Japantown, San Francisco Part II (Picture heavy!)

A long overdue follow up for SF Japantown, since these pictures were taken back in April-May T.T

I'm loathed to say this, but the Japanese food at Japantown leaves little to be desired. How ironic that it's Japantown, and you would think there are things reminiscent of Japan food wise. But nope. What you see may resemble Japanese food in appearance, and with the exception of a couple of okay places, the rest are either meh or down right disgusting.

Canmake Candy Wrap Lip Part III

I was so excited to add to my collection of Canmake Candy Wrap Lips the 2 newest colors 10 Mauve Bonbon and 11 Fleur Honey. However, not being in Japan means not seeing these in person, which means I have no idea what I'm getting, which means there will be some hit and miss involved.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Cheek Tint

These Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Cheek Tints are sad, long-forgotten, and neglected victims of my moving about for the past few years. They were updated, and much improved I must add, version of the much crappier Beauty Rush Pool Party Lip & Cheek Pop, all of which dried out within a mere 6 months' time even with my meticulous care in storage. I originally bought them just to see how they would fare in comparison to the older version, but I never got around to even open them up and try :( In other words, these are now very old, long discontinued and no longer available, and this post is more of a "tribute" than a review.

From left to right: Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Cheek Tint Just Peachy, Mon Cherry, and I Pink I Can. All pictures taken in natural light without flash unless otherwise noted.

The Body Shop Lily Cole Lip & Cheek Dome

I was eyeing these limited edition The Body Shop Lily Cole Lip & Cheek Dome for a long time, since they came out last spring! But of course, I was in Japan at the time and couldn't get them until I moved home in the fall, by which point they were on sale, which I guess made the wait somewhat worth while? ^.^'

Unfortunately, as soon as I received them, I very much regretted getting them. I had seen pictures online but couldn't really picture the actual bulkiness of the packaging until I held them in my hands. You see, the product protrudes at the top and is housed in a curved cylinder, roughly two-inch from the bottom to the top of the twist-off clear domed cap, and 1.5-inch in diameter. The packaging makes them quite bulky and difficult to store or carry :(

20 Pinch Me Pink (left) and 21 Crazy for Coral (right). All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, San Francisco (Picture heavy!)

After afternoon tea at The Rotunda, we walked through Chinatown again before hopping on the historic cable car, the Powell-Mason line, to head down to Fisherman's Wharf. 

The cable car was totally awesome! If you are ever in SF you should try it at least once. There are 3 lines: Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde, and California. The Powell-Mason line goes to and from Market/Powell streets and Fisherman's Wharf. The Powell-Hyde line also goes to and from Market/Powell streets and the Aquatic Park at Ghiradelli Square, east of Fisherman's Wharf. Basically, both Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines will take you north-south to the pier and back. The California line goes east-west from Van Ness Avenue, through Chinatown, and the Financial District. 

Chinatown, San Francisco

Took my family through Chinatown on our way to afternoon tea at The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus. It was a gorgeous day, sunny with clear sky and so photo-ops were aplenty ^.^ We didn't go shopping or anything like that, just sort of whizzed through the streets and stopping for photos whenever we felt like. 

Afternoon Tea at the Rotunda (inside Neiman Marcus), San Francisco

When my family visited back in April, we took them to The Rotunda for afternoon tea as a belated birthday party for my sister. Funny as it sounds, but at the time I hadn't "discovered" Crown & Crumpet in Japantown yet -.-' This restaurant is located on the 4th floor of Neiman Marcus downtown SF, and we walked through Chinatown to get there, stopping for pictures along the way.

Crown & Crumpet Tea Room, San Francisco, Part II (Picture heavy!)

It's rare that I do a complete 180 degrees turnaround on anything, but in the case of Crown & Crumpet Tea Room I feel I owe it to myself to reflect honestly. Now, I've always had a thing for afternoon tea, but this place officially turned me into an addict, because to get my fix, I come here once a week. Yes, you read that right. Once a week.

My first experience here with hubby wasn't anything special, and I even said so! Their savories were meh, but scones and sweets were excellent. So a couple of weeks later when I was stressed out from work and craved some tea and sweets, I loaded my iPhone Instapaper with a lengthy reading list and came crawling back one afternoon. This time, I substituted the mini sandwiches on the savories plate with an order of the Chicken, Mozzarella, Tomato, and Pesto pressed sandwich from the lunch menu. I also added an order of soup. I was told they serve a different soup every day, and that day's soup du jour was Cream of Chicken and Rice. Fine, I thought I'd try it.

