallus Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Juice Extract, Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine) Peel Extract, Asparagopsis Armata Extract, Lactose, Hydroxyproline, Yeast Extract\Faex\Extrait de Levure, Proline, Arabidopsis Thaliana Extract, Gold, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Cholesterol, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria), Laurdimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile), Selaginella Tamariscina (Spikemoss) Extract, Glycine, Linolenic Acid, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Xanthan Gum, Silica, Cyclodextrin, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Laureth-8, Behenyl Alcohol, Acrylates Copolymer, Potassium Sulfate, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Sodium Carbomer, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Mica, Yellow 5 (CI19140), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891).

***Stock picture and list of ingredients from Beautyknot.

Jillian Dempsey for Avon Professional Multi-Pencils

2012-02-08T11:03:00.001-05:00

Saw these Jillian Dempsey for Avon Professional Multi-Pencils on clearance and my curiosity got the best of me (it always does, I haven't gotten very far from meenke roots). These are double-ended pencils, one end for eyes, the other for cheeks and lips. Sounds pretty neat, no? I only saw 3 color variations, Twice the Spice, Raspberry Radiance, and Sugar Plum, and I bought all 3 to play with.

Twice the Spice and Raspberry Radiance. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

But I got lucky and these pencils turn out to be great! Both the eye and cheek/lip ends are soft and glide smoothly on my skin without any tugging. The eye pencils go on thicker and more opaque, and while they're not creamy like the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils, they are blendable. The biggest downside is that even though they don't feel greasy, they crease on my upper lids anyway, though that probably has a lot more to do with my upper lids being very oily than with the quality of these pencils. I don't blame them is what I'm saying. To avoid the creasing I use them on my brow bones and lower lash lines instead.

Sugar Plum

The cheeks/lips pencils are more emollient than the eye pencils. Again, they aren't as moisturizing and buttery soft like the Stila Lip Glaze Sticks, but they are for both lips and cheeks and so I can understand why they can't melt like butter upon application. Also, the colors appear to be gradient in terms of translucency and I will note this below with each combo. The more translucent color is better on the lips, and the more opaque color is better on the cheeks. But despite this they are very decent pencils and I like them enough to secure backups via E(vil)bay. Actually E(vil)bay is not so evil in this instant as I got all 3 pencils for a mere $6 ^.^ What a steal!

- Twice the Spice: this is a very warm combination of golden bronze for the eyes and peach for the cheeks and lips. Both the eye end as well as the lip/cheek end in this combo have limited use for me.

- Eye end: golden bronze with gold shimmers. This is the darkest and most opaque eye color in all 3 combinations. However because it creases, I can only use it to liner the outer end of my lower lash line. While it's great for this purpose, I can't use it for anything else. I would totally line my upper lash line with it too, only it's not dark enough and is better as an accent color on the lower lash line.

- Lip/cheek end: a peach with very fine silver shimmers that gives a nice sheen instead of appearing shimmery. However, despite this silvery sheen it is a very warm color. I like it, though it's much better on my lips than on my cheeks as the translucent peach color matches my natural lip color really well. The silvery sheen disappears on my lips, so it goes on a pretty my-lips-but-better color. However, it's precisely because of this translucency that it appears nothing more than a hint of natural color on my cheeks, and I'm fair medium! That means unless you're fair and are going for natural cheeks, it probably won't show at all!

- Raspberry Radiance: I think this was meant to be the neutral combination, however I do think it leans towards warm, at least it does on me. This combo includes a powder pink for the eyes and a warm rose pink for the lips and cheeks, too warm on me to be raspberry but is gorgeous nonetheless! In my opinion, this is probably the best color combination and if you can only get just one of these pencils, get this one! The eye end does wonders as an eye-opener, highlighting the brow bones, the inner corners of the eyes, as well as a makeshift under eye concealer (serious!), while the lip/cheek end really does work on both the lips and the cheeks!

- Eye end: an opaque milky pearly powder pink. Believe it or not this color is really excellent for highlighting the brow bones as well as for the inner corners of the eyes. The few times I didn't get enough sleep and got major dark circles, I used this as under eye concealer also, swiping it a few times and then blend with my fingertips. Too bad it creases on my upper lids, because I bet it'd make a nice eye shadow base too!

- Lip/cheek end: a translucent rose pink that goes on me warmer than intended ^.^ It has shimmers, but the shimmers don't show at all. It is a very pretty blush pink (raspberry, ha!) on my lips and gives a gorgeous flush on my cheeks. Love it!

- Sugar Plum: this third cool color combination is the trickiest to use. It includes an pearly off white and a cooler raspberry (finally ^.^)

- Eye end: a semi-metallic pearly off white. Yes, it's semi-metallic, that means it can't be used to highlight brow bones because it's too frosty. I can only use it to highlight the inner corners of the eyes and even then, I'd have to be careful or it will turn frosty there too.

- Lip/cheek end: an opaque and pigmented cool raspberry pink. This pencil is definitely not for the lips, at least not my lips :P, because it's too opaque. On my lips, its opacity brings out every single flake and crack and that just can't be pretty. On the cheeks it's a nice pigmented blush, though a bit too pigmented for me so I apply it only sparingly.

From top to bottom: Sugar Plum, Raspberry Radiance, and Twice the Spice.

Herbal Essence Touchable Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner Set

2012-02-08T05:34:00.001-05:00

Here's a shampoo I miss! After finishing my bottle of Sea Breeze Shampoo, I picked up this Herbal Essence Touchable Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner Set at my local drugstore.

The scent really brings back some high school/early college memories ^.^ It's that really nice mix of fruity flowery scent that, though on the strong side, is not offensive to me in anyway. Other people might thing differently, but I like it! This Touchable Smooth Shampoo makes my hair nice and soft after rinsing. It's just a tad too moisturizing I'd say because my hair does get a bit oily the next day, but nothing intolerable. If you have dry hair, perhaps this shampoo will be a good match.

Touchable Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner. Visit Herbal Essence's Japanese website!

As for the conditioner, I haven't use it yet as I'm still (still!) working through the bottle of Macherie Air Feel Conditioner and Treatment, with a bottle of Lux Super Rich Shiner Conditioner I haven't even touched! So that is to say I probably won't buy this set again. There are so many other choices out there to try anyway. So far though, the best shampoo I've tried since living in Japan is probably the Lux Super Rich Shine.

Steady January 2012

2012-02-08T02:41:00.001-05:00

My last January issue! This is Steady January 2012 which comes with a large Agnes B. tote ^.^

I really like Agnes B. freebie totes for their cute signature heart and logo print as well as the fact that they are often made with washable cotton canvas or cotton polyester mix rather than just polyester (like the makeup/toiletry travel case that came with June 2011 issue), so this was a must get for me.

I didn't get a "Tsutaya walk-by" this time (let's face it, if I walk by that place too often my tiny apartment would be filled with magazines!), so this freebie tote surprised me in more ways than one. First off, it's huge! My American brains work in inches (haven't gotten with the program yet, have we?), and so even having seen the dimensions for the totes in metric online, the numbers still didn't exactly register ^.^ So when I opened it up, I was taken aback that the tote would easily fit several magazines and then some! So yes, it's big alright, measuring a whopping 29(height) x 45(length) x 13.5(width) cm!

But other than that, it's a nice tote. The fabric feels like a mix of cotton and polyester and is very soft and not rough like cotton canvas. The pale pink heart and glittery silver logo print is really cute, and the tote even comes with matching pink zipper closure with a tiny heart charm attached to the zipper handle. It has very clean and even stitchings, nice craftsmanship overall.

An added bonus to the tote is the lining made of matching polyester fabric and a small inner pocket.

With all that said, I did find 2 major design faults with the tote. First off the handles aren't adequately secured for such a large tote - they are only attached to the tote by a single line of stitching at the tote's opening. So despite the tote being large, it won't be able to carry much weight at all. Secondly the zipper is too thin and flimsy for the tote's large opening. I tested it by putting a few things into the tote, swung it over my shoulders and then tried to get the zipper open and close as if I'm walking down the street and had to get something out of it. As expected, the zipper didn't open and close smoothly at all being way too small. So unfortunately, this will be a nice tote for the gym or to carry your wallet and reusable bags for the grocery, just not the actual groceries. Oh well.

Nice steals.

Ttems that don't look their price tags ^.^ Featuring on this page - knits.

Left - cottons, right - blouses.

Left - one pieces (read: dresses), right - skirts.

Nice finds within 3,000yen (~$39).

Whole outfits for around 12,000yen (~$156).

Coats for your height ^.^

Left - peacoats, right - A-line coats.

Left - down jackets/coats, right - ponchos and capes.

Styling the same coat for three different heights.

Featuring the freebie tote. And really, if you were to stuff the tote as full as it looks in the picture, it will probably fall off of your shoulder.

Onepiece galore on the next several pages.

Coordinates for a girls' night out.

Up-styling your boots.

Sweet January 2012

2012-02-07T01:56:00.001-05:00

This is Sweet January 2012 that comes with a set of Marc by Marc Jacobs pouches and matching calendar. I didn't intend to pick this up, but walking by a Tsutaya with these freebies on display made it extremely difficult to resist.

My experience with Marc Jacobs freebie pouches has been very positive thus far, and these pouches didn't disappoint. They are made with polyester fabric that feels like cotton, padded and well made.

Both of the pouches come with a side loop and a small chain so they can be attached or detached.

The smaller pouch has black letter prints on white background. It measures 12(height) x 19.5(length) cm. As mentioned above it is padded in addition to being lined with black satiny polyester fabric. All inner seams are covered.

The larger pouch has white letter prints on black background. It measures 17.5(height) x 22.5(length) cm, quite a decently sized pouch I'd say! It's also padded and lined with white satiny polyester fabric. All inner seams are also covered.

The calendar is more on the ordinary side. It's just a printed frame with solid color changeable monthly calendar sheets. I think I like the Gelato Pique calendar that came with More January 2012 better. At least that one has a different print with each calendar page.

Featuring the freebie pouches.

These next few pages feature the magazine's models and their favorite knits of the season.

17 days countdown to the year end. Coordinates with the listed pieces.

Street snaps.

More dessert at Denny's Part IV

2012-02-06T05:14:00.001-05:00

Been eating at Denny's a little more often these days, about once every two weeks or so. Sad, yes. Homesick? You bet. I guess that short trip back in late December was too short :(

Hubby ordered a meat loaf, which are called "hamburgers" ^.^ They're quite yummy!

I still haven't gotten over my obsession with omurice so I ordered a chicken and cheese omurice dish.

The rice was tossed in Japanese "ketchup" (which tastes more like tomato sauce, thank goodness!), mixed with bits of chicken, topped with cheese, and then rolled in a jiggly perfectly fried omelette. Yumm...though I think I like the beef and mushroom omurice better.

For dessert I ordered the seasonal special, which is a "creamy" mixed fruits parfait, but this one turned out to be a bust and all the "creaminess" is just a boatload of heavy whip cream. Eeeps!!!

Perhaps they should just stick with what they do best, the special sundaes!

See my previous posts:
- More dessert at Denny's Part III
- More dessert at Denny's Part II
- More dessert at Denny's

The Body Shop Facial Muslin Cloths

2012-02-06T01:32:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post here.

Having received the Rose Mure Facial Cloths for Xmas, I remember I had these Body Shop Facial Muslin Cloths with me and proceeded to dig them out of my cabinets ^.^ I bought a few of these right before they were discontinued and got a kick ass deal!

These come in a set of 3 and are reusable of course. They make a very soft and gentle exfoliator for the face, especially in this drier cold weather when my skin cannot tolerate stronger products. I appreciate that they dry quickly too!

Cook Book Party

2012-02-05T01:04:00.000-05:00

Saturday afternoon hubby and I attended a small and intimate book event for a soon to be released cook book titled Kibo at the author's Tokyo home. It was just a nice way of sampling a few of the recipes in the book and to hear the author talks about it in person. Kibo contains traditional recipes from the Tohoku region, or more specifically Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, the 3 prefectures that were most severely affect by the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami as well as the nuclear crisis that followed. It's a tribute of sorts to the food culture of the region as well as to its residents who have seen been displaced.

The book event was "scholarly," but interesting nevertheless, though I have to admit I was more into the food part rather than the actual coming-together of the book ^.^ We all had a tiny portion of samples of Harako Meshi (Salmon Rice with Salmon Roe), fish sausage, shiso leaf stuffed with a mix of miso and grounded walnuts, a sweet salad made of miso, pears, persimmons, and pine nuts, and a pickled side dish made of enoki and chrysanthemum petals.

The Harako Meshi was good, but I think I like the salmon roe that came with it more :P Even the author admitted to us that the cost of the salmon roe by itself was equal to the cost of all the other ingredients combined. So yeah, you bet it was damn fresh and delicious roe!

My second favorite was the fish sausage, which rather chewy and yummy dipped in wasabi soy sauce. The shiso leaf stuff with miso was very interesting too! The miso used in it is Sendai miso, which has a richer but less salty, almost sweet-salty taste. The specific brand used for the shiso wrap shared the same name as the book, Kibo, and while it was sweet, it was actually lighter than a different Sendai miso the author had us passed around for a taste, for comparison's sake.

The shiso leaf was stuffed with a mixture of Sendai miso and grounded walnuts! It was salty but sweet and nutty at the same time! Very interesting!

Anyway, if you're interested the book is only available in ebook format, and a portion of it is going to Japan's recovery efforts.

An added bonus to the event was a small tidbit from a sake expert and we were introduced to 3 highly regarded sakes from the region: the first was a Kimoto sake from Daishichi of Fukushima Prefecture, which had a clean and brisk taste, the second was Nanbu Bijin sake from Nanbu Bijin of Iwate Prefecture, which had a very light but fragrant and fruity taste, probably the best sake I've ever tasted, and the last and my personal favorite (I'm not much of a drinker, you see) Suzune, a sparkling sake (no joke!) from Ichinokura of Miyagi Prefecture.

Kimoto sake (left) and Nanbu Bijin sake (right)

The packaging for Kimoto sake (left) and Nanbu Bijin (right).

