Estee Lauder Pure Color Crystal Lipstick

Woh - this Estee Lauder Pure Color Crystal Lipstick is pure love! I tried this full size GWP on once and immediately tossed it into my bag and never looked back. That's love at first try, second only to love at first sight! It's so rare, because my only other love at first try is Clinique Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick!

The Pure Color Crystal Lipstick is a younger, sheerer, and glossier sister of the Pure Color Lipstick. I think I like it a whole lot better too! But that's just because I like sheer lip colors so this is not your cup of tea if you like your lipstick pigmented. With the Pure Color Lipstick, I had to wear it over gloss to sheer it out. With this Pure Color Crystal Lipstick, I just put it on and go! Yep, that's it! It feels nicer and thicker than Korres Mango Butter Lipstick, but too bad it still can't beat the buttery glide of Clinique Butter Shine. But it's still pretty nice, glossy and somewhat moisturizing.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Korres Mango Butter Lipstick SPF10

After the decently textured lip gloss but stupidly named Pocket Rocket (urgh), I moved on to the Korres Mango Butter Lipstick SPF10 from the same Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip set.

All pictures taken indoor with flash unless otherwise noted.

Urban Decay Pocket Rocket

This mini Urban Decay Pocket Rocket is from the Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lips set. I really love sets like this one because not only it's travel friendly, I can sample a variety of different items from a range of brands that I'm unfamiliar with. And precisely because I'm unfamiliar with these brands that I'm not willing to buy a full size item, lest I hate it and get stuck with it.

All pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.

That said, a lot of times these Sephora sets are sort of junky, which makes this particular set very special because I actually wanted to try the majority of the items in it, with the exception of the Laura Mercier Lip Gloss, but only because it looks really pigmented like a liquid lipstick and I'm not so keen on that. This set includes mini sample sizes of Benefit Cosmetics Posietint Poppy Pink, Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss Pout, Urban Decay Pocket Rocket Doug (review below, after disclaimer), Laura Mercier Lip Glace Rose, the already reviewed Tarte Double Ended Lip Gloss Danny-Sandy, Buxom Full-On Lip Polish Diamond April, and a full size Korres Mango Butter Lipstick SPF10 14 Pink (middle, will review next).

L'Occitane Honey & Lemon Delightful Cream

Among other nice L'Occitane promotions was this Delicate Embrace Set, which was free with a purchase of $60-65+ I think. Either way, the set itself was $36 and includes 2.5 oz. each of Plum Blossom Skin Moisture Gel and Plum Blossom Polishing Shower Gel, neither of which I have tried before, a 1 oz. Cherry Blossom Hand Cream (my favorite!), and a 1.7 oz. Cherry Blossom Soap, which I don't have and must get my hands on!

A Delicate Embrace Set

Soap Crazy Part X (Picture Heavy!)

Got quite a few pretty bars of soaps here. Most were gifts for hubby's Grandma and my mum-in-law too since they both love bar soaps.

Bubbles Variety Shoppe: this is the last bar I had from this vendor, though from the look of the shop now she is not making new soaps. I already wrote my thoughts about this vendor a while back.

- Peppermint Pep Essential Oil Soap: this is actually a sort of artistic bar ^.^ I gifted it to Grandma because she's a painter and perhaps would appreciate how delicately pretty this bar is.

L'Occitane Hand Creams Part II

L'Occitane usually have really nice promotions around the year end holiday season, and last year wasn't different. One particularly nifty promotion was a Mystery Gift Event around Halloween time. Every few hours they revealed a mystery gift item over the course of a couple of days. It was kinda fun and of course I got suckered into making the purchase ^.^

Origin Bento Part II

In my humblest opinion, this Stamina Kimchee Galbi Bento is another hit from Origin Bento. Hubby and I ate an ungodly amount of these bentos in late February when we moved apartments, but even then I never got sick of it. It was that yummy!

Basically, it's beef with onions, garlic sprouts, and kimchee. And delicious!!! Too bad Origin Bento no longer offers it. It was supposed to be a limited item that made it onto the permanent menu. Then after the big earthquake they did away with both this Stamina Kimchee Galbi Bento as well as their last winter hit, the Sukiyaki Bento. I'm not sure why, but I sure can't wait until they either bring both items back to the menu or introduce something else similar.

Etude House Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foam Part II

So I've read everywhere that the Etude House Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foam Milk Tea smells like heavens! Which was why I sought it out and bought it and was so looking forward to using it.

By the way, there are 5 of these Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foams available:

- Aloe Tea is for moisturizing

- Green Tea is for clarifying

- Lemon Tea is for revitalizing

- Milk Tea is for softening

- Peach Tea is for brightening

Milk Tea Cleansing Foam

First Day of Work in Tokyo :)

Now that I'm working, I'm even further behind on my posts... :(

But here's a picture of my first day of work in Tokyo ^.^ It's a long commute for me, almost 2 hours by train, not all of it actually on the train of course, there's lot of walking between transfers too. Damn, I still can't believe some of the women commute in stilettos! My heels were 1-inch kitten heels and by the end of the day, I wanted to kill them because my feet were in so much pain!!!

Anyway, I haven't shared what my outfits with you guys for a long time, so here's one I wore to work :P Boring, but whatever.

And yes, I was wearing makeup, with some new things I haven't reviewed too! Will get to those later...I hope.

