Mamonde Moisture Skin Softener and Emulsion

Among the various skincare samples I'm trying out, this pair of 5mL/ 2 fl oz. Mamonde Moisture Skin Softener and Emulsion stands out. Mamonde is a Korean brand by Amore Pacific, which also owns Laneige, Sulwhasoo, Innisfree, and Etude House. There are several different lines of products from Mamonde, but the samples I have are from their Moisture line. 

Mamonde Moisture Skin Softener and Emulsion

Fasio Oil Cleansing EX

I finished up the bottle of Naive Makeup Cleansing Oil a while back and started using this 30mL travel sized bottle of Fasio Oil Cleansing EX. It came in the Visee Eye Color and Liquid Eye Liner Set I got from Don Quijote over the winter. 

Visee Eye Color and Liquid Eye Liner Set

This set includes a small 2.5mL tube of Fasio Mascara Easy Remover, a mini 70-sheet booklet of Kose Selectly Glitter Aburatorigami Oil Blotting Paper, a Visee Glam Glow Eyes palette in BR-3, and a full size Visee Liquid Eye Liner in BK001.

Only in Japan... Tokyu Hands Edition Part VI

Last of the hilarious stickers hubby and I found at Tokyu Hands ^.^

The Japanese says, "Shimura, behind you!" This is a quirky tribute to an old game show in which the title character, Shimura, is standing on stage facing the audience. He knows someone will sneak up to scare the living daylights out of him but he doesn't know when so it's up to the audience to shout this phrase out loud to warn him. 

Rosette Cleansing Paste

I mentioned I was getting bored of the giant 250mL bottle of The Body Shop Passion Fruit Cleansing Gel. Well, I was, and I was bored enough to pick up this tube of Rosette Cleansing Paste when I saw it on sale at my local drugstore ^.^ 

There are now 3 types of these cleansing paste available, the green tube Kaidei Smooth with sea clay for deep cleansing, the pink tube Hakudei Lift with white clay (I'm guessing kaolin?) for firming, and the yellow tube Ghassoul Bright with Ghassoul clay (also known as Rhassoul or Moroccan red clay) for brightening. Kaikei Smooth and Hakudei Lift are both unscented and without colorant or mineral oil. The Ghassoul Bright is also without colorant or mineral oil, but it is scented. I bought the Kaidei Smooth. I figured it's summer and my skin could use some deep cleansing action, thanks to, you know, all the humidity-induced sweating and whatnot.

Rosette Cleansing Paste - Kaidei Smooth

Mos Burger Part II

I remember a "Mexican" restaurant in Minato Mirai hubby and I visited late last year that smelled suspiciously like Indian food. Hell, our friend Mos Burger here took a step further, coming out with a seasonal offering of Naan Tacos, which are tacos served on naan bread! Both flour tortillas and naan are made of, well, flour, so if you don't sweat the details, it's close enough.

Mos Burger Naan Tacos

Mos Burger Naan Tacos Marine

***Pictures from Mos Burger JP.

Happy Bath Day Precious Rose Rose Enrich Body Soap

In addition to the Tsubaki Limited Edition Shining Water Gift Set, another nice (and impulsive) deal I got at Don Quijote was this Happy Bath Day Precious Rose Limited Edition Gift Set. I've been curious about this Happy Bath Day line but am not about to drop 1,050yen on a 300mL bottle of body wash anytime soon. If I were to spend that money, I'd rather buy goat's milk soaps on Etsy!

But the funny thing was that right next to those bottles, a bunch of these gift sets were on display for only 798yen with tax! Not only the gift sets contain the same 300mL bottle of body wash, they also come with travel sizes of the Hand Cream and the Milky Body Gel. Who the heck would pay more for the individual bottles? Not me ^.^

Happy Bath Day Precious Rose Limited Edition Gift Set, with Rose Enrich Body Soap (300mL), Rose Enrich Hand Cream (20g), and Rose Enrich Milky Body Gel (30mL)

Allie Extra UV Gel Mineral Moist N SPF50+ PA+++

Just restocked my supply of the trusty Allie Extra UV Protector Perfect Alpha, which has been reformulated again earlier in the year into Extra UV Protector Perfect Alpha N, with the "N" differentiating the 2012 from the older 2011 formulation. I probably won't review this 2012 formulation unless there's a significant change in texture and/or finish. I probably won't get to this sunscreen till a while later anyway, as I'm determined to try out a few new things before retreating back into my good ol' familiar turtle shell.

One of those new things I'm trying is this Extra UV Gel Mineral Moist N SPF50+ PA+++. Hell, I'm trying something new for the body, the Nivea Sun Protect Water Gel SPF30 PA++, so why not try something new for the face too, right? It seems Allie has been trying really hard to push the Body UV Mist SPF26 PA+. There are tons of these gift sets with a mini bottle of Body UV Mist going for only 2,058yen with tax, and although I'm not too thrilled with the mist myself, I'll use it on a cloudy day for a trip to the groceries if they're so hell bent on giving it to me. I sure wouldn't go buy a full size though, not when it hasn't been reformulated and is still not photostable!

Allie Extra UV Gel Mineral Moist N and Extra UV Protector Perfect Alpha N Gift Sets with mini bottle of Body UV Mist SPF26 PA+, each 2,058yen with tax.

Only in Japan... Tokyu Hands Edition Part V

More funny stickers!

The Japanese says, "Bring me some beer!" Is it me or does that guy look like Bruce Lee?

The smaller Japanese text at top left says, "Take care to close up your door and your zipper." 

The larger text below says, "Check your zipper." Yes, make sure the sun doesn't shine through your window ^.^

More desserts at Denny's Part V

Yeah, more Denny's ^.^ although this time around I wasn't too excited about their seasonal dessert offerings. It's that time of the year folks, you know, when every freakin' thing comes in matcha flavor! Don't get me wrong, I love matcha. What I don't love is how they love to pair matcha with anko. I am not a fan of anko. At all. It's so, very, extremely, sweet. See how the 3 out of 4 dessert items has anko in it? And that's only because I can't see much of the 4th item, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was anko in the middle of that matcha cake-looking thing in the ceramic baking cup. 

***Picture from Denny's Japan.

Tsubaki Shining Shampoo

I believe it was last summer that the Tsubaki Hair Care line had a revamp. The original Tsubaki Shampoo in the red bottle became Tsubaki Shining Shampoo (and Conditioner), the white bottles changed from Golden Repair to Damage Care, complete with a new addition of the gold bottles of Head Spa (for deep cleansing, I think...). I was curious at the time, but thinking back to my disappointing experience with the Golden Repair Shampoo and Conditioner in 2008, I didn't feel like trying.

That is, until I stumbled upon this ridiculous deal at Don Quijote - a limited edition gift set with a pair of 550mL of the Tsubaki Shining Shampoo and Conditioner, and a full size 250mL Tsubaki Water, all for only 998yen including tax!

Tsubaki Limited Edition Shining Water Gift Set