My favorite Suzune sparkling sake. I swear I could have just downed the whole bottle. It was delicious! Like a really fruity and sweet champagne!

Apparently the carbonation isn't added to the sake but occurs naturally due the high amount of sugar in the sake after it was bottled. So the end result isn't sugary sweet as the sugar has been mostly "processed" by the chemical reaction that occurs within the sealed bottle.

Another well known snack from the Tohoku region is these senbeis packaged in funny printed plastic wraps!

Inside there is only a nut and 1 senbei, but the packaging is super cute! Check out my sumo and ninja dudes!

Bean-Throwing Festival

2012-02-04T02:18:00.001-05:00

For the past week my local bento shop had this beautiful poster of these yummy things that look like Oshinko rolls, so hubby and I inquired into it. Turns out those were ehomaki (恵方巻) for the Setsubun (節分), or Bean-Throwing Festival. that is celebrated on February 3 of every year. The "ritual" of the festival is for someone to wear a demon mask standing outside the door, and then the person inside the house would throw a handful of soy beans out the door while reciting, "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内! - Demons out! Luck in!). Supposedly, all evils are chased out this way and the household is kept safe and healthy for the rest of the year.

I was way more interested in the ehomaki than anything else, so Friday night after work I finally caved and grabbed some at the Seven Eleven across the street from my work. And guess what came with the ehomaki I bought - a demon mask and a package of toasted soy nuts ^.^ How cool is that?

What's even cooler is the Feng Shui compass that was attached to the box of ehomaki, because you are supposed to eat these rolls uncut facing the "lucky direction" of your zodiac. According to the ehomaki's cellophane wrapper, the lucky direction this year is north of north west, which is in between "success in life"(出世) and "love" (戀愛) on the fengshui compass. Nice!! xD

Anyway, hubby and I both took a giant bite of our ehomakis in the lucky direction for fun and promptly returned to our Mentalist episode ^.^ It was a nice Friday night ^.^

More January 2012

2012-02-01T07:05:00.003-05:00

It's February already?!? That means I'm behind on my magazine posts T.T

Here's More January 2012 issue that comes with a set of Gelato Pique pouch and tissue holder, and a 2012 calendar.

The pouch and tissue holder set comes in an understated pink, white, and lavender flower print on whisper pink background. The pouch measures 14(height) x 18.5(length) x 6(width) cm and the tissue holder measures 9.3(height) x 12.5(length) cm.

Both are made of laminated polyester with the outer side being satin-like both by appearance as well as by the touch, while the inner side is laminated. They feel thick and well made.

The big pouch is lined with a silvery lilac polyester fabric with matching zipper. All inner seams are covered with even and clean stitching, overall good craftsmanship. The tissue holder is not lined and the inner seams are not covered, but I don't really mind this so much since it's just to hold tissues.

The calendar is one of those desk-top flipping calendar. Nothing special, but nice to have.

The covergirl is the ever-popular Rinka, who has just given birth to a baby boy (I think...). If you haven't noticed, she still had the baby bump in the cover photo. Check out her official blog to see lots of baby pics ^.^

Anyway, the rest of the magazine is unfortunately meh, with shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Some times it makes me wonder how is it that people complain about the Japanese economy being in a slump for the past 2 decades, because all I see around me is crazy shopping!

2000 people voting on the best winter coordinates.

25 days of coordinates on 2 models.

The charcoal versus black turtlenecks.

Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadow Part II

2012-01-27T04:38:00.002-05:00

After my initial excitement with the Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadows, I came back to Plaza in high spirit for one of the newest released palettes 05 Bordeaux Beige BE-2 (there is yet a new release, another 06 Pink Beige palette!). In fact, I had so much confident in this palette that I didn't bother swatching the tester!

Well, big mistake. I really should have played with the tester, because then I would see that all the colors in this palette, while looking more neutral in the pan, would actually turn very warm and reddish on me T.T The funny thing is that they don't make me look terrible, just terri-fying +.+ Keeping up with my nicknames for these palettes, the 02 Chocolate Brown BR-1 is the go-getter, the 03 Pink Beige PK-1 is the girl next door (yes, there are 2 Pink Beige palettes, 03 and now with 06), the 04 Wine Brown WN-1 is the femme fatale, which is already pushing the OL envelope, this 05 Bordeaux Beige BE-2 definitely crashes the scale in the opposite direction of the OL spectrum, and I humbly call it the [more brownish version of] Lady Vengeance. Umm, eeeps?!?

***Picture from Cinemapassion.com.

In all honesty, I look totally badass with these eye shadows on and I would so wear it everyday, just that my definition of a nice morning doesn't involve scaring the crap out of a train full of people O.o So yeah, if the femme fatale is bullying you at the office, this Lady Vengeance palette should make a strong enough statement to get her to back the hell off and keep within five feet away from you at all times ^.^ But other than the obvious downers in the form of a death glare, this palette is just as silky soft in texture and equally pigmented, if not even more so, than the other 4 palettes in the line.

The colors don't look so bad in the pan, do they?

- Left: medium crease shade, shimmer, medium intensity. Appears a fleshy pink beige in the pan, swatched more of a peach with red undertones, and goes on me with a lot more red, almost rusty!

- Middle: base and highlighter, shimmer, medium intensity. A very pale powder pink that is on the cooler side, which totally clashes with the warmer red tones of the other 3 colors in the palettes, which doesn't help my case at all -.-' Also, this color is has the most shimmers out of all the base and highlighter colors in the other palettes.

- Right: medium crease shade, luminous, high intensity. Appears plummy in the pan, swatched a browned red with some plum, and goes on me a potent faded old blood stain color +.+ Sigh.

- Bottom: liner shade, satin, high intensity. Appears a deep plum in the pan, swatched a deep maroon, but goes on me a rustier reddish brown.

See my previous Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadow post.

Stila Kajal Eye Liner Part II

2012-01-26T04:05:00.001-05:00

After my first Stila Kajal Eye Liners post, I was totally excited about the other 4 colors that I had gotten a hold of. I thought they would be similarly metallic or pearly, or at least having some shimmers in them. Turns out all 4 are completely matte without any shimmers at all. But other than that, they all are fantastic!

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

01-Pearl and 03-Tigers Eye

04-Sapphire and 06-Amethyst

- 01-Pearl: matte chalk white, very much like NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil Milk. I haven't actually tried it yet, so I don't know if it's too harsh for lining the inner corners of the eyes or better suited for highlighting the eyebrow bones.

- 03-Tigers Eye: a chocolate brown that not only isn't dark enough for eye lining in my opinion, but also turns reddish brown on me. Oddly enough, I don't hate it, as I find lining my eyes with this and then go over with another brown actually darkens it and makes it look quite natural!

- 04-Sapphire: now this is an interesting color. It swatched a navy, but goes on me a brighter blue. Very pretty!

- 06-Amethyst: this is my favorite ^.^ I've read that it's a plum color, but it swatched more towards the blue-based purple than red-based plum, and then it goes on me violet! What the heck?!? It's awesome!

From left to right: 01-Pearl, 03-Tigers Eye, 04-Sapphire, and 06-Amethyst.

See my previous Stila Kajal Eye Liner post.

Revlon Luxurious Color Diamond Lust Eye Shadow

2012-01-24T04:44:00.001-05:00

Boy I feel like a complete doofus. After returning to Japan I went back to Plaza to pick up the newly released Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadows palettes (yes, 05 Bordeaux Beige and now 06 Pink Beige!), and there I spotted these Revlon Luxurious Color Diamond Lust Eye Shadows on display. Of course their megawatt sparkliness got me all googly-eyed and drooling.

110 Starry Pink. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

To make things worse, out of the 5 shades available, the 100 Celestial Silver was completely sold out and the 110 Starry Pink only had 1 unit left on the shelf. Both testers for the 2 shades were made off with too and I only had the testers for 105 Plum Galaxy, 115 Neptune Star, and 120 Night Sky left to ponder what the other two would have been. So my curiosity got the best of me and I bought the only unit left of 110 Starry Pink. For 1,000yen, which is about $12.50. Now if you've seen these in a US drugstore, you'll know that they retail for a mere $4, or less, half that even, if you're well armed with coupons. So out of curiosity, I paid 3 times the price and then some, for which I feel like a dumbass sucker. So what do I but subsequently bought all 5 colors online via Walgreens, buy 1 get 1 half off and free shipping no less. Argh!!! At least now I'll have the "US drugstore versions" and one "Japanese export version" to compare :P

This 110 Starry Pink is an airy pink and it's okay. I mean, it's meant to be super sheer and sparkly top wash and I love it for being just that. And because of all the shimmers that are on the chunkier almost glittery side, its texture is expectedly gritty, dry, and chalky. There are some shimmer fall-outs though, so I recommend a light handed dusting. That said, I did play around with the tester for the 3 darker colors and the 105 Plum Galaxy, 115 Neptune Star, and 120 Night Sky are definitely more pigmented in addition to being sparkly with less shimmer fall-out. Can't wait till I get these sent me via a home care package ^.^

VOV Castledew Diacut Eyes 6 Colors

2012-01-22T22:22:00.002-05:00

I've been drooling over (not on, mind you) these VOV Castledew Diacut Eyes palettes for a long time, and only over the holidays did I have a chance to use them. There are a two "lines" of these Diacut Eyes palette, so to speak, and they are the 9 Colors and the 6 Colors. The Diacut Eyes 9 Colors line currently has up to 7 palettes, each consists of 3x3 square block powder shadows that are either baked into the same pan (901, 903, 905, ad 906) or pressed in to 9 separate pans (902, 904, and the newest 907). This line was introduced to the market earlier, sometimes in 2009 I think. The Diacut Eyes 6 Colors line was released about a year later and only has 2 palettes (M601-M602), each consists of 6 powder colors pressed into a cool geometric shape in the same pan.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

The Diacut Eyes 9 Colors, from left to right: 901 Planet Diamond, 902 Planet Shine Star, 903 Shine Jewel Dia, 904 Romantic Garnet Dia, 905 Blackish Smoky, 906 Airy Bloom Dia, and the newest 907 Pure Angelism.

The Diacut Eyes 6 Colors: M601 Platina Shinism and M602 Sweet Dia.

***Pictures from VOV Korea.

I have 6 of the 9 Colors palettes, from 901-906, but haven't gotten to these yet. There are simply too many choices with 9 colors and it's going to take me a long time to get a good trial. So I started with the 6 Colors first, since fewer choices mean easier decisions on my part ^.^ So I am reviewing both of the 6 Colors palettes M601 and M602 today.

M601 Platina Shinism and M602 Sweet Dia.

- M601 Platina Shinism: a gorgeous neutral palette that consists of mostly metallics. In addition to having 2 darker colors, it is also much more pigmented than its sister M602 Sweet Dia. I would definitely recommend this palette for just that taupey purple color at top left alone!

Left half, top to bottom:

- Platina purple: metallic, medium intensity. I know the swatch looks really intense, but this silvery taupey purple can actually be worn as a crease color, and it's f*cking gorgeous! I love this color so much! It's such a unique color that the first time I wore it to dinner with a couple of friends whose makeup is always impeccable, they ooh-ed and ahh-ed over it saying they've never seen such a pretty eye shadow color before. Mind you, they complimented the eye shadow color, not my makeup skill :P

- Platina satin: metallic, medium intensity. A very pretty and pigmented metallic beige, but it is neither opaque enough or a dark enough color to be worn on the crease. But it's still a very pretty accent color.

- Platina gold: metallic, low intensity. This champagne gold is definitely a base color, and while it's a tad too metallic to be use to highlight the brow bones, it does work on the inner corners of the eyes.

Right half, top the bottom:

- Platina bronze: metallic, medium intensity. Like the metallic champagne gold above, this beautiful metallic peach is neither opaque enough or a dark enough color to be worn on the crease. But it does make an excellent accent color.

- Platina pink: metallic pearl, low intensity. This pearl pink is great for highlighting the brow bones, inner corners of the eyes, as well as a base color.

- Platina brown: metallic pearl, high intensity. Now this neutral earthy brown makes a kick ass pigmented liner! And there is a lot of it too, making up for the lack of a dark color in the next palette M602 Sweet Dia, and then some.

Left half = top row, right half = bottom row

- M602 Sweet Dia: this palette contains mostly pearls and has unfortunately sheer to low pigmentation. To make things worse, all the colors are light with only one medium crease color (the dark taupe). Basically, it's pretty to look at, but unless you like wearing light colors, you'll hate this palette, because that's all it has, light colors. Even that dark taupe isn't pigmented enough for use as a liner.

Left half, top to bottom:

- Dia Pink: metallic pearl, very sheer. A pearl pink that's great as a base and highlighter.

- Sweet brown: metallic, low intensity. A taupey brown with silver shimmers. This color is all bark but no bite, i.e. it looks darker in the pan than it actually goes on. That said, forget about using it as a liner. It's nowhere dark or pigmented enough for that task, so I go to the brown in the M601 palette instead.

- Sweet lavender: satin, very sheer. A vibrant pearly lavender with bluish purple iridescent sheen, and while it's pretty, it's actually quite frustrating to work with being so sheer. I layered the swatch several times just so it would show up!

Right half, top the bottom:

- Dia mint: metallic pearl, very sheer. A pretty mint green but is another frustratingly sheer color. The swatch was layered several times.

- Dia peach: satin, very sheer. This is a neat pearly peach orange with pink iridescent sheen, but is also very sheer, though it does show up on me better than the other 2 sheer lavender and mint green.

- Sweet yellow: metallic pearl, low intensity. A pretty ivory that makes a nice base and highlighter for the inner corners of the eyes but is too sparkly to use on brow bones.

Left half = top row, right half = bottom row

Marimekko for Avon Palettes

2012-01-20T10:57:00.004-05:00

On this latest home visit, I had a chance to go through some of my things and re-discovered several things that were buried away in them. Among these are 2 brand new Marimekko for Avon palettes that I had totally forgotten about! So what do I do but bring them back to Japan with me?

Marimekko for Avon Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow Palette and Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palette. All pictures taken in door with flash, unless otherwise noted.