Lancome Secret de Vie

I got this super cute (and tiny, 5 mL) jar of Lancome Secret de Vie from a GWP a while ago but never had the urge to try it. I think I was subconsciously refraining from trying it, actually. Absurdly expensive things, in this case a skin care cream that costs $250-425, are kind of repulsive to me. No, no, not because they actually are repulsive, but because the luxury and the so-called "prestige" their manufacturers are trying to attach to them via such ridiculous pricing are repulsive. Can you tell I have no taste (or patience) for luxury?

***Picture from Lancome USA.

Aveda All Sensitive Toner

Among my toners binge was also the now-discontinued Aveda All Sensitive Toner. Yes, it's been discontinued, don't know why. And I like it too :(

This All Sensitive Toner is alcohol and fragrant free, but it does contain an oil and is therefore not a hydrator. I actually don't use it as a toner on a cotton pad. I just spray a couple of sprays onto the palm of my hand and then pat it onto my cheeks and forehead. I like that it immediately made my skin comfortable and left behind no stickiness. Felt like I had put some very nice water on my face ^.^ I think both the DHC Mild Lotion as well as the Water Base Moisture were meant to be this way but unfortunately ended up with a sticky aftermath.

***Picture from Amazon.com.

DHC Mild Lotion

Just a short review today.

Don't know why but I've been trying out lots of toners recently, one of which is DHC Mild Lotion.

From the short list of ingredients, it seems to be a simple product that is alcohol, fragrant, and oil free. It sounds great, and looks great too, but after wiping my face with it, my face didn't feel so great. It didn't break me out or anything, it just left my face sticky. In fact, it reminds me of the a similar DHC product, the Water Based Moisture, which was really a hydrator that also misled me into thinking, oooh wow it should feel like water (but didn't)!

DHC Mild Lotion:

Water/aqua/eau, glycerin, butylene glycol, cucumis sativus (cucumber) juice, pentylene glycol, placental protein, phenoxyethanol, dipotassium glycyrrhizate.

***List of ingredients from DHC North America.

Sukiyaki Cheetos?!?

Saw this at the groceries a while back and didn't have the hearts to try it. Would you eat it? ^.^

Shrimp Scampi

Was trying to get back into the roll of things and, well, started craving Italian food. Gosh I miss Jersey. So what do I do but looked up the recipe on the internet and try to make it myself! I had pasta, a couple of tomatoes, and shrimps. Google turned up Shrimp Scampi and I thought, damn, that sounds really hard to make!

It turns out this dish's surprisingly easy to make! I couldn't believe it at first but after making it (and try eating it), I literally squealed because now I know how to make Shrimp Scampi! ^.^ Here's the recipe of Shrimp Scampi I tried.

I threw in the crab legs I had too ^.^

The Body Shop Vitamin E Hydrating Toner

I had been trying out The Body Shop Vitamin E Hydrating Toner for a few weeks, and it too came with me on our time-out short trip.

This toner is from the Vitamin E Skin Care Starter Kit, which includes 60mL/2 fl oz. each of the Hydrating Toner and Cream Cleanser, and 15mL/0.5 oz. each of the Moisture Cream and Night Cream. The Vitamin E Moisture Cream I had tried before, having had the same 15mL/0.5 oz. jar in a different GWP.

Caudalie Cleansing Water

After the events of March, hubby and I took a short trip out of town to get a breather and collect ourselves. Hubby's school closed down and my job was a postponed, so we decided we too need to take a step back in order to calmly assess the situation without getting roped into the panic (or the panic buying) around us. It was definitely not a vacation, at least it was not a trip I ever wanted (or planned or prepared) to take in such a situation. We didn't have the mind to think or the time to pack, so we threw a few things into our 2 bags and grabbed our laptops to keep a close tab on what was happening.

Anyway, the Caudalie Cleansing Water from the Caudalie Travel Set was one of those things I grabbed.

Climbing the Stairs...

I'm sorry for the lack of posts in the past few weeks. After the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, I just didn't have the mind or the heart to do anything. While being in Yokohama hubby and I weren't physically affected (never mind the nuclear radiation scares, rolling blackouts, among other things), the event did take an emotional and psychological toll on us.

It's just one of those things you will never ever forget. I will always remember where I was and what I was doing the day of 9/11 (in class watching the news with my classmates and professor), the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami (at home watching the news with hubby), Hurricane Katrina (at school watching the news with my Japanese teachers, I was actually living in Japan at the time!), and now this Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.

But Japan is looking ahead and I should too. The extraordinary people here have begun their healing and rebuilding, and they inspire me to stop brooding. I can't really describe what it is exactly they do that inspires me, but here's something that makes me smile whenever I go out.

The greater Tokyo area is significantly gloomier and darker than it ever was before, but only because people are conserving electricity due to the power shortage. Shops are half lit, and the vast majority of escalators everywhere are turned off. You're probably thinking escalators are no biggie, but I actually counted today that on one subway trip out to lunch with hubby we climbed at least 12 flights of stairs! That's at least 6 floors, folks, and for just one way, because subway stations are usually at least 3-4 levels below the ground while some train stations are a few levels above ground.

Now you're probably thinking what the hell I'm smiling about LOL! Normally, I would be all bent out of shape and wouldn't be smiling at all, but watching the old, the young, the flats, and the stilettos happily climb the stairs without a mutter of complaint makes me smile from ear to ear. Knock on wood, but in times like this I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but right here in Japan. Sounds batshit crazy, but if you see it for yourself you'll understand what I'm saying. I feel so safe here, and I'm no fanatic Japanese patriot. I'm as foreign as they come.

To get to the point - I will start posting again ^.^ おまたせしました.