Clinique for Men Face Scrub

Been using this 15mL travel size tube of Clinique for Men Face Scrub every third morning after my retinoid treatment the night before. I also have a full size 100mL/3.4oz. I bought for hubby, although he hasn't start using it yet. This is a facial exfoliator marketed for men skincare, but I don't see why I (or you!) can't use it :P

That said, I'm still on the fence with this Face Scrub. I can't find a list of ingredients for it yet (I accidentally threw out the packaging for the full size before taking a picture of the ingredients. Oops.), but I'm fairly sure it has either peppermint oil or menthol in it, because it creates quite a tingly minty sensation on the skin! It does not foam, but it cleans very well and can be used in place of a cleanser, although I would *not* recommend it for daily use for yourself (or him).

Astalift [Day] Cream

This tiny 5g jar of Astalift [Day] Cream is lasting me for freakin' ever! It came with the 2012 Deluxe Trial Set I bought from Rakuten JP, and after two months of daily use I still have half a jar left to go! If I sound impatient, that's because I am :X

This is a milky orangey cream scented with the same Astalift signature mild rose fragrance. Astalift Japan calls this product simply Cream and I was only able to figure out that it's a day cream because they also have a separate night cream, which they call, well, Night Cream. Astalift UK labels it a bit more clearly, distinguishing it as Replenishing Day Cream versus the Regenerating Night Cream. I am not sure if the UK version is formulated any differently than the Japanese version. 

Astalift Lotion

Almost forgot to post this! It's been sitting in my draft folder for a few weeks now. Ooops.

Finished two 30mL travel sized bottles of Astalift Lotion a couple of weeks ago during my trial of the Astalift skincare line. Those two bottles were from the 2012 Astalift trial Moisture Kit (top two pictures) and the Deluxe Trial Kit 2012 (bottom two) I bought from Rakuten JP.

L'Occitane Pivoine Flora Beauty Milk

Last of the L'Occitane stuff, I think... I do like this Pivoine Flora Beauty Milk very much! It is supposed to be paired with the Shower Gel and I gave away one of my two pairs from the Pivoine Flora Spring Set and the Brighten Up Collection GWP to my cousin J.

Pivoine Flora Spring Set and Brighten Up Collection

L'Occitane Pivoine Flora Shower Gel

Almost done with the L'Occitane bath and body ^.^ This is the 75mL/2.5fl oz. travel size bottle of the Pivoine Flora Shower Gel. I have two of these, one from the Pivoine Flora Spring Set and one from the Brighten Up Collection I got as GWP. I ended up giving one, along with the Pivoine Flora Beauty Milk (will review next) to complete the pair, to my cousin J. when she visited me in March.

Pivoine Flora Spring Set, which includes 75mL/2.5fl oz. each of this Shower Gel and Beauty Milk, 1oz. Hand Cream, and 100g/3.5oz. Rose Bonne Mere Soap (will review later).

L'Occitane Spring Cherry Velvet Moisturizing Gel

This 75mL/2.5fl oz. L'Occitane Spring Cherry Velvet Moisturizing Gel is to be paired with the Iridescent Shower Gel, both from the Springtime Cherry Collection I bought a few months ago in spring. I have to say I like it much better than the shower gel, because at least it moisturizes my skin, even if a little.

Springtime Cherry Collection

L'Occitane Spring Cherry Iridescent Shower Gel

Almost done with this 75mL/2.5fl oz. travel size bottle of L'Occitane Spring Cherry Iridescent Shower Gel from the Springtime Cherry Collection this past spring.

The Springtime Cherry Collection comes with 75mL/2.5fl oz. each of this Iridescent Shower Gel, Velvet Moisturizing Gel, which I will review next, 50g/1.7oz. Spring Cherry Soap, and a 1oz. Spring Cherry Hand Cream.

***Screencap from L'Occitane USA.

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

Been using this Clarins Beauty Flash Balm occasionally for the past 2+ months. This 30mL/1.06oz tube came from the Feed 10 Kit that I bought during Clarins' 2013 Spring Beauty Gift GWP event.

2013 Spring Beauty Gift

The Feed 10 Kit comes with another 3mL/0.1fl oz. tube of UV Plus HP SPF40 Day Screen, this Beauty Flash Balm, 0.13oz. jar of Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, and 0.15oz. tube of Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in the color 01 Rose Shimmer.