I actually have all 4 palettes, as each Poppy Bloom and Poppy Bouquet is actually a pair of Eyeshadow and All-over Face Palettes. However, I bought just the Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow and Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palettes first, found them rather pretty and so went chasing the other Poppy Bloom All-Over Face and Poppy Bouquet Eyeshadow Palettes after. Throw in the fact that I've been moving about for the past 7 years, first across the ocean and back, then across the country and back, then across the ocean again, the later 2 palettes were packed separately from these first 2, and I couldn't find them on this last visit. I don't think I lost them, I hope not at least, but they're somewhere in the mountain of boxes in Grandma's basement that will take me more than just a week to dig out. So yeah, just these 2 for now.

Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow Palette and Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palette.

These palettes were honestly too pretty (and somewhat impractical) to use, and that was why I couldn't bear to touch them back them. Too bad Avon really haven't been keeping their cool and creative limited edition collaborations going, because I remember drooling over the Cynthia Rowley for Avon All Over Face Powder the same way, versus shrugging my shoulders at the more recent collections now. Anyway, I do know cosmetics do expire, and this time around I finally found the courage to "ruin" their perfect surfaces and swatched these Marimekko palettes. I'm actually really amazed that the eye shadows and blush are still very soft and smooth! The pigmentation level is hit and miss though, probably because they're not exactly fresh, and partly because their quality is consistent with most Avon products, i.e., totally hit and miss.

- Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow Palette: just look how pretty this thing is! The black outlines of the flower are actually the plastic compact, so it can be a bit tough to get to the colors in the inner ring, center of the flowers, and that tiny little stem at top right there, but hey, that's just a small detail not worth fussing over. Also, there's only one color in this palette that's pigmented and the rest is sheer. Again, minor detail. It's so pretty to stare at, don't you think? :P

- Big flower: shimmer, medium intensity. A peacock green that pigmented enough to be used as a liner color when layered. It's actually very similar to the peacock green liner in T'estimo Layered Impact Eyes in 03 Beige minus the fine teal shimmers. And because it's not as pigmented as the T'estimo color, it can be used on the crease. Good thing there's plenty of it ^.^
- Bottom flower: satin, very sheer. A muted leaf green with a slight gold sheen and is frustratingly sheer. I layered several times just to get that weak swatch there.
- Right flower: satin, very sheer. A fleshy pink that's sheer like the leaf green.
- Center ring: satin, very sheer. A sheer ecru.

Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palette: I was much more tempted to use this palette, because that golden pink (the big flower) is much more wearable to me than the peacock green in the Eyeshadow Palette. There are 2 pigmented colors in this palette too, so that's one up from the Eyeshadow Palette!

- Big flower: metallic, medium intensity. I'm describing this color in the same format as I would an eye shadow because this metallic pearl pink with gold iridescent sheen is just as beautiful on the eyes as it is on the cheeks. I know it doesn't appear very pigmented in the swatch, because it's not a dark color, but compare it to the dustier pink to the right that's much much sheerer while being darker and you'll see what I mean. I'm happy there's also a lot of this color!
- Center ring: This is definitely a blusher. It's a berry color in the pan but swatched a much brighter plush red pink with a neon pink iridescent sheen that you can't really see from the swatch. But hell, I'm actually glad there's only a ring of it and a tiny section of the stem at top right, because eeek, it's really pigmented! I would swirl just a tad of this color and go over the bottom flower to lighten it up a bit before application.
- Center core: a sheer and translucent off white highlighter. I'm not sure why this color is even here, because I almost dig the whole thing out just get that pathetic and barely visible swatch.
- Bottom flower: another definite blusher, a satiny dusty pink that looks shimmery in the pan but goes on with no apparent shimmers. As you can see, it's also very sheer.

Picture taken in natural light without flash.

Rose & Co Apothecary Salves

2012-01-19T10:37:00.002-05:00

Aside from some really nice Beauty Salves, Rose & Co Apothecary also carries more medicinal balms and salves that are along the lines of vapor rubs and muscle rubs, etc., a few of which I've picked up for myself and for holiday stocking stuffers.

- Zam-Buk Herbal Balm: I kept this one for myself because it looks so...mysterious ^.^ But I haven't used it yet. It's supposedly an antiseptic ointment and, according to the website, has some "amazing powers" and is great for traveling. Alright, I'll keep it with me xD

Zam-Buk Herbal Balm:

Petrolatum, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Oil, Cera Alba, (Beeswax), Pinus Sylvestris (Pine) Oil, Camphor, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Oil, Limonene, Linalool, CI 75810, (Chlorophyll).

- Jack Frost Vapor Rub: I come from the land of Tiger Balms so vapor rubs are no strangers to me. This was a stocking stuffer so no pictures of what it actually looks like inside.

Jack Frost Vapor Rub:

Petrolatum, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus)Oil, Pinus Sylvestris (Pine) Oil, Mentha Piperata (Peppermint) Oil.

- Red Devil Balm: and English version of Tiger Balm, so to speak. It was also a stocking stuffer.

Red Devil Balm:

Petrolatum, Mentha Piperata (Peppermint) Oil, Melaleuca Cajaputi (Cajaput) Oil, Eugenia Caryophyllata (Clove) Oil, Cinnamomum Camphora, Cinnamomum Zeylanicum.

- Dr. Rose Salve Set: this was dad in law's stocking stuffer. After decades of some hardcore computer programing the man's retired and is now a carpenter, making wood furnitures for his family. When I saw him in late September/early October, his hands were in terrible shape. They were dry, and his fingertips were all cracked up and bleeding. So I thought this might help a little bit.

From left to right: Dr. Rose Foot Salve, Joint Muscle Rub, and Gardener's Salve.

Dr. Rose Foot Salve:

Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Sheanut Butter), Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Geraniol*, Limonene*, Linalool*. *Natural components of Essential Oils.

Dr. Joint Muscle Rub:

Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Sheanut Butter), Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Oil, Pinus Sylvestris (Pine) Leaf Oil, Methyl Salicylate, Vetiveria Zizanoides (Vetiver) Root Oil, Valeriana Officinalis (Valerian) Root Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Geraniol*, Limonene*, Linalool*. *Natural components of Essential Oils.

Dr. Rose Gardener's Salve:

Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Sheanut Butter), Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, CI 75810 (Chlorophyllin-copper complex), Citral*, Limonene*, Geraniol*, Linalool*,Citronellol*. *Natural components of Essential Oils.

***All lists of ingredients from Rose & Co Apothecary UK.

Rose & Co Apothecary Aromatherapy Creams

2012-01-18T11:24:00.002-05:00

Over the fall when I was placing an order with Rose & Co Apothecary for some salves for myself as well as for holiday stocking stuffers (will post next), I spotted a couple of interesting items from their Aromatherapy Creams section so I thought I pick up a couple of things too. And plus the brown glass jars they come in looked simple and cute, and they weren't too expensive ^.^

My sister has stubborn eczema on her feet that is easily aggravated especially in this dry and cold weather, so I bought her the Tea Tree & Cypress Foot Cream to try. This is actually a bit of a risk, because while both tea tree and cypress essential oils have anti-fungal and antiseptic properties, both are also skin irritants and can be very drying, so in the end, these oils in the cream might make her eczema worse. But my sister was willing to try it! She's, erh, adventurous, I guess.

Tea Tree & Cypress Foot Cream

Anyway, so she did use the Foot Cream, and reported that while it didn't help her eczema, it didn't make it worse. Phew! But, she also reported an unexpected side effect - tanning. She said she applied the cream all over her feet and then lounged around in her living room where the sun was shining in through a window and -woh- her feet tanned like crazy. So I looked up tea tree and cypress oils again, and turns out they can be photosensitizers when applied topically on the skin. Oops. I should have done research on the ingredients before buying this cream for my sister :X I went back to Rose & Co Apothecary's website, and although the product description page did say apply nightly, it didn't explain why. You know how some skincare products would actually say warn you to stay out of the sun because the product makes your skin more sensitive to sunlight? Hmm...

Aromatherapy Tea Tree & Cypress Foot Cream:

Aqua, Capric/Caprylic Triglycerides, Cetearyl Wheat Straw Glucosides & Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Polysaccharide & Ethylhexyl Stearate & Trieceth-6, Phenoxyethanol, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree), Cupressus Sempervirens (Cypress), Mentha Piperata(Peppermint), Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh), Methylparaben, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropane-1, 3-Diol.

***List of ingredients from Rose & Co Apothecary UK.

Post Shave Soother

Another thing I bought is this Post Shave Soother for hubby, though I haven't given it to him yet. And now that I know tea tree can cause photosensitivity, I'm not sure I want to. Hubby loves the sun and refuses to wear sunscreen, and would bask in the sun sitting at his desk or takes a nap on the bed in the sun, yes, like a kittie. So I guess I'm a bit concerned, and until I can figure out what to do to help with the photosensitivity, I'll store this cream away.

Post Shave Soother:

Aqua, Capric/Caprylic Triglycerides, Cetearyl Wheat Straw Glucosides & Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Polysaccharide & Ethylhexyl Stearate & Trieceth-6, Phenoxyethanol, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender Oil), Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree Oil), Methylparaben, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropane-1, 3-Diol.

***List of ingredients from Rose & Co Apothecary UK.

Perfumes etc.

2012-01-17T11:00:00.003-05:00

On my quick visit home I had a chance to go through my moving boxes and found a few interesting item ^.^ I ended giving these away to my mum because she loves perfumes and I don't care much for them, but I thought I'd post these pictures anyway :)

One of the items was the Versace Pour Femme Coffret Set, which was a Sephora Insider 100-points deluxe sample I believe. Either way, I thought I was going to use it, but obviously it ended up being forgotten :( Oh well, at least it is being appreciated now.

Versace Pour Femme Coffret Set

For a while, I kept stumbling onto these cute little solid perfumes by Victoria's Secret. Have you ever tried these? When I finally picked up a couple, I lost interest and they sat unopened and untouched. They're in my mum's purse now ^.^

Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Solid Perfume

Victoria's Secret Sexy Little Things Noir Solid Perfume

Caudalie Beauty Elixir

2012-01-16T02:47:00.002-05:00

Been using this Caudalie Beauty Elixir daily since my holiday home visit so it's about time I post a review for it. This is a 30 mL/1 fl oz. glass bottle with a spritzer that comes in the Caudalie Limited Edition Favorites Collection, which also include a 75mL/2.5 fl oz. Hand and Nail Cream, 50 mL/ 1.7 fl oz. Instant Foaming Cleanser, and a full size Lip Conditioner.

The Caudalie Limited Edition Favotites Collection

This is a multi-purpose face mist that's supposedly can be used as a makeup base, to set makeup, for toning, as a day time facial freshener, or even as an aftershave for men! That's a huge claim for an innocuous spray that looks like, umm, water. Seriously, it looks like water in a spritz bottle, although if you examine the liquid inside closely you'll see that there's a thin layer of what looks like a greenish oil floating at the surface. And indeed there are several oil ingredients in this spray (rosemary leaf oil, peppermint oil, balm mint leaf oil, and rose flower oil, see list of ingredients below) and you're supposed to shake the bottle before spraying with your eyes closed. And do keep your eyes closed for a few seconds after too, folks, because otherwise those oils will burn, especially the peppermint! That was what happened to me the few times I opened my eyes too quickly after spraying when the mists were still flying around. Ouch.

But that's about all there is to complain about this Beauty Elixir. Spraying this on the first time, I thought the minty herbal scent was a bit strong, but then it grew on me unexpectedly quickly and now I actually look forward to smelling it every morning. The spraying part is a bit tricky. At first I sprayed it straight from the front, and while my forehead, nose, lips, and chin got a nice mist, the rest of my face, i.e. the two sides, totally missed out. So now I spray once on each side just to be fair ^.^

I also tried different ways of layering this Beauty Elixir spray. I first tried it on freshly cleansed bare skin, and not only it made my skin velvety soft, it made everything else that went on after less sticky (Mameshiba Soy Milk Isoflavone Glutinous Moist Lotion) or greasy (DHC Olive Leaf Cream). In short, on bare skin it really does help with skincare absorption thereafter. Then I tried it on top of my Allie sunscreen on a few days when I was too lazy to apply makeup, and while there wasn't any touchable result as there was when it was used on bare skin, it did prolong the sunscreen's semi-matte finish late into the night, which is totally impressive since Allie by itself already keeps my face oil free until after dinner, 7-8 PM!

After that I used it to set my makeup, and oddly enough, it didn't make any difference here as if I hadn't sprayed anything on at all! By the late afternoon, my t-zones still got some oil and my makeup still turned a bit hazy as it blended with the oil and was no longer looking fresh. Do keep things in perspective though, as I've been going to school 5 days a week, and my full facial regiment (skincare, sunscreen, and makeup) is on by 8:30 AM. So late afternoon is really not bad at all, and to be fair the credit should belong to Allie, which is the sole reason I never cared for any makeup base or makeup setting sprays before. Just that right now I happen to have this Beauty Elixir here to experiment with, that's all ^.^

Which brings me to its final trial as a makeup base, spraying it over the Allie sunscreen like before, let it dry, then applied makeup on top. I figured it did prolong Allie's semi-matte finish without the makeup, so it just might work with the makeup on too. Fortunately, I was right this time around ^.^ With Beauty Elixie as an extra layer, my makeup stayed fresh for even longer than it did with just Allie as base! Totally awesome! So you bet I've been using it as a makeup base since. Actually, I even went and bought another big 3.4 fl oz. bottle from Dermstore, which is currently on sale for $28.99 at 37% off retail ^.^ A nice product for a nice price, considering the 1 fl oz. bottle I'm using already goes for $16 by itself (and I definitely wouldn't pay the 3.4 fl oz.'s $46)! Scored!

Caudalie Beauty Elixir:
AQUA (WATER), ALCOHOL*, CITRUS AURANTIUM AMARA (BITTER ORANGE) FLOWER WATER*, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE)*, ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS (ROSEMARY) LEAF OIL*, POTASSIUM ALUM, GLYCERIN*, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) OIL*, COMMIPHORA MYRRHA EXTRACT*, STYRAX BENZOIN RESIN EXTRACT*, MELISSA OFFICINALIS (BALM MINT) LEAF OIL*, ROSA DAMASCENA FLOWER OIL*, VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) FRUIT EXTRACT*, TOCOPHEROL*, CITRAL*, CITRONELLOL*, FARNESOL*, GERANIOL*, LIMONENE*, LINALOOL*. (010/018) *Origine végétale - Plant origin
***List of ingredients from Caudalie USA.

DHC Olive Leaf Cream

2012-01-15T04:42:00.003-05:00

I have a few sample sachets of DHC Olive Leaf Cream that fill more than half a small jar and this is just the perfect season to use them up ^.^ I use this cream mostly as an intensive night moisturizer every other 2 nights or during the day on the weekends as I lounge around the house.

***Picture from DHC North America.

Honestly, my first thought upon touching this cream is, eeps, this is serious sh*t! Despite its glossy appearance, this is a heavy cream that is thick and greasy to the touch. It has a funny scent too that is a mixture of cream, oil, and chemical with a whiff of alcohol. In short, I can't believe I've been putting this stuff on my face! ...But it's actually not that bad ^.^ It fact, it's quite a decent intensive cream that does absorb well and is only slightly greasy when I over apply. So really, I only need a tiny little dab for each region of my face (forehead, sides, and chin area), and the tiny little re-used Clinique All About Eyes Rich sample jar has been lasting me for a couple of months now! I especially appreciate that it doesn't turn my face into a oil field the next morning, which happens every now and then even with a light moisturizer (I have dry combination skin with dry cheeks and oily t-zones). If anything, it makes my skin supple and soft and I can actually see the plumpness around my cheek and under eye area that can look dry and withered if I don't take care to moisturize adequately. I like this cream!

I guess this means I will be watching DHC for a promotion ^.^ Yep, I like this cream enough to want to buy the full size 1.4 oz. jar, which will probably last me for freakin' ever! Considering how much I use each time, I guess even paying the retail price wouldn't be that bad, but of course I'm cheap so I don't want to pay retail, ever :P

DHC Olive Leaf Cream:
Water/aqua/eau, butylene glycol, ethyl oleate, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, squalane, glyceryl stearate SE, caprylic/capric triglyceride, stearic acid, pentylene glycol, lanolin, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, sodium PCA, glyceryl stearate, sucrose stearate, batyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, behenyl alcohol, dimethicone, tocopherol, sodium citrate, potassium hydroxide, serine, allantoin, stearyl glycyrrhetinate, panax ginseng root extract, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, biosaccharide gum-1, retinyl palmitate, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, royal jelly extract, arachis hypogaea (peanut) oil, menthol, hydrolyzed rye phytoplacenta extract, citric acid.
***List of ingredients from DHC North America.

Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss

2012-01-14T03:42:00.005-05:00

Update Saturday January 14, 2012.

I was cleaning up my photo library and stumbled onto these pictures I took of Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss way back in 2007, so I thought I'd post them up ^.^

- First Blush: this was my favorite color because it was a perfect my-lips-but-better and I never needed a mirror to apply it ^.^

- Glam: I wear this color when I wanted to "dress up" a little. That goes to show how little makeup I wore back then, no? Ha, how things have changed xD

- Sweet Nothing: I wore this one like a lip balm!

-----------------------------------------
Original post Monday January 9, 2012.

Another goody I received from Citrine is the Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss in 953 Hi-tech Plum.

This is my very first lip gloss from Maybelline, and over all my 4th American drugstore lip gloss after Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss, L'Oreal Paris Colour Juice Sheer Juicy Lip Gloss, and Boots No 7 High Shine Lip Gloss (well, not exactly American, but whatever :P).

My holiday swap with Citrine :) All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss in 953 Hi-tech Plum

- L'Oreal Paris Colour Juice Sheer Juicy Lip Gloss: back in college I bought a bunch of these when they first came out. They caught my eyes being a total knock off of Lancome Juicy Tubes when the latter was all the rage back then. And funny how L'Oreal ripped off of their own brand, as they own Lancome as well... Anyway, I didn't like these at all, though I don't know whether their formula has changed for the better now. Chances are they might have improved a whole lot, but back then, wearing the gloss was the equivalent of walking around with a fly trap on my lips. They were so incredibly sticky, and I have a very high tolerant for sticky glosses, having put up with Stila Lip Glazes and It Glosses for example. But after a while, even I couldn't take these anymore and got rid of them all. I never tried any other lip products from L'Oreal Paris since.

***Pictures from Buymebeauty.com and Giveusfreestuff.com.

- Boots No 7 High Shine Lip Gloss: I used these during my college days as well. Heard many good things about them from my friends and gave them a try. Of course, one of them being the most perfect yellow-based red gloss I've ever found that went on with just the perfect translucency and pigmentation helped pushed my buying impulse along. The glosses themselves weren't sticky at all either. The problem? The colors faded within 30 minutes, and as beautiful as the glosses went on, they totally sheered out as if they all were clear to begin with! A total disappointment and these too ended up in the trash. Again, this was a long time ago and these may very well have improved greatly, not that I actually know. The picture below is of the latest version of the gloss, as I could not find a picture of the old packaging anywhere on the web.

***Picture from Boots No 7 USA.

- Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss: these are the best drugstore glosses of all the ones I have tried back then. They had a jelly-like texture that not only was not sticky but was glossy and moisturizing. Their lasting power was great, and their color stayed on for a few hours before fading. In fact, I took these with me to Japan during my first stint living here! That said, they had a funny chemically scent that I didn't like, and they seem to go bad faster than any other glosses I own, drugstore or otherwise. Their caps leaked repeatedly on me, having been thrown around in my book bag, work bag, etc., which might have been the cause. So after struggling to use them up prior to their expiration, I simply gave up and moved on. Again this was my experience during late and post college and may not be the case at all now. I had them when they were still in the plastic square tubes, but their newest packaging sure look a lot more fancy!

Old versus new packaging

***Pictures from Amazon.com (left) and Neutrogena (right).

- Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss 953 Hi-tech Plum: now this gloss truly impresses me. The formula is like a jellied-gloss, in between a jelly and a gloss, but non-sticky, glossy, and moisturizing all the same. This particular color is pigmented too. It's a semi opaque potent bright fuchsia that swatches and goes on exactly as it appears in the tube. I put this on one afternoon while lounging around, and to my surprise at dinner time a few hours later, the color was still as fresh as if the gloss was just applied. Color sensational indeed! Some drugstore glosses will be in order on my next home visit, folks! Too bad it seems this color 954 Hi-tech Plum is no longer available. I just checked Maybelline's website and didn't see it at all. That said, Citrine had reviewed Salsa Sun, a gorgeous bright orange red, for which I am now the hunt ^.^ Want!!!

Maybelline mystery lipsticks 825 Fruit Punch, D104 Peach Colada, and ColorSensational Lip Gloss in 953 Hi-tech Plum.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter

2012-01-13T09:47:00.003-05:00

The last installment from my swap with Citrine is the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter. After drooling over all the pretty swatches online for a few months, I decided I must try these and thank goodness Citrine was willing to spoil me. These Lip Butters are relatively new to the drugstore tinted balm market, having been out only since the fall (September I think?) of 2011. However, it seems they are quite on demand. There are in some 20 shades available but it seems many of those shades, if not most, are constantly sold out. That could very well be the result of all the hype on the internet, but monkey sees, monkey does, and that's me ^.^

My swap with Citrine. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

I received a total of 6 colors (from left to right): 001 Pink Truffle, 025 Peach Parfait, 045 Cotton Candy, 050 Berry Smoothie, 070 Cherry Tart, and 085 Sugar Plum.

These come in a lipstick tube with translucent plastic caps. And despite the plastic-y feel of their caps, I was surprised to find the inner twist tube a lot more substantial and may be even sturdier than many other lipsticks I own! I especially like it that when you twist to lower the balm stick, it actually clicks in securely at the base. I rarely sees this clicking feature with my lipsticks, if at all, so on this point alone its packaging wowed me!

As for the balms themselves, I think like them. A lot. Upon first application their smooth and buttery texture instantly reminded me of my favorite Clinique Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick! I was incredulous of course, so I pulled the Clinique Butter Shine out and tested them both side by side, each on one side of my lips ^.^ Haa, the Clinique Butter Shine still won in terms of buttery thickness, but Revlon Lip Butter came pretty darn close, which totally impressed me and I'm so, so, so glad I got my hands on them, thanks to Citrine. In addition, both Clinique Butter Shine and Revlon Lip Butter were similarly moisturizing, gave a nice glossy sheen, and lasted good few hours while keeping my lips nice and soft. Luuuurv.

001 Pink Truffle and 025 Peach Parfait

I would say the biggest difference between Clinique Butter Shine and Revlon Lip Butter is the pigmentation level, and yes, I know I'm not being fair in my comparison since the former is marketed as a moisturizing lipstick while the latter a tinted balm. After a couple hours of wear, the Clinique Butter Shine became more of a lipstick with its color still going strong while loosing some of its shine, all the while the Revlon Lip Butter retained its shine, but lost some of its color.

045 Cotton Candy and 050 Berry Smoothie

All that said, in terms of daily wear I actually prefer the Revlon Lip Butter over Clinique Butter Shine, precisely because the latter is so pigmented. Sure, I'd grab it to stain my lips (one layer on the lower lip and press to spread), but like the Maybelline Baby Lips, I don't need a mirror to apply these Revlon Lip Butters (with the exception of 070 Cherry Tart) and I usually just swipe them on as I rush out to the train station in the early morning ^.^ So in the end, it's really these Revlon Lip Butters (001 Pink Truffle, 025 Peach Parfait, 050 Berry Smoothie, and 085 Sugar Plum) that I carry with me and reach for all the time.

070 Cherry Tart and 085 Sugar Plum

I do have one complaint with these Lip Butters, however. There isn't much product in each of these tubes. The first thing I noticed when I twist these up all the way is that the actual balm sticks were really short! That was when I actually checked their contents and compared them to my other lipsticks. Turns out each of these Revlon Lip Butters retails for $7.49 but only contains 0.09 oz./2.55 g's worth of product. That's almost 1/3 less product than your average lipstick, which is usually anywhere from 0.12 oz./3.5g (Clinique, Korres, L'Occitane, Lancome, etc.) to 0.15 oz./4.2g (Maybelline)! So considering their price versus the product content, these Revlon Lip Butters are actually some expensive drugstore tinted balms, and especially so when other drugstore lipsticks run for just about the same price! If you're looking for color, forget these and definitely go for the actual lipsticks!

- 001 Pink Truffle: this one confused the heck out of me. It swatched an opaque and pigmented orangey brown but then goes on me as mauvey as it looks in the tube, only sheerer. I actually need to apply at least 2-3 layers on my lower lips to get enough color for both lips.

- 025 Peach Parfait: though this one swatched more pink than peach, it goes on a beautiful translucent pinky peach that's obviously warm, even if it has silver shimmers! It matches my natural lip color pretty well, so it's definitely one of those my-lips-but-better colors that I just can't over apply even if I tried ^.^

- 045 Cotton Candy: a cool translucent pearly shell pink but has gold iridescent shimmers, the opposite with Peach Parfait above being warm but has silver shimmers. The interesting thing about this color is that it has more of a satiny finish instead of a glossy sheen like the others.

- 050 Berry Smoothie: swatched a warm rose but goes on a brighter and cooler carnation pink. Very pretty!

- 070 Cherry Tart: this one goes on exactly as swatched, a bright but translucent blue-based strawberry red. If I layer it, I get an even brighter poinsettia red! This is the only color I can't apply without a mirror, so I don't carry it with me in my purse ^.^

- 085 Sugar Plum: this one is interesting. It looks obviously plummy in the tube but swatched mauvey, and yet it goes on me a translucent wine color with some purple!

From left to right: 001 Pink Truffle, 025 Peach Parfait, 045 Cotton Candy, 050 Berry Smoothie, 070 Cherry Tart, and 085 Sugar Plum.

Maybelline Baby Lips

2012-01-12T03:45:00.002-05:00

One of main attractions in my swap with Citrine are these Maybelline Baby Lips. Seeing these all over the Japanese drugstore really peaked my curiosity and all the good things I've read about them helped. I got 5 different "colors": 010 Peppermint, 015 Cherry Me, 020 Grape Vine, 025 Pink Punch, and 030 Peach Kiss.

My swap with Citrine. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

010 Peppermint

Baby Lips are tinted lip balms that glide on smoothy on with a sheer wash of translucent color in a semi glossy finish, giving lips the "wet" feeling with the slippery texture that has been the norm among lip balms in Japan for these past several years (Shiseido, Mentholatum, Nivea, etc.). These promise 8 hours of hydration with SPF20, and while I can't comment on the SPF part, unfortunately the 8 hours of hydration is definitely an exaggeration. On me, these are just a tinted and slightly better version of Softlips Lip Conditioners. They have some color, feel nicer, and last a whole 45 minutes longer than Softlips, for a total of 1 hour. Regardless of how much or how little I apply, and no matter what I do, or rather don't do, as in not talking, not eating, not pressing my lips together too often, etc., they just evaporate from my lips after an hour or so. And I say evaporate because I can actually feel them drying up on my lips. I've read complaints that they actually dry out some people's lips, but I haven't experienced that. They just don't last nearly as long on me as they claim to, that's all.

015 Cherry Me and 020 Grape Vine

The good news is that despite the balm itself going away after an hour or so, the color (Cherry Me, Grape Vine, and Pink Punch) stays and I end up with a slight stain on my lips ^.^ So my early morning routine since getting these is to apply them on my run out to the subway station since I'm always rushing and have no time to stop and properly put on some lip color with a mirror. I just swipe these on as I power walk. And then during break time I reapply a sheer gloss on top - any of the gazillion Lancome Juicy Tubes I have would bring back a refreshed pop of color that will then last all the way through lunch time! It's such a nice and easy way to touch up my lips for a color encore that doesn't require a trip to the bathroom or the mirror, and plus I'm just lazy like that :P

025 Pink Punch and 030 Peach Kiss

Anyway, you know how a lot of tinted lip "balms" are actually really freakin' pigmented and they end up feeling like a balmy lipstick? Well these Baby Lips are definitely tinted lip balms, and are borderline ho-hum lip balms at that. I'm glad I tried them and they are okay, more decent in the light of the colored ones leaving a stain, but I'm not going to go crazy hauling or hoarding them. You should give them a try if you can get them for the same price as a regular chapstick, because that's what they are ^.^ If you want some color, try Cherry Me (my favorite!), Grape Vine (2nd favorite), or Pink Punch. If you want some shimmers, go for Peach Kiss. They retail for $2.99, and each tubes comes with 0.15 oz./4.4 g of product, which is a good amount.

010 Peppermint: self explanatory, goes on clear with a semi glossy sheen.

- 015 Cherry Me: a translucent juicy cherry popsicle red that's a lot more potent on my lips than swatched. Two swipes on my lower lips and press is already a lot of color for me. I like this scent too! It's an obviously artificial cherry popsicle flavor mix with baby powder, sounds weird but is oddly addicting! Thankfully there are no actual tastes...

- 020 Grape Vine: a translucent plum that goes on me exactly as swatched, so it is sheerer than the Cherry Me above. Still pretty though! I'm not too crazy about the grape fragrance, but I don't hate it.

- 025 Pink Punch: this one is totally deceiving. It swatched a translucent bubblegum pink but turns a totally opaque cooler hot pink with some fuchsia on me. And since it goes on me a similar color to Maybelline SensationalColor Lip Gloss in 953 Hi-tech Plum, you'd think it'd be just as flattering, right? Nope. Because of its opacity, every flake and crack on my lips is magnified. Not cool. The fruit punch with a tropical tangy twist fragrance is refreshing though.

- 030 Peach Kiss: this one swatched a very sheer nude but goes on a pretty translucent peachy nude with silver shimmers when layered on my lips. And when the balm goes away after an hour or so, all the silver shimmers remain, so I top them off with a pink gloss for nice shimmery pink lips. That said, my skin is already ashy in this mostly gray winter sky and I don't need any nude lips to further wash me out right now. So I seldom reach for this color, and it's better suited for warmer weather anyway. Its fragrance is a sweet fruity something rather that I couldn't discern very well.

From left to right: Cherry Me, Grape Vine, Pink Punch, and Peach Kiss.

Makeup Brushes Part III (Picture Heavy!)

2012-01-11T04:29:00.001-05:00

Ever since my dabble into makeup brushes last May, I have been on a mission to add some brushes to my makeup routine, forcing myself to use brushes from that Sephora Face & Eye Tool Kit to apply my makeup every morning. As I grow some gall with age (ha, no balls or guts here :P) to use more, and more pigmented, colors on my eyes, the fingertip application is no longer convenient and can actually get quite messy.

But of course I soon grow curious about the other gazillion brushes out there on the market and did some shopping over this past holiday ^.^ I've read plenty of good things about Stila brushes so I thought I'd check out a few from the below 2 sets and 1 individual brush. Though with that said, I've also read that brushes from sets are significantly crappier than those sold individually. And while that makes sense, my philosophy is that I'm still in the experimental phase and haven't figured out the tools I really need, so these will have to do for now ^.^

Stila 4 Piece Brush Set (winter 2010). All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Stila 5 Piece Brush Set (winter 2011)

This 4 Piece Brush Set was leftover from the 2010 holiday gifts and was on super sale so I thought I'd pick it up to play. My first reaction upon opening these up was that they are very well made. In fact, their nicely lacquered handles and quality bristles made my previous Sephora Face & Eye Travel Tool Kit looks and feel like a POS. The down side was that their handles are also twice as long. How the heck was I going to pack these? The natural answer is I wouldn't. And I didn't.

This brush set includes (from top to bottom) #4 Eye Liner Brush, #2 Small Concealer Brush, #11 Large Concealer Brush, and #24A Blush Brush. I tried to find information online as to whether their hair are natural or synthetic, but the Stila website only provides that information with the individual brushes and not for any of the sets. I want to think these brushes were made with the same materials as the individual brushes, but who knows... ^.^ At the very least, their handles being the same length as the individual brushes made me think this was a set of full size brushes, but again, who knows...

- #4 Eye Liner Brush: the individual brush's bristles are made of pony hair. This brush felt firm enough and would make a nice liner brush for both liquid/gel/cream as well as powder shadow, though it probably won't deliver a precise line like an angled or flat liner brush can. I like lining my eyes with a smudgy blunt line using powder anyway, and since the Sephora Smudge Brush already accomplishes this task rather well, I really had no desire to hassle with the long handle on this brush and left it behind.

I took these pictures when the brush was still brand new and the crown was starched stiff and pointy. In reality the brush is rounded and somewhat plateaus at top. It is wider in the front and narrow on the side, and so it can deliver a sharper line if needed, just not a super sharp and fine line.

- #2 Small Concealer Brush: the individual brush's bristles are made of sable. Either way, the Stila page says it's for use with under eye concealer. However, given the long and tapered crown I can't understand why Stila would indicate this for use under eye instead of blemish spots. But of course I may not know what the hell I'm talking about, since I rarely use spot concealer to begin with and have never used under eye concealer. Not that I don't get blemish or dark circles, just that I don't care enough to try and cover them up that well :P For the rare Rudolph-esque zits, I just dab on BB cream and call it a day. If you scrutinize anyone's face long enough, you'll see something unpleasant anyway. I left this brush at home.

Again I took these pictures when the brush was spanking new and so the tip is not pointy like that but is rather rounded. The brush is also rounded at the base, and so there are no side shots.

- #11 Large Concealer Brush: the individual brush's bristles are made of synthetic Taklon, and this brush does feel synthetic. It is the only brush in this set I made an exception to bring with me, despite the long handle. Now this is more like an under eye concealer brush, being thin and wide. The hair is firm yet is soft at the tip, perfect for blending concealer onto the sensitive area under the eye. That said, since I don't care for under eye concealer, I have other plans for the brush muahaha... It has been designated as my new liquid/gel/cream eye shadow brush, as the Japonesque "foundation" touch up brush I've been using for soft eye shadows is a tad small. I took it on a test run with powder shadow first though, having read some good things on that front as well. Turns out it works a bit too well with powder shadow, sheering the color out a bit too much during application. To me is a sure sign that it will work very well with soft shadows, so now I'm totally looking forward to using it with them.

The brush is wide on the front and thin on the side.

- #24A Blush Brush: I'm guessing this is just one side of the individual brush #24 Double-sided Illuminating Powder Brush, which is listed with fine goat hair. I was surprised by the shape of this brush - it was actually quite flat and I was expecting a more oval base, or at least a thicker girth. It had a very interesting crown that was tapered to a tip, though as you can see it was rather thin from the side.

Due to the length of its handle, I also left this one behind and didn't have the chance to use it yet. That is to say I don't know how the shape of the crown as well as the flatness of the brush itself will help (or not) in blush application.

Closer to the holiday Stila ran some pretty spectacular promotions and I actually got this 5 Piece Brush Set that was of the 2011 holiday collection as GWP. Of course I've been eyeing it since it came out, and I placed that order faster than lighting LOL! The promotion was the most perfect excuse ever to get the Dream in Full Color Palette.

Dream in Full Color (big) and Daydream (small) Palettes, with the 5 Piece Brush Set in the back.

***Picture from Stila.

I've been wanting to try Stila powder shadows and blushes but have never found any of the collectible beach palettes particularly interesting. I'd considered getting the Daydream Palette instead because it's a lot less bulky, but it only has eye shadows and mostly blues and greens at that. I very rarely wear blues, seldom wear green, and wanted to try Stila blushes as well, so despite all the mass of the Dream in Full Color, I went with it...and then ended up leaving it behind at home... -.-' Silly me, I know. While I wanted it, it's just way too huge to be packed away securely. Looking back, I'm actually really glad I didn't take it with me - my luggage were searched twice by you know who because of all the gifts. Of course, the big boss never has any courtesy with people's luggage and mine arrived in Tokyo a jumbled mess. In short, I'm pretty sure this fragile beauty wouldn't have made it in one piece so it was the best decision to leave it at home after all.

The 5 Piece Brush Set includes (from left to right) #5 All Over Shadow Brush, #33 Complexion Brush, #24 Powder Brush, #9 All Over Blend Brush, and #6 Lip Brush. These had handles that were a little over an inch shorter than the 4 Piece Brush Set above, so they are more packable. I particularly love it that there weren't any repeats of last year's in this set, unlike someone else we know - ahem, Sephora - who pumps out pretty much the same freakin' brush sets over and over again (there will be yet another post on makeup brushes sometime down the road).

- #5 All Over Shadow Brush: the individual brush has mixed bristles consisting of pony and goat hair. Mine wasn't as soft as the Sephora Eye Shadow Brush, though I didn't mind that as much as I minded that the crown was too wide and not rounded enough. Yep, I left it at home, which I now kind of regret out of sheer curiosity on how it would perform. Oh well, I know it's waiting for me at home so there's no rush.

Front and side shots.

- #33 Complexion Brush: I am guessing this is the smaller end of the #33 Double-ended One Step Complexion Brush listed on Stila's website with synthetic hair. The moment I touched this brush I decided it had to come back to Japan with me no matter what. The bristles are very densely packed in a rounded base and are therefore firm on the side but are velvety soft at the tip. I'm shocked that it's supposedly synthetic hair and am so so so glad I took it with me. Hands down this is my favorite brush in the set, and possibly ever! I use it to apply powder shadows instead of concealer, and it turned my morning eye shadow routine from fumbling to holy-crap-I-did-that?!?

You've probably seen Youtube tutorials with the gurus blending away so effortlessly at the eye shadow they had applied in the shape of a sideway V onto the outer corner of their upper lids, with the pointy tip outwards. Yeah well, I've tried, and tried, and tried, and somehow, all the eye shadow brushes I've used thus far have only been successful in delivering a smudgy blob, at which I would then spend the next 10-15 minutes blending away until it doesn't look like a blob anymore. Even the Sephora Eye Shadow Brush I stuck with (notice the past tense) up until now would only make a thick triangle at best. A whole lot better than a blob, yes, but still nowhere near a sideway V. Enters this Stila #33 with its perfectly domed and firm crown allowing for precise control and -bam!- a sideway V on my very first try! What?!? You mean I'm not entirely incompetent? O.o You bet I'm now stalking the individual brush as I'm super duper curious how the larger end of the brush would fare with powder! Hell, I'll buy another one of this 5 Piece Brush Set just for this brush! Here Stila, Stila!

- #24 Powder Brush: I can't find this brush anywhere on Stila's website. While having an oval base and thicker on the side than the flat base and thin-sided #24A Blush Brush above, its crown is actually smaller than the former (see comparison below)! So yeah, I'm not sure I'd pick this brush over a dense and fluffy kabuki for powder. It looks as though it would deliver streaks instead, but I might be dead wrong :P Either way, I left mine at home.

Front and side shots.

#24A Blush Brush (left) versus #24 Powder Brush (right).

See how #24 (right) is smaller than #24A (left) in all aspect, with exception to the base's side girth?

- #9 All Over Blend Brush: the individual brush has fine goat bristles. This is another brush I was initially excited to try upon opening the set. I thought I might have found another awesome brush to dust my sparkly top washes with, that is, until I pulled out my current love Sephora Crease Brush and realized the Stila counterpart is not only larger but is flatter at top. Nope, that won't do. I need my sparkle duster to be smaller and domed for control (as with the #33 Complexion Brush above), because while I love the sparklies, I don't love them all over the place. I left this #9 at home.

This brush a rounded base, and so there are no side shot.

Stila #9 All Over Blend Brush versus Sephora Crease Brush. See how much bigger it is and how it plateaus at the top? Mean while, the Sephora Crease Brush is perfectly domed and just the right size.

View from the top.

- #6 Lip Brush: The individual brush is made of sable. I left this brush at home, having never needed a lip brush since I don't care much for precise lip color application. This brush has a firm crown with a somewhat flat top.

Front and side shots.

- #26 Perfecting Concealer Brush: I bought this brush individually and it's not a part of any sets. Like the #33 Complexion Brush above, it's bristles are made of synthetic Taklon and is firm on the side but is velvety soft at the top. Despite its long handle, I also took this brush with me intending for use with soft eye shadows. It is flat and dome shaped from the front, but from the side the crown is tapered to a point, which means it can be used with soft liners on both the upper and the lower lids. Can't wait to try this brush out!

Front and side shots. Look how pointy it is from the side!

See my previous posts:
- Makeup Brushes
- Makeup Brushes Part II

Maybelline Mystery Lipsticks ^.^

2012-01-08T03:35:00.004-05:00

Among the things Citrine sent to me are 2 Maybelline mystery lipsticks, and I call them mystery because the stickers at the bottom of the tube don't explain much other than giving the name of the color and number. I've only played with them so this is a preview post.

My swap with Citrine :) All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

I'm going to be honest so please don't laugh at me - these are my very first American drugstore lipsticks ^.^' I've used a few drugstore lip glosses, but have never bought or tried a drugstore lipstick before. Dead serious. I was never a lipstick person and it was only recently that I used lipsticks as stains. Of all the lipsticks I own, I actually purchased less than a third of them. The rest were freebie GWP, and even the ones I bought I paid deeply discounted prices for them.

Maybelline mystery lipsticks in 825 Fruit Punch (left) and D104 Peach Colada (right)

The point is I have no idea what to expect for these Maybelline lipsticks at all, and the fact that I have no idea what these lipsticks are only makes things more interesting xD Playing around with these made me wonder why do people (erhh...I?) even bother with department store/boutique brand lipsticks at all - these drugstore ones are actually quite nice! May be the department store/boutique brands make their lipsticks with better ingredients and pigmentation, but that's a big may be, given all their marketing and packaging cost to begin with. If I were put on a blindfolded trial, I would have a hard time differentiating between department store and drugstore lipsticks. Surely there are people who claim they can, but I'd really doubt how truthful those claims are.

- 825 Fruit Punch: I am guessing this is ColorSensational High Shine Lipstick as Citrine had reviewed it last summer. She said it's a coral on her but on me it is a translucent but pigmented fruit punch red, true to its name. It has a rather thin texture, so it's not as emollient as I'd like it to be, but it works really well when I apply only one layer on my lower lip as a stain. Gives my lips a really juicy reddish pink splash with a sheen. Very pretty!

- D104 Peach Colada: I am guessing this is Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipstick. This swatches a salmon pink with some peach and a pearly finish with gold iridescent shimmers. This lipstick has a thicker and much more emollient texture, but due to this both the colors and the shimmers tend to shift around in patches during application. But then I just press my lips together and that solves the problem ^.^ It actually goes on my lips with a lot more gold. Gorgeous! Too bad it seems Maybelline had discontinued this line as I could no longer find it on their website.

825 Fruit Punch, D104 Peach Colada, and Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Gloss in 953 Hi-tech Plum (will post soon)

NYC Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder

2012-01-07T09:25:00.002-05:00

Citrine and I did a little swap over the holiday, and she threw in few more goodies my way, including this nifty NYC Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder. She knows I only use translucent powder and so kindly sent 701 Translucent xD Thanks Citrine!!! *hugs*

My swap with Citrine ^.^ Absolutely adore everything! All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

NYC Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder in 701 Translucent

The Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder comes in a straightforward no nonsense black plastic compact with mirror and a sponge. It's slim and clicks shut, and funny enough the lid is literally attached to the compact and there isn't a hinge, which means it can be torn right off with rough handling. Oh well, it is a drugstore brand after all so I'm not exactly expecting fancy packaging. And according to Citrine, it's cheap and won't break your bank if you were to break the compact and buy a new one.

I have to say I really like this powder! It has a very finely milled texture and goes on a translucent layer that completely mattefies my Allie sunscreen, which otherwise leaves a dewy semi matte finish. It isn't chalky at all but is rather airy and weightless, and it doesn't exasperate my dry cheeks and magnifies the dry flakes like most matte finishing powders do. It doesn't really have a scent, as far as I can tell. The compact is generously sized too!

Stila Lip Glaze Stick Part II

2012-01-07T03:35:00.001-05:00

Since falling in love with Stila Lip Glaze Sticks back in October, I've been hunting down backups for the colors I love as well as exploring new colors - Apricot, Orange, and Grapefruit.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Apricot

I've been using all my Stila Lip Glaze Sticks nonstop for the past few months! The only downside I can see is that the pigmentation level varies. The Plum, Blackberry, and Orange (review below) colors are pigmented and their colors really pop on me. The rest range from translucent to super sheer, though I love them all the same because the formula and texture remain consistent regardless of pigmentation. All the colors are consistently buttery soft and smooth, moisturizing, and they last for quite a while on my lips, which is impressive given they're in pencil form.

Orange

Grapefruit

- Apricot: this color swatched a shimmery pinky peach but goes on me a sheer sparkling nude. Pretty, but not a color I often wear so I probably won't get backups for this.

- Orange: now this is a true beauty. It looks a potent orange with gold shimmers in the pencil but goes on me a translucent but pigmented reddish coral. The gold shimmers didn't help the orange on me at all! On the other hand, on Citrine it remains a shimmery golden orange with a tinge of red! Love it!

- Grapefruit: this swatched a sheer shimmery pink, but goes on pretty much a completely sheer wash of sparkles barely a hint of pink. I still like it either though as it's very feminine and not in a girly tweeny bopper kind of way.

From left to right: Apricot, Orange, and Grapefruit.

See my previous Stila Lip Glaze Stick post.

Boscia Jujube Salve Stick

2012-01-06T01:20:00.002-05:00

Errh...I think I must have thrown my last Boscia Jujube Salve Stick out to make room for the newcomer Caudalie Lip Conditioner, because I couldn't find it anywhere. Oops. And searching for a stock picture online, I found out it Boscia had discontinued it too! Double oops. Well, there's always E(vil)bay, but now that I have Caudalie, why would I pay rip off prices to get these again? So yeah, never mind that, please settle with this stock picture. Sorry...

***Picture from DermStore.

It was purely out of necessity that I started using this way back in 2009. I was at the beginning leg of a long trip when at the Beijing Capital International Airport, I realized I had just used up the last of Softlips Lip Conditioner stick. I did tell you these last for like a 15 minutes at most, right? So on a previous (long, 11-12 hours) flight from San Francisco I kept having to reapply to keep my lips from drying up and the next thing I knew, the whole brand new stick I took with me was gone. Now granted, hubby was sharing it with me so it wasn't like I had a chapstick addition and ate mine up.

Anyway, in a panic I walked around the Beijing airport looking for a drugstore where I can get another lip balm replacement. Unfortunately, at the time I had already passed airport security and was already arrived at my gate, and at the terminal there was only a duty-free shop, which mean I was forced to upgrade to a glorified lip balm, if they had one there. But of course they do, and it was Boscia Jujube Salve Stick. It was kind of painful having to shell out some $15 for a freakin' lip balm but hey, that or dry and chapped lips until I can find another drugstore somewhere, and who knows where, or when.

Thankfully, the Salve Stick was great! The SA told me it can be used for on dry skin too, not just for the lips. I was going to buy it either way, but at least I was able to consoled myself that I was buying a multi-purpose salve stick. I ended up using it on my lips, on the area around the base of my nose that gets dry and flaky when I blow my nose too much, as well as on my cuticles. It was wax-based but wasn't too waxy and at the same time, wasn't oily either. It had an herbal scent that didn't bother me, and it lasted for a good amount of time. In fact, it lasted the entire duration of my trip, including the long and painful flight back, which led me to repurchase a few times until my discovery of the Caudalie several weeks ago.

Boscia Jujube Salve Stick:

Diisostearyl Malate, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate, Triethylhexanoin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Zizyphus Jujuba Fruit Extract, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Leaf Extract, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Squalane, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Glycerin, Dipentaerythrityl Pentahydroxystearate /Pentaisostearate, Water, Butylene Glycol, Talc, Aluminum Hydroxide, Iron Oxides.

***List of ingredients from DermStore.

Let's Pretend Mexican Food!

2012-01-06T00:03:00.002-05:00

An outdated post here, but prior to our brief home visit, hubby was going crazy craving for some Tex-Mex and so he Googled and found La Salsa is located in Minato Mirai, on the 5th floor of the World Porters building. Off we went with our fingers crossed.

The food was okay. It was spicy, I'll give them that, but it was more like Indian food than Tex-Mex. In fact, the moment we walked into the place, we looked at each other and said, hmm...it smells like Indian food ^.^ Whatever, it smelled good, and we were willing guinea pigs.

Hubby ordered a margarita and it came out in a tiny martini glass, costing a whopping 800yen (~$10)! It was probably the most expensive margarita he's ever ordered. Oh well, at least he said it wasn't too bad.

I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, but I wasn't as lucky and mine came out a tasteless strawberry flavored slushy. But hey, the view behind me was awesome ^.^

Hubby ordered a combo plate with beef fajita, pork taco, and chicken enchilada. I ordered chicken in red sauce, which was supposedly the spiciest thing on their menu.

Hubby's beef fajita was fantastic. It was seasoned with pepper and grilled and was definitely Japanese and nowhere near Tex-Mex, but it was really yummy. As you can see, it disappeared before I could even take a picture LOL!

My dish was good too, though it was definitely Indian curry. It even looked like Indian curry ^.^ It was spicy though, and that pleased me. Oh, the refried beans that came with it were good! It was probably the only thing we had that evening that was anywhere near Tex-Mex. The rest was leaning either Japanese or Indian. But overall, it wasn't bad food, just not Tex-Mex.

Caudalie Lip Conditioner

2012-01-05T14:47:00.001-05:00

Approaching the holidays, Caudalie had some nice promotions and so that was my excuse to try a few things I've been curious about but too cheap to shell out the big bucks. I ended up getting the Beauty From The Vine Set as stocking stuffer for my mum and the Limited Edition Favorites Collection for myself ^.^ I have been using the items from the Favorites Collection but am only reviewing the Lip Conditioner today.

The Beauty From The Vine Set includes a 75mL/2.5 fl oz. tube of Hand and Nail Cream and a Lip Conditioner.

The Limited Edition Favorites Collection includes another 75mL/2.5 fl oz. tube of Hand and Nail Cream, a 50 mL/ 1.7 fl oz. Instant Foaming Cleanser, a 30 mL/1 fl oz. Beauty Elixir (will review soon), and also a Lip Conditioner.

For my purchase, I got a 200 mL/ 6.7 fl oz. bottle of Cleansing Water and a couple deluxe samples of Premier Cru, which is Caudalie's premium product line, as GWP. It was a damn nice promotion I'd say!

I didn't know what to expect with this Lip Conditioner actually! From the packaging, it reminds me of a couple others, Boscia Jujube Salve Stick and Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Lip Protectant SPF 15. The Elizabeth Arden one I had reviewed way back in 2008 and never repurchased, but the Boscia one I'd used up a few tubes now during all my travels but keep forgetting to review! I'll have to see if I can find the last tube somewhere in my travel bags and put up a post soon.

Anyway, upon opening up this Caudalie Lip Conditioner, I thought, "Oh sh*t..." It looks just like the waxy and stinky craptastic piece of junk that was the L'Occitane Shea Butter Lip Balm Stick, well, minus the stinky part. Don't worry, this Lip Conditioner smells decent, like an herbal balm with traces of shea butter and vanilla. Either way, I was kicking myself then for not trying before deciding on it as a stocking stuffer and dreading my mum's lecture on impulse buying. And then I actually tried it and it turns out to be quite nice. Phew! ^.^'

Yes, this Lip Conditioner has replaced my last nearly used up Boscia Jujube Salve Stick in my travel bags. And when I say travel bags, I mean the carry on tote and a smaller shoulder purse that I take on the plane with me. The carry on tote holds my ancient MacBook Pro and (not ancient) travel toiletries, and the small shoulder purse holds only the most critical items such as lip balm, hand sanitizer, tissues, gum, in addition to other things like the shuffle, my wallet, and my passport. For sanitary reasons, the lip balm that goes into this shoulder purse has to be in a finger-free twist up tube. And since I'm on the plane where it's dry and dehydrating but at the same time stuffy and linty, this lip balm tube also has to have the perfect balance between waxy and moisturizing. It can't be too waxy because then my lips will dry out, but it can't be too oily either because then my lips will become a lint trap (lip glosses on the plane? Ick, no can do!).

So there you have it, a wax-based lip balm that's just right and moisturizing. It's thick and smooth and lasts for good while too. I'm very pleased with it, even as I admit it's really just a lip balm glorified via the price tag of $12. That's why I won't stock up until a good promotion comes along :P

Caudalie Lip Conditioner:
HELIANTHUS ANNUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL*, RICINUS COMMUNIS (CASTOR) SEED OIL*, CERA ALBA (BEESWAX), ORYZA SATIVA (RICE) BRAN WAX*, CETYL PALMITATE*, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER EXTRACT*, COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX*, EUPHORBIA CERIFERA (CANDELILLA) WAX*, VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) SEED OIL*, CETEARYL ALCOHOL*, CETYL ALCOHOL*, PALMITIC ACID*, STEARIC ACID*, HYDROGENATED OLIVE OIL STEARYL ESTERS *, PRUNUS ARMENIACA (APRICOT) KERNEL OIL*, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), PALMITOYL GRAPE SEED EXTRACT*, HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL*, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE*, AMMONIUM GLYCYRRHIZATE*, GLYCERYL OLEATE, TOCOPHEROL, ASCORBYL PALMITATE, CITRIC ACID. (FSS07297) *Origine végétale - Plant origin
***List of ingredients from Caudalie USA.

Rose Mure Facial Cloths

2012-01-05T06:24:00.002-05:00

Hubby and I met up with a few of our friends in Shibuya to celebrate K.'s bday, only to be surprised when K. brought each and every one of us a Christmas gift as well! Mine is particularly neat, so I thought I'd post it for fun ^.^

You have to give it to the retailers here - they sure know how to make the simplest stuff look all fancy! These are just facial muslin cloths ^.^

How pretty is that?

It's not rocket science or anything, but it sure takes a crafty hand to roll, wrap, and tie a simple face cloth to turn it into a beautiful rose!

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Shadow Pencil Stash

2012-01-05T02:23:00.000-05:00

Been curious about this Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Shadow Pencil Stash set ever since I spotted it online at Sephora's. But then I don't have much experience with Urban Decay at all other than the unfortunately named Pocket Rocket (urgh), so I refrained.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Then over the holidays, I had a chance to take a peek at a nearby Sephora store and played with the testers. I didn't think much and just swiped a few on the back of my hand. By the time I finished looking at the swatches, I simply wiped them off with my fingers like I did with all the other test swatches. And nope, they didn't budge. At all. I thought I must have not rubbed hard enough, so I tried again. Nope, still didn't budge. I tried again, this time with a dry tissue. Nope, still freshly there. Finally, I chased down somebody and asked for some makeup remover and the swatches finally came off. Needless to say, the set was promptly sold ^.^

I haven't used this set yet but have only played around with them. Even so, I'm glad I bought it. I like all the colors with the exemption of that bright neon blue (Clash) that I think I will never wear. My favorites are the deep purple (Delinquent) and the chocolate (Rehab), the latter of which I have designated as the liner for the Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadow 03 Pink Beige PK-1. Although these are called shadow pencils, I'm actually kind of iffy whether they can be blended as eye shadows at all because of their quick drying, non-smudging or budging nature. I'm going to have to do a test run at home first, just in case I end up with a mess like the time I tried to blend the Physicians Formula Gel CreamLiner as shadows.

- Delinquent: I bought the set for this deep bluish purple color but ended up liking the others too ^.^ I do wish it was more shimmery or metallic as it is a tad flat, but the color is gorgeous nonetheless.

- Rehab: the descriptions online at Sephora couldn't be more off with some of these pencils. It says this color is "taupe"! Seriously, folks, which part of this chocolate brown is taupe to you? Am I colorblind or what?

- Juju: this color is exclusive to the set and is not available online or at the Sephora stores. Again the description online at Sephora says "frosted taupe" but is too warm to be taupe in my opinion. To me it's more of a milky coffee and I'd call it a beige brown at best.

- Sin: they call it "champagne," I say it's a peachy nude skin color :P

- Clash: wow, this color is very appropriately named. Again, Sephora says it's "bright turquoise with silver sparkles," but to me it's a bright neon blue with very fine silver shimmers that doesn't really sparkle at all. I wish it sparkled, really! And there's not enough green in it to be turquoise. Actually, there's no green in it at all!

From left to right: Delinquent, Rehab, Juju, Sin, and Clash. Gotta love that purple!

And this is after I had rubbed the swatches vigorously with, not facial tissue, but paper towel. Paper towel, folks!

Kate Diamond Cut Eyes

2012-01-04T16:14:00.000-05:00

While digging out the Makemania Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadows to go with my new love Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadows, I stumbled onto these 2 limited editions of Kate Diamond Cut Eyes that I never got around to use! They are the only Diamond Cut Eyes I own and this line is now discontinued, with very few available on E(vil)bay.

GD-1 Gold Diamond. All pictures taken indoor with flash unless otherwise noted.

BK-2 Dark Diamond

These palettes have 5 powder eye shadows with 3 on the pigmented side and 2 very sparkly top washes. Even between these 2 sparkly top washes, one is more pigmented than the other. In general, the palettes are quite shimmery. That said, the shadows are good quality and blend easily with a brush. They are also very smooth, except for the sparkly top washes of course, but this is to be expected given they have loads of shimmers.

- GD-1 Gold Diamond: warm palette with a potent medium crease shade. In fact, it was this color that scared me into putting both palettes away without trying them first, and I ended up forgetting about them altogether until now.

- Upper left, left half: sparkly top wash, high shimmer, low intensity. A pretty neutral gold that actually has some pigmentation rather than just being sheer and sparkly.
- Upper left, right half: sparkly top wash, high shimmer, very sheer. A translucent off-white with gold shimmers.
- Upper right: base and highlighter, shimmer, medium intensity. An ivory that is quite pigmented for a highlighting shade!
- Lower left: medium crease shade, shimmer, medium intensity. A very potent burnish bronzy brown. Just swatching this color scared me. However, to my surprise it makes a beautiful smoky brown with a touch of bronze on my lids! It's this shade alone that makes this palette loads more fun than the BK-2 Dark Diamond!
- Lower right: liner shade, shimmer, medium intensity. A matte base black with a greenish tint and gold shimmers, giving it a false appearance of a deep olive green. Trust me, it's black, and it's not as pigmented as I expected it to be either. In the swatch picture, it looks a bit translucent even!

Swatch picture taken in natural light without flash.

- BK-2 Dark Diamond: a neutral palette that looks neat at first but turns out to be kind of plain. If I go easy on the sparkly top wash, it makes a nice office friendly palette. I guess the shimmers are for after hours ^.^

- Upper left, left half: sparkly top wash, high shimmer, low intensity. An ashy champagne. Like the gold sparkly top wash in the GD-1 Gold Diamond palette, it has more pigmentation than its other half.
- Upper left, right half: sparkly top wash, high shimmer, very sheer. A translucent ashen off-white with gold shimmers.
- Upper right: base and highlighter, shimmer, medium intensity. A chalk white with some silver. Again, this color is rather pigmented for a highlighter.
- Lower left: medium crease shade, shimmer, medium intensity. Appears a cinnamon brown in the pan but goes on a much darker and cooler bark brown.
- Lower right: liner shade, shimmer, medium intensity. Another matte base black with lots of silver shimmers. This one is not translucent and is more pigmented than the black in GD-1 Gold Diamond.

Swatch picture taken in natural light without flash.

Makeup Brushes Part II (Picture Heavy!)

2012-01-04T03:35:00.012-05:00

Since my last post on makeup brushes last May, I have added a new kabuki brush, The Body Shop Nature's Minerals Foundation Brush to my daily translucent powder application (instead of a foundation with coverage). With my brief home visit in late last September/early last October, I also remembered to bring back with me the Bobbi Brown Face Brush I posted about in that first makeup brush post. I have been using both since, switching off every few days.

The Body Shop Nature's Minerals Foundation Brush VS. Bobbi Brown Face Brush

The Body Shop Foundation Brush is incredibly soft! It's so densely packed it's velvety to the touch and I couldn't stop playing with it when I first opened it up ^.^ It's so nice I feel like I'm fluffing my face with a bunny wabbit xD which is all the more amazing considering it's synthetic hairs!

The thing is that when I visited a Body Shop store back in September and saw it on display, I realized mine is still very new and has yet to poof out its full potential. If you don't know what I mean by "poof," just scroll down and see the comparison picture of the Body Shop and Bobbi Brown. See how much poofier the Bobbi Brown brush is? I'm pretty sure it was the same Nature's Minerals Foundation Brush that I saw too and not its newer version ala the Extra Virgin Minerals Foundation Brush, which is a tad smaller.

So despite its velvety softness, I tend to reach for the Bobbi Brown brush more often, because the poofiness just distributes powder a bit better in my experience. I will continue to switch off with this Body Shop brush though. Hopefully it will get poofed out soon after a few more washes ^.^

Here's my Bobbi Brown Face Brush that I've been using since 2006. As you can see, after years of use and wash, it's very extremely poofy ^.^

While it's not as soft and velvety as the Body Shop brush, it distributes and blends powder rather well.

And as much as the years of use made it poofier and a better brush, the repeated washings it has been shedding a hair or two with in the recent washes. Not terrible, but definitely a sign it's getting old as it used to not shed at all!

The Body Shop Nature's Minerals Foundation Brush versus Bobbi Brown Kabuki Face Brush

On this holiday visit with my family, I also bought 2 more brushes, both from The Body Shop, the Kabuki Bronzing Brush and the Face & Body Brush. Unfortunately, I didn't like these as much so after washing and a short trip's worth of use, I left both behind at home. It wasn't the brushes' fault. They did exactly what they were made for, and rather it was my bad for using them with other expectations.

The Body Shop Kabuki Bronzing Brush and Face & Body Brush

The Kabuki Bronzing Brush was just as soft as the Foundation Brush, but the hairs are not as densely packed in addition in being longer. As a bronzing brush, it's meant to deposit a dusting and then still be fluffy enough to provide a decent blending.

It is not rounded at the base but is rather oval, so it is wider from the front and narrow from the side. The crown also fan out a bit wider and is more rounded at the top.

The Kabuki Bronzing Brush from the front (left) and side (right).

As for the Face & Body Brush, first off it's, erh, huge. I mean, the handle is quite large and is therefore inconvenient to travel with. Space is rather precious in Japan and I literally don't have room for such a large-handled brush!

Other than being large, the brush is even less dense than the Kabuki Bronzing Brush above. Its soft hairs are longer as well and as a result, the brush flops back and forth when I wave it around ^.^ It really is just for dusting highlighter or shimmer powder onto the face, decolletage, shoulders, arms, legs, what have you, and not really meant for blending face powder. I tried blending with it, but it felt like I was slapping myself with a bunny instead LOL!!!

Like the Kabuki Bronzing Brush, this brush is also not rounded at the base but is oval, making it wider from the front and narrower from the side. The crown fans out as well, though not as much as the Kabuki Bronzing Brush. It is also flatter at the top and not as rounded.

The Face & Body Brush from the front (left) and side (right).

So yeah, I didn't take either of these new brushes with me. I took several others though, as these weren't the only new brushes I bought. Christmas sale is a great time to buy makeup brushes, no? xD I will use them for a few months first to see how they fare before posting, but know more brushes are coming ^.^

See my previous Makeup Brushes post.

HJB Skilabo Aloe Extract Toner

2012-01-03T00:16:00.000-05:00

It had gotten rather dry around the second week of December, so right after posting about Naturie Coixseed Skin Conditioner, I went back to my local drugstore to get this HJB Skilabo Aloe Extract Toner. I figured it's so cheap, 400yen for a whopping 500mL, and I should just go ahead and try it. If it's still too drying for the winter, I'll just save it for the summer ^.^

Like the Naturie Skin Conditioner, this Skilabo Aloe Extract Toner is fragrance and colorant free. It's also a translucent milky runny liquid that I soak a cotton pad and wipe my face with. What's different is that alcohol is listed as its 2nd ingredient (versus 6th for the Naturie toner) and aloe vera is listed as 3rd. So yeah, assuming the order of listed ingredients has some significance, this thing is full of alcohol!

That said, it is not as drying as I expected it to be and is surprisingly mild. I have been using it for about almost 3 weeks now, even took some with me on my visit home and it didn't deep fry my skin! So now my nightly routine consists of wiping my face with this Skilabo Aloe toner right after my shower when my skin is still damp. After my face dries, I pat on a few drops (5, to be exact) of Mameshiba Soy Milk Isoflavone Glutinous Moist Lotion, which takes a few more minutes to dry. Then eye cream and moisturizer. So far so good.

Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Eye and Lip Cream

2012-01-02T10:46:00.004-05:00

I had a small sample tube of Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Eye and Lip Cream and used it while on the visit with my folks. To my surprise, the tiny tube not only lasted the entire duration of the trip, but I actually didn't even get to half of it!!! I left it behind at home so I'll have something to use on my next visit, but this also means don't have it with me to take a photo. Oh well, the stock photo will have to do for now.

***Picture from Caudalie USA.

I have noticed that when I started trying new products without any assumptions or expectations at all, they usually turn out well. What I really wanted to say is that this Pulpe Vitaminee Eye and Lip Cream really impressed me! It was an unscented, foundation colored cream that was very light weight and feels like a mousse to the touch. It goes on just as light and absorbs instantly, and yet it moisturized my eye area really well!

Usually whenever I visit home, my skin gets visibly dry, especially around my eye area. This causes me to avoid looking in the mirror whenever the sun hits my face, because I'd be pissed off at how pruny and dehydrated my skin looks. But holy hell, not this time, folks! I was riding in the passenger seat with hubby driving and the sun shined right onto me and, what, my eye area was nice and moist looking!?! And that was just the first use. I went home that night and checked out the full size on Caudalie USA's website. Curse them. I'm not paying some $50 for a 15mL squeeze tube of eye cream! Screw that. Why don't they just go rob the bank or something. But hey, if you don't mind dropping the (heavy) dough, I'd say it's pretty good stuff! As for me, I'm going to stalk them for a damn good GWP promotion instead :P

Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Eye and Lip Cream:
AQUA (WATER), GLYCERIN*, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, ISONONYL ISONONANOATE, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE*, CETEARYL ALCOHOL*, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL*, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE*, CETYL ALCOHOL*, PEG-20 STEARATE*, PALMITOYL GRAPE SEED EXTRACT*, CARBOMER, CYATHEA CUMINGII LEAF EXTRACT*, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, AMMONIUM GLYCYRRHIZATE*, ESCIN*, POTASSIUM SORBATE, POLYGLYCERYL-10 PENTAOLEATE*, CALENDULA OFFICINALIS FLOWER EXTRACT*, HAMAMELIS VIRGINIANA (WITCH HAZEL) BARK/LEAF/TWIG EXTRACT*, XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, POLYSORBATE 20*, CERAMIDE 3, ACRYLATES/C10-30 ALKYL ACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, TOCOPHEROL*, PALMITOYL OLIGOPEPTIDE, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-7. (069/012bis) *Origine végétale - Plant origin
***List of ingredients from Caudalie USA.

The Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion

2012-01-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

Just a short review for this Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion. I was using it every night on my last 2 home visits since the weather got cooler (and then very cold) and it is already very dry at home where my folks are to begin with, so normal body lotion just doesn't help.

This Body Shop Foot Lotion is very thick and has peppermint oil, so it goes on with a slight minty tingling sensation. It was just an okay lotion, nothing spectacular or special. Being thick and somewhat greasy, it didn't absorb quickly at all and I had to massage it in, which is kind of the point ^.^ But of course, given that I only put this on right before going to bed (who wants to walk around with greasy feet?), being sleepy and lazy I want it to absorb right away so I can sleep. So this was definitely a downer for me. Then again, is there such thing as a thick foot lotion that absorbs quickly without being greasy? May be I'm asking for too much ^.^

Makemania Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadow

2012-01-01T03:31:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

I figured all the sparklies in Makemania Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadow would be best to ring in the new year with ^.^ Plus I did promise to review them in the Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadow post. These are super duper sparkly eye shadows that can be worn as a sparkling top wash or by themselves. Totally my style xD They only come in 3 colors: SV - Silver, GD - Gold, and BR - Brown. These have been out since 2010, so not too long ago, but I don't see them in the stores anymore so I'm not sure if this means they have been discontinued and no longer available.

Makemania Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadow - SV (Silver). All pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.

These Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadows certainly look frightening, don't they? Their name alone would probably scare off most people. But fear not, these are actually very lovely and I can't believe it took me this long to get to them! Despite the "glitter" in their name and appearance, their shimmer particles small enough to retain the softness of the eye shadows. Of course there is a tiny bit of grittiness in their texture, though this is because of the sheer amount of shimmers in them and not because of the chunky-sized glitters. There actually aren't any chunky glitters in these at all!

GD (Gold)

Secondly, unlike your average super sheer sparkling top washes, these babies are on the pigmented side. As mentioned above, they are pigmented enough to be worn by themselves as gorgeous super sparkly metallic eye shadows. These don't give a foiled effect, nor are they frosty. If I have to make a comparison, I'd say these are softer, smoother, and more pigmented than the vast majority of the sparkly top washes I have tried.

BR (Brown)

I don't wear them by themselves though ^.^' Instead, using the Sephora Crease brush I dab just a tiny bit of these Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadow, tap off the excess, and dust what's left on the brush as a finishing touch for the Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorized Shadow. When applied as a light dusting this way, they are translucent enough as a top wash and still enlivens the Kiss eye shadows since those aren't very shimmery and I need some sparkles xD Despite what you would expect, I haven't experienced any fall out with these at all. Perfecto!

- SV (Silver): metallic with high shimmers, medium intensity. Not a true silver but more of a whitish silver. The silver comes out a bit more when used alone as an eye shadow, but when dusted as a top wash, it's pretty much just white shimmers.

- GD (Gold): metallic with high shimmers, medium intensity. More of a neutral golden champagne. Very pretty and universally flattering!

- BR (Brown): metallic with high shimmers, medium intensity. Not brown at all but rather a bronze with some copper, and the redness of which makes it rather warm. I tend to use the Silver and Gold more often than this one, but that doesn't mean I like it any less. Just that I tend to not wear warm eye shadows, that's all.

This swatch picture was taken in natural light without flash, and as such it really doesn't do these eye shadows any justice because you can't see their true pigmentation level as well as their full mother load shimmery prowess ^.^ You'll just have to trust me that these are really crazy f*ckin sparkly and are pigmented! No jokes.

Maneki Neko says...

2012-01-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

What is a maneki neko, you say? Just walk into an Asian shop near you and chances are you'll see one ^.^ As for these adorable little things, they are kadomatsu, or gate pines, a traditional Japanese New Year decoration.

The majority of these kadomatsu's are made of real pines, bamboos, and straw ropes. The 3 bamboo spokes represent heaven (the tallest), humanity, and earth (the two lower, though some makes the humanity spoke taller than the earth spoke). They are sold in pairs, representing male and female.

I'm sure they make these in plastic too, but I haven't seen any.

Either way, they can last for quite a while, though I think most people just throw them out after new year, which is a total waste. I'm definitely saving mine. They're so adorable there's no way I'd throw them out.

I will need to find a box to store them in a few days. These will make a rockin' souvenir from my time in Japan, don't you think? I'll bring them home and decorate my house with them ^.^

For now, they are decorating my mini oven toaster, which is right next to my dining area window LOL!

As for my brief visit with my family at home, it was short but wonderful! We even had a snow storm that deposited some 13 inches of snow in the metropolitan area, which shut us all inside for a day!

A view outside grandma's window.

And lots of snow means hubby gets to revert to his childhood self and runs and plays in the snow. Barefooted.

And our two families met up over a bowl of pho at one of the pho houses in town. My sister took the picture, so she wasn't in the photo. My brother is the punk in the back with the sunglasses. Hubby's sister was with her hubby and his family. It was a really cold and windy day, but our hot noodles soup were warming ^.^

Phở tái - pho with rare steak.

Phở gà - chicken Pho, with lighter chicken broth versus the usual heartier beef broth.

My favorite is Bún bò Huế - a spicy braised beef noodles soup from Central Vietnam. They are served with pork leg and blood tofu, but I ....erh... skipped those ^.^

And although it wasn't Lunar New Year, my family and I went out and had a huge sushi feast ^.^ It's a Chinese tradition to eat fish during (Lunar) new year, because "fish" (魚) is a homonym for "extra/more than enough" (餘), and thus 年年有魚 (have fish year after year) is a pun for the Chinese idiom 年年有餘 (have extra/more than enough money, food, etc., year after year).

So here's to a prosperous new year for everyone!!!

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX

2011-12-31T00:14:00.002-05:00

Update Saturday, December 31, 2011.

Finally found a list of ingredients in form of a picture taken by Paris B. from My Women Stuff. I have received her permission to post the picture here, so up it goes ^.^ Thank you Paris. B.

***Picture from My Women Stuff.

----------------------------------------
Original post Tuesday, October 19, 2010.

This Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX is the third update of Laneige's most hyped product, this time containing no alcohol (it says so on the printed slip inside)!

I can definitely say I like this version best, not because it is alcohol-free but it also seems to be the most lightly scented out of the three. The fragrance is different from the last two, still keeping that clean and fresh scent but with a touch of floral this time and not so much the sweet musky scent in the 2nd installment by the name of Water Sleeping Pack Plus.

As you can see it still comes in a jar, though this time a small clear plastic scoop is provided so you don't have to stick your fingers into the pot. Still a downer if you ask me. I'd much rather have a pump bottle, for both the cleanliness as well as portion control.

Texture wise, there is not much of a departure from the Water Sleeping Pack Plus as far as I can tell. It's still a very light gel cream that absorbs very quickly and completely and is not sticky no matter how much I put on. I use both the Water Sleeping Pack Plus and this EX version side by side, alternating days ^.^ and I apply both very liberally for extra hydration.

I really love how it keeps my skin clear, bright, and well hydrated the next morning. No greasy oil slick forehead and t-zones, no reactions or blocked pores. I really truly love this product and will continue to try every new version they put out :D

Sorry, no ingredients list this time. If I find one later on I will add it to this post.

See my previous posts:

- Laneige Water Sleeping Pack

- Laneige Water Sleeping Pack Plus

Sea Breeze Shampoo

2011-12-30T03:11:00.001-05:00

Almost finished with my current bottle of Sea Breeze Shampoo, which is actually made by Shiseido! I forgot to take a picture so there's only a stock photo from Sea Breeze's website. I noticed I've done this a few times now with shampoos. It's odd, but unlike skincare or cosmetics, normally don't browse around for different options with haircare products and line up what I want to try next. I usually simply just pick one out at the drugstore, use it, then when it runs out, I run to the store again in a panic and pick out something else on the spot. I guess I should pay more attention to my hair -.-'

From left to right: Sea Breeze Shampoo and refill, Conditioner and refill, Shampoo and Conditioner and refill.

***Picture from Sea Breeze Japan.

This is, as I understood, supposed to be a scalp tingling clarifying shampoo, along the line of Sunstar Tonic Shampoo, which I use twice a week in conjunction with a daily shampoo. That said, the tingly effect is so weak I could barely feel it, and it's not like I've been using the stronger (Green) version of Sunstar this whole time that my scalp is dulled to the menthol. In fact, I was using the weaker (Blue) version of Sunstar prior to starting The Body Shop's Ice Blue Shampoo as clarifying shampoo, and to my disappointment this Sea Breeze shampoo seems to be weaker than both, in addition to being moisturizing. So perhaps I was wrong all this time and this was not meant to be a clarifying shampoo.

I have since switched back to The Body Shop Ice Blue for clarifying and use this Sea Breeze one as a daily shampoo instead, and it's been working great. In terms of softness, this combination of Sea Breeze and Macherie Air Feel Conditioner (yes, a bottle of conditioner lasts me for freakin' ever...) still loses out to the Macherie and Lux Super Rich Shine Shampoo pair, but it's not bad. The shampoo is pretty strongly fragranced, and the scent is unexpectedly sweet like a minty cream soda, though nothing intolerable. At least it's not a strong flowery scent, which I can't stand at all. But I will probably try something else next time ^.^

Mameshiba Soy Milk Isoflavone Glutinous Moist Lotion

2011-12-29T03:17:00.001-05:00

I spotted this Mameshiba Soy Milk Isoflavone Glutinous Moist Lotion at a random drugstore and couldn't help my curiosity. First of all, what the heck are those mameshiba?!? I googled them the moment I got home and found their Wikipedia page. They have an official website too, if you're curious like me ^.^

Anyway, this is a product by Dentsu Inc., and although I've seen several other of their items at my local drugstores, this is my first time trying one! This Mameshiba Moist Lotion is an unscented toner with milky appearance and slight viscous texture. It does not appear to have an oil ingredient, at least not that I can tell from the ingredients list on the back of the bottle, so I am categorizing it as a hydrator. It does contain alcohol.

I generally don't use Asian made toners the same way I use the toners at home, i.e. soaking a cotton ball and wiping my face with it. Perhaps because of the high moisture content in Asian made toners, wiping my face with them using a cotton ball will guarantee unbearable stickiness afterwards, and trust me I have tried many times with many various different ones, all with the same icky results. So now I just pour a few drops into my palm and then pat them onto my skin and let them absorb completely before applying moisturizer. My face doesn't get sticky this way.

I have to say this toner is very hydrating indeed! It is much drier nowadays, and after washing my skin often feels a little tight. So right after I get out of the shower, I pat on a few drops while my skin is still damp. And just a few drops is enough, because anymore will make my face all tacky, which I really hate. This product is probably too rich for use during the summer. The bottle only has 180mL, and it costs around 1,000yen, so it's a bit pricey too. It was an impulse buy for me, but I guess I don't regret it since I use so little at a time and the bottle will last me for months. I certainly won't buy it again though, as I'm eyeing the Sana Hadanomy range, having had a sample of the lotion during the summer and quite liked it!

More dessert at Denny's Part III

2011-12-27T03:54:00.001-05:00

It has been a while since we last visited Denny's, and so we "indulged" ourselves a couple of times before my trip to visit my family for Christmas ^.^

More seasonal offerings were added to the menu, including a different version of my favorite mixed fruits sundae. Oh, and since the early fall when I had this spectacularly delicious omurice dish topped with kimchi and beef bulgogi, I have officially become an omurice addict too. An omurice is a Japanese fusion dish that blends an omelette with fried rice and various toppings. Sounds yummy? That's because it is!

I ordered a beef and mushroom omurice. I particularly like the omurice at Denny's. The egg omelette they make is fluffy and jiggly and melts in your mouth! Hubby hates it though. He likes his egg well done and not fluffy or jiggly ^.^

Sometimes, they also season the rice with Japanese ketchup, which thankfully does not taste like ketchup but instead has a briny tomato sauce flavor.

So the unexpected the result is a Japanese-Italian fusion arancini (Italian rice balls) on a plate, which is yummy, though generally I just prefer plain fried rice.

Hubby ordered a steak with wasabi avocado mashed potatoes! Sounds way too exotic for a place like Denny's, doesn't it?

Even the steak sauce (far right, in the bowl) is exotic. It has a blend of soy sauce and yuzu and grated daikon and has a rather light citrusy taste.

My favorite mixed fruits sundea, this time with fresh peaches, apples, and apple jelly.

Oh, and 2 small scoops of raspberry sorbet ^.^

Yep, I ate that entire thing all by myself!

See my previous posts:
- More dessert at Denny's Part II
- More dessert at Denny's

Hanoi no Hoi-san

2011-12-24T04:12:00.003-05:00

Meeting up in Shibuya for K.'s bday party a couple of weeks ago, hubby ran across this Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi no Hoi-san's while waiting for my train to arrive. He happened to have class in Ikebukuro that day, and so in the late afternoon he had tons of time to explore the Shibuya Station area while I take the train up from Yokohama.

As soon as he stumbled onto the fake Pho signage outside, he texted me with excitement as we haven't found any Vietnamese food since arriving in Japan late last August. There are several Vietnamese restaurants in Tokyo of course and we have friends who say this place is okay and that place is good, but we haven't had the courage to try any of them. Let's just say we have access to very authentic Vietnamese food at home and so shelling out top dollar...err...yen to try a place we've never been just doesn't make any sense. I'd rather spend that money on delicious Japanese food myself. We won't be living in Japan forever, so why not fill up while we're here?

But it is the holiday season after all, and even though we'd be on the plane a few days later hubby was a bit homesick and couldn't wait for a little taste of home. There are several Pho houses near our home in the US of A, all serving super authentic dishes for about $7-8 a piece, and so we're just very spoiled. Then again, stumbling onto Hanoi no Hoi-san was purely coincidental and after hubby assured me we won't be spending a fortune (he literally could not wait for a few more days for a bowl of Pho, not to mention we were on our way to a bday party at an izakaya!), I finally caved and we stopped in for a quick snack.

I ordered yaki Pho and it came out with my mum's caramelized ground pork, though made with fish sauce. The pork was then tossed with a wider rice noodle, bean sprouts, and sprinkled with cilantro. It was surprisingly spicy, which can't go wrong with me, and it was good but tasted more like Thai food than Vietnamese.

That's me taking a whiff of my yaki Pho and thinking, "Hmm...it smells like...Thai food." xD

Hubby ordered chicken Pho and consistent with the restaurant's namesake, it was served Hanoi style, i.e. without any fresh herbs (besides the scallions and bean sprouts already in the bowl) and fish sauce for garnishing. However, the odd part was that the fish sauce was diluted and mixed into a sauce instead of the undiluted straight up fish sauce like how they like it up north.

Hubby liked his Pho, but I thought it tasted more like a different type of rice noodle soup, hủ tiếu, rather than Pho. But it wasn't bad. It really was a snack though, as the bowl was tiny, smaller than a small bowl back home for around 700yen, which was actually pretty cheap in Japanese food price standard!

Winter in Japan means strawberry season, and so there was strawberry flavored everything everywhere! Here's strawberry Calpis, and yes, it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled, which is why it's marketed as "Calpico" outside of Japan, you know, so that folks don't start giggling every time they see it. Somethings just don't translate xD

And this is a strawberry daifuku chocolate, but really an inside out daifuku with strawberry chocolate on the outside and a tiny nub of mochi in the middle ^.^

Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel

2011-12-23T02:44:00.005-05:00

I got this Missha Deluxe Sampler back in the late spring/early summer and even after several trips, both within (Shizuoka, Nikko) and outside of Japan (Seattle, and a few home visits), I still haven't finished the 20mL tube of Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel in the set!

Missha Deluxe Sampler

Left to right: travel sizes of Super Aqua Detoxifying Peeling Gel (20mL), Deep Cleansing Oil (18mL), Luminous Color Lip Gloss (2.5g), Perfect Cover B.B. Cream #23 (10mL), and B.B. Boomer (10mL).

To be honest it's nowhere nearly as good as the Tabibijin Tea Peeling Gel, or even the Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Peeling Gel that was my very first peeling gel a few years back. For one the texture is kind of odd, like a floury gel versus Tabibijin's smooth translucent gel, while the Laneige one at least has pink granules. On top of being perfumy, it doesn't really do a good job with the peeling either. Every time I use this, I end up getting pretty frustrated as I kept massaging and massaging my face and nothing really happens. I get a tiny little bit of balling here and there but that's it, nothing dramatic like with the Tabibijin or Laneige peeling gels. At first I thought I didn't use enough, so the next time I squeezed out a little more, only to get the same result. May be I should go the other way and use even less than the amount I first tried it with, but otherwise, I started with a dry and clean face, just as instructed.

So that is to say I'm not sure how this peeling gel would be doing everything it claims to do, i.e. skin renewal, detoxifying, and brightening, if it can't really peel properly to begin with. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly impressed with this peeling gel so far and I'm glad I bought the sample size instead of buying the full size tube. On the other hand, Missha's Super Aqua line has some other interesting looking stuff so I might give those a try instead...

***Picture from Missha